Hours had long passed since she left and Jungkook was still sitting on the floor of his bedroom, welcoming the comfort the darkness provided.

The automated message repeated the same sentence over and over for what may have been hundreds or thousands of times as Jungkook sat on the floor surrounded by the remnants of memories from the night before.

The robotic voice continued to mock him, saying it was all his fault and that he deserved to be broken and alone. Just like Lisa had felt when he had broken her heart and left it shattered in small shards of unbearable pain.

He had made his proverbial bed and there was absolutely no way he could not lie in it.

But that was weeks ago.

__________________________________________

It had been well over three weeks and Lisa for her part had kept to her word and emailed her boss every day, never extending anything other than she was ok.

That was all he needed to know, that she was fine and healing, not drowning in sorrow over some ungrateful young man who did not value the importance of his most treasured idol.

He trusted Lisa to the point of allowing her the further extension of leave she requested.

Besides, he was having far too much fun watching his competition squirm as BH tried their best to clean the biggest scandal to have ever hit headlines in South Koreas history.

Lizkook phenomenon was busting at the seams and to be honest with himself he was surprised at the extremely huge influx of emails, letters and cards to YG building calling for him to protect Lisa.

They need not have bothered because Lisa was his most favourite treasure.

He wasnt about to just hand her off to some two-bit male idol who couldnt decided if he wanted a plain dull amethyst or the irreplaceable shine of a Diamond that was Lisa.

No, the longer Lisa wanted to stay away from that mess, the better.

At least for now.

_______________________________________

On the other side of the planet the morning had just begun, and Lisa found herself being lullabied awake by the beautiful sounds of singing drifting from the far end of the homestay.

It was the middle-aged owners of the villa where Lisa had been staying for the past week, the vivaciously loud Maria and her charming pot-bellied husband Stefano.

Lisa had intended to stay for a few days before moving on, however she felt a sense of home and comfort in the company of the elderly pair and she found herself inadvertently staying longer than intended.

The charming little villa was set on the green rolling hills of Florence Italy, surrounded by sprawling fields of the local vineyards.

Every morning she would stand at the second story balcony of her room and take in the peaceful quietness of the countryside that laid at her feet.

She had spent her time away from Korea roaming across the world photographing anything and everything that caught her attention.

From the tiniest fragile bud of flower in an English garden, to the wonderments in the Louvre Museum in France and the magnificent heights of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.

Everywhere she travelled she unintentionally connected everything back to him.

Jungkook would have picked her a bouquet of English flowers just to see her smile, just as he would have said she was more beautiful than Da Vincis Mona Lisa.

He would have held her hand as they both stared with wonder and appreciation at Michelangelo masterpiece on the ceilings of the Sistine chapel.

It had been a few weeks now since her departure; however, she was far from ready to return to what could be a catastrophic environment.

She knew she wasnt ready to deal with the aftermath of her leaving, and she knew she wasnt running from her problems, but rather she found herself healing.

Lisa was beginning to feel a semblance of her old self, before she ever knew or had become involved with Jungkook and his members.

It didnt escape her attention that with healing came forgiveness. Not just for Jungkook and what he had done, but forgiveness for herself.

The truth unexpectedly hit her one afternoon as she sat rested in a park under the shade of a large tree.

Young couples laying sprawled around her, huddled in their own private little worlds, whispering sweet nothings to each other followed by the soft sounds of giggles and kisses.

In that moment she wanted nothing more than to have him with her, to be able to run her fingers through his hair and watch with immense love as his eyes would shine into hers blinding her.

She wanted to feel his large hand reach to the back of her head and pull her face towards his before claiming her lips and revelling in the fact that she was his just as he was hers.

She had to forgive herself for still loving and wanting to be with him. It wasnt wrong to love, it wasnt wrong to want to be loved and it wasnt wrong to be with the one you love.

In her time away, she took time to appreciate the small normal things they had lost when they became idols.

Like enjoying a cup of coffee at a small café, or the freedom of sitting at a park enjoying the weather while people watching.

Everything she was doing or had done, he was never far from her mind and she made a mental note to visit in future, with him beside her; together.

Forgiving Jungkook was a given because Lisa knew without a doubt, that he was it for her. He was, and always will be, her greatest love.

However, Lisa also had to forgive herself for thinking he didnt love her, that yes, although he was to blame when he kissed IU causing their breakup, she should not beat herself up over leaving.

She should not feel bad for loving him.

During her stormy thoughts, she would become distant and quiet, not aware that her hosts, the elderly couple were exchanging concerned glances and try to comfort her with a gentle squeeze of her hands, often leaving Lisas vision blurry with unshed tears.

It wasnt their intention to make their young guest upset, but their years together came with an immense amount of wisdom, so they knew that Lisa was either running from someone, or from herself.

It wasnt unusual to have the odd young guest stay for a few days; however, those guests barely left the room and would often ignore the couple.

Lisa, she was different, and they knew that from the moment she smiled at them when she arrived. Her large round innocent eyes were an open book to their knowledgeable selves.

They saw a young woman who was genuine, kind, gentle, honest, and hurt. So, it didnt take awfully long for Maria and Stefano to take Lisa under their careful, watchful eyes, and it didnt take Lisa long before she was spending her days with them.

They regaled her with stories of how they met, their large growing number of great grand children down to their unwavering love for each other after 50 years of marriage.

They were completely fascinated and somewhat besotted with her exotic looks and the pair took great delight in fighting off the local Romeos who had suddenly taken to spending more than enough time loitering about the homestay.

One evening as the trio sat on the porch, Maria & Stefano were enjoying a cold glass of white wine, Lisa with a cold glass of lemonade broke the silence with a question that had Maria looking at her with a long gaze of understanding.

"How did you know you were it for each other?" Lisa whispered; her eyes trained on the condensation running down the sides of the glass, afraid to see them regard her with pity in their eyes.

Stefano stood to take a seat next to Lisa, his worn aged hands reached for the smooth softness of hers as he encased them into his own, allowing her to feel his warmth.

"Mi bambino, you love him, yes?" he asked. His voice low and gentle, seeking to comfort her cold hands despite the warm evening.

That was all it took for Lisa to break down in front of her hosts.

Raising her large round eyes to his, Stefano gently squeezed a little harder, grounding her emotions almost immediately.

An image of a happy smiling Jungkook comes to her mind.

"Yes." She managed to strangle out.

With this Maria moves to sit beside Lisa, a chubby hand makes its way to her back, rubbing gentle circles as their young guest sits between them, looking everything downtrodden.

In the week Lisa has been with them, they had grown to feel as though she was just another grandchild of theirs. With this in mind, they knew that if any of their grandchildren were facing the same dilemma, they would help in any way they can.

"Well mi amore, that is all you need."

"Nothing more, just that love hat you have for him is more than enough." Stefano continues, looking at his wife.

"You see Lisa, love is not an easy path. It never was and never will be."

Maria said while moving her hand from rubbing Lisas back to patting down her hair to tuck a strand behind her ear as Lisa continued to sniffle.

"It is a lifetime journey. One that is not always perfect and comes with many problems."

"But mi amore you have a deep love for someone that is in your heart."

"I see it in your eyes and I see it in your smile."

"Bambino, I also see it in your tears."

"And when you go home, that love, the one that is deep in your heart for that person, it will be strong and brave. We know that."

"It is the same love that has carried us for over 50 years, and you too have that same powerful love."

Maria finished, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looks at Stefano, still holding Lisas hands within his own.

"Forgive yourself Lisa. Love should never be a reason to run away." He spoke.

"Forgive yourself so that when you return to your home, you will have the heart of a Lioness who will overcome and conquer whatever it is you ran from." Stefan finished.

Silence sat between them for a few minutes before Lisa felt a chill making her shift causing the couple to gently chase her inside afraid, she would catch a cold.

It didnt escape Marias experienced eyes what Lisa had yet to find out, and it saddened her to know she would not be there when she did.

But she also knew Lisa was extremely smart, and moving with quickness that belied her age, she quickly jotted down her personal email address and placed it aside incase she forgot when it was time for Lisa to leave.

Maria and Stefano smiled to themselves as they continued to enjoy the remainder of the evening sitting quietly sipping on the remainder of the wine.

_______________________________________

At the end of her extended stay with Maria and Stefano, it was now well over 6 weeks and she was long overdue returning to Korea and her life.

There were many times Lisa wanted to ask Maria to borrow her ipad to post her photographs to her Instagram, but that would have given her location, which would have led to her being found.

So she was proud of herself for not giving in and choosing instead to spend the remainder of her extended stay with Maria learning how to make authentic Italian dishes and enjoying quiet evenings listening to Stefano tell her stories of his escapades as a young man.

Before too long, she had to return and as she stood beside the cab holding tightly onto Marias chubby hands as Stefano held her in a tight embrace, Lisa knew she would return, with Jungkook.

She could feel her mental well being was stronger as was her heart, thanks to the loving care of Maria and Stefano.

Lisa was ready to return.

"Mi amore, you let me know when, ok?" Maria said as she stuffed a piece of paper into her hand, her tears staining her cheeks as Lisa looked at her with a questioning look.

Taking a look Lisa saw an email address and she wondered what Maria meant.

"Go, go, go quick!"

"Rafael, you better drive safely if you want to live long enough to eat my spaghetti again!" growled Maria as she firmly coerced Lisa into the waiting cab.

As the taxi pulled away, Lisa turned back, her head out the window and shouted as loud as she could muster, "I WILL RETURN SOON!!!"

Lisa had come to think of them as her grandparents and looked forward to returning with Jungkook.

She waved furiously as Maria and Stefano tearfully sent her off back to her home.