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rosey sat on the dorm couch with her knees tucked into her chest, recently that had become her signature move. something about having herself close was comforting, safe even. she scrolled aimlessly through her phone, watching short videos that she couldn't actually pay attention to. she had been sitting there for what felt like hours.
and within those hours? she did the same thing, over and over again. cycling between apps, reading jisung's messages, and staring at her unanswered ones she sent back to him.
their conversation was way too short for what she was asking to know.
"he's probably just having a bad day. don't worry too much about it."
it was a reasonable response at most. even a safe one to save their backs. but it didn't sit right with her, it's not what she was expecting to hear. hyunjin had been distant for days now. he barely spoke to her or looked at her when she tried to strike up a conversation. it was all so noticeable.
rosey wasn't dumb.
she knew when someone was acting strange, especially her friends. thanks to her anxiety, she spent years observing and learning her friend's moods. she even knew certain actions that were their tells. and hyunjin? he had always been expressive when it came to her. he either showered her with attention or dramatically sulked away in the corner of a room when he didn't get his way. this. . . whatever it was right now, was neither.
this was avoidance.
and she hated it.
rosey locked her phone and dropped it onto the cushion beside her. she couldn't reread one of those messages again or she probably would freak out on this couch. she rubbed her fingers against her temples, hoping the slight headache she had would vanish. everything had been feeling off.
everything.
the breakup with jeongin still sat heavy with her no matter how hard she tried to push it down and act like she was okay. but she wasn't. not really.
and now whatever was going on with hyunjin? it was only making things worse.
a cream from behind her in the hallway made her lift her head. footsteps shuffled closer, and soon, hyunjin stepped into view from the dark corridor.
rosey blinked at him. she was completely caught off guard at the fact that he was coming over to join her, to acknowledge her, for the first time in days.
"you're still alive." she finally teased. the way he had been avoiding her made it seem like he was gone most of the time.
hyunjin nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "yeah."
rosey examined the way he stood there. tense. like he couldn't move or he would drop down to the floor and break down. there was totally something he wanted to say but he couldn't. she could see that.
she didn't like this version of him. not one bit. the distant hyunjin who refused to meet her eyes and talk.
"are you okay?" she asked.
hyunjin physically tensed up in the spot he stood in. he bit down on his own teeth as if actually trying to stop himself from spilling all it was he wanted to say.
"yeah. just. . . a lot on my mind recently."
rosey frowned. "you've been acting weird all day. actually, not just today, these last few days. did i do something?"
she needed to know, she needed to ask this question because the reality was, she didn't actually know. that was the whole truth. she had no idea what anything meant anymore. maybe she had done something to make him upset. maybe this was another problem she had to fix, another problem she didn't realize she created.
"what? no, nabi, it's not you."
"then what is it?" she pressed.
hyunjin shifted on his feet uncomfortably. he looked at her, really look at her this time. he was at war with himself and she had no idea what it was really all about.
rosey sighed, hugging her knees that curled in front of her. "you can talk to me, you know?"
hyunjin let out a quiet laugh, not because there was humor in her words, but because of the irony of it all. "i know."
but he didn't. rosey could see it in his face, all the hesitation showing her that there was something inside eating him up. he was holding something back.
a silence stretched between them.
"did something happen at practice today?" she tried again.
suddenly something in hyunjin flipped. and did she notice it? of course, she did.
"why do you care so much?" he muttered.
rosey blinked. what? why? did he—? his words stung more than she expected.
"because you're my friend."
hyunjin peeled his eyes away from her body, like he always did these last few days. he shook his head, "i just—" he let out a loud sigh and ran his hand through his hair, "i can't do this right now."
"do what?" she asked.
instead of answering her, instead of giving her peace of mind, he turned his back to her and started walking toward the door.
that was the last straw.
rosey shot to her feet. "hyunjin, stop!"
he froze.
was he actually listening? she stood a step closer, fists clenched down by her side. "i don't know what's going on with you, but i do know that you're shutting me out. and i don't get it. one minute we're fine, the next, you're avoiding me like i did something! if something's wrong, tell me."
hyunjin didn't turned around.
"please." she added softly.
after a few seconds of silence, of consideration from hyunjin, he finally spun back around on his heels to face her. the expression written on his face was one she had never seen before, this look was written down in her mental journal of hyunjin. this was new. his lips parted like he was about to say something. . . something important.
but then his phone vibrated in his pocket.
and the moment was gone.
hyunjin glanced down at his phone and his eyebrows furrowed before a sigh escaped from him, "i have to go."
and just like that, he left the dorm and left rosey standing there alone with her mind. her chest burned. she wanted to scream, she wanted to shake everyone and demand an answer. but instead, she just stood there frozen in the doorway staring off into an empty space.
