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"You're hiding something from me."

Vernon turned to look at Rose, still stirring the tortilla soup in the pot, his face obviously scrunched in confusion.

He invited her over, the two of them working on a presentation for biology. Rose had been fine up to his point, smiling and laughing at Vernon's small stories and jokes. He wondered how she could suddenly feel like he was holding back from her.

"What do you mean?" Vernon asked softly.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "What you said to me at dinner just didn't add up, Vernon. There is something missing that you didn't want to tell me. Can I least know why I can't know?"

Vernon turned off the stove, turning his body fully to face Rose as she sat at the granite island, a bowl of crackers in front of her. 

"I told you everything," Vernon sighed. 

"No, you didn't," Rose countered.

"How did you know?"

"You told me, just now." 

Vernon threw his head back in embarrassment as Rose grinned. Vernon had fell into her little trap and he didn't even know how to pull himself out of it. 

"Look, it really was an escalator accident," Vernon spoke, sitting across from Rose, "and I did black out."

"So, that means you remember everything up to when you blacked out," Rose implied, "even the boy who shoved you."

"No, I d-"

"Did you know him? Do I know him?"

"Why are you suddenly questioning me? What do you want?" Vernon suddenly blurted, stopping the stream of questions from Rose's lips. 

The two gazed into each other's eyes, Rose's eyes soft while Vernon's had a pool of anger in them. His lips were tight and Rose could practically see the steam rising from his skin. His face only confirmed that Rose was getting close to the answer she wanted. 

"It's Mingyu," Rose mumbled, "you can't hide it from me anymore, Vernon. It pains me to see you like this."

Vernon's eyes flashed a look of fear as he continued to look into Rose's eyes. Rose only gave him a small smile, and placed her hand on top of his, as if to soothe his raging thoughts. Vernon cannot remember a time where he had slipped up and revealed to Rose that Mingyu is the one who caused life-long pain. It could have been his strong hatred towards Mingyu, but he was almost positive that he never revealed how much he truly disliked him. 

"W-Who told you?" Vernon mumbled. 

Rose's smile grew bigger as she held Vernon's hand in hers.

"You told me, just now."

"Damnit!" Vernon threw his head back before running his fingers through his hair angrily. Rose smirked watching Vernon beat himself up over his second mistake within those two minutes. 

When he had calmed down, Vernon exhaled through his nose, licking his teeth in frustration. His eyes met Rose's, who sat with her hands crossed on the table. For some odd reason, looking at her face calmed Vernon and he found a sense of warmth radiating from her. It was exactly what he needed at the moment, although she was also the reason of his anger. 

"Why don't you tell someone?" Rose spoke first. "Why don't you tell Seungkwan about what Mingyu has done to you? You can't let this consume you. Don't you want to find some sort of peace?"

Vernon didn't say anything.

"The love of your life is going out with the person who damaged your pride and self-confidence and you are just going to let that happen? Vernon, you need to do something about this! Why don't you?" 

Vernon grabbed Rose's hand in his, holding it tightly. Rose could set wetness forming in his eyes as he bit his lip.

"Because I'm scared," Vernon answered.

Rose felt Vernon's grip on her hand become even tighter as tears fell down his face. Rose brought her other hand over Vernon's as he sobbed. 

"I don't know what I've done to deserve this, he has hated me my whole life, Rose. He's powerful, he's big and tall and loved and cherished and I'm none of those things, Rose. No one would believe me, people would think I want attention and I'm dying a little bit seeing him touch Seungkwan and love him. He can have everything, but why does he have Seungkwan too, Rose?" 

Vernon sobbed into Rose's neck and she held him, caressing his hair. She should not have pushed him to this point, but she just wanted him to be open and revealed how he felt. When she came to America, she was alone and wept everyday from the pressure of moving and living in a country she didn't speak the language of. She didn't want the same for Vernon, she wanted him to find someone he could talk to and confess his true feelings to. Otherwise, he would have to bottle them inside and let them consume him. 

"Tell Seungkwan," Rose advised him, "let him know."

"No, he'll think I'm crazy, he won't trust me," Vernon argued, "he'll think I'm trying to make him fall for me instead. I promised him I would attempt to move on. Plus, Mingyu threatened to hurt me again, and I'm scared."

"You don't have to tell him in person." 

Vernon wiped his eyes and looked at Rose. "What are you saying?"

Rose smiled, pushing Vernon's hair out of his eyes.

"Write him a letter.


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