“Park Chaeyoung.”

Rosie heard the nasally whine of her friend behind her. Vaguely.

“Park Chaeyouuuung, mind meeeee.”

Out of the corner of Rosie’s eye, she finally noticed Lisa flat on the bed and flailing.

“Park Chaeyouuuuung. I’m staaaarving.”

“In a bit.”

Lisa slowly crawled towards her friend, making a show of her exhausted state, before plopping herself once again face down. “Look, I gave back custody rights because you promised to feed me. How’s my kitchen? No human presence. Why? Because you’re here, on my bed…STARING AT UNNIE WHILE SHE IS PAINTING HER NAILS. STOP. FACETI--mfff.”

Lisa heard a breathy chuckle at the other end of the line when Rosie pressed her palm against . “The salmon is thawing,” Rosie coolly stated without taking her eyes off Jennie.

Lisa play-wrestled with Rosie’s arm to set her face free. “The salmon has thawed a century ago,” she whined again. “Unnie, please tell her to feed me now. I rehearsed for four hours. Four. Hours. I didn’t buy food because she said she’ll cook. Make her get up.”

Lisa let out a triumphant “yes” and a fist pump when she heard Jennie say, “You promised to cook, Rosie.” The Australian griped but rolled out of bed obediently. Lisa snatched Rosie’s phone and declared, “my turn,” when Rosie began to protest. The dancer merely smirked as her best friend stomped out of the room. “I’m just gonna give the best friend talk,” she retorted when Rosie told her to behave or she will give the salmon to the cats.

“I’m quivering in fear,” Jennie responded flatly.

Lisa gasped and clutched her chest in mock offense. “You should be. Or I will…accidentally…post…weepy drunk Jennie photos.”

Jennie’s hand hovered on top of her toenail that she had been meticulously painting over. ‘You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” Lisa smiled victoriously then lowered the pitch of her voice to sound threatening. “I am under contractual obligation to take vengeance against people who will hurt Rosie on a very…personal…level.”

“But what if she does the hurting?”

“She won’t, pshhh. Rosie? Nahhh.”

Jennie hid her smile at Lisa’s unwavering belief. “So, you think I’m capable of hurting her?”

The younger girl rolled her eyes. “I’m kidding. Obligatory threat from the best friend aside, how are you?”

“It depends on what we’re talking about,” Jennie snickered. “I’m still being treated like an outcast in the office, for some inexplicable reason.”

Lisa rested her chin on her arms and eyeballed her Unnie. “Maybe they think it’s actually true and you’re just denying it.”

“Better I guess, than for them to find out about me and…” Jennie shrugged, “they’re fence-guarding me right now, keeping my activities to a minimum. But whatever,” the older girl pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, “it’ll go away like before.”

“Yeah, it will,” Lisa said reassuringly. “Speaking of you and,” she paused then waggled her eyebrows. “Tell me I wasn’t a good cupid yesterday.”

Jennie let out a full laugh. “I…well, you know, I do want to thank you,” Jennie breathed out, carefully twisting back the nail polish cap.

“That was a walk out for a cause. I left behind good Pho.”

“Well, that,” Jennie smiled. “And for being there for Rosie when…I wasn’t. For understanding her more than I did. For protecting her.”

The maknae glanced at the open door of her room, making sure Rosie is not within eavesdropping distance. “You really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Rosie made choices…not to include you for reasons I’m sure you know now. Plus, if it will make you feel better, she never really told me about you. I just figured it out.”

“She probably knew you’d be insufferable about it.”

“Oh, you bet,” Lisa nodded emphatically.

“Don’t too much,” Jennie pleaded. “We’re still…I’m not sure what we are.”

“Excuse me?” Lisa’s face morphed into different shades of disbelief. “What do you mean you’re not yet sure?”

Jennie looked so bashful; Lisa wanted to pinch her dumpling cheeks if she could. “I didn’t know if I was supposed to be the one to ask because I’m older or,” Jennie squeezed her eyes shut, “iiif…we’re suppose to have like a few dates first or—this is all new to me! Stop laughing!”

“Okay, okay,” Lisa caved in with her hands up. “Anyway, important thing really is that you’ve cleared the air about past issues. I bet talking about it was…exhausting, it’s great we’re trained to have good…stamina,” the younger girl ended with mischief in her eyes.

“Okay, Rosie was right about the innuendos,” Jennie muttered as she felt heat on her face while Lisa’s gleeful laugh got louder at her growing blush. Jennie was saved from further being mortified, unsure of how much Rosie had divulged to her best friend, when she heard Rosie scream, “DINNER IS READY YOUR HIGHNESS!!!” which led Lisa to a hurried goodbye.

I miss you already, have a good dinner <3.

Jennie pressed send without second thought, then cringed belatedly. “I miss you already? Really, Jennie? You just spent the whole day yesterday with her,” she said to herself, slightly regretting her clingy message. She was fortunately mollified by Rosie’s unexpectedly replied fast, promising to call when she’s home and a “wish you were here”— which Jennie will never admit to anyone how that made her heart do cartwheels. Her sense of romantic elation was however disrupted when Lisa sent a photo on their group chat of her and Rosie having dinner, with a caption: Look at what my wifey cooked for dinner <3

“Oh, you did not just,” Jennie narrowed her eyes, with laugh threatening to escape her. Jennie realized that she was now part of it, the coded messages, many things she finally could truly understand. She replied with a Back off, Manoban or I will hide all your Tom Yum noodles earning a reply from Jisoo of a skull emoji and a, this will be a hard thing to explain why we disbanded earlier than expected.

They haven’t had silly conversations like this for some time borne out of exhaustion or out of need for personal space and time. Sometimes too, in order to avoid further conflict stemming from temper, hormones, and them being perfectionists. Biting words simply could not be averted when you’re working and living with three people almost 24/7. They always found ways to resolve issues, but there was always a weight of seriousness and a sense of purpose for so long now— the pressures of maintaining relevance in their home country, and breaking into different international markets—they oftentimes forget they’re also just girls in their 20s still struggling to know themselves and their place in the world. It wasn’t easy for anyone.

It was one of those really bad days where nothing could go right for the group, from minor injuries to bad press. She remembered that day being the receiving end of Lisa’s rarer than blue moon moment where she showed a little bit of her fangs and claws.

Rosie casually walked inside the common room only to be taken aback by the tense air. Jisoo’s eyes shifted quickly between Jennie and Lisa, ready to bolt out of the suffocating surrounding.

“All I’m saying is why does she have to be the husband?”

“Are you kidding me? Why are you like being like this?”

“I’m just asking why.” Rosie took a step back when Lisa pointed at her. “Does she look like a husband to you? She’s a baby.”

“Oh my god, no, that has nothing to do—” Jennie growled back in frustration. “You’re taking issue over something that literally means nothing.”

Lisa caught the subtle way Rosie’s jaws clenched which incensed the maknae even more. “If it means nothing, then you won’t mind switching names.”

Jennie looked at the youngest member like she has gone off the deep end, moving goal posts from arguments about gender stereotypes and roles, to Rosie being a…baby.

“Uh, Lisa,” Rosie softly said, approaching the other girl cautiously. “Can we…I was about to get some milk tea. Maybe you should go with me.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Jisoo said firmly, making it clear that it was an order and not a suggestion. She also glanced at Rosie, giving a silent thank you for intervening. Jisoo was always the last resort, with the fights usually involving Rosie and Lisa. Jennie usually first stepped in with a diplomatic approach and if that didn’t work, the eldest took over. Everyone avoided that, most especially Jisoo herself. She found it of course exhausting, and she rather spent her energy playing mobile games. Something