When a snail falls in love | Liskook

Jirose part 4

I'm sorry, Jimin.

After half a year, this was what she said to him.

The next day, as Jimin flew back to Beijing, he felt an extremely deep sense of suffocation. He thought he'd had it in the bag, he thought her every smile and frown had indicated she had similar feelings for him. Who knew that once the situation came out into the open, she would stop feigning innocence and bluntly reject him.

It was nothing more than her depending on him. There was no love involved.

This thought grieved him terribly.

This time, Jimin stayed away for a long time.

Rosé thought that perhaps any man would have a bottom line and patience. These days, Rosé definitely thought about him, thought about the faint smile that was alway on his face, thought about how handsome he was as he unhurriedly explained those head-splitting economic theories and problems to her.

But, she was still not ready to start a relationship. She also had no idea if she'd ever be ready.

Later on, a lot of things happened. Lin City was yet again rocked by a serial murder case. Without knowing why, the first thought Rosé had was of Baekhyun. Perhaps it was a case of 'once bitten, twice shy, but the little bit of oddness about the case was enough for Rosé to tremble with fear. And, when she told Lisa about her intuition, Lisa was also stumped for words.

After that, it was time to probe, to see if they could lure the snake out of the hole. Rosé never knew where she gained the courage to meet up with Baekhyun and endure his kisses despite trembling, and even to steal one of the life-like dolls from his home.

Perhaps it was for the sake of the deceased Chanyeol.

The night that the police captured Baekhyun, Rosé sat in the bedroom in her villa. She was surrounded by successive rings of bodyguards, as well as the police officers that had been delegated to watch over her. However, when she looked at the quiet night, she was suddenly very frightened. She knew very well that Baekhyun would not be able to break through all the layers of security to revenge himself on her, but she was still fearful that, in the very next second, Baekhyun would appear out of the darkness.

Time ticked past slowly. As the night grew deeper, the dread in her heart correspondingly fermented and swelled. While her nerves were stretched taut to the point where she was senseless of anything around her, her handphone rang. She glanced at it. It was Baekhyun.

She was so startled that she tossed her handphone away, and it landed in the toilet.

The phone rang persistently for a long time before finally stopping. She heaved a long sigh and huddled in the corner of the bed.

Who knew that at this time, the house phone would suddenly ring. Rosé almost screamed. She looked at the phone on the sofa, both scared and furious. The phone did not stop ringing, and her anger was aroused. In a state of extreme agitation, she leapt off the bed in one swift move and stormed across to pick up the phone. "You beast! I don't have anything to say to you!"

The person on the other end paused for a second before saying, "Beast? Why on earth are you condemning me like this?" It was Jimin.

Rosé immediately calmed down. "You? How can it be? I thought it was..."

"Who did you think it was?"

"It's nothing."

Jimin was once again silent for a moment. Then, he asked, "What are you busy with? I called your handphone, but it was off, so I was worried that something had happened. I heard that there's another psychopathic killer in Lin City."

"I'm all right. I'm at home. The handphone fell into the toilet." Rosé hesitated, then asked, "How... have you been?"

That night, the two of them talked until 2 a.m. without realising it until the police officers standing guard outside knocked on the door with great excitement in their eyes. A heavy stone was lifted off Rosé's heart, yet there was also a faint sense of disappointment and frustration.

Baekhyun had been captured.

This was the longest phone conversation the two of them had ever shared. Jimin never realised that it was entirely due to his rival, the psychopathic serial killer.

It was only much later that Jimin heard the news of the psychopathic killer called Baekhyun, and also indirectly discovered that Rosé had been mixed up in the affair, and had even helped the police to capture him. This immediately underlined for him the fact that she really was not afraid of death.

He immediately booked a flight for Lin City.

The two of them finally settled their relationship on the night of Mingyu's company banquet. That night, Rosé had sprained her ankle. Jimin had taken advantage of the situation and swept her off to the hotel sick bay, where he applied medication, massaged her foot and held her, finally kissing her teary face.

Rosé did not utter a word.

She did not know if this was truly love. However, she did know that she never wanted to be without Jimin by her side.

Jimin suggested that the best medicine would be for him to take her home, and thus left their assistants, managers and whatnots behind. Who knew, the car followed the ring road, but did not head for her home. Instead, it headed for the riverside.

Rosé asked, suspiciously, "What are you doing?"

Jimin kissed her red eyes repeatedly. "I've finally achieved my goal after an expedition of a hundred thousand miles. You must permit me to play at being romantic, and to expres my sincerity."

In truth, there wasn't a whole lot of romance. Night, starlight, grass, his car parked on the riverbank, holding her while sitting on the grass, gazing at the myriad lights on the river bank, the murmuring of the water.

Yet, this was the first time in several years that Rosé had experienced such calm, and was able to view the night with peace of mind. No strange dream, no sweat and heartache Just another man, laughing as he sat by her side, massaging her swollen foot, pointing out the constellations to her.

Just like an ordinary man and an ordinary woman, just like the love and life of ordinary people.

When the sky brightened, Rosé discovered that they had fallen asleep on the grass by the riverside. He was sprawled on the ground, and she had slept in his arms. Moreover, his suit was draped over her body. Rosé snuggled deeper into his embrace.

"Thank you, Jimin."

—

Two years later, they began to talk about marriage.

Rosé's parents were ordinary workers. Although they had some initial reservations about their illustrious potential son-in-law, they came to see his steady and reliable character, and were therefore satisfied.

On the other hand, Rosé had never met Jimin's family. As the Spring Festival approached, Jimin took it upon himself to book a plane for the both of them, and helped Rosé prepare suitable presents for his parents.

Rosé was naturally anxious, and asked, "Will your parents..."

Jimin did not wait for her to finish talking. He said, simply and clearly. "They won't. When I, your man, am at home, I have absolute authority to speak. Don't worry. My mum is muddle-headed, and knows nothing at all about your history - she's not at all like Jungkook's overbearing and shrewd mother. As for my dad, he's such a simple man, why would he bother about such matters? Our Park family is also more sound than substance. We may have risen to prominence as esteemed members of the revolutionary army, but that's of no significance. Nowadays, we depend entirely on my business undertakings. Just relax, don' stress yourself."

As Rosé listened to him talk, the corners of her mouth slowly lifted.

It looked like the winter wouldn't be too cold, after all.

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