roses | kim woosung

e i g h t

i walk into the band room and see jia there talking to jeff. they look really cute together and i'm just always in awe watching the two.

"aren't you guys cute!" i say, walking up to them. "jen!! you're annoying you know that?" jia says. "i am huh? when you're done i need to talk to you about something." i say.

"we could talk now! what's up?" she asks. "there's two things actually." i say, as she pulls me away from everyone.

"what's up?" she asks. "the first thing is when is sammy's birthday?" i ask. "it's february twenty-fifth. he's a pisces." she says.

"i know, i'm born two days after him. i was supposed to be born on the leap year but i came two days earlier." i say. "that's so cool! you said there was another thing you wanted to talk about?" she asks.

"yeah.. i wrote these poems and... well, they're about sammy." i say. "oh my god! can i read one of them?" she asks. "sure." i say, handing her the notebook.

"jen, these are really good poems! you should give them to him as a birthday present. or better yet, write them as songs! i could help you if you'd like to." jia says.

"really?" i ask. "yeah! leo and i go way back since we were toddlers in new zealand. he taught me how to compose a song at the age of twelve. i could help you out if you'd like me to. have you ever considered any of the poems as a song?" she asks.

"not yet. but i would really like to show sammy one of them." i say. "you should! and plus, it'll give you the chance to tell him how you feel about him." jia says.

"you're right." i say. "yeah.. that's such a beautiful ring, where'd you get it?" jia asks. "this? oh, sammy gave it to me." i say.

"what?! when??" she asks. "saturday. it's-"
"it's the promise ring. he almost gave that to jisoo you know." she says.

"he did?" i ask. "well, he didn't want to but he felt like he had to. but he didn't want to tell her about his problems. i don't know if you know but he trusts you a lot. the last time i saw that ring was at his house." she says.

"you went to his house?" i ask. "his band used to have rehearsals there until the neighbors started to complain." she says.

"i guess you're like their manager." i say. "yeah, you could say that. if i'm the manager, then you could be their stylist." jia says.

"i'm up for that! but i think they're doing fine on their own." i say. "i mean in the future. they wouldn't leave us if they debut." she says.

"how do you know?" i ask. "because jeff's the youngest and he'd whine about it." jia says. "him whining would trigger the other members, especially sammy. he can't lose someone again and he'd fight about it until we're in." jia says.

"he would?" i ask. "he really would. now, i have a homework assignment for you: choose one or two poems you think would make good songs. if you happen to choose more, that's fine! we could just choose which ones would be the best ones. the reason i'm letting you choose them is because one, i would choose all of them and two, you are your best judge." jia says.

"some of these are really messy though." i say. "i wish this was written as a book.. that way i could read them all over and over again." she says.

"you could read them all now if you want. but don't let anyone else see it." i say, getting up and putting my coat on.

"where are you going?" sammy asks me. "to grab food. wanna tag along?" i ask. "yeah, let me just get my coat." he says, as we rush out of the room and walk out of school.