The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 83
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 83
Bada and Caroline high-fived each other and giggled.
Soon, Jacob stepped onto the empty stage, picked up the guitar placed on the floor, and stood in front of the microphone.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jacob McAllister.”
Then someone among the pub customers shouted out.
“Don’t tell me you’re that McAllister from McAllister Resort?”
“Haha, yes. That’s right, I’m that McAllister. My two younger sisters sitting here have finally reached the legal drinking age. I’d like to sing a song for these two people who have abundant potential to become future drinkers. The song title is Dean Dillon’s ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ but since America’s finest whiskey is Kentucky bourbon whiskey, I’ll sing it with modified lyrics.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd at Jacob’s witty remarks.
As if responding to this, Jacob smiled and plucked the guitar strings.
“I might slur my words since I’m drunk, so please bear with me.”
Soon after, he began singing along with the guitar melody.
“Used to spend my nights out in a barroom. Liquor was the only love I’ve known”
As his sweet voice resonated along with the lyrical guitar performance, it felt just like being at a concert hall.
“…His voice is really good.”
The song’s lyrics compared a lover to whiskey through metaphor.
The slow and smooth rhythm matched particularly well with his low and rich vocals.
Before long, even the people who had been chatting noisily were holding their breath and appreciating the performance.
Soon Jacob began singing the chorus.
“You are as smooth as Kentucky Whiskey. You are as sweet as Strawberry wine.”
People naturally began singing along with the chorus, and Bada joined in as well.
“You’re as smooth as Kentucky whiskey. Kentucky whiskey, Kentucky whiskey.”
Each time he whispered “Kentucky whiskey” with his smooth voice, for some reason his gaze flew toward Bada.
Nervous from that gaze, Bada unconsciously downed the remaining bourbon in one gulp.
‘It’s like Jacob is singing this song just for me. No, that must be my imagination. I was always treated like his sister’s friend.’
When Jacob’s song ended, people burst into cheers.
He put down the guitar, gave an awkward wave, and came down from the stage to sit at the table.
“Bro, that was really amazing. Come on, drink, drink!”
“You could even debut as a singer, couldn’t you?”
Having drunk continuously, the three of them were thoroughly intoxicated and exchanging jokes with each other.
Then, Caroline asked Jacob with unfocused eyes.
“But I’m curious about something. Jacob, you didn’t have a beard until we video called the day before yesterday, right? Why did you suddenly shave it off?”
At Caroline’s question, Bada and Jacob’s gazes met. Then he hastily averted his eyes and said.
“…Just, because it’s summer and it was hot.”
He seemed somewhat embarrassed as he ran his hand over the back of his neck.
At that moment, Bada recalled what she had said last year when the three of them were talking about their ideal types.
‘Well, I prefer men without beards!’
Could he have remembered what she said and shaved his beard?
‘No way, that can’t be.’
But her heart pounded with inexplicable hope.
The three thoroughly drunk people didn’t return to McAllister House until dawn. But even lying in bed, Bada couldn’t fall asleep as her heart kept racing.
After tossing and turning for a while, she finally went outside to get some fresh air.
As she strolled through the quiet courtyard of the house where only the sounds of insects could be heard, she spotted Jacob sitting on a wicker chair on the porch in the distance.
“Bada.”
He also noticed her and smiled. Bada approached him and sat in the chair beside him.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Me neither.”
Jacob moved his chair closer to sit right next to Bada. Then he began gazing at her with serious eyes.
The two sat on the porch with the gentle breeze and had various conversations.
Bada talked about struggling day and night to graduate from college, while Jacob talked about the horse he was currently raising.
The sound of insects filled their ears, and the dawn dew could be felt in the air.
Both were still quite intoxicated, but they were trying to act sober on the surface.
After quietly listening to Bada’s story for a while, he spoke in a serious tone.
“I actually didn’t like Kentucky summers very much.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Hot, humid, and being inland, there’s no ocean. It made my resolution to quit beer meaningless too.”
“…”
“But recently, I found myself waiting for summer to come.”
His gaze, which had been looking at the morning star, traced an arc downward and stopped on Bada’s face.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Under his serious gaze, Bada felt like her heart would burst at any moment.
She was so nervous that she couldn’t utter a single word and only nodded her head. Was this how her first love would come true?
Soon Jacob moved his chair closer. Then he gently caressed her cheek with his large, rough hand.
As his face drew closer, the rich scent of bourbon whiskey wafted over.
“…Bada.”
Under the moonlight, his gaze was fixed on her lips.
Bada slowly closed her eyes and felt his gradually intensifying warmth. Just as their lips were about to touch.
With a creaking sound, the terrace door opened.
Startled, Bada and Jacob pulled apart like children caught doing something wrong.
Through the open doorway, Caroline appeared and said.
“Ahhh, so you were all here.”
Swaying as she approached, she squeezed between the two of them and placed a bowl of popcorn on the outdoor table with a thud.
“Aren’t you all hungry? I brought corn popcorn. Hehe.”
Fortunately, the drunk Caroline didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.
Jacob and Bada exchanged awkward glances and smiled.
After leaving Kentucky, Bada often recalled that night.
Did he like her too? If so, since when?
But that flutter didn’t last long.
A few months after Bada returned to Pennsylvania, shocking news came that he was planning to get engaged.
Hearing that news, Bada was deeply shocked in her young heart.
Of course, they had only almost kissed while drunk, nothing had actually happened.
Nevertheless, the hope that Jacob might have the same feelings as her burst like a bubble.
Bada no longer had the courage to face Jacob.
The following year, Bada didn’t visit Kentucky, using the excuse of doing a summer internship in New York.
The year after that, she graduated from school, and her father’s sudden death left her in no state to think about anything else.
In the end, the last time she saw Jacob was three years ago, at Caroline’s cousin’s wedding.
Only then did Bada learn that he had neither gotten engaged nor married.
But Jacob didn’t provide any particular explanation about this.
Recalling this series of memories, Bada couldn’t hide her confusion.
Jacob’s interview on the screen sounded like a confession directed at her.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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