Healing Sunshine

Chapter 9.3 - Inch After Inch of Time

His hand was on her head.

Lalisa turned her face to the side. For the first time, she heard his heartbeat. Because she was directly against his chest, each rhythmic beat was particularly strong. However, she could clearly sense that her heart rate was much faster than his.

With the glass still raised in his hand, Jungkook felt her hands slip around his waist and then close together, encircling him. This entire action had been done very gingerly.

Just like the time in Wellington.

Jungkook wanted to say something, but in the end, the words did not leave his lips, and instead, he simply drank the water in the glass himself. Before he had taken a couple of swallows, though, the doorbell rang. He patted her on the arm lightly. "Go tell Somi to get up and have breakfast."

Lalisa seemed as if she was startled back to awareness. Hastily, she pulled her arms back, turned around, and left the kitchen.

To her surprise, Hoseok was with Yubi this time as he stepped into the house.

Somi was genuinely tired from all her playing and fun, and feeling that this was no big matter, she simply hugged the blanket, rolled over, and carried on sleeping. After calling her a couple of times to no avail, Lalisa walked back out from the bedroom. She saw Hoseok setting the soybean milk and youtiao [savoury, fried breadstick] as well as a couple of steamed buns stuffed with red bean paste and tangsanjiao ["sugar triangle" buns] that he had bought onto plates. Hearing her stepping out, he lifted his head and took a glance at her.

"Hurry over and eat." As he said this, he picked up a steamed, red-bean-paste bun and pulled it apart. "Jungkook, I have something to do today, so I'm not going to be your chauffeur. After I've eaten, I'm going to bolt."

Only now did Jungkook step out from the kitchen, and giving an "mm" in reply, he said nothing more.

Lalisa pulled a stool over and sat down. Immediately, Hoseok pulled apart a tangsanjiao and placed it in front of her. The brown sugar inside was still hot and emitting little tendrils of steam.

"It's good for young girls to have brown sugar. After I came out from Yon Ho, I deliberately went around the corner and bought this. You have this tangsanjiao. Leave the youtiao for Jungkook to eat." He utterly had the airs of a chef allocating his dishes.

While Hoseok spoke, he took a seat beside Lalisa.

Jungkook sat across from her, and next to him was Yubi.

The two men had originally made no mention of what had occurred in the early hours of this morning, and it was actually Yubi who turned a solemn look on Lalisa and began lecturing. "From what I saw, those boys who were with the two of you aren't good people of any sort. Lalisa, when you were a kid, you seemed like you were a really good girl. How come now that you've grown up—"

"Hey! What are you saying?" Hoseok grew displeased first. "It's obvious Lili was brought there by other people."

Yubi had an expression of "I cannot even be bothered to say anymore."

The two of them were in the same orchestra, so naturally much of their schedules were the same. Hoseok was intentionally trying to guide the topic of discussion, and he transitioned the subject from the incident at the nightclub to going to Russia to perform.

Fearful that Jungkook would be angry again after hearing this dialogue, Lalisa gripped her half a tangsanjiao, stealing glances at him as she ate it.

Jungkook did not eat anything. In front of him was still that same glass of warm water. When she peeked at him, he happened to be feeling at his pants pocket. It was such a subtle action, but Yubi had already detected it. Her brows creased. "Why is it you just can't be away from your smokes? Where'd the 'three-good' student of the past, that morally-lofty and gifted student, go?"