Months passed in radio silence. Jennie called every day, sent emails once that didn’t work, and even resorted to mailing letters (through Wendy of course, since nobody else knew where Rosé was staying) when Rosé didn’t reply. Still, there was no answer and Jennie only ever knew how the younger girl was doing through reports from Brian, Jisoo, and Wendy. But Jennie didn’t give up, Irene’s advice ringing in her head. As she ran out of ideas, however, her energy decreased as well and she fell into a state of hopelessness.

***

“Lalisa Manoban!” Lisa looked up from where she was packing her things after practice, startled by the use of her full name. Seulgi stormed towards her, a determined look in her eyes.

“Seulgi, did you just use my full name?” Lisa asked as the older girl came to a halt in front of her.

“Yes, I did,” Seulgi replied without missing a beat. “You need to fix this.”

“This? What exactly is ‘this’?”

“This,” Seulgi reiterated, gesturing to all of Lisa. The blonde looked down, wondering if she'd put her shirt on inside out again or something. Seulgi let out a frustrated sigh. “Everything, Lisa. You need to fix everything. You need to fix your relationship with Jisoo, so the two of you can go fix Jennie, so she can fix her thing with Rosé.”

“What are you talking about? Jisoo and I are fine. And I've been taking care of Jennie as best as I can, but she feels helpless and I honestly don't know what else to do.”

“Geez, was I this annoying before I confessed to Irene?” Seulgi asked no one in particular. “You still love Jisoo, don't you?”

“Wait, how do you know about--?” Lisa started, only to be interrupted by the older girl.

“Just answer the question. Do you or do you not love Jisoo?”

“Yes, of course I do but--”

“Then why haven't you told her that?”

“What do you mean--?”

“Why haven't you told her that you still love her, Lisa? You went after Jennie for the same reason she went after Rosé--to escape your feelings for each other. You shut Jisoo out because you thought she didn't love you as much as you love her, and she refrained from ever trying to push things forward again because you had her convinced that you weren't interested. She's never going to make a move unless you give the okay, and you don't seem to realize that she's madly in love with you and she's just waiting for you to notice.”

“Did she say something to you?”

“She didn't have to. I can see it in the way she looks at you. She wants to be with you. She loves you as much as you love her, Lisa, if not more. You just have to let her prove it.”

“I want to believe you, but how can I when she's so hung up on Rosé?”

“Oh my ing-- Lisa, don't you get it? Rosé and Jisoo only got together because they were both hurt and lonely and needed a self-esteem boost. Why? Because you and Jennie are both imbeciles who can't see what's right in front of them. Jisoo isn't upset about Rosé leaving. She's upset because you and Jennie aren't together, and she and Rosé aren't together, but she still can't be with you because you won't let her.”

***

“Hey, Lice,” Jisoo greeted as Lisa entered the dorm room that evening.

“Jisoo, can we talk?” Lisa said in greeting, dropping her bag by the door and turning to the older girl with a stoic expression.

“Whoa, why so serious kiddo?”

“Were you in love with her?” Jisoo stared blankly at Lisa for a moment.

“What?”

“Rosé. We're you in love with her?” Lisa repeated.

“No. I love her, but I was never in love with her,” Jisoo replied without hesitation. She gave Lisa a sincere look. “You can't be in love with two people at once.”

“Who… who were you in love with then?”

“It’s not about who I was in love with,” Jisoo answered slowly, getting to her feet. She stepped towards Lisa, looking up at the blonde through her lashes. “It’s about who I am in love with.”

Lisa felt herself swallow, hard. She could feel her cheeks beginning to warm. Nothing else needed to be said--the implication was clear. But still, Lisa wanted to hear it.

“Who?” she choked out, her heart beating dangerously fast.

“You, Lisa. It’s always been you.” That was all the confirmation Lisa needed before cupping Jisoo’s face between her hands and crashing their lips together. It was fervent and hungry at first, a frantic clash of lips, tongues, and teeth. And then it slowed down to a gentle molding of their mouths, a careful memorization of one another. When they finally broke away from each other, they were panting heavily and rosy-cheeked.

“I’m sorry, Jisoo,” Lisa huffed after she caught her breath. “I’m sorry that I doubted your feelings and that I never gave you an opportunity to tell me how you felt. I thought that you were a coward for running away from us, but I was just as much of a coward because I was afraid to let you back in.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Lisa. I made the first mistake and for that I am so sorry. I can understand why you didn’t want to take a chance with me again, but I promise that I won’t hurt you like that again. I’m not afraid anymore.”

“I love you.” It wasn’t the first time Lisa had said that to Jisoo, but it held a different sort of gravity this time. Jisoo smiled, tilting her head up to plant a soft kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“I love you too,” she whispered when she pulled away.

“I wish this moment didn’t have to end so soon,” Lisa sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“I wish I could just stay here with you and enjoy the fact that our feelings are mutual, but we have work to be done.”

“We do?”

***

“Oh, Lisa, hey,” Jennie greeted blandly when she opened the door to her apartment. “What brings you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. Can I come in?” Lisa asked. Jennie nodded, stepping aside to let the blonde in. Lisa’s heart hurt when she looked at Jennie. Where once there had been a vibrant girl with a mischievous smile, there was now a girl who looked tired and sad. There were dark circles under her eyes and her eyes themselves were dull, void of emotion. She’d even visibly lost some weight. Her hair was messy and her clothes were disheveled, as if she had just rolled out of bed (which was most likely the case).

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Jennie inquired once they were seated together in the living room.

“You need to put a stop to this, Jen,” Lisa blurted. Jennie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Put a stop to what?”

“Your current state. I know you miss Rosé, but you’re a mess. It’s not healthy.”

“I know. You’re not the first to say so, and I know you’re right. But I just can’t help it. I try to eat regularly because I know I have to, but I usually don’t have much of an appetite anymore. I had trouble sleeping before, but now it’s nearly impossible, and when I do sleep I wake up in a panic or in a cold sweat from dreams or nightmares I can’t remember. My grades keep fluctuating because I’m trying so hard to do well, but I can’t focus no matter how much I try. I can’t think about anything but her.” Jennie halted her frustrated ramble to take in a much-needed breath. There was a lengthy pause where neither of them spoke. Lise stared at Jennie, and Jennie glared down at her hands clenched in her lap.

“You know what?” Lisa said suddenly, making Jennie look up. “I think I’ve finally figured you out.”

“What do you mean?” Jennie asked.

“Have you ever heard of philophobia?” Lisa questioned.

“No. Is that even an actual word?”

“Yeah, it is. It’s an irrational fear of falling in love or being in love.”

“And you think I have that?”

“Not in the typical sense, no. But I definitely think you’re afraid.”

“Of falling in love?” Jennie scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not. It’s totally understandable,” Lisa countered. “You’re afraid of getting attached, of making a mistake like you did with me--”

“You weren’t a mistake, Lisa,” Jennie quickly cut in.

“Jennie, it’s fine. I know you cared about me, and that you still do. I just think you were projecting your feelings for Rosé onto me.”

“Look, it doesn’t even matter. Rosé’s made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with me anymore,” Jennie pointed out.

“Have you ever thought that maybe all she wants is for you to tell her how you feel?”

“How I feel?”

“Yes, Jennie. When she confessed to you, to didn’t say anything. You listened and apologized for hurting her, but you never said ‘Rosé, I like you too’ or anything of the sort. You never blatantly told her you felt the same way.”

“I didn’t think I had to. I thought it was obvious.”

“If it were obvious, don’t you think that the two of you would have gotten together a long time ago? She needs to hear you say. And, admittedly, I can tell that you’ve been scared to say it out loud.”

“I’m not afraid to admit that I have feelings for Rosé.”

“No, you’re afraid to admit that you’re in love with her because you don’t think that you deserve her.” Jennie glanced away at that, biting her lip. Lisa reached out, placing her hand gently on Jennie’s knee and drawing the dark-haired girl’s attention. “You may not think that you deserve to be with her, but she sees something in you even if you don’t. She wants to be with you, but you need to tell her that you want that too.”

“But how am I supposed to do that?” Jennie whimpered in a small voice. “She won’t answer my calls or emails or letters.”

“I already thought of that actually. I already booked you a flight to Australia and got the information you’ll need to find Rosé.”

“Wait, what? Lisa, how did you do that? How did you pay for that ticket?”

“I didn’t do it alone. I asked Brian, Wendy, Jisoo, and Seulgi to pitch in. Seulgi and Wendy even got Irene, Joy, and Yeri to put in some money. And Wendy had all of Rosé’s contact information and where she’s staying and all of that. It wasn’t that hard to do.”

“I can’t believe all of you did this for me.”

“We all want you and Rosé to be happy.”

“Thank you.” Jennie threw her arms around Lisa, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill over.

“Don’t thank me yet. Talk to Rosé first, then maybe you can thank me. Oh, and by the way, your flight leaves the day after tomorrow.”

***

“I’m almost home, Alice. Stop worrying so much,” Rosé said into her phone as she walked home from school. The apartment that she and her older sister were sharing wasn’t that far from Rosé’s university, but the distance felt eternal to her today. It was just one of those days where she felt more lonely than usual and it was making everything in her day stretch on and feel unbearable.

“You’re my little sister. It’s my job to worry about you,” Alice replied. “By the way, something arrived for you today. It should be in your room when you get home.”

“Really? What is it?”

“You’ll see. I gotta go though. Don’t forget, there’s dinner in the fridge. I won’t be home until late so don’t wait up for me.” With that, Alice ended the call and Rosé was left to walk in silence. A few minutes later, she was making her way into the two bedroom apartment, dropping her bag in the entryway and trudging to her own room. She could have sworn that her heart stopped when she saw what was waiting for her--or rather, who was waiting for her.

“J-Jennie?” Rosé stammered. The older girl looked up immediately, halting her nervous pacing. An array of emotions took turns coming over Jennie’s features, and she couldn’t maintain eye contact with Rosé for more than a few seconds at a time.

“Hi, Rosie.” Jennie’s voice was quiet, as if she were afraid that speaking too loud would shatter her.

“Jennie, what are you doing here? How did you get here?” Rosé demanded, too shocked to register the flood of feelings raging in her chest at the sight of the older girl.

“I flew in a few hours ago. The others payed for my ticket and Lisa got Wendy to divulge your location,” Jennie explained, twiddling with her fingers.

“Have you been waiting for me to get home?” Jennie nodded, looking shyly at her feet. “But why? Why did you fly all the way out here?”

“I wanted to see you.” Somehow, the simplicity of Jennie’s answer left Rosé more dumbfounded than if there had been a complex explanation. The younger girl found herself unable to answer, and her silence finally made Jennie lift her head. Her eyes roamed slowly over Rosé, and it looked as if she wanted to reach out for the girl but was refraining herself. “You dyed your hair.”

“Yeah,” was all Rosé could manage to say for a moment, her hand flying to her dyed brown locks. There was another lapse of silence and Rosé took the opportunity to look Jennie over. “Jennie, are you sick? You’ve lost weight, and you look so tired.”

“No, I’m not sick. Not in the traditional sense. I just haven’t been eating or sleeping well. My therapist says it has to do with how anxious and depressive I’ve been lately.”

“Th-Therapist?”

“Mhmm. After you made me realize how badly I had been treating you, I figured that I needed some professional help in order to work through my behaviors and stuff. And then I started needing help handling my anxiety and depression.”

“When did those start?” Jennie looked away, not wanting to answer. But she didn’t have to say anything for Rosé to realize that her leaving had led to Jennie’s deterioration. “Why? Why did my leaving affect you so much? You didn’t care before.”

“Who said I didn’t? When you moved in with Wendy, you don’t think I cared? You don’t think I stayed up late every night hoping that you’d show up? You don’t think I worried about whether or not you were okay and if you’d ever speak to me again? When you did finally come back, I thought things were going better. I was trying so hard to be a better person, to treat you like you deserved. I thought it was working, that I was doing a good job of not being a total screw up. But then you left without even saying so much as goodbye.” Jennie took a shaky breath, trying to keep her tears back. When she spoke again, her voice was thick with emotion. “What do you think that did to me, knowing that you left because of me? I couldn’t even be mad at you, and that somehow made it so much harder.”

“That isn’t fair, Jennie. You can’t just show up here after everything and make me feel guilty for trying to do something for my own good for once.”

“That’s not what I want to do. That’s not why I came.”

“Then why are you really here?” Jennie took a tentative step closer and Rosé felt her heart start to hammer with the way the older girl looked at her.

“I’m here because I love you, Rosé,” Jennie whispered. “I love you and I needed you to know that.”

“W-What?” Rosé stammered, unable to believe what she was hearing. Jennie took another step closer, more confidently this time, closing the distance between the two girls. She reached out carefully, brushing her fingertips lightly over Rosé’s cheek before gently cupping it.

“I love you, Rosé. And, more than that… I’m in love with you. I always have been, I was just too afraid to say it.”

“So why say it now? What changed?” Rosé breathed out, still skeptical despite the fact that her heart was racing.

“I realized that I’m more afraid of losing you.” Jennie seemed like she was about to say something else, but she didn’t get the chance. Rosé lunged forward, capturing the older girl’s lips in a kiss that was both delicate and passionate. And, in her head, all Rosé could hear was those three words echoing over and over again.

I love you.

This took waaaay too long to write and I apologize. I've been very busy with my adjustment to college and all that so please forgive me. Also, if there are any errors in this chapter, I apologize. I wanted to post this so bad that I didn't proofread. I hope you all enjoy it! The next chapter will be a special gift chapter ;)

~unsungpoet <3