A ROSE’S SEVEN THORNS

CHAPTER 27

“Turn It Up”

TRIPLE UPDATE : MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ CH. 26

Earlier

Once finished, they looked at the guard, who opened the door. “Have fun, ladies.” The four girls bowed their heads in thanks before Wheein grabbed Jangmi’s hand and pulled her with them. Just as she was going to walk in, the security guard stopped them. “Who’s this?”

Wheein winked at Jangmi before looking back at the guard, “She’s Mamamoo’s plus one.” The security guard looked at her before he nodded and jerked his chin, “Go on in, enjoy.”

Jangmi at the club, take two.

•••

The club was just as wild as the last one, Haze. But this one, Club Mal, felt different. It felt as if there were less people. Now don’t get confused, it wasn’t like there was only a few handfuls of people. There were a lot of people, but it felt more exclusive.

Like at Haze, there hadn’t been a list to even get in. It was just if you were lucky, you got in. And Taehyung had told her that the regulars, which BTS had been, got in before the line. But here, there was a list and then they had to confirm their identities. Jangmi was a little confused.

And she let her cousin know that.

“What the heck was that?” She asked Wheein as they settled down at a table towards the back.

Wheein’s eyebrows furrowed, “What was what?”

Jangmi gestured back towards the entrance. “You know, the whole Mama-who thing.” Then she tried to sing like them and was covered. She glanced at her cousin.

“Well, it’s safe to say you’ll never be an idol,” Wheein remarked, making Jangmi’s eye twitch slightly. But the younger girl was able to control it as she focused. This made her cousin whine playfully. “Aw, no fun. It only did it for a second.”

The redhead’s eyes narrowed. Whatever that means…

With a sigh, Wheein removed her hand and said, “That’s what we call ourselves. And it’s Mamamoo.”

“Why would you call yourself that?” Jangmi questioned, smiling at Hwasa who handed her a drink. “It reminds me of a cow.”

Solar piped up, “Moo-Moo!”

They all looked at her as she continued to smile widely. Then Hwasa and Moonbyul pulled her down and the latter said, “We’re done with you.”

Jangmi turned back to Wheein and asked, “And that little singing you guys did…” She tapped her chin before tilting her head, “Are you singers in a band or…?”

“Ding-ding-ding,” Moonbyul cheered, giving the younger girl a thumbs up. “Good job!”

As Jangmi's eyebrows shot up as if to say really, Wheein nodded. “Yup! You know how I loved to sing when I was little.”

“So you started a singing group and didn't tell me?” Jangmi asked with a tilt of her head.

Wheein waved her off, “Ah it's because we started it before I moved to Seoul, so I couldn't tell you.”

Jangmi nodded in understanding before she took a glance around the club, bobbing her head to the music. Then she met eyes with a random male, who gave her a smile.

She smiled back politely before taking a sip of her drink. It was a sweet alcoholic beverage and it wasn't very strong, so Jangmi enjoyed it.

“Uh excuse me,” Her eyes fell onto her cousin, who was looking back and forth to where that random guy was. “What the heck was that?”

“What was what?”

It seemed the roles have been reversed.

Wheein jerked her chin towards where the guy had been. It seemed that he had moved on to someone else after Jangmi didn't show interest. “That guy just smiled at you!”

Jangmi's eyebrows furrowed as she shot back, “And I smiled back.”

It wasn't like she was rude, so she didn't get where her cousin was getting at.

“Politely, though,” Moonbyul pointed out.

“Was I not supposed to?” Jangmi replied as she tilted her head.

Moonbyul’s mouth formed an ‘O’. “Omo, I think she's serious. She really doesn't get what we’re saying.”

Wheein frowned. “I knew you were slightly dense, but this is a whole new level.” She placed her hand over her chin in thought. “I know we're not boy crazy, but we’re not clueless either.”

Jangmi's left eye twitched as she placed her drink down on the table. “Okay, you've called me two names for what? Not being boy crazy?”

Hwasa chuckled and patted Jangmi on the head as if to stop her eye from twitching. “What Wheein means is that guy was probably into you.”

“For like a second,” Moonbyul muttered as she pointedly eyed the male who was now talking with another girl.

Solar spotted him and tsked. “He bounces back fast.”

Jangmi looked at the guy and shook her head. “Not that much, I see.” Then she looked back at the older girls. “Besides, I wasn't into him.”

Mamamoo all laughed at that. Then Solar chuckled with a shrug, “At least she's honest.”

Hwasa patted her hand and said, “It's because you shot him down so fast that he moved on. But it's good you did, he doesn't seem like a gentleman.”

“Yeah, you shut that down before it even started,” Wheein told her and when she finished, Moonbyul added, “And you should do that with certain guys.”

Solar nodded with a smile, “Yes, after all, Rosa is a little baby. So it's good you're not all about boys…” Then she bummed and sipped her drink through her straw as she looked around the room. After that, her eyes fell back onto Jangmi and she put her drink down and leaned in excitedly, “Okay, but come on, what's your ideal type?”

“Way to contradict yourself, unnie,” Wheein told her with a laugh as the two other members snickered.

“I'm curious~” Solar whined cutely then she focused back on Jangmi. “So tell your unnies what's your style?”

Wheein smiled strangely with her lips practically spread across the bottom half of her face. “More like who’s your style.”

The four remaining girls gave her blank looks before Jangmi and Moonbyul spoke simultaneously, “Stop.” Then the two young women high-fived while looking at Wheein, maintaining their serious faces.

“Right, go on,” Wheein nodded and grabbed her drink.

Then their stares fell onto her and Jangmi unconsciously rubbed the back of her neck. She shrugged, “I don't know, I've never really thought about it.” Then her eyes widened as she snapped her fingers, “Oh wait! There was one guy, but I don’t really know if he’s my style.”

“Tell us, tell us,” Mamamoo chorused, leaning forward excitedly like thirteen-year-old girls.

Jangmi let out a sigh and turned her head away melodramatically, “His name was Hongbin and he was a baddie.”

The others giggled girlishly before Wheein hopped next to her cousin. She grasped her arm and shook her, still bouncing in her seat. Totally invading her space, Wheein practically shouted, “And? What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Jangmi told them, her eyes still focused on the beyond. “Like seriously, he was bad. A big no-no.”

…

Abruptly, Jangmi was thrown back into the couch as Wheein pushed her away. Then the eldest cousin plopped next to Hwasa and tossed her arms up dramatically, “Well, that’s a bust.” Grabbing her drink, she started to sip it from the straw, trying to look serious but one can only look so tough drinking a bright teal drink from a loopy straw. “But what was I expecting, you’ve been like this since we were young.”

Moonbyul raised her eyebrows, “Really? No guys have interested you?”

“Oh, oh, are you playing for the other team?” Solar asked curiously.

“Girl crush?” Hwasa said as she tilted her head, looking at Jangmi.

Jangmi, who was currently glaring at her cousin for tossing her away like she was trash, sat up and fixed her shirt that had ridden up. Then she shook her head as she grabbed her drink. “No, boys are more of my style…I just don’t have an exact style I guess.”

Wheein hummed and gestured towards her right, “Like Hwasa.”

Hwasa nodded when Jangmi looked at her and explained, “I don’t really have an ideal type. I mean there are certain qualities I prefer, but I figure I’ll fall for someone based on their personality rather than looks.”

“Ah,” Solar said as she patted Mamamoo’s maknae on her head, not hard enough to mess up her hair. Then she said proudly, “Our little Hwasa is so cute. But she’s right – you can’t help who you fall for.”

Moonbyul and Wheein nodded in agreement. Then the latter crossed her arms as she thought. Once it finally hit her, she looked at her younger cousin and asked, “You said you’re friends with your old best friend’s friends, right? Oh my gosh, so many friends in one sentence.”

Jangmi nodded before she posed for the selfie Solar was taking.

“Are they all male or mixed?” She continued.

“They’re all guys,” Jangmi answered as she placed her drink down.

Wheein nodded seriously, “How many altogether?”

“Seven, including my childhood friend.”

“And how long have you been hanging out with them?” Wheein asked as her eyebrow lifted.

Jangmi looked towards the ceiling in thought and brought her fingers up to keep track of the months. Then she hummed, “Maybe…six months? A little more? It’s almost been a year since I moved to Seoul and I met them six months after…” She nodded, a little surer, “Yeah, so around six months.”

When no one spoke, Jangmi glanced around and saw the four young woman staring at her with all of their jaws hanging. She tilted her head and asked, “What?”

Wheein, of course, was the first one to break out of the trance as she jumped up. “You’ve been around seven guys for six months and you haven’t felt anything towards any of them?”

“Maybe two of them?” Solar asked and when everyone glanced at her, she only shrugged, “What? It happens sometimes in dramas…”

“Of course, I felt something,” Jangmi defended, a little thrown off at her cousin’s tone. “I felt happy that I have friends.”

Mamamoo, losing any hope, all face palmed.

Then Moonbyul leaned over the table to poke Jangmi’s forehead, making her head softly move back. “Aish, it’s a good thing you’re cute.”

Jangmi’s eyebrows had been furrowed, but once she heard that, she perked up. Then she flipped her imaginary long hair and said, “Oh~ Thank you. I know.”

“I refuse to believe someone of my blood is this dense!” Wheein stomped her foot before taking a seat next to Jangmi. Then she took a hold of her shoulders and begun shaking her, making Jangmi’s head jerk back and forth. “Jang—Rosa! Don’t play with me.”

“Yah, don’t break her,” Hwasa lightly smacked her best friend in the arm as she paused. “You might mess up her hair.”

Wheein released Jangmi and the young girl looked towards Hwasa with a slightly scandalized look. “I’d thank you, but what exactly was your concern directed towards – my wellbeing or my hair?”

Hwasa smiled sweetly and said, “Don’t ask things you won’t be happy to hear.”

Jangmi made this strange noise in the back of and nodded. Then she stuck her tongue out at Hwasa, who laughed, and looked back to her cousin. “Relax. You mean like romantic feelings, right?”

“Oh, she understands!” Wheein remarked loudly and brought her drink up. “Cheers to that!”

Rolling her eyes, Jangmi simply hummed, “I guess I just never really thought about them that way. They’re my friends and that’s what I think of them as.”

Solar tapped her chin, nodding slightly, “That’s possible, but Rosa,” She suddenly grinned at the name and looked around, but no one reacted and she pouted, “You guys are so cruel to your unnie.”

“Unnie, please continue and try not to say the name again. For all of us.” Wheein told her seriously before a large grin broke out on her face when Solar stood up and tried to go after her. Solar poked her while the other three chuckled.

Then Solar sat back and fixed her skirt before speaking, “I was wondering,” She turned to Jangmi. “You’ve never gotten flustered or shy around them? Any sign that you might be attracted towards them?”

Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa nodded, “We second that.”

Jangmi’s eyebrows furrowed as she sincerely tried to think. She figured she better answer these girls accurately because if she didn’t she feared they wouldn’t stop hounding her. “I mean I got flustered by one, but anyone would because he’s a really handsome oppa.”

The other girls raised their eyebrows, not quite believing her.

“It’s not like that,” Jangmi denied. “Trust me – he’s in a serious relationship with food anyways.”

Moonbyul put her hands up, “Alright, alright. And there’s no one else?”

Jangmi lifted her fingers one by one as she counted the boys off. “Okay, my childhood friend…ew no. Haven’t thought about that and don’t really want to. Handsome oppa is nice and cooks really well, but I don’t think so. I mean if I’m still single at like forty, I’d totally marry him.” Three fingers. “There’s one younger than me, but nah. I do like to make him flustered though because I’ve never seen a face get so red and he can’t form sentences and he’s so lost, and it gives me joy.”

“Sadist,” Wheein said beneath a fake cough.

Ignoring her cousin, Jangmi lifted another finger to make four. “There’s one the same age as my friend, but I can’t see it. He’s really cool though and makes me laugh. He dances better than a lot of girls I’ve seen.” Five fingers. “He puts up a front that he’s so cool and flirty, but really he’s an adorable dork. He’s also cool though and he has one of the prettiest eye smiles I’ve seen, but no.” Another finger. “Oh, oh, he’s so strange. A good strange though. He’s very 4D, but he can be serious and thoughtful when he wants. He’s a person you meet once in a lifetime. He’s a good friend.”

Mamamoo nodded, still enwrapped in Jangmi’s explanation.

When Jangmi lifted the seventh finger, her face scrunched up. “Ugh, this last guy. Let me just tell you – nope. I could never feel that way towards him.” She shuddered. “Yeah no, nope.”

Wheein, a little interested, asked. “Why not?”

Her younger cousin had been neutral while going through the guys and she could tell she was telling the truth. That she hadn’t thought about romance with any of them and she treasured them like friends. But this last guy…she had been so quick to shut it down. Yeah sure, she did the same with her childhood friend, but that was different.

Wheein remembered teasing Jangmi when they were younger about him and Jangmi would just gag. And when she met Namjoon as kids, she could totally tell that they were just good friends. Namjoon and Jangmi had a bond, but Wheein just had a feeling that they would never be more than friends.

But this guy her cousin was talking about felt different because Jangmi’s tone and attitude had changed. Jangmi was quick-tempered and easy to bother, but her reaction right now really made her curious. Who was this guy to make Jangmi’s eye begin twitching just at the thought of him?

Solar pointed to her own eye as she started to say, “Uh, your eye—”

Wheein pulled her unnie’s arm down and shook her head, whispering, “Shh, it’s normal.”

Jangmi, who didn’t pay attention to that, focused on her cousin’s question. “He’s so annoying and he’s a huge contradiction. I don’t even understand him. When he thanks you, he never fully says it and there’s always some kind of insult in it. When he says sorry, well he rarely does it, but it’s always backwards. He can help you out and then not even give a crap the next second.” By the time she was finished, she was huffing. “He gives major whiplash. Ugh, he’s so irritating.”

Wheein sat there and processed the words, the emotion, but said nothing. Instead, she looked towards Hwasa, who met her eyes and nodded. Then she turned back towards her cousin, “Alright yeah, I can tell you have no romantic feelings for any of those guys.”

Moonbyul and Solar turned towards her in surprise. Hadn’t she read between the lines?

“But hey,” Hwasa suddenly said, pulling everyone’s attention. “There’s some cuties here to look at. But more importantly, we’re all here and we’re gonna turn up.” Then she stood and reached for Jangmi. “Let’s go dance!”

“I can’t dance,” Jangmi said as Hwasa pulled her from her seat. Wheein laughed and pointed towards Solar. “I’m sure you’re better than a steamed vegetable.”

“Yah!”

Jangmi an