*Chaeyoung’s POV*

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I scavenged through my purse, trying to find a particular small item from the bottom of it. I remembered putting it there just before leaving and I was sure it was there. It had to be there.

I switched from going through my purse, to looking through the side pockets. Still nothing. I dialed a number on my phone.

”Bobby?”

A low grunt. He sounded as if he had just woken up. ”Hmh…?”

I threw the papers out of my way. They floated on the floor and traveled along with the small draft.  It stopped them with my foot. ”I can’t find the flash drive, where did I put it? Before leaving?”

A long breath echoed in my ear. A shiver shook my shoulders. ”Right hand pocket.”

I tried my pocket with my right hand. Felt a bump under my palm. He was right, it was there. ”Oh, found it. Thanks.”

”Mhm… when are you coming back?”

I checked the time. ”Before six?”

Low grunt. It was his thing - to let out animalistic sounds. ”That late?”

I smiled to myself. ”You miss me already?”

Silence. Then a little whiny sound. I imagined him stretching. ”Maybe.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Fine. I’ll be back before eight then.”

Bobby huffed. ”Okay.”

”Okay”, I snorted.

”But you just said six.”

”Yeah, before asking whether you missed me or not.”

”Fine, I do.”

”What was that?”

”I do. Miss you -”, Bobby groaned. ”- Rose.”

I grinned, forgetting the item in my pocket all over again. His hoarse voice was enough to send me right back to last night, when things had escalated between us. Oh, right. I’m Rose, Jennie’s personal therapist, yoga instructor and a friend. And this is my story.

My story started as another story became to an end - or began? I’m not exactly sure. But you know what went down with Jennie and her guy, Hanbin, right? Jennie was coming back from the countryside and suddenly a word bug bit her and she had this enlightening experience that caused her to head right back to her Hanbin (and ditch me, hello) and she ended up staying there for about a month before heading back to Seoul. She had written a new draft that she wanted to publish instead of her earlier story, which had eventually went straight to the trash bin. Or at least that’s what she told me, I highly doubt that she actually threw it away. I was mind blown by her first draft even. The second one was out of this world.

When Jennie finally came back, her mom had moved to Busan, which I didn’t quite understand. Jennie had never been very close with her mom, so obviously, I wasn’t very familiar with her either. It all had something to do with Jennie quitting her job (which I had encouraged her to do by the way, for a looong time) and her getting together with that fishing bartender. Apparently Hanbin wasn’t enough for her mom or something, which was why she couldn’t stay. Or something. I couldn’t really understand it, so I let everything slide above my head. I was content with my own problems. Such as getting a job in the first place.

I wanted to become an actress. And in order to get a role, I had to be more than willing to attend dozens of auditions every week. I had to learn multiple scripts, go to the gym, wear nice clothes, use proper dialogues, learn monologues… yada yada, you probably get the point. I had to be willing to put my whole life into this, which was one reason why I never had any time to date.

I did do one night stands, unlike Jennie. Well, she had tried them, a few times. But somehow they always ended with a ”sorry, I, uh, I just remembered I have this, uh, I’ve gotta go”. Or that’s what she told me. And no, this wasn’t a quote by the guy, it was a quote by her. She really did bail every guy. Well, except our guy Hanbin.

Which brings me back to my story.

Because Hanbin and Bobby had finally decided to come to Seoul.

That’s right, not only Hanbin. Obviously he was coming here for Jennie, because they hadn’t seen each other in a long time and Hanbin had finally earned enough money to buy a ticket here and back, but he had brought a friend along. A friend called Bobby.

Bobby and I had a weird thing going on. You wanna know why it was weird? Well let me tell you.

I texted him every morning when I woke up. Then every night before I fell asleep. I called him every time I was drunk, begging him to come take me home and every time I called him back, apologizing for my drunk behavior. As expected, he never took it seriously, but there was this weird affection going on between us, which neither him or I could really explain. We had never seen each other, yet it felt like he was the only person I could tell everything to. I was actually shocked how it used to be Jennie who I called when something was annoying me, but now I texted Bobby. And he seemed to be genuinely intrigued by my problems.

Anyway, back to the point. After weeks of waiting, the boys finally booked their trips to Seoul. Jennie was obviously stoked to see her lover boy once again, but as for me, I was excited too. And nervous. Because a guy I had never seen, to whom I had sent a goodnight text every night, was coming to stay at our home for a while. Yeah, let that sink in.

I learned to know of this on the same night the guys were supposed to leave Sanggang-ri. So they would be in Seoul in the morning. Which gave me one night to prepare for the encounter.

I hadn’t even started dieting yet.

I had wanted to start before meeting him.

Well, at least he got to see the real me. The overfed Rose who liked to stay out a little bit too late and talk to strangers in pubs.

It was a great way to learn how to develop new characters. Don’t judge me.

The entire night I kept waking up and looking at my phone, checking the time. And every time five minutes had passed. So, I woke up every five minutes. Which was bad in a way because I was going to have the biggest eye bags ever known by human history in the morning.

I woke up at five in the morning and started to go through my wardrobe, trying to find a perfect outfit for the encounter. Jennie had told me that Bobby was a comfy guy who liked chilling in his joggers and hoodies, so I didn’t want to overdo it. But I didn’t want to under-do it either. So I settled for a blue dress I found from Jennie’s wardrobe. It was a dress she had brought back from the countryside. I figured it would’ve been more comfy in Bobby’s eyes.

More homey.

I never really did my hair or spent much time doing my makeup, so I spared myself from that this time too. Once again, I didn’t want to overdo it. I decided to wear my hair open. That way I felt the most confident. I brushed some rosy pink on my lips. To make them look more kissable.

I ended wiping it off in the end.

When the time of their arrival got closer, I changed my outfit three times before settling into regular  black jeans and a hoodie.

Finally it was time.

Jennie and I took a bus to the station and sat on a bench by the pavement to wait for them.

Masses of people walked past us, but we sat there in silence. Jennie was too excited to carry on a conversation, so I let her be in her little happy bubble. I had my own thoughts to worry about.

I hadn’t texted him good morning this time. I wanted to say it to his face.

”Do you think he’s gonna kiss me in front of all these people?” Jennie asked suddenly, arching an eyebrow at me. I could see a small grin twitching the corner of . She was obviously going mad. She was love sick. I felt a sting of envy spark inside of me.

”If he has any hopeless romantic in him, he’s gonna do it”, I said.

Jennie huffed, her shoulders hunched. ”I don’t know. I think he’s a little shy.”

”It’s like that in the beginning”, I said and shrugged. ”He’ll grow out of it.”
Jennie chuckled.

I eyed her. Her cheeks grew rosy red.

Suddenly a loud male voice boomed from the speakers, telling us that the train from Mokpo-station had arrived on the platform. Jennie’s legs started wiggling.

”Chill, Jennie. It’s just-”

”Don’t tell me to chill”, she barked back before I could even finish my sentence. ”I haven’t seen him in freaking ages.”

I chuckled. This was a completely new side of Jennie, that I hadn’t yet became familiar with. This Jennie wasn’t scared of ruining her image for a guy. This Jennie was desperate to see her guy again.

I couldn’t blame her though.

As I saw the two guys walking up the stairs from the platforms, I couldn’t turn my head away. They were truly a sight. Something out of the ordinary.

Jennie jumped up from the bench and ran straight to the brown-haired boy’s embrace. The guy dropped his bag and spread his arms for her so that he could swallow her against his chest. I thought my heart stopped for a second or two - so heartwarming the sight was.

The guy - Hanbin, sank his face against Jennie’s neck and closed his eyes.They stayed like tha