The Angel Next Door (Rosé X Female Reader)

23: Stuffed Toys and Rosie

Word Count: 4,764

Even though Rosé and I now had class together, my daily life had hardly changed at all. I diligently attended school like a good student, ate lunch with Jennie in the cafeteria, and went home afterward because I wasn't in a club. I almost never interacted with Rosé. Everything was as it should be.

One thing that had changed a little bit was that I'd started talking with Chanyeol more than during our first year.

That said, it wasn't my idea. Rather, Chanyeol often approached me, and I did my best to handle the attention despite my obvious confusion.

The day of the opening ceremony, I had felt for an instant that the events of the past might be repeating, and that had naturally set me on edge. But Chanyeol was clearly a different kind of person than the former friend who betrayed me.

I was still slightly on guard, but that didn't mean I wanted to awkwardly keep Chanyeol at arm's length, and as we spent time together, I began to recognize that he was a cheerful, honest, and compassionate young man. Above all, he had Jennie's seal of approval, so I didn't think he was someone who demanded my suspicion.

After attending my first week of school as a second-year university student, I noticed that the pain I had been harboring for so long began to fade.

"Hey, are you cool with this?"

Sitting across from me, Jennie said that as if she had suddenly remembered to ask.

At the moment, we were having lunch in the cafeteria just like we had done since our first year.

Sometimes Lisa would join us, but today she was off eating with Rosé. I was glad the two of them got along, even in public.

"Cool with what?"

"I mean, keeping things as they are with you know who."

"There's no need to go out of my way to talk to her at school."

By which I mean, if I speak to her, everyone around us is going to stare and wonder where I got the nerve.

It wouldn't do for meek, unfashionable gay Y/N to be seen approaching Rosé.

"Y/N, she's just itching to talk to you, and it shows."

"...Yeah, I noticed."

Rosé seemed to be doing her best to ignore me, but every now and then she would slip up and stare over at me glumly.

So far, she'd only done it when nobody else was looking, but Lisa had taken it upon herself to start giving me dirty looks on Rosé's behalf, so it was becoming harder and harder to endure.

"You need to transform. There's no other way."

"No way... dressing up like that is a huge pain, and you know I don't like the attention."

Besides, even if the rumors had settled down for the moment, some people had seen me out and about with Rosé, even if they hadn't recognized me. If people made the connection that I was the mystery person, things would probably get so hectic it would derail my whole college career.

"Why are you like this...? And honestly, you could be so popular."

"That makes no sense."

I couldn't imagine changing my hair and fashion sense a little bit, and suddenly becoming popular, but Jennie seemed convinced for some reason.

"I think you've got the kind of personality that girls want in a lover. You've got a cynical side, but you're also sincere, and you're the type of person who treats girls well."