CHAPTER 9 : Unspoken

 

“Mmm!! The food here is delicious!” Rosé exclaimed and slowly savored the food in .

 

“Free food is always delicious.” Jennie added. “Especially when it’s on the 20^th floor. I’ve never eaten something so high.”

 

“Wow I didn’t know you were capable of a pun, Jennie.” Jisoo told.

 

“The owner of this restaurant is nice enough to treat us a meal for getting rid of that 4Minute gang.” Lisa then dropped the spoon on the floor. “Oops…”

 

“Aww… Let me help you pick that up.” Rosé picked Lisa’s spoon up.

 

“You can defend yourself against quick enemies, but you can’t hold a spoon properly? Really?”

 

Jisoo then nudged Jennie. “Quiet, Jennie! Let them do their thing!”

 

“Let me feed you.” Rosé scooped some rice from Lisa’s plate and fed it to Lisa.

 

“Oh, my shipper heart!!” Jisoo cringed and gripped onto the closest thing to her, which happened to be Jennie’s hand.

 

“…” Jennie merely looked on as Jisoo grabbed her hands tightly.

 

After a moment of realization, Jisoo let go of Jennie and continued eating as if nothing happened. “S-Sorry.”

 

“Ate something spicy?” Rosé asked Jisoo.

 

“Your face is red.” Jennie chuckled.

 

“No, it’s not!” Jisoo covered her face in embarrassment.

 

*GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*

 

All of a sudden, there was an extremely loud sound coming from the outside of the building. As the restaurant they were in was enclosed, they couldn’t tell for sure what sound was that.

 

“What the hell is that sound?” Rosé questioned.

 

*GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*

 

“…”

 

*BOOOOM*

 

The ground shook for a short moment before silence engulfed the atmosphere. Rosé questioned once again. “Seriously what the hell was that? Are they doing construction works on this building??”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Jisoo shrugged. “Well, guess it stopped.”

 

All of a sudden, a giant robot hand slammed past the concrete wall, towards their table. Jennie who was the first to notice, knocked the three of them out of the way and immediately stopped the slam with her own strength. “Grrr!!”

 

“There you are!” Bom finally voiced out from her battle robot’s speaker. She tightened the grip on Jennie’s body, squashing her in her palm and dragging her out of the building.

 

“Jennie!!” Lisa, Jisoo and Rosé panicked at Bom’s sudden attack.

 

“Grr!!!” Jennie increased her strength and managed to open the robot’s palm before knocking it out of the way with a punch.

 

As Jennie free fall through the sky, Jisoo flew down and grabbed her wrist to land her properly. “Oh, give us a break!”

 

“I’ve give you a permanent break!” Bom raised her right foot and stomped it on Jennie but the latter managed to hold her ground.

 

A lot of people started running around in panic. They didn’t understand why Bom was attacking the heroes of this city when they have just saved them from a notorious gang of bandits. “Why are you doing this!? Aren’t you the captain of the World Government!? Don’t the government care about the citizens anymore!?”

 

“…” Bom remained silent for a few seconds.

 

Another citizen voiced out. “That’s right. The captains are supposed to look out for the citizen’s safety!”

 

“CL has a message for everybody in this city.” Bom smirked all of a sudden as she aimed her gun at them. “Go to hell.”

 

As Bom released a grenade launcher at the innocent civilians, Rosé released a holy shield and managed to protect them from harm. “Phew… Just in time.”

 

Just when Bom was about to fire another grenade at them, her launcher was sliced right off the robot arm by a black shockwave. “What!?”

 

“You think I’d let you use that to hurt the innocent civilians again?” Lisa scoffed.

 

Bom smirked. “Troublesome indeed… Which is why I brought some reinforcements. Boys! Kill them all!”

 

Just then, a group of soldiers appeared out of nowhere and started shooting everybody in the vicinity. Rosé wasn’t fast enough to react as she did not expect this to happen. A few civilians already got shot before Rosé released her shield. Her shield kept the soldiers out while she went and heal the injured civilians.

 

“Tch- Your powers are annoying. I need to get rid of them.” Bom activated a gun on her right arm and aimed at them. It was the same sonar gun she used to nullify their powers before.

 

“Spread out!!” Jennie shouted. As Bom released the sonar wave, the four of them managed to hop out of the way.

 

“I’ll help to evacuate and protect the civilians. The three of you please be safe.” Rosé started leading the civilians out of the city while still keeping her shield on.

 

“Stop her!” Bom instructed her soldiers. “Kill everyone!!”

 

“We’re trying to, captain!!” The soldiers started pursuing Rosé and tried to attack every single civilian they see.

 

“I will not fail this mission.” Bom’s necklace started glowing brightly in pink. All of a sudden, her robot was engulfed in a pinkish aura too.

 

“What the hell?” Jennie frowned.

 

“Take this!” Bom released a fist on Jennie.

 

“Like hell that would work!” Jennie aimed her fist up and replied with her very own punch. Upon contact, only then Jennie felt the tremendous increase in strength in the robot’s punch. “!!!!”

 

Not even a second after that, another robot arm came from the side and swept Jennie away, causing her to crash into a nearby building. “Hahahahaha!!!!”

 

“What!? She’s more aggressive than before!” Jisoo was shocked.

 

“How can a robot of that size move so quickly!?” Lisa was surprised.

 

“This is the power of the Pink Orchid Crystal…” Bom laughed before releasing a kick at where Lisa was standing.

 

“!!!!” Lisa barely got out of that one. The tip of the robot foot grazed Lisa’s arm and that itself almost broke her arm. “Ugh!!”

 

“I’m not done yet!” As Bom was about to released a series of punches at Lisa, Jennie hopped out from the building and punched the robot arm away.

 

“Ugh!!!! You again!!” Bom was pissed. “Die!!” She stomped right on Jennie.

 

Jennie raised both her hands to stop her stomp. It was definitely much stronger than earlier. “You’re the one that’s going to die!!!!”

 

“Grr!!!” Bom increased the strength of her stomp. “Why don’t you just flatten already!?”

 

Jennie’s feet slowly sunk into the ground. Her hands were trembling a little from the amount of weight she was carrying. “The only thing that’s gonna flatten today is you and your robot!!” Jennie’s eyes turned dark red and started pushing the robot’s foot back up.

 

“Impossible! I’ve already activated the Pink Orchid Crystal!” Bom literally used her robot’s full strength to stomp Jennie but the latter seemed to be pushing her back instead.

 

Lisa got in her pose and channeled her black aura from her ring into her sword. “Let’s see if this is enough to take you down.”

 

Upon saying that, Lisa released a black aura slash at Bom’s robot body, causing it to take a step back. She then swung it again and again, releasing a barrage of shockwaves this time. The continuous attack caused the robot to slowly lean backwards. Jennie charged her red aura into her right fist and released it at the bottom of its foot, this time, knocking it over completely. “Ugh!!!”

 

Jisoo, who was flying up high noticed that the number of soldiers were at least a few hundred. “Chaeyoung can’t defend everybody with that many soldiers pursuing her… There’s only one way…”

 

“You little !” Bom slowly got back up and started swinging her robot fists at them.

 

“Wow!!” Jennie and Lisa managed to hop out of the way.

 

“Gahhh!!!” Bom released a series of gattling punches all over the ground, breaking everything in its path.

 

“Damn, she’s going crazy!” Lisa found difficulty evading Bom’s devastating gattling punches.

 

Bom’s system suddenly voiced out. “Strange object detected.”

 

“What the-” Bom turned her robot towards a building full of glass and saw the reflection of Jisoo standing on top of its head.

 

“Oops… You found me.” Jisoo showed her tongue.

 

“Get off!!” Bom started swinging her robot arms around to get rid of Jisoo but failed.

 

“Pardon me, I may need to borrow something of yours.” Jisoo placed both her hands on the robot’s head and channeled her blue aura from her bracelet onto the robot.

 

“Haaaahhhhhh!!!!!!” Slowly, the pink aura surrounding the robot was being engulfed in a blue aura from the head down to its foot. Its movements slowly became stiffer and harder to move. And then finally, it came to a complete halt.

 

Bom was utterly surprised. “What!?” She couldn’t move her robot at all. It just stopped moving.

 

Jisoo was sweating buckets from the amount of magic used to control a robot that size. That was when a smirk crawled onto Jisoo’s face. “It’s my toy now.”

 

“Impossible!!!” Bom slammed onto her control panel.

 

“Let’s give it a test drive shall we?” Jisoo stretched her body and aimed her hand on the robot’s right arm. “Right hand up!” The robot’s right hand was raised according to her magic powers. “Now left hand up.” Once again, its left hand was raised.

 

“Alright…” Jisoo aimed both her hands on the soldiers. “Now smack those soldiers away!”

 

“Stop!!” Bom shouted.

 

“Woohoo!!!” Jisoo laughed as she controlled Bom’s battle robot and smacked the soldiers away.

 

“Damn it!!” Bom desperately clicked on the buttons but nothing seemed to be working.

 

“Oh yeah!!” Jisoo continued stomping on the soldiers and punching them away. It didn’t even take a few minutes for Bom’s entire army to be obliterated completely by her very own robot. “Job’s done. Now let’s play another game. It’s called slice and dice. I’m gonna raise both robot arms to the side and Lisa will choose which one to slice off.”

 

“Stop it!!” Bom clicked on an emergency button and released an electric shock all over the robot’s body.

 

Jisoo who was standing directly on top of the robot’s head got shocked by a high voltage. “Ugh!!!” She started tottering a little. “I’m…feeling a little dizzy…” Slowly, she started losing her footing and fell off from the robot’s head.

 

“Jisoo!” Jennie ran over and caught her before she could fall onto the ground.

 

“...” Jisoo seemed like she passed out from overusing her powers.

 

Bom finally regained control over her robot. “My army………was done in by some amateurs…” Bom clenched her fist and slammed her control panel in anger. “HOW DARE YOU!! I’VE HAD ENOUGH!!” Bom flew her robot and landed a few kilometers away from the city. She then pulled out the Pink Orchid Crystal which was on her necklace and slammed it onto a compartment in her control panel.

 

“What’s she planning to do now?”

 

“I’M GOING TO DESTROY EVERY SINGLE ATOM OF THIS CITY!! ONLY THEN, THE WHOLE WORLD WILL KNOW WHAT TRUE FEAR REALLY IS!!” Bom laughed.

 

The ground started trembling. “What the hell!?”

 

“Is there an earthquake?” Lisa questioned.

 

Even with Bom standing so far away from the city, they could still feel the tremor from the pink charging aura. Rosé asked. “What the hell is that pink light!? What is she doing, Jennie!? She looks like she’s charging a blast!”

 

Even Jennie looked as shocked as the others. “I don’t know what that is! I’ve never seen it!”

 

Even Lisa started trembling. “This is bad… This is really bad… The amount of energy I feel… It could wipe out the entire city in a single blast!”

 

“It has to be one of the Pink Orchid Crystal’s abilities too.”

 

“I will stop her.” Lisa was about to step forward before Rosé grabbed her wrist.

 

“You’ll never survive that blast, Lisa. I can’t let you go…” Rosé then stepped front. “If anybody is going to protect this city, it has to be me.”

 

“Chaeyoung, no!” Lisa retorted. “I can’t let you do this by yourself! You aren’t capable of blocking out that amount of energy!”

 

“You’re right… I may not be able to block out that amount of energy.” Rosé then grabbed her White Rose Crystal on her necklace and stepped forward. “But I have faith in the White Rose.”

 

“…” Lisa was kept silent from Rosé’s confidence and faith in her crystal.

 

Rosé closed her eyes and held her White Rose Crystal on her necklace in between her palms. “Please give me the strength to protect these poor innocent people and my friends………Chaeyoung.”

 

Her eyes turned complete white as a burst of white holy energy was released from her body. Jennie was stunned. “That white energy burst… That’s the White Rose’s trigger.”

 

“Now be gone with the entire city!!!” Bom turned the shaft to its maximum and slammed on the button.

 

“Not while I’m still breathing!!!” Rosé aimed her hands towards the laser and released the largest shield she had ever created in her life. She manged to create a holy shield that covered almost the entire city, a feat that she had never done before.

 

Bom’s pink laser came in contact with Rosé’s shield with a devastating impact that split even the sky in half, causing everyone to be blinded with a bright white light.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Ah!!” A little girl wearing a white crystal necklace fell onto the ground after being pushed down by a few bullies.

 

“Where’s your money today, Chaeyoung?” One of the bullies voiced out.

 

Chaeyoung tried to move her hand around into some sign language. “[I’ve really given you all my money…]”

 

“Tch- Give us that necklace.” One of the bullies pointed at the necklace on her neck.

 

Chaeyoung moved her hands around again. “[It’s mine… I can’t give it to you.]” She was in the verge of crying because she was so scared.

 

“We don’t understand a single thing you’re doing, mute girl! Just give it to us so we can sell it for money! Do you want to get punched!?” The bully grabbed her by the collar and threatened.

 

“[Please don’t do this…]” Chaeyoung moved her hands. Her fingers were trembling.

 

“I told you to give the necklace to us!”

 

All of a sudden, a girl’s voice called out to them. “Hey! Picking on little Chaeyoung again, huh!?” It turned out to be another girl about 2 years older than Chaeyoung. She ran and stood in between them. “Chaeyoung, stay behind me.”

 

“...” Chaeyoung quietly stayed behind her.

 

“It’s you guys again…” The girl crossed her arms. “Just stay back or else.”

 

“Or else what?” One of the bullies asked. The girl was no older than any of them and definitely smaller size. “What are you gonna do to us if we don’t stay back?”

 

“...” The girl remained silent. “Well…”

 

“Go to hell!” One of the bullies hit her, causing her to fall onto the ground. As the bullies targeted Chaeyoung, the older girl threw herself on top of her. She hugged Chaeyoung tightly in her arms and shielded her from the beatings.

 

Even after a few minutes of beating, the girl was still shielding Chaeyoung. The bullies simply lost their fun from that. “Tch- It’s no fun. Let’s just go find another person to bully.”

 

After the bullies left, she finally released Chaeyoung and fell onto the ground in pain. “Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch…”

 

“[Rosé unni, you’re badly hurt.]” Chaeyoung made the sign language.

 

“Haha…” She rubbed her wounds a little. “Nah, that’s nothing. And didn’t I already told you to call me Rosé unni instead of Chaeyoung unni? People will get confused because we share the same name.”

 

“[I’m sorry, Rosé unni…]” Chaeyoung signed. “[Thank you for protecting me again. I’m a useless girl, am I? I always get you into trouble.]”

 

Rosé pulled Chaeyoung in for a hug. “You’re not useless, Chaeyoung. Please don’t say that.”

 

“...” Chaeyoung remained silent for a moment before signing. “[I promise I will be stronger next time.]”

 

“Let’s go back.” Rosé said. They made their way back to the outskirts of the city and towards a house with a huge land. There were a lot of small kids running around and playing. In front of the house was a board written ‘Exceed In Dreaming Orphanage’. “Home sweet home.”

 

Chaeyoung and Rosé were both from this orphanage. They pretty much grew up together under the care of the owner, Solji. She was the one who gave everybody their names except for Chaeyoung. Rosé was the one who gave her that name because she thought it would be fun to have somebody with the same name. When Rosé was older, only then she started adopting the name ‘Rosé’ to avoid the confusion between them. Chaeyoung was unlike the other kids. She was mute when Solji first found her as a baby on her doorstep. It was because of this disability alone, she found it hard to communicate with the others back in the orphanage. She was a complete outcast and often bullied by the others for being mute. The only people who did not make fun of her was Rosé and Solji. They were the only ones who took the initiative to learn sign languages and taught them to Chaeyoung. Rosé is like an older sister to Chaeyoung. She had sworn to protect her from all sorts of harm and would continue doing that till she day she dies.

 

“We’re back, Solji unni!” Rosé called out.

 

“Oh goodness! What happened!?” Solji was shocked to see Rosé covered in small bruises. “Come come!”

 

Rosé walked over to Solji so she could tend to her injuries. As Solji applied medication on Rosé, she flinched a little from the pain. “Ouch!”

 

Solji sighed. “Why did you get into a fight, Rosé?”

 

“They were trying to bully little Chaeyoung so I stepped up to them.” Rosé explained.

 

“[Rosé unni shielded me from the bullies because I couldn’t fight back.]” Chaeyoung signed.

 

Solji read Chaeyoung’s signs and shook her head. “You should probably stay away from that area for the time being, Chaeyoung.”

 

Rosé nodded. “Solji unni is right, Chaeyoung. You should stay away from that area.”

 

“[But my favorite cake is from that area. I promise the next time I go there, I will fight back.]” Chaeyoung signed.

 

“And how are you going to fight back?” Rosé asked.

 

Chaeyoung showed them the white necklace on her neck. “[I have this. This will protect me from all dangers.]”

 

Rosé rolled her eyes. “You kept on telling us that. That’s nothing but a piece of white rock that you found, Chaeyoung.”

 

“...” Chaeyoung blinked at the white crystal on her necklace. “[It has powers to protect people.]”

 

“Says who?” Rosé asked.

 

“[Says me.]” Chaeyoung pointed at herself.

 

“No, it doesn’t.” Rosé shook her head.

 

Solji then stopped Rosé. “Rosé, if Chaeyoung believes that piece of rock has powers, then let her think that way. Don’t prove her wrong, alright?”

 

“Fine.” Rosé shrugged.

 

Chaeyoung clapped her hands once. “[Oh yeah! My birthday is tomorrow. Are we going out to celebrate?]”

 

“Uhm…” Rosé looked at the bruises on her arm.

 

Solji blinked. “Really? You’re gonna go out with all these bruises on your arms?”

 

“[Just wear long sleeves.]” Chaeyoung suggested.

 

“What about this one? I look like a panda.” Rosé pointed at the bruise on her eye.

 

“[But it’s my birthday. I want to go out and play. Please??]”

 

“Alright, fine.” Rosé nodded.

 

The very next day, Rosé and Chaeyoung hung out for almost the entire day. Solji couldn’t come along because she had to take care of the other kids in the orphanage. Almost their entire day was spent in the shopping mall. They bought a lot of stuff, they ate a lot of food and played a lot of games in the arcade. Little did they notice that it was already very late at night.

 

“[Today is the best day ever!]” Chaeyoung exclaimed with her extreme hand gestures.

 

Rosé giggled a little. “Well, it’s your birthday so of course it’s the nest day ever.”

 

“[Thanks for winning this rabbit plushie for me, Rosé unni.]” Chaeyoung hugged the plushie tightly as they walked by the side of the road..

 

“No biggie. It’s your birthday so I should get you something.” Rosé smiled. Just then, her phone rang and picked it up. “Hey, Solji un-”

 

“Do you know what time it is?” Solji intercepted.

 

“Well…” Rosé couldn’t think of any excuse. “It’s 10pm.”

 

“Right. You promised to come back an hour ago, didn’t you?”

 

“Oh, I wanted to play some games in the arcade so I dragged Chaeyoung along. Sorry about that.” Rosé told.

 

“What?? You should know better that Chaeyoung has school tomorrow. Do you want her to lose sleep?” Solji started nagging.

 

“I’m really sorry. We’ll come back now.” Rosé apologized.

 

“Alright, come back now, okay? Anyway, my phone battery is about to die off soon so I have to hang up. See you at home. Bye!” Solji hung up.

 

“Bye, Solji unni.” Rosé then hung up the call.

 

Chaeyoung then tugged Rosé’s shirt with a sad expression. “[I was the one who dragged you to the arcade. Why did you lie to Solji unni?]”

 

Rosé shrugged. “Does it even matter? I still played with you in the arcade so I’m responsible. Let’s go back home now.”

 

“…” Chaeyoung remained standing at her spot.

 

“Chaeyoung?”

 

Chaeyoung looked back at Rosé and started moving her hands. “[Rosé unni, you’re always covering up for me and putting yourself in trouble. I’m old enough to take care of myself. But I’m forever thankful to you for treating me so well.]”

 

Rosé felt a little touched. “You don’t have to thank me, Chaeyoung. Let’s go back.”

 

Chaeyoung nodded and smiled. “[I wonder what kind of punishment Solji unni would give us today.]”

 

“Probably house chores again.” Rosé giggled.

 

As they were crossing the road, Chaeyoung’s hand slipped and the rabbit plushie fell onto the ground. When she took a step back to pick the rabbit plushie from the ground, little did she notice a drunk driver coming her way. “!!!”

 

“Chaeyoung, look out!!!!” Rosé screamed.

 

*CRASH*

 

Everything happened so quickly. A body tumbled over the car and fell onto the ground motionless in an instant. The drunk driver panicked and immediately took off from the scene. It was a hit and run. “…”

 

Chaeyoung’s finger flinched a little. As she opened her eyes, she lifted herself slowly and held her right arm. She seemed to have suffered only a minor scratch. “Eh? What happened? I thought I was knocked down by a car?” She thought to herself.

 

She then started looking around and got the biggest shock in her life. She was sitting by the side of the road and with the look of horror in her eyes, she saw Rosé laying in the middle of the road motionless. Rosé actually knocked Chaeyoung to the side of the road and got hit by the car instead. She was bleeding from her forehead, nose and lips.

 

“!!!” Chaeyoung immediately ran over and nudged Rosé again and again.

 

“[Help!!!!]” She wanted to scream for help so badly but her voice just couldn’t come out. Besides, there was nobody around to help her too. She tried messaging Solji with her phone but she just remembered that Solji said her phone battery had just died. With that, Chaeyoung carried Rosé on her back despite having a much smaller and weaker body compared to the latter.

 

“Please stay safe, Rosé unni! I’ll get you to the hospital in no time!” Chaeyoung kept on telling that to herself in her mind. Rosé’s blood smeared all over her shirt but that didn’t stop her at all. She continued using all her strength to carry Rosé to the nearest hospital which was about a kilometer away.

 

By the time she reached the hospital, Chaeyoung was completely fatigued and panting like somebody who was suffering from asthma. Her clothes were almost smeared completely with Rosé’s blood and soaked in her own sweat. Rosé was brought into the emergency unit right away to stop her excessive blood loss. Chaeyoung grabbed the doctor and cried desperately while making her hand gestures. “[Please don’t let anything happen to Rosé unni! I have money! Take it all!]” She started emptying her pockets for every single coins she had left and forced it upon the doctor. “[Please! She CAN NOT DIE!]”

 

“That girl is in a very critical condition, doctor! She’s losing a lot of blood! We don’t have her blood type in stock yet!” The nurse cried out. “She needs blood transfusion right now or she’s not going to make it!”

 

Hearing that made Chaeyoung panic. “[Take my blood. We have the same blood type.]” She nudged the doctor again and signed vigorously while showing both her arms. “[TAKE MY BLOOD! I’LL GIVE YOU ALL MY BLOOD!]”

 

The doctor understood sign language. “I know you’re trying to help, but you’re a very young girl and you seem to be very out of breath. Are you sure about this?”

 

“[Yes, I’m very sure!]”

 

“Alright, come with me. I’ll do a quick check up on your blood type.” The doctor immediately rushed Chaeyoung into his room.

 

It took only about 2 minutes for the doctor to check Chaeyoung’s blood condition because of the seriousness of the situation. “[I can give her my blood right?? Right!?]”

 

The doctor sighed a little. “Son Chaeyoung, you do have the same blood type as Park Chaeyoung but you were born with an anemic disease. It’ll be very risky to do a blood transfusion. Your red blood cells doesn’t regenerate as well as a normal human does. If you do this, your body will become permanently weak. We need the consent of both your parents.”

 

“[I’m an orphan, doctor! I have no parents! The only person in contact is Solji unni

and her phone just died!]” Chaeyoung knelt down and started crying. “[I beg you, doctor! I’m the reason she got into an accident! I’m the one who should be in there, not her! Please! I cannot let her die! I BEG YOU!!! I’LL DO ANYTHING!!]” Chaeyoung actually knew in fact that she had this anemic disease a long time ago and didn’t tell anybody except for Solji and Rosé about it, but as of now, saving Rosé was her top priority.

 

“I…” Even the doctor was in a dilemma. If he were to allow Chaeyoung to do a blood transfusion to Rosé, Chaeyoung’s life would be the one in danger instead.

 

Streams of tears kept flowing down Chaeyoung’s face. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. The doctor finally shook his head and came up with the conclusion.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

Rosé’s finger twitched. Her eyes slowly opened and started looking around. The first thing she saw was her casted right leg. Her right leg seemed to be broken but it would only be a matter of time till she heals completely. The next thing she saw was Chaeyoung sleeping soundly by her bedside with her right hand gripping onto hers. Rosé then noticed Chaeyoung’s white necklace around her own neck.

 

Seeing Chaeyoung sleeping soundly, she ruffled her hair softly. “…”

 

Rosé’s action made Chaeyoung open her eyes and looked back at Rosé. As soon as they made eye contact, Chaeyoung’s eyes became watery. She grabbed Rosé’s hands and started sobbing before making the sign. “[You’re awake finally, Rosé unni. I’m so happy. The necklace really did protect you from harm.]”

 

“Yeah… Maybe it did have powers after all.” Rosé said as she started removing the necklace. “Here, I’m giving it back to you.”

 

Chaeyoung stopped Rosé. “[No no. I’m giving it to you. You need it more than I do.]”

 

“You’re giving me this necklace? Thanks… Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Rosé asked.

 

“[Why would you be asking me this question? You were the one who got knocked down by a car, not me. I’m fine.]” Chaeyoung signed.

 

The fact that Chaeyoung was wearing a hospital gown bothered Rosé badly. “W-Why are you wearing a hospital gown, Chaeyoung?”

 

“...” Chaeyoung remained silent.

 

Rosé then placed her palm on Chaeyoung’s face and frowned. “Why is your face so pale?”

 

“...” Chaeyoung shifted her face away.

 

Only then, realization hit her. “Did you ask the doctor to transfuse your blood to me?”

 

Chaeyoung shook her head and moved her hands. “[No I did not.]”

 

“Don’t lie to me, Chaeyoung.” Rosé told.

 

“[I’m not lying.]” Chaeyoung insisted.

 

“Then why are you wearing a hospital gown?”

 

“[They told me all visitors have to wear this.]”

 

“You’re lying. You transfused your blood to me, didn’t you?” Rosé looked a little angry. “I’m going to call the doctor.”

 

“[You were dying, Rosé unni! I couldn’t let you die!]” Chaeyoung finally revealed.

 

“He should have known better than to use your blood! You have a disease!” Rosé raised her voice. “Your body can’t handle it!”

 

Chaeyoung moved her hands. “[It wasn’t his fault. I was the one who begged him to transfuse my blood to you.]”

 

“Even though you know you have a very low chance to live long?”

 

Chaeyoung smiled and nodded. “[You’ve done so much for me, Rosé unni. It’s about time I do something for you too.]”

 

“But with the cost of your own health?” Rosé’s eyes started tearing up.

 

Chaeyoung wiped Rosé’s tears off. “[Please don’t feel bad about it, unni. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even be alive today. You’ve already helped me prolong my life for a long time. Besides, I don’t feel sick at all. I’ll heal up pretty soon.]”

 

“Chaeyoung… I really don’t know what to say…” Rosé was touched.

 

“[You don’t have to say anything. Just take some rest for now. I can’t wait to play with you again once you get discharged.]” Chaeyoung smiled.

 

Rosé got discharged about a week after her successful blood transfusion. Solji and Chaeyoung picked her from the hospital that day. She had to use crutches for another month before her leg heals completely.

 

“I’m still thankful for what you’ve done for me, Chaeyoung. I wish there is something I could do.” Rosé told.

 

“[You can get me a gift though.]” Chaeyoung smirked.

 

Rosé giggled. “Sure. Is there something that you like?”

 

“[Yes, I do actually.]” Chaeyoung ran over towards a hat store and pointed at the beanie that is trending among teenagers right now. “[I’ve always wanted a beanie. It’s the newest fashion trend.]”

 

“How cute.” Rosé giggled. “Sure, I’ll buy you one.”

 

Chaeyoung clapped her hands excitedly as she wore the new beanie that Rosé bought for her. “[Thank you so much, unni! I’m very happy.]”

 

Solji merely shook her head and smiled. “You’re spoiling her too much, Rosé.”

 

“What? She saved my life. I can buy her a hundred beanies too.” Rosé giggled.

 

“A hundred beanie. Right, and with whose money?” Solji crossed her arm and tapped the bottom of her foot.

 

Rosé shrugged. “Uhm… Haha… Yours?”

 

Ever since that day, Chaeyoung had been using the beanie almost every day and bragged about it to everybody eventhough nobody understood the message she was trying to convey. She was really happy and proud of it. She started running around and playing once again. She seemed to have regained her health completely. That of course made Rosé happy… But that happiness didn’t last forever.

 

When Chaeyoung was running around, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and started covering . “…”

 

“Chaeyoung?” Rosé noticed something was wrong.

 

Suddenly, Chaeyoung started gagging as if she wanted to vomit and immediately went to the toilet to relief herself. “…”

 

Rosé rushed towards the toilet and asked in a concerned manner. “What’s wrong, Chaeyoung? Why did you vomit?”

 

“[I’m fine. I ate something wrong, I guess.]” Chaeyoung signed.

 

“…” Rosé did not believe it one slight bit. Chaeyoung looked a little too weak for a simple ‘I ate something wrong’. She was hiding something and Rosé knew it. She pulled her beanie off without any hesitation. What Rosé saw made her covered as tears streamed down her face. “…”

 

Chaeyoung had lost most of her hair on her head. That was the real reason why she wanted a beanie. That was the real reason she had been wearing it every day. “[I’m fine, Rosé unni. It’s just some hair loss.]” Chaeyoung signed and wore the beanie back on her head.

 

Rosé immediately pulled Chaeyoung in for a hug and cried. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier!?”

 

“…”

 

Chaeyoung had never regained her health actually. In fact, her body had been weakening day by day. She merely pretended to be healthy just so that nobody would stay worried about her. You can lie about your health for a short amount of time but you can’t do it forever. In just less than two months, she could barely gather enough energy to walk already. She started developing different illness in her body. Even after Solji brought her to the hospital a couple of times, none of the doctors could do anything to help. Her immune system was already on an all-time low. All Chaeyoung could do now is just wait for her time to come.

 

Rosé knocked on Chaeyoung’s door. “Chaeyoung, do you want to hang out in the backyard?”

 

“…”

 

“Chaeyoung?” Rosé stick her ear on the door to hear out for some footsteps but it was dead silent.

 

“…” There was no footsteps at all.

 

“Chaeyoung!!” Rosé raised her voice and tried to open the door but it was locked. She started to become worried.

 

“…”

 

“Damn it!” Rosé took a few steps back and attempted to ram the door open.

 

As Rosé reached the door, it opened by itself, causing her to tumble onto the floor instead. “Ouch!”

 

There Chaeyoung stood by the door, blinking her eyes at Rosé. “[What are you doing, Rosé unni?]”

 

“Oh, you’re fine.” Rosé giggled a little and lifted herself up. “What took you so long to answer the door?”

 

“[I was just writing something.]”

 

Rosé sighed. “Thank god… So do you want to take a walk at the backyard?”

 

Chaeyoung smiled and nodded. “[Sure.]”

 

It was a beautiful evening. The sky was a blend of orange and dark blue. They both sat on their respective lazy chair and admired the sunset. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?”

 

“[It is. But Rosé unni is prettier.]” Chaeyoung smiled.

 

Something about Chaeyoung’s comment made Rosé’s heart sunk when she looked at her. Was it because of the heavy eyebags on her eyes? Was it because of the amount of weight she had lost? Was it because of the cheerful expression on her face despite the circumstances? Rosé simply couldn’t figure it out.

 

Chaeyoung tapped on Rosé’s shoulder and started a conversation. “[Do you remember that time when we played in the rain, and we got punished by Solji unni after that?]”

 

“Oh yeah.” Rosé giggled. “She made us do all the house chores for a day. I felt like Cinderella. That was a good memory.”

 

Then silence engulfed the atmosphere. Both of them watched the sunset silently and stole a few glances at each other. Chaeyoung then broke the silence once again.

 

“[Rosé unni…]” Chaeyoung tapped on Rosé’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“[I know this is random, but do you believe in reincarnation?]” Chaeyoung signed.

 

“Right, that’s really random.” Rosé giggled a little. “And yeah, I do believe in reincarnation.”

 

“…” Chaeyoung smiled and nodded like a little kid.

 

“Let’s not talk about that.” Rosé tried to change the topic. “The air today is pretty refreshing, right Chaeyoung?”

 

“…” Chaeyoung’s eyes were closed but she was still wearing a smile on her face.

 

“Right?” Rosé asked again.

 

“…”

 

“…” Tears started welling up in Rosé’s eyes. “Chaeyoung?”

 

“…”

 

“Please?” Her fingers started trembling.

 

“…”

 

“…”Rosé slowly swiped Chaeyoung’s bangs to the side and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

 

Chaeyoung didn’t make it through that evening. She succumbed to her illness and died peacefully while watching the sunset with Rosé. Her funeral was attended by a lot of people the next morning. Even the few boys who used to bully her attended her funeral. They were the ones who cried the most. Rosé was the only one who did not attend Chaeyoung’s funeral despite being the one closest to her and also the one who was with her till her last breath.

 

After the funeral service was over, Solji immediately came back to the orphanage and head to Rosé’s room. “Rosé?” Solji’s head popped out of the door. She looked concerned.

 

“...” Rosé remained silent, sitting on the bed despite being called out.

 

“...” Solji sighed and sat beside her before putting her arms around her. “Are you ok, sweetie?”

 

“Yes.” Rosé nodded softly.

 

Despite Rosé saying that she was alright, Solji knew that she wasn’t. She raised her enough to know. “You can cry if you’re sad.”

 

“I’m not crying nor am I going to cry…” Rosé insisted. “How did it go?”

 

“Everything went fine. She was buried peacefully.”

 

“Why didn’t you want to attend her funeral? I thought you both were inseparable?” Solji asked.

 

“I was the reason she died. I don’t deserve to be there.”

 

Hearing that made Solji’s heart sunk. “She died of an incurable disease, Rosé… Nobody could have protected her.”

 

“She gave her blood to me.” Rosé replied.

 

“That’s because she loved you more than anybody else, Rosé. Nobody could have stopped her that time. She didn’t even hesitate.”

 

“...” Rosé remained silent and rubbed her eyes a little.

 

“I know you love Chaeyoung a lot and that you need time to digest all that’s happening.” Solji patted Rosé’s head. “Help me clean up Chaeyoung’s room. We’ll donate some of her stuff for the less fortunate.”

 

“Okay.” Rosé nodded.

 

There were so many memories left behind by Chaeyoung, from her journal to her plushies. Just looking at the things that once belonged to Chaeyoung made Rosé wanted to tear up so badly. Solji started cleaning up her shelf while Rosé reached for Chaeyoung’s drawer first. As soon as she opened it, there was an unopened letter in the drawer which was written ‘To Rosé unni’ on it.

 

“Why would a letter for me be in Chaeyoung’s room?” She thought to herself and started reading it.

 

Rosé felt her hands losing energy as the letter slipped off her fingers and falling onto the ground. Gripping onto the white crystal on the necklace tightly, she ran past Solji and straight out the door, heading somewhere in a haste.

 

“Rosé, where are you going!?” Solji didn’t even get to ask Rosé properly. “What’s up with that girl?” Confused with Rosé’s sudden action, Solji picked up the letter that Rosé dropped and started reading it. It was a letter from Chaeyoung before she died. As soon as Solji started reading it, her fingers started trembling.

 

 

Dear Rosé unni,

 

It’s me, the cute little Chaeyoung. Hah! You’re messing around with my drawer, aren’t you? I caught you red handed! I’m telling Solji unni about this! Haha. I’m just kidding. If you’re reading this letter, I would already be gone from this world and you’re probably just cleaning my desk.

I am sorry for all the times I’ve been a trouble for everyone. I was born mute. I can’t speak like the other kids. I can’t laugh like the other kids. Nobody would know if I was crying in my room or not. Everybody made fun of me because of that. You and Solji unni troubled yourselves to teach me sign languages just so that I won’t be treated like a total outcast. I’m sorry for that.

That wasn’t the only thing about me. I was born with an anemic disease that made my body weaker than the others. Because of this fact, you had always been protecting me from everyone. I felt useless everytime I’m being protected. But that wasn’t the case anymore. I’ve finally proven that I can be brave and useful too.

I’ve pretty much lived my life happily and I have to say I’m so lucky to be under Solji unni and your care. I only have one regret, though. Which is not being able to tell you just how much I love you and Solji unni with my own voice. But who am I to wish for something that will never happen. You both know how I felt right? Hehe…

Now that I’m gone, you don’t have to take care of me anymore. The one who you should take care is actually Solji unni. She only acts like she is strong in front of everyone. I can tell that she had been undergoing a lot of stress everyday taking care of everyone in the orphanage. Maybe you can convince her to hire some workers to help her? Then maybe she’ll feel better.

Oh, you’re still keeping the necklace with you right, Rosé unni? I hope you will use it to protect everybody and shine everybody’s path. I used to think that this necklace was the one providing me the warm positive light that I need whenever I was down. I was wrong. It wasn’t the necklace who made me feel this way. It was you, Rosé unni. The brightest light in my life had always been you. The light in my darkest times. And I hope someday, you will be somebody else’s light too.

I’m going to end the letter right here, but I have one last question to ask you, unni.

If reincarnation really does exist, will you be my real sister in the next life?

 

Forever your cute little stepsister,

Son Chaeyoung

 

 

Solji lost all the strength in her legs as she fell on her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. “Chaeyoung……my baby girl…”

 

The sky was dark and it was raining heavily. Rosé stood in front of Chaeyoung’s grave for the first time and let the rain wash away the tears on her face. “Please forgive me, Chaeyoung!!” Rosé then fell onto her knees and began to cry with the force of a person vomiting.

 

The white crystal on the necklace started glowing brightly from the cries of her heart. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” It then released a burst of light energy from her scream of agony. The rain stopped almost immediately and the sun started shining brightly at her. “W-What was that?” 

 

Then she could almost hear a calm and gentle voice whispering into her ears. “Have faith…”

 

“A voice…” Rosé wiped her tears as she looked at her white glowing crystal. “Chaeyoung…”

 

“Have faith…” Once again, the words echoed into Rosé’s ears.

 

“Have faith…” Rosé gripped onto the white crystal hard and got back on her feet. “I will not let you down, Cheyoung. If protecting people is what this necklace can do then I’ll do it for you. Rest in peace, my little sis.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“RRAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Rosé screamed her lungs out.

 

“What!? This can’t be!!” Bom was surprised that Rosé’s shield was getting larger and stronger. It was actually pushing her powerful laser blast back. “This blast is supposed to destroy even the holy shield from the White Rose Crystal!!”

 

“There is no way I will let anybody get hurt! I will protect everyone! You’re the one who should die!!!” Rosé released another burst of light energy from her body, this time, bouncing the pink blast back towards Bom.

 

“What!? No!!!” The blast returned and hit Bom’s robot instead, resulting in a huge explosion that shook the entire city.

 

Rosé then lost strength in her entire body and fell straight onto the ground. Her shield went off right away. “I did it… I protected everyone…”

 

The remaining citizens started cheering all over again. “Heroes!!! They protected us again!!”

 

“Yes!! You did it, Chaeyoung!” Jennie cheered.

 

Lisa ran over and hugged Rosé tightly. “You did good, Chaeyoung. You did good…”

 

“The premonition…” Rosé remembered a premonition she had about the city destroyed and Lisa dying. “Did I…change the future?”

 

Lisa smiled. “Probably.”

 

“But why……why do I still feel so uneasy?”

 

CHAPTER 9 : Unspoken

END