Roses are Dead

Someone old. Somewhere new.

Afternoon. Y/N POV

"Shall we go to eat something?" Jennie asks as she and Lisa come to meet me after my class has ended. I retrospect on all of the times I have denied to go with them not because I don't like them but because I don't really have an apatite. I rarely eat. I rarely sleep. It's at a point where my curves have become edges but how the hell am I not dead yet?

"We must take her to where we went yesterday. The food there was so good!" Lisa chirps like a five-year-old recommends her parents to take her to the amusement park on a weekend.

"Just the food?" Jennie says in a sarcastic tone as I stuff the script of the upcoming drama inside my bag knowing very well that I must not let anyone infer anything more than that I'm a shy person. They don't need to know they have a zombie among them. A walking dead.

"If you think that I am taking you there in hopes that we are going to run into Jin and Hoseok again, then you are wrong. It's just nearby so we can simply walk there. Even the weather is nice for a stroll." Lisa chooses to mention the guys whom they met yesterday on their way from college.

"Look Y/N, how much she misses them already. I didn't even say that it was for them and here she is reciting their names for the fifth time since morning." Lisa is left speechless. I follow them outside the class as we walk into the corridors.

"Sometimes I hope that our uni didn't have law because your counterarguments are getting better with every semester." Lisa mumbles as I follow them out of campus, to get something to eat.

Jennie has always wanted to be an attorney. The kind of attorney who is powerful without being known to buy her way to win a case. Whereas Lisa wants to become a fashion designer for female celebrities. Earlier, she wanted to design for K-pop idols but soon realized that she doesn't want to design clothes that are purposefully made too short and uncomfortable for the artists just to please the audience.

They are beautiful, both outside and inside, considering that they always make sure that I don't feel left out even though they have been roommates since the beginning of their college years and I moved in with them on the fourth and the very last year of my musical theatre degree. Let alone the fact that I was a stranger coming from a different country, language, and culture.

It was like what Dwiti did when I was 11 and we moved from Jaipur to Hyderabad because my father opened another branch of his travel agency there to conveniently manage tours in southern India, Andaman Islands, and Lakshadweep. She was the only one in the entire class who understood what I couldn't say due to the language barrier. She also recommended that we work on my English.

We were polar opposites, I was impulsive, rude, and sensitive to what others thought about me, and she was calm, sweet, and always believed in her own decisions. Even our mark sheets exhibited how opposite we were. She was the bright one.

Every teacher remembered our name. She was famous for her discipline and code of conduct. I was infamous for adding a "no firecrackers allowed on school property" in their code of conduct after I blew one in a school toilet with its lid closed at a time when schools were on high alert for a probable terrorist attack. That day, her father saved me from my father when he was beating me up for the act I pulled.

Our parents became friends much earlier than we did. When my parents were choosing between real estate my mother made sure that the neighborhood had quite a few children around my age so that I could adjust well to our migration. Dwiti lived right next to us with her family and in the attempt to get me a friend my mom ended up becoming friends with her mother.

Our fathers became friends in a very weird setting. A kid from our neighborhood wandered somewhere and all the men in our area formed a group to look for her and that is when they met each other. I sometimes wonder what exact conversation they had when they were supposed to be looking for a missing child that it became an every Saturday night ritual to have drinks at either of their houses.

Somewhere around this time, my parents concluded that Dwiti would not only help me improve my grades but she would also make me more responsible and sincere. She would make me someone I had never wanted to become. Which is exactly what she has made me.

"Y/N, I'm sorry for making you feel that way." Jennie apologizes for unknown reasons.

"Tell her we will buy her a new ice cream." Lisa whispers to Jennie loud enough for me to hear."I'll make it up to you today. Actually, I heard there's a new amusement park we can go to together. Now, please stop ignoring us." I guess they think I am mad at them because they ate my ice cream last night.

"Don't worry, I wasn't really mad at you." I smiled reassuring them that they don't have to stress due to me.

"See, I told you she was worried because they haven't yet gotten a professor for their plays." Jennie says as Lisa pushes the door to what seems like a resto-bar and we follow her inside.

"It has almost been a month since the new semester started." Lisa says as she looks around and finds us a vacant table.

"This time, Mr. Kim Namjoon earned himself a place in the interview committee for faculty recruitment. He is cultured, committed to work, and sweet so it is reasonable for him to be there." Jennie remarks. Mr. Kim is from our department. Actually, he is our class coordinator.

They end up ordering more than required as we discuss other things that are happening in each other's departments.

"I can't wait to see Y/N on stage! Our Y/N will get famous!" Lisa is excited for a fame she believes I'll have in the near future. My mother was the Principal of my school in Jaipur. It made me popular. Things changed when we came to Hyderabad and now I had decided to earn my popularity myself. It was just easier to do that the worse way considering I wasn't into studying. That's why I tried avoiding Dwiti even when she wanted to get closer to me to convince me to study a bit harder so that our class can win the award of the best batch because apparently, I was the only one stopping that from happening.

"You must remember us when you become an actress. Promise us." Jennie demands.

"I promise." I stuff Japchae in my mouth. I didn't wanted to get close to Dwiti because I was afraid of getting associated with her. I don't want to get close to Jennie and Lisa because I am afraid that they would remind me of Dwiti.

To be honest, my parents, Dwiti, our teachers, her father, basically everyone wanted us to become friends. Everyone except her mom. Her mom never approved her daughter of my company. I can imagine how she must have felt when she heard her daughter was trying to befriend me. I may also have a slight idea of what she must have felt when she realized we became best friends. What I may not imagine is how she must have felt when she saw her daughter lying in bed, next to me. Cold.

"If Mr. Kim will be allotted to direct Y/N's plays he will make sure that she gets the main role." Jennie says as we push the chairs neatly under the table after we have paid our bill.

"Yeah. She must be his favourite student." Lisa adds leading us outside.

"Why?" I ask naturally.

"Looking at your attendance you wouldn't have been able to give exams of last semester if it wasn't for him. Even some people in our class weren't allowed to sit for the end terms." Jennie explains what Lisa said as we walk down the road to the bus station.

"But Y/N won't be that absent from now on." Lisa grins.

"Why? Because of the rumored new faculty who is insanely handsome?" Here they go again. Talking about handsome men is their favorite pastime.

"What faculty?" Lisa inquires.

"Well, a new faculty is going to join our uni. I don't know who or in which department, so it might just be a rumor, but I'm not sure because when Mr. Kim Namjoon was about to join then too these words were spreading around the campus." Jennie informs us.

"This isn't completely a rumor though." Lisa corrects Jennie.  "We do have someone new joining us. A new student in Y/N's class." Her grin returns as we dare not question her credibility because she is friends with my class representative."His name is Jungkook."