The Substitute Wife

CHAPTER 196

The entire world seemed to come to a standstill as Jeon Jungkook's voice reverberated in her head. Lisa Lim could not describe what she was feeling right then. As if she was a puppet, she stood motionless and rooted to the spot.

When Jeon Jungkook stopped halfway, Bambam, who had remained silent for a long time, stood up from the ground and bent down to pick up the cigarette pack and cigarettes that had scattered all over the floor. He held the last cigarette between his fingers, lit it, and took a puff. Through the smoke, he looked at Jeon Jungkook , who still appeared to be lost in his memories, and asked, "So you're Zero, whom she's known for more than 10 years in the game?"

Lisa Lim already knew the answer to the question Bambam asked Jeon Jungkook; however, when Bambam suddenly and directly asked the question, she tensed up, and her heart seemed to have stopped at that moment, as if it were infinite yet forever. Subsequently, when she heard Jeon Jungkook's soft, gentle reply, his voice felt as if it was from a distant galaxy that was worlds apart from her own.

Jeon Jungkook replied, "Yes."

"Yes"...

Lisa Lim's heart wrenched tightly and before she could recover from the impact and shock of this word, Jeon Jungkook continued. "I am Zero, or Degrees, if you prefer, the person whom she's known for more than 10 years in the game."

Lisa Lim backed off a step in confusion. Subsequently, Jeon Jungkook's voice could be heard again from the courtyard. "The reason why I'm telling you this is to let you know that I am different from who you think I am. We've both known her for more than a decade, and I might even know her better than you. Ten years later, though, you left her. I left her, as well, but I continuously watched over her."

"I continued to watch over her using my gamer identity in the virtual world that she didn't know about."

Lisa Lim did not know whether or not she was hallucinating, but she felt a tinge of sorrow and forlorn in Jeon Jungkook's voice, as well as an indescribable sense of deep affection.

He paused for a long time before he pointedly said, "Bambam, this is the greatest difference between us."

Bambam's face turned ghostly pale, and his eyes were hollow. His lips moved a few times as if he wanted to say something, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not find an argument against Jeon Jungkook's claim, so he eventually remained silent. He lowered his head and furiously inhaled two puffs of smoke before turning and walking toward the door without as much as a word.

When Lisa Lim heard his approach, she quickly regained her senses from the initial shock of Jeon Jungkook's words. She hurriedly ran over to a bamboo forest and hid herself in the pitch-black bamboo. She then saw Bambam's figure exit from the door and stand outside with his head yanked up. He stared into the night sky for a moment before he left.

Lisa Lim only crept out from the bamboo after she no longer could hear his footsteps. When she emerged, she did not quite feel like herself. She spaced out for a long time recalling how surreal the scene she'd just overheard had been. She silently pinched her palms until the stinging sensation brought back a sense of reality. Finally, she slowly turned her head and looked toward the courtyard. Jeon Jungkook, whom she'd last seen leaning against the glass door, had apparently collapsed in his entrance.

A pang of shock seized Lisa Lim's heart, and she immediately ran to the door, pushed it open, and approached Jeon Jungkook on the floor. As she got closer to him, she then noticed that his face was terrifyingly pale. His eyes were closed, and he laid motionless on the ground as if he'd lost consciousness.

"Jeon Jungkook?" She dashed over frantically and called out his name in a low voice before she squatted down and touched his forehead. It was scalding hot.