Tease

After

It had been one month since Rosie last did it, the teasing.

Sure, the two of them still hung out together. Although there was a barely palpable tension that hung in the air when they did so. It was so subtle that it need not be discussed between them, but it was there nonetheless, and they both could feel it.

Jisoo noticed how Rosie hardly touched her anymore, although the latter still stayed in close proximity, just like how they usually were. Rosie didn't even lean her head on her shoulder during their movie marathons together anymore. Jisoo dismissed it at first, but doubts started to pierce through her mind come the second month.

Jisoo started to wonder if Rosie knew about her new and more profound feelings towards her best friend. Although Jisoo's earlier frustrations with the blonde's teasing had kept her hot and bothered at night, it was no match for the ice-cold fear that had gripped her once she realized that she could lose her best friend if her assumptions were true. This fear wrapped around her tight and did not let go. She was dying to know if she was right, but she didn't want to risk asking in case she was wrong. She knew that Rosie had been stressed with work for the past few months, so Jisoo tried to reassure herself that maybe the blonde was just too tired to tease her. But if Rosie still shied away from her after everything...God, she didn't want to think about it until then. Jisoo tried to push the doubts and fears away as best as she could, for now.

-/-/-/-

It's now been three months since it stopped, the teasing.

The big project Rosie was working on had culminated two weeks ago.

Jisoo was going stir-crazy. Rosie had still been keeping minimum physical contact between them, and now the reason couldn't be because the blonde was too tired to initiate it.

They were now doing their usual Friday night hangout; thankfully Rosie still committed to spending time with Jisoo. Rosie had greeted Jisoo with her usual bright smile, although Jisoo noticed that there was something lurking within the blonde's gaze. Or maybe she was just down-right paranoid at this point; she wasn't sure. Rosie's friendship mattered very much to her, and she didn't want it to be thrown away just because of the complicated feelings she was having right now.

Jisoo was planning to confront Rosie tonight, after the movie, and she planned to deny, deny, deny. She wanted them to go back to the way things were, when Rosie wasn't afraid to be clingy and touchy with her. She wouldn't even mind the teasing anymore, although she would have to learn how to control her reactions better.

They were already halfway through the movie, and Jisoo barely knew anything about the plot. She was too nervous about what would be transpiring after.

Jisoo was distractedly reaching for the bowl of popcorn between them on the couch when Rosie also did the same, resulting in the accidental brushing of their hands against each other. Jisoo immediately tensed at the contact, realizing that she hadn't touched Rosie in weeks, if the electricity that jolted through her from that mere graze was any indication. But nothing could compare to Rosie's reaction.

Rosie jerked so sharply that the popcorn bowl flipped over, scattering kernels on them and around them. It would've been comical, if it wasn't so awkward.

They both froze for God-knows-how-long, before Jisoo broke the silence with a sigh. "Okay. We need to talk."

Rosie avoided Jisoo's eyes, choosing to begin cleaning up the popcorn littering the couch and the floor. "About what?" She asked nonchalantly.

Jisoo would have laughed, if the cold dread settling over the pit of her stomach hadn't driven away any sort of humor she would have found in the situation. Rosie's reaction to the physical contact erased all doubts in Jisoo's mind about Rosie not knowing about her feelings.