Chapter 23: No Time To Die
Bent and broken far beyond the point of exhaustion, Rosie had nearly fallen asleep on Chanyeol's shoulder. Hours had passed in the frigid cold, and yet, Rosie heard nothing. She saw nothing, save for Irene idly leaning against the truck, satisfied with all the life she'd beaten out of Rosie thus far.
Chanyeol was formulating a plan, Rosie knew, one that would get him killed. She knew it was within his brotherly instincts to save her, to somehow take the fall. Rosie couldn't let it happen. Hours ago, she'd whispered, in a short hiss "Don't you dare try anything, Yeol."
His response shook her. "Kim isn't coming for you!" He fired back. "No one is."
"How do you know?" Rosie mumbled, trying to keep her voice steady. Her ribs ached, and she knew they had to be broken.
She'd never prayed for death before, but now, she did. She willed herself to give in to the sweet sway, the pull of lifelessness as it coursed through her, threatening to take her.
She felt herself go limp, head on Chanyeol's shoulder as he began to panic, unsure if she was simply exhausted or dead.
"Park!" He hissed. "Don't you fucking die on me. It's your fault we're in this mess!"
"Asshole." Rosie mumbled into his shirt, and he gave her a small, sacred, silent grin, because she was alive, and she still had a sense of humor.
At least they hadn't beaten that out of her.
She hadn't known how many hours had passed with her sitting like that, thoughts of Jennie filling her mind.
God, she'd missed Jennie Kim. She'd missed everything about her. She'd missed her smile, her warm chuckle and throaty voice. She missed the way she'd whine Rosie's name when she took her soft, full lips between her own.
Hell, she missed all of Jennie. Not only the Jennie she'd known when they were together, but the Colonel as well.
She'd missed the Jennie that yelled, the Jennie that would get so frustrated that a vein in her neck would become apparent. She missed the Jennie that would exasperatedly sigh, "Rosie." Whenever she did something inherently wrong.
She missed her best friend, the one she confided in about her mother, her father, everything. She missed her lover, who worshipped every inch of her body until she was too sore to walk the following day.
She missed every piece of Jennie, and it was simply dawning on Rosie that life without her was a life Rosie had no interest in living.
The worst part was, she had to wonder if the love of her life was okay. Alan had reported that she'd survived Jungkook's initial attack, but was that enough to go on?
Chanyeol, however, was right. Jennie was not going to come for Rosie, if she had any say in it. She wanted Jennie safe, as far away from all the violence as possible. She was willing to die for it.
Rosie woke to the sound of Chanyeol's growl, "Don't you fucking touch her."
Rosie's gaze snapped open to find Jungkook, crouched down before her, looking as if he'd cried through the entire night.
Rosie wanted to spit on him for all he'd done.
"Rosie." He whispered, Irene a mere few feet behind him. "Rosie, what did they do to you?"
"They?" Rosie croaked, her throat dry and sore. "You did this, Jungkook." She winced when she inhaled too sharply, remembering her possibly broken ribs in a moment of agony.
Jungkook whipped around on Irene. "Why?" He demanded, rising to tower over her in height. "I told you to get her unharmed!"
Irene's jaw set, and Rosie hated the way it reminded her of Jennie. "You need to make up your mind, Jungkook. I'm helping you distance yourself."
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the truth about monsters (Chaennie)
قصص الهواةPowerful business executives by day, cutthroat kingpins by night, Jennie Kim and the Jeon siblings have been rivals since they inherited their parents' respective companies. When Roseanne Park, fostered by the Jeons, has a chance encounter with Jenn...
