Jennied thought it was a bit weird when Rosé didn’t show up to lunch, but she didn’t worry too much about it after Brian told them that Rosé was just busy. Instead, she focused all of her attention on Lisa, letting all other thoughts fade away.

Jennie knew something wasn’t right when Rosé didn’t show up to dance practice that evening. When asked, the redhead only replied with a short “Too tired. Sorry” text. But, again, Jennie pushed it to the back of her mind so that she could concentrate on helping Lisa with the choreography.

Jennie started to feel uneasy when she called Rosé after practice and received no answer.

“Maybe she just fell asleep. She did miss practice because she was tired,” Lisa offered, noting the shift in Jennie’s mood.

“Yeah, maybe,” Jennie agreed, though she wasn’t convinced.

Jennie was certain that something was wrong when she arrived home to a perfectly silent apartment--no lights on, no sounds, nothing any different than when she had left this morning. It was almost as if no one lived there at all, and it was clear that Rosé hadn’t been home all day. The dark-haired girl quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Rosé’s number but there was no answer. She tried again a few more times, even leaving some messages. After about her fifth attempt, Jennie decided that maybe someone else knew where she was.

“Hello?” a tired voice said through the receiver.

“Brian, hey! Sorry to bother you but do you know anything about Rosé’s whereabouts or anything?” Jennie asked, trying not to sound panicked.

“What? No… Isn’t she with you?”

“No, she isn’t home. I’ve barely spoken to her all day and she won’t answer my calls now. It doesn’t look like she’s even been home?”

“Are you sure she didn’t tell you anything about where she’d be today?”

“Nothing I can remember. And I’m worried. She’s pretty much been MIA for the whole day. She didn’t even show up to dance practice.”

“What?! And that wasn’t an automatic indicator to you that something was wrong?”

“She said she was too tired and I just thought--”

“Damn it, Jennie, you’re so dense sometimes!” Jennie flinched at the harshness in Brian’s voice. “You know Rosé never misses practice, no matter what.”

“I know, I guess I just didn’t think about it. There’s been a lot on my mind lately--”

“Yeah, you’re too busy drooling over Lisa, I noticed. Now that you have someone new to fawn over, Rosé is disposable, right? As usual.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Brian?”

“I’m talking about how you treat Rosé like trash the moment you start paying attention to someone else. Are you going to tell me I’m wrong?”

“Yeah, I am going to tell you you’re wrong and, quite honestly, you’re way out of line.”

“I’m out of line? I’m not the one who completely disregarded Rosé. You’re supposed to be her best friend. You’re supposed to be the first one to notice when something is wrong. You’re supposed to be there for her.”

“Okay, okay. You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll find her--”

“You’d better find her. And you better hope she’s okay.” Jennie didn’t like feeling as if she were being attacked or accused, which is exactly how she felt every time Brian opened his mouth. But he was right on several points, so she didn’t argue, letting out a sigh instead.

“Will you help me look for her?”

“Duh. I’ll be at your apartment in a few minutes so we can brainstorm possible places she could be, and then we’ll split up to cover more ground.”

“Alright. See you in a few then.” Jennie had barely ended the call when her phone started ringing again. She felt her heart lurch for a moment, but then she looked at the caller ID only to see that it wasn’t Rosé as she had hoped. She lifted the phone to her ear. “Lisa, hey. Now isn’t really a good time--”

“Jennie, Jisoo is missing,” Lisa blurted, effectively cutting the older girl off.

“Wait, what?”

“She’s not in our dorm. I’ve been waiting for her to get home but she hasn’t, and she left her phone here so I can’t contact her. She didn’t tell me she was going out today, and she never leaves without telling me. I’m really worried about her. She’s never just disappeared like this before.”

“Well that’s an uncanny coincidence. Rosé is missing too.”

“What?! Do you think maybe they’re together or something?”

“I mean, it’s not impossible. I don’t know why they’d just disappear together, but it would be better if they at least have each other.”

“Jennie, oh my God, what are we gonna do?”

“Lisa, calm down, okay? Brain and I are going to think of some places that Rosé could be and then go out and look for her. Why don’t you come up with some places where we might find Jisoo and then I’ll pick you up and you and I can look for them together?”

“Okay,” Lisa said quietly.

“It’s all going to be alright, Lisa.”

***

Two hours. That’s how long they’d been searching when Jennie’s phone dinged with a new message.

Rosie (9:43 PM): Hey. I’m with Rosé. She’s not in the best shape but I’ll take care of her. I probably should have told you earlier when I found her, but I got tied up with her and I didn’t have a phone. Sorry to worry you, but we should be back by tomorrow. Please tell Lisa. Thanks.  -Jisoo

Jennie and Lisa exchanged a confused glance after reading the message.

“Back by tomorrow?” Lisa whispered. Jennie shrugged before typing in a reply.

Nini (9:47 PM): Are you guys alright? Where are you? We can pick you up

Rosie (9:50 PM): No need. We’re fine

Rosie (9:51 PM): Besides, she says she doesn’t want to see you right now. But that might be the alcohol talking

“The alcohol?!” Jennie exclaimed. “What the hell is going on? Rosé doesn’t even like drinking that much.”

Nini (9:53 PM): Jisoo, can you please just tell us where you are?

Rosie (9:55 PM): Sorry, no can do. Don’t worry too much. She’s in good hands. I’m sober

Rosie (9:56 PM): Gotta go now. Goodnight. Tell Lisa not to worry. Annyeong~

“Is Jisoo usually that… dismissive in tense situations?” Jennie asked, unsure how she felt about the conversation with the older girl.

“No. She’s never like this, except maybe when she's upset… Do you think she’s upset?”

“Do you think she has reason to be?”

“I don’t know. But she has been acting strange since this morning. Even during lunch she was really quiet.”

“We were so focused on each other that we totally missed the warning signs with our best friends.”

“We’re awful friends.”

“Hey, don’t say that. Everything will be okay. Maybe they just need a little space. I trust Jisoo to take care of Rosé for the night, and then we can talk to them in the morning and sort things out.”

“Yeah, alright. But I’m not sure I’ll be able to get any sleep tonight.” Lisa let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair.

“Well, I mean… you could always spend the night with me since I doubt I’ll get much sleep either,” Jennie offered. Lisa raised one eyebrow, looking at the other girl with a skeptical expression.

“I’m not sure now is the right time for that, Jennie.”

“What? No! Th-that isn’t what I m-meant!” Jennie stammered, her face immediately turning bright red. Lisa laughed at the older girl’s flustered reaction.

“Jen, I’m kidding. I know what you meant and I’d love to stay with you. I’d really rather not be alone and restless the whole night.” Lisa giggled again, seeing that Jennie still looked like a tomato. The blonde poked the other girl’s cheek, grinning widely. “You know, you’re really cute when you’re flustered.”

“I hate you.” Jennie covered her face with her hands, which only caused Lisa to laugh harder.

“C’mon, let’s get back to your place. It’s late.” She turned to start walking back to the car but stopped to pull one of Jennie’s hands away from her face and lace their fingers together. This brought a smile to Jennie’s face, her blush refusing to fade. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Thank you for letting me.” And they shared a kiss before heading home for the night.

***

“I texted Jennie and told her that we’re alright. I’m sure she’s with Lisa anyway. We don’t have to worry about them coming to look for us,” Jisoo stated.

“They wou’d’n’ find us,” Rosé slurred, giggling despite the fact that nothing was funny.

“You shouldn’t have been up here alone, especially not if you were drinking.”

“You said tha’ already.”

“I know. But you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“But y’re here now.” Rosé snuggled against Jisoo’s side, burying her face in the crook of the older girl’s neck. Jisoo allowed it due to the fact that there was no point fighting the extremely clingy girl in her current state. After a moment, Rosé lifted her head to look at Jisoo. “You know, you’re really pretty.”

“You know, you’re really drunk.” At that, Rosé burst into another fit of giggles.

“Yeah, I know. Bu’ you lied to Jennie though. You di’ drink.” Jisoo rolled her eyes.

“They didn’t need more reason to worry. Besides, it’s not like I drank much. I was too busy trying to keep you safe.”

“Mmm, my savior.” Rosé punctuated the sentence by pressing her lips to the underside of Jisoo’s jaw. The older girl stiffened at the sudden intimate contact and was about to ask what that was for, but she realized that Rosé had already drifted off to sleep. Jisoo decided to just forget the incident for now and talk about it with Rosé in the morning--that is, if Rosé even remembered anything in the morning.

So I've had this chapter done for like the past three or four days but wasn't able to upload until now and I apologize for the delay. Also, I know this is mostly a setup chapter but I had to put some things in motion before continuing to build the plot *wink wink*

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless and thank you for reading! Until next time!

~unsungpoet <3