Slowly Falling | LK Adaptation

Chapter 25

After leaving Lisa's store, Taehyung drove around Starlight Park before heading back towards his bar. His brothers knew he was in a bad mood, so they didn't dare talk to him.

When he walked in his bar, he shut himself in the lounge and put on an album of PUMPKIN in the DVD player. Hearing the loud music coming from the lounge, Ah Mao subconsciously kneaded his ears. The person beside him said: "Brother Mao, Brother Kim is doing it again."

Ah Mao sighed then said: "Let him go, he's in a bad mood."

Every time Taehyung was in a bad mood, he liked to vent like this.

In the lounge, he played with his air guitar, completely immersed in the music. This time, he wasn't playing PUMPKIN's famous song 'Green Plum', but another old song he was familiar with—— 'Dorothy'.

It was said that the song was written by lead singer Ray for their band agent. They were childhood sweethearts, and the band was actually formed by the two. At the time, all the magazines and reporters said that the two would surely get together. But in the end, the agent married an ordinary outsider and later, PUMPKIN disbanded.

What the world said about the fated golden boy and jade girl had only been wishful thinking in the end.

It was now nine years since Taehyung had first seen Lisa. Nine years filled with compulsory education and resistance. But no matter how hard he had tried, he hadn't managed to move her heart.

He thought back to the day Lisa entered high school. She was standing in the corner of the classroom, her schoolbag slung across her back. She was looking around with cold eyes, as if she had never once thought of integrating herself into the people she would be with for the next three years. At the time he thought: This girl is really interesting.

It was as if nothing could move her. That nothing had to do with her.

At first, he paid attention to Lisa just out of curiosity. He wanted to see a change of expression out of the girl. Bit by bit he paid more and more attention to her and saw that even in small groups she would isolate herself.

Although she never cared about it. Or rather, she preferred to be alone and with no one bothering her.

Because Taehyung was a well-known 'school bully', others naturally didn't dare bother Lisa. But of course, this also meant that no one could stop Taehyung himself from bothering her. Although Lisa was indifferent to his attention, he thought that with enough time, she would eventually be moved.

It was like a long-winded tug-of-war. Both were stubborn and both were waiting for each other to give up. Taehyung had been waiting for her to be moved. Lisa had been waiting for him to stop bother her.

In the end, he lost. He had never moved her.

The song ended, and Taehyung collapsed on the sofa, gasping violently.

He had spent nine years and not once did Lisa open her heart to him. And that takeaway boy only knew her for a few days? Why him?

Hearing the music from the lounge disappear, Ah Mao tentatively knocked on the lounge door. "Brother Kim, shall we go to lunch?"

There was no answer. Just when Ah Mao thought he wouldn't get a response, the door suddenly opened. with no expression on his face, Taehyung answered: "I want to drink the best and most expensive alcohol in this bar."

"Good, good. But we can't just drink, why don't we order some barbecue?"

"Whatever, just bring me the wine." Taehyung took two steps outside, then turned back to Ah Mao. "Bring me the bottle of Jiang YueZhang."

"..." Ah Mao pursed his lips then looked at him with embarrassment. "Brother Kim, that bottle's been reserved for Zhang Shao. He wanted to drink it himself."

Taehyung couldn't care less. "It's better that we drink it rather than let him use it to coax a few female stars."

"But..."

"Don't worry so much. Just get it."

"Alright." If Zhang Shao ended up wanting the wine...nevermind, Zhang Shao should be able to understand the pain of Brother Kim, even if his love remained unrequited. Ah Mao settled his heart and left to get the wine.

----

After delivering the lunchbox to Lisa, Jungkook went to deliver other orders. He was more than a little busy. During his breaks he ate lunch while reading his textbooks at the same time.

He didn't even realize it when Bambam approached him. Bambam quietly parked his scooter next to Jungkook's and peeked at the cover of the book he was reading.

Bambam could read every single Korean character on the book, but he had no idea what they meant when arranged and combined into a phrase on Jungkook's cover.

Jungkook finally felt someone else's presence behind him. He looked up at Bambam and said: "What are you doing?"

Bambam smiled at him and said: "I just wanted to see what you were looking at, so focused."

He closed the book in his hands and put it back in the small bag on his scooter. "Nothing, it was just a textbook of mine."

"Textbook?" Bambam thought back to Jungkook's previous job in a big company. He became excited and asked him: "That...your book is about making planes?"

Jungkook was self-conscious, and thinking that it would be much too difficult to explain, simply nodded. "Uh, yes."

Bambam happily asked: "That's great! Are you going back to building planes?"

"..." Jungkook opened his lunchbox again. "I'm just going to take the postgraduate exam."

"Oh..." Bambam thought about it for a while, then said: "Are you going to be building planes after the exam?"

"...." He sounded more obsessed with making planes that Jungkook himself. Jungkook didn't say anything and simply smiled and nodded instead.

Bambam opened his lunchbox and continued: "I already said you're no ordinary takeaway boy! Let's make a deal- when my restaurant opens I'll invite you to a meal, and when the plane you build is finished, you'll invite me for a ride!"

He paused, then continued: "That sounds like I'm taking advantage of you. How about this, I'll treat you to ten meals?"

Jungkook smiled. "OK, up to you."

"Then it's a deal!"

After a very busy day, he went to Lisa's store at exactly 8:00 p.m. It was already dark and there were only a few tourists left in Starlight Park. The scenic spots that were usually lively during the day were now empty and a little lonely.

Jungkook parked his scooter just outside her store. He knocked on the glass door and peered inside. Lisa, just like last time, had closed all the lights except the one above the cash register. At Jungkook's knock, Lisa looked up.

He stood there, watching a smile bloomed from her lips.

The light had made her expression even more soft and gentle. It was enough for a person to fall.

Lisa cleared off the counter, turned off the lights, and walked out of the store towards him.

"You're so punctual?" She thought he'd still be doing orders. Although he said he finished at 8:00 p.m, Lisa thought Jungkook would still need to finish delivering the orders they had on their list before he could actually clock off. He probably never left work on time.

"I did a little maneuvering so that my last order was something delivered to Starlight Park."

Lisa didn't know much about their delivery system and felt curious. "Is that even possible?"

"Yes." Jungkook replied with a chuckle.

She raised a brow, but didn't ask again. "Please accompany me to the flower shop nearby. I need to send some tablets to the owner."

Looking at the big bag in her hands, Jungkook took it and said: "Let me help you with that."

"Mmh." Lisa then took out a key and closed her shop.

"Have you had dinner yet?" He asked.

"Yep. I'll take your insulated lunchbox home and wash it later. I'll give it back to you next time."

"It doesn't matter. I can just wash it myself later."

Lisa looked at him with a smile. "If my mother found out that you even wash the lunchboxes you give me on top of cooking for me, I don't know what she'll say."

Jungkook smiled, but didn't say anything else.

Lisa looked at the scooter parked nearby and said: "You can leave your scooter here. We can just walk and come back later."

"Alright."

The two walked side by side through the night. It was between autumn and winter, and while the flowers along the park weren't as prosperous as it was in spring, the air was still filled with the subtle fragrance of flowers. It was light, but refreshing.

"Cold?" After a gust of wind blew by, Jungkook asked her beside him.

Lisa shook her head and said to him: "When is your postgraduate exams?"

"Next January." Jungkook replied.

"January?" Lisa frowned. "That's only two months away. Do you have enough time to study?"

"Yes, plenty of time."

"Really?" It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but when she was in university, many of her classmates in the same dormitory had to prepare for their postgraduates one whole year in advance. And some of them even failed. With Jungkook only having two months, he would definitely have to be in a great hurry.

Jungkook chuckled. "Didn't you say you believed in me?"

"That's different. You're working on the side too; you won't have much time to study."

"You don't need to worry so much." He raised his hand, wanting to rub Lisa's head. But remembering that he had been shuttling off food boxes all day, he put his hand down. "I had good enough grades to be recommended by my university. And unlike the other undergraduate candidates, I've already graduated. The questions aren't going to be that difficult for me."

Seeing that Lisa still not speaking, Jungkook continued: "To be honest, I'm actually being a little modest. It'll probably be really simple for me."

Lisa: "..." She should really stop worrying about this top student.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the flower shop Lisa had mentioned. They could still see the florist inside, fiddling with several flowers and plants. A little girl was sitting in the store, busily drawing on her sketchpad.

Seeing her enter, the florist greeted her: "I'm sorry I made you send me the boards on such a late hour."

Lisa shook her head. "It was because I was too slow in making them." She took the bag from Jungkook and handed it to the florist. "Its all in here, have a look."

Lisa and the florist began counting the boards on a nearby table. After confirming that there was no problem, the florist raised her head and said to her: "By the way, I've been trying to make dried flowers again recently. This new batch has a stronger fragrance, I'll show them to you when I'm done. If you think they're good you can buy some on a discount."

Lisa was happy to hear that. She had tried many shops that sold dried flowers, but had always failed to find suitable ones. If these dried flowers can be used, it'll definitely attract a few more customers. "Yes, please call me when you're ready."

As the two women continued to chat, Jungkook stood to the side and watched the little girl draw. She was drawing some sort of white flower. It looked quite beautiful. From afar, it looked like a white cloud floating in the air.

Squatting down to be the same height as her, he smiled at the little girl and said: "That's very beautiful. What kind of flower is that?"

The little girl looked at him with a smile. "It's a White Azaela. It looks really pretty when it blooms. Just like a cloud."

Looking around the store, Jungkook asked: "Is there any in the store?"

The little girl pointed forward.

The florist had heard their conversation and went to get a pot of White Azaleas. Showing it to him, she said: "It's not in bloom yet, not until March next year."

Lisa also came over. "Do you like it? Then I'll buy it please."

"No, no, I can buy it myself." Jungkook replied.

Lisa looked at him, and before he could even stand up, she had already walked towards the register and bought the flower. As the florist helped them pack everything up, she also gave them a brochure about winter gardening and a small bag of fertilizer.

Holding the flowerpot, Jungkook and Lisa left the flower shop together. Jungkook turned towards her and said: "Thank you."

Lisa smiled. "It's just a pot of flowers, why are you so polite?"

Jungkook didn't speak and instead looked down at the flowers in his arms with a smile.

"Look at the sky." Lisa raised a finger and pointed up somewhere in the night sky. "I can see stars, although it's just the one."

Looking up, he followed her finger and saw the only twinkling star in the sky.

Although it wasn't very bright, it was the only light in an otherwise dark night.

Much like Lisa's love was to him.