Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Setting foot in the entertainment industry is a lot trickier than it seems. People depict you according to how you portray yourself, whether in interviews, in social media or even during public appearances. To make sure nothing taints your image, you’re molded the moment you have officially become a trainee, from how you act, how you dress and how you answer questions.

Blackpink is no stranger to that.

But when the cameras stop rolling and no one’s really looking, it’s a whole other story and a whole other side of the girls emerge that can’t be captured by the lenses.

Take self-proclaimed master detective Roseanne Park’s case for example. This case isn’t about her though, hence the master detective title she’s proudly given herself because she’s feeling all witty and cunning with her little discovery. And to be honest, she’s enjoying the fact that she’s got a front row seat of the members being in their natural habitats, no script to follow, no staff to keep them at bay, no holds barred.

And being with them before fame blew up in their faces could only mean that she’s known them like the back of her hand.

Jennie Kim. Looks mean because she’s got this resting bitch face on when she’s actually a softie. Can be snarky but she has a good heart. Think she’s got this tough-ass persona but will literally throw the first object she finds to your head when you accidentally startle her in the dimly lit kitchen at two in the morning because you have a face mask on (the object was a plastic spoon by the way, thank God, or Rosé’s tombstone would have read “all I wanted was a sandwich”).

Lalisa Manoban. Wears her heart on her sleeves. Will cry when she’s touched by words. Will cry when she’s given a present. Will cry when you tell her you’ve “found” her long-lost stuffed animal even though you had been hiding it for days because Kuma ripped its head off while you two were roughhousing one time. Basically has no filter around friends but will morph into an awkward vegetable when it comes to people.

Jisoo Kim. Her name pretty much explains itself.

So when something goes amiss and one of them acts totally out of character, Rosé gets her master detective mode on, grabs her imaginary magnifying glass and begins her own investigation process.

Because, hey, where’s the fun in confronting them upfront?

Chapter Text

It goes something like this.

Rosé is preparing a bowl of popcorn in the kitchen, humming to herself happily as she watches the kernels go pop pop pop in the microwave that’s practically music to her ears. The sight makes her mouth water in anticipation.

Nothing else satisfies her really.

She’s simple like that.

The time is a quarter past nine in the evening and since the girls are given a few days off, they have decided to spend them leisurely.

Jisoo has left to be with her family while Jennie has gone on a lowkey Myeongdong shopping spree with Chahee, informing them ahead that she might not make it home either. This leaves the maknaes alone at the dorm which typically calls for chaos to ensue whenever their nagging unnies are nowhere in sight. They’re terribly exhausted, however, after biking along the Han River the entire afternoon. So they decide that the chaos can wait.

After all, they have a couple more hours to themselves before Jennie is supposed to be home (if she does come home anyway).

The microwave beeps and Rosé delicately takes the bag with her fingertips, careful not to touch the hot surface. She waits for it to cool down before ripping it open and transferring the popcorn onto a plastic bowl. A buttery aroma spreads in the air as Rosé wafts in content, her stomach grumbling despite having a considerably heavy dinner consisting of ribs, pasta and a plate of pancakes (“Who the hell eats pancakes for dinner?” Lisa’s face contorted when the waiter arrived with their dishes. “I do. Duh,” Rosé shoved a forkful into her mouth. “Food is food, Lisa!”).

Her slipper-clad feet slap against the wooden flooring, trotting towards Jisoo’s bedroom carrying a bowl in one arm. Lisa is already perched on the bed in her pink pajamas, legs stretched with one crossed over the other, and a MacBook balanced on a stack of pillows across her. The laptop screen indicates that the movie has been playing for a while, with Lisa so engrossed, her eyes unblinking and her face superglued to the film. She doesn’t even budge when Rosé enters.

Not a glance, not a single movement.

Rosé dives onto the bed beside the blonde, causing some popcorn to fall onto the bedsheets (Lisa pays no mind). She mutters a sheepish “oopsie” before naturally picking them up and eating them. The older maknae asks in between chews. “So what happened?”

“NOTHING HAPPENED IN THAILAND!”

Lisa blurts suddenly, recoiling in the same manner a cat would upon being drenched by a bucket of ice-cold water. Rosé almost chokes on her popcorn and sports a bewildered expression because wow that came out of freakin’ nowhere so she’s looking at Lisa like the girl has grown a second head.

“What..?”

“Nothing.” Lisa shakes her head, averting her eyes, unable to meet Rosé’s curious ones. Was she just thinking out loud? Maybe. But Rosé isn’t entirely convinced, with the fact that the words have slipped from her mouth so it really must mean something.

“But you said—”

“It’s really nothing sorry,” Lisa mumbles hurriedly, having very little conviction in how she says it, sounding somewhat nervous. She offers the Australian native a thin smile in assurance as she composes herself and returns to the movie. She does a doubletake when the bowl of popcorn catches her interest. “Oh, hey, popcorn!” The Thai casually grabs a handful. Her late reaction doesn’t surprise Rosé there, considering the younger girl has got the attention span of a meatloaf. Still, her behavior doesn’t add up but Rosé could be overreacting here so she doesn’t dwell on it too much.

“If you say so.” Rosé studies her once more, letting her gaze linger a second longer.

Come to think of it, it’s been a week since Lisa and Jennie’s Thailand trip. They had arrived full of stories about their adventures, retelling the wondrous sunset up on this restaurant, their hunt for the best Thai cuisine in town and even meeting some Thai blinks. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary since they returned.

At least, until now.

Rosé frequently observes Lisa from her peripheral for the remainder of the movie, noting how odd it is how her personality does a total one-eighty like she’s been possessed moments ago and the spirit has left her body after three seconds.

It’s weird, no doubt, but Rosé isn’t one to push or pry.

Whatever it is, it’s strike one.

***

The sun is out.

The cool wind breezes by.

The weather is great.

It’s a fine day out today and there’s nothing but the serene landscape that envelopes the open field that’s a far cry from the crowded, noisy and bustling metropolis of Seoul. The panoramic view is a scene to behold, greens flourishing left and right, flowers dotted among the tall bladed grass.

Birds chirp merrily on a tree branch until an airplane swoops in and nearly beheads the unsuspecting feathered creatures.

A remote-controlled airplane that is.

“Let me try!” Rosé attempts to steal from Lisa’s hold. Unfortunately, Lisa’s precise reflexes enable her to jerk it away, navigating the airplane into another direction using the knobs underneath her thumbs.

“No, I finally found something that I’m better at than you!”

“Better at killing birds apparently!”

“I did not kill them.”

“You could have!”

“But I didn’t.”

“You are such a baby!” Rosé whines, crossing her arms and pouting like a petulant five year-old. She stomps her foot disapprovingly. So maybe she is the baby in this situation, only because Lisa has been hogging the controller for thirty minutes.

The girls have agreed to join Jennie in her photoshoot to showcase their support. Although their manager insisted that they didn’t have to, they hopped into the van before anything else could really be done. It’s either they ditch the dorm or die of boredom with nothing much to do aside from Netflix and taking unnecessarily long naps.

They have been waiting idly for their schedules in preparation for their comeback in June. While it hasn’t been finalized yet, finding an excuse to do something would have to do.

“Lice, where’s Jisoo-unnie?” Rosé looks around and notices that the oldest of the group has somehow vanished. She was just beside her moments ago.

“Dunno” Lisa traps her tongue in between her teeth, obviously uninterested in Jisoo’s disappearance. She focuses on the toy, which Rosé herself borrowed from the staff by the way. One minute, Rosé is telling Jennie that she’ll be outside (Jennie is still getting ready inside a tent that’s set up), and the next thing she finds is Lisa sprinting to the exit, the remote control and airplane in her possession.

Rosé calls her out.

It’s her childhood with Alice all over again.

“Yo, yo, Chaeng!” Lisa glances at Rosé cheekily. “Watch this.”

Rosé squints her eyes as the sun’s bright rays shield most of her vision but she manages to spot the airplane not too distant. It moves steadily at first, then along with Lisa’s guidance, it spins to its side flipping in three-sixty, zooming past the tree she’s nearly crashed into earlier.

“Woah, how did you do that?” Rosé asks in pure amazement. Lisa’s luck when it comes to practically anything is just as bad as her bowling skills. They’ve lost count on the number of times she’s lost in a game or a bet. She would be overqualified to enter if losing became an Olympic Sport because of how much she’s a professional at it. The girl’s got confidence, yes, but confidence doesn’t help you win sadly.

Lisa winks cheekily. “It’s a gift.” She repeats the same trick. Then does another, and another, and another and…

Okay, now she’s just showing off.

“Hey, guys!”

Jennie approaches the duo in careful strides, lifting the bottom of her dress to prevent tripping over them. The two turn at her arrival. She looks about ready to grant someone’s wish, hints of glitter are peppered around her neck and round cheeks. Her hair is tied up, stray strands framing her face.

“Wow, unnie you look good.” Good is an understatement, Rosé admits. “And ohmygosh! That lipstick though!” Rosé compliments the deep red that’s painted across Jennie’s lips that’s in contrast to her powder white outfit. She waits for Lisa to do the same, almost expects it even.

Strangely enough, she doesn’t.

In a usual setting, Lisa would be the first out of everyone to shamelessly shower Jennie with praises, backed with endless whistling and hooting like a crazed fangirl meeting her idol. What she is met with, bizarrely, is silence and a meek smile that doesn’t seem very Lisa-like.

Rosé raises an eyebrow.

The airplane flies out of course and crash-lands towards Lisa’s head. She flinches and is brought back from her slightly catatonic state, rubbing on the sore area. Rosé bites back a laughter (because she’s such a true friend) then she picks up the toy which rolled away a few feet from them.

“Lisa! Are you okay?” Jennie speed-walks to Lisa’s side, concern laced in her voice. When Rosé jogs to them, Jennie is inspecting the portion where the airplane had flown into. Thankfully, no bruise nor bumps are found but Rosé does catch the way Lisa’s shoulders tense up as Jennie inches too close.

“You’re all good, but you really suck at those.” Jennie muses, fixing Lisa’s hair with her hands.

“Yeah.” Lisa chuckles sheepishly, also swallowing visibly.

Rosé narrows her eyes.

Weren’t you bragging to me your skills earlier?

She wonders if Lisa’s airplane-flipping skills are all a fluke and that it was here mere stroke of luck. But Rosé’s master detective senses are tingling.

Strike two.

“You look like you’re about to shit.” Jisoo materializes magically out of thin air and remarks in perfect English. How the heck did she get here so quietly and where the hell did she learn that. Rosé is visibly taken aback by this.

“What?”

“You’ve got a,” Jisoo gestures wildly to Rosé’s face, “constipated face going on.”

So much for being a master detective.

***

It’s been a few months since the second strike and Rosé would be lying if she hasn’t been anticipating something or anything to happen in those months. Sometimes her throat would itch to corner Lisa about her observation but she’s resisted in order to let things go through its natural course as she reluctantly watches from the sidelines.

There’s promotion to be busy with so the strikes don’t invade Rosé’s thoughts as much as they used to. She’s too pre-occupied perfecting the choreography to As If It’s Your Last, making guest appearances on various TV shows and killing it on stage with showstopping performances.

She almost forgets about the whole thing.

Almost.

***

Reality shows have always been a source of amusement for Rosé.

It’s never crossed her mind though that she would be part in one.

The living arrangement for Blackpink House would take some getting used to, being monitored and having cameras following them twenty-four-seven in a period of a hundred days. An upside to this is being free to do whatever they wish (not exactly free, they still can’t go clubbing or go drinking in public) in the outside world minus their manager in tow.

The downside?

Every move is being constantly watched.

Rosé feels rather conscious, the cameramen trailing after them doing the most mundane things a regular person could do.

Here, all four girls are packing their belongings to be brought into their temporary summer home and it’s exciting and it’s thrilling and basically those combined that Rosé could not help herself but throw a private dance party in her bedroom (something the cameras caught but hopefully wouldn’t air).

Rosé manages to be done before the others so she lounges at the living room couch, wasting her time mindlessly on the internet. The cameramen have gone out for a break and Rosé uses this short period of privacy to her advantage.

She hears Lisa sluggishly padding into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets, doors squeaking upon closing and opening. Rosé sighs. Lisa has this unfortunate habit of abandoning certain tasks when she’s been doing them for too long.

One of those tasks is packing.

“Chaengieee,” Lisa leans against a side table by the kitchen. There’s a basket of fruits behind her that were bought home by Jisoo on an impulse buy. Rosé doesn’t respond so Lisa tries once more, “Chaeyoung-ah.”

“What?”

“Rosie.”

“What?”

“Rosie-posie.”

“What?”

“I hate packing.” Lisa complains, her head lazily hanging to one side.

Rosé rolls her eyes. “So does Jisoo-unnie yet she’s finishing up unlike someone.”

Lisa groans dramatically, jutting her lower lip out as far as it can go. Instead of doing as she’s told, Lisa remains in her place, zoning out on the living room window. Her silence catches Rosé. The hard blank expression on the maknae’s face says that she’s got some thinking going on in her head.

Something she hasn’t spoken about.

Jennie emerges from her room, hauling her suitcase with her. She frowns when she realizes she’s missed a bag that’s been discarded on the side table that Lisa’s been leaning on. Dropping her suitcase on the living room floor, she unzips it and requests, “Hey, Lice, could you toss me that bag?”

In the midst of what Rosé could only deduce as her mind and body reacting on autopilot, Lisa tosses a watermelon.

Strike three.

“Lisa! What the hell?” Jennie’s eyes go wide in a mixture of puzzlement and anger. She was fast enough to remove her hands before the heavy fruit could crush them.

Rosé lays frozen too stunned to say anything.

“I thought you said watermelon,” Lisa drones, still with that deer-in-headlights look in her eyes.

“Why the fuck would I say watermelon?!”

“I don’t know! Life is confusing!”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Jisoo finally comes out of her bedroom in a rush to inspect all the commotion, her big sister instincts kicking in. She regards the three girls inquisitively, utterly aghast at the splattered watermelon bits all over the floor. “What is going on—Lisa! Didn’t I tell you to stop playing real life Fruit Ninja? Chaeng had a bruised lip the last time! You know the consequences—”

“I’ll go lock myself in the veranda.” Lisa announces hastily in surrender before Jisoo could reach the end of her sermon. She shuffles to her bedroom quickly, in a way to escape further questioning.

“Uh, okay?” Jisoo shrugs, eyeing Lisa’s retreating form in mild wonder. “Guess my job here is done.” She returns to her room without much comment on the maknae’s strange behavior.

Jennie’s gaze is fixed on the path to Lisa’s bedroom, like she’s contemplating whether she should tail the younger girl or not. Rosé’s not sure if what they had is something you would call a fight. It was more of a weird misunderstanding and she’d be in Jennie’s position too because how do you properly react when your best friend throws a large round fruit that could potentially rearrange your face at you?

Lisa has always been quirky, she does a ton of dubious things but her actions lately seem very…off.

“Seriously, what the hell,” Jennie says more to herself than to Rosé.

Jennie.

Rosé’s brain connects the dots from the three strikes.

Somehow, Jennie gets herself directly and indirectly involved in Lisa’s series of indescribable weirdness. From blurting out their Thailand trip, plunging the remote-controlled airplane off-course and to throwing a goddamn fruit at her.

And that’s when it hits her, like she has been sucker punched straight in the face.

Or like that one time when Jisoo failed miserably at grabbing some midnight snack (which happened to by Rosé’s) by knocking down a couple of containers in the fridge that woke everyone up (or maybe it was Jennie’s heavy footsteps and her loud “All I want is some fucking sleep in this house!”), ultimately ending the mystery behind the snack burglar who was notorious for stealing other members’ leftovers that may or may not have caused some petty fights, serious trust issues and half-hearted threats (that one’s on Jennie). But God, Rosé should have known that Jisoo was behind it when she placed the blame on the infamous YG ghost that “probably followed us home and is messing with our food” as she explained it, which everyone took into consideration because yes the YG ghost does exist—

Wait.

Rosé is getting awfully off-track here.

Back to her point.

The thing is, it’s all happening under her nose and she’s bound to get to the bottom of it.

Master detective Roseanne Park is ready to work on her case.

Chapter Text

So something definitely happened in Thailand.

Rosé is certain.

Whatever that something is though, she’ll have to resort to guessing.

The possibilities are endless and Rosé needs some concrete evidence to back her theory. She’ll have a lot to work around with, careful not to act questionably shady. This makes her hypersensitive and super alert to every interaction between them, not to the extent that she’s trying to insinuate something about them.

Just enough for her to be able to figure out the mysterious Thailand trip.

And it doesn’t help Rosé’s case that Jennie is totally normal and seemingly unbothered.

That makes Lisa the sole person of interest here, so maybe she’s got these personal issues she can’t share yet and Rosé is unnecessarily reading into it too much.

Lisa, by some miracle, was able to revert to her regular self (as far as regular goes for Lisa) during their stay at the Blackpink House. She’s still weird, sure, but none of that fruit-launching and airplane-crashing kind of weird (sidenote: Jisoo has banned her from going anywhere near their fruit basket). Rosé supposes its due to the presence of the cameras, being under surveillance for a hundred days, that Lisa had trained herself to be extra mindful with what she does.

That meant Blackpink House had become uneventful much to Rosé’s dismay.

***

Rosé has this thought.

Ever since they’ve been trainees, Rosé has thought of how inexplicably different Jennie and Lisa’s friendship were from how they treat everyone else. It’s the type that would get people to question the nature of it all, whether it’s surpassing borderline platonic or just two chummy buds who have zero disregard for trivial things such as public skinship and whatnot. Rosé is aware how friends can go overboard in terms of friendly touches which could be misunderstood from other people’s perspective.

So there’s probably nothing suspicious going on between them.

Or is there?

Rosé doesn’t want to entertain that, her business or not, she feels she’s betraying them in some sort way.

As she’s stated, she’s not insinuating anything.

Although, it’s difficult not to when they give you reasons to do so.

***

“Aww, happy anniversary you guys!”

The girls are lounging in their living room one lazy night, and they’re sat on the couch with Rosé in one end, next to Jisoo who also sits next to Jennie, then Lisa beside her on the other end. Jisoo has utilized her bartending skills (no one knew where she’d learn it; another mystery to solve later) and whips out fancy fruity alcoholic cocktails which Rosé downs in one go.

Thank God for her high level of tolerance or they would have to peel her off the couch.

Not that there were that much liquor to begin with.

“Huh?” Jennie cocks her head at Jisoo inquiringly.

“Look what the blinks are posting.” Jisoo flashes them her phone, arm slightly stretched outwards so everyone could have a proper view. The three move closer to inspect what’s shown on screen and Rosé sees how Lisa sucks in a breath.

“It’s your trip in Thailand!”

“A year already?” Jennie sips on her cocktail in one hand, eyeing the photo more closely. She uses her pointing finger in her free hand to scroll through the comments of their fans.

Rosé catches a glimpse of the comments, most of them if not all, mentioning jenlisa jenlisa jenlisa and she sort of, kind of wants to laugh because she just finds the humor in it.

“Oh, wow, yeah, a year,” Lisa mutters softly, suddenly overly fascinated by her drink, moving the straw around.

Jennie glances at the maknae beside her. “Yah, there’s something on your mouth.”

“Where?” Lisa starts licking her lips blindly, inevitably missing the whipped-cream stain.

“Here.” Jennie playfully sticks her tissue onto the corner of Lisa’s mouth.

Rosé feigns disgust. “Gross, that was your used tissue,” she comments then settles back on her seat. “Get a room” was forming at the tip of her tongue but she decided against it.

“Aww that was an indirect kiss! Guess Lisa just kissed Jendeukie,” Jisoo sing-songs childishly.

A gagging noise escapes from someone, who Rosé  assumes to be Lisa, as the person is coughing and heaving badly like the time Leo accidentally swallowed the missing pair of Jisoo’s unattended Pikachu sock and Lisa had to perform a Heimlich Maneuver on him (her pet-care expertise had impressed Rosé that day). Rosé is mistaken, apparently, because as she arches forward, she catches Jennie’s eyes watering from her coughing fit.

It could be a coincidence really, or the timing of Jisoo’s comment came perfectly before Jennie’s choking fiasco, not a domino effect.

But Lisa’s left a miniscule gap between them, noticeable enough for Rosé that she questions her intentions since the two were seated shoulder-to-shoulder up until that photo was shown.

Jisoo aids Jennie by patting her back repeatedly while Lisa rubs her back soothingly, though her gaze is targeted on the floor. Rosé would also offer some sort of assistance but her brain is so busy absorbing everything she’s noticed that she stays motionless in deep thought.

Then.

Oh shit.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

They kissed.

***

And that’s how Rosé brings herself to barge into her bandmate’s bedroom at one in the morning, ‘cause freaking finally, she’s got a good solid guess about the event that had transpired during their trip.

“I think it’s time we talked.” Rosé closes the door behind her.

Jisoo sighs in what seems like defeat as she settles comfortably on her bed, thumbs tapping furiously at the screen on her phone. Another one of her games no doubt. She lowers the device on her chest for a brief moment.

“Okay, I know it’s unsanitary but it only happened once. Fine. Maybe once a week but you know how I get when I’m really sleepy.”

“Um, what?” Rosé blinks at Jisoo, completely lost. Something tells her that they’re not on the same page.

Rosé’s confusion urges Jisoo to look up from her phone again. “Isn’t this what you’re talking about? Me using your toothbrush?” she says very casually, as if toothbrushes were designed to be shared.

“No—wait, what?! Unnie!” Rosé thumps Jisoo on the head. The younger girl grimaces at the horrifying revelation. She just brushed her teeth before she came in!

“Ow!” Jisoo waves her off dismissively. “Aish, I still wash it anyway. So what do you want to talk about then?” She places her phone on her pillow and pushes her body to straighten her back against the headboard.

“Jennie and Lisa,” Rosé supplies, settling on the edge of the bed across Jisoo.

“What about them?”

“You know…”

“I don’t…?”

“Are you saying you haven’t noticed?” Rosé asks incredulously. “Anything? At all?”

“No..?” Jisoo’s eyes wander around the room as if Rosé’s speaking a complicated alien language that she has to translate for her to comprehend.

Rosé casts her a look that basically says: what else?

Jisoo doesn’t immediately understand. A minute passes then her expression slowly progresses from confusion to acknowledgement. She backs up in her spot, eyebrows shooting up in shock. The oldest member whisper-yells, “No! What?! When? How?!”

“Oh my God! I thought you knew! I thought!” Rosé gets flustered. God she must have sounded delusional with what she was implying. She seriously assumed that Jisoo would at least have the faintest idea of this unspeakable tension that’s brewing between their bandmates but here she is, jumping to conclusions with baseless assumptions (everything is an assumption at this point). Rosé is so embarrassed that she’s planning to dig a hole and live there until, like, she dies from lack of oxygen and from being deprived of human interaction and—

“Nah, of course I know,” Jisoo’s demeanor changes instantly. She narrows her eyes and grins in satisfaction at Rosé’s panicked reaction. “How was my acting though?”

“Jesus Christ.” Rosé inhales and exhales multiple times to relax herself.

“The Lord’s name in vain, Chaeng,” Jisoo scolds her teasingly, smug-ass grin still present. She rises from the bed and switches off the lights. The only thing illuminating the room is the small light emitting from her phone that she’s brought underneath her chin, as one would when sharing spooky tales about the paranormal.

“Shall we begin?” Jisoo lowers her voice.

“We’re discussing about our friends here, not telling a goddamn ghost story.”

“Do you want them to listen to our conversation or what? If one of them sees the light under my door, they’re gonna find out we’re still awake.”

Rosé imagines Lisa bursting through unannounced halfway through their conversation demanding an explanation (in Rosé’s defense, Lisa would have to be the one doing some explanation but still, they’re talking about her and Jennie unbeknownst to them). It would be a nightmare having to be caught that way.

Or worse.

Jennie could come in.

“Fair point.”

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom and you stay here and hold on to your phone,” Jisoo instructs her, shutting off the flashlight feature on her phone then leaves in a hurry. Rosé couldn’t even get a word out. She’s sitting alone in Jisoo’s dark room so she turns on one of her table lamps because Rosé can’t risk endangering her eyesight any further by texting in utter darkness.

Her phone buzzes in a matter of seconds.

Jisoo-unnie

hello

1:30 am

You

Why do we have to text?

We could just talk when you’re done

1:31 am

Jisoo-unnie

‘cuz I’m taking a dump chaeng that’s why

1:34 am

You

ew

1:34 am

 Jisoo-unnie

Don’t ew me when you do this all the time

1:35 am

You take almost 2 hrs to “shower” don’t even deny it

1:35 am

You

Whatever

1:36 am

Jisoo-unnie

So how do we do this?

1:38 am

You

Idk. You poop while I just keep you company???

1:38 am

Jisoo-unnie

No you dingdong I meant jennie and lisa

1:40 am

You think you were the only one playing detective?

1:41 am

You

Are you saying you know more than I do?

1:42 am

Jisoo-unnie

Like those dumdums would tell me

I have a good guess about Thailand

1:43 am

You

So do I

1:43 am

I think they kissed

1:43 am

Jisoo-unnie

Hahaha lol I think someone confessed

1:45 am

How about we put those guesses to good use?

Say, loser gets bathroom duty AND will be doing the dishes for a month

1:46 am

And lets throw in 50000 won

1:48 am

Chaeng are you there

1:50 am

Chaeng?

1:53 am

Its lonely in the bathroom and I’m not done yet :(((

1:55 am

Did you fall asleep cuz I will kick your ass out of my bed for sleeping on me

1:56 am

You

Woah wtf chill out. No need to flood me with messages

1:57 am

Jisoo-unnie

Where were you? I missed you ;( :(

1:57 am

You

Made a sandwich

hehe starving

1:58 am

Anyway. I’m in. What if none of our guesses are right?

1:59 am

Jisoo-unnie

The closest one will do

1:59 am

You

How do we get some answers?

Jennie is the master of poker face and she’s not the confronting type

2:00 am

Jisoo-unnie

What? She’s the most obvious

2:00 am

You

No way.

Compared to lisa, she acts pretty normal to me

2:01 am

Jisoo-unnie

Noooo. You gotta look where her eyes are.

It shows

2:01 am

Btw how can u sit in here for so long, my butt is numb.

Still not done :(

2:02 am

You

Wait a minute.

Their Thailand trip…

you mentioned that on purpose didn’t you

2:02 am

As Rosé bites into her sandwich, her answer is revealed through Jisoo’s cackling from the bathroom.

***

Rosé considers Jisoo’s words seriously. The older girl is more competent at this, in the field of spying on other people’s lives to win future bets that she could legitimately be hired for Dispatch. She’s got this uncanny ability in reading people so accurately and she’s read Jennie, of all people.

Jennie is one of the most complex human beings Rosé has had the pleasure of meeting. Like a fortune cookie with an ancient Chinese proverb hidden inside, she’s quite hard to break, both literally and figuratively.

She and Jennie are on the floor panting, cross-legged in the practice room while Lisa finishes the routine for her upcoming dance performance. Jisoo, once again, had disappeared somewhere.

Sweat is trickling down from Rosé’s neck to her spine and she’s on the verge of stripping off her shirt nevermind the other people in the room. That’s how sweaty she is. Lisa continues to dance fluidly, moving ever so gracefully, no signs of perspiration in sight.

What’s astounding about Lisa is that she may be a clumsy little dork on the outside, but once she’s on the dance floor, it’s like the girl who tripped on her own booby trap to trick Jisoo ceased to exist (she tied a dental floss on both ends of a doorway; she almost lost her tooth).

Jennie has her phone in her hands, chatting or texting or whatever. From time to time, she does snatch a glimpse to Lisa’s way, her mouth ticking upwards. And when Lisa does this slow body roll effortlessly, she doesn’t take her eyes off of her, locked in a trance.

“Someone’s thirsty,” Rosé says nonchalantly.

“What?” Jennie snaps out of it, her eyes drilling holes onto Rosé’s.

“I said Lisa could use a drink.” Rosé tries to play it cool by acting she isn’t the least affected (or fucking terrified) by Jennie giving her that look.

“Okay..?”

“Jeez, I’m saying hand her her water bottle.”

“Why me? Why cant you do it?”

“You’re right next to it, dummy.”

So Jisoo could be right. Jennie’s eyes do say a lot. Then again, Rosé would have done the same thing if she were paying attention to Lisa as well. Her first impression of Lisa had been: damn, that girl could dance.

***

"What time is it?”

Rosé’s phone is charging on the opposite end of her room and her clock hasn’t been functioning since this morning. It’s a hassle to roll out of bed when she’s all snug and comfy under her sheets.

It’s another one of those nights that Rosé couldn’t be bothered to sleep so she’s been watching Masterchef on her MacBook, which probably wasn’t the best idea since it’s only gotten her extremely hungry from seeing those savory dishes she wished could teleport from her screen to her bed. Lisa has been chilling in her room with her, lurking around social media on her iPad (for memes purposes she says. “Gotta keep myself updated, Chaeng!”). They’ve been doing their own thing for what felt like hours and Rosé is beginning to wonder if the sun has risen outside.

“Lemme check.” Lisa walks over to where Rosé’s electric guitar is standing, she grabs it and before Rosé could reprimand her, Lisa plugs it in to its aux then strums a chord deafeningly that it reaches to the other girls’ bedrooms.

“OHMYGOD IT’S 2AM!”

“It’s 2 am,” Lisa repeats for Rosé, which was pointless really.

Jennie enters Rosé’s room with an Airpod hanging in one ear, presumably listening to an ASMR video to lull her to sleep. Her hair is in disarray and her eyebags are becoming more evident, an indication that she’s desperately been trying to steal some shut eye for a while now to no avail.

Rosé braces herself for the wrath of an annoyed and sleep-deprived Jennie, cowering in place, whereas Lisa has kept a straight face.

“I’m tired and sleepy! You have no idea what I’m capable of!”

Lisa’s straight face dissipates when she giggles. “I’m sorry, I feel like I’ve been threatened by a marshmallow.”

Rosé sends a warning look at Lisa.

Do you want us to get killed?

Rosé wants to apologize but Jennie is having none of Lisa’s antics so she saunters out of the room, closing the door with a very loud bang which ultimately means fuck you judging by her body language.

The older maknae hits Lisa using her pillow. “Dude.”

Lisa merely shurgs. “She’s just cranky.”

Rosé is rethinking the whole situation now and she’s second guessing that maybe, she and Jisoo were wrong after all. Maybe Jennie’s near-death experience with her drink was a coincidence. Maybe what happened in Thailand had nothing to do with Jennie.

Maybe it’s only Lisa.

***

The following afternoon, Rosé returns to the dorm after a quick photoshoot and she’s craving for some much needed sleep. She doesn’t even make it to her bedroom, crawling onto the couch and passing out in an instant. Her nap is disturbed when she hears Jennie’s voice.

“Hey, get up.”

“Wake me up when I’m dead.”

“You can’t wake up when you’re dead.”

Rosé lifts her arm then cracks one eye open. “Okay, good point. But I’m still not getting up.” She returns to her previous position.

“Fine. I need you to tell Lisa something.”

“You haven’t forgiven her yet?”

“It’s not that, it’s…” Jennie heaves a sigh exasperatedly. “She’s avoiding me?”

“She is?” Rosé is unaware of this, or hasn’t even witnessed Lisa distancing herself from Jennie.

“She’s been weird, okay. And, I don’t know, Rosie. I want to talk to her but I’m still really pissed off.”

So yeah, maybe it is just Lisa.

***

But life has a way of surprising you, surpassing all your expectations when you least expect it.

“I wanna tell you something,” Lisa says.

“Something happened in Thailand. With Jennie.”

Chapter Text

The atmosphere feels like it’s déjà vu and Rosé is transported to a year prior. More or less, it’s a similar scenario. She and Lisa are enjoying a night without the unnies, watching Netflix, a bowl of popcorn in the middle, and the main difference from a year ago is that the laptop is on Rosé’s lap this time and they are currently in Lisa’s room instead of Jisoo’s (she habitually locks her door now after complaining that her sheets smelled like buttery popcorn).

They were laughing beforehand, both slapping each other whenever a particularly funny scene shows up. Lisa has been immersed in a giggle, bits of popcorn darting out of her mouth, unbothered that they have scattered all over her bed. Then she backpedals a little, lips flattening into a tight line as if something bothersome is pulling at her subconscious.

“Um, Rosie?”

“Hmm?”

“I wanna talk to you.”

Rosé has never heard of her voice so gentle (a foreign concept to Lisa; her voice might as well have a built-in air horn). There’s this urgency in the manner the Thai says it, so Rosé pauses the movie, transfers the laptop from her lap and gives her undivided attention to Lisa. “What’s up?”

Lisa gulps thickly, her hands toying with the material of Rosé’s blanket. Anxiety is creeping onto her features and she lets out a long, dragging huff.

“Something happened in Thailand. With Jennie.”

Rosé’s mouth hangs open. The words echo in her head over and over again. This shouldn’t come off as astonishing to her, but she couldn’t restrain the surprised gasp that has escaped her (and it would be inappropriate to yell: “I knew it!”).

“Whaaat?”

“I’m not sure if you could tell. I have been acting really, really weird.”

“There were some signs.” Rosé confesses. “I did have a hunch.”

“How’d you know?” Lisa angles her head to one side, as if she hadn’t given them anything to doubt about.

“You told me: nothing happened in Thailand!” Rosé mocks Lisa’s sudden outburst, which causes the younger girl to blush at the memory. Rosé couldn’t ever erase that from her recollection. As embarrassing as it was, it’s embedded in her mind forever.

“Yeah it was eating me alive.”

“And what is it exactly?”

Lisa stirs to fold her legs underneath her with Rosé mimicking her movements and it’s beginning to look a lot like Lisa’s a shy middle schooler in the midst of sharing to her best friend a potentially earth-shattering secret.

“So Jennie’s mom was out with a friend and Jennie wasn’t feeling like going with them so she called me up. They had a two-bedroom suite and she said I could sleep in her room if I wanted to. Then I went to her hotel and when I got there, Jennie was drinking this expensive wine and she’s sorta tipsy but manageable. She said we each had a bottle to ourselves.” Lisa pauses for a moment to recollect her thoughts. She continues, “I can’t recall how many glasses I was in and you know I’m a weak drinker and I’m blabbering and blabbering so I…so I-I can’t say it!” Lisa shuts her eyes.

Rosé scowls. She’s been wanting, waiting for an explanation for months. Out of impatience, she throws her hands up dramatically and says, “For the love of God! If you kissed Jennie, it’s totally cool as long as you don’t make out in front of us—”

Lisa’s snaps her eyes open, growing horrified. “Oh my gosh, no! I told her I liked girls okay,” she says in a rush. “Not exclusively but yeah I said how I’m attracted to girls too and she’s asking me all these questions and I freaked and passed out—why do you look so disappointed?”

Rosé shakes off her dejected image and tries not to worry about losing 50,000 won to Jisoo. So it’s not the confession Jisoo might be searching for but it’s still a confession nonetheless. God, Rosé will have to endure being Cinderella for a month.

“Sorry, um, what made you decide to tell her?”

“The alcohol maybe? I don’t know. I’ve kept it to myself for a long time. I should have told you guys sooner but I got kinda scared. I’m sorry,” Lisa laments, looking away from Rosé.

“Don’t be.” Rosé reassures her with a sincere smile, taking Lisa’s clammy hands in hers. Lisa raises her gaze at Rosé’s comforting expression. “It’s your decision and we love you no matter what—”

“Aww, Rosie…”

“—no matter how weird you are.”

“Okay, you’ve ruined it.” Lisa pouts but the rest of her face says otherwise. A notable weight has been lifted from her shoulders, made apparent by the ear-splitting grin that is now spread to her cheeks. Rosé is glad Lisa is able to fully admit to her.

Then a surge of curiosity tugs at her.

“So who is it?”

“Who?”

“The girl you like, duh.”

“Oh. Well.” Lisa nibbles on her bottom lip before answering. “It was just a realization. I liked someone way before. You remember that ex-trainee who was a dancer too?”

Ahh, that makes sense.

There were many instances in the past during their trainee days when Lisa would overly applaud this dancer who was mediocre at best, if Rosé were to be honest. To her credit, the girl had her unique style and was pretty popular among male trainees (and female too, Rosé supposes).

“Here I thought you’d explain you were confessing to Jennie,” Rosé states truthfully. If Lisa were to like one girl, Rosé would bet another 50,000 won for that girl to be Jennie.

“Come on, Chaeng. Jennie’s my best friend,” Lisa says as-a-matter-of-factly. “I acted weird around her only because we never got to talk about it after that. We still don’t. So I didn’t bother bringing it up. It seems like she forgot about it.” She sighs gloomily. “And I don’t want to ruin anything, she’s my first friend here.”

Lisa’s face softens solemnly, staring off into the distance, probably reminiscing her first encounter with Jennie in their pubescent years before Jisoo and Rosé came into the picture. She says, “She’s like…an angel to me. Minus the wings.”

“So like a person?”

Lisa glowers sardonically. “You really do know how to make me sound lame.”

“That’s all on you, mate.” Rosé winks.

“And yet, you still love me.”

“Someone has to.”

“Hey! I’m sure someone out there does too!”

And Rosé has to agree that yeah, she’s sure someone else does too.

***

You

Unnie

The bird is in the cage

I repeat. The bird is in the cage

10:05 pm

Jisoo-unnie

wtf do you think you’re doing chaeng

we have 2 dogs n 2 cats our dorm is not a zoo

take that back

10:12 pm

You

ohmigosh it’s a code!

I meant lisa talked to me! She’ll tell you herself

10:15 pm

Jisoo-unnie

oh why didn’t you say so

10:16 pm

and your military language sucks

10:21 pm

You

it does not :(

10:30 pm

Jisoo-unnie

right and joohwang is the smartest animal on earth

10:32 pm

You

Oi!! Don’t bring my child into this!!

10:33 pm

Dalgom’s not the brightest either…

10:35 pm

Jisoo-unnie

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY

10:35 pm

***

As soon as Kuma barks at the newly arrived person, Rosé squeezes Lisa’s arm, motioning her to go ahead and have her long overdue conversation with Jennie. She assumes they’ve spent the entirety of the night talking since Lisa exits Jennie’s room the next day, Kuma on her heels. Although she’s clearly had less sleep, Lisa appears to be refreshed, even better when she had finalized her talk with Rosé.

“Jennie and I are cool.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s great! So please don’t throw another watermelon.”

Lisa also narrates her story and enlightens Jisoo before they attend to an outfit fitting that same morning. Rosé was present because for some unfathomable reason, they discussed it in her bedroom, like their own separate bedrooms aren’t just as available (“The children are taking a nap so we can’t disturb them.” Lisa said. And by children she meant Dalgom, Leo and Luca).

Jisoo undergoes the same procedure as Rosé did, wordlessly listening intently to Lisa as she retells her account of their Thailand trip.

And Jisoo’s reply isn’t what Rosé had hoped for.

“So do you think I’m hot?”

“Uh…yes?”

“But not in a way that you would date me?” Jisoo clarifies, earning a befuddled stare from Lisa.

“No.”

“Alright, I’m good.”

“You’re not my type.”

“What do you mean I’m not your type?!”

Rosé groans, shooing both of her bandmates out of her room while Jisoo argues about Lisa’s horrible taste in women.

So the case has reached to its conclusion and Rosé unwillingly spends for Jisoo’s lunches for the remainder of the week (“When did you get so generous, Chaeng?” Jennie took notice) and does the cleaning of her and Jisoo’s shared bathroom (“Whoop, you missed a spot there, Chaeyoung!”).

However, her senses are still heightened whenever she sees Jennie and Lisa caught in their own bubble. It’s turned into an impulse. But Rosé knows it’s high time for her to retire being the awesome master detective that she is and discard her invisible magnifying glass because there’s really nothing going on.

Right?

***

The upcoming promotions for Ddu-Du Ddu-Du Du has made their schedules hectic more than usual. It must be the change in their laxed routine, after spending an entire year of a slight hiatus, that they haven’t adjusted yet to the earlier wake-up calls and the multiple workloads given in a single day.

Their calendar is a nightmare to look at, various events scribbled on each day, hardly any room for vacancy (“Wow, it’s like peeing is impossible to do with all this,” Jisoo commented).

Sometimes, Rosé just wants to breathe and stop everything for a second, then she remembers the agonizing months of not doing anything remotely productive because YG kept pushing back their comeback that she reenergizes herself.

But despite Rosé’s muscles screaming in absolute pain, voice hoarse from rehearsals and having sleep close to non-existent, she still gets a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. It’s exhausting, yes. The good kind though.

And she’s confident that this year, they will surely dominate.

Blackpink is going to have one hell of a comeback.

***

When they were trainees, there were stories about male idols sneaking in their numbers inside the sandwiches, which were highly praised and in-demand at the Ingkigayo cafeteria. Rosé remembers how they fantasized and shrieked at the thought of having this modern-day Romeo and Juliet romance going on (they have to abide by the dating ban; if Rosé didn’t love performing, she could right then and there surrender herself to the convent).

It had been thrilling to daydream about, but now that it’s become a reality, it’s actually sort of…irritating? Not that she abhors any interest from the opposite sex, it’s just that she’s been waiting for these Inkigayo sandwiches since eternity or whatever and to have her meal interrupted sours her mood.

“What the…” Jennie fishes out a piece of paper that’s been wedged in between the bread and plastic wrapper.

“If you don’t want it I can eat it,” Rosé offers, consuming the remains of her sandwich. Not that she has to offer, it’s become a routine for everyone to give their leftovers to the human dump truck.

“Ooh, who gave that to you?” Jisoo asks, referring to the half-eaten sandwich and the semi-charred paper in Jennie’s fingertips.

“I was caught up with talking to Miyeon. Someone handed it to me.” Jennie searches among the crowd of artists who have gathered at the cafeteria.

Lisa approaches the three (after taking the longest piss in the world, Rosé notes), swiping the small paper out of Jennie’s hold. “What’s this?” She scans the writing keenly, then a teasing smirk forms on her lips, nudging Jennie on her ribs. “Unnie, so popular! Are you going for it?”

Jennie barely regards the scribbled phone number with interest. It’s something she’s accustomed to on several occasions. She’s entertained some in the past but she eventually leaves them hanging in the end. Relationships aren’t Jennie’s thing, Rosé can attest to this, so she crumples the paper from Lisa and dumps it in the nearest trash receptacle.

“You can have the rest of my sandwich, hubby.”

***

Lisa is requested to promote X Academy.

No shocker there.

She’s YG’s undisputed dancing machine, flawlessly snappy with undeniable charisma on the centerstage so who else would be befitting to endorse their prestigious dance academy? She choreographs her own routine for the collaboration, and she completes the choreographing, practicing, staging and recording all within twenty-four hours.

When Lisa returns home, Rosé is still awake, working on her calligraphy skills on the floor of her room. Lisa jumps on her bed and they talk for about ten minutes then Lisa stops replying altogether. Rosé peeks at her and she’s snoring against Rosé’s pillow.

“Damn, okay, nice talk.”

Rosé tucks her in with a blanket, which she snuggles into upon taking it.

The crew also films this dance bit starring YG’s famous dancers. Along Lisa, comes Winner and iKon members, Hoony and Donghyuk. They’ve had brief convos before but mostly comprising of greetings in the hallways of the YG building. A curt nod even, when their managers are there. So through X Academy, Lisa becomes more acquainted with the guys.

Still, not a shocker.

The shocker here is when Rosé begrudgingly wakes up in the middle of whatever ungodly hour it is, stomach growling for sustenance. She lugs herself to the kitchen, eyes heavy in a post-sleep haze. She absent-mindedly crashes into a furniture (almost says sorry, remembers that no, tables don’t have feelings so screw that) and hears a muffled voice causing her to stop in her tracks by the threshold.

“Haha—you saw that? What I said was nasal spray, I didn’t mean, you know… Hey, Donghyuk was right, you can be mean!”

It’s Lisa.

Rosé’s snooping days should be over but it’s so intriguing that, minute by minute, she is losing her drowsiness. Who could Lisa be on the phone with at the crack of dawn? She debates whether to make herself known, or to pretend she witnessed nothing. Her nosiness (a trait she’s acquired from Jisoo) gets the best of her as she struts into the main space of the kitchen, cornering Lisa who has her back to her.

“Anyway, we can continue later? Cool. Okay. Haha yeah, good morning. Bye, Chan.”

Chan?

As in, Chanwoo?

“Good morning to you too,” Rosé croaks groggily.

Lisa twitches in a panic, startled at the unforeseen appearance of Rosé. So startled that she nearly drops her phone, her hands struggling and fumbling until she clutches it to safety.

“I, uh, I—when did you..?” Lisa stutters, eyes blinking in rapid motion.

Rosé doesn’t beat around the bush. “So, Chanwoo, huh?” She teases.

The other girl relents, putting her guard down, shoulders flopping in defeat. She sighs, “You got me. Donghyuk gave him my number, which I permitted. He’s nice and all so why not?”

Rosé nods, understands that hey, they’re in their early twenties now and it’s not like other idols haven’t ignored the dating ban. “Just be careful, but you have to tell the unnies. No more secrets this time.”

“Aye, aye, Chaeyoung-ah!” Lisa responds in mock-salute.

Can’t believe this dork has gotten herself a boy.

***

As promised, Lisa shares to the rest of the group about her current situation with Chanwoo, gushing about the conversations they have to sneak and how mature he can be although she’s a year older than he is. Rosé could not resist but squeal at the giddiness of her best friend. Jisoo joins in on the fun too and Jennie does the same with a little too much enthusiasm, Rosé thinks. And the fact that she excuses herself to the bathroom in between Lisa’s stories makes it even more bizarre.

Has Jennie’s normal-sized bladder (she hardly has to tinkle most of the time) shrunk to a peanut?

“But he’s cute isn’t he?” Lisa asks the members for affirmation, her shy schoolgirl smile reaching her crinkling eyes.

“Totallyyy.” Jennie affirms easily then turns to Jisoo, “Scoot, I gotta go pee.”

“Again?” Jisoo inquires, somewhat annoyed that she has to get up again.

“Too much water.”

It’s odd, though it doesn’t alarm Rosé anyway so she lets it slide

***

The weeks go by and Lisa is becoming more and more open towards her bandmates, seeking for their advice occasionally. Because of former experiences, Lisa almost always runs to Jennie for her expertise and deep knowledge in the world of dating and going under the radar. The two are the closest and have known each other the longest to begin with.

Lately, however, Rosé notices some tension in the air. Like a mist, you can’t physically see it but it’s there. It differs from the tension then. It’s dark, it’s brooding and Rosé could deduce that it has something to do with the older girl this time.

“Is it only us for today?” Jennie asks.

“Yup. Unnie is at a shoot and Lisa is on a,” Rosé leans in to whisper, technically unnecessary since it’s just the two of them but does so as an added theatrical effect, “secret date.”

Jennie visibly stiffens at the last part of Rosé’s sentence. It’s quick and it lasts for about a millisecond, something you would catch if you have been observing her intently.

Rosé tilts her head quizzically. “Everything okay?”

Jennie shrugs, feigning indifference. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

***

“He says we should go to Everland soon.” Lisa shares excitedly.

“Fuuun.” Jennie picks at her nails, doesn’t bother sparing Lisa a glance.

Rosé could be dreaming but there was this underlying heat in her tone. A hint of sarcasm too. She’s not a fan of where this is going so she swerves the topic to something unrelated.

“I’m thinking Joohwang should stay here at the dorm.”

Jisoo snorts. “Sure, if you want him to be Leo’s breakfast tomorrow.”

And that was the end of that.

In the beginning, Jennie was happy to give her insights in Lisa’s varying dilemmas in dealing with her new arm candy. She had welcomed her questions without judgement and had provided her tips she deemed necessary. Then without any warning, like the unpredictable Seoul weather these days, there’s a sudden shift in Jennie’s demeanor. Her answers had become short and abrupt, in contrast to her long and detailed ones, and Rosé swears she’s seen Jennie roll her eyes at the mere mention of Chanwoo’s name.

Lisa’s not blind, but she doesn’t confront Jennie either, and chalks it up to exhaustion.

Rosé calls bullshit.

“You gonna finish that?” Rosé gestures to the pitcher containing orange juice. She’s sat across Jennie at the dining table, eating brunch.

“I’m full. You finish it,” Jennie says, setting down her chopsticks.

“Nah, I’m full too.”

“Never thought I would hear the day.”

“Shut up.”

“Any more orange juice?” Lisa walks in to the dining area, a glass in hand.

Jennie pours the rest of the contents into her own glass, emptying the pitcher. “Nope, sorry. All out.” She stands up tersely, the chair scraping against the hardwood harshly, and walks out of the room without another word.

Lisa’s confused puppy-like expression says: what did I do?

Rosé reacts with a shake of her head.

The reason for her clear-as-day­ display of passive-aggressiveness can mean one thing: Jennie is pissed and she doesn’t even look a tad bit sorry.

Rosé’s master detective senses are tingling again.

***

Jennie’s door is open.

And being the decent human being she is, Rosé goes to close it for her before heading to bed. Her hand scarcely makes contact with the doorknob when a low grumbling noise comes from the direction of Jennie’s bed. Rosé initially speculates it’s Kuma tossing and turning in his doggy dream.

“Pork skewers umnomnomnom.”

Unless Kuma’s gained a wider range of vocabulary, the voice most definitely belonged to Jennie.

Everyone knows that Jennie sometimes sleep-talks. They have mentioned it previously on numerous occasions in interviews and it’s downright hilarious, especially to Rosé who takes the time to conversate when given the chance since Jennie half-consciously formulates a response. So Rosé hangs back for a few minutes, making out the dark silhouetted lumpy figure underneath the duvet to be Jennie’s sleeping form.

“Mmm, get me some nomnomnom…”

Rosé bites the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from giggling. “Some what?”

“I’ll punch you in the fucking face.”

That escalated quickly. Rosé coos amidst Jennie’s so-called threat. “Aww, how sweet of you, unnie.”

“I said go away Cha...”

Go away, Chaeng?

Is Jennie actually conscious?

“You want me to leave?”

“No…I said Chan.”

Chanwoo?

Does that mean Jennie doesn’t approve of Chan? Rosé hasn’t expected her to feel this way about him. Maybe it was her overprotectiveness of Lisa that she found Chanwoo to be unable to meet her standards for the maknae. That could be it.

Then again, Jennie could just be rambling nonsense.

“I like milk.”

Rosé snorts. She is definitely convinced for it to be nonsense.

“That you do.”

“I like Chanel.”

“We know, unnie.”

“I also like…like…”

“Liiike?” Rosé urges on.

“Like…”

Jennie’s voice cracks, like she’s about to cry in her sleep. There’s something about it that conveys a raw honesty and also a tiny hint of fear.

Now, Rosé is aware she shouldn’t take advantage of this. It could be something Jennie has to discuss with them in her own time, as in when she is fully awake and not buried deep in her duvet. Rosé cautiously moves to shut the door, ensuring it doesn’t make that creaking sound their doors do.

And just seconds until the door clicks shut, Rosé hears a very faint but very audible:

“Lisa…”

Chapter Text

“This quality time is boring.”

“This isn’t a quality time, I came here to buy ramyeon.”

“Then why the hell did you invite me?”

“I specifically told you not to come because I’ll only be buying ramyeon but you said: “you’re not the boss of me, Chaeng, I can do whatever I want!” then followed me here.”

Rosé says pointedly through her mask (they’ve creeped out the dorm by themselves) and scavenges for the aisle bearing the easy-to-cook meals. All she wanted was some peace and quiet alone, which proved to be challenging to achieve when Jisoo is around. She needed time to herself to reflect on the tidbit she’s witnessed from her sleep-talking bandmate the other night.

So the stars have aligned, Rosé has put two and two together and the case has opened once again, but confronting Jennie upright would be sending herself unarmed into a battle with a pack of rabid wolves.

Because, here’s the deal about Jennie.

She’s a good person, albeit her seemingly bitchy personality. It’s rather the other way around actually. She’s the softest and the warmest person Rosé has known and has a heart so big it couldn’t possibly be contained in her small cutesy frame. But like everyone else, Jennie isn’t perfect.

She has her flaws too.

And to name one is:

Her inability to express her feelings.

It’s something, Rosé observes, she’s hardwired herself to do, dodging inquiries instead of disclosing the reasons for her unexplained actions. She’s constructed a wall as a barrier around her vulnerabilities from others. That’s the thing with Jennie, she bottles up so much emotions that it only ends up overflowing, the bottle refusing to be screwed shut.

So her feelings become all over the place, spilling onto the floor, exposed, for everyone to spectate.

And Rosé doesn’t think Jennie could mop up the mess of emotions she’s been desperately concealing.

***

Jennie goes out.

A lot.

As in a non-work-related type of going out.

Sure she’s preoccupied with the preparations for her solo debut, shooting this and that, but Rosé’s called this one time out of concern (okay, so maybe she called because she desperately craved for a homecooked meal, something Jennie is exceptionally good at, and the only other person there was Lisa and like, Rosé wants to live, not have food poisoning) since Jennie was running late and when it went straight to voicemail, Rosé rang a back-up dancer and she was informed that their practice wrapped up hours ago.

Maybe she needed an outlet to blow off some steam.

Maybe she went on a drinking spree.

Maybe she was busy playing darts with Chanwoo’s head as the target.

Who knows.

“Chaeyoung-ah! Quit biting your nails like you aren’t fed enough,” Jisoo admonishes.

Rosé grimaces at her chipped fingernails. She unknowingly does it when she’s overthinking.

***

Emotionally speaking, Jennie and Lisa are polar opposites.

For Rosé, decoding Jennie’s emotions is an intricate task and is arguably comparable to a Rubik’s Cube; complex, brain-twisting and time consuming. It won’t be long until Rosé solves the “unsolvable” now that she has a clue as to why every entrance Jennie makes is like there’s a stormy cloud raining on her and the Imperial March is playing in the background (Jisoo says it could be her time of the month. Rosé holds back in telling her about the sleep talking incident). Still, she’s been a tough cookie to crack.

Meanwhile, Lisa has a bubbly personality with a sunny disposition. If she’s happy, she is happy. If she’s sad, she is sad. If she’s angry, she is angry (which is a rarity). There’s no decoding, no Rubik’s Cube solving, no cookie cracking, no bullshit. A total open book, unlike her counterpart in this department.

So yeah, there’s a stark difference between Jennie and Lisa, further provided by how they’re skipping pebbles on the lake nearby the location of their agenda for today.

“Ah, what a beautiful day.” Lisa throws her pebble.

Jennie follows suit. “Take that you fucking lake.”

A very stark contrast.

***

Car rides make Jisoo restless.

So restless that Rosé gains a headache just by sitting behind her.

Jisoo fusses in her seat of the van, does whatever she can to alleviate her restiveness. After fifteen minutes or so of stretching her arms, moving her legs, singing to random tunes and poking Jennie’s irresistible cheeks (they’re like, stress balls to her she’d said), Jisoo proposed for them to play a game. It’s a long and boring car ride from the countryside back to Seoul resulting to everyone participating.

They go through a series of suggestions ranging from spin the bottle (Jisoo’s idea) to truth or dare (Lisa’s idea: “First dare has to be: jump out of the car!”), ultimately choosing the most cliché (and safest) car-ride game ever that doesn’t induce nausea or involves one of them getting seriously injured or killed (“Really, Lisa, what were you thinking?”).

“I spy something green,” Rosé says.

“Grass?” Jisoo attempts to guess.

“Nope,” Rosé says, her focus trained on Jennie who is situated diagonally across her and is in front of Lisa. She hasn’t partaken in the game ever since Lisa dropped out from it. The younger girl hasn’t abandoned her phone upon receiving a text from Chanwoo.

“A bush?”

“Nope.”

Jennie wears a neutral expression, per usual, her elbow is propped against the car door and her chin is resting on her palm. She gapes out through the window, fairly pleased (or distracted?) at the passing scenery. When Lisa’s giggling filters within the van (Chanwoo must be that funny to keep her laughing), Jennie proceeds to cross her arms over her chest, clenches her jaw and digs her teeth deep into her bottom lip.

“A tree?”

“Nope.”

“Jennie.”

Jennie whirls to Jisoo, face red and her temper rising. “What the hell, I’m not fucking green!”

“No—"

“Do I look like Shrek to you?”

“—your lip is bleeding.” Jisoo narrows her eyes at Jennie’s sudden defensiveness.

Jennie’s face falls. Her tongue darts out, moistening her dry, cracked lips. As Jisoo said, there’s blood on a portion of her lower lip. She quietly mumbles an apology then rummages around her stuff in her bag for her Vaseline.

“What’s that flower again that sounds like dancing lion?” Lisa asks, too bemused in her texting, clueless of Jennie’s incessant lip biting.

“Dandelion?” Rosé delivers.

“That! He’s so funny.” Lisa chuckles dreamily and Rosé detects how Jennie does a sharp intake of her breath, clenching the small tub of Vaseline in her fist.

***

Alarm clocks aren’t Rosé’s thing. She doesn’t oversleep as much as the other members, all thanks to her personal wake-up call in the form of a distressed whale mating call coming from her own famished belly. The sensation in her stomach immediately sends her to roll out of bed in the search for breakfast.

“Where’s Jisoo-unnie?” Rosé notices there’s an absence of food on the table and in the fridge.

“Took Dalgom for a walk.” Lisa pipes from her position on the living room couch.

“Jennie-unnie?”

“Went home to Gangnam.”

“And there’s no food?”

“Hmm,” Lisa springs from the couch then heads to the kitchen where Rosé is at. She surveys the cupboards and says, “Nada.”

“Goddamn, we’ll just starve then.”

“Hey, I can make us breakfast.”

Both stare at each other in prolonged silence for a few seconds, and telepathically, they laugh together because the day where they cook up a decent breakfast which doesn’t involve burnt toast and overcooked noodles will be the day the world ends.

“Yeah, we’ll just starve then,” Lisa says.

Rosé scrunches up her nose. “Me and starve are incompatible so I’m gonna head out.”

“I’m coming!”

They rush to change from their pajamas into more presentable outfits and leave their dorm. The two dine at this restaurant, settling themselves in the farthest corner of the room for privacy. While Lisa goes over her choices, a notification on Rosé’s phone pops up.

Jennie-unnie

Hubby wru

Dad is out and mom has a meeting

Don’t wanna be stuck here

9:35 am

You

At this resto, I’ll send u the address

9:49 am

“Who was it?” Lisa asks after the waiter finishes jotting down their orders.

“Jennie-unnie.”

“Nice timing! Chan is a block away so I told him to come, and he says our meal is on him!”

Oh no.

What Rosé ends up saying is: “Yay, free food.”

When Jennie arrives, she scans the restaurant cautiously, not drawing attention to herself. She’s donned a pair of Chanel shades and an Adidas cap as her disguise. Rosé flails her arms, grabbing her attention and Jennie waltzes towards the trio. At the sight of Chanwoo, who is enthralled in an animated conversation side by side with Lisa, Jennie’s steps come to a halt. Rosé could decipher through her hesitance that she’s pondering to flee the scene before the couple sees her.

Rosé swiftly pulls her down onto the vacant seat next to her.

“Unnie!” Lisa beams at Jennie and Chanwoo extends a megawatt smile at her too.

“Order anything you want.” Chanwoo gestures at the menu before Jennie. “It’s my treat.”

“Cool. Thanks,” Jennie says timidly.

Their lunch goes without a hitch, Jennie even politely engaging in their chit chat once in a while (forcefully, Rosé thinks). Chanwoo also does gentlemanly things, like serving Lisa a portion of each dish and handing her refills of her drink. Jennie also does some things, like diverting herself to Rosé at Lisa’s newly found habit of leaning on Chanwoo, and jabbing her fork at her Terriyaki chicken aggressively (“Woah, unnie, that’s dead, no need for the stabbing,” Rosé tells her).

“How about some dessert?” Rosé suggests to Jennie, dabbing her napkin around her mouth and chin.

“No, I’m good.”

“Not even up for a jelly?”

Jennie cocks an eyebrow at Rosé skeptically. “What?”

“They have this jelly dessert on the menu.”

“No,” Jennie answers with a finality in her tone.

Chanwoo charmingly tells them of his fondness with magic, and Rosé can really understand why her best friend has become so smitten. Lisa claps at the idea of a magic trick, which he demonstrates through a simple card trick. He proudly states he can make things disappear as well.

“How about making yourself disappear.”

Jennie murmurs to herself but Rosé is able to discern it.

***

Rosé is at a record store, browsing the collection of vinyls laid out on a shelf when her phone pings. She swipes it open, only to be met with a spam message, also sees that she has several unread messages from her bandmates, mom and sister.

Unknown Number

Good Day! Would you like to avail for a loan? Register now at…

Jisoo-unnie

What song were you playing that went tananan nananana?

Lalisa

yoyoyo u should put a lock on your toothbrush jussayin

Mom

why does joohwang look dead

Jennie-unnie

chahee…this is killing me

Alice

if I have an avocado themed party u still have to come

A text intended for Chahee?

Rosé hovers over to Jennie’s message.

You

???

4:15 pm

Jennie-unnie

oh my bad

4:21 pm

You

Okay. Whats killing u tho?

4:24 pm

Jennie-unnie

just rehearsals. i’ll live :)

4:28 pm

btw dont u own a purple toothbrush

think unnie used it

4:30 pm

Damnit, Jisoo-unnie!

Then Rosé remembers.

Jennie doesn’t have rehearsals today.

***

Rosé goes home for the weekend.

Joohwang is in fact, and thankfully, not dead.

The Park household is doing their usual routine during Rosé’s visits. She gets to kick back and relax, as her parents set the table and her older sister prepares for dinner. Her dad goes to the living room afterwards to watch the evening news, with her mother beside him but tinkering on her phone.

Rosé climbs up the kitchen island, swings her lengthy legs back and forth, and oversees Alice slicing avocados on the chopping board. “No avocados for me please!” She reminds her sister, who somehow forgets every single time that there’s a family member with an enormous dislike for the fruit.

“Oh, right,” Alice says like it’s the first time she’s hearing this.

“You’ve known me for twenty-one years.”

“Hard to grasp your disappointing taste buds.”

Rosé sticks her tongue out to reiterate. “Then gwasp it!”

Alice quickly places a small sliced piece of avocado onto Rosé’s exposed tongue and she spits it out the moment she recognizes the taste and the texture. Rosé and Alice cause a ruckus in the kitchen, prompting their mother to intervene.

“Girls!” Their mother darts a dirty look at the both of them, hands on her hips like she’s scolding a bunch of preschoolers instead of twenty-something fully grown adults.

“She started it!” Rosé cries, still gagging at the slimy taste of the avocado.

“Alice, no more wasting food.”

“And don’t you dare put any in my plate.” Rosé threatens.

Alice replies, “Avocadon’t tell me what to do.”

Sometimes Rosé wonders why she goes home.

***

Jisoo-unnie

chipmunk

11:53 pm

You

Ya

11:54 pm

Jisoo-unnie

Jennie snuck out

11:54 pm

You

Really?

11:55 pm

Jisoo-unnie

Yes. Don’t know where to but I heard the main door

11:57 pm

thought it was lisa but i hear this hybrid screeching wailing

so nope shes home

11:58 pm

So it must have been jennie

unless leo’s learned to open doors now

11:59 pm

You

Check her room

12:01 am

Jisoo-unnie

She’s gone

12:06 am

You

Where could she be?

12:08 am

***

There’s an appropriate timing for everything.

And if Jennie’s grumbling and leaving the dorm for God knows what aren’t indications for the appropriate timing, then Rosé isn’t sure what is.

Jennie hasn’t consciously vocalized anything else (sleep talking doesn’t exactly count as legitimate evidence) but her actions spoke volumes. And if it were tuned up to the highest setting, Rosé would severely damage her eardrums and be deaf by now.

She’s been approaching the situation as if she were a spectator at the zoo, eyeing the lion enclosure at a safe distance. That’s how it’s always been when dealing with Jennie. However, she now wants to get this whole ordeal over with before Jennie resolves to doing something she might just regret in the future.

So Rosé’s hatched a plan to confront her in private.

Lisa is off…somewhere (girl can’t stay still for more than a second) taking photographs of whatever her lenses could land on, usually the most ordinary subjects like a dimly lit hallway or an empty soda can on the floor. Rosé, Jisoo and Jennie have stayed behind, lounging in the dressing room, munching on some snacks.

“I hate how some people can be annoying,” Jisoo says, “Makes me want to block them in real life.”

“That’s called a restraining order,” Rosé corrects her.

“Or murder.” Jennie says coolly.

Rosé and Jisoo trade mortified looks.

How the hell do you talk to Jennie about feelings?

The answer is: you wing it, pray to God Jennie doesn’t explode on you, simply hope for the best and survive it.

“Can I talk to you?” Rosé corners Jennie in the restroom.

“Yeah, shoot.” Jennie wipes her hands on the sides of her jeans after putting them under the dryer.

“Sometimes, in life, you feel things. And sometimes, you feel like you shouldn’t be feeling those things. Ya feel me?” Goddamnit, Rosé should have rehearsed this. To be fair, she has never considered making it this far either, expecting Jennie to bring her walls up and make up an excuse.

”I’m feeling very confused right now.”

“God, how do I say this.” Rosé scratches the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Just spit it out,” Jennie demands, tapping her foot impatiently so Rosé goes ahead with it.

“Do you like Lisa?”

The tapping stops.

“What?”

“Like, having feelings kind of like? Like like? ‘Cause if you do, it really isn’t a problem.”

Jennie scoffs offensively, couldn’t quite believe Rosé’s questioned such a thing. Her mood dwindles further and Rosé feels like she’s detonating a ticking time bomb, only five seconds left until it blasts her to pieces.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“Uh, it’s—it’s not.” Rosé squirms underneath Jennie’s icy glare.

“What are you trying to say here?”

“It’s just that, that you’ve been on edge about Chan—”

“Rosie, stop.”

“—and I couldn’t think of any other reason—

“Rosie.”

“So I thought, maybe, maybe you like Li—”

“I’m seeing Kai!”

“Your dog..?” Rosé asks innocently. What does her dog have to do with this?

“No!” Jennie raises her voice, vexed. The sound rings piercingly throughout the room. She breathes in for a second, then winds down, her posture relaxing. “I’m seeing Kai from EXO.”

***

Jennie informs Lisa and Jisoo shortly, the oldest member not batting an eye at the news (because who doesn’t want to date Jennie?), but still congratulates her and reminds her to be vigilant whenever they’re in public.

Lisa engulfs Jennie in a bearhug.

“That makes two of us, unnie!”

Lisa sounds happier about it than Jennie does.

***

“Did you enjoy it? Did anyone see you? You guys were careful right?” Jisoo bombards Lisa with questions after her first official date. The Thai doesn’t even get the chance to remove her shoes.

“Slow down, am I in an interview or something?”

“Spill!”

“Okay, gosh, so…”

Rosé leaves briefly to retrieve some snacks from the kitchen as Lisa summarizes her night in the living room loud enough for Rosé to take part in the conversation. Her story is filled with girlish giggling and squealing, and Rosé glances at Jennie’s room where she says she’ll be in meditating by herself, wondering if she’s listening in. When Rosé returns, a bag of chips and salsa in her arms, Lisa wraps up her story, a dopey smile stretched on her lips before revealing the juiciest detail of all.

“He kissed me!”

“Oh my gosh!” Rosé covers her mouth.

“With tongue?” Jisoo prods.

“Fuck!”

The three girls snap their heads to Jennie’s bedroom. Rosé could sense Lisa’s eagerness from the worrying knit of her eyebrows to check on their unnie but Rosé beats her to it and signals Jisoo telepathically: keep her here.

“I got this.” Rosé stands from the floor and walks over to Jennie’s room. “Wifey?” She calls out as she enters.

She discovers Jennie hopping on one foot towards her bed, pawing the other one in her hand. There are blocks of Legos loitering all over her floor and in the middle is a semi-completed Lego structure of the Eiffel Tower.

“Stepped on a Lego.” Jennie explains, her facial features twisting in pain. “It hurts.”

“Let’s have a look.”

Rosé crouches down and examines the bottom of Jennie’s bruised foot and sure enough, there are three tiny circular marks dented below her toes. Jennie whimpers at the touch. As Rosé massages it to soothe the pain, Jennie sniffs like she’s blocking out an uncontrollable cold. The second time she does it, Rosé gazes upwards at her and she finds tears flowing out of the corners of Jennie’s eyes.

“Sorry.” Jennie laughs humorlessly. “Just hurts.”

She uses the sleeves of her sweater to violently swipe the tears away as though she’s punching them permanently out of her swelling eyes. Her resistance becomes futile when the tears only increase in numbers, sliding down her puffy cheeks. Frustration builds up in Jennie’s reddening face and before she could do any more damage, with the material of her sweater constantly brushing against her skin, Rosé perches herself next to Jennie and encircles her arms around her.

“It fucking hurts…” Jennie breathes shakily, mouth trembling and collapsing into Rosé’s embrace.

“I know…” Rosé locks her into a tighter hold.

Jennie releases what must have been weeks of pent up emotions in every soft cry she is letting out. Rosé has never seen her so utterly broken and being there with her at the moment just kills her, and she’s kind of on the verge of crying too.

“There’s something you should know.” Jennie rasps.

“What’s that?”

“Lisa and I kissed in Thailand.”

Chapter Text

“I’m getting my money back…”

It’s the first thing that Rosé sputters out of her mouth.

Unintentionally, of course.

But her eyes are practically bulging out of their sockets and her nostrils are flaring at the jaw-dropping revelation, and again, holy shit she’s going to have Jisoo be on bathroom duty for two months (doubling it because Rosé had scrubbed the hell out of that bathroom for a month when the clear winner here is her and she freakin’ fucking knew it!), and most importantly, she’s getting back her 50,000 won—

No, no.

Focus here, Rosé.

Focus.

“What?” Jennie looks up to her, eyes bloodshot red. She wipes her sticky cheeks, gently this time, from the dried up tears with her soaked sleeve. Rosé unlocks her arms as Jennie breaks from the embrace, her hands gripping the edge of her mattress.

Rosé shakes her head. “I’m sorry, go on.”

Jennie brushes her hair with her hand, parting it to the other side, exemplifying a beautiful hot mess and Rosé curses at how life can be so unfair when a person can manage to be so naturally gorgeous even after bawling their eyes out. If it were her, she would have snot dripping from her nose, face and eyelids bloating from the hoarse ugly crying that she would wound up resembling a humanized Joohwang.

Not the most attractive sight.

“Um,” Jennie starts, exhaling loudly, sitting upright and face-to-face with Rosé. “So she’s told you about how she came to my hotel in Thailand right?”

Rosé nods. “Uhuh.”

“Well, she got drunk on wine pretty fast and it was barely half a bottle—”

“Weak ass.”

“—then she begins saying these things and confessed she had a thing for this trainee before, can’t remember the name but she was an okay dancer but Lisa would go nuts whenever she danced. Anyway, I tell her that it’s fine, I’m cool with it, and she hugs me and thanks me for countless of times. I don’t know how we got to, uh, this point. I was tipsy, though I was still conscious. We were both laughing at something stupid she said, like she couldn’t pronounce this English word, until we locked eyes and…and, yeah.”

Jennie brings her legs up to the bed, drawing her knees close to her chest. It’s a tactical move, Rosé realizes, as Jennie hides her beet-red face, head bent with her hair cascading the sides of her profile preventing Rosé from getting a glimpse.

“God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this, b-but I…but I liked it! There! I said it! and—” Jennie peeks from the strands of her hair. “Rosie! Stop looking at me like that!” She wails and gesticulates wildly at Rosé’s mischievous grin.

“Like what?” Rosé switches up a faux expression.

“Like…like…” Jennie snaps her fingers repeatedly to no avail. “Ugh!”

It’s refreshing to have Jennie panicked and jittery. Under usual circumstances, Jennie is poised and self-confident, although her nerves can affect her sometimes, she still emanates a strong presence. Intimidating even. So the wary and anxious girl next to Rosé is almost a stranger to her.

“Fine, I’m stopping. Sooo?”

“Sooo.” Jennie sniffs, wincing at her clogged nose. “She passed out quickly after and didn’t seem to remember anything the next day. I was thankful, I guess, because I wanted to forget about it.”

“Why?”

“Because best friends don’t kiss each other, Chaeng. And yet, I could not for the life of me stop thinking about—ugh. I thought I could really leave it all behind. Then Blackpink House happened. We were in one room! Then the Dua concert, which I begged Chahee to come. Everything is so complicated. This is why I didn’t plan on telling her about that kiss, because I get so agitated about it.”

Rosé can undesrtand why. Jennie is a rational person and would never act upon impulse. Rather, she’s the type to analyze anything to the smallest of details, weighing in the pros and cons. This must be the reason she has kept this incident to herself, thinking that mentioning this would do more harm than good. In the end, her bottling up only caused her a lot of trouble within herself.

“What’s even more fucked up is that I realized what I was “feeling” when she dropped that freaking bombshell. Do you know how many times I had to pretend to pee because I didn’t get why I was so mad?”

“I remember.” Rosé recalls at the memory. She says, “But he’s a decent guy.”

“Oh, please.” Jennie gives her an eyeroll. “She can do so much better.”

Like you?

Rosé smirks teasingly. “Man, you’re a whole other level when jealous.”

“Oh God, shut up.”

The waterworks have ceased and Jennie has recovered from all the whimpering now, pursing her lips in a shy pout. Rosé is relieved at the outcome of their talk. She has every right to be proud of herself at how she has handled Jennie’s situation. In the distant future, she could imagine herself earning some extra cash from writing a book or a detailed step-by-step manual on how to handle a jealous Jennie with care.

It would be a hit.

“You are shit at it though. And you were kinda an asshole,” Rosé says honestly, as much as Jennie’s actions were understandable, Rosé would never condone such behavior from her. Being plain ass rude is inexcusable.

Jennie snorts. “Just kinda?”

“Would you ever confess to her?” Rosé curiously blurts without having to properly assess the question.

Jennie is pensive, her eyes downcast. “There’s too much at stake.” Her gaze stray from Rosé.

It was a simple yes or no question, and the fact that she hasn’t answered either of the given options tells Rosé she had considered it at some point. She doesn’t want to impose more on the touchy subject since Jennie could retreat to the safety of her shell which had taken her several months to come out of.

“Management would be crazy to fire you guys.” Rosé tries to guarantee her. “Besides, Jisoo-unnie and I will help you cover it up anyway. It’s no biggie.”

“You’re waaay too optimistic, you know that?” Jennie forms an endearing smile.

“Speaking of Jisoo-unnie, you gonna tell her too?”

“Soon. Not like right away, but soon. Just, telling one person feels overwhelming already.”

“Okay, no pressure. But, what if Lisa could feel the same way? Let’s say they do break-up.”

Jennie doesn’t answer, like she’s afraid of what that possibility could entail.

“Jongin is an amazing guy. I want to give him a fair shot.”

“So he’s not Kai to you anymore?”

Jennie’s features warp into discomfort. “My own dog pops up into my head. That aside, he’s actually fun to talk to. And the Lisa thing is unprofessional, and I am not risking our friendship over that so I’m going to get rid of my feelings once and for all,” Jennie says resolutely, though Rosé is only partially convinced.

But she’s a good friend and wants Jennie to sort her emotions by herself, so she says:

“If that’s what you want, then okay.”

***

Soon, Rosé learns, meant being coerced ten hours later by Jisoo after Rosé and Jennie had taken suspiciously long in Jennie’s bedroom that night. Jennie didn’t even have to tell Rosé about it. She just came home one afternoon to Jisoo dancing and blasting one of Katy Perry’s famous singles.

“I kissed a girl and I liked it!”

“Unnie!” Jennie shrinks on the living room couch, covering her ears in mortification.

“You finally told her, huh.” Rosé sends Jennie a pitiful look.

Jisoo prances around them, speakers in her possession as she angles it to Jennie. “It’s what you get for playing tonsil hockey behind our backs!”

“Unnie!”

“Aww, come on, Jendeukie.” Jisoo places the speakers onto the coffee table, pulls Jennie up to her feet and loops an arm around Jennie’s sagging shoulders. “It’s no big deal, Lisa is a snack! You even got to,” she inches herself closer to Jennie’s ear. “Taste her cherry chapstick.”

Jennie pushes Jisoo’s laughing face away from hers, looking at Rosé helplessly. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”

Rosé gives her a consoling pat on the head. “Sorry, mate.”

Jisoo’s merciless taunting dies once they acknowledge their hunger. Lisa is spending the night at her parents’ condo since her mom is in town so it will only be the three of them for dinner. Jennie offers them a meal by cooking some kimchi fried rice (her peace offering to Jisoo) while Jisoo orders some Italian take-out using Jennie’s phone (her peace offering to Jennie, after she accidentally dropped her phone whilst playing and fake-grinding to Lisa’s favorite Kehlani song; “Karma’s a bitch, huh, unnie?”).

Jennie finishes up cooking before the take-out is delivered and they eat straight from the pan to save up on the dishwashing. Then, Jennie’s iPhone vibrates on the dining table, indicating their order has arrived and is at the front desk ready to be picked up.

“Hey, Chaeng, give me your share of the bill,” Jennie says, rising from her seat.

“Unnie’s taking care of it.”

Jisoo reluctantly hands over cash to Jennie, who receives it with much skepticism. “Am I missing something?”

“Unnie made this be—”

“Say ah, garbage Chaeng!”

Jisoo slams her foot hard onto Rosé’s, causing her to open her mouth wide like a trashcan, in which Jisoo takes the opportunity to feed her a spoonful of kimchi fried rice. Jennie regards their interaction shadily, her brows furrowing at the two of them but she doesn’t probe any further and heads out to get their pizza.

When the main door clicks at Jennie’s exit, Jisoo warns Rosé. “If you tell her about our bet, we’re both dead.”

Okay.

She makes a compelling argument.

***

You

hey i’m out with ally

want anything?

1:13 pm

Jisoo-unnie

yah chaeyoung wtf

did you use the bathroom before you left

1:20 pm

I CANT BREATHE

1:22 pm

You

I AM allowed to use it so yes I did

that Mexican food just didn’t sit well with me

1:24 pm

Jisoo-unnie

i know you did this on purpose

as payback

for all the times you’ve cleaned up after me

1:32 pm

You

as good as that sounds

I wouldn’t purposely put my ass on the line for that

1:40 pm

my butt is on fire

I feel like a freaking charmander right now

you have no idea

1:42 pm

Jisoo-unnie

uh okay gross

but

why are the shampoo bottles on the floor?

1:45 pm

You

ran like crazy

Almost didn’t make it

1:49 pm

Jisoo-unnie

Jesus Christ chaeng

1:50 pm

You

Lord’s name in vain unnie!

Make sure its all sparkly when I get back

mwah love u

1:56 pm

Jisoo-unnie

I hate you

1:58 pm

***

“What if instead of Blackpink, we were YG as in Yellowgreen?”

Rosé literally just woke up and that’s the first thing she’s greeted with today. She grunts, cheeks still pressed onto her pillow. She cracks her eyes open at the tall figure across her. “Please don’t tell me you came in here just to tell me that.”

Lisa’s face turns somber, though her smile is present. She stalls for a moment, padding to the vanity, her pointing finger trailing over Rosé’s belongings on her dresser, picking up a hairbrush. It’s as if she’s mulling over what she’s about to say, distracting herself with the little things she could set her hands on. Her back is turned and she says, “Chan and I called it quits.”

The covers fly off Rosé’s body. “You did not!”

Lisa scuttles out of the room before Rosé could grill her on the details. She sits perfectly still on her bed, her mouth hanging in an O-shape. She bats her eyes once, then twice, then reaches for her phone to demand to be enlightened.

You

HEY

8:12 am

Lalisa

Omw for a shoot

8:14 am

oops uh

I

caaa ant

rea ch

yoo u

bad se er vice

8:16 am

You

LISA U NUTCRACK WE ARE TXTING

YOU CANT RUN AWAY FROM ME

8:19 am

Lisa does explain to them sometime later, gathering them in her room so as not to repeat the same story. She also admits to Rosé that she bolted out her room like that because she didn’t realize the severity of it until it slipped out of her mouth. She needed some headspace, to clear her mind out of certain things. Things she hasn’t bothered to disclose, much to Rosé’s disappointment but she wouldn’t want to infringe on personal matters.

“He’s really great and all but, there was just something missing and I can’t string him along like that.”

Her explanation resounds in Rosé’s mind, like a broken record stuck on rewind. She was supposed to have a quick nap, unfortunately, she’s been pondering if the “something missing” from what Lisa said could actually mean someone missing. It’s thought-provoking, for Rosé, because the two had gotten along very well and were so into each other that they’ve developed this sort of attachment with one another.

Jennie’s features didn’t betray any hint of relief, only listening and nodding to Lisa’s story so maybe she was dead serious about extinguishing the feelings she’s had for the younger girl.

Rosé’s brain is in a whirlwind of thoughts and questions as she absently stares at the ceiling, her drowsiness forgotten.

She hears a meowing noise, bringing her back to the present and bringing her to get up from her bed. She hears it again, however, she resists meowing in response. She makes sure to track it down unlike the last time, when Rosé thought she had been meowing to Leo but it only so happened to be her and Lisa meowing back and forth from different parts of the dorm.

Her ears trace the source of the noise and is led to Lisa’s bedroom, her door ajar (Rosé has the dorm to herself today though anyone could be back at any time). A tabby cat is languidly flipped on his back on the floor, paws waving around the air, meowing for attention.

“So Leo, any news on your human? Hmm?” Rosé lays near him, scratching his belly.

Leo meows at her.

“Eh, you know nothing you fat ass cat.”

Leo hisses at her, bearing its pearly white fangs then scampers out of Lisa’s room.

“No, I’m kidding come back and love me!”

***

Jennie’s solo endeavors have commenced and the feed back she has been getting is incredible. Her whole year’s worth of hard work is finally paying off as Solo tops the charts as fast as it’s released. And being the ever so supportive members that they are, Rosé and the girls awake before dawn to make a pitstop before Jennie is scheduled to perform on the Ingkigayo stage.

The camera men and the other staff have gone out the hallway, earning the girls a brief moment of privacy.

“Damn, girl.” Rosé whistles at Jennie’s outfit.

Lisa also hollers, “Unnie, you’re looking so hot!”

“Yeah, so hot.” Jisoo repeats Lisa’s compliment with a suggestive emphasis.

Jennie darts Jisoo a withering look, but it falters upon Lisa’s next words.

“And he’s here isn’t he?”

EXO is doing their own promotions as well, making it entirely possible for Jennie and Kai to cross paths backstage. But it seems like Jennie has forgotten about this tidbit, forgetting that she is dating someone a few rooms away. Her lips twitch slightly but she pulls them together into a smile.

“Yeah, he is.”

Despite her saying she’s giving it a try, Rosé could read through Jennie’s forced reactions.

***

Rosé eats in the dark.

She’s imagining to be Batman watching over Gotham City but in reality, she’s just watching over their unlit kitchen.

Her mouth ceases in midchew when there’s the distinctive noise of a bedroom door opening. Rosé peers from the kitchen threshold and spies Lisa, hair unkept and pajama ruffled, walking over to Jennie’s door. She has a knack for breaking into other members’ rooms (Rosé almost punched the daylights out of her after waking up to her face too close to her one morning) and Rosé thinks that Lisa cuddling Jennie wouldn’t be helping Jennie’s case but the door swings open, like Jennie has anticipated this at the very minute.

None of the lights have been flipped on, blanketing the dorm in total darkness, save for the gleaming moonlight that has penetrated through the living room window. So Rosé inspects her bandmate’s late night visit closely, sleepy eyes adjusting to the minimal light and her body teetering sideways from the kitchen and into the short hallway that leads to Lisa’s and Jennie’s respective bedrooms.

Jennie is stepping halfway out of the doorway from Rosé’s perspective and what she could distinguish from their hushed voices is a blend of Korean and Thai.

Great.

It’s a blow to Rosé since she already has trouble speaking and understanding Korean often times, but here they are conversing in another language Rosé has yet to master. It’s like they’re doing it on purpose, a secret conversation for their secret rendezvous at three in the morning, especially considering Jisoo’s Thai is limited to mai mee tang ka.

They’re talking and laughing quietly, simultaneously shifting between the two. Rosé is desperate to have anyone interpret what they’re saying and real life subtitles could come in handy. She’s aware that early morning conversations are meant for the times when shit is about to get deep. When a person gets uncharacteristically candid, pours their heart out about life in general, hopes and dreams, and what the future could have in store. It’s the best kind of conversation, but as Rosé has experienced firsthand, it’s not the kind Lisa makes in the wee hours of the morning.

Not to her at least.

She makes random, shallow, small talks. Heck, it doesn’t even reach the surface, barely scraping the ground (“When I become a ghost I’m gonna sing ‘Blackpink in your aree-yaa!’ down the halls of YG.”). The kind that could’ve waited hours later.

Jennie is entertaining Lisa, unperturbed at the lateness of the time, so maybe there’s more content to their conversation than Rosé believes there is.

Or maybe there’s no content at all.

Damn it, she should taken Lisa seriously during their Thai lessons.

***

Lisa is dozing off peacefully on the couch with Leo and Luca snuggling above her head like two birds contentedly on top of a nest. Rosé hovers over her, studying the contours of Lisa’s smooth porcelain face. So calm, so innocent, so seemingly innocent.

It’s not that Lisa has been acting as weirdly as she did in the past, before she revealed what happened in Thailand. Now that there’s an addition to the incident, the-Lisa-and-Jennie-kissed-but-Lisa-doesn’t-remember incident, Rosé wonders if there is more to Lisa than what she’s let on. Not to mention, that recent late-night visit to Jennie’s room just to talk. It’s questionable. Lisa is an open book but what if there hidden pages to the book that Rosé hasn’t discovered yet? Or pages that have been deliberately ripped off never to be read?

What are you hiding, Lisa?

Just what are you hiding.

“It’s been three hours and she hasn’t moved,” Jisoo comments.

“Lisa sleeps like a log.”

“A dead person is more I like it.”

Rosé frowns at Jisoo’s choice of words. She kicks Lisa lightly on the hip, light enough not to wake her.

Just to be sure, she thinks.

Lisa stirs at the contact, her two cats now settling themselves on her face with Luca’s tail dangerously close to Lisa’s half-opened mouth. Rosé wouldn’t be astounded if the maknae would be hacking hairballs the moment she wakes up.

Rosé huffs then frowns at Jisoo once more. “I’m really not comfortable with that comparison.”

***

Rosé arrives at the dorm faced with overturned chairs and other furniture haphazardly disarranged, and her first thought is:

Holy crap someone broke in.

A shrill scream comes from the kitchen, intensifying Rosé’s fear, accompanied by the cacophony of pots and pans clanking and dropping (or thrown? Rosé isn’t sure) against the floor. So she assumes that the intruder might be there and she races to the kitchen brandishing the first object she found (their hammer lightstick would have to do), only to be disappointed at the “crime scene” displayed before her.

Rosé lowers the lightstick and eases up. “The hell was that all about? And why are you guys on top of the chair?”

“Because we live here, Chaeng, we can stand wherever we want thank you very much,” Jennie says. She and Lisa are standing on a chair, knees bent, backs hunched, arms wrapped around each other for balance and support. And from the way their eyes are frantically searching for something in the room, Rosé could assess their situation.

“There’s a spider isn’t there.”

“Yes…” They both mutter at the same time.

“It’s two against one.”

“Yeah but shit’s got eight legs and me and Jennie only have four arms combined so it’s not a fair fight,” Lisa counters, drawing Jennie nearer to her. Almost like she’s cradling the most fragile thing in the world. It’s a sight to behold and Rosé wants to make a comment on how there are other available chairs yet they chose to squeeze in on the tiny space (Lisa’s big ass feet occupies more than half of it) and share one together.

The temptation to capture this moment for future blackmailing purposes is substantial.

It’s so tempting.

So tempting.

Jennie is looking anywhere but Rosé. Probably knows how she’s clinging on to Lisa creates more questions. Probably knows how it only invalidates her quest to “get rid of my feelings once and for all”. Probably knows about the teasing remark that’s bubbling at the tip of Rosé’s tongue.

“Chaeyoung, behind you!” Lisa yells in a high-pitched voice and Jennie’s own yell just overlaps the loudness of it.

Rosé also yells and everyone is in a fit of chaotic yelling, none of them too brave to actually do something about the eight-legged creepy crawly with its gross stick-thin legs freely moving around the wall of the kitchen, then settles on the floor like it pays rent to be crawling like it owns the place and Rosé wishes she could magically acquire the ability to fly in some conveniently-timed miracle.

She’s in the middle of a tapdancing motion with her feet, scared to have the spider suddenly climb up to her legs and she’s lost the strength to leap onto a nearby chair as her legs have morphed into jello. The spider hasn’t moved in seconds but they’re still screaming a jumble of “OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD!”, “SACRIFICE THE CAT!” and, “NO, LEO GET AWAY FROM THERE!”

Leo, who manages to crawl its way up to the cupboards, pushes a bag of catfood from the counter, smashing onto the spider with a victorious splat!

“Leo!” Lisa chases after him as he speeds onto another room, startled by Jennie’s happy shrieking.

Jennie jumps from the chair, trying to regain the composure she’s thrown out the window for a while and refuses to look at Rosé who is breathing crazily beside her.

“Really held on to your life there.”

“Fuck off,” Jennie grumbles, the threat in her tone loses its edge as a tinge of pink graces her cheeks.

***

Lisa’s room is a warzone.

As if, someone had a personal grudge against her which pushed them to trash her room out of rage.

The only time it’s tidied up (when everything is basically shoved into her closet, masking the illusion) is when camera crews come over for filming during a segment of a show. Other than that, it’s a freaking dumpsite, clothes, bags and whatnot strewn everywhere. Rosé would rather willingly share her toothbrush with Jisoo than go through the monstrosity of Lisa’s bedroom. Sadly, if she wanted her baggy band shirt back, she’ll have to hunt for it.

Rosé heaves a sigh.

Lisa, you slob!

She tiptoes around Lisa’s things on the floor and when she nears the closet, she trips on a abandoned hoodie, her body plummeting inside Lisa’s closet.

Goddamnit.

As she struggles to unhook her foot from the clothing, a pair of voices are coming towards the room and Rosé takes shelter inside Lisa’s closet for the meantime so she wouldn’t be caught stealing her band shirt back (which is weird because it’s hers in the first place).

“Lisa, what the dump is this?”

It’s Jennie.

“I was cleaning when you called me for ice cream.”

“Hard to believe that.”

“Anywho, what were you saying about your boo?”

Oh damn, they’re talking about Jennie’s lovelife?

Rosé pokes her head to the opening of the closet and she sees Jennie and Lisa on the bed with a view of Jennie’s back and Lisa sitting across her. The mountain of clothes in front of the closet has made it the perfect hiding spot for Rosé, like an expert sniper on a mission.

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” Jennie begins. “It’s that…I liked someone else for a while..?”

“Oh.”

“Is it bad?”

“No, it’s not like you and Kai are officially together. You guys are still on the getting to know each other stage as you said. But what about this other person?”

“I’ve been dropping subtle hints.”

“Really? Maybe you should tell that person straight up. Give it a try.”

Rosé feels guilty, knows where her limits lie and this is an indirect invasion of privacy (indirect because none of this wouldn’t have happened if Lisa learned to arrange her clothes once in a while, like a decent person should, and Rosé’s not too thrilled about being stuck in her closet either). But damn, her eyes don’t feel guilty the least bit, drawn to her bandmates as she ogles at them from Lisa’s biohazard of a closet.

Is Jennie really about to tell her?

“Yeah, you’re right.” Jennie squares her shoulders and Rosé could sense she’s gathering every inch of confidence she has, the same confidence she brings when she’s performing on stage. She says, “I like you.”

Rosé analyzes Lisa’s reaction, digging in to her nails at the suspense of her prolonged response. Lisa’s face lifts up, her eyes glinting under the illumination of her bedroom lighting and her signature toothy grin making an appearance as well. Rosé holds in her breath as Lisa replies:

“See! That wasn’t so hard! If that flies over their head then they’re too dumb for you.”

Rosé facepalms herself.

She thought Jennie was practicing!

Are you kidding me, Lisa?

“I-I actually—”

Jennie’s ringtone interrupts them but Jennie merely glances at her buzzing phone on Lisa’s bed.

“Gonna answer that?”

“It can wait,” Jennie says dismissively.

“You don’t wanna leave Kai hanging.”

“Uh, yeah.” Jennie runs her fingers through her hair. “Right.”

No, Jennie don’t go!

But she does.

Jennie leaves Lisa’s room without any second thoughts. Even if she’s gone and closed the door, Lisa is still concentrated on where she’s left, her body remaining motionless. It takes another few beats for her to plop the rest of her body flat on her bed, grab her pillow and bury her face in it, screaming something too incomprehensible for Rosé to perceive. She removes the pillow from her face and says:

“Why do I want to kiss you so bad…”

Then it dawns on Rosé.

Lisa is a fantastic liar.

Chapter Text

You

unnie

have something important to tell you

10:36 pm

Jisoo-unnie

what

10:37 pm

???

10:42 pm

did you just text me then enlist the army or what

10:45 pm

I CANT SLEEP unless you tell me

10:46 pm

if you say you’re telling me tomorrow

i will slap you into oblivion

10:50 pm

You

sorry just got out of the closet

10:51 pm

Jisoo-unnie

Oh what

you too

is everyone here gay but me

10:53 pm

You

nooo I got stuck in lisa’s closet!!

10:55 pm

Jisoo-unnie

okay??

I need more context but okay

10:56 pm

You

facetime?

10:58 pm

Jisoo-unnie

no I’m too ugly for that

10:59 pm

You

fine I’ll call you

11:02 pm

Jisoo-unnie

no don’t!!

they could overhear

just give me the main details

11:03 pm

You

Hmm

Okay

Uh

11:05 pm

lisa is a fakeass liar and wants to kiss jennie

11:06 pm

Not even a minute passes after Rosé hits send, her phone rings on her lap and she closes and locks her bedroom door before swiping the screen to answer Jisoo’s call. She takes the device to the side of her ear.

“Didn’t you say no calling?” Rosé says in a low voice, glancing at her door consciously every once in a while.

“Forget what I said! Tell me now!” Jisoo is practically roaring into her ear and Rosé has to abruptly jerk her head away from her phone to protect her eardrums from Jisoo’s ear-piercing tone. She positions it back.

“And just hide in your closet,” Jisoo advises, her footsteps clear cut in the background, perhaps pacing around her room. “Not like you haven’t done that a while ago. Which brings me to ask, how the heck did you get yourself in there?”

Rosé settles on her chair by the vanity, getting herself comfortable before starting her cautionary tale about a girl stranded in a confined space and two other hopeless idiots.

She recites to Jisoo about how she had merely been searching for her baggy band shirt Lisa loves to borrow, The 1975 shirt to be more specific (“The white one and has pink neon lettering on it?” Jisoo asks. “Yes! That!” Rosé exclaims. “Oh, it’s with me.” Jisoo confesses sheepishly). Moving on, she retells how much of a dump Lisa’s bedroom is and how the girl is undisturbed by her littered articles of clothing, making her a hazard to society and a hazard to people with poor coordination skills in walking (and that’s like, Lisa herself).

Her story picks up to the climax when she submits herself into hiding within the confines of Lisa’s trash-like closet, narrating the exchange between Jennie and Lisa. Then she details her escape, she had created a diversion by tossing one of Lisa’s jeans to her bed, scaring Lisa out of her room effectively and Rosé had scrambled her way into her own room unnoticed by the maknae (who probably was in Jennie’s room based on the “Unnie! Unnie! My jeans flew!”).

And Rosé concludes her story with:

“To summarize, our friends are dumbasses.”

Jisoo hums in approval. “I second to that. I’m guessing they both have the same thinking. Scared to risk their friendship, blah, blah.”

“I think so too.”

“But aww, our little Lisa wants to kiss Jennie.”

“She said it. More like, wondered why she wants to.” Rosé twirls a strand of her hair in her finger.

“Wondered why?” Jisoo says in disbelief, scoffing afterwards. “Everyone wants a piece of Jennie. I’ve seen her naked and I’m telling you, Jendeukie is blessed. Like unfairly blessed. I’d tell Lisa to hurry up and tap that before somebody else does.”

Rosé snorts at Jisoo’s bluntness and nods unknowingly, regardless of the older girl not being able to see her agreeing.

So her friends’ dilemma is similar to a drama.

Two people undoubtfully having the hots for one another, only to be hindered by their obliviousness and their lack of self-awareness.

It’s a cliched tale she’s seen a million times on television, the same recycled plot that somehow still has viewers hooked onto the edge of their seats (Rosé pleads guilty to that) despite the obvious conclusion to the story which can already be predicted from its very first episode.

It will only be a matter of time until they both realize the feeling is mutual, if those stories are in fact paralleled with reality. Though, not the kind of stories where the billionaire CEO/heir falls for the poorest schmuck he nearly crashes his car into but their love affair is prohibited by his snobby Cruella Deville of a mother and his insanely gorgeous, brilliant and diva-esque ex-girlfriend who returns from the US to win his heart back, which she does because he gets himself into a car accident and develops an amnesia, remembering his ex instead of the love of his life who—

Okay.

Rosé has to take a break from watching all those dramas.

She had been so absorbed that she hasn’t noticed the silence that fills the other end of the line.

“Unnie? You still there?”

“Yeah, still here. I’m browsing through Instagram right now and the Blinks really love Jennie’s fashion sense.”

“Of course they do, she didn’t spend all that time in the closet for nothing.”

Rosé could hear Jisoo’s snicker. “Ha, nice. So what should we do? Should I hide in Jennie’s closet like you did in Lisa’s? Set them up on a blind date? Ooh! Steal Lisa’s phone again and send a message to Jennie myself?”

“You did wha—unnie! No, not a thing.” Rosé reclines her back to the chair and props her feet up to the dresser of her vanity. “This is for them to figure out.”

“Pfft, that’s boring. I’d smash their faces together if I could.”

“Unnie!”

“What? They’re so clueless! Like Lisa’s cooking skills clueless.”

“Whatever they do from here on out is up to them. If they end up together, then good. If they don’t, then it’s still none of our business.”

Jisoo may have a point, a valid one at that, but this is something they shouldn’t butt themselves in. Jennie and Lisa should be the ones dealing with this, exclusively, without having anyone else intervening. It’s a recipe for disaster and Jisoo’s flawed views on privacy could cause another mishap.

And there’s Lisa, who Rosé thought she has figured out by now.

A realization had knocked Rosé into consciousness while inside Lisa’s dingy closet. If it wasn’t for her trapped in there, Rosé would never have witnessed Lisa’s change in character as Jennie disappeared (plus she did want to kiss Jennie, so yeah). She had been acting for some time, a probable reason for her break-up with Chanwoo. Rosé does believe their relationship had been genuine, though she guesses somewhere down the road Lisa had made some realizations herself.

So Lisa isn’t as open as she seems, only presents herself like it on the outside and maybe uses it to her advantage because, damn, Rosé has definitely underestimated her. She selectively chooses which parts of her emotions to bring out and meticulously hides the rest behind closed doors much better than Jennie does.

And Rosé isn’t entirely sure either, if Lisa had purposely derailed Jennie’s confession or it really hadn’t gone to her head.

Will Jennie not confess anymore?

Sigh.

This is out of Rosé’s control anyway.

The following morning, Jisoo returns to their dorm, extra attentive to the interactions of their two members. She’s watching like a hawk in action, eating her bag of seaweed treats as if she’s tuning in to a badly written rom-com movie starring the most oblivious people on earth. Jisoo isn’t as discreet as she thinks she is, it’s either she’s in deep observation or she’s in a dire need to have her eyes checked.

“Really think the YG ghost is haunting my room now…it threw me my jeans!” The fear in Lisa’s voice interrupts Rosé train of thought.

“Maybe it’s telling you to clean up.” Rosé says.

***

Their dream of performing at their own concert is finally happening.

They had been waiting for this moment since their debut, envisioning the designs of their stage and their tour outfits. It’s still so unreal to them. Even the rehearsal itself has been tremendously exhilarating, the adrenaline pumping up the blood coursing through Rosé’s body. Just imagining the crowd of supporters, the sea of glimmering pink from their lightsticks being waved around and the chorus of chants.

How cool is that?

After dancing for straight three hours, the choreographer tells them to take five. Jisoo and Lisa head for the cafeteria, leaving Rosé and Jennie alone. Rosé slurps on her juice on the bench of the practice room with Jennie beside her.

“Is that Kai—err, Jongin?” Rosé questions at the gradual buzzing of Jennie’s phone, notifying a stream of messages coming in all at once.

“Nah, it’s Irene-unnie.” Jennie informs her as she takes the umpteenth selfie of the night. She scans the photo produced and a moue of dissatisfaction spreads on her face. “And I stopped things with Jongin.” She proceeds to take another photo at a different angle.

“Oh?” Given Jennie’s nonchalance at the subject, it must have gone well. “I thought you were giving it a shot.”

“Things weren’t working out. Not in a bad way, more like we’re just destined to be friends. It’s also a practical career move since we’ll be touring for the most part of next year.”

Rosé bites her tongue, contemplates on asking her status regarding her feelings for Lisa. It feels as though she’s stepping on shards of glass whenever the topic arises. There’s so many things left unanswered and the curiosity keeps her on her toes. She asks anyway. “And what about Lisa?”

“What about her?” Jennie smiles, still glued to her phone. “Past is past, Rosie.”

“But—"

Their conversation is cut short when Jisoo and Lisa barge into the practice room in the middle of their own heated debate or whatever it is they’re bickering about.

“—and you gotta quit saying that or people will seriously think you’ve got a hidden stash of porn in there.” Jisoo warns Lisa who folds her arms in a sulky manner.

“Not my fault they sound the same, so screw me!”

Rosé coughs up a laugh at Lisa’s attempt at an English slang. “The phrase is sue me but Jennie-unnie would totally screw y—ow! Ow!”

Jennie subtly pinches the exposed skin on Rosé’s leg (she now regrets not wearing pants instead of a pair of shorts), giving her a killer sideways glare that prevents her from making more comments for the succeeding hours.

***

Dispatch is late.

Like uber late.

Not that Rosé would have had them release the photos on the same time they had taken them, but it’s rather crappy journalism on their part for releasing some news that has long fizzled out (not that long but still). The nasty vultures have kicked off the New Year with their usual tradition, netizens hungrily feasting on the juicy gossip like a freshly cooked Christmas ham.

Fans have mix emotions, some were happy, some were neutral, some were not, some were threatening to leave the fandom. It’s disheartening to read those particular comments, an ache smothering Rosé’s chest as Jennie swears off social media for a month, veering away from prying questions and everything else toxic. She’s a private person who values her personal life and makes sure she doesn’t get it entangled in her career, so to have her privacy stripped from her in a single post crushes her.

The girls are on a short holiday break so Rosé doesn’t hear from Jennie until a day later. She relays the boss’ plans in handling her predicament and they have come to an agreement with SM Entertainment to utilize this as an opportunity because any publicity is good publicity.

God, Rosé hates how the entertainment industry works sometimes.

She can’t even imagine the media attention if news broke out about Lisa and Chanwoo.

And so, their social media accounts suffer a drought, becoming eerily quiet, so quiet that Rosé can picture out a tumbleweed rolling by and cricket noises humming in the distance.

***

So while the rest of the population thinks Jennie is taken, Rosé on the other hand thinks she’s taken by Lisa.

The Golden Disc Awards has finished and after bagging home two awards, they decided to hold a humble celebration by ordering a takeout meal per Jisoo’s request. They dine in the living room, the TV playing a Disney movie Lisa had chosen.

Rosé has been juggling between devouring her food and spying on Jennie, given her perfect view from the beanbag across the couch where the two are situated. Space becomes invisible as they sit at a hair’s breadth though, they have always done this in the past. It’s Jennie who gives something different to the table. Rosé finally comprehends Jisoo’s wise words: you gotta look where her eyes are.

There’s a not-so friendly manner at how Jennie rakes her eyes over Lisa’s profile, like she’s memorizing all of the details in one slow sweep of her gaze, as Lisa speaks to her about a cat diet Leo is undergoing.

As fascinating as it sounds, Rosé bets her life savings (and her sister’s) Jennie isn’t even processing whatever Lisa is saying, just staring at her openly with no shame.

If she could see herself in a mirror…

“My bangs are getting longer,” Lisa announces, measuring the hair shielding her forehead with her fingertips. Jennie also reaches for her hair, plays with it distractedly, almost cat-like.

“I could give you a haircut.” Jisoo offers from her spot on the floor.

Lisa squints at her. “You could..?” There’s an underlying suspicion in how she says it.

Jisoo shrugs, unaffected by the suspicious looks being thrown at her. “Yeah, I’ve been doing it to you guys for months now.”

Jennie shakes her head, as if she has only recently caught herself being touchy towards Lisa, so she flicks the younger girl’s forehead for good measure then gapes at Jisoo unpleasantly. “Since when do you—”

“You guys nap too much.”

“I thought I was losing my hair!”

Lisa roots Jennie to her seat, restraining her from strangling Jisoo as the oldest member defends herself saying that she’s learned from their hairdressers anyway so they have nothing to worry about. Jisoo and a pair of scissors may be a deadly combination but Rosé has more pressing issues than her hair (as precious as it is, chopping a few inches off isn’t such a bad idea).

She simply overlooks the commotion (ignoring Lisa’s “Chaeng? Chaeng!”), her mind boggled by the blurring lines of friendship in Jennie and Lisa’s relationship. Like, where does it begin? And where does it end?

If Jennie is indeed trying to get over her feelings, then what’s up with their unnecessarily close skin-to-skin contact and her lingering stares?

Rosé pushes her luck on Lisa.

“So, how’s it goin’?” She asks her casually an hour later, cocking her hip against the kitchen counter.

“We live together.” Lisa spares her a quirk of her lip while washing the dishes at a snail’s pace.

“You know, about…stuff. Or someone.”

Lisa stifles a tiny giggle. “I don’t think you need to ask about that, Chaeng,” she says cryptically, placing the last rinsed plate onto the drying rack.

There’s a feeling that’s boiling at the pit of Rosé’s stomach. A feeling that’s telling her she’s not aware of something. A feeling that’s—

Nope.

Rosé dashes for the bathroom.

She makes a mental note not to eat anything extra spicy for some time.

***

Friends fight.

Every friendship goes through a little bump on the road.

But the fights Jennie and Lisa have are another story. For starters, they act like they’re a newly formed couple in their honeymoon stage and the next minute, they’re ripping each other’s heads off fighting over the parental custody of their shared child slash cat or whatever.

“Ooh, lovers’ quarrel,” Rosé remarks, a hint of teasing veiled in her words.

“We are not quarreling!” Lisa efforts to diffuse their situation.

“And we are not lovers!” Jennie bemoans, shooting an intense warning look at Rosé’s direction.

“You both wish you were.” Jisoo mumbles quietly.

Rosé has to yank Jisoo out of the scene before it becomes into a bigger one. She doesn’t bother asking what they’re fighting about, doesn’t bother asking how they made-up, and doesn’t bother asking about the hurt flashing in Lisa’s features when Jennie says “we are not lovers”.

It’s none of her business.

***

Thailand is their current destination for the Asian leg of their tour.

And Lisa is ecstatic for the most obvious reasons.

She had woken up everyone else in her frolic of excitement, manhandling Jisoo out of her room and into the living area (“Lisa-yah, there’s five more hours before we have to leave!”). If regular Lisa is loud, bouncy and hyperactive, then excited Lisa is even louder, bouncier and whatever word is used to describe someone beyond hyperactive.

Lisa is all toothy smiles and sunshine down from the airport and into the airplane, and when they make their arrival in Bangkok, she shows no tiredness. Her energy is amazingly high which Jisoo mutters a “good luck” to Rosé since she’ll be sharing her hotel room with this living breathing coffee machine.

BamBam greets them at Rosé and Lisa’s suite, where all girls are huddled in before leaving for the night market. As Lisa assists Jennie with her checklist (she listed all the food she wants to buy in Thailand), Rosé and Jisoo plaster themselves by the window, gawking admiringly at the beautiful and shimmering Bangkok skyline. Hues of dark blue, purple, and a deep orange prepare to splash onto the sky, and Rosé moves to grab her phone for a photo until Bambam pads to them.

“It’s funny isn’t it?” He says, darting his eyes from them then to Lisa and Jennie at the far corner, chattering away.

“What is?” Rosé asks, already forgetting about the dimming scenery.

“Your friends, duh.”

“You know?”

“I can’t count the times Lisa has name-dropped her whenever we get together. Sometimes, I think she mentions you guys first as an excuse just so she could talk about her more.”

Jisoo wrinkles her nose. “Wow, I’ve never felt so used.”

So BamBam knows too. Who else does?

Lisa takes Jennie around the streets of Bangkok to fulfill the wishes in her list and tells them they will follow them in an hour or so.

Rosé and Jisoo have loaded themselves onto a second vehicle, transporting them directly to the night market. They don’t depart from the van until Lisa arrives, as their bargaining abilities are still rough and needs more honing. But they’ve been waiting for almost thirty minutes now and Jisoo is getting antsy so she instructs Rosé to text Jennie on their whereabouts.

You

WHERE

ARE

YOU

GUYS

8:30 pm

Jennie-unnie

WE

ARE

FUCKING

8:42 pm

You

WHAT

OMG TMI !!

BUT CONGRATS???

8:45 pm

and also

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME WIFEY

:(((

8:46 pm

Jennie-unnie

NOOOOOOOO!!!

I MEANT

WE ARE FUCKING CLOSE BY

8:47 pm

THE REST DIDN’T SEND!!!!

HUBBY

!!!

8:48 pm

***

Rosé feels like she stumbled on a gold mine, upon discovering a small pastry shop, in a commercial area ten minutes from their dorm, which sells a special type of cheesecake wherein the taste lingers on your lips (like a cheesecake flavored lip balm if you will, except that it’s from an actual cheesecake not the artificially coated ones in those lip products).

The shop is new, with its freshly painted walls on the interior, varnished wooden paneling on the outside and fresh from the factory pieces of furniture. It was the flower arrangement by the door that had sparked Rosé’s interest, congratulatory notes and cards of well wishes attached to the front.

She has entered the shop and is immediately attended by a welcoming staff who serves her a complimentary cheesecake and the rest is history.

The staff has recommended her to keep the dessert refrigerated so Rosé makes a detour to the dorm before joining her mother and sister for lunch. It’s not that she doesn’t appreciate the importance of family time, it’s just that she couldn’t bring herself to stop thinking about the cheesecake, resulting to her zoning out a lot (“Ooh, mum, baby sis is on dreamland again!” Their mother instantly assumes: “Honey, who’s the boy?” Rosé didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth).

Her father has made a last minute visit, which ends with her entire family having an early dinner.

Rosé gets back to the dorm, deflating at the empty carton that once held her cheesecake.

“Alright, which one of you idiots took my…” she trails off then asks herself, why should she waste her time finding for the culprit when there’s only one major suspect?

“Jisoo-unnie…”

With not much of a choice, she navigates herself to the pastry shop but the sign on the door in big bold letters spell out CLOSED and Rosé gathers her will-power not to cry and draw attention to herself on the street. She stays positive, reasoning out that hey there’s always tomorrow.

She buys a slice an hour after waking up.

“Didn’t you buy that yesterday?” Lisa asks, recognizing the carton from their fridge.

“Yeah but someone ate it like they freakin’ bought it themselves.” Rosé says, her fork gliding onto the smoothness of the cheesecake then sending the scraped piece into her mouth. She sighs merrily. The creaminess sends her into an out of body experience. She hands Lisa her fork, urging her to have a taste of heaven.

“What the…it tastes familiar.” Lisa licks around her lips. “Isn’t there some kind of lipstick that tastes like it?”

“There is?”

“I swear there is. Jennie-unnie has one like this. I tried it yesterday.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

Before Rosé could inquire about the lipstick, Jisoo walks into the kitchen, her hand reaching for the fork. “Oh hey, you bought cheesecake.”

Rosé swats her hand away. “You get away you demon!”

Jisoo blinks at her in confusion, flinging her hand in the air from Rosé’s slap. “Fine, I wasn’t gonna ask.”

“Gosh, did you really buy another?” Jennie comes in, carrying a similarly designed carton, except it’s thrice the size of what Rosé had bought. “I’m so sorry I ate that yesterday. I was looking for something sweet to wash off that awful food I ate with Chahee and that was the only one.” She sets the box onto the counter next to the one Rosé and Lisa had been eating.

Oops. So unnie is innocent.

Rosé hasn’t verbally accused Jisoo, so she saves her apology and focuses on the box Jennie is opening. “You are sorry.” How can she say no to another slice of cheesecake? Rosé glimpses at the dessert as Jennie lifts the lid. Scratch that, she purchased a layer of cheesecake.

“How come when I want your leftovers I get a “you should have bought your own” and a silent treatment? You guys even made me go on a time-out once. I’m the oldest!” Jisoo whines.

“That’s because you tell us when you’re done eating—hold on.” Rosé backtracks to what Jennie said. “You ate the entire thing yourself?”

“Yeah, what I ate with Chahee was to gross. God, this is amazing.” Jennie moans into her fork in content.

This is none of your business Rosé. None.

But if Lisa says she’s tried Jennie’s so-called cheesecake flavored lipstick yesterday, and Jennie ate the entire slice herself yesterday. Could it be that…

Rosé’s fork falls.

“Huh.”

Chapter Text

“I have to meet with Irene-unnie now,” Jennie says as she and Lisa exit from the tearoom of the hotel they’re staying at in Los Angeles.

“Tell her I said hi.” Lisa responds, matching Jennie’s smile and closing the door from behind them. She widens her arms and Jennie takes the invitation to step into the space Lisa has created for her. The two girls go in for an embrace, encasing the other with gentleness, in the middle of the empty hallway.

Or so they thought.

“…and now kiss.”

Across the two members is a conference room, its exterior covered in tinted glass, permitting onlookers from the inside to be given a clear view of the hallway. And in the room stands Kim Jisoo, palms placed firmly against the glass and in between her face that’s pressed to the barrier, lips quirking into an excited grin as she spies on her two unsuspecting targets.

“Come on you little shits.” Jisoo presses her nose further onto the glass but her figure remains unseen by Jennie and Lisa. If she could just smack their faces together, she definitely would. Her excitement increases when the girls break their lengthy hug halfway and stare at each other with heart eyes (as Jisoo would call it), their gazes locked, and she swears they are about to lean in and—

“Jisoo, what are you doing?” Seulgi nags at her in a hushed voice, careful not to give themselves away by making too much noise. She tries to pry Jisoo off the glass but the girl remains rooted to her spot until her grin fades.

“Did you see that?” Jisoo turns to Seulgi and jabs her thumb to the hallway. Jennie has already disappeared into the main lobby, with Lisa heading to the elevator. “They were so close!”

“How long have you been in here?” Seulgi asks. She had probably arrived minutes earlier, probably discovered the trail of ketchup that had dripped from Jisoo’s hotdog leading to where they are now.

“Like.” Jisoo wipes her ketchup-and-mustard stained fingers on the sides of her jeans before fishing out her phone from her back pocket. She unlocks it then answers, “thirty minutes ago.”

“What?!”

“I had my hotdogs to accompany me.” Jisoo points to a trashcan containing two crumpled hotdog wrappers.

“But why?”

“Because I’m a slut for hotdogs, Seulgi.”

“No, I mean why were you here for thirty minutes?”

“Oh. I saw those two walking alone towards somewhere like all hush hush and I was sneaking behind them and I find this room unlocked so hmm, maybe I can listen to the other side through the wall in here,” Jisoo walks to the other end of the room, passing by a long table and pats the sole drywall, “But nooo! Apparently, all rooms are soundproof, except this one.  Which is dumb because this is supposed to be a meeting room.” She gestures to the entire room. “So I just munch on my hotdogs until they got out.”

Seulgi shakes her head disapprovingly at the younger girl with her hands on her hips in a motherly posture. She and Jisoo had planned on going on a short day out, the same kind Jennie would be having with Irene. And seeing her engrossed in this Jennie and Lisa thing, she fears it could someday lead to a horrifying debacle if she were to cross the line (and according to Irene, Jennie hasn’t shared anything Lisa-related so maybe everyone else is in the dark about their status albeit the obviousness on and off-cam).

“Okay, Jisoo. Let’s try this again. How can you be nice to your friends?”

“By not stabbing them.”

“Riiiight, setting the bar a little too low there, but another way you can be nice to them is to give them their much needed space.”

“I did. That’s why I hid.”

Seulgi sighs exasperatedly. This is hopeless. “Do you remember the stunt you pulled few months ago?”

“Hey, Jennie. Want to go out for dinner at eight?”

“Sure.”

“Cool. Hey, Lisa, wanna join us for dinner at eight?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Alright, since I have a ton of things to do, you go together without me and enjoy your date. I reserved the restaurant in Jennie’s phone, bye!”

Jisoo laughs internally at the memory but she remains stoic as she deadpans at Seulgi. “Nope. Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Seulgi sighs once more, feeling awfully drained for wasting her breath like this. She practically pleads, her hands clasped together in a prayer-like action. “Just please, don’t get in the way, okay? No more surprising them with dinner dates they did not plan themselves, and absolutely no texting the other girl by using one of their phones.”

Jisoo hesitantly hands over Lisa’s iPhone to Seulgi.

***

“Sorry I’m late.” Chaeyoung takes the seat opposite of Jisoo. They’re back in Seoul and are dining at this private restaurant Jennie had introduced to them in Gangnam. Security is tight within the establishment which gives them the privacy they badly needed.

“What happened?” Jisoo asks, at the same time calling out to a waiter to pour Chaeyong a glass of wine. She had already ordered their food for them, considering Chaeyoung is thirty minutes late, much to Jisoo’s annoyance. They have some important matters to talk about and she can’t put this off any longer.

Chaeyoung smiles at the waiter and thanks him. She waits for him to be out of earshot before answering. “Nothing. I just didn’t want to be here,” she mutters into the rim of her wine glass, taking a nice sip afterwards.

“Rude.”

Chaeyoung hardly looks fazed by her insult and rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. You just want to gossip about Jennie and Lisa.”

Jisoo gasps, dramatically places a hand over her chest, feigning offense at the accusation as if Chaeyoung has punched her mother square in the face. “I do not! I cannot believe you said that. Ever thought that maybe I want to chill and hangout with one of my beautiful best friends at this amazing restaurant? All you do is expect the worst in me. I am hurt, Chaeng. Hurt.” She tears her eyes away from Chaeyoung, batting her eyes like she’s trying not to let the tears spill as she fans herself with her hands.

The façade lasts for five seconds.

“But speaking of Jennie and Lisa—”

“There it is.”

“—don’t you think they should disclose their relationship status to us?” Jisoo slightly pokes her fork on her plate multiple times as she makes her point. The clanging noise of the utensils makes Chaeyoung grimace. “If they’re already smacking and banging.”

“I never should have told you that they kissed. Or have been kissing.” Chaeyoung says as an afterthought. “Let them be, unnie. You’re getting pretty annoying about this.”

“Thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Because I stopped listening at pretty and I only acknowledge the positive things in life, Chaeng.”

Chaeyoung groans, shutting her eyes and massaging her temples. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Unbelievably cute.” Jisoo confidently winks at her.

There’s something about Chaeyoung’s expression that either translates to: I can’t believe I’m friends with you or I can’t believe we’re actually having this conversation. But basically, Chaeyoung simply gives up on trying to make sense of this meeting they are having and mentally praises the Lord that Jisoo hasn’t done this to Jennie, who would have blown a fuse at this very moment. At least, she thinks, she is getting delicious free food from Jisoo’s incessant talking.

Chaeyoung suddenly remembers Jennie’s perfect analogy for this kind of situation: Jisoo’s mouth is like a machine gun and her words are her ammo.

She gives a silent toast to Jennie’s words.

While on the subject, something hits Chaeyoung. It comes in a slow and stinging sensation in her brain, as if she’s just gotten her senses back for the first time in years. She’s not sure if it’s the wine, but if it really is the cause for her to open her eyes and realize that the gears in Jisoo’s head have once again started turning, then she’ll have to thank it.

“Oh my God.” She drops her knife and fork onto the plate, pausing to stare at Jisoo. “I know why I’m here.”

Jisoo doesn’t bother looking up from her dish, however, she does manage to sport a sly smirk. “Took you long enough.”

“Are you serious? You could have called me or waited until I get home tonight!” Not that Chaeyoung doesn’t appreciate the free meal (free and food together are like the definition of Roseanne Park), it’s just that she could still be asleep right now and be lazing in her bed until late afternoon.

“But this shit is urgent.”

“Placing bets on who would slip up and confess isn’t urgent.”

Jisoo leans in with her elbows propped onto the table and her chin on her hand. “Ahh, so you’re saying some loveydovey crap is going on?”

“I’m saying I know how that mind of yours works.” Chaeyoung declares, resting her utensils on the side of her plate in a more ladylike manner this time. “I really shouldn’t have told you they kissed.”

“And not make easy money out of that? You chikin, Chaeng?” Jisoo says tauntingly, inching herself forward as she challenges the younger girl. She doesn’t add anything else, but she’s patient and she knows Chaeyoung so well that she calculates that it will only be a matter of minutes until the light-haired girl gives in to pressure, just as she always does.

And Jisoo’s success rate at luring in Chaeyoung is at around ninety-nine percent.

Her statistics don’t lie.

The clues are simple.

It begins with Chaeyoung deserting her latest task, such as putting down her knife and fork. Next, she can bee seen staying silent for a good minute or two (sometimes five if it’s dangerous or in Chaeyoung’s words not worth the ass-whooping we’ll get) and avoids eye contact with Jisoo. If she switches onto another topic, it’s only a sign for Jisoo to bring it up sometime later, but most of the time Chaeyoung says the inevitable:

“You are so on.”

Chaeyoung’s competitive nature emerges through the determination in her slanting eyes and the tilt of her lips.

Jisoo loves how she can perfectly manipulate the situation into her favor. She would have made a sleazy money-making lawyer. Sleazy, sure, but hey on the bright side she would be bringing home the bacon (more like one whole pig if that were the case).

They lay out the rules for the bet, like two professional businesswomen engaging in a multi-million dollar business deal. Except that this does not involve money, not yet anyway, as Jisoo suggests they need to kick it up a notch to make things even more interesting. Chaeyoung figures she has dug herself a trap if ever Jennie finds out but she can’t deny to herself that she isn’t intrigued by this.

The members have already gone as far as setting up names for each other, one that they believe would befit their roles in this curious case of Jennie and Lisa.

“If we were actual professionals, I’d be Roseanne Park, MD.”

“MD as in for the ones in the medical field?”

“No, as in Master Detective.”

Yes, of course, Chaeyoung would go with that.

She has gone on about her so-called detective skills, jotting down every single piece in the puzzle of their members’ relationship in her imaginary notepad and assessing the situation cautiously, like she has taken this master detective act to heart.

Jisoo, unlike Chaeyoung, doesn’t just watch from the sidelines, doesn’t just gather the data for “research purposes” but rather steps in once in a while so she goes for:

“Then I’d be Kim Jisoo, MC.”

“For emceeing?”

“No, for Marriage Counselor.” Jisoo says smugly. “And I think we should just up our money game for this bet. Like two-hundred thousand won?”

“That’s a lot of money.”

Jisoo sips on her wine. “That’s a lot of food too.”

Chaeyoung makes a whining noise at the back of her throat. “I hate how you know how to speak my language.”

Before they could carry on, Jisoo has one more thing in her agenda. She would have to confirm something first from a reliable source of hers and she rummages through her belongings in her purse for her non-work phone. “Darn it, I left my other phone.” Jisoo rises from her chair, having no luck of finding it. “I gotta go text something important!”

“Hey! Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Jisoo looks around, checks her purse if she hasn’t forgotten her first phone and rechecks if she’s left something else. She’s not entirely sure about what Chayeoung means because she can be super vague. So she uncertainly walks closer to where Chaeyoung is seated, still confused, and kisses the crown of her head then dashes out of the restaurant.

Chaeyoung’s mouth hangs open before crying out, “No! The bill, woman! Damn who raised you?”

***

You

yo bobby!!!

hey wassap boi

Bobby

Hey? This is unexpected lol

You

Just a quick question

How well do you know Chan?

Bobby

Pretty well. Why do you ask?

You

What reason did he tell you about his break up with Lisa?

Bobby

Hmm

Something about Lisa not fully reciprocating his feelings

unfortunately she has been doubting herself about someone else for a long time

she didnt say who

Chan took it like a champ tho

Is something wrong?

You

I see

just wanted to confirm something

And no bobby everything is fine

perfectly fiiiine ;)

Bobby

dont know what that winky face means but okay lol

***

Jisoo likes to keep things on the down low while they’re in Seoul in between flying to different cities for their Asian tour. Despite the disguise she would have to put on, there’s this sense of freedom, a liberating sensation she acquires whenever she goes out to anywhere public during her free time, not worrying about shooting, rehearsals or the like.

Days before they’re scheduled to fly to Singapore, Jennie has set aside her day to be with Chahee while Lisa meets up with her other Thai friends. Jisoo decides to go on a shopping spree in Hongdae as Chaeyoung tags along since her older sister had gotten the flu and cancelled.

They go around the boutiques for what Jisoo thought was an hour but when she checks her Rolex strapped on her wrist, about five hours had actually passed. It wasn’t until it rained that she and Chaeyoung have called it a day, heading back to their dorm, a variety of bags in their hands. She had texted Jennie beforehand how they would be eating out for dinner, but with the sudden arrival of the heavy rain drenching the city, it was better to head on home.

“I am telling you, Chaeng, I can fit a lot of stuff in that cracked wall. It’s like a chamber of secrets except there’s no chamber so I guess it’s just a secret though I did find out about it so it’s not a secret either then it’s really just a hole in the—” Jisoo tugs the door open as she’s a few steps ahead of Chaeyoung, entering the small entryway surrounded by their shoe rack. She halts from slipping off her shoes when her gaze wanders to a scene so unbelievable that it takes a moment for her to process if her eyes have indeed deceived her.

From her standpoint is a crystal clear, ultra-HD view of Jennie and Lisa on the couch.

Kissing.

Jennie is sitting sideways on Lisa’s lap, arms looped around the taller girl’s neck, with Lisa having one hand on Jennie’s back and the other cupping Jennie’s cheek. They bring their lips together in soft tiny kisses, the little kissy sounds reminding Jisoo of someone chewing their gum loudly (she has now ruined bubble gums for herself).

Lisa gently moves Jennie to the seat on the couch while not breaking their contact, and before this make-out session escalates (as amusing as it is, Jisoo would have to bleach her eyes out and shower their dorm with holy water if they do go beyond kissing in front of her), Jisoo coughs loud enough for both girls to hear and enough to throw Jennie off in a panic, shoving Lisa harshly onto the floor who also has this deer-in-headlights look on her face when she realizes they have an unwanted audience.

“Uhh.” Lisa blinks hard at Jisoo.

“W-we can explain.” Jennie smooths out her wrinkled shirt and rubs the traces of Lisa’s lipstick off from the corner of her mouth (Jisoo is tempted to point out she’s missed some on her neck).

Jisoo slowly backs out of the room, eyes not leaving the two members while pushing Chaeyoung behind her. “Oh, silly me I got in the wrong room. I should just leave you two to carry on.”

Lisa lays dumbstruck on the floor as Jennie attempts to approach Jisoo. “Jisoo-unnie, plea—”

“Jisoo? I don’t know any Jisoo here. This has been a mistake.”

Chaeyoung tries to push her way in but Jisoo is alert to shove her backwards, forbidding her from stepping foot inside. The older maknae whines, “Hey, what’s going on? I thought you were going to show me—”

“To show you the way of the Lord, Chaeng.” Jisoo glances at the two guilty members then back at Chaeyoung. “Which isn’t this way.”

***

Jisoo doesn’t force Jennie and Lisa to explain, but waits for them to voluntarily do it themselves to Chaeyoung’s relief. Only because it had been funny, catching them at a very compromising position which was more than enough evidence to support Chaeyoung’s claim. And the fact that she had walked in on them kissing unfortunately, cancels out the bet they had, also to Chaeyoung’s relief (Jisoo already felt like she’d won when she saw the two lip-locking).

But to be honest, it was a little anti-climactic.

Jennie and Lisa, meanwhile, tiptoe around the subject and are both awkward whenever the four of them are together until Jisoo couldn’t take the recoiling and avoiding eye contact any longer (“Alright you idiots, we know you aren’t just friends because Chaeng and I are friends and you don’t see us making out and getting all handsy with each other!”). Lisa had the audacity to giggle at Jisoo’s straightforwardness, whereas Jennie had nudged the youngest member, another of her pink-stained cheeks making an appearance which Jisoo has been witnessing more often.

So they’ve wordlessly come to terms with it, though Lisa still jumps all fidgety when Jisoo sees her coming out of Jennie’s room one night.

“Are you going to do this forever? Like you haven’t kissed in Thailand two years ago.” Jisoo says, a pack of chips on her belly as she’s splayed on the living room couch languorously. There’s nothing remotely interesting about the Home Shopping Network but their Wifi is currently down so Netflix is out of the question.

“What?” Lisa queries, doesn’t seem to be aware of what Jisoo is referring to.

“Didn’t Jennie tell you? When you got drunk that time?”

As if on cue, Jennie marches to the living room in a dark purple pajama onesie, balling her fists and Jisoo is reminded of those grape-flavored gummy bears at the sight of her. “Lisa! Did you take my charger again?”

“We kissed in Thailand?”

The anger and irritation in Jennie’s expression fizzles out, her fists loosening up into open palms. “You know what, you can have my charger.” She attempts to flee from further interrogation, head bent down and a small blush on her cheeks but Lisa blocks her path.

“We’ve kissed before?” Lisa asks, doe eyes getting rounder in a mild surprise. She fixates her gaze onto Jennie’s expectantly, using her stare to con Jennie into answering. The brunette traps her lower lip with her teeth, her eyes bearing into Lisa’s as well.

But their staring contest is interrupted by Jisoo’s obnoxious chewing on the couch. They both turn at her inability to read the atmosphere and she holds up a chip before her mouth. She doesn’t waste sending them a glance though she could feel Jennie silently telling her something like: do you mind?

“Sorry, I’ll keep it down. You won’t even know I’m here.” Jisoo then pops the chip into her mouth, her attention back onto a kitchen appliance sale that is being showcased on the flat screen while her ears are trained on elsewhere.

Jennie shakes her head and returns to Lisa. Jisoo could hear her sigh.

“Yes. Okay, we did. And for the record, you leaned in first.”

“Is that why you’ve been making the first move to return the favor?”

“Oh my God!” Jisoo almost chokes on her chips but she recovers by saying: “Fifty percent off on blenders? Insane!”

“Seriously!” Jennie cries out, slapping Lisa on the arm in embarrassment.

“Ow, what? What’s the point of hiding, Ni? She and Rosie know now.” Lisa rubs on the sore spot on her arm.

“They don’t have to know everything!”

“Like how neck kisses make you—oomph!”

Lisa crumbles onto the floor after being elbowed on the rib by Jennie whose entire face transformed into the color of a ripe tomato ready for harvest. She deserts the maknae, the youngest moaning in pain at the jab.

“You deserved that.” Jisoo comments.

“That I did…” Lisa squawks amidst in a fetal position.

***

So things have normalized in a matter of days and Jisoo witnesses Jennie and Lisa more comfortable being open about their relationship at the dorms. Their handholding is apparent now and there’s a lot of staring (not that there hasn’t been any in the first place, only significantly this time).

One morning, Chaeyoung and Jisoo had woken up to the duo falling asleep on the couch, with Lisa cuddling the shorter girl and Jennie sandwiched in between Lisa’s body and the back of the couch. They really do fit together, Jisoo admits, as Jennie’s head is tucked in underneath Lisa’s chin like they’ve completed a puzzle piece.

Chaeyoung coos at them. “Aww, they look so cute—”

Jisoo aims a spray bottle into their direction.

“Rise and shine, lovebirds!” She sprays the both of the girls awake for, well, the heck of it. They contort their faces upon the liquid hitting them on their skin and Jennie is the one to get up while Lisa grunts and unaffectedly rolls over onto her stomach.

“Unnie! That’s a cleaning solution!” Jennie shields her face.

“Yeah, to clean all the cooties you’ve spread.”

Kissing, to be exact, is something they are not comfortable with, a possible effect from being traumatized by being caught. And Jisoo makes it into a little game, bursting into any of their rooms out of nowhere in hopes of catching them off guard once again. Chaeyoung says she’ll regret it once she’ll walk in on them doing something worse but Jisoo knows they have the decency to have their doors locked if ever things were to heat up.

The one time she’s not butting in on their business however, she and Chaeyoung are posing for a selfie since their outfit matches with the color of the couch and she thinks they have done a great job at camouflaging when Jennie and Lisa arrive, not noticing their presence. At the same moment, the lights go out from a power shortage.

“Babe, pass me the emergency light.” Jennie requests.

“You’re the only light I need.”

“Shut up, you dork.”

And even though it’s dark, Jisoo can still make out their standing figures, can make out how Lisa is closing in on Jennie and—

“Adorable guys but I can’t fucking see!”

As Chaeyoung screams through the darkness in fright, the two separate themselves and Jisoo scowls at Chaeyoung, ruining their almost-kiss.

“They were so close, Chaeng. So close!”

And in every relationship, also comes the unavoidable:

Fights.

“You’re a lying, cheating, piece of shit!” Jennie shouts at Lisa, reaching her breaking point. They’ve been at this for an hour now.

“Fine! And I’m taking the properties with me!” Lisa shouts back.

Jisoo sighs. They shouldn’t have gotten together for this. She bends over to slide the board towards herself, the game pieces tumbling and rolling onto the space on the floor. “That’s enough monopoly for tonight.”

“Go fuck yourself!” Jennie groans, flipping the Chance cards as she pushes herself into a standing position.

And Lisa reiterates with: “Fuck me yourself, you coward!”

“Time to bounce.” Chaeyoung instantly pulls Jisoo out of the living room to leave the two to settle their argument or settle the weird tension that’s brewing from their screaming match. She drags her into her bedroom to let them have some time to themselves.

“Do you think they’ve already—”

“None of our business!”

“What if they’ve done it in our rooms! Hasn’t that crossed your mind?! Or the couch or the damn table. We eat there, Chaeng. Eat!”

“Still none of our business!”

Though Jisoo awakes the next day to Chaeyoung vacuuming the couch and wiping the dining table obsessively.

***

So it’s established that Jennie and Lisa have a thing going on (the dating stage in particular) but how far their feelings have gone isn’t quite understood just yet. In Jisoo’s knowledge, neither of them has professed those famous three words.

They’re getting ready to perform in their first ever Coachella stage and the four of them are waiting together for the band preceding them to finish their set. It’s natural to be nervous, Jisoo herself is sweating beneath her outfit.

Jennie is clenching and unclenching her hands, the perspiration twinkling in her palms under the backstage lighting. She and Lisa are a few feet ahead of Jisoo and Chaeyoung. Perhaps Lisa could sense Jennie’s anxiety since she intertwines their pinkies together.

“You can do this.”

Jennie nods but it barely eases her nerves so Lisa angles her head towards Jennie to whisper something in her ear, something Jisoo could read through the movement of Lisa’s lips. There’s a glint in Lisa’s heavy-lidded eyes as she moves her mouth to let three words flow easily and smoothly to Jennie’s ear.

“I love you.”

Jennie visibly relaxes her body and it’s there that Jisoo believes in people having this distinct glow when they’re in love because Jennie is glowing from Lisa’s words as she exhales a little laugh that brings a contented smile on Lisa’s face.

“And one more thing, Jennie.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m jealous of you.”

“What, why?”

“’Cause your girlfriend is way hotter than mine.”

Lisa says hurriedly and sneaks in a quick sticky kiss on her cheek before running off to her position. It takes seconds for Jennie to register Lisa’s statement, and when she does, she fumes at Lisa who is standing at a farther distance from them.

“But you’re my—OH MY GOD, LALISA!” Jennie shouts over the drums and electric guitar but she’s ushered by one of the staff to get into place so she resorts to darting a glare, a fond one, at Lisa.

“Damn, if only people knew what goes on behind the scenes.” Chaeyoung remarks as Jisoo nods with a chuckle.

Chapter Text

epilogue

***

Ella plops heavily onto the floor, not caring how the harsh fall affects her bottom upon impact. All that matters is for her legs to be relieved from the numbing pain after being on her feet for straight three hours, perfecting their dance routine again and again and again.

She’s not sure how long her limbs could survive but she’s sure as hell they wouldn’t be able to last long, given that they’re so close to morphing into the state of a gelatin.

Just a few more days, she thinks.

As she labors her breathing and massages her outstretched legs, Ella scans the practice room. Her members are pretty much mimicking her actions, equally exhausted and bodies equally sore. They are situated a couple of feet away from her. One is lying on a nearby bench by the wall while the other two are on the floor as well, smartphones in front of their faces amidst drowning in a conversation.

Ella doesn’t pay attention to what they’re talking about, her thoughts going a million miles per second at the prospect of the dreaded evaluation in three days. She’s alerted, however, when a member gasps unusually loud, features contorted in surprise at something she probably found on social media.

“No fucking way!” Lauren Jang, a Canadian-Korean trainee, curses in disbelief. The rarity of Lauren cursing attracts the rest of the girls to the situation, minus the unbothered maknae on the bench, which prompts Ella to go on all fours and crawl her way to her bandmates in curiosity.

“What, what, what?” Ella asks as she nears them in a hurry despite the stinging sensation in her legs.

“Yeah, Lauren, what is it?” Madee, a Singaporean native and the oldest of the group, also questions the person beside her.

Lauren doesn’t answer, not until she’s finished skimming through whatever it is at an incredibly fast rate judging by how her thumb glides across the screen of her phone. She doesn’t say anything, but narrows her gaze at Ella inquisitively.

“Uh…” Ella glances at Madee. The other girl shrugs, confused.

Lauren finally speaks, “How long have you known about this?” She flashes Ella her phone and the American-Korean squints at the news article from a famous gossip site with headlines in big, bold lettering stating:

NEW YEAR IN NEW YORK: Former BLACKPINK members have made it Instagram official!

It has only been an hour since international fashion icon, Jennie Kim, posted on her Instagram a jaw-dropping, eye-popping revelation that has made a buzzing noise on the internet. The single post has broken records, being the fastest to reach one million likes in a span of fifteen minutes. Jennie shared two photos with the first one being a blurry image of two silhouetted people clad in winter gear during the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop at Times Square, New York held last week. The second photo was a surprise to many fans as it contains a clearer image of the people in the first picture, revealing them to be Jennie on the receiving end of an adorable kiss on the nose from her apparent long-time beau and former bandmate, Lisa Manoban.

The caption reads:

“ny in ny. here’s to 5 years and counting

i love you poopoo”

Thirty minutes later, Lisa, now working as an in-demand photographer and model posts her own photo from her Instagram account. The picture shows her giving Jennie a sweet piggyback ride, an array of colorful fireworks bursting in the background.

She provides the post with a simple caption:

“J”

YG Entertainment has confirmed their relationship in a short interview from their newly appointed CEO, Sandara Park.

Fans have reacted in a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from shocked to extreme delight. Many of them have sent their well wishes for the couple as they have officially come out, a brave move for two Korea-based artists. But it seems that most netizens, almost a majority of them, have taken their announcement with a positive reaction so their individual brand reputation is most likely the least of their worries. Others showcasing their support include celebrities like Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Jaden Smith, Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello to name a few.

Kim Jisoo and Roseanne Park have yet to make a direct comment. Fans have speculated the two may have already been aware of the relationship in the beginning as the foursome have maintained a close friendship after their disbandment two years ago, each member pursuing different career paths as soon as they had reached the end of their group contract.

Reporters have attempted to personally contact Jisoo who is currently on a break from the success of her recent Rom-Com drama. Her manager has spoken in her place stating that Jisoo is nothing but happy for her friends and will release her own statement soon. No word on Roseanne from her management as she’s busy with completing her world tour.

The #jenlisa has been trending worldwide, taking the number one spot in ten countries.

For more content, fans have compiled a series of evidences that have hinted their relationship in the beginning. Click here to view the article.

A knowing smirk tugs at Ella’s lips upon reading the article. She had always known back then, even without having her mother explain to her the nature of Jennie and Lisa’s relationship. At a young age, Ella could already tell how her unnis treated and looked at each other was anything but platonic. She didn’t have to question it. She had merely accepted and acknowledged the possibility that people of the same sex could date one another too.

“So you knew!” Lauren exclaims at Ella’s smug expression.

“I didn’t really.” Ella admits, flipping her mess of a hair to the other side, a feat she had gained from Jennie. “I just outright assumed what was going on.”

Madee seems taken aback. “They were that obvious?”

“Anyone with eyes could tell.”

From her lying position on her bench, Hanbyul points out with a roll of her eyes. She pushes her body up to sit properly facing her interested friends. “Oppa and his bandmates used to talk sooo loudly about them like a bunch of hormonal teenage girls. I think Lisa-unnie dated a friend of theirs or something.”

“Lisa-unnie dated?!” that there was a shocker for Ella, though Lisa neither denied nor confirmed in interviews whenever she’s asked about her past relationships. She would make her answers brief, playing it safe and simply say she would like to keep things private. Ella wonders the truth behind Lisa dating a former IKON member.

Madee pipes up from her seat. “I only know about Jennie-unnie and this EXO member. It was so long ago that I forgot which one. Was it Sehun? Kyungsoo?”

“It was Kai.” The foursome snap their heads at a radiant figure stepping in the practice room, the bright ceiling light highlighting her flawless face which hasn’t seemed like it had aged in years. Ella gusses she has listened in to their conversation from the older sister stance she’s sporting right now. “And that’s enough gossiping you hormonal teenage girls.”

“Unnie!”

All four girls rush to their feet to hug the woman who couldn’t possibly reaching her thirties.

Jisoo desperately balances herself as the four tall teens engulf her in an embrace that she almost sinks from their towering height. She settles them down before taking a good look at each member of the new girl group that YG will be debuting soon. Her chest swells at the nostalgia, seeing these young hopefuls reminded her of the good old days when they would talk endlessly about what the future could behold until the sun shone through the dingy curtains of their old apartment.

“Is it me or do you guys grow an inch every time I see you?”

“Or maybe you lose an inch when you see us.” Hanbyul back-sasses and her bandmates laugh.

“Alright, Miss Sassy Mouth, everyone take it from the top!” Jisoo claps her hands and walks to the front of the room to gather the girls. It’s been months since has seen their progress, being so preoccupied with secretly filming her upcoming drama with Cha Eunwoo. The girls protest at her command.

“What!”

“Not another one, unnie!”

“Way to go, Byul.” Ella scowls, without meaning any offense. Her legs are just seriously killing her.

“Hey, you need to work on your moves, Elle.” Hanbyul teases good-naturedly.

Jisoo takes pity on their exhausted figures. “All I’m asking is one round, then I treat you all to dinner.”

It lifts up their spirites.

While her members get into formation to the familiar routine of Boombayah, Ella checks her Instagram once more, grinning happily at Jennie’s post which garnered ten million likes as of present. Ella’s smile may have reached to her ears but it’s nowhere compared to the blissful expressions on her unnis’ features.

It was about time the whole world knew.

Chapter Text

"Have you seen them?"

"Nope."

"I thought I heard people here. Where could they be?"

"Fucking each other's brains out, I suppose."

A slap.

"Unnie!"

"Ow, what? Wanna bet on it, Chaeng?"

"We are not having another—"

"Chaeyoung! Jisoo! Can you come here for a sec?"

"Coming! Unnie get back here."

As soon as Rosé and Jisoo's footsteps fade away, Lisa exhales in her place. She wasn't even aware she had been holding in her breath. It must have been when her very attentive ears picked up Rosé 's unmistakable voice coming closer to the hallway, widening her eyes in a panic, and so did Jennie's which prompted the older girl to drag them into a thankfully unlocked room.

Lisa had no time to process what sort of room they had gotten themselves in, though she made a good solid guess upon catching a couple of buckets shoved in the corner, some dry mops on her right and a shelf with varying bottles of cleaning solutions were more than an indication of where they're at.

"That was a close one, don't you think, Nini?" Lisa chuckles at their predicament, her hands remaining firm on Jennie's hips as they had been minutes ago. She looks down to Jennie who has her features scrunched up.

"They bet on us?" She mutters, squinting her eyes into slits. "Those bastards."

"Yeah, we aren’t what I would call discreet." Lisa admits, grinning at the adorable pout that has appeared on Jennie's lips. She cups one hand delicately onto the side of Jennie's face, stroking her thumb softly at her dumpling-shaped cheeks. "Shouldn't we tell them?"

Jennie nudges her head softly to lean onto Lisa's touch. "They already know anyway."

"They think they know." Lisa couldn't help but lightly pinch Jennie's cheek. "There's a difference."

"I just..." Jennie starts, biting her lip. Lisa lowers her hand back to its original position on Jennie's hips as she notices the worry in her tone. She draws Jennie closer to her front, and Jennie immediately buries herself onto the crook of Lisa's neck, wisps of warm breath tickling the taller girl’s skin.

It amazes Lisa how perfectly their bodies mold together in a perfect fit, how there's an adequate amount of space for Jennie to tuck herself like this, like she’s the missing piece to her jigsaw puzzle. Lisa couldn't believe she had been blind to her own feelings until several weeks ago. Her previous relationship hadn't exactly been a good one, not because of her significant other at that time (Chan was the best first boyfriend she could ask for), but because she couldn't take her mind off of her bandmate.

Lisa had genuinely liked Chanwoo. He was a gentleman with a great sense of humor and had considered Lisa's feelings before advancing into another step in their relationship. He made sure she was comfortable during their dates, yet there were moments when her thoughts would drift elsewhere. And whenever she was alone, her brain would dive into a series of what if's, mind unsteady about a girl only a few rooms over. It wasn't fair to Chan while he did everything to make it work. So Lisa broke it off before she could hurt him even more.

That didn't mean things with Jennie went on smoothly.

The process was rocky, confusing mainly due to the hot and cold attitude Jennie had. There had been an instance wherein their feelings didn't meet nor matched, and when Lisa had realized how deeply she had felt for Jennie, the girl was unfortunately dating someone else.

Jennie and Kai’s relationship didn't last long either.

At the opening, Lisa was quick to make a move and was hellbent on taking her chance, which brings her back to the present.

Jennie huffs against her chest, her hot breath sprouting goosebumps on the exposed flesh by Lisa's collarbone. "I don't want to mess this up, Lice. I want to deal with this with just you and me first."

"And not for the thrill of sneaking around?"

"What thrill? We're in janitor's closet, Lisa."

"And whose fault is that?" Lisa raises an eyebrow at her.

"I pulled you in the empty hallway to talk to you in private about the potential of Rosie or Jisoo-unnie walking in on us and about that big mouth of yours to shut you up."

"You sure shut me up by pinning me against the wall..."

Jennie momentarily avoids Lisa's gaze as a shade of pink blooms on her cheeks, most likely remembering the rushed kiss she had planted on Lisa. She then rolls her eyes in defeat. "Okay, so maybe I do like the thrill. It's kind of fun when we're trying to live in this world of our own, trying so hard not to get caught like some giddy lovestruck teenagers. It's fun." Jennie repeats, then stares with some gentleness into Lisa's eyes, bearing her heart and soul only for the younger girl to witness. "But it's mostly fun because it's with you."

Lisa grins at Jennie, already tasting a slice of heaven from those words alone. The sensation is indescribable, feeling light on her feet that she wonders if she would be ascending to cloud nine any minute now. To avoid from getting too mushy, she coos comically. "Aww, babe, being stuck in this janitor's closet with a pipe leaking on my head suddenly feels so romantic. Is this what modern-day romance feels like?"

"How am I dating you?" Jennie shakes her head, although with a hint of fondness adorning her pleased smile. "And we have to make up an excuse why we were gone for thirty minutes. They already think we're screwing."

"Aren't we heading towards that?" Lisa's voice drops as she inches her mouth downwards to Jennie's jaw, trailing her fingers along the length of the brunette's torso.

A groan rumbles from Jennie's throat. "Oh my God, I'm dating a hormonal teenage boy."

"Okay, okay." Lisa relents, giving in to the shorter girl's wishes. "Don't you have a list of food you wanted to try here in Thailand?"

"Oh yeah, I do." Jennie suddenly recalls the mental list she had made days prior to their flight for Lisa's hometown. "We could say you were helping me with that, and we went around asking the staff what else they could recommend."

"Which is unnecessary, truthfully speaking, when you have a hot local in your area to show you around." Lisa throws a self-assured wink at her.

"Alright time to get out. This tiny space has gone to your head."

***

Lisa savored the days, sometimes only hours, whenever she could have Jennie all to herself. During their day-offs, they would constantly share these silent exchanges, communicating with their eyes, basically a code to set up their rendezvous. And in the company of others, they have gone creative with their excuses, sputtering out stories of needing to do this or being called to do that. Lisa would say she would be going somewhere, and Jennie would say she would be out with Chahee or her mother (they would get into separate cars and meet within the one-kilometer radius of their meeting place).

But lying behind Jisoo and Rosè's backs isn't something Lisa is fond of doing. However, neither she nor Jennie are ready to come clean just yet, so they will have to keep up with their charade.

Besides, their friends have the faintest idea of what goes on between them. It’s just the lack of concrete evidence that is probably giving them second thoughts of their suspicion. Lisa is having too much fun hiding to give them the satisfaction, continuing to dance around with Jennie on their tiptoes.

"Can't we go hang in my room?" Lisa whines from Jennie's bed as she smoothens Kuma's fur, the fluffy Pomeranian busying himself by licking his paws beside her.

Jennie deadpans, unimpressed by her request. "Babe. Your room is a dump. And you have haunted jeans in your closet."

"My jeans aren't haunted." Lisa corrects her. "Something threw them at me."

"Still, some jeans-hating ghost could be residing in your room." Jennie argues, tossing her shopping bags aside (she really went on a shopping spree with Chahee this time). Since the two knew no one would be at the dorm, they agreed to come home early to take advantage of the hours of uninterrupted alone time. "By the way, did you bring home some food from a pastry shop? I was searching for something to wash off the awful taste in my mouth from whatever it was I ate for lunch.”

"No, I might’ve heard Rosie stop by a little before twelve. I was in my room then so I'm not too sure."

Jennie plops herself onto the mattress, the foam dipping at her weight, rolling to face Lisa and sporting the gummiest grin she could ever muster. Lisa also mimicks the mischievous grin she has adorned, propping her elbow and resting the side of her head on her palm.

"What?" Lisa asks all too quietly, despite being alone with Jennie in the comfort of her bedroom.

"Guess we have the place to ourselves..." Jennie states the obvious.

"Oh, so who's the hormonal teenage boy now?"

"Oh my God!" Jennie slaps Lisa's propped up arm, knocking her head back down to the pillow. "I wasn't insinuating anything." She proceeds to poke Lisa on the nose.

They stay like that for a good hour or two, alternating from kissing to having these mindless conversations.

Lisa has never felt this content.

"Wow, I'm loving your lipstick." Lisa husks out, pausing their kiss briefly. She hovers over Jennie, peppering her neck with short pecks as the older girl runs her hands around Lisa's back and hair. As much as she loves feeling and hearing the quickening of Jennie's breathing, she darts her mouth to Jennie's once more. "It's like cheesecake."

"Yeah, well because it is—"

"I'm hungry.” Lisa grumbles at the corner of Jennie’s parted lips, her stomach demanding to be fed. She can’t focus with the idea of a nice cup of orange broth floating through her imagination. “I'm craving for some ramyeon."

"We're out of ramyeon,” Jennie says, impatience littered in her tone. She tugs at Lisa’s neck to urge her to move forward, but the girl is too distracted by the information that they have run out of supply. “Chaeng ate everything.”

“But why?”

“Because it’s Chaeng?”

A drawn-out grunt bounces off the walls of Jennie’s bedroom. Lisa slumps herself sideways on the bed, completely dismayed. They had ordered a box of ramyeon about a week ago. How can someone finish all that? Did she consume it in one sitting? Why does Rosé have to eat like she has been deprived of meals?

"Did you just stop kissing me because you're upset we're out of ramyeon."

"Priorities, Jen."

"Okay."

"Wait, don't leave, I'm kidding! Your cheesecake lips are better!"

***

In the succeeding months of being together, Jennie refuses to let that incident go. It’s not everyday they could freely make-out (maybe go a little further), and to be prioritized over a bowl of noodles? Jennie can’t disregard the strange bruise it inflicted on her ego. She reminds Lisa every now and then of the choice she had made, to be rebutted with a, “I wasn’t thinking straight, babe, I was hungry and confused!”

"How about we pretend we're on a date?" Lisa proposes, breaking Jennie from her stupor, intertwining their fingers together amidst pushing through the crowd of the Coachella venue.

"In public?" Jennie clarifies if she understands what Lisa is implying.

"Scratch that, let's make this a date. A legit one." Lisa's eyes sparkle at her own proposal. She squeezes Jennie's hand in hers to put her at ease, as she habitually does. "I hold hands with Jisoo-unnie. Rosie too. We would be like two regular buds hanging out. Except we make out when others aren't looking. No one will figure it out. Just us."

"Confident aren't you?"

"Babe, playing lowkey is our thing."

Jennie has no choice but to agree. She's not wrong. They have learned the art of keeping everything on the down low, taking her up on the offer, tugging at their joined hands.

"Well, alright as long as you're paying."

"Of course, we will be eating as buds."

"So where are you taking me, bud?"

“Any requests, bud?”

Playing lowkey is definitely their thing.

***

(Somewhere down the line)

Interview with Seoul’s It-Girl and Chanel Ambassador, Jennie Kim

Last month saw fans go into a frenzy as Korean fashion icon, Jennie Kim, and photographer slash model slash choreographer, Lalisa Manoban sealed the deal the nature of their relationship through social media. While former bandmates, Kim Jisoo and Roseanne Park, have given their statements, the masses have yet to hear from the couple themselves. A moment of privacy had been asked by the girls’ respective managers in addressing the numerous requests for interviews.

And now, it seems like Miss Kim is more than ready to give the answers everyone has been so eager to hear.

Hi, Jennie we’re so glad to have you with us today.

Jennie: Thank you for having me.

Nervous?

Jennie: (Smiles shyly) I am. Anyone in my position would be. But I have to get this over with. Not just because the fans have waited long enough, but I’m also doing this for myself.

Alright, let’s begin. How has the past month been?

Jennie: Hectic, actually. After our posts went viral, we had to meet with our managers to sort everything out. They knew of our plan, and we did expect some kind of commotion to erupt. I could say we were prepared for it. We all decided it was best to let everything sink in for everyone, and a month’s worth of going under the radar was what we needed.

Exactly how did you two get under the radar?

Jennie: If I have to get into detail, we’ll be here all day (laughs). But to summarize, there were a bunch of security measures we had to follow to ensure we wouldn’t be caught or be hounded by reporters out of nowhere. New York is a city full of people, we couldn’t have our guards down. It was a meticulous process, which I completely understood to maintain our privacy. As much as I wanted to talk, Lisa and I agreed it would be better to give it some time before any of us would address the public.

I take it that a month is enough time?

Jennie: Definitely. This is a huge step for us, considering the culture in my hometown. The topic is still slightly taboo, but I can see some changes leaning to a more positive note so there’s that. And knowing we have a huge following, we wanted to lead as an example for people in the same boat as us, to be able to face their fears and embrace who they are and who they love. It shouldn’t have to be complicated.

Do you have fears from going public?

Jennie: It’s normal to be scared, right? I love our fans, I wouldn’t be here without their enormous support. At the same time, I did have this initial of fear of how they would react, if they would be disappointed. Then again, I thought, this is who I am and I shouldn’t change for anyone. If someone doesn’t like it, then tough on them.

That’s some impeccable bravery you have.

Jennie: People pleasing is exhausting in the long run, and I don’t want to lose myself through that. Lisa has taught me to stay true to myself, no matter what other people think I should be.

Now that you’ve mentioned Lisa, let’s move on to the next part. We’ve seen the different sides of Lisa on variety shows, but how is she as a partner?

Jennie: Oh gosh, where do I start? (giggles nervously) She’s amazing and very patient. Also very supportive in everything I do. Despite our busy schedules, she sneaks in a call or two per day even if it’s only a minute so I could feel she’s really there with me. She has been my number one cheerleader ever since we were in our teens.

Was it an easy transition to move from being friends to being a couple?

Jennie: Not quite. It was complicated. We both had a lot going on in our lives at that point. What remained clear was our main priority bein Blackpink. We didn’t focus on our relationship too much, but I guess a time came when we couldn’t hold it off anymore. The funny thing was, our members were just waiting for it to happen.

You both were still in Blackpink when it began. How did you manage to keep it a secret from your fans?

Jennie: From our reality shows, fans could see how the for of us are affectionate with one another. Especially Lisa. We kept that up. It evens everything out, lessens the suspicion. There are those who pay super close attention to what we do, and we just couldn’t control that. We just leave everything to our imaginations. Some are spot on with their suspicions, while some have looked to deeply into coincidences. It’s honestly funny how right and wrong they were (laughs). Like yeah, we’re together, but we’re not wearing matching bracelets that one time. I can’t blame them for coming up with those since we did leave subtle hints.

“Subtle my ass,” Jisoo mumbles in amusement on the screen of the iPad, preventing Rosé from proceeding with the online article. The older girl’s hairdresser, who could partially be seen blow-drying Jisoo’s hair, briefly casts her a look of astonishment. Rosé sends her an apologetic smile on her friend’s behalf.

There are these moments where Rosé somewhat regrets teaching Jisoo some English slang. If she and Jennie hadn’t, the oldest might be learning them from another source in the form of their youngest member.

“If someone doubts your acting skills, unnie, just tell them, ‘Bitch please!’ and flip your hair.”

Had Rosé not been there for that conversation, Lisa’s words of wisdom could have tainted Jisoo’s increasing vocabulary.

“You should be careful in saying that. It’s very inappropriate there.”

“Inappropriate my ass.” The make-up artist clears her throat to somehow conceal the scowl developing on her unimpressed features, leaving Jisoo on the salon chair for a second. Jisoo finally realizes she has taken it too far. “Yeah, okay, my bad.”

“Told ya.”

“Are we still on for the 20^th?”

Rosé rests deeper into the cushions, almost drowning herself in the comfiest waiting chair she has ever sat on. She could hear the crowd buzzing on the outside of the waiting room, singing along to opening act’s soulful ballad. Her guitar is splayed on a table, strings tuned to perfection, the customized instrument glittering under the illumination.

She could never get quite used to this, get quite used to doing what she loves, performing to her heart’s content. The stage may feel blaringly empty without three other figures performing alongside her, but she is more than elated to see her best friends be happy in the different paths they have chosen, even with the oceans and hours between them.

No time zone nor distance could destroy the bond they have created.

“I’m flying Seoul on the 19^th, and Lisa did tell me she and unnie will be spending a few days in Jeju with unnie’s mom, so we could have our intimate reunion on the 20^th as planned.”

“Nice. I’ll inform the security of the apartment to let you guys in through the second entrance. Paparazzies won’t have any access there. You won’t have to be cautious about flashing lights suddenly popping out of nowhere. Though the receptionist is a fan, but she’s really friendly. She’ll maybe ask for a photo or an autograph.”

“Noted.” Rosé nods. Fans have always been close to her heart. She could gift the receptionist a signed album on her arrival. “Thanks for allowing us to use your penthouse, unnie.”

“It’s not everyday Blackpink gets to live under one roof again. In separate bedrooms.”

“Be sure to brief those lovebirds.”

“I’ll encourage them to have as many sexy times as they can in Jeju.”

A grimace graces Rosé’s glossy lips. “Gross, but like yeah. Good thing you pressure washed the couch from our old dorm before selling it.”

“I was tempted to burn it.”

“Rosé, you’re up in five!” Rosé’s manager peeps into the room, gesturing to the clock for her to be mindful of how much she has left to settle the bundle of nerves tingling her bones.

It’s still incredibly surreal after all these years, her dreams that were once just spoken promises to her younger self are now a reality. The crucial minutes before a performance still gives her the jitters, but the excitement that courses through as she gets lost in a song on stage overpowers it, eliminating her worries in an instant.

A notification on her iPad fills the top of the screen, baring a short message from Lisa:

go get it chaeng! we love you! -jen & lili

This is the shortest message she has received for tonight, her sister penning a long-ass essay about taking deep calming breaths and remembering to pee before the show. But God does she forget about her nervousness from being able to hear from her other two best friends regardless of the length of their message.

“Gotta go, unnie. Stay warm during the shoot!”

“Good luck on your show, go break an arm!”

“It’s break a leg!”

And as Rosé makes an appearance on stage, guitar slung over her shoulders, she could still feel the ghost of her best friends supporting her by her side as the crowd screams their lungs out into the venue.

“What’s up, Melbourne, are you guys ready?!”