The Lonely God (Rosekook)

6

"I thought about what you said last night," Rosé told him at breakfast, or more like gasped in between bites of bread. She was rushing and packing books into her schoolbag haphazardly whilst chewing on toast as Jeongguk sipped on banana milk, which he had discovered he was very particular about.

"What I said?"

She swallowed a morsel of bread, crumbs spraying everywhere when she spoke next. "Magic. I forgot there are other types of things that could be described as magical."

"Like?" Jeongguk said, interest piqued. He might have a breakthrough here. See, he wasn't being lazy at all!

She merely offered him a wink before running out in the hall to put on her shoes.

"Come to the café at 4!" she hollered before slamming the door shut.

> 

Obediently, he showed up at 4 on the dot.

"Hey, you made it!" she greeted him. Her smiled widened when he produced a small pink rose from behind his back.

"Fuschia rose," he explained and held up a card, scrunching his brows to decipher the florist's cursive writing, "means gratitude. So yeah...to tell you thanks. For everything."

Her cheeks flushed a similar shade of pink as she took the flower.

"Baby pink happens to be my favourite colour too," she said happily, "thank you Jungoo."

"What, are we turning this nickname thing into a competition now?" he laughed making her chuckle as well.

"I'll be with you in a moment, I'm waiting for Lisa to replace me. She's always a bit late-"

"Ah so this is the Jeongguk I've been hearing so much about?" giggled a girl from behind him. He turned around to behold a tall girl like Rosé with a small face, blonde hair in a ponytail and large doe-eyes.

"Hi I'm Lisa, Rosé's sister from another mister. And can I just say daaaaaaayum Rosie! He looks like a promising boyfr-"

"We're just friends!" Rosé said hastily, tugging Lisa behind the counter and throwing Jeongguk a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'll be back."

Jeongguk rubbed his nape, slightly bemused as he settled into a seat by the window, gazing around the interior with curiosity. But before he could explore further, a female wearing the same uniform as Rosé strode up to him.

"Jeon?" This was a petite brunette but somehow, her piercing eyes made her all the more intimidating despite her size. She had her arms folded, gazing down at him as if her were something repulsive stuck to the sole of her shoe.

"Y-Yeah?" he said offhandedly, trying to inject some of his cocky confidence back into his voice. He could faintly hear Irse cackling and going I like this mortal at the back of his head.

"Are you trying to get in Rosie's pants?" blurted the brunette, making Jeongguk choke on his tongue.

"Wha-what the—"

"Just a warning for ya," the woman said, her lip curling in disdain, "you hurt one hair, one single hair, on Rosie's head, and you're dead, Jeon. Take that as a friendly warning."

Jeongguk swore he felt perspiration break out on his brow. "Uh...sure? Thanks for the heads-up?"

"Weirdo," she snorted and flounced off. Jeongguk wondered if weer-doh was some parting slang. He was going to consult with Irse when a shriek echoed from behind the staff door behind the counter.

The shriek sounded distinctively like Rosé.

Jeongguk was over the counter top in a heartbeat, with his mind spinning and a strange burst of heat scaling up to his head.