“I can’t do this anymore.”

Jisoo says indignantly out of nowhere, letting go of the metal chopsticks she held and making it land on her plate with a clang, “Has anyone seen Chaeyoung?” she asked in bafflement, now bringing her attention to the other two women sitting across her.

Just the three of them felt wrong. Absolutely wrong. There’s supposed to be four of them.

Lisa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was her apartment— they’re eating dinner in her place, yet it felt like she was stripped off the title as it’s possessor. Lisa can very much hear the loaded superiority behind Jisoo’s voice; you’d confuse her as the owner instead as she demanded for answers.

“Jisoo...” Jennie draws out her name carefully, acknowledging the thick atmosphere wrapping itself around them, “Relax.”

However, their eldest member merely laughed humorlessly, “Jennie, Chaeyoung’s been missing in action for like— I don’t know, three days now!” Jisoo remarked, “I barely see her lately unless we’re called in for a meeting and we’re just letting it be?” she said, her voice now weakening, “She could be struggling with something and yet-“

“-Chu...” interrupts Jennie.

“-yet we do nothing about it! Are we even her friends? Her sisters? She’s always out, and whenever she’s with us, she’s distracted and looks troubled.”

It is true, though. Rosé has been distant from her members recently. Nonetheless, she tries to be her usual cheery self, of course, but all of them can tell that it’s forced and that her mind is distracted by something else— something they don’t know about.

When Jisoo eventually finished her whinge about their absent member, Lisa figured that it was perhaps the right time to explain, “Umm...” she trails off anxiously, afraid that their eldest member might snap at her. Jisoo isn’t one to be messed with after all when she’s serious. “I tried asking her about it the other day, and she seemed unwilling to tell,” Lisa discloses sadly, “She was never hesitant with me. We always confide with each other.”

“Lisa...”

“She says she’s all right though!” The dancer quickly added, upon catching a glimpse of concern etched on her unnie’s faces, “She’s just thinking about something.”

After hearing the information from their youngest, Jisoo could only bring out a heavy sigh.

“Well, whatever it is, that something must be major for her to act like this,” she said.

—

It was not anything major.

Rosé was just overreacting.

What we are witnessing from our main vocalist is a simple case of gay awakening, but of course, she knows nothing of this.

The real reason why Rosé is detached from reality lately is that her thoughts are filled with nothing but Suzy.

Suzy.

Suzy.

Suzy.

Not a big deal, of course. She’s only been thinking non-stop of their moments and their hug from last week.

Particularly their hug.

Rosé isn’t foolish. It’s pure admiration, that’s all.

The feeling is comparable to when you’re finally meeting your idol. You couldn’t concentrate because you think about them 24/7. It’s the same experience she had with Halsey when she hung out with her last year in Paris.

Yeah, that’s right, just admiration.

Still, she wanted to get rid of Suzy in her mind. Rosé thinks it’s unusual to keep thinking about her when they’ve only just met.

Okay, their meeting last time isn’t exactly their first time, but still, they’re not that close.

Rosé knew that the only way to prevent herself from thinking about Suzy is to keep herself occupied, and that’s exactly what she’s been doing. Her solo schedules for YSL helped. When she had none, she’d spend her day in the YG building to practice their dances or in BLACKLABEL to mess around in one of the studios.

She pondered telling her sister, Alice, about this peculiar behavior of hers since tells her everything. However, the last time that they communicated, Alice has been busy dealing with lawyer stuff, as Rosé calls it. She mentioned something about an important case that she’s been working on for almost a month now, which is why the idol has decided that now is not the right time to tell her sister about her situation.

Lisa, however, has noticed her bizarre conduct and even confronted her about it. Unfortunately, in the end, she was shut down by our main vocalist.

“Chaengie...are you okay?”

The forlorn look on Lisa’s face that day was something Rosé is guilty of, and it truly broke her heart knowing she’s the reason behind it. Regardless, she has opted to keep things to herself for now. She’s pretty sure she’ll get over about… Whatever it is she’s feeling anyway.

“Rosé, it’s your turn again!”

After being summoned by their manager, she stood up hastily from their dressing room and made her way to the set of their newest commercial. It’s a group one this time, and Rosé is trying her utmost to put on a happy face around her members since she no longer wished for another confrontation.

“You okay?” one of their stylists inquired as she made her way to the main vocalist, doing one last retouch on her forehead before facing the camera.

Rosé only eyed at her from the side and smiled as a response.

Of course I am.

—

“Chaeyoung-ah, wait up!”

After hearing her name, Rosé halted in her tracks. The voice was all too familiar for the main vocalist. Given that, she still stood there, frozen and surprised that she’s been caught trying to flee at once after their commercial.

Oh no. What do I do?

“Chaeng,” the person calls out, much louder this time in case she didn’t hear. It was none other than their eldest, Jisoo. “Are you leaving already?”

Wearily, Rosé addressed her member, “Umm...yes?”

“But Lisa brought chicken for everyone on set,” she said. It was a lie; there was never any chicken to begin with. It was just an attempt to get their main vocalist to stay. She knew that the younger was going to leave early to do God knows what. “You can’t go yet.”

There’s no way she’ll resist food, Jisoo thought.

“Umm...I have to go unnie.”

Holy , this girl….

“For real? Where are you off to?” Jisoo queried, lifting one of her eyebrows while doing so, “Does the manager know?”

“N- I mean-“ Rosé corrects herself immediately, catching on to her mistake, “Yes.”

Jisoo could only scoff. Rosé may be good at avoiding them, but their main vocalist is terrible at lying. “really?” The elder replied, obviously not buying it.

“Unnie...”

“Chaeng, did we do something wrong?” Jisoo inquired again, frustration apparent in her voice, “If I’m not mistaken, I feel like you’re avoiding us. Did something happen back home?”

“...”

“Park Chaeyoung, answer me, please.”

“Unnie.”

This time, Jisoo kept mum, taking her time to observe and figure out the younger as if she’s a dilemma.

Could it be...?, Jisoo guesses. No way.

“Chaeng, be truthful with me,” Jisoo says in a steady tone.

“Huh?”

“Are you…are you dating?”

Upon hearing the comment, Rosé blinked her eyes for a couple of times, trying to make sense of the question before they gradually enlarged at the indictment. With her cheeks flushed, she darted her eyes around the area in case anyone else heard them, “Unnie!” She cried out.

However, Jisoo is unfazed and only shrugged, “What? It’s the only explanation as to why you’re sneaking out. I barely see you in the dorm.”

“I-It’s not like that!” The younger denied.

“Then what is it?” The elder asked without hesitancy. She was sick and tired of this game. “I thought we were sisters. I thought we were supposed to share each other’s burdens,” she said, “We can’t keep watching you struggle by yourself. I thought you only needed time, but we’re worried about you.”

“Unnie...” Rosé speaks softly. She didn’t want things to come to this. She didn’t even realize that her actions had already inflicted such a negative impact on her members. “I’m...I’m sorry...”

“Chaeyoung-“

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