it's ok not to be ok; rosékook

we need to talk

Everything around her seemed to pass by in a haze, the dial tone being the only constant as she tried to clear a route amongst the slowly increasing crowd. On usual days, she'd feed of the energy from the large show out of students that came to watch them perform. Today, however, it drained her. Someone bumps against her shoulder and she sighs in irritation as her phone slips out of her grasp.

7 unanswered calls, the screen reads as she picks it off the floor. She checks the status of her katalk messages to Rosie again, but they remain just as it was 15 mins ago (delivered but unopened) and the irritation seeps under her skin to her nerves.

Where in the world was Rosie? Why was she uncontactable? And most importantly, why did she keep her relationship from them?

She sighs again, thinking back to the conversation with her brother. Maybe he was right. The signs were right there: the mysterious flowers she'd been getting fortnightly, the love songs and the increasing bouts of happy moods she'd been in, but they chose to ignore it. As if Rosie rekindling her belief in love was something impossible. Because all of them had been there when it happened, when her self-esteem was at its lowest and they thought she'd never be able to pick herself up again.

The call going to voicemail alerts her of another failed call just as she makes it to the changing rooms. With Rosie still nowhere in sight, she decides to head in until something catches her eye. It takes her seconds to put 2 and 2 together, marching furiously towards the group of 3 boys, specifically the one carrying the bouquet of roses in his hands.

"You!"

The blonde-haired boy looks shocked as she approaches but still manages to reply. "Me?" 

"Yes, you," she grits. "What's your name?"

"T-Taeyong?" he answers shakily and she scoffs. At least she had a name now.

"Ok Taeyong," she repeats sarcastically. From the corner of her eye, she thinks she sees his two friends fidget in their places awkwardly but she's beyond irritated to give a damn. "I don't know what you're up to, but you leave her alone, you hear me?"

"w-what?"

"are you deaf? Or do I need to repeat myself again?"

"i-I don't understand-"

"sure you do. You're planning to give those to her, right?" she nods accusingly at his bouquet of roses and his jaw drops.

"how did you-"

"never mind how I knew. My point is, you leave Rosie alone, alright? She doesn't need another one of you guys misleading her and taking her for a ride only to break her heart."

The anger from four years ago reignites in her as she speaks, and she realizes she's never really let go of it as she stares down the boy that seems to finally understand the situation.

"Oh no, you've got it wrong. I'm actually here for-"

"Have I really?" she bites, causing the boy to flinch mid-sentence. They've garnered an audience at this point, but she's persistent on letting her anger speak for her, ignoring the spectators until-
"Sooyoung?"

She turns at the sound of her name, only to find Jennie staring back with a frown on her face. "what...are you doing?"

"Jennie!" she hears from behind her and watches as her friend's face contorts into one of confusion.

"Taeyong? What are you doing here? Didn't we agree to meet at the foyer instead?"

She's in the midst of processing the new information when she hears a chorus of gasps. Like a switch, she and jennie turn and everything seems to unfold in slow motion as she watches Rosie withdraw from a hug with a flush of red on her cheeks, smiling her thanks at the guy in dark plaid that cannot seem to take his eyes off her as he wishes her good luck for her performance.

Her face hardens, but it's not Chaeyoung reaching up on her tiptoes to press a kiss onto his cheek that bothers her the most. The fact that it's Jeon Jungkook on the receiving end, the guy whose closest friends are the school's famous playboys, doesn't even get under her skin as much as she wants it too. What bothers her the most is the expression of bliss on Chaeyoung's face, the same one that she saw four years ago, the same one that eventually led to her very first and worst heartbreak.

Straightening herself, she wipes the memory from her face and braces herself for the confrontation that was long overdue.

"Rosie," she calls, taking in wide eyes that meet her own serious ones seconds later. "We need to talk."