𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐒

XXVI

"Jihyun, could you please pass me that apple?"

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Rosé reached out and caught the round, shiny fruit the younger boy tossed her from the intricately woven basket adroitly. Took a bite almost savagely, prompting Jihyun to laugh as the juice ran down her chin.

The dappled light of the sunlight streaming in through knotted branches and pointed leaves casting patchy shadows on their skins. On the striped blanket beneath them. The remains of a golden-brown baguette smeared with goat's cheese between them. The air warm and fresh, kissing her arms and neck and face around on the surface of the pond.

The greenness of the weeds by the crystal-clear water. The pinkish-white lilies floating like boats, leaving ripples and trails as they drifted.

The rear façade of Park Manor seeming so far away across that endless lawn. Miles away from her. Unable to touch her where she sat in the shade of the tree beside the dark-haired young boy. The young boy who was watching her finish her apple.

He'd been awfully silent when she'd found him around midday as she wandered the halls of the house, trying and failing not to get lost, even with one hand always on a wall as an anchoring method. His behavior odd. Surprising. That usual broad grin of his tinged with seriousness. His embrace of her strangely tentative, as if she were made of glass and he was afraid of cracking her through.

His hesitation-his uncharacteristically awkward behavior-as she'd suggested a lunchtime picnic by the duck pond and the grove of trees...

"Rosie? Can I ask you something?" Jihyun's freckles standing out against his strangely pale face, all traces of his habitual blushing cheeks gone as he twisted a cloth napkin between his fingers.

Rosé wiped her mouth, tossing the apple core before her onto a patch of exposed dirt. "Of course, Jihyun."

-despite herself, caring about the well-being of the younger Park had somehow become something she did.

Jihyun scooted closer to her, his brown eyes dark and earnest. "Um... is my brother-I mean, you know-the halls and rooms in this house-they echo. People saying things to each other when they think I can't hear-"

This again-

Rosé nearly rolled her eyes, stopping herself at the startlingly alarmed look on Jihyun's face.

If he's heard what Lisa heard-

-no wonder he would be concerned-

She recalled the look Jin had given her when he'd handed her the lunch basket. The way the man's features had seemed to be under a dark, humid cloud. He muttering something to himself that she couldn't quite make out. Sensing his pity for her-his disgust for the rumors-in every motion he'd made.

Rosé cleared her throat; tried a different way than the one Jimin had attempted to use to reason with Lisa. "Jihyun-you know your brother better than anyone, don't you?"

Jihyun blinked a few times, eyes dropping to the mangled piece of cloth in his hands. "I mean... yeah-but still-I wouldn't have thought him to be the kind of person to-"

To bring you here against your will-

Rosé almost felt touched at the young boy's reaction, something like warmth blooming in her chest as she reached out a hand to pat him on the head. His concern and care for her well-being evident as he looked back up at her, his face crushed under the weight of perplexity.

Seeking to understand. He was just 13, but acted more mature than his actual age.

Unlike some people I could name-