Slowly Falling | LK Adaptation

Chapter 33

Jungkook had never been the sort of boy that could talk sweetly. As a child, he couldn't even coax his own sister when she cried. How could he successfully coax another girl?

He looked at Lisa with furrowed brows and asked: "How do you want me to coax you?"

Lisa replied: "You think about that yourself."

Jungkook deliberately showed a troubled expression. "That's quite hard. You look very difficult to coax."

Lisa shrugged. "If we're looking at one's appearances, I'd like to say that you look like you're very good at coaxing people."

Jungkook chuckled and said nothing. He simply held her hand a little tighter.

Both of them sat in this small park for a little while longer, then returned to Jungkook's home. Lisa didn't go back upstairs and instead went to her car while Jungkook accompanied her. He planned to watch her leave before going back up.

Lisa opened the car door. Before she got on, she looked back at him. "Does your mom usually stay at home alone?"

Jungkook nodded, his eyes darkening at the question. "Her former friend comes by from time to time. They talk to her in the hopes that she would go out with them, but mom always refuses."

Lisa thought about it, then asked: "Can I come by and see your mother sometimes? I think that if I spend more time with her, she's more likely to accept me."

She could tell that Jungkook's mother wasn't very fond of her, and Lisa was also a little uncomfortable with Mother Jeon's penetrating stare. But this was Jungkook's mother. Lisa couldn't ignore her like she usually ignored other people. Mother Jeon is also ill. In order to improve their relationship, it could only be up to Lisa to take the initiative and put in the effort.

Jungkook understood what she was trying to do. He can ignore his mother's attitude towards others, but Lisa was different. He wanted his mother to accept and like her.

Jungkook took out his house key and handed it to her. "If you want to come by in the future, you can just come. I'll talk to my mother."

Lisa looked at the key he was offering and asked: "If you give me your key, how are you going to get in?"

"I have a spare key at home." He replied with a smile.

She took the key and said: "Alright. I'll still call you before I visit, though."

"Un."

After Lisa drove away, Jungkook headed back upstairs. Somi saw her brother come back alone and was puzzled. After the siblings talked, Somi rushed back to her room to do her homework.

Meanwhile, Jungkook knocked on his mother's door. "Mom, are you awake?'

Usually, whenever his mother took a nap, she would wake up at 2:00 p.m. But it was already almost 4:00 p.m., and she still hasn't come out yet. Was she still asleep?

After knocking, he stood there for a while. Eventually, his mother opened the door for him. She didn't look like she just woke up. Jungkook smiled and helped her sit down.

Mother Jeon's room looked spacious because it was the master bedroom. The skincare products Lisa had given her was placed on the dresser by Somi, but now it was pushed into a corner. It seems that she didn't like it very much.

Jungkook looked at the forgotten gift and then turned to mother Jeon. "Mom, today I introduced you to a girl...do you like her?"

She didn't answer, and Jungkook never really expected one. After a moment's pause, he continued: "I like her very much, and I want to be with her, so I hope you'll like her too. She's a very good girl, and she's helped me a lot. I know that when you get to know her better, you'll like her too."

Mother Jeon didn't move from where she sat. She continued to be silent, not looking at him. Jungkook stood up, smiled at his mother, and said: "I'll go out first. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

He didn't know if it was because of the colder weather, but for some reason, mother Jeon was becoming more fond of staying in her own room ever since she had met Lisa. Jungkook had talked to her several times after Lisa's visit, but she never responded. Eventually, he didn't mention it again.

----

Today, as usual, Jungkook was out delivering takeaways. He parked outside a bank and was taking out food from the container on the back of his scooter. Taehyung was in the bank, taking money from the ATM he just used. As he turned, he saw Jungkook walk into the bank with a plastic bag in his hand.

He froze for a moment, then turned away with a 'ho.' Was this the so-called 'destiny will make enemies meet'? I was only trying to get money, yet I still bump into him?

(T/N: An idiom. It's funny cuz this is often said about lovers who have a disagreement)

As soon as Taehyung stepped out of the bank, he saw a man in a suit walk past Jungkook's scooter. Like magic, the two bags of takeaway on his scooter disappeared as the man passed by.

Taehyung: "..."

Did this guy study under David Copperfield?

(T/N: A really successful/famous magician.)

He caught up to the man and stopped him. "What are you doing?"

The man was visibly shocked, but it seems that his psychological quality was excellent because he soon calmed down and asked: "I want to ask the same thing. What are you doing?"

Taehyung glanced at the takeaway bags the man was holding and chuckled. "Ha, you're dressed so well, but you're stealing takeaway? That's a bit lame, don't you think?"

The man angrily replied: "You don't know what you're talking about! Get out of my way!" The man looked like he needed to be somewhere urgently and lifted a hand to push him away. But do you think Taehyung, this famous high school gangster, could tolerate being pushed around? If he didn't do anything, Taehyung's little brothers would laugh their asses off.

He caught the man's wrist moments before the offending hand touched his shoulder.

The man became even more anxious. He twisted his hand and tried to escape Taehyung's grip. Taehyung looked calm and unruffled while the man fluttered about like a chicken. "Hey, hey. If you struggle any harder, you'll break your own wrist."

Meanwhile, Jungkook, who had finished delivering a takeaway, exited the bank. He immediately spotted Taehyung fighting with a man near his scooter. Similarly, Taehyung saw him. He shouted: "Hey! This guy stole your takeout."

Jungkook blinked and looked at the suited man's hands. Sure enough, he really was carrying the two bags of takeaway he had left on his scooter.

The man didn't wait for Jungkook to speak. With a 'tsk' he said: "Obviously, it was you who stole the takeaway. I was the one who caught you! Yet it was the villain who complained first? Bah! Hey, takeaway brother, look at what we're wearing. Who do you think is more likely to steal takeaway of all things?"

This man was wearing earrings, rings and black clothes. He doesn't look like a decent person!

Taehyung looked at the suited man and sneered. "Then let's go to the police station. Do you dare come?" He then raised his chin and pointed towards a CCTV camera. "Did you not see the surveillance camera?"

When the suited man saw the camera, he hit Taehyung and dropped the takeaway bags. Taehyung automatically reached for the bags, and the suited man took advantage of this momentary distraction and run away.

With a frown, he turned around and pushed the bags into Jungkook's arms. "Here, I'm giving it back to you. I don't know if they can still be eaten."

Jungkook checked the takeout inside the bags. None of the food had spilled, so it should be alright. He looked up at Taehyung and saw that he was already straddling his motorcycle. Jungkook said to him: "Thank you."

Taehyung wore his helmet and sneered. "No need to thank me. If I knew it was your takeaway, I wouldn't have bothered."

(a/n - Tae is actually a nice guy <3)

"I want to thank you anyway." Jungkook insisted. "My other colleagues had encountered similar thefts like this before. They had no choice but to bear the loss with their own money."

Taehyung regarded today's events as an eye-opener. Nowadays, thieves don't even let go of takeaway, ah.

"What kind of food do you deliver anyway?" He glanced at the container on Jungkook's scooter and noticed a book inside. "Yo, you bring a book with you when you deliver food?"

Jungkook pondered things for a while but ultimately replied: "That's a textbook I'm studying for my postgraduate entrance examination."

Taehyung's eyes changed slightly, and he subconsciously asked: "For flying school?"

Jungkook was somewhat surprised. "How do you know?"

Taehyung didn't answer. Instead, he turned on his motorcycle, coldly snorted, then drove away.

When he had previously asked Ah Mao to investigate Jungkook, he got a comprehensive report back. Jungkook's father had died from an illness three years ago, and his mother soon good sick after that. Jungkook has a sister, and he's also the family's only source of income.

Is that why he gave up graduate school? Ah Mao explained that Jungkook's father worked in the First Aircraft Research Institute. If his father never died, Taehyung figured Jungkook would've graduated, gotten his Ph.D., and worked in the Research Institute like his father.

He once had to give up his dreams for his family. What made him pick up the pieces of his lost dream again? Lisa?

He didn't know why, but all of a sudden, Taehyung got upset. He went home and shut himself in his room. He turned his speakers up to its maximum setting and began to play his air guitar.

His broken guitar hung on the wall of his room. He strummed his air guitar and, in his excitement, knelt on the ground and let loose.

As the green plum gradually turned red
With it's sour and sweet blend at the tip of the tongue
Maybe then, I can reach out and touch the rainbow

Mother Kim looked towards her son's shut door. She didn't know what happened to him all of a sudden. Fortunately, Father Kim wasn't at home. Otherwise, they would end up fighting again.

On the other end, after finishing all his deliveries, Jungkook received a call from Lisa. She had done the necessary mental preparations these past two days and was now ready to visit Jungkook's mother tomorrow.

So she called and asked him: "May I go see your mother tomorrow?"

"Sure, what time are you coming over?"

"Ah...what time do you leave tomorrow?"

Jungkook replied: "I'll be doing the night shift tomorrow so probably after 10:00 a.m."

"Then, I'll be at your house by then." While Lisa thought it would be better to come without Jungkook there, this was her first time visiting alone. If she suddenly appeared without him acting as a buffer, Lisa might scare his mother. "Wait for me to arrive?"

Jungkook smiled. "Alright."