What could be more blissful than having your best friend back in town. For Yuko, Rosé being back meant having a part of her life back. Their friendship went way back to when they were in elementary school. Yuko had just transferred to Australia and her life was hell with no friends and no family. That’s probably why their friendship ran deep. They met in a park and immediately became friends, with Yuko later learning that they attended the same school but different classes. 

 

Yuko had never appreciated her mother for sending her out to study alone at such a young age but had she not sent her, she wouldn’t have met Rosé and for this, she thanked her mother everyday. While in Australia, Rosé lived with her parents whereas Yuko was a boarding student. Nevertheless, Rosé never let her spend her holidays alone. She was always welcome to join their family at any time. 

 

It was in their middle school days that they decided they wanted to go to Korea to study. They had made the arrangements, only for Rosé to be held back by her parents. So once again, Yuko was the only one leaving. But they never lost touch and Rosé made up to her by coming to visit her in Seoul whenever she could. So that’s why she treasured moments such as this because this meant she was going to be with her best friend.

 

—

 

Yuko

 

I was excited, really excited to say the least. I had been waiting out here for an hour already now but there’s no sign of Rosé. I had dragged along Tzuyu who had groaned all the way about her lost sleep. I was finally going to be able to see Rosé after six long months and boy, was I excited.

 

It’s never hard not to notice Rosé. She always made sure to steal all the attention. Rosé, in all her glory, walked down the airport as if it were her personal runway. She was sporting pink hair and it really stood out. Even I was in awe for a moment. I quickly jumped up and down to get her attention and succeeded. Rosé was smiling too. We immediately squealed once we hugged each other for the longest time. This might be one of my happiest moment ever. 

 

Tzuyu was right behind me and after we were done, she quietly got up to hug Rosé.

 

“Bish!!!!! I missed you. Do you know how many things I have to tell you. Oh! I’m so excited. And I also have so many things to show you. There’s-“

 

“Baby, baby! Calm down “ Rosé laughed, holding me down. I guess I got too excited.I quickly nod and then look at her, reeling her in for a hug. Gawd I missed her. The two of us are still in each other’s embrace when Tzuyu interrupts us by coughing. I guess we got carried away. We could be like this sometimes and it often made people think we were gay. Not that we minded though.

 

I take her luggage from her and we head to the cab. Tzuyu takes the front seat and we occupy the back. 

 

“Rosé! Ahhh! “ I squeal and I guess she understood cause she doesn’t question me and  instead holds my hand.

 

“I’m excited too, Yuko. But this jet lag is making a little sick. So-“

 

“Ok fine. You can rest. “ I say as I let her lean on my shoulder. The rest of the ride was spent with Rosé sleeping. I woke her up when we reached my apartment. She went back to sleep while Tzuyu and I set ourselves to cook. By the time it was done, Rosé had already gotten up and washed herself. 

 

“So Rosé, any hot news”. I grin, stuffing my mouth with the rib-eye Tzuyu had made. She slaps my arm to warn me about talking and eating together. Tzuyu and her mannerisms.

 

“Oh I do. A lot.” She responds and then grins..

“Do you remember Mr lee?” 

 

“The one who married the pharmacist’s daughter?” I ask. Oh this is going to be juicy.

 

“Yes him! Ok so ummm apparently, he got married to lily because she could sponsor his studies and stuff. But in reality, he was already married and even had a kid back here.” I could only gasp. Lily was such a darling. She didn’t deserve this.

 

“So umm, his wife and kid came to visit him because he wouldn’t answer the phone and when they came, they were in a shock for their life. But the saddest thing is, lily committed suicide after she found out because she loved him.” She says and even Tzuyu is in a shock.

 

“Oh that douchebag! I never liked him because he looked so creepy. What happened after that?”

 

“Well her father sued him for fraudulent charges and he won the lawsuit.” 

 

“As he should.” I say and she nods in agreement. “But that aside, there’s a barbecue party and I was wondering if you two wanna tag along?”

 

“Totally! You know I love me some meat.” Rosé says, making me laugh at her.

 

“I can’t. Mina unnie wants to meet up before I leave.” Tzuyu says and I nod.

 

“Well that’s too bad then. I hear there’s both meat and .” I shrug, earning a smack from Tzuyu once again while Rosé laughs at my arse.

 

—

 

The days went by quickly, with me dragging Rosé everywhere. It was only a matter of time before she leaves again and I wanted to make the best out of it. Sunday was approaching fast so we even went to shop for our fit for the day. I settled for dungarees while she went with shorts and a crop. We bought matching shoes and boy did I love it.

 

Tzuyu had been preparing to leave for China and I even bought gifts for Aunty and Chenle. Since my school was to start soon, I bought stuffs that I didn’t even need and I enjoyed every moment of it. Rosé had been a part of this journey and I loved it. 

 

—

 

“Yuko! Come out fast. Goodness. Even Tzuyu has left!” Rosé says, her hands on her waist. She had been all antsy all morning. 

 

“Just a sec. I’ll be right out” I scream.

 

“You’ve been saying that for a while now”.  She says, clearly exasperated.

 

It takes me five more minutes to get ready and I’m up and out. We, meaning Rosé and I, Mark, Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun had planned to meet before we left for the get together ( Mark had insisted it wasn’t a party.)

 

—

We take our time to walk to the destination where we were meeting. It’s as if the universe hate me though. We crash into Jaehyun and his new girlfriend. I think she’s Sana.

 

“Oh hey! Yuko. I missed you man. How have you been.” Jaehyun says, coming in for a hug.

 

“Jae. We just met last week.” 

 

“And who’s this lady?” Jaehyun asks, eyeing Rosé.  I had never bothered to introduce him to her because I knew he’d ask me to patch them up. That’s how it always was with him.

 

“My bestie. She’s taken though” I say smuly. Jaehyun just smirks before taking their leave. One things for sure, Sana is not making it through the week.

 

After they leave, Rosé looks at me. She knows I like him. She’s the only one who knows and she doesn’t judge. My heart aches a little but I’m sure I will get over it.

 

“Are you good, Yuko?” Rosé asks and I can see the concern in her eyes. I don’t want her to see me like this. I feel disgusted with myself all of a sudden.

 

“It’s really no-“ 

 

“Hi noonas.” Jaemin winks and we laugh at him flirting. That dude sure knew how to catch a lady’s heart.

 

“I’ll tell you later” I whisper.

 

“Oh don’t listen to him.” Mark says and following behind him are the other boys.

 

“I don’t even know why you insist on buying him gifts, noona. Tyong hyung wouldn’t mind.”

Renjun says as if it’s the most logical thing.

 

“But I do.” I say and hold Rosé. If we’re buying gifts, we should do it right.

 

“How about we write something for him. Like thank you for inviting us. We appreciate the thought. And then maybe add dreamies the love.” Haechan says, his eyes lighting up at his idea.

 

“What is dreamies?” Rosé whispers 

 

“Ahh. It’s a name they insisted that we call them. Apparently it’s dreamies because they’re all dreamlike”. I whispered back and she nods.

 

“Hey shouldn’t it be Is Love?” Mark asks and Haechan looks offended. 

 

“There’s a lot of difference. I mean, for all we know , he could get the wrong idea.” Mark adds.

 

“Ahh Canada!” Haechan exclaims and we all burst out in laughter. Haechan always did this whenever he was at a loss for words. And then he adds, “Here is Korea man, don’t forgot,” making us lose our s.

 

—

I quickly usher them to the mart so we can buy some stuffs. Time was running out and if this Taeyong guy wanted us to come, we had to give something nice right. The boys went off on their own to buy some cards because apparently what Haechan suggested seemed like a good idea to them. Rosé and I settle for a meat box and some juice. We assumed that there must be alcohol so it wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t bring.

 

The boys are done selecting their cards and just as were about to leave, we hear a familiar voice.

 

“Is there cheese? Cheese? Mozzareldu” the boy comes. Rosé laughs at his cuteness.

 

“Here come the cheese boy.” Mark says as Jungwoo dramatically enters

 

“Do you like cheese ? I like cheese. Do you know mozzareldu?” He continues asking. Behind him is Winwin, quietly coming in. I blush at the sight of Winwin and Rosé notices.

 

“Yes cheese boy. Everybody does.” Renjun says. 

 

“Hyung, are you also going to Tyong hyung’s place?” Jeno asks after he sees a wheel of Parmesan in his hand.

 

“Yep! Taeyong hyung wants us to come ASAP!. As soon as possible.IDKWTD!  I don’t know what to do~” Jungwoo says, dramatically flailing his arms again. God. It won’t be Jungwoo without the dramatics though.

 

“Aww now he’s just spurting nonsensical stuffs” I say. “Come on! Let’s go”

 

“Yea!! Let’s get it” jungwoo dabs and runs and we follow right behind.

 

—

 

Jungwoo was a really cute guy and everyone around him would agree without a doubt. He would often make people laugh and it was no big surprise when he showed up dressed up as Rose from the Titanic on Halloween. He surely looked pretty and stole everyones attention. Not to mention that he even got the Halloween’s freak queen.

 

When yuko met him, she thought he was a girl and she fell in love. She went over to tell him how pretty he looked only to get the shock of her life. Since then, they had been great friends, even though they weren’t in the same class.

 

Seeing him during the holidays made up her mood and she was happy to see him again. She introduced Winwin and Jungwoo to Rosé and like her, they hit it off. As they approached Taeyong’s house, excited filled the air. What could be better than friends and meat, right.

 

Mark rings the bell and some guy opens the door. We slip in one by one and when it’s finally my turn, I put on my biggest smile and give him the gift. 

 

“You didn’t have to bring this Yuko.” He smiles. He knows my name? Wait he sounds so familiar. I squint to get a better look at him through the dim lighting of the house. And that’s when it struck me. How could I forget about him? This is so dumb of me. Rosé is staring at me now. I guess I looked dumb.

 

He was the Lee Taeyong. 

 

We went to the same junior school!