Chapter III

girl at home

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After the sleepover happened, Jisoo felt the need to avoid Rosé. Of course, Rosé is not naive. She knows that Jisoo’s been avoiding her—not literally avoiding her though, just a cold shoulder kind of avoidance. Nothing significant happened in their sleepover. All they did was eat and gossip and after that they went to sleep, woke up in the morning, went to school and the end. Rosé doesn’t understand why and she shrugs it off, thinking that it must be the time of the month that’s making Jisoo have mood swings. She thinks that maybe Jisoo’s been distant because she’s going through something. Rosé hopes that, perhaps, when the day comes that Jisoo’s ready to open up herself to her, then she would gladly do so, too.

Jisoo, on the other hand, feels awkward to have called Rosé on her most vulnerable moment. Thankfully, she is assured that the auburn haired girl didn’t feel suspicious at all on the night of their sleepover. Rosé bought her pretension really well. She’s glad that Rosé’s not the type to pry. Jisoo knows, too, that Rosé’s just patient and understanding the situation. Sometimes it scares her that Rosé’s that way. She’s scared of people like Rosé. Because once upon a time, she met a girl almost just like her. A girl that once broke her heart. But the past is past and Jisoo doesn’t like looking back on who left her behind. Perhaps, one day she could open her doors again.

“Good morning class. I am Miss Hwang Tiffany, your new English teacher. Call me Miss Hwang.”

Everyone stands up to greet their new teacher. “Good morning, Miss Hwang.”

“Okay, please take your seats,” Miss Hwang says, gesturing us to sit down.

“You’re all probably wondering why Miss Jung isn’t your teacher anymore, am I right?” she asks, adjusting her eyeglasses while looking at the attendance list. “Well, I don’t know either. All I know is that she transferred.”

The students exchange knowing looks. Last week, Miss Jung Jessica, Miss Jung rather, is apparently involved in a scandal with another teacher. No one knows who the other teacher is. No one knows what really happened, whether Miss Jung had an affair or a feud with another teacher. All the students know that she’s been forced to resign so that the news wouldn’t spread outside the school. Rumors are still spreading like wildfire. Each has their own flow of storyline. Each embedded with truth and lies. Each holds weight.

“It’s sad that she was forced to resign. In my 17 years of existence, I’ve never met such a teacher so dedicated to do her job. She loved teaching. But what she loved the most was seeing her students learn, grow, and develop. She’s honestly one of the few teachers that I actually liked,” Rosé says, a frown making its way on her face.

Jisoo nods in agreement. Her fluency in English improved a lot because of the enthusiasm and dedication of Miss Jung in teaching. She liked Miss Jung too.

“Do you think she really had an affair with one of the teachers? If so, then who is it?” Jisoo wonders.

“That I don’t know. Rumor has it that it’s Teacher Taeyeon,” Rosé answers.

The two are headed to the cafeteria since it’s lunch break. They’re currently lining up to get their lunch food.

“What? Are you serious?” Jisoo almost dropped her food tray. “But teacher Taeyeon resigned two weeks ago, right? Wow, It actually adds up.”

“Well, that’s just a rumor,” Rosé says, picking up a banana milk and putting on her tray. “And besides, I think they look cute. I ship it.”

“Really?” Jisoo’s mouth went ajar.

“Why, yes? Love is a complex thing. But that shouldn’t mean that it cannot be expressed with the same . We’re given the power and the freedom to love. So why forbid people to love each other? who says it’s wrong! It’s the 21st century and anyone who thinks it’s disgusting can go on themselves. Love who you want to love!”

Jisoo couldn’t help but turn red. Rosé is really out here surprising her. Knowing that their school’s openly homophobic, not to mention that homophobia is a taboo in Korea, it’s a surprise to have found someone who supports the LGBTQ community. Could Rosé be more beautiful?

“Oh, wow... you surprise me,” Jisoo is in awe. “Not everyone thinks that way. If only the people around the world thinks like you, then we’ll probably prosper as a human race.”

Rosé laughs. “Trust me, if they’d be thinking like me, the world would have gone crazy.”

“Touché.”

“What? You’re just going to agree with what I said?” Rosé gasps and stops.

“We both know that between you and me, you’re the one who could pass as a person who just escaped from an asylum,” Jisoo retorts.

“Oh, sure. You’re one to talk,” Rosé rolls her eyes.

They laugh in unison as they take their seats near the glass window of the cafeteria. The cafeteria is packed of students with casual lunch break conversations. Some of them are just eating their food happily while some are just so immersed in whatever their friends are talking about. Meanwhile, the two girls are just eating their food peacefully until Rosé’s boyfriend slides in to sit beside her.

“Hey, babe. The guys’ been missing you a lot because you’re not hanging out with us anymore,” Taehyung pouts, which Jisoo thinks is disgusting. “Say... we hangout later at the karaoke bar. You know, the one that Jin owns.”

“Oh, hey, Jisoo. Didn’t see you there,” he adds, smirking. “I see that you’ve been stealing my girl lately. Not that I don’t mind.”

Rosé forces herself to smile at Jisoo while secretly pinching Taehyung’s side, earning a groan from him. His body twists while he forcefully grins at his violent girlfriend. She gives him a look which means that he needs to quit whatever he’s planning to do to make Jisoo angry. He rolls his eyes and retreats back from annoying Jisoo. He does it every time he sees them hanging out.

“You’re lucky that one of the boys has a crush on you. I mean, honestly, I pity him,” Taehyung remarks, flicking out his bangs.

Jisoo laughs, mentally choking him to death.

“Wow, really? The heavens must hate me then. I’ve never felt so unlucky and so unfortunate my whole life than to hear you that one of your dumb friends likes me. I pity myself.”

She shakes her head and wipes an imaginary tear under her eyes in the most dramatic way.

“Ya, the audacity of this bi—”

Rosé kicks his legs under the table to stop him from completely uttering the inappropriate word. She gives him a glare, thinking that he has crossed the line.

“I’ll hangout with you guys, later, ‘kay? Now go and stop pestering Jisoo or else I’ll murder you in your sleep,” Rosé says, shooting glares at him.

He’s clearly pissed at Jisoo, who has a smug look on her face. It’s another win for Kim Jisoo! She shoos him away as if he was a stray dog who stinks.

“Fine, I’ll go if you’ll give me a kiss,” Taehyung beams, tapping his lips. He leans, lips forward.

Rosé giggles, shoving him out of her face. “Not in school, babe. Unlike you, I don’t want to go to detention because of PDA.”

Jisoo holds her laughter. Sometimes she finds herself enjoying these kind of moments where Taehyung withdraws himself from another embarrassment. Although she seriously thinks that he does not deserve