The Hawaiian sun dipped low over the horizon, casting hues of gold and pink across the ocean. Rosé sat on the soft sand, her toes buried in its warmth as the waves whispered at the shore. She held a half-empty glass of Mai Tai, the sweetness a contrast to the bitterness in her heart. The scene was perfect, postcard-worthy, and yet, she felt hollow.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Jaehyun’s voice drew her attention, his silhouette outlined by the fading light. He sat a few feet away, resting his arms on his knees, his gaze fixed on the same horizon.
Rosé nodded, offering a small smile. “It is.”
Jaehyun turned to look at her, his easy grin softening. “It’s okay if it doesn’t feel that way.”
Rosé blinked, startled. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been quiet,” Jaehyun said gently. “Even here, in this paradise, you seem… somewhere else.” He hesitated before adding, “You don’t have to fake it with me.”
She looked down at her glass, the ice clinking as she swirled it. “I’m not faking anything.” Her tone was defensive, but even she could hear the lie in her voice.
Jaehyun gave her a knowing look, his voice calm but firm. “Rosé, I’ve been in this business long enough to know when someone’s putting on a show. It’s like you’re trying to prove something—to the world, maybe to her… maybe even to yourself.”
His words cut deep, piercing the wall she had carefully built around herself. She opened her mouth to argue but stopped. What could she say? That he was wrong? He wasn’t.
Rosé let out a shaky breath, her eyes fixed on the waves. “I don’t know what I’m trying to prove,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s over now.”
Jaehyun didn’t push further. Instead, he nodded and let the silence stretch between them, comfortable and understanding.
---
Later that night, Rosé sat on the balcony of her hotel room, the cool breeze tugging at her hair. Her phone lay in her lap, glowing faintly in the dim light. She opened Instagram, scrolling through her feed, her thumb hovering over Jisoo’s profile picture.
She hesitated, her heart aching as she tapped on it. Jisoo’s latest post appeared—a video of her performing. In the clip, Jisoo stood under the spotlight, her voice rich with emotion as she sang a haunting melody. The caption read: “Lost, but not forgotten.”
Rosé replayed the video, the lyrics hitting her like waves. The words were raw, brimming with vulnerability, and they sounded like something Jisoo might have said to her once.
She locked her phone and placed it face down on the table, leaning back against her chair. Her chest felt tight, the weight of unspoken words pressing down on her. No number of sunset photos or perfect smiles could drown out the truth she’d been avoiding: her heart was still with Jisoo.
---
Across the ocean, Jisoo sat alone in her dimly lit apartment. The only light came from her phone screen as she stared at Rosé’s latest post. The picture of Rosé and Jaehyun laughing on the beach was perfect—effortless. It had racked up millions of likes and thousands of comments, fans buzzing over their supposed “chemistry.”
Jisoo’s stomach churned. She hated how her eyes lingered on Jaehyun’s hand resting casually on Rosé’s arm, how her mind twisted the image into something more intimate than it probably was.
Her phone buzzed, breaking her thoughts. It was a message from her producer: “The final mix of the song is ready. Thought you’d want to hear it first.”
She plugged in her headphones and hit play. The opening chords filled the silence, followed by her own voice, raw and unguarded. The song was a confession—a piece of her heart poured into every note.
Jisoo closed her eyes as the chorus swelled. “You can run to the sun, to the waves, to the arms of someone new… but you can’t hide from the truth we shared.”
The lyrics had spilled out of her in the days after the breakup, a flood of emotions she hadn’t been able to express to Rosé directly. Now, with the song complete, she felt both relieved and exposed. Would Rosé hear it? Would she understand?
Jisoo set her phone down and rubbed her temples, exhaustion settling over her. She had done everything she could to stay composed, to keep her heartbreak from bleeding into her public image. But the song was different. It was her only way of saying what she couldn’t say out loud: she wasn’t over Rosé, and she wasn’t sure she ever would be.
---
In Hawai'i, Rosé sat cross-legged on her hotel bed, headphones in as she listened to the same song. A fan account had shared the clip hours ago, and Rosé couldn’t stop replaying it. Each lyric felt like a knife, cutting through the façade she had carefully built.
Jaehyun’s earlier words echoed in her mind: “You’re trying to prove something.”
She reached for her phone again, her finger hovering over Jisoo’s name in her contacts. Her chest ached with longing, the kind of pain that only comes from wanting something you’ve lost.
She typed a message: “I heard your song. It’s beautiful.”
Her thumb lingered over the send button, her heart racing. But then she deleted it, tossing the phone aside.
Rosé stared out at the ocean through her window, her reflection barely visible against the darkened glass. The waves rolled in and out, constant and unrelenting, much like the love she still felt for Jisoo.
But love wasn’t enough, was it?
For now, all she could do was pretend.
YOU ARE READING
Hawái (Chaesoo)
أدب الهواةIn the glittering yet isolating world of fame, Jisoo and Rosé's love crumbles under pressure and misunderstandings. After a painful breakup, Rosé escapes to Hawai'i with Jaehyun, sharing glamorous photos that mask her heartbreak. Jisoo, left behind...
