Song Lisa paused and asked, “Are you free?”
Li Jungkook said: “The team is resting these days.”
She looked back at her motorcycle . Li Jungkook thought she was hesitating, so he went over to her, got on his motorcycle, looked back at her, and said, “Come here.”
Song Lisa was stunned for a moment, then stretched out her finger and pointed gently: “Don’t you want to take my car?”
Li Jungkook said: “Your car is too slow.”
“I think it’s pretty fast…” Song Lisa was still muttering when Li Jungkook handed her a helmet.
Song Lisa walked over, took the helmet and put it on her head. Then she realized, how did he know she was going to the western suburbs?
Li Jungkook had already put it on. He turned back to check on her and saw that she had forgotten to fasten the strap because she was distracted. He couldn’t help but reach out to her. When he was about to touch it, he realized something. He bent three fingers together, pointed at it, and said, “The strap.”
“Um?”
“Not tied properly.”
“oh.”
Song Lisa fastened the strap of her helmet and stepped on the pedal. The motorcycle tilted slightly, and he supported her with one foot.
She got on the motorcycle, grabbed the seat behind her with both hands, adjusted her position, and kept a distance from him.
He asked, “Are you seated?”
“Sit down.”
Li Jungkook started the motorcycle and rode her westward.
The road conditions in the city were bad, and the wheels were bumpy. Song Lisa sat behind him, tossed back and forth, her butt constantly moving forward and bumping into him. She would move back awkwardly every time, but would soon move forward again.
With all these collisions, she became extremely restless. Once, she even threw herself on his back, which made her face turn red. She quickly moved back.
Li Jungkook finally stopped the motorcycle, turned his head slightly, and said, “If you sit closer to me, you won’t sway.”
“…Oh. Okay.”
Before she could adjust herself, there was another big pothole in front of her. She was thrown towards him again, her soft chest hitting his hard back. Her heart almost jumped out of her throat, and her legs were spread wide and stuck behind him.
But this time she didn’t move back, but leaned forward slightly, close to him. Just as he said, the two of them became one, rising and falling together, but no longer shaking or bumping. There was only a slight friction between their clothes.
Her hands were still tightly gripping the seat, her face burning silently.
Neither of them spoke for a long time. The only sound along the way was the sound of gunfire from the battle zone in the distance.
After a while, Li Jungkook suddenly asked her casually, “Where is the reporter named Sasin?”
“Ah?” She was looking down at the rapidly receding ground. When she heard him, she looked up at his shoulder and said, “I don’t know. I can’t contact him.”
“What kind of connection can’t be made?”
“I only have his Twitter account, and I used to leave messages to keep in touch. Now he doesn’t even reply.”
Li Jungkook was silent for a while, then said, “He doesn’t seem to be very old.”
“Yeah. Twenty. Almost 21 now.”
After a long pause, he said, “I hope everything is OK.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem…” Before Song Lisa could finish her words, a house in the alley was shaken by the artillery fire not far away. A piece of the outer wall fell off and hit the two men’s shoulders. Dust and sand flew everywhere, choking Song Lisa .
Li Jungkook looked back at her: “Lower your head.”
Song Lisa lowered her head and the helmet was on her back.
Li Jungkook had deliberately avoided the main roads and walked along the side alleys, but as he approached the west, the war was raging and it was difficult to stay away from the battlefield.
Only then did Song Lisa realize that Li Jungkook was right to drive a motorcycle. If he drove a car, some alleys would be difficult to enter.
Li Jungkook judged the direction and distance of the gunshots and walked around in the alleys of the residential areas; Song Lisa lowered her head and leaned against his back, following his bumpy ride, and from time to time, rocks and mud hit her helmet with ping-pong sounds. But she was not afraid at all, and her heart was calm and stable as never before.
In the chaotic war zone, he and she were like sitting in a small boat on the rough sea.
In this way, they arrived at the refugee bride village in the western suburbs of Ale City with wind in the wind but smoothly.
Song Lisa had heard at the border between Kazakhstan and Pompeo that people from other countries would buy refugee girls as brides. Among these potential customers were poor people from neighbouring countries who had not yet found a wife, as well as wealthy people with many wives and concubines. Most of the girls sold were 14 or 15 years old, and occasionally younger.
Song Lisa and Li Jungkook walked into the bride village and saw dilapidated houses and dust everywhere. They roughly estimated that there were about a dozen families from surrounding villages who had gathered here in the past few days and were ready to sell their daughters or even sons.
It was around two In the afternoon and the sun was high in the sky.
Several girls sat at the doorsteps of their temporary homes, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the deserted streets. When they saw outsiders coming, their eyes were full of vigilance.
Song Lisa passed by the door of a house and happened to see a decently dressed man (a broker) bargaining with a poor couple. The little girl sitting on the chair was probably only about twelve years old.
The couple who were selling their daughter wanted to add 500 US dollars, but the agent refused to pay. The gestures he made seemed to indicate that it would cost a lot of money to get her out of the country.
The wife was filled with grief and despair, and suddenly could not hold on any longer, so she fell into her husband’s arms and cried bitterly;
The agent couldn’t bear it, so he waved his hand and added another $300 to their bill.
The deal was done quickly.
The agent paid a small stack of US dollars, said hello, and the girl on the chair stood up, bowed to her parents, and silently followed the agent out.
The mother couldn’t bear to let her daughter go, so she rushed forward, knelt down, hugged her thin daughter, and burst into tears.
The girl shed silent tears, her cheek pressed against her mother’s head, her small hands gently stroking her mother’s hair to comfort her.
The agent couldn’t stand the scene and walked out to get some fresh air. He turned around and saw Song Lisa , who was wearing a bulletproof vest from PRESS. He knew she was a reporter, so he immediately raised his hand and said in English, “I’m not a bad person.”
Song Lisa knew that in such a world, no one could be judged by simple black and white, good or bad, so she smiled and said, “I know.”
The agent was surprised. Hearing her say that, he also opened up and said with gestures: “In fact, I am still a conscientious person. At least, I can guarantee that the children introduced by me will get married. But some are sold as child prostitutes. The girl in this family is lucky. Her partner is a rich man in Saudi Arabia. At least she will not have to worry about food and clothing in the future, and she will not die in the war. Besides, I don’t sell boys.”
Song Lisa asked: “They are all children from poor families, right?”
“No one would sell their children unless they have no other options. They also want to send their children away. Otherwise, they will die in war and hunger.”
The two chatted for a while, and the mother was still crying. The agent urged her, but also stood by the roadside waiting.
Several parents from the next door came to ask about it, and the agent went to see the girl again. He told Song Lisa that his clients were all wealthy and they wanted pretty girls. Those with average looks could only be given to ordinary people or the poor, and naturally, the price would be lower.
The agent went next door.
Song Lisa looked into the room. The mother and daughter were still kneeling on the ground, hugging each other and crying. The father was sitting at the table, covering his eyes with one hand, tears streaming down his face.
While still watching, Li Jungkook suddenly called out unconsciously: “Lisa…”
Song Lisa was stunned and turned around.
His face darkened slightly, and he gently pointed across the street with his chin.
Looking in the direction he was looking, she saw an abandoned house on the corner with its door half open. A government soldier with half of his leg broken was leaning against the door, looking at the scene on the other side.
The soldier was still young, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He sat there motionless, quietly, just watching everything that happened here.
Li Jungkook said in a low voice: “There is nothing more sad than not being able to protect the women and children of your own country.”
The agent eventually took a fancy to two other girls and took them away as well.
There were cries in the streets,
Song Lisa turned off the camera. She didn’t want to stay and shoot the last scene. She couldn’t bear the sight of separation. She turned to look at Li Jungkook and said, “Let’s go.”
“Um.”
Song Lisa lowered her head all the way, looking a little listless. Halfway through the journey, she finally couldn’t stand it anymore, took a deep breath, suddenly walked down the steps and sat down on the side of the road, lowered her head, and supported her head with her hands.
Li Jungkook went over and sat next to her without saying a word. He sat quietly with her for two or three minutes.
She took a moment to relax, and the turbulent emotions in her heart calmed down a little.
He asked, “Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“…Yeah.” She raised her head and forced a smile, but her eyes were confused. “I suddenly feel like… I don’t know what the meaning of doing these things is.”
“How to say?”
“Is being a journalist a profession that requires hardship for a living? If not, why can’t we stop anything?” She smiled bitterly and said, “Just like we can’t stop that child from being sold, and we can’t stop the war.”
Li Jungkook raised his lips indifferently and asked, “Is there any profession in this world that can prevent war?”
Song Lisa was stunned.
“It seems that even soldiers are not allowed to do this. Is it true that soldiers live in hardship?”
“……”Song Lisa shook his head.
Li Jungkook said: “I have heard a saying about journalists.”
“What?”
“If you can’t stop the war, tell the world the truth about the war. I think that’s what you should do, and that’s what you have done.”
“But the truth is that there are always people suffering and dying. Sometimes I think, they suffer, they die, but who in this world cares?” She was sad and confused when she said this.
Li Jungkook looked at her for a moment and said, “Yes. One day, everyone will die, and then everything that happened here will become history, transcending the suffering of all individual lives and remaining. And history needs to be recorded. Isn’t this the meaning you are pursuing?”
Song Lisa ’s heart was shocked, as if she was suddenly woken up by someone.
She looked at him, and her eyes gradually regained clarity.
He is still him.
The most trustworthy person, the one who is always gentle and sober.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He patted her shoulder, stood up and continued walking.
Song Lisa also stood up, brushed off the dust on her butt, and followed him.
She looked at his back and suddenly said, “You always seem to be very determined, you always have been.”
Li Jungkook looked back at her and said, “I’m just saying a few words objectively, that’s not it.”
“Oh. Then… do you ever feel confused?” She asked softly from behind him, “Do you ever have a knot in your heart that you can’t untie?”
This time, he didn’t answer or even look back.
Li Jungkook walked to the motorcycle, took off his helmet and threw it to her, then sat astride the motorcycle.
Song Lisa put on her helmet and crawled behind him.
They drove at lightning speed, Song Lisa leaned against him, still with her head lowered, resting against his back. This time, her hands carefully grasped his military uniform at the waist.
——A Jungkook , do you have any pain in your heart that you can’t express? ——
The two of them walked in silence through the flying dust and gunfire.
When they were almost at the field hospital, they passed an intersection and there was a market on one of the streets.
Song Lisa looked up and hesitated: “Um…” Her voice was too soft, and Li Jungkook didn’t hear it, but he felt her head move, slowed down the motorcycle , turned around and asked: “Do you want to buy something?”
“Buy curtains.”
Li Jungkook turned the motorcycle around and headed to the market street.
The market is not big. It is a roadside stall set up by locals. They sell a variety of things, mostly second-hand furniture and daily necessities.
As the war was approaching, some people planned to move south and sell off their belongings. However, by this time of year, there were not many good things left.
Li Jungkook drove Song Lisa along the street, stopping and starting, but he couldn’t find anyone selling second-hand curtains. Instead, he saw people selling homemade gray flour cakes and green olives picked from the wild.
Li Jungkook propped up his motorcycle with one foot, stopped in front of an olive stand, turned around and asked Song Lisa : “Do you want to eat?”
“Olive?”
“Um.”
“I haven’t eaten it yet, so I don’t know what it tastes like.”
“Have a try?” he said, leaning over and pointing to a small net bag on the stall, signalling to the stall owner that he wanted that bag.
After paying the money, Li Jungkook handed the net bag to Song Lisa and drove on.
Inertia made Song Lisa lean back and then back. She took out an olive and took a bite. It tasted bitter at first, but after chewing it, the sweet and fragrant taste came out.
“It’s delicious.” She leaned over to look at him in front of her, “Would you like to have one?”
He turned around and she handed him one, and he took it and put it in his mouth.
After walking down one side of the street and then the other, he still didn’t see the curtain. When he was almost at the end, Li Jungkook saw something and stopped to ask Song Lisa , “Is that okay?”
Song Lisa took a look and saw that it was a piece of colourful cloth. After asking, he found out that it was not a curtain but a tablecloth. But when the stall owner unfolded the cloth, the size was just right, and it could be used as a curtain without any problem.
Song Lisa took the tablecloth, and the task was completed. In a blink of an eye, she saw a small green vase on the stall, about the height of a hand, with a slender neck, and the thinnest part was only the width of a thumb. Although the vase was small, it was carved with a piece of coloured glass on it, which was very delicate.
The most wonderful thing Is that there is a small yellow flower in the vase, which stands out in this chaotic second-hand market.
Song Lisa said, “Can I take a picture?”
“No problem.” The stall owner smiled.
Song Lisa climbed down from Li Jungkook ’s motorcycle and squatted down to take pictures.
Li Jungkook also got off the motorcycle, parked it, and subconsciously stood behind Song Lisa .
Song Lisa praised: “This little vase is really beautiful.”
The stall owner happily introduced: “This is not for sale, it’s my favourite. I took it with me after moving several times. Dear girl, as long as there are flowers in life, everything will be beautiful.”
“What you said is the truth.” Song Lisa looked up and smiled.
At this moment, a loud explosion suddenly came from the sky. A shell hit a building on the roadside, and bricks, stones, mud, sand and glass all flew everywhere.
Li Jungkook reacted very quickly, picking up Song Lisa from the ground in an instant, holding her in his arms and quickly retreating seven or eight meters. Before Song Lisa could understand what was happening, he pressed her head down in his arms. In an instant, he turned his back to block the flying sand and gravel.
Her heart was pounding and she looked up at him; but he had already turned his head to look in the direction of the explosion, his arms still tightly around her.
The shell landed 20 meters away, blowing up a building and injuring several people with the collapsed wall. People nearby were busy trying to rescue them.
There were no new shells coming, and Li Jungkook speculated that they were flying in the wrong direction.
He then let go of Song Lisa , but his expression was not very relaxed. He asked, “Is there anything else you want to buy?”
Song Lisa shook her head.
“Then go back first.”
“Um.”
When they returned to the field hospital, they saw more children gathered in front of the hospital, lining up to throw stones. They were chirping like a bunch of sparrows.
They actually played this little game happily for most of the day.
Song Lisa got out of the car and said, “Your invention.”
Li Jungkook replied: “Open patent.”
She pursed her lips and smiled, took off the helmet and handed it back to him: “Thank you for today.”
He took the helmet and glanced at her: “It’s okay.”
She hugged the tablecloth in her arms, looked at her car, and lowered her voice: “I’m leaving first.”
“Well,” he asked, “where do you live?”
“Comprehensive university.”
He nodded: “It’s safe over there.”
“Yeah. Then…I’ll go first.”
“good.”
Song Lisa got in the car, started it slowly, and glanced at the rearview mirror. She saw Li Jungkook still sitting on the motorcycle, looking down and fiddling with the combat gloves on his hands.
The car drove out of a street and turned a corner.
She walked across another street and saw pedestrians crossing the road. She stopped and was stunned for a while.
The person in front of her left before she realized it.
Until suddenly a motorcycle stopped in front of her window and someone knocked on her window with his hand.
Song Lisa was stunned, and immediately rolled down the window, staring at him blankly.
Li Jungkook smiled sheepishly and said, “Can you hang curtains?”
Song Lisa still didn’t know how to answer this question, so he said, “What you bought is a tablecloth, there are no holes on it. Do you have tools at home?”
She quickly shook her head, like a rattle: “No…”
So, the car and the motorcycle drove side by side, passing one street after another, and arrived at the comprehensive university.
After entering the university and passing the teaching building, Song Lisa unexpectedly saw students coming in and out, as if they were attending classes. She did not stop and walked all the way to the dormitory building.
Li Jungkook took out a roll of thin wire from under the motorcycle seat and walked into the corridor with Song Lisa .
More soldiers came down from the building.
Li Jungkook saw this and asked casually, “Are men and women living together in this dormitory?”
“…” Song Lisa stroked her hair, not knowing the truth, so she could only say, “I’m not sure, I haven’t paid attention.”
Her dormitory was on the third floor. It was a small room with a bunk bed, where people slept on the lower bunk and luggage was placed on the upper bunk. There was a table and a chair by the window, and nothing else.
Li Jungkook spread out the tablecloth, selected an edge, poked several holes evenly on the edge with a military knife, and then threaded it with thin iron wire.
He stepped onto the table on a stool and reached out to wrap the wire around both ends of the top of the window.
Song Lisa looked up at him, the red sunset shining on his tall figure, as if shrouded in a ray of light. She stood in his shadow, her body and mind were gathered, her heart was like the slightly tipsy sunlight outside the window at this moment, light and warm.
In such a chaotic foreign city, she inexplicably had the illusion of a peaceful life.
The light flashed, and she squinted slightly and tilted her head. He hung the curtains and jumped down from the table.
Li Jungkook reached out and pulled the curtains twice. They moved smoothly back and forth, so there was no problem. He also wiped the shoe prints on the table and chairs.
He looked back at her, the light of the setting sun still reflected on his eyelashes, and said, “It’s done.”
“Thank you.” Song Lisa looked away, walked forward, stretched out her hand and pulled twice. Just as she turned around to say something to him, the wall next door was suddenly hit by something.
Li Jungkook turned his head and looked at the wall in surprise and confusion, frowning slightly: “There are big rats?”
The next second, the bed board at the other end began to creak and twist.
Li Jungkook : “…”
Song Lisa : “…”
She had just closed the curtains, the light in the room was dim, and the afterglow seeped through the curtains, emitting an ambiguous and soft glow.
The sharp angles on each other’s faces melted away, making them look particularly gentle.
Their eyes met, their heartbeats became disordered, and their looks became awkward and subtle.
On the other end, the woman’s moans and the man’s heavy breathing could be heard faintly.
Li Jungkook hastily looked away and said, “It’s okay, I’m leaving first.”
Song Lisa : “…Okay.”
She couldn’t stand it any longer and just wanted to escape, so she said, “I’ll walk you to the stairs.”
The two of them quickly went out the door, away from the noises, and finally felt a little more at ease.
Song Lisa changed the subject: “Will the war only last for one or two days?”
“Yes. We will meet tomorrow night.”
“…Oh.” She thought about it for a moment after hearing this.
The man had reached the stairs and stopped.
Li Jungkook looked down the hallway, then back at her, and asked, “What are you going to do tomorrow?”
“No plans yet…” She lied again and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Aren’t you going to write a book?” He pursed his lips, a faint curve on his lips, “I’ll take you to see why Ale City is so important to the government army. Okay?”
YOU ARE READING
White Olive Tree
Romansa"Ah Jungkook, I am Lisa." No person is an isolated island, except for you. That day, he looked outside the window and saw a white olive tree in the open field. *** Reporter Song is quite different from her appearance. Reporter Song works very dilige...
