She's still sound asleep.

Rosé swore she was still dreaming, her eyes too heavy to open as the mumbles, though coherent enough for her to understand, echoed in the background. 

You seem to know her well enough-- I don't do well with strangers. You know that. Are you not coming? 

Distant footsteps. As if a person was pacing back and forth. She could feel the floor's vibration through the cushioned surface she is laying at. Just then she registers the smell of clean sheets. 

What do you mean don't take advantage of-- yah!

Rosé's eyes shot open at the outburst. Her view takes in unfamiliar ceiling decorations and that's when her heart started to boil, senses immediately sharpening. The conclusion of being in some stranger's abode sinking in.

Rosé sits up, feeling her heart pound more than ever, expecting the worse.

She's too young to be abducted and eventually die--

"H-hey, uhm." 

She looks over to her right and finds the new girl Jennie Kim instead, phone awkwardly held a good distance away from the girl's mouth, the device's screen glaring brightly. A faint voice could be heard on the other line, "She's awake? Is she okay? Ask her--" 

Jennie hangs up and aimlessly tosses the phone on the leathered sofa behind her. She clears to clearly but briefly summarize for the slightly bewildered girl.

"You passed out before I could get to you. Thankfully I stepped on the breaks just in time. Are you hurt anywhere?" 

Rosé shakes her head, and Jennie lets out a small sigh of relief. 

"My...phone." Her voice was hoarse, dry. The last time she drank water was after cheer practice, however long ago that was. 

Jennie points to the bedside table just an inch away from Rosé's side of the bed, a duffel bag placed neatly atop of it. Rosé leans over to the said bag and pauses, her arms suspended stiffly in mid-air. 

She discovers her black Adidas crop top hoodie along with her ripped skin-fit jeans just worn today, neatly folded and stacked right next to her duffel bag. Quickly she yanks the cozy blanket off of her and scans her body starting from the top down.

Loose black and white baseball tee shirt paired with fitted black short shorts, a small white "Chanel" imprint written vertically on each side. Rosé was dumbfounded. 

Jennie shots the girl an apologetic look, completely reading her mind. Her hand unconsciously comes up to scratch a nonexistent itch spot at the back of her head.

"You were laying on the road and your clothes had been dirtied from it-- didn't want you to get sick from all of the dirt you were exposed to. I have already washed them as you can see. Clean and dry." 

Rosé pulls on her (Jennie's) shirt  to check her bra-clad chest underneath. She feels her ears burn and in no time her whole face absorbs the same burning sensation as she asks, her voice low and hesitant. 

"Did you by any chance?.. you know, my undergarments.." 

Jennie rang both of her hands out in panic.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare to. I left them as is, on you. I also turned the lights off when I stripped you off your clothes and washed you with sanitary wipes." She tried to reassure, her voice slightly breaking upon her poor choice of words. 

She thought she could've worded everything better instead of having strip and washed you being on the same sentence together. 

"O-okay." 

Feeling the need to redeem herself, Jennie picks out an object from her jogger pants' pocket and lets it dangle in front of her.

"Not sure if this holds any importance. But you were holding onto it tightly." 

Rosé's face brightens right away as she crawls over to take the keychain without hesitation. She inspects the plastic fish attached to metal chain, a soft smile playing on her lips as she keeps it close to her. 

Jennie doesn't speak, or rather, breath. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Rosé doesn't seem to notice. She takes a step back and Rosé looks up to her, the girl's face devoid of any signs of stress or fear from earlier. 

"I thought I've lost it completely, thank you."

"Of course." 

Silence followed right after and Jennie shifts around to grab her phone, not knowing how to fill the awkward atmosphere. She pretends to play with her phone, eventually sitting down cross-legged on her sofa, eyes avoiding the other that's across from her. 

Jennie feels the other girl's stare for a few minutes more, then she hears a soft cough. 

"I'm a little starved." The girl announced softly, her turn now to avoid Jennie's gaze. 

"You must be. Wait here." 

Jennie makes an effort to stand up and readies herself to head out of the room for some quick meal to bring back when a hand grips at her wrist. She looks back to see the girl now kneeling up at the edge of the bed, an unreadable expression on her face. 

"Say, we've never really introduced ourselves yet." 

"Right." 

Realizing what she's done, Rosé quickly retracts her hand from Jennie's wrist and refuses to blush at her own sudden impulse. 

"Well. My name is Roseanne Park. People at school call me Rosé for short-- they thought adding an accent sounded appropriate for someone who grew up elsewhere. I do have a Korean name though, and my closer friends usually prefer that over anything. I should just change my name officially." 

Roseanne Park. The name tugged at Jennie's head for some odd reason. But takes turn in introducing herself anyway. 

"Just Jennie Kim for me." 

"I know." 

Jennie notices the girl's cheeks start to show a faint tint of pink, surprised by her own words. She realizes Rosé wore her emotions on her sleeves-- openly expressing what she was currently feeling, unaware of it or not. Jennie takes in a few seconds to observe the girl some more, wondering why something kept pulling on her heart the more she looked at Rosé's face. 

Just then the image of the fish keychain washed over her mind at a random, along with a young voice she doesn't recognize. 

"Why not? His color is orange." 

Jennie dismisses the thought for later and tells the girl to follow her towards the kitchen. Rosé complies reluctantly with a nod, safely tucking the keychain in her duffel bag. Jennie takes lead, but slows her pace to wait until Rosé could catch up to her. 

"Roseanne Park." She says now, hearing the girl's footsteps closing in from behind. 

"Yes?" 

"Where were you born?" 

IT WAS FINALLY FRIDAY; the whole school preparing for the soccer finals being held at their own home turf over the weekend. School's main pride, being that their varsity team had yet to be defeated from their first place spot in their own school division meet last season, bringing home a big 2nd placer trophy at the end of the states soccer league. 

Rosé makes an effort to explain what had happened the previous night in the midst of all the bustling and pep rallies occurring during lunch. She doesn't mention Jennie's remarkable efforts with changing her clothes, of course. Other than that, she tries to be specific with the chain of events that followed until she was brought back to her own apartment. Emphasizing that the fault be on her in the first place for standing in the middle of the road and at the approaching car's blind spot at that.

"So, what is Jennie like? Is she as rich as what people claim her to be?"

Joy earns a flick in the head from Irene.

"Glad that's all you're worried about." 

"I'm really fine, don't worry. She... took good care of me." Rosé could almost feel her face heat up, recollecting and picturing just how exposed she was in front of Jennie.

She didn't get much shut-eye after Jennie had offered to take her home last night. Images of the girl's actions playing on her head in loops. The girl had managed to prepare a quick and simple kimchi fried rice dish for her at the time which tasted surprisingly splendid-- despite the girl modestly apologizing for the lack of ingredients as it was the only thing she could whip up around her kitchen. Rosé also noted how lavishly the girl was living in general; branded clothes, spacious condo.  Even her posture and mannerisms screamed human luxury, yet her personality stayed grounded. 

The way the girl waited in her car, not planning on driving off until she could see that Rosé was completely inside her apartment, safe and incased. 

One thing that stuck out to her the most was the way Jennie's gaze seemed to express longing-- or was it empathy? At one point when she'd asked Rosé once about her life before coming to Korea. Rosé had answered more willingly as she stuffed her face with more fried-rice; Jennie patiently watching her from across the table. Now that she thought about it, their conversation mostly consisted of her own biography. Rosé had left some details unsaid, though, as she didn't want to dig too deep into her life just yet. 

And now she wonders, if Jennie ever saw through her, with that gaze of hers. 

"Look who decides to come through." Joy fails to mask the excitement in her voice, her eyes striking pass Rosé and out behind her. 

The pink haired girl didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Jennie smelled just as good as she did last night. 

Rosé felt like slapping herself. Since when did she start remembering the girl's scent?

"You doing okay?" She hears Jisoo's voice instead and turns around to confirm that Jennie was indeed not with her. 

Rosé almost asks about Jennie's whereabouts but catches herself. She instead responds with a smile and an obligatory "I'm alright." 

"You know, I always envied your smile. It's natural and pretty." Jisoo's voice was casual and confident, with a hint of suaveness behind it. The girl was born a natural charismatic. 

Right beneath the thronged but otherwise large outdoor dining hall comes Jennie, to-go box in hand while she lingers by the entrance-way, her free hand mindlessly twirling at the straps of her leathered book bag. She thins her lips as she finally moves along, searching for a less crowded area. 

Rosé's blushing face from what Jisoo must have said being the lasting image in her head. 

SHE TAKES TIME to clear her mind by heading over to the school's rooftop. Jisoo had encouragingly implanted the idea to her once that the rooftop was the place to be when you needed to relax. Today should be the day she tries the girl's theory.

A little over three p.m. now and she reminds herself to thank Jisoo later for such an indeed peaceful place as she waits for the girl to finish her volunteer work in helping out with the last minute preparations for tomorrow's event. The slightly cool breeze was fresh; the view from the rooftop overlooking the rest of the school's pretty structure and mountainous terrain not too far in the background creates an overall calming vibe for her.

Her heart almost jumps out when she hears shuffling behind her. 

"I'd say you shouldn't lean too close on that railing, heard horror stories of it easily breaking before." 

She backs off from leaning any further on the metal rails and spins around to see Rosé approaching towards her. The girl's stride slow and graceful as her hand rests on her sand-brown duffel bag, her other hand holding her phone. Jennie doesn't speak, and so Rosé continues. 

"I come here often whenever something bothers me and I need to think it through. It's relaxing isn't it?" 

Jennie listens, her eyes falling towards the girl's lips as she observes the way they curl up a little, like a small smile, every time she ended her sentences. Her reply causes Rosé to blink in thought. 

"Is something bothering you right now, then?" 

Yes. You. 

"Not at the moment, no. Just needed a breather, cheer practice was extra harsh today. Jisoo is with Irene and Joy right now; should not take too long until they're done putting up the varsity soccer team's banners in front of the gates." Rosé felt like explaining. Jennie had gotten her thinking lately, the girl not leaving her mind from time to time-- she couldn't exactly say that out loud. 

Jennie nods, again giving her a gaze similar from last night. Rosé almost wanted to confront the girl just what she's thinking about at the moment. 

"What y'all up to?" 

Jisoo comes right in time to break through the silence, as she leans her body on the door entrance, some bag full of confetti on her left hand. Jennie sees Rosé waver slightly upon seeing Jisoo, and she couldn't help but feel a nagging sensation inside of her. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. 

And so, carrying the nagging feeling with her, she starts to walk passed Rosé. She meets eyes with Jisoo, the older girl raising a brow at her when she stops just a few steps away from the pink haired girl, her back remaining towards her. 

Her voice was loud and clear enough, she made sure, as she regards Rosé. 

"You can keep my clothes." 

Authornim's message (in pinku): So sorry for the long wait, I'm not exactly given enough time as much as before now that I've been tasked more (>militaryonniehere) in my location right now. Thank you so much for the cute responses and welcome new readers! Hope you enjoyed this feelsy update, I circle you all <3