Chapter Text
Watching dreamy, whispy clouds race by your window, you couldn’t believe you were actually doing this: moving halfway across the globe to play with one of the biggest music acts in the world. Last week you were just a girl in her 20s playing drum covers in your parents’ basement for your modest Youtube following, and now suddenly you were on your way to meet the most sought after music act today.
The agent you had hired with what little earnings you were making from your YouTube channel had been putting out feelers for months to different labels and companies, and you had gotten some small gigs from that, but you were still waiting for your big break. After college, you moved back home as your career in music was slow to start, but you didn’t want to be playing drums in your parents’ basement forever.
You’ve always been a little bit of a loner, doing what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it and you never really wanted to be tied down by one job or one act the rest of your career, which led to the go-with-the-flow lifestyle you’ve adapted to, letting jobs take you wherever they would, and enjoying the ride along the way.
You don’t think you’ll ever forget the moment you received the call. You were barely awake at 11am on a Tuesday, still tired after a long night playing a gig. The sun beamed in through your windows and the covers wrapped tightly around you. You reached out for your phone on the nightstand, groaning when you accidentally knocked it off and inevitably had to unwrap yourself from your warm cocoon to pick it up. Squinting at the screen, you saw it was an international number, and you were peeved you would have to pay long distance for it, but you were also intrigued so you answered groggily. You were glad you did.
The call happened to be from a representative from YG Entertainment, specifically for a band called “Blackpink”, who was set to go on tour very soon and were in desperate need of a drummer, their current one leaving the band on short notice. Of course you accepted, thinking this was really your chance to make it big, and two days later and after some tearful goodbyes (and possibly joyful ones too that your parents could finally live in peace) you were here, on the plane, ready to take on a new adventure. You knew virtually nothing about South Korea, the closest you’ve ever been to going outside the continent was the short trip your family took to Canada when you were younger. Much less was your knowledge about Kpop, but you were excited to take this opportunity to learn more about the global music industry.
As the plane made its landing around 8am, you took another look at your itinerary for the day, trying to memorize the full day you had ahead of you. A YG staff member picked you up from the airport where they took you directly to the company building to meet the other band members and later the members of Blackpink.
You were excited and nervous as you entered the building, pulling the lapels of your leather jacket together as you moved to stuff your hands in your pockets. After being ushered into a conference room, band members filtered in and although you were the only female in the group, you had a feeling you all would mesh really well. Right off the bat you shared stories about tattoos, showing off some of the favorites from your sleeve and they asked questions about your career so far, amazed you were given this opportunity at such an early stage.
After some discussion, you moved to your first band rehearsal where you would meet the girls. You couldn’t even pretend you knew much about them. The most research you had done was listen to their discography and gave each member a quick google search on the plane ride. It’s not that you didn’t care, you just didn’t want to set any expectations and get your hopes up in the case this ended up being a terrible experience.
Taking a seat at the drum set in the practice room, you looked down, making some adjustments and warming up a bit as everyone else did the same. The door pushed open and your eyes widened when Blackpink actually entered the room. The girls you learned about through your phone screen just hours earlier were actually in front of you. From what you researched, you learned that they were kind of a big deal. You couldn’t help feeling a bit starstruck, but didn’t want to look like that mattered too much to you, so you played off their entrance with a short introduction and a half smile before taking your seat.
Each girl’s gaze seemed to linger even after you stopped speaking and you didn’t miss the way Jisoo leaned over to whisper something in Jennie’s ear before letting out soft chuckles and snapping their gazes to the papers in front of them. You had assumed it was because you were a female and a drummer, possibly something of a rare sight to them. After getting all set, you looked up again to catch Rosé still staring at you. Your eyes met for the briefest moment before she snapped out of it, moving her eyes again to the sheets in front of her. You didn’t really pay any mind to it. You watched her for a moment before turning your attention to your new bandmates as they went over how this would go.
All of the girls were effortlessly beautiful in their own ways, but something about Rosé intrigued you. By the way she kept accidentally catching your gaze, you had a feeling she was feeling something too. Her blonde locks flowed over her shoulders, her minimalist makeup accentuated her best features, and even just in sweats and a t-shirt you felt drawn to her, not even having had one conversation with her yet.
After band rehearsals you had about an hour before you would be pulled into a thousand different meetings for the rest of the day, so you decided to stake out in the practice room a little longer, shooting your parents a text message stating everything was going well so far. Trying to kill time, you scrolled Twitter for what seemed like hours before the door creaked open into the now empty practice room. You were somewhat surprised to see Rosé make the turn around the door and into the room, although you kept your eyes trained to the screen in front of you.
“Y/N, was it?” She asked, unsure. Although something in her tone made it sound like she was pretty sure.
“Yep, that’s me. What’s up?” you moved your gaze to meet hers, and you could tell the unexpected eye contact made her a bit nervous.
“I-uhm, the girls and I were wondering if you’d want to get dinner with us later? We wanted to get to know our newest band member. I mean, if you’re available. I mean, I’m sure you have a busy schedule today but-”
Sensing her nervous rambles as she broke eye contact, you cut her off, “Yes, I’d love to.” You gave her a tight-lipped smile as you continued, “although I’m stuck in meetings the rest of the day. I could probably swing a dinner afterwards though. What would be the best way to contact you?”
You had hoped she picked up on what you were insinuating. It was your first day and you didn’t want to be kicked out for flat out asking Rosé for her number. You knew there were rules in place, but you still weren’t sure exactly where the boundaries lied.
“Oh! Here,” she moved closer as she scrolled through her phone, opening up an empty contact sheet for you and handing you her phone, “just put your number in.”
You did as you were told before handing her phone back, watching as she clicked around her phone for a minute before you heard yours ding from where it sat in your back pocket.
“Just shoot me a text when you’re done and you can meet up with us then.” You nodded slowly and she paused, looking at you curiously for a moment before continuing, “Anyway, I uh...I have to get going, but it was really nice meeting you today, Y/N! I’ll see you later.”
You gave her a small smile and watched as she turned on her heels and walked out of the room. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, and you wondered how she had this much of a hold on you already.
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It was nearly eight hours later when you finally made it out of your last meetings, absolutely exhausted and famished, torn between wanting to eat a horse or asking the horse to gently bring you home so you could sleep for twelve hours before your undoubtedly busier day tomorrow. As you stepped off the elevator on the first floor of the YG building while still looking down at your phone, about to give Rosé a call about the evening’s plans, you heard someone calling your name.
You looked up, realizing it was actually Rosé, sitting on a bench near the entrance and waving in your direction. You quickly make your way over to her, noting how she looked like the most cuddly teddy bear with her fluffy jacket, but pushed that thought aside when you remembered you had to be professional.
You stuffed your hands in your jacket pockets again as you headed her way, calling out to her once you got closer.
“Rosé? I thought you would be at the restaurant already.” you questioned and she stood up, a safe distance from you.
“Yeah, but then I realized it’s literally your first day here and we didn’t want you to get lost so I stayed back so we could go together. It’s just a spot around the corner. Just a short walk.”
You followed her out into the brisk fall night, as you made your way to the restaurant together. Although the walk was less than ten minutes long, she asked about your day, who you met, how your meetings were. And you asked her the same, conversation soon cut off by your arrival at the restaurant. The other three girls sat at a table and had already ordered (which you were very grateful for), and they waved you two over with big smiles. Rosé grabbed your hand and pulled you in their direction, and you didn’t know her well enough to know if this was something she did with everyone, or if this action was reserved for you.
Hoping the blush on the tips of your ears wasn’t too noticeable, you shrugged it off and went to go sit next to Lisa, Rosé taking the seat directly across from you. You all spent some time getting to know each other and eating, and you’re not sure when, but somehow you and Rosé were focused on your own conversation while the others were distracted by their own.
“So, Y/N, tell me how you got into playing the drums.”
You let out a chuckle. “Ha, well it’s actually an interesting story,” you leaned forward, placing your arm on the table in front of you, reaching subtly towards Rosé. She leaned forward too, and you glanced down for a split second to see her fingers less than an inch within touching yours. You looked back up and quickly cleared your throat before continuing, “I wanted to stand out. Girls I went to school with played piano or violin or whatever, and it felt too dainty for me. I really wanted to feel the music, and I desperately wanted to be different at a young age, so I begged my parents to get me a drum set when I was like 8. They did and the rest is kind of history.”
You shrugged your shoulders and Rosé looked at you in awe.
“Wow, that’s kind of really badass, Y/N. Me, I just wanted to be a musician. Congratulations, so does everyone else, but you-”
For the second time that day you cut her off.
“Hey, don’t say that. What I’ve seen you do just today is amazing.” You lowered your voice so only she could hear you, “You are pretty badass, trust me.” And you realized that as you said this, you leaned forward, causing your fingers to gently brush over hers on the other side of the table. Taking a glance down and immediately pulling back, you caught a glimpse of something in her eyes that you couldn’t put a finger on, but you played it off, gesturing to everyone else at the table.
“You ALL are really amazing.”
You were thankful that you seemed to have caught the attention of the others, able to change the subject, even as Rosé kept her eyes trained on you. Jennie turned to respond.
“Hey, isn’t it a little early to be kissing ass, Y/N?” She teased and you let out a laugh. You didn’t have many expectations, but so far they have exceeded all of them. The girls were much more laid back than you had originally expected, and you felt like you all would get along well. Which was a great relief. You thought your first day would be much more difficult.
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After dinner, the girls insisted on having their driver drive you home, and you accepted, realizing you had no idea where you would even be living or how to get around. Thankfully, they had you in an apartment just a few minutes from the company building, and you weren’t really planning on having much time to explore the city, so this was kind of perfect.
Your bags had been delivered earlier in the day, so when the car came to a stop in front of the building, you hopped out, thanking the girls for dinner and pulling a sheet of paper out of your pocket to figure out where you were going. Sensing your slight confusion, Rosé piped up from the back seat.
“Hey, Y/N! You want me to walk you up to your apartment?”
You didn’t have much time to protest as you heard her seatbelt click open and you turned to watch her hop out of the car to stand on the sidewalk next to you. You still tried though.
“Oh-I-uh-I can probably find my way up I mean it’s not a big complex or anything.”
Before you were even done talking, she grabbed your hand for the second time that day, leading you into the building.
You didn’t miss the teasing “ooooohs” from the car or the loud “ow, ow!” from Lisa, but Rosé pretended she didn’t hear anything, and you followed her lead, but the teasing left you more confused.
After reading some signs and asking you for confirmation, she led you straight to your door, dropping your hand.
“This is you.” She gestured her arms towards the door, as if it were show-and-tell for the class.
“Yep, this is me.” You realized then that the two of you were standing unnecessarily close, almost crowding into the width of the door frame for absolutely no reason. You watched as Rosés eyes dropped their gaze to your lips and for a long moment, you stood there as she began to move more closely so gradually you almost questioned if it was even happening. She stopped, her gaze unmoving as she spoke again, just barely above a whisper.
“I should, uh, get going then.” But she made no move to actually leave. Rosé was so close that you could feel her breath across your own lips and as your brain caught up with the situation, you cleared your throat, quickly fishing the key from your pocket and turning to open your apartment door.
“Yep, I will-I’ll see you tomorrow, you know, busy day and all.”
You were embarrassed at the nervous rambling so you dropped your head as you entered your apartment, closing the door and dropping against it to the floor, hoping she didn’t think anything of it. After a few seconds, you heard footsteps moving away from your door, and you got up, wanting nothing more than to go straight to bed.
Although you had been awake for god knows how long at this point, you couldn’t stop thinking about Rosé. This has never happened to you before. You’re not a relationship girl, you’re a take-someone-home-from-the-bar girl for Christ’s sake! Being around Rosé, even just for the short time that day, made you feel a certain way and it left you confused, but even more so excited to see her again.