love at first stop | liskook

thirty six | end-stop

A/N: I had the song "Try Again" on repeat to get the right feeling for this last chapter while writing! It's such a great song! I recommend listening to it while reading :)

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2021, NEW YORK

Lisa

"Hi, Lisa..." 

My name called in a voice I haven't heard in years. My heart thumped vigorously while heat rushed to my ears. Still in disbelief, I kept blinking at his image. Every time I opened my eyes, it was still the same toothy grin I spent months to forget.

For the past years, I did my very best to cut-off anything remotely related to the offending character in front of me. For crying out loud, I developed an undeserving hatred to all rabbits in existence!

All at once, my senses was overflowed by everything solely to Jungkook, as if it was making up for lost time.

Suddenly he reached to a strand of my hair. Bemused, I continued to lay still on the spot.

"I like what you did to your hair." Jungkook complimented my short hair. 

Reality finally coming back to me that it was in fact him in the flesh, I felt my hand raise level to his face.

*Slap*

My hand tingled from the impact on his reddening cheek. Shook from what I just did, he touched the area of his face my palm was previously on.

Fresh and old tears welled up in my eyes. "H-how dare you show up in front of me! After all these years... Why?..." I managed to roll out the words. I wanted to say more from my compiled list of questions but I knew nothing coherent will come out my lips.

All of the emotions I thought I handled eons ago resurfaced that my efforts to suppress them will only be futile. Following the million signals firing in my brain — the same ones that decide whether it was fight or flight, I fled from his grasp.

"Lisa, please! Just give me a moment." I heard him follow me behind. 

I pushed past group of foreigners and I knew they immediately sent me looks of disdain. At that point, I did not care — I'll take anything just so I'd be out of this situation right not.

Despite my hurried steps, Jungkook still managed to grab a hold of my hand and turned me around. Afraid of losing me again, his grip was tighter from before.

I faced him for the second time that day, only this time with my tear-stained face. Hurt and betrayal swirling my sight, the longing look he was giving me confused the hell out of me.

"I-It was you who left first, Jungkook." I whispered barely audible. "As you can see, I haven't done a great job at moving on." I wiped the remainder of my tears with my sleeve. "Then you just waltz back in as if nothing happened!"

His hold softened. Taking in what I said, his head hung low. After a brief moment of silence between us, our gaze connected once again.

"I was finding the right time to come back to you..." He mumbled "I know it's hard to believe but I'm in love with you, Lisa — always have, always been."

Every part of my logic was telling me not to believe a word he's saying, but the glimmering feeling that always reached my soul came back — the same one I felt every time I was with him was muddling my judgement.

Ani! Lisa, get yourself together! 

"I'm not going to fall for that again."

"If you give me a chance to explain — "