╰─▸ ❝ @[chapter two] has

. . . . logged on

IT'S ANOTHER COLD NIGHT. Chill, almost frigid when the wind began to blow. Rose was freezing, leaning against the brick wall behind her, pulling his jacket tight around herself.

Candy and all the others were already off, some with customers, others having things to do. Rose almost considered going home. She had studying to do for her upcoming exam but she had bills to pay, food to buy, and tuition to pay so her exam could wait.

New York living was a bitch.

She let out a sigh, her warm breath forming white fog in front of her as they leave her lips. She's had 4 customers today. 3 regulars and one stray. In total, she was at 400 dollars.

Maybe it was time to call it a night and go home. Rose was tired and she wanted nothing more than to curl up right under her blankets and go to sleep.

So Rose stood up straight, tugging down her dress as she begins her way down to the subway. She doesn't even make it 3 feet away before a car comes up beside her. A familiar silver Cadillac with a familiar man.

She stops walking and turns towards the car with furrowed brows and a small smile. She pushes her shoulders back and makes her way over to the driver's side window.

"You know. You look very creepy rolling up on a lone woman in the middle of the night like that." The woman says, bending over to get face to face with the handsome man. The streetlight above begins to flicker like it always does.

Namjoon's full lips pull into a frown. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Just a quiet as always, but at least he isn't completely mute. Rose rests her chin in her palm. "You didn't. Just thought I'd tell you if you ever plan on picking up a girl sometimes."

That was unlikely.

"You just missed me anyway. I'm clocking out, heading home. Now if you'll excuse me. I have a train to catch." Rose tapped his chin softly before standing up straight and continuing along her way towards the nearest westbound train station.

Namjoon swallowed, trying to think of something else to say to her. He couldn't let her just walk around in the cold with only some flimsy jacket to keep her warm.

So he put his car into drive and slowly inches forward alongside her. "Well, do you want me to give you a ride home? It's cold outside and I have the heat on in here." He offered with the purest intentions. It was really cold outside and if she stayed out any longer, she could get sick.

Rose couldn't help but scoff at his offer. Truly, it was adorable. She looked to her right where Namjoon was still driving at the pack she was walking, trying to keep up with her.

"What do I look like getting into a car with a random stranger? I don't know if you want to kidnap me, kill me, or rape me. Maybe all three."

Maybe she said that just to get a reaction out of him. And she succeeded. She could see the way he averted his eyes and how he pushed his lips to the side a little as his cheeks grew red.

Then he realized something. "You get into cars with strangers all the time."

Rose kept walking with her hands in her pockets. She took large strides, her heeled boots clicking against the sidewalk as she walked. "Correct."

Namjoon supposed he couldn't force her to get inside. He might as well cut his losses and go home.

"Okay well, have a good night, Rose. Please stay warm." Namjoon told her. His voice was barely above a whisper. He began to roll up his window when Rose stopped walking.

She felt like her toes were about to fall off if she took another step. Namjoon seemed like a well-meaning guy. She could at least let him drive her up to the station and get warm in that time.

"Fine." She sighed, marching over to his car. She walked around the back and opened the passenger side door to get in. Immediately, the warm air hits her, heating her skin that's cold to the touch.

Namjoon watches as she sighs in relief, a shaky breath to show just how cold she really was. She reached out her hands and put them in front of the air conditioners to get the feeling back into her fingers.

To help, Namjoon turned up the heat of the passenger side's seat warmers and redirected the air to target both the face and feet.

"Thank you." She shutters softly and curls up in the seat. "Just take me down to the subway on 35th & Chester please." She knew better than to let some random man take her directly to her place of residence. He could do anything with that information.

Namjoon nods curtly and presses on the gas pedal. It was only a 5-minute drive away, but for her, it could've been anywhere from 15 minutes to 20 minutes walking. He goes purposefully slow so she had more time to warm up.

Rose gazes out of the window at the passing world. The luminescent lights of Manhattan glow against her bronze skin, lighting up the night like stars in their own right. She liked Manhattan, the lights, the glamour, the rich and luxurious.

Rose lived in Brooklyn. Less glamorous and bright, but rather dark and quiet. It wasn't the worst place to live by any means. But she never felt entirely safe walking down from the train station back home. Her landlord was a sleazy asshole who liked to get touchy.

Namjoon probably lived in some high-rise apartment. Nice and expensive, somewhere with a good view. He had a nice car and just carried around 100 dollar bills.

It must be nice not having to worry if he'll be able to pay his bills if he could afford to continue going to school. Rose would kill for that luxury.

"So what do you work as, Mr. Namjoon?" Rose turned in her seat to look at him. He had a nice side profile, sharp, angular jaw, his lips, and his nose lined up vertically. He had a flat face, but he was still incredibly handsome.

The man took one hand off the wheel to scratch behind his ear. "I'm an architect." He told her. "I help design...eco-friendly buildings. Recycled materials, solar panels, and such." A smile formed on his lips at the mention of his job. It was clear that he was very fond of his job, though from what Rose has heard, being an architect is exhausting. The architecture majors at her school looked near dead.

Rose decided that maybe it would be worth something to learn more about Namjoon. He was a curiosity. A man who should be able to smooth talk his way into anyone's underwear, but grew flustered at every other syllable she spoke.

"That's cool...I'm a Culinary Arts major." She told him. No one ever really thinks about why prostitutes are prostitutes. About how they're just trying to make it through school, trying to support their family, or trying to keep a roof over their heads. They never think about how they tried everything else, every option before falling into this one.

It's not always a stable career. Rose can make 50 dollars one night and 1,000 the next. But she takes anything she can. She can't afford to have a pimp to which she has to give a percentage of her money to in order to stay under their protection. She needs all the money she can get her hands on.

It's desperate times and it calls for desperate measures.

Namjoon's pink lips turned up into a smile. "I'm guessing you want to be a chef?" He presumed correctly. Rose always wanted to be a chef from when she was young. She loved food more than nearly anything else in the world. She dreamed of owning her own restaurant, but that seemed more like a pipe dream than anything.

"Just as smart as you look."

Namjoon soon approached Rose's destination. She didn't want to leave the warmth in his car, but as much as she wanted to stay warm, she wanted to get home and go to sleep.

Rose popped open her door and looked at Namjoon. "You're a sweetheart, Joonie." She tells him with a tender smile. Rose was a naturally touchy person. Even with people she just met.

Namjoon wasn't a touchy person. He kept his hands to his sides, in his pockets. He didn't touch people unless he really knew them, especially not women.

So when Rose tapped his chin or in this case, put her hand on his arm, Namjoon's face began to heat. It didn't help when she called him "Joonie". He almost had a meltdown right then and there.

"No problem." He murmured softly but she had already gotten out and closed the door by then. Namjoon looked out the window, watching as she pulled down her skirt and walked around the car towards the entrance of the subway.

He hoped she would get home safe, but that was out of his hands now. Namjoon waited until she began to walk downstairs before he took off.

Now all he had to do was work up the courage to ask her out to dinner.

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

Idk what the update schedule is gonna be for this book. It might be everyday or every other day. Haven't figured it out yet. There probably won't be one at all.

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

사랑해

~Kay (〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)