From Day One | JENSOO

Chapter 26

No one knows it, but she saved me.

Jisoo turned for the umpteenth time that night, trying to find a good position but each one made her uncomfortable. Her eyes opened to the darkened room to look at the ceiling. According to her alarm clock it was five in the morning and usually, she was dead asleep but there were too many things on her mind.

Grabbing her clothes, she got dressed and took her keys off the counter. The stack of unpaid bills and notices was growing, its height begging for attention but she ignored it again and left the house.

*

There was no real destination Jisoo had in mind so she drove around and ended up uptown, not far from Rosé's campus. She parked the bike in the empty lot outside a park and began walking. She needed to clear her head and the cold air hollowed out her worried thoughts.

She wasn't expecting to see Rosé, but was glad to see her nonetheless when the girl was out for a run.

"Jisoo? What are you doing here?"

"I've never been to this park. It's nice."

The deflection easily stood out for Rosé.

"Yea, it is. There's a good coffee place near the entrance. I was going to go there. Wanna come with?"

Jisoo nodded, almost too eagerly, and they set out in a normal pace. "It's finally getting cold, huh?"

Rosé glimpsed at Jisoo from the corners of her eyes. The small talk questions and abrupt appearance made Rosé nervous. Anyone with eyes could see something was troubling Jisoo and now Rosé had the task of figuring out what it was.

"It is. It makes me wonder what you're doing here at six in the morning." Jisoo hunched her shoulders, either from the cold or Rosé's comment. "Couldn't sleep."

Rosé refrained from mentioning that going to Jennie would have probably been a better choice if Jisoo was suffering from a little insomnia. It meant this had to do with Jennie or something Jisoo didn't want Jennie knowing.

They got to the shop just as it was opening and sat in a table as they waited for their coffees. Rosé didn't particularly like doing anything, let alone drinking coffee, after a run but for Jisoo she'd persevere.

"So did you want to talk about something, or have you just been missing me?"

In fear of sounding stupid, or maybe it was fear of crossing boundaries, Jisoo wouldn't admit it was both.

"Could you talk? About anything. Just...talk."

The request was simple but Jisoo's face pleaded like a dying man pleaded for water and Rosé had to squeeze her hands together under the table to keep them from going out to Jisoo, even if the touch would be only friendly.

So Rosé talked. She talked about the perverted doctor she was doing research for, complained about Sooyoung transporting pot everywhere by hiding it on her body, in her underwear, talked about spring and summer and how she missed those seasons. Every so often she elicited a laugh from Jisoo, or a smile and Rosé stopped worrying.

They went outside after they were finished and Rosé held the air deep in her lungs, chilling herself from the inside.

"It's my last night at the Golden Fox today. Are you coming?"

Rosé thought about her schedule as she licked her lips and felt them dry instantly. She took out her lip balm and applied it generously.

"I guess. It's too bad though. After tonight you won't have any excuses to get me to hang out with you." Rosé held out the lip balm for Jisoo.