Sunshine shone through the edges of the curtains in their hotel room, as Jennie and Rosie slept. They had spent most of the night knitted together, with Rosie spooning the shorter girl, but they had come undone at some point in the night, as they both turned in their sleep. Jennie woke up first to find that she had her back to the blonde, and after fluttering her eyelids she hummed as she turned herself to face her love.

Now face to face, Jennie slid her way across the inches of bedsheet that separated them to snuggle herself against Rosie and gave her a soft, gentle, loving kiss on the supple lips that unknowingly . The kiss was enough to awaken her as she was already in the lighter part of her sleep cycle as her body was used to waking up early, along with her brunette girl. The blonde’s eyes fluttered open as she blinked herself to reality, and was greeted by her girlfriend’s flawless beauty. She croaked “Good morning,” through a smile as she stretched her limbs and then wrapped herself around the shorter girl who was pressed up against her. They spent fifteen minutes like that, tangled up in each other, enjoying the comfortable silence in one another's warmth. 

“How do you feel, baby?” The blonde finally broke the sensual silence that they were both enjoying, knowing that one of them had to break it in order to start their day. She also reminded herself of her girlfriend’s incident last night, and concern for her lover resurfaced. 

“I feel better now. I slept like a baby. I feel refreshed,” she answered, through a content smile, with her eyes still closed.

“I’m glad my wifey feels better,” with a kiss on her wifey’s forehead. “We should get ready and head down for some breakfast. I’m starving.”

“Well, that means you’re feeling yourself today, too,” the brunette joked through a smirk.

“Definitely,” the blonde said and then tightened her embrace around Jennie and squeezed her. The brunette’s closed-smile beamed as she melted into Rosie, but then her smile soon turned to a frown as she was released from her loving cacoon, as Rosie slid her way off the bed. 

“I’m gonna go shower, baby. Do you wanna shower with me?”

Jennie’s eyes were open now, her bottom lip forced out as she sulked from losing the warmth and security of her girlfriend’s embrace. “No, I’ll get up in a minute.”

Used to the sulking face of her girlfriend, but not immune, the blonde giggled as she stood up, “Okay, baby.”

Still in the same position, on her side, arms tucked in, as if still being held by her girlfriend, Jennie heard Rosie turn on music in the bathroom as she prepared her shower. The brunette rolled over and stretched her arm to grab her phone which was on the left bedside table. She shimmied herself up, making a backrest with the pillows, and opened her phone. She opened WhatsApp and responded to a generic message from her mother, and then opened Instagram. She didn’t follow anyone on Instagram, but she still liked to look at the profiles of her friends and other profiles with beautiful photography. She typed in a few names of her friends and looked at their recent pictures and stories. One of her friends had posted an image of her being walked off the stage with her arms draped over Rosie and a medic, with the caption ‘Get well soon, Jennie. I was so sad and shocked last night, but so happy that you made it back on stage. You must be exhausted from the tour. We’re all thinking of you. You’re stronger than you know.’

Jennie smiled at the caption but the image of her being carried off stage with the help of Rosie created a feeling of anxiety. The brunette had always been curious about what people said about her, and she had always been concerned about people finding out about her relationship with Rosie. At that moment, seeing that picture of Rosie helping her off stage, her curiosity got the better of her. She wasn’t proud of it. In fact, she hated the fact that she let it. But she needed to find out if people were saying anything about her and Rosie. 

Clicking on the search function on Instagram, she wasted no time in typing in the name of her and Rosie’s ship name preceded by a hashtag ‘#chaennie’. As soon as the results came up she saw three similar pictures to what her friend had posted. An unnerving feeling twisted in her stomach. She clicked on the first one and read the caption: Rosé helping her wifey off stage. She really does love her. Racing through the hashtags she found the hashtag she hated the most ‘#chaennieisreal’. Obviously, she loved Rosie and wanted to be with her, but she hated this hashtag because it was accurate; absolutely accurate, and seeing fans saying it on their posts made her worry that people knew. She would then worry about how many more people knew and then worry about when people in the industry and at YG would find out. These thoughts always came to her mind when she saw this hashtag, it was nothing new. Rosie had helped her get over her anxiety in the past, making her realise that the posts and videos showed no proof of their relationship and that there were more videos and photos of JenLisa, ChaeLisa, and Jensoo. So Jennie had nothing to worry about. 

But this time, the twist in her stomach was much tighter than other times. It twisted tighter and tighter the more photos and videos she opened of Rosie attending to her as she laid unconscious on the floor, Rosie helping her off stage, and Rosie crying over Jennie’s limp body as she wailed her name in trembling fear. Jennie was worried that these photos and videos uncovered Rosie’s true feelings for her and made people suspicious. After the nth photo, she forced herself to close her phone and she threw it onto the mattress hoping the action would also cast aside her anxiety. 

On stage, in front of 20,000 people, the girls performed the second night of their three-night tour finale in Bangkok. It was the middle of the concert, and Jennie had avoided Rosie all night on stage. She tried her best to make no physical contact with the blonde at all. Even for the choreography that required physical contact, she hovered her hand an inch or two away from her girlfriend, making sure she didn’t give anyone any Chaennie ammunition. She thought that the blonde may not notice as touches were minimal during routines. But how could the taller girl not notice the absence of her lover’s touch?

When they performed Stay, the girls always sat on a platform, with the four of them together, with Jennie on the far left, with Rosie next to her. They all sat in the same positions but Jennie was noticeably further away from Rosie than normal. The blonde looked at the brunette with questioning eyes, asking her ‘Why are you sitting so far away from me? Come here.’ Jennie caught the look in her girlfriend’s eyes but refused to succumb. It took every ounce of strength in her to remain distant from Rosie. All she wanted to do was cuddle up to Rosie and sing the song for the fans, something she had done before, but she didn’t want to fuel more Chaennie rumours. If Chaennie became the most popular ship among Blinks then they would get more and more questions about it, and Jennie knew she would find it hard to convince people that it’s not real. 

But Jennie hadn’t told Rosie how she felt. After seeing the pictures and reading the comments on Instagram, she kept it to herself. She didn’t want her girlfriend to know she was being paranoid again, because that’s what Rosie always said when she worried about people being on to them. Rosie would always say “There’s not footage of us kissing or making love, so there’s no proof at all. We could just be friends who hold hands and hang out together a lot, for all they know.” And Jennie knew that Rosie was right, and she knew Rosie would be right this time too, but Jennie just couldn’t help feeling anxious and paranoid. It was just in her nature. 

Walking off stage for a quick change before their next song, Rosie grabbed Jennie and pulled her aside, out of earshot from anyone else. 

“Is everything okay? You haven’t touched me all night.”

“What do you mean? I’m just doing my job and you’re doing yours.” Jennie shrugged, trying to act cool. 

“No, you’re avoiding touching me and being near me. You sat, like, two metres away from me when we sang Stay. You were basically on the edge of the platform. What’s going on?!” Rosie whispered furiously at Jennie. 

“Nothing’s going on. Let’s just get changed on get back on stage,” Jennie pushed Rosie’s forthcoming hand away from her and darted off to get changed. Rosie was visibly angry, knowing full-well that her girlfriend was worried about relationship rumours and wasn’t being honest with her. All Rosie wanted to do was help the brunette calm down and think rationally, but the brunette had pushed her away. Rosie couldn’t help but feel a bruise on her heart in a shade of abandonment. 

Back on stage, Rosie decided to play the same game as Jennie, avoiding her as much as possible, not because she was worried about relationship rumours, but because she was angry at her girlfriend for keeping her feelings from her and not letting her help. Whenever Rosie needed to make physical contact with Jennie during a dance move, she mimicked the brunette’s hand-hovering, and if Jennie looked at her, she would refuse to smile and look away. Jennie had barely looked at her before their little chat backstage, but since then, Jennie had been glancing at the blonde more and more, hoping to get a smile of forgiveness from her or any subtle sign of amnesty. 

The frustration between the two had been building through the night. The normally sweet chemistry between the two became bitter and Jennie couldn’t take the bitterness from her girlfriend any longer. Sure, she really didn’t want to do anything to fuel Chaennie rumours, but above that, she really didn’t want her girlfriend to be mad at her. She couldn’t take being in her girlfriend’s bad books. She couldn’t handle the fact that she was the reason for her lover’s misery. She needed to see that smile again. She needed to make her happy. 

Singing one of their softer songs, Really, Jennie and Rosie both knew that they had to put their disagreement aside as they had to spend time together during the choreography for this song. In their respective minds, they both planned to keep contact to a minimum, both for different reasons, but Jennie knew this was the song that she could get a smile from Rosie and seek forgiveness. 

As the four girls came together in the middle of the stage, during the second chorus of the song, they all walked forward, with Rosie on the far right and Jennie right next to her. Jennie looked at Rosie and saw a solemn or serious look on the blonde’s face and she was still aware that she was the reason for it. Her heart ached because of it, and so needed to do something to get a glimpse of the taller girl’s smile. Jennie looked at the blonde, who looked back. Still aware that Chaennie rumours would get spread online for any kind of act of affection, she decided to finally listen to what the blonde had been saying for the past few years and thought a little gesture wouldn’t prove anything. With that in mind, Jennie lifted her left hand and molded her thumb and index finger into a heart and showed it to the blonde, who gave her a finger-heart in return, as well as the thing that Jennie had been looking for: that smile. Rosie’s face beamed with a smile at Jennie’s show of affection, but there was a doubt in its genuineness, as Rosie turned her original genuine smirk into a fake but beautiful smile. The audience couldn’t see the insincerity of the smile, as they cheered at the show of affection between the two, but Jennie could see the facade in the blonde’s eyes. 

After lowering their hands, Rosie prematurely left Jennie’s side to walk over to the other side of the stage, where Jennie and Rosie would normally do their couple routine. Normally, she would stand by Jennie longer, but this time she was playing Jennie’s own game and wanted to put distance between them. Seeing Rosie leave her side earlier than normal, something took over Jennie. She didn’t want Rosie to walk away from her. She didn’t want the blonde to punish her with distance, just as she had done to Rosie earlier on in the show. She knew Rosie was upset with her and wanted to get away from her, but Jennie didn’t want that. Something took over Jennie’s actions. Something from passion and desire. She grabbed Rosie’s head and turned her so that they were facing each other. Staring into each other’s eyes, with a hand-width between their faces, Jennie looked at Rosie as she sang, serenading the blonde. To Jennie, in those seconds, they were no longer on stage, the audience no longer existed, that moment was no longer in public. To Jennie, it was only her and Rosie. Her eyes gazed deep into Rosie’s eyes, seeking forgiveness and offering passion. Moving south, her eyes moved to the blonde’s lips, wanting nothing more but to devour them. 

Reality came crashing back, as Jennie remembered she was still on stage and she was almost about to kiss her girlfriend. Awareness of the situation took over her and she couldn’t finish her lines. She let Rosie go and got lost in a moment of shyness. Rosie laughed but was shocked at what happened. She walked away and began singing her part expecting Jennie to chase her and continue their couples choreography.

Like a schoolgirl, Jennie chased Rosie and took her in a hug. Still intoxicated from the passionate moment they just shared, Jennie leaned towards Rosie’s cheek. Normally, she would blow the blonde a kiss from a metre away, but this time she was still giddy from the display of passion that almost occurred. At that moment, in all its rarity, she really didn’t care about more rumours about their relationship. All she wanted was more of Rosie. Her eyes locked onto Rosie's cheek and leaned in as if she was a moth to a flame. She opened ever so slightly, and the blonde’s skin entered as she playfully bit her jawline. 

Rosie whipped her head to Jennie, in shock at what Jennie just did. Jennie had always had a bold personality, but when it came to their relationship, she was serious about keeping intimacy behind closed doors. So this display really caught Rosie off-guard, especially after Jennie ignoring her for most of the night. Rosie didn't know how she carried on singing as she felt the wet mark that Jennie had left on her jawline. After the initial shock wore off, the blonde looked at her girlfriend and smiles, thinking maybe Jennie had finally realised that without definitive proof of their relationship on camera, nothing bad could happen to them.