The Angel Next Door (Rosé X Female Reader)

14: Dating Rumour?

Word Count: 4,150

A new school semester had started, but not much had changed. Everyone seemed to have spent the winter vacation relaxing, so there weren't any major developments the way summer vacation could sometimes bring. The usual cast of characters was back, and no one had undergone a drastic image change or anything. I was seated at my desk, quietly gazing at a lecture room that was somewhat more boisterous than usual, when a shadow loomed over me.

"Hey, Y/N, what's good."

"Thanks, can't complain."

It was Jennie, who had entered the room from behind my seat. Jennie was no exception and had also remained the same. I hadn't seen her since Christmas, but she was wearing the same flippant smile as always.

"So did you have a good holiday?"

"P-pretty much, yeah."

"C'mon, you're holding something back. Was there some kind of... progress?"

"What? Look, it's not like that. And just so you know, nothing happened."

That wasn't actually true, of course. But I wouldn't dream of telling Jennie that Rosé had stayed over at my place, even if it had been an accident. I knew the moment I told Jennie, she was guaranteed to tell Lisa, and it wasn't hard to imagine that the two of them would start teasing and poking fun at me first chance they got. Aside from that incident, all that had happened over the break was my parents coming over and our communal visit to the shrine, which surely fell into the category of nothing.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't really do anything."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but..."

I found Jennie's rather triumphant smile pretty irritating but decided that responding would just encourage her, so I let it go. I looked around the classroom, hunting for some topic that would let me change the subject... but nothing was particularly new or notable.

As always, the girls were standing around 'Chanyeol', the so-called prince of our year. As always, the boys in the room were openly jealous, even though Chanyeol himself wore a slightly troubled expression.

"That dynamic hasn't changed one bit," I remarked.

"Yeah, good ol' Chanyeol. Same old spectacle, huh?"

In the end, I, who considered it none of my business, and Jennie, who had a girlfriend and wasn't interested in other girls, smiled wryly at Chanyeol's popularity and continued scanning our familiar surroundings.

"Come to think of it, I heard that Rosé might have a girlfriend, you know."

A group of several girls formed nearby, and I could hear what they were talking about. I suddenly stiffened.

"Oh, someone told me, yeah. She went on a shrine visit and saw her intimately holding hands with a girl!"

"Yeah, I heard! Rosé has never swayed that way before, but maybe that was because she had been secretly gay all along?"

"Sounds like she was a really cool-looking girl if she was able to bend Park Chaeyoung, but they said she's never seen her before. She must be from another university."

Somehow, it felt like the attention of the whole classroom shifted to the girls' conversation. Even Chanyeol seemed to be looking over and perking up his ears. Only Jennie was looking at me.

"Hey, Y/N."

"I know nothing."

"I didn't even ask you anything yet."