Playing with Fire: A BLACKPINK Story

Chapter 16: Interlude

The letter smelled of perfume. The rough hand that gripped the piece of paper squeezed, crumpling it, hesitating, shaking—and then unclenched so that the paper was readable. The letter had come as a surprise. A shock, even. There should have been no way for a letter to make its way here, and yet it had.

The handwriting was recognizable. The recipient of the letter already knew who the writer was, which made him even more anxious to read it. What could she possibly have to say to him? If she had gone through all the trouble of finding where to send the letter... then she probably had something important to say.

Slowly, the hand smoothed out the piece of paper. The words became visible. And the recipient of the letter began to read.

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Dearest Ollie,

You're probably wondering how I got this letter to you. Well! I'll have you know that I'm more than just a pretty face. I'm good at finding out things when I need to be. Maybe you rubbed off on me a little bit. Actually, I know you rubbed off on me a lot.

Well. Now I'm rambling. And I promised myself I wouldn't do that. It's just that I don't know where to start and it wasn't very easy to find the safe house address to send the letter to. You're not easy to find. But I guess that was point, wasn't it? Disappear into thin air.

Don't worry. I have no idea where you are, and I didn't tell Jennie, Lisa, or Jisoo that I was sending this letter. All I could find out was one place that you had spent some time at alone in the past. I don't even know if you'll read this letter. I hope you do. I hope it makes you feel less alone.

There's so much to say, but it's all very hard to write. You must be wondering what everyone thought after you disappeared. That's what I would be thinking about if I were in your position.

Jennie was furious. She still is. She thinks you did it to hurt Jisoo, that you had used her for your plan and then had left when you were done. I tried to explain to her that it didn't make any sense, but she didn't want to listen. I guess I can't blame her. She wants to keep Jisoo safe, and she hates seeing Jisoo hurt. I can't really talk to Jennie about it anymore. She gets too angry. She broke up with Kai, too. I guess it got too hard with all the press. On top of that, the Burning Sun scandal brought even more attention to YG and she just didn't want to stretch herself any further.

Lisa is still trying to make everyone smile. She tries to pretend like nothing has changed, like we're all still the same as we were before. But we aren't, not really. I can see it in her eyes sometimes. She'll say something that we all know would make you laugh, and then there's just... silence. That's when she hurts the most, I think. It's the quiet moments.

Me? Well, I don't know what to think. I thought I knew you, Ollie. And the Ollie I knew would never have done anything to hurt Jisoo. We all know what you did, and I think you're a hero for risking your freedom like that to save lives. But what we don't know is what happened next.

I'll be honest with you, Ollie, because I like to tell you the truth. It's been hard for me. I wake up on the couch sometimes, wishing you had carried me to bed, and then I remember you're gone. Some nights when I can't sleep, I go to your room to talk and then... you're not there. I miss having you as a friend. I miss seeing that little smile you tried to hide when I said something dumb or when Jisoo made fun of one of us. I miss knowing that you were going to keep us safe, no matter what. I miss you.

But out of all of us, it's been hardest on Jisoo. She tries to be brave and strong, the way she always does. But sometimes, late at night, I can hear her crying. She tries so hard to hide it. And during the day, I can almost believe her. At night, though, the truth comes out. She has dreams sometimes, too. I can hear her talking in her sleep. Sometimes it isn't words, but sometimes... I can hear her say your name. Or things to you. I try not to listen because it isn't my place to hear that kind of thing, but sleep doesn't come as easily to me anymore.

I don't know what she thinks of you. To our faces, she shrugs it off. Says that it was something quick that ended. I can tell that she's lying though. We all can. I don't think she hates you. I think part of her—maybe a big part of her—is sure that you did what you did for a reason. But another part of her is so mad at you, Ollie. And I can't blame her for that.

I miss the early days. I miss when you first got here and things were a little awkward. I miss sitting around the fire outside and singing. Leaning my head on your shoulder when I got tired. I miss laughing and smiling and wondering when Jisoo was going to make a move on you. Things used to be so simple. How did we get here?

I guess what I want to say is that we're all still thinking about you. Even Jennie wishes you would come back. Yeah, she would probably yell at you and ignore you for a while. But that would pass.

I know you're not coming back. You never would have left if coming back was an option. Because I knew that no matter what, you were always going to do whatever it took to make sure we were safe. I loved that about you.

I hope wherever you are, you're safe. We're still touring and we probably will be for a little while longer. I'm glad that we're on the road. It means we don't have to be back home while the whole Burning Sun Scandal unravels.

I just wish you were here with us.

Stay safe, Ollie. I'll be thinking about you.

Love,

Rosé

PS: I thought you might like a picture of all of us. Just as a reminder. Keep it with you, please. It would make me feel better if we were always by your side. Maybe we can keep you safe for once.

A/N: Get ready for the second arc, starting on Friday. I'll probably post a brief character guide on Thursday as well. See you soon!