❝𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘. ── 𝗞.𝗡𝗝✔️

x

Namjoon didn't know what she was talking about. "Of course you do." He insisted against her claims. "You're job has nothing to do with whether you belong anywhere or not. I brought you here because I thought you'd enjoy it." His hands balled into fists on the surface of the table. He quickly unballed them. He wasn't angry at her, not at all. How could he be?

Namjoon carefully reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "You belong here." He assured her. "You deserve to be here. They don't matter."

It's been a long time since Rose has ever felt anything for a man. Since her heart throbbed with longing for someone to love her. She doesn't love Namjoon but she wants to. She wants to trust but she knows that if she places her trust in the hands of the wrong person, they will take advantage of it.

Rose already got used enough by her customers. By men who liked to do things that their wives would never participate in. By men who liked it when she struggled. When she cried, when she begged for someone to help her. To fulfill their sick and twisted fantasy. But it wasn't a fantasy for her. It was how she felt in those moments, the only time she could truly say what was on her mind.

The food came quickly, a delicious aroma filling the air around them as their plates were set in front of them and a wine bottle was placed on their table. Namjoon thanked the waiter while Rose remained silent, simply picking up her fork to start eating.

"Thank you, Namjoon. This is very kind of you." Rose brushed her ponytail behind her back and began to eat the meat perfectly smoked in front of her. As an aspiring chef, she could be fawning over all of this, complimenting every aspect of the cooking, the seasoning, but she just can't. Her mind is lost, wandering elsewhere.

Namjoon smiled softly. "Of course. Do you like it?" Rose nodded. "It's great." Her eyes were analytical. Maybe she was right the first time. Maybe he was slowly working up to free sex. Treating her nice, doing all this thoughtful stuff only so he could get his fill.

Rose wasn't the type of woman someone like Namjoon settled down with, built a real relationship with. She was a passing fling. Something exciting to add to his boring, everyday life. He wants spice. He wants something exhilarating, but soon he'll get bored and go back to the way his life once was.

He'll settle down and marry a nice, quiet woman, untouched and untainted, who will give him all the children he could ever want. That wasn't Rose.

"I can give you a ride home after this if you'd like." Namjoon offered innocently. "Or the subway if you want, but it's really cold out tonight. It's already snowing." It was out of worry. She could get sick, really sick and that was the last thing he wanted.

The last thing Rose needed was to get sick. She made a mental note to go into the peep show just outside of time square to get her winter job back.

"I can take the subway, I don't get sick often." Her immune system was shit. A person in France could cough and somehow, someway, she would end up sick. But she had to persevere. But she had to protect herself.

Namjoon nodded and continued to eat his pasta. "Okay, I'll drive you there." But the conversation didn't end there. Namjoon had asked her about her day. How her classes were. Anything she wanted to talk to him about.

He looked so happy and intrigued when she told him about her day as if the fact that her showerhead had broken was the most amazing thing in the world. He could find fascination in everything she said. Every word she spoke was magic.

He didn't drink much wine at all. "I'm not much of a drinker." He told her. "But have as much as you want."

Red flag. Rose only had one glass that night. Was he going to try something? Was he trying to get her drunk on purpose? Get her talking, distract her so he could take her away, and...

She was in a constant battle of wanting to trust him and fearing him. Wanting to believe he was a good person but also remembering he was a man and men take.

They soon finish their food and the waiter comes around with the check. Namjoon pays it without much of a word and they take off for the night.

The snow had layered a few centimeters on the ground, though, it was coming down a bit heavier than it was before and it was absolutely freezing. Namjoon put his arm around her. "Come on, let's get to the car."

Rose remained silent in the passenger seat. Her hands were neatly folded in her lap. She drags her tongue over her bottom lip as she watches the windshield wipers do their work in clearing the view.

She draws in a sharp breath and turns to look at the driving man. She might as well say it outright. If anything was going to happen, she'd rather it happen now than for her to start trusting him and for him to abuse it.

"What do you want from this, Namjoon?" Rose asked him. He came up to a red light and stopped behind a car, giving him the chance to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Is it sex what at you want? Huh?" Her lip trembles softly. "Are you doing all this nice shit so I'll give it to you for free?" She wants to care about him. She wants to love him. To trust him. To appreciate every nice thing he's ever done for her but she can't shake the feeling that this is all a setup. That it's an illusion.

Namjoon's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! I would never-"

"I don't trust you!"

"What did I do to make you think that?!" Namjoon didn't mean to raise his voice at her. He really didn't but the way she flinched away from him made his heartbreak. She whimpered, turning away from him in fear.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He settled down. "But did I do something wrong? Did I offend you? Am I coming off the wrong way?" He just wanted to fix this. To let her know his intentions. He just had to know where he went wrong.

Rose sniffled, rubbing away her tears with her hands. Nothing. He did nothing wrong. "You didn't do anything and that's the problem. You're too perfect. You're too nice. There has to be something wrong with you because men like you don't exist for women like me." She sounds insane, even to herself, but she has to protect herself at all costs.

"If you just want free sex, fine Namjoon. Take me to a hotel or something. Just...stop playing with my heart." She wrapped her arms around herself as she cried.

"I'm not trying to use you!" Namjoon couldn't possibly tell what happening, what's going wrong? He was trying to be good to her, to win her over but none of his efforts are working. She will never trust him.

Rose remained silent for a moment, simply crying. The red brake lights of the car in front of them made her tears look like blood. She grabbed the handle of the door and popped it open. "I'll walk the rest of the way." She told him. It didn't matter that she was walking through three other rows of cars and Namjoon couldn't stop her.

"WAIT-" but the door had already slammed shut and Rose was marching off, weaving between cars to make her way onto the sidewalk. The light turned green and the cars ahead of him moved on but he didn't. He just sat there, listening to the horns of the cars behind him honk.

He finally had to move on. But his heart was left on the street, crushed under the bottom of her heels.

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

Only four chapters left and I haven't even finished the Epilogue smh. I need to get my shit together.

I don't have a drawing for y'all rn. I decided that I'm gonna start drawing at the end of the day just so I can go back to sleep after getting ready for school. So yep...

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay ᕦ༼ ~ •́ ₒ •̀ ~ ༽ᕤ