##; | june 27th,, 2020.
rosey frequently hung out with the members of nct dream; they began their hangouts late last year, following their participation on weekly idol together.
she walked inside the practice room, opening the glass door and peered around for the boys who were typically present at that time. her gaze was drawn to a short blonde-haired girl, a friend from another company.
"rosey!" the girl shouted excitedly as she stood up to greet the girl.
chaeyoung hugged the girl tightly before releasing her and returning to the table she had previously sat at. she also spent a lot of time with the dreamies, having grown up with them since 2013 before departing the company in 2017.
chaeyoung was frequently spotted in the company building because she had a sibling who was also a nct member. she had plenty of permission to enter the building whenever she wanted, so she often brought rosey with her.
"finally, it's about time you came here," renjun said, "the food was starting to go cold."
the others laughed at their member's lighthearted tone. haechan, on the other hand, was not pleased when he saw rosey's face show a phony smile and chuckled before turning sad again. he nudged the older boy on the arm and told him to cut it out.
rosey joined the group at the table, taking the empty chair that chaeyoung had moved closer to her. chaeyoung handed rosey her take-out box, which they had ordered an hour before.
"don't mind him," chaeyoung said quietly, "the food just got here."
rosey nodded, letting her bag fall from her shoulder onto the floor and lay next to her shoes. she started eating her long-awaited food and listened to the others talk about their days.
in between bites of their meals, they played table games. after chenle claimed he was strong than jisung, they played arm wrestle which eventually turned into a group game of rock, paper, scissors.
haechan picked on rosey half the time and everyone noticed. he'd been reading her by pointing out that she wasn't playing correctly or ruffling her curly hair, which was already messed up from the wind.
haechan extended his arm in front of jaemin, attempting to tap rosey to get her attention, but failing. jaemin grasped and pushed the boy's arm back. he leaned over to the playful boy, glaring at him.
"leave the girl alone," jaemin said, "you're going to scare her away with all your flirting."
haechan uncomfortably chuckled at jaemin's quiet comments. he released his grip on his arm and haechan looked over jaemin's shoulder at the girl behind him.
"you're kidding," haechan scratched his head, "right?"
"perhaps just tone it down," jaemin rolled his eyes.
haechan's gaze remained fixed on rosey. she was talking to renjun at the far end of the table, so she didn't see his gaze on her. he noted her hair was tangled, which was one of the reasons she kept putting her hood back up when it fell.
after watching from a far, chaeyoung approached jaemin and haechan, placing her hands on both of the backs of their seats.
"what are you guys doing over here whispering?"
jaemin raised his head and pointed to the boy in front of him. haechan sighed at the unexpected betrayal. his gaze remained fixed on rosey as she chatted gently to the boy next to her.
"i just don't want her to feel excluded," haechan admitted, "since she hasn't been talking much."
chaeyoung put one hand on haechan's shoulder. she nodded and looked across at rosey and renjun, like jaemin had done earlier.
"we know," chaeyoung said, "but she's still getting over it, and rosey doesn't say much when she's down. i believe she simply enjoys the company."
haechan's gaze shifted from rosey to renjun, who was doing an excellent job of persuading the girl to engage in conversation with him despite her shyness. he noticed his friend shushing himself in the middle of a sentence.
"i'll be right back," rosey said as she picked up her phone.
she left the table rapidly, swiping the answer button as she walked to the farthest corner of the practice studio. she put her phone to her ear and concentrated on the call.
"okay, yeah, i'll be back soon."
her leader, chan, was on the other end of the phone. he'd called to see when she'd be back at the dorms because it was becoming late. chan got very concerned when rosey went out late after the event that left rosey in the hospital.
"i promise, i'll be alright."
"okay, let me know when you're on your way."
rosey hung up after a few seconds of stillness on her end. she slipped her phone into her pocket and went to return to the table. they were all standing up and beginning to tidy up their trash.
as chaeyoung gathered her trash, her hands snapped at haechan, "here comes rosey."
their talk came to a halt and haechan continued to tidy up as if nothing had happened. he became aware of her presence beside him and watched as her hands began to pick up trash as well.
she reached away from him to grab the last of the empty take-out boxes. he held out the trash bag for her to dump them into when she turned back towards him.
"are you leaving?" haechan asked, his eyes fixed on the boxes falling to the bottom of the bag.
rosey raised her eyes to the boy, "yeah, in a bit. my friends are worried about me staying out late. you don't mind, do you?"
he didn't respond quickly and his response was later than he would have preferred. he shook his head and moved the bag on a chair between them.
"no, not at all."
after overhearing their chat, jeno checked his phone across from them. he informed everyone in the room of the time, keeping them up to date.
"rosey, don't you have to be back at your dorms soon? it's eleven thirty-three."
rosey's eyes widened and she immediately tossed whatever trash she was holding. her mind was working quicker than her body, but she realized she needed to leave the building soon for her lengthy walk home.
rosey knelt and snatched her white bag, tossing it over her shoulder. to protect herself from the winds outside, her hands reached behind her head and pulled her hood over her hair. her feet moved quickly, rushing her out of the room.
"i'd say that's a yes." chaeyoung shrugged and mumbled.
haechan trailed closely behind the fleeing girl after a hesitant thought about following her. he dashed into the hallway almost as quickly as she had left.
"rosey, wait!" he called out.
rosey came to a halt, wobbling forward from the rush. in answer to the boy's call, she turned on her heels and hummed. she was already out of breath from attempting to save time.
he approached her, "i'll walk with you."
she shook her head. not in this weather, not in this hurry, and not considering how long it will take to get there and back. she liked the idea of having his company on the walk home, but she'd be worried sick of his solo stroll home.
"i really don't want you to have to walk back by yourself," she said softly.
"don't worry about me; i would feel much better if you let me walk you home."
rosey always forgot to text when she came back to her dorms because it was late and she was exhausted, haechan knew. he, like chaeyoung, would be concerned until they knew she had returned safely.
she nodded, defeated, and waved him to follow. he dashed to her side, his hands resting in his pockets. for the first five minutes, they strolled quietly.
"it's really late," rosey groaned, checking the time on her phone.
rosey didn't mind staying out late, but it gave her a strange feeling. maybe it's because her company didn't like her being out late because of her hangouts with other idols, or maybe it's because she knows people are watching her.
"not as late as when we walked last week." haechan joked.
"that was a scary night," she chuckled.
"but i was there that time?"
"i know," she said, nodding, "but the night was just. . . giving me a weird feeling, i guess."
rosey slowed her speed, remembering that she didn't have to rush there. she stepped back to join haechan. he groaned and looked across at the girl, who was fiddling with the strings on her sweatshirt.
"your members genuinely care about you, don't they?" haechan asked, "not that they wouldn't, but—"
he paused mid-sentence to gaze at the girl. he saw she wasn't looking up at him anymore, nor was she looking at the strings of her sweatshirt. her gaze was fixed on the sidewalk pavement, watching her feet shuffle.
"you know what i mean, right?"
he was panicked when she didn't answer.
"rosey, are you all right?"
when he called her name, she appeared to shake herself out of a trance. her gaze was drawn up to his, and she nodded.
"yeah, i'm okay."
"did you daze off?"
she shrugged, unsure what to name it. she was simply sad. she'd been there all day, from the moment she woke up and watched jeongin pass her by in the dorms, to when she returned to the practice studio with the other dreamies, to now, when she had nothing to say.
it would take some time for her to adjust, and things were not going well.
"would you like to talk about it?" haechan asked.
"no, but thank you." rosey shook her head.
"do you just want the company?"
"yeah."
her hands slid into the pockets of her hoodie, hiding from the cold air. she appreciated the company since it made her feel less alone. the lingering notion of jeongin, on the other hand, never left her alone.
"look!" haechan pushed the girl's shoulder.
she turned to look at the boy who had fallen a few feet behind her. as she did so, she was bombarded with pink petals from the cherry blossom trees, which landed on her face.
"hey," she spoke, smiling, "what was that for?"
"what do you mean?" he asked, smiling too.
she didn't know what to say, but the way he looked at her with a playful smile told her she didn't have to say anything to figure out why he did what he did. rosey knelt down and picked up a few petals from the ground.
"wait!" haechan chuckled, "let's make a deal!"
"okay," she agreed as she slowly lowered her fist of petals.
"if you throw those petals, i'll choose a place to eat and you'll have to take me there," haechan joked, no fairness in sight, "but, if you don't, then you have to call me when i walk back to the studio alone."
rosey hummed while holding the flowers in her hand, then nodded.
"deal."
the next few minutes determined the outcome. whether she tossed them or not. haechan kept a tight eye on her fist as she teased him by lifting and lowering it.
she eventually opened her fist and let the petals fall. she swept away the ones that had stuck to her hand as a result of her grip on them. haechan breathed a sigh of relief.
"it's the call then," haechan smirked.
the two continued to walk, rounding the street and only a few steps away from her dorm building's front doors. haechan asked rosey a question before she entered.
"is your phone charged?"
she reached for her phone, swiftly taking it from her pocket. she turned it on, looked at her percentage, and nodded to the boy. he gave her a smile and pointed to her phone.
"call me when you get inside."
"will do."
rosey entered the building and hurried upstairs to her dorm. she knocked three times, waited for a response, and then knocked twice more before her members answered.
"welcome back," seungmin said sarcastically.
she greeted the boy with a short "hello," then dashed past her members, who were all playing video games in the living room, and into her room. she shut the door and hopped onto her bed, unlocking her phone.
she had already forgotten about her worries over jeongin, which was all part of haechan's strategy that she was absolutely unaware of.
her fingers went quickly across her phone screen, touching on the boy's name and watching the screen transform into a call. he answered the phone, swiftly covering the call into a face call. she also answered.
when he appeared on the screen, he waved and was met with an enthusiastic wave in reply.
"hi!" he spoke into the phone.
"hello~"