Chapter 19

I was on the money, thought Rose.

Jennie glanced at Rose, and her eyes scanned her face. ‘Your reaction isn’t what I expected.’

‘What do you mean? Did you expect me to act like a melodramatic queen?’ asked Rose. ‘Ok, I’ll react like that: Oh my GoSh! You guys are dAtInG??’

Jennie laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s somewhat how I expected you’d react.’

Rose grinned. ‘Ha! I happened to have already guessed that you and Joohyun were dating before-hand. Thanks to a few certain people, I was able to draw that conclusion quite confidently with the subtle bits of both verbal and non-verbal information that I received from sources that shall remain anonymous.’

‘Damn, you just sounded like Sherlock-Holmes or something,’ giggled Jennie.

Rose grinned. ‘I’m getting better at all this love-detecting thing. Oh? We’re already at the dorms,’ she said, as the coach pulled to the side of the curb outside their hotel.

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Evening fell over Seoul, and the sun returned home from a long day of work. The moon gradually inched its way into the sky, like a typical person getting out of bed on a work day. Rose sat at the table that faced the window of their dorm, which overlooked the skyline of the inner city. Lights from building were turning on, creating hundreds of tiny lights in the midst of the darkening sky.

Rose’s pen scribbled over her homework; the sound of the pen scratching gently against the paper made a somewhat satisfying sound to Rose’s ears. She clicked the pen shut, and placed it down on her notebook. She rested her head in her hands and gazed out the window.

‘Something bothering you?’ a voice asked.

Jennie had sat down beside Rose, her hair wrapped up in a white towel, and a Gucci bathrobe draped over her slim figure.

Rose rubbed her eyes. ‘No, I’m just tired from an exhausting day of school.’

She promptly stretched her arms out and yawned.

And I’m also tired because I slept poorly last night because of that dream …

‘It’s a pity we’re going back in three weeks,’ said Jennie suddenly.

Rose’s ears cocked up. ‘Huh? Going back? Where?’

Jennie laughed. ‘Did you forget that we’re actually on an exchange program? You’ll be going back to Australia and I’ll be returning to New Zealand.’

Rose felt her heart sink to the bottom of the great Atlantic. With everything that had happened from the moment they arrived in Seoul, she had completely forgotten about the fact that they weren’t permanent residents in this country. She’d forgotten that she wouldn’t be able to see Lisa, Jisoo and Jennie nearly as often as she did now, once she returned to Australia.

‘Oh my gosh. I completely forgot about that,’ replied Rose, her eyes wide.

Jennie let out a slow breath and took a sip from her mug of lemon water. ‘Well, now that I’m in a relationship with someone here, I think I might as well just stay in Korea. My dad said I could if I wanted to, and I do have somewhere to stay, so …’

‘What about me and Lisa?’ asked Rose, after a while of silence. ‘I’ve heard long-distance relationships rarely work out …’

She really did look so miserable. Jennie laid a hand on her shoulder, not knowing what to do to comfort her.

‘Well … if your parents let you, you could come and live with me in my apartment,’ Jennie offered.

Rose felt touched at the offer, but declined when she thought of Jennie taking her girlfriend home and doing some things that would require more privacy.

‘I could buy you your own apartment,’ said Jennie, looking like buying someone an apartment was like buying someone a meal.

Rose laughed at the utter ridiculousness of that offer. ‘That’s ridiculous, Jennie. But thanks anyways.’

Jennie thought hard. She hated seeing Rose look so miserable, and the thought of her leaving to Australia also ached her heart. They had been through quite a bit together. Suddenly, a light bulb shone in her head.

‘I know!’ she cried, jumping out of her chair and scaring the daylight out of Rose. ‘You could participate in the auditions for that girl group!’

‘Huh? Girl group?’ replied Rose.

‘Remember when I told you about how my dad’s entertainment company was planning on debuting a girl group? Well, they finalised it the other day, and they’re holding auditions in one-and-a-half weeks time. You could try out!’ said Jennie enthusiastically. It was probably the most enthusiastic Rose had ever heard her.

‘Don’t I have to be good at something musically to audition?’ asked Rose.

‘Do you play an instrument?’

Oh duh! I completely forgot I play guitar! Thought Rose.

‘Oh yeah, I play guitar …’ she said.

‘That’s great!’ replied Jennie. ‘You can play the guitar, and you can sing really well too …’

‘Sing really well? I sing really well??’

Jennie nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve heard you sing before in the shower.’

Rose felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. ‘Y-y-you have?’

Jennie laughed. ‘Yes of course I have. The shower walls aren’t sound-proof you know!’ she teased.

‘That’s embarrassing,’ mumbled Rose.

‘Hey, don’t be embarrassed. You’re good at singing, I mean it. And with a guitar, you’d do an awesome job at acoustic songs. I can just imagine it … yeah, you would be amazing!’ said Jennie.

‘Aw, thanks,’ smiled Rose. ‘Okay, I’ll think about it. But, even if I do go and audition and pass them, how does that allow me to stay here?’

‘The company’s said that those who make it past auditions will become trainees and will stay in provided dorms. They will have monthly “reviews”, where you have to perform to some judges and they’ll see if you’re improving or not, and they’ll see if you’re worth a shot at being in the girl group,’ explained Jennie.

‘Oh, wow!’ said Rose. ‘So if I manage to make it in, I’ll be able to stay!’

Jennie nodded. ‘Yep! So, you in?’

Rose fidgeted with her pen. ‘Er, I dunno yet. Are you going to do it? You said you rap …’

‘I’ll do it if you do it,’ said Jennie.

‘Really?? Hm … okay. Sure, let’s give this audition thing a go,’ said Rose. ‘I hope I don’t regret doing this.’