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School was quickly over. I was gathering up my stuff when I noticed Rose was just sitting there.

"Rose, are you going home?" She glanced up at me with this passive feeling in her eyes.

"No, Not yet. My sister has choir practice, and she didn't want me walking home alone, so I'm waiting for her."

"Wait, you're really going to sit for an hour and a half just so you don't walk home alone?" I would die waiting at shool and doing nothing for that long.

"Yeah, Kimmie is really protective now, now that she knows that Da... never mind." My mind went spinning. I need to know. This girl just keeps getting more and more intriguing.

"Anyways, see you tomorrow Ze- I mean Joonie-oppa."

"You know, you don't really need to call me that if you don't want to. Just call me Zelo." She smiled softly and I melted.

"C'mon, let's go. I'll walk you home." The thought of walking with her is exciting, and I don't know why. Why is walking suddenly exciting?

"Oh, you really don't have to, I'm fine." 

I hesitated before saying my thought from before. What if she didn't laugh? "It's my pleasure. And I don't want you to just sit here doing nothing, because if it were me, I would die." She giggled fairly quietly, but the sound lifted my spirits and made me laugh a little too. 

"Okay, just let me tell unnie first." She gathered up her stuff and we made our way to the music room. It's probably one of my favorite rooms in the school, because they have microphones connected to the loudspeaker there, and Youngjae-hyung figured out how to hook it up to a computer and record.

The choir hadn't started singing yet, the students were just milling about the room like ants. She spotted her sister, and I was surprised. Sure, they had the same hair colour, but they looked completely different. She looked like an average Korean girl, but with red hair. Rose's hair is curly, while her sister's is pin straight. Rose's eyes are a pretty blue, while her sister's are a dark brown. Rose has pure white skin, and her sister has a typical asian skin tone. 

But when they were together, they both shone like the sun.

"Rosie! Hey! Why are you here? And, more importantly, why is Zelo here?" 

"He offered to walk me home, so I won't have to wait."

Her sister leaned into her ear and whispered something. Rose blushed and said in English," No, Kimmie! It's not like that!" I'm glad I practice my English. Kimmie gave her a knowing smile, which Rose tried to wave away. She's so cute. I don't know what her sister said, but I think I have some idea.

With gasps in the backgroud, I took Rose's hand and told her sister, "I hope you don't mind, Noona, I just really wanted to spend time with my Rose."

Her cheeks turned bright red as her sister glanced at her face and back to me, saying, "It was too obvious, Rosie dear. You make such a cute couple. Okay, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, you lovebirds!"

I pulled her out of the room that's now full of gossipers and a smirking sister. She looked embarrassed, but not particularly upset anymore. That simple fact had my heart soaring. We strolled out the gates, Rose now walking a few feet from me.

She kept glancing back and forth, from me back to the ground in front of her. My gut told me to hug her right now, but I supressed that feeling and kept walking, having plenty of trouble keeping my heart out of my throat. But there is one thing I'm curious about.

"Rose, can I ask you something?"

"Depends on what it is. What do you want to know?" Her cheeks went slightly pink, but she made eye contact anyway.

"Where are you from?"

Her face fell slightly, but she answered. "There's no real answer to that question. I'm from everywhere and anywhere." 

"Yeah, but where were you born?"

"I was born in Cardiff, Wales, but that's just my birthplace. Where I'm from is so much more." Her eyes glittered when she said that, but her expression went darker as she began to tell me her whole story.

"My parents were a Welsh man and a Korean woman. That woman left shortly after my little brother was born, and my father died a little inside from it. She had taken my unnie and my brother, leaving me with Appa. I'll never know why she did that. But he couldn't stand to be around his memories of her, so we took off, travelling all over the world. We never stayed still for very long. I suppose the longest time was in Beijing, but that doesn't matter."

She paused for a moment, stopping all movement, and I peered over to look at her face, worried she might be crying. But her face was dry for now.

"But I suppose it had to end some time. Not long ago, when we were in Romania, he decided to end his pain for good. So he took a kitchen knife and slit his wrists. There was so much blood. I remember it all like a painting in my mind, every word we spoke that night etched in my mind like a chilling blade, never stopping, never ending. It hurts." And with that, she fell into my arms. 

My heart was beating faster than ever before, and my whole body felt tingly. She sniffed loudly and wrapped her own arms around me. My cheeks went crimson red, and my mind was a blur as I hugged her tighter.

And like a gunshot, the moment was quickly over.

Rose realized what we were doing and pulled away from me quickly, wiping away her tears with the edge of her blazer. She wouldn't look at me again for the whole walk, until we reached her house. Luckily mine was nearby.

She turned to go when I grabbed her hand and stopped her, ignoring that same tingly feeling. I opened my mouth, with no original aim for it, and my thoughts just spilled out.

"You are so amazing, Rose. No one else in this world could have been that strong." She gazed right into my eyes and a weak but sincere smile glazed over her face.

 "Thank you. See you tomorrow, Zelo-oppa." My body went numb and I dropped her hand as she went inside. When the door was safely closed, I had a happy fit. I don't even care that she is probably watching from the window, I just can't help it. She called me oppa! Even though she didn't want to, she said it anyway. Like what the hyungs say, maybe she does like me.

I walked home in the dark, nothing on my mind but school tomorrow. Rose is helping me in ways I can't even control. I really love her.

Not in THAT way! Just as a friend. As a really good friend...

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Finally updated! Sorry for the lateness, as usual. I have decied that from now on, I will do my best to update every Saturday. Aja aja Fighting! :D