The Only

Chapter 7

Rosie spots Lisa before her wits come back to her. The blonde beams at the sight of the tray of food in Lisa's arms and she excitedly waves her best friend over.

Lisa begrudgingly walks back to the table, lead in her legs. She feels like she's stepping into foreign territory - this situation and particular circumstance absolutely alien to her.

Not once has Rosie given her number to a guy. Not once has Rosie shown actual interest in men. Sure, she's spoken about the occasional handsome actor like Chris Hemsworth with his sexy australian accent, or one famous senior dancer who'd already graduated from the university, Jongin.

Rosie had suitors before, yes. Plenty. And they were persistent, too. But Rosie hadn't shown any interest, never gave them a chance - not a door, not a window, not even a little crack that would allow for a silver lining. Nothing. Never.

But Lisa remembers Rosie's smile just a few seconds ago; how warm it was, how welcoming. How the man had so casually handed his phone, how Rosie accepted it without second thought.

How the man is still standing beside her, closer than any other guy has ever been to Rosie except her dad and Lisa's dad who basically treats Rosie like his second daughter.

So you can't fault Lisa for how her mind goes into overdrive and how her imagination runs wild. Plus, today was supposed to be their day. Rosie was supposed to be all hers today - no school work, no extracurriculars, no parents. Just Lisa and Rosie the whole day.

Lisa knows it's not her place to be possessive, it's not her place to feel all the things she's feeling. She isn't delusional. She's very much self-aware.

Which means she is also very much aware of the fact that it's not like she can consciously put a dampener on her emotions or flick a switch to turn them off just like that.

Especially not when she's loved Rosie for the last four years she's known her.

So the little secret that she's clutched so close to her chest, the feelings that she's bottled up for so long, threaten to burst.

Rosie gestures to her to come faster, impatience and excitement for the food written all over her face. Lisa tries her best to hurry, tries to ignore the heaviness bogging her down.

Lisa reaches the table. Rosie smiles at her then turns to the guy. The guy smiles back at Rosie then looks at her. The interaction makes Lisa's eyebrows comically raise high up her small forehead.

"Lisa, this is Jaehyun." Rosie gestures to the man. "Jaehyun, this is Lisa, my roommate."

Lisa mentally takes note of how she was introduced as 'the roommate' and not 'the best fried'. She feels the paranoia creep in.

"Nice to meet you," the guy, Jaehyun, greets her. "Here, let me-," and then he offers to take the tray from her hands. But Lisa quickly sets it down on the table, careful enough that none of the food spills.

"Nope, I got it!" she interrupts him. She does her best to put on the friendliest smile she can muster. She even gives him a thumbs up. "Got it," and follows with an awkward chuckle and immediately sits down beside her friend.

Lisa very unsubtly leans closer to Rosie, almost as if trying to shield her from the guy in front of him. Rosie misunderstands her body language and leans her arm against Lisa's.

Now they look like they're just the best of gal pals. Lisa doesn't know how much more she can take before she starts screaming.

Not knowing what to do with his hands, this Jaehyun guy shyly puts it behind his head with a chuckle.