BREAK THE WALL | JENLISA, CHAESOO

Chapter 24

When she came back home from work on the next day, Rosé still hadn't called Jisoo. She kept pushing this moment in time, knowing how painful it would be for both of them. A few times she already had the phone in her hand, but didn't manage go through with it.

And now it happened again, she looked at the screen, scrolled to Jisoo's name in her contact list and... just threw the phone away. She knew she had to call her, but simply couldn't do it.

Hearing a knock on the door, Rosé squirmed nervously, she almost forgot that Suzy was coming today, they were supposed to cook dinner together.

"Hi honey." looking posh as always, Suzy greeted her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Hi." Rosé answered automatically, wondering why the kiss felt... off. With a frown on her face, her mystified brain kept thinking about a possible reason, hadn't she kissed Suzy many times already? And it always felt nice. "What changed? What could possibly have changed? Is it the thing with Jisoo that has confused me so much?" the questions were piling up in her mind.

"I brought groceries, we have everything we need, we can start having fun cooking!" Suzy said excitedly and Rosé smiled at her, admiring her enthusiasm. "And if Lisa isn't home than maybe later we can have a different kind of fun." Suzy approached her with a flirty look, leaning in for another kiss. The silver-haired girl awkwardly avoided it, pretending to be occupied with unpacking the groceries, but Suzy couldn't help noticing that something was wrong.

"Everything okay honey? A bad day?" she asked, concerned.

"Uhm... yeah, sort of. Listen, this may sound strange, but I have an important call to make and I don't want to bother you so I'll go outside for just three minutes, you don't mind?"

"Not at all."

Rosé grabbed her phone and went out with a determined look in her eyes, promising herself that this time she would end it once and for all. But three minutes later she was still standing in front of her house staring at her phone, unable to make the dreaded call.

"Just rip it off like a band-aid, like a band-aid..." she repeated, whispering to herself, pacing in circles, squeezing the phone in her hand. "Why the hell this is so goddamn difficult!?" she wondered helplessly. Then, vivid images of Jisoo just popped out of the blue in her mind: her resolute, thoughtful eyes, her soothing voice, the way she was always noticing little things, the way she cared about everyone around, how she was always trying to make them calmer and... happier.

She glanced at the time and panicked a little because she knew Suzy was waiting, so her trembling finger finally touched the green button next to Jisoo's contact. Barely having the time to clear her throat, she heard Jisoo's voice:

"Yes?"

Rosé couldn't believe how much emotion was in that single word: sadness, expectation, a bit of hope... And fear. Yes, she could clearly sense it, Jisoo was terribly frightened about what she was about to hear.

"Jisoo, I-" Rosé's voice broke, she completely forgot about all the arguments she had prepared beforehand, her mind suddenly went blank.

"It's okay, I understand." Jisoo replied faintly, understanding Rosé's decision, now nothing but sadness in her voice. "Don't worry about me, it's... what I expected. I'll be fine, as long as you're happy."

A sudden gust of colder wind blew into Rosé's face and she realized her face is wet with tears.

"I'm really sorry-"

"No, don't, there's not need to explain. I understand. Goodbye Rosie-"

"Wait!!!" Rosé almost screamed into the phone, her entire body shaking. "No, no, no, it can't end just like that!" she thought desperately, but couldn't say anything more.

"Rosé?" Jisoo asked after a brief silence. "Everything's fine?"

"No, nothing's fine." the silver-haired girl replied, tears running down her cheeks. "Jisoo, please-" her voice broke again. "Jisoo-" she sniffed, repeating the brunette's name. Then, after a brief silence, she whispered softly: "Would you go out on a date with me?"

When she uttered these words, her body stopped shaking and the tears disappeared, as if touched by a magic wand, while a wave of extreme relief flowed through her. It was at that precise moment that Rosé understood, without a doubt, that this was what she deeply wanted all along.

A few minutes later, no longer troubled or confused and with a completely clear mind, Rosé headed back to the apartment. She couldn't explain why, but her body felt much lighter, as if heavy burden was removed from her shoulders. Putting her phone down, she approached Suzy with a serious look in her eyes, hoping that she would understand...

"What took you so long?" Suzy asked.

"Listen, uhm... We need to talk." Rosé replied in a soft voice, noticing with surprise that the perspective of breaking up with Suzy didn't feel that painful.