Together Forever | LK

19.2 - During That Season of Time

"Oh yes." Lisa very solemnly raised her fingers and counted off the years on them. "From when I was born, I waited thirteen years before I finally got to see you, but then we quickly separated. It was eight years later before you were finally willing to bestow me the honour of appearing before me again. So no matter how you look at it, no one has had to have a more agonizing wait than me. In the future, if someone has the misfortune of falling for you and wants to ruin our relationship, you must very sternly tell her to first save up another twenty years before saying that to you."

Lisa felt that she was being so brazen the skin on her face must truly be as thick as a city wall. Stating that, she lowered her head and laughed gleefully for a while.

Her bangs slipped down, and from his angle, he could only see her lips, which were slightly pale from the cold, and discern that they were curved obviously into a smile. But, in that moment when she had lowered her head, a large tear had slid down.

For a nationwide calamity, where many dying had needed to be saved and wounded had needed to be rescued, he had lost the health that he should have rightfully possessed, but not many people knew of this.

And yet her own family situation was causing him to have to face the talk and gossip of people.

Seeing how these students worshipped Jungkook, she genuinely was very fearful that after the student from this afternoon returned to the school, he would secretly broadcast everything. Or maybe that student would say, "Look at that. The father of Jungkook's wife is actually a gambling addict. He owed a debt for so many years and still didn't pay the money back ..."

Lisa glanced lightly over at Jungkook.

He was reaching down with his hand and pulling up the zipper of his jacket. So handsome was he that people could not even shift their gaze from him.

Furtively brushing away her tears, she stretched out her right hand, slipped it into his pocket, and took hold of his hand.

As the two of them left the basketball courts and the countless keenly friendly students, she silently prayed that from this moment on, the rain in their lives would clear to sunshine skies. She dared not think too deeply about the future ... because she could not bear it — she could not bear for Jungkook to have to face this sort of humiliation another time.

When she set the IOU slip in front of Grandmother, Grandmother once again could not refrain from wiping at her tears that fell.

To Lisa, her parents were like a debt she had to pay, but to Grandmother, was Lisa's father not also like her debt that she was using an entire lifetime to pay? During Lisa's earlier, rebellious period, she had blamed Grandmother for letting her father go unchecked and for being unwilling to cut off all ties and the mother-son relationship with him, but as she matured, she more and more understood what Grandmother was feeling. That was why, when the elderly lady mentioned that she wanted Lisa's father to come back and celebrate the Lunar New Year with them, Lisa did not refuse the request.

It was the eve of the Lunar New Year, and Jungkook actually drank some alcohol with her father.

Wordlessly, she kept count for him the number of glasses he drank and kicked him at least four or five times, but it was to no avail. It was fortunate that the alcohol content of the beer was not high. Nevertheless, the sight of glass after glass being consumed like that until past eleven o'clock at night was still quite frightful.

"How about having some water?" Sitting on her knees on the bed, Lisa held a glass up to his lips.

"I probably won't be able to get any water down tonight." He could not help chuckling, "It's no problem. The alcohol content wasn't high, so I won't need to drink water to dilute it."