the wonderful colours of lipstick.

Maple leaf : 3

Chapter 3 - Maple leaf 🍁

"Sir! These handmade dolls are very cheap and beautiful, would you like to buy a few?"

"...."

" Sir! Up ahead are the famous maozhao maple sugar snacks, all freshly made. Why don't you give them a taste?"

"...."

"Sir! The stone lion is a remnant of the time the Qianlong emperor transversed the south of the Yangtze River, it's said touching the lions head gives good luck!"

"...."

Jungkook was beyond pissed. He couldn't explain his frustration in words. He sat on a bench and Lisa followed suit. She still couldn't read the atmosphere and continued, "What's up? Maozhao's maple leaves are really pretty, right? You came out here to enjoy yourself, so why not cheer up a bit?"

Jungkook was still trying to be patient with Lisa. He spoke softly with a dense voice, "Miss tour guide, I am begging you not to follow me anymore... can't you just behave like a normal tour guide..?"

Lisa still didn't admit defeat. Rather, she didn't want to admit defeat. She said, "But you don't look like a normal visitor. Your expression is withdrawn and gloomy as if the scenery doesn't interest you at all... I'm a bit concerned for you"

Jungkook lost his cool. He screamed on top of his lungs, "I AM FINE!! I AM TOTALLY FINE! SO CAN YOU PLEASE STOP PESTERING ME! CANT YOU GIVE US GLOOMY FOLKS A FEW MINUTES TO DO OUR KEEN THING?!" He backed away and started running out as far as possible, from Lisa.

"SIR... SIR..!" Lisa called out to him but to no avail. "Sir! Please wait, your bag is still on the bench!" Lisa wasted no time and carried his bag and ran towards him in an attempt to catch him.

Lisa stopped for a while to catch her breath. "That guy... runs fast..." she muttered under her breath. As she continued to walk, her hand missed the grip on the bag, making the things in the bag fall to the ground.

Lisa jumped in surprise. She started muttering a thousand sorry(s) to no one in particular. As she was picking up all his things from the ground, she noticed one particular thing that caught her eye. It was lipstick. Why is this in a man's bag? She thought. Ah... such a pretty colour... maple colour... Lisa continued admiring the lipstick, holding it above her head so that sunshine could seep through it. The lipstick had a flaming red colour, just like the mountain's maple leaves. The lipstick looked new like it's never been used before.

Lisa checked her surroundings one last time to see that she hadn't missed anything. She came across one photo on the ground. Upon looking carefully, it was him. He was smiling warmly, and next to him, was a girl who was clinging to his arms. Lisa couldn't believe it was the same person. She flipped the photograph and saw that something was written on the back.

'Park chaeyoung, don't feel lonely. One day I will return to your side. Perhaps several decades later, perhaps much sooner."

Perhaps much sooner...

She was horrified. Does he intend to kill himself...?!

Lisa once heard an elderly person say that some tourists come to scenic spots with the intention of committing suicide. But she never thought that she would encounter something like that..!

Just then, she heard something move on the other side. She jerked her head to see what it was.... and saw Jungkook standing at the edge of the cliff.

Jungkook saw the ground below the cliff. He lifted one of his legs and simply closed his eyes.

"DONT..!!!!!!"

Lisa ran towards Jungkook and hugged him from the back "Sir, I'm asking you to please rethink this! I can more or less guess that you want to end it all because your girlfriend passed away! But, Think about your family! Friends!"

Lisa hugged him more tightly and continued "This isn't ok, we can find something fun to do together! I can take you somewhere nearby for snacks, we can watch the locals perform, in short- DONT END IT ALL!!" 

Lisa was balling her eyes out, but all Jungkook could think of was her running nose, "YOUR NOSE IS RUNNING! ITS GOING TO STICK TO ME!!!"

Jungkook had enough of Lisa. He broke the hug and pointed at the cliff and said, "See for yourself! Falling to death from this small of a drip would take a special kind of a genius!! I just wanted to go down there and have a look!"

Lisa was still wailing until her eyes turned bright red. Jungkook's eyes softened. He sighed and continued, "You're so sincere. I was standing in front of a small hill for a moment, so you suspected that I wanted to kill myself?"

"I'm sorry," Lisa told in a hoarse voice, still wiping the tears with the back of her hand "It's because... my dad, he killed himself..."

Jungkook's eyes widened. Lisa continued to talk while wiping her tears "I know... I'm the type of person that cares about other people, but I'm truly afraid of seeing people in bad mood... I'm afraid there's someone amongst them who will do something irrational. I never want to see that kind of terrible thing again!" She cried clasping her hands together. She flopped down to the ground, with her whole body trembling in fear.

Jungkook's heart couldn't take it anymore. He bent over to Lisa and cupped her face, and made her look at him. Their eyes met, and with a soft and soothing voice, he said, "You were only concerned about me... my apologies..." and then, he embraced her into a tight but warm hug, in the woods of the maple trees.