Jisoo steps outside of the club and looks around. She sees her younger friend standing about ten meters away, with her back facing the entrance; her head was lowered, with her hands covering her face.

As Jisoo approached Rose, she saw that the younger girl was crying. She gently places her hand on Rose’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that it would affect you this much.”

Rose looks up and glares at her. “Get away from me,” she says angrily, in a trembling voice. There were tears streaming down her face.

“Can we talk about this?”

“I’ve already told you that I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Come on, sweetie, don’t be this way,” Jisoo says softly, wiping off some of the younger girl’s tears with her hand.

Rose turns her face away from the older girl. “Leave me alone!”

Jisoo kept her hand on Rose’s shoulder as she continued to speak in a soft tone. “All right, if that’s what you want, I’ll leave. But on one condition; tell me why you’re so upset.”

Rose doesn’t answer, still refusing to look at Jisoo.

Jisoo waits patiently, listening to the younger girl’s sniffles and shaky breathing. Her heart ached as she longed to put her arms around her friend, and let her cry on her shoulder. But she knew better than to try that right now.

After a few minutes, Rose finally spoke, in a voice that was barely audible. “I don’t know.”

“Is it because of me?”

“I just… became so angry when I saw you with that girl.”

“And you don’t know why,” replies the older girl, encouraging her to continue as she slowly rubs Rose’s back. She tries not to smile.

“I don’t know what came over me.” Rose sniffles, looking down at the sidewalk. “I’ve seen you dance with many girls before, and I never had a problem with it. But this time, it was different.”

“Do you think it was jealousy?”

“No. Why would I be jealous? You’re just a friend.”

“That’s a good question. Why would you be angry about me dancing with another girl when I’m just your friend?” asks Jisoo, moving some strands of orange hair away from Rose’s face.

“I don’t know.”

“I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with that answer. I’ll leave now if you want me to.”

The younger girl looks up and finally makes eye contact. She grabs Jisoo’s wrist. “No, I want you to stay.”

Jisoo sees the look of someone who felt lost and confused when she looked into her friend’s reddened eyes. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the younger girl while she was feeling this way. The poor girl must not know what’s going on. She thought she knew how she felt about me, but now that self-assurance has been undermined. She smiles tenderly as she puts her arm around Rose’s shoulder. “All right, sweetie. You know I’ll always be by your side whenever you need me.”

“I do, and I really appreciate it,” the younger girl replies. Even though Rose had spoken quietly, Jisoo heard the gratitude and sincerity in her voice.

“Do you feel like going back in?” inquires Jisoo.

“No, let’s take another walk.”

The area near the entrance of the club was starting to form a crowd of people, eager to get in.

The two girls moved around them and started walking away from the building together.

Jisoo receives a text message.

Jennie: where the hell are you girls?

Jisoo: we’re taking a walk

Jennie: how’s Rose?

Jisoo: much better, because of me

Jennie: you were the one who got her angry

Jisoo: it was a misunderstanding

Jennie: wtf does that mean?

Jisoo: I’ll tell you later

The pair of friends walked in silence for awhile, both absorbed in their own thoughts.

Rose takes a deep breath, and then turns to the older girl. “I have a confession to make.”

“You’re actually ty, but you’ve been holding back on me?”

“No! Though it does relate to something like that,” Rose says reluctantly.

Jisoo smiles. “Really? You’ve got my full attention.”

“There’s something I’ve never told any of you… oh my god, I can’t believe I’m actually going to talk about this!”

As they approached a bench, the two girls wordlessly agreed to sit down together as they continued their talk.

Jisoo looks at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.

The younger girl sighs. “Back in high school, I… um… had sort of a fling… with a girl,” she says hesitantly.

Jisoo’s eyes widened, shocked at what she heard. “You’re kidding me.”

Rose looks down. “Unfortunately, I’m not.”

The older girl beamed at her. “Words cannot describe how proud I am of you right now.”

“I kept it to myself because… oh god, I can’t do this!” says Rose, covering her face with both of her hands. 

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“I am so ashamed of myself!” answers the younger girl, keeping her face covered.

“It’s me you’re talking to; the girl you’ve known and trusted for years. If you can tell anyone a dark secret, there’s no one better for that than me,” Jisoo tells her reassuringly. I hope it involves .

“You’re right,” replies Rose, with determination. Then she takes another deep breath. “The girl was already in a relationship. They had been dating for a few years… and then I came along… and… and…”

“Broke them up?”

“I knew what I was doing was wrong. But it was so hard to control my emotions,” the younger girl says regretfully.

“What kind of emotions?”

“I know it wasn’t love. I never wanted her that way. It was… I don’t even know how to explain it. At that moment, I just wanted her. And what even more was that she looked at me with that same emotion.”

“When you say ‘emotion’, do you mean you just wanted to be with her, or you wanted to touch and kiss her?” questions Jisoo intently.

“It was more of the sec