Minah was shocked. Who was he? Why was Taehyung so calm about this? Sure, he was trying to hide her from the boy, but he was still calm for a Privileged who just got caught with a Rebel. How did the boy know where to find them? Had Taehyung been followed? She gripped onto the back of Taehyung’s sweater, knife still in her hand. If he did anything funny, she was going to attack. Taehyung wasn’t saying anything and that made her even more nervous about the situation.

“Jimin…” Taehyung breathed, he seemed to be at a loss for words and she heard the boy walk closer. Jimin? she thought to herself. Why did that name sound so familiar to her?

“Wow, TaeTae, you’ve been hiding a girlfriend from me?” Jimin peeked around Taehyung’s shoulder and came face to face with Minah.

Instinct kicked in and with no immediate response from Taehyung, Minah had a now terrified Jimin pinned against the nearest tree, knife at his throat.

“Minah, no no no! He’s a friend! A friend!” Taehyung pulled her away from Jimin and stood between them, facing Minah, a pleading look on his face.

“What the hell, Tae?!” Jimin exclaimed from behind him while holding his neck where the knife had been, “Who is she?! Why does she have a knife?!”

“Did you follow me here?” Taehyung now turned to the boy, panic still in his voice.

Still not knowing whether to trust him or not, Minah only kept half of her body behind Taehyung, narrowing her eyes at Jimin. Why did his name sound so familiar?

“Maybe….kind of. I saw you walking towards these woods and after what happened last time, I didn’t want you to be alone! I just got here though, by the time I figured out which way you went. These woods are confusing…” Jimin was still rubbing his neck and flinched when he saw the way Minah was looking at him.

“Damnit, you shouldn’t have come here…” Taehyung seemed more worried than annoyed. He had good reason to be worried. Who knew if someone had followed Jimin? What if he had gotten attacked while trying to find them?

“Who is he, Taehyung?” she spoke softly to him, still glaring at Jimin.

“You remember me talking to you about Jimin, don’t you? My friend since I was a kid? The one I always got in trouble with?” Taehyung smiled at Minah.

Realization hit Minah as her eyes grew wide. How had she not put two and two together earlier? That’s where she knew his name from, of course. Taehyung spoke about all the things they did. She practically knew him from all the stories she had heard.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to...um…” Minah quickly put the knife away, biting her lip in remorse for threatening Jimin and glancing an apologetic look towards Taehyung as well.

“Wait, are you…? Taehyung...is she...are you two really together? Like, dating? Or whatever you call this,” Jimin started, staring back and forth between the two of them.

They both nodded and Taehyung gave Jimin a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, I couldn’t tell you…”

“Is she…” he began towards Taehyung and then turned his attention to Minah, “are you a Rebel?”

Taehyung and Minah exchanged a nervous glance before they both nodded. Minah didn’t know what exactly she expected Jimin’s reaction to be, but she definitely expected more shock than what actually happened.

“I knew it! I knew you were doing something illegal” Jimin exclaimed with a smile, to which Taehyung responded by quickly placing his hand over Jimin’s mouth.

“Are you crazy?!” he hissed, looking around as if they could be surrounded.

“What?” he asked innocently which was muffled under Taehyung’s hand, not realizing the danger that they could be in.

“You realize the woods are on Rebel territory, right? Do you really want to bring attention to us?” Taehyung pulled back from Jimin, still a little bit of fear in his eyes.

“Says the one who wouldn’t stop yelling everything at me for months,” Minah muttered, stifling a laugh at the scene in front of her.

“I was young and naive,” Taehyung pushed her lightly with his elbow before turning his attention back to Jimin, "And what do you mean you knew I was doing something ‘illegal’?"

"Come on, you think I can’t tell when you do something you're not supposed to? You've had that look since a while ago, which is when, I assume, you and her met," Jimin explained matter-of-factly.

"I have a look?" Taehyung was perplexed at his friend's words, looking to Minah, who nodded.

"I did notice you have a look when you're hiding something,” she confirmed Jimin’s statement who smile victoriously and then, looking at her watch, added, “I should get home soon though. I have to tell my mom about tomorrow before anyone else gets home or else they’ll know we’re hiding something.”

Taehyung nodded, taking in a deep breath at the reminder, while Jimin looked at them with confusion.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Taehyung pulled her in for a hug, to which Jimin responded with making squealing noises and curling his fingers at them, seeing them interact as a couple.

“Sorry again about earlier…” Minah said to Jimin, giving him a remorseful look.

“I’ll think of a way you can repay me later,” Jimin winked at her, receiving a “hey!” and a punch on the arm from Taehyung.

“She’s cute! I can’t help it!” Jimin held his arm, smiling devilishly at Taehyung to which Minah scoffed with a light laugh.

“Shut it, let’s go,” Taehyung laughed and grabbed his friend by the arm, pulling him away as they parted ways.

---

Minah arrived home and spoke to her mother about meeting Taehyung the next day; her mother excitedly complied.

“I do have some bad news for you though,” her mother started, reading the newspaper in her hand from that morning.

Minah furrowed her brows as she saw the frontline news.

Kim Yongchul: Will Stop Rebels At Any Cost!

“Mom, what does it say?” Minah quickly ran over to her mother’s side, reading the article with her.

“It’s not good. It seems he’s going to try and squeeze out every one of us from hiding and probably throw most of us in jail, if we’re lucky…” her mother’s voice faded as she continued reading.

“What...what do you mean ‘if we’re lucky’? Mom, he wouldn’t outright kill Rebels, would he? I mean, what? Is he going to start a war?” Minah began to panic.

There were always talks about the coming war between the Privileged and the Rebels. For as long as she lived, they were in a cold war; no one did anything officially to spark any kind of problems. The actual war was always spoken about for the future. Never did she think that it would happen in her lifetime. The fear of war, losing loved ones, being a target, hurting others, she couldn’t bear to think what would happen to them.

“I don’t think he’ll be doing anything soon. He’s angry right now; his son was attacked, remember? Don’t let this scare you right now, but always be on the lookout. Don’t let your guard down around anyone,” her mother put the newspaper down and turned to her daughter, worry in her eyes.

“What will happen if war does break out?”

“Your father will lead our side. He’s been trained for this since he was your age. He’ll know what to do, so don’t you worry, okay? You just keep your eye on your brother. I know he’s not so little anymore, but make sure he doesn’t do anything, okay?” her mother said and almost as if on cue, her brother walked in, coming home from school.

“Hi Kookie,” Minah masked the worry on her face with a smile as he walked straight to the kitchen to grab food. Her brother’s name was Jungkook and by habit from when they were children, Minah always called him ‘Kookie’ for short.

“Don’t call me that, I’m not a kid anymore,” he said, stuffing some bread in his mouth, while Minah laughed at his response. He didn’t hate the nickname, but if anyone other than family or close friends called him that, he was never too happy and would make sure they called him his full name next time.

“Honey, don’t spoil your dinner,” their mother laughed, taking the bread from Jungkook’s hand and putting it on the counter. Jungkook stole another piece and walked away before she could see.

Minah’s phone vibrated and she quickly pulled it out, seeing she had a text from Taehyung.

In case you saw it already, don’t worry about that article about my dad. Jimin just told me about it on our way back. I know you’ll worry, but he won’t do something like that, okay?

Minah smiled at her phone at his reassurance, sending him a quick ‘thank you’ for knowing that she would need to be convinced otherwise. It’s not that she didn’t believe him, but she knew that he would never expect his father to start a war. Maybe Minah was too pessimistic, or a realist, as she thought of herself, but it was bound to happen. If it wasn’t going to be his father to start the war, it would probably be her’s.

“Mom, I think Minah has a boyfriend!” Jungkook exclaimed, pointing at her, a pout on his face. The smile on her face quickly disappeared as she scoffed at Jungkook.

“Does she?” their mother wasn’t phased by his exclamation as she continued to make dinner, sending Minah a knowing smile as Jungkook’s attention was on his sister.

“Stop imagining things,” Minah rolled her eyes at her brother and quickly put her phone away.

“Oh right, only a crazy guy would date a girl like you,” he teased, scrunching his face and sticking his tongue out at her.

“You might be bigger than me now, but I’ve had 2 more years of training than you. I can still knock you out,” Minah shrugged, a sly smile on her face as she saw Jungkook narrow his eyes at her.

“Let’s go,” he challenged, putting his hands up in a fighting stance.

“Not in my house,” a booming voice came from the front door, as their father, Jeon Ilsung, walked in with a smile on his face at the scene before him.

As a tradition, they would always have dinner together. No matter where anyone of them were during the day, dinner time was family time and it became a habit to be together and talk about their day. Their father rarely had any days off as he was the one training all the men who wanted to fight with him to become great soldiers and stand up for what they believed in, so this was the one time that they could have together as a family.

“My beautiful Kyunghee,” their father went to their mother, giving her a kiss on her head and Minah and Jungkook made a face at each other at their parent’s affection.

Dinner that night seemed more relaxed and full of laughter than they usually were. Their father spoke of all the young men that had recently joined in anticipation of what Kim Youngchul was going to do. Most of them knew how to fight, but he told stories of the few that acted tough but knew nothing about the technique of fighting or using weapons. Kyunghee and Jungkook spoke of school and all the fear the children there felt upon hearing the news, Jungkook making sure to emphasize that he had no fear as he knew he was on the winning side.

Minah looked around at the smiling faces of her family, hoping it would stay this way forever. Her and her family, laughing and joking around. She always had an innate fear of losing her loved ones to this fight between the powers, but now that the war seemed very near, she couldn’t help but to think of it constantly.

Although she knew that she shouldn’t worry about what she couldn’t control, she couldn’t help letting her mind wander. It was a bad habit that Taehyung had noticed about her and brought it to her attention. She hadn’t realized she would do it so often, but ever since he said it, she was conscious of it, but it was still hard to keep her thoughts in check.

She didn’t sleep well that night. Continuous nightmares jolted her awake. The moment she thought her mind couldn’t come up with any more terrible scenarios about losing loved ones, it surprised her by giving her a new nightmare and fear. Losing Taehyung.

She dreamt of him betraying her, turning her family in to his father. She dreamt of him losing everything for being with her. She dreamt of him leaving her for the differing stands in the war. She dreamt of betraying him.

She dreamt of him losing his life for her.

Tears streamed down her face and it seemed that was the last of the plots her mind could think up. She feared falling asleep again but eventually, it took hold of her, allowing her only a few hours before she’d have to wake for the next day.

---

Saturday mornings were the calmest mornings. Minah awoke with a puffy face and red eyes. She had cried more than she thought she had the night before. Quickly walking to the bathroom, she stepped into the shower, hoping that it would, in turn, wash away the negative feelings from her as well.

She quickly put on black jeans and a purple v-neck sweater and walked into the living room. Her mother had the biggest smile on her face. She saw a basket on the kitchen counter, confusion washing over her. They were going to meet Taehyung just as planned, but what was the basket for?

“Mom…?” she asked, eyeing Jungkook who was on the couch, playing video games on his day off from school.

“We’re going on a picnic, remember?” Kyunghee quickly picked up the basket, which Minah now assumed was full of food.

“Oh, right. See you later, Kookie!” Minah spoke quickly as her mother held her hand, pulling her towards the door.

“Bye, Honey! Be a good boy!” she yelled to Jungkook who waved at them without turning to see them leave.

Her mother was full of excitement as they made their way towards the woods. She would have never guessed that it would be this easy to introduce her boyfriend to her mother. If he was a Rebel, she knew it would have been a piece of cake, of course, but a Privileged?

She began to ask question after question about him, about his family and friends. All of which Minah tried to answer as best as she could while maneuvering through the woods, knowing that she would ask these same questions to him anyway.

"I don't know why you kids meet up here. This is awful," she said as they continued to watch their step in case there was something they could trip on.

They finally made it to the designated place and her mom began to set up, laying down a blanket and beginning to take out the food from the basket. She seemed to rethink her decision and placed the food back in, muttering that she didn’t want ants to end up in everything.

Hearing leaves being crunched in the distance, Minah knew that Taehyung was near. She stood and faced towards the noise, wringing her hands together in nervousness. Her heart began to race in her chest and she could only imagine how he felt.

“Is that him?” Kyunghee spoke, now standing behind her daughter, the same excitement still present.

“Yeah,” Minah smiled, now seeing him approaching, head down, hands in the pockets of his jeans. He wore a gray sweater, one that Minah had bought for his birthday and threatened to hit him if he ever took a scissor to it. He loved to cut up his comfortable clothes and turn it into his own creation.

Once he reached them, he smiled at Minah nervously who pulled him closer by his arm, a nervous smile on her own face as well.

"Mom, meet Taehyung; Taehyung, my mom," Minah's heart was still pounding as she introduced them.

Taehyung bowed deeply, saying hello and her mother gave an impressed look. That's a good sign, Minah thought to herself, smiling at the scene before her. When Taehyung stood straight again, Minah's mother extended her hand to him.

"My name is Lee Kyunghee; very lovely to finally meet you. You're as handsome as you are on TV," Taehyung couldn't help the glint in his eyes as he held her hand in both of his and shook it lightly, grinning widely.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed, bowing his head slightly, and added, "I see where Minah gets her beauty from."

"Oh, I see why you like him so much," Kyunghee smiled at her daughter, "he’s a charmer.”

Both Minah and Taehyung turned a deep shade of red which was soon followed by laughter from the three. They sat on the blanket and Kyunghee pull out the food from the basket, wanting them to eat while they conversed. Within minutes, it seemed as though this wasn’t a first meeting as they spoke of families and likes and dislikes.

Kyunghee soon stood, mentioning that she should get back home to be with Jungkook. They said bye to each other and Kyunghee left, taking the now empty picnic basket with her.

Minah and Taehyung raved about the first meeting with one of their parents going well. It seemed as though everything was slowly falling in place with their relationship. They then sat how they usually would, on the ground with their backs resting on the tree. They would have moments like these where they would sit in silence, just the presence of the other being enough. Minah was playing with the rings on Taehyung fingers again, something, he had noticed, she normally did when she was deep in thought or nervous about something.

“Everything okay?” he broke the silence.

“Yeah,” she sighed, unconvincingly. She mentally cursed at herself for not being able to hide it well enough for him to not notice.

“You’re thinking about the article again, aren’t you?” he knew he was right. There was nothing else that would have her in such a deep thought.

“It scares me,” she whispered this time, the memories of her nightmares coming back to her. She almost felt her eyes well up but she took a deep breath, trying to keep herself strong. Why was she getting emotional over nightmares? There was no truth to them at all. She was trying her best to think logically, to convince herself that her nightmares were just that, nightmares.

“What does?” he placed his fingers under her chin, guiding her to look at him.

“Losing you…” saying those words, she felt her eyes sting as the tears began to form and flow down her. She saw the shock on his face at her sudden tears and he quickly pulled her into a tight hug. It was obvious, even to her, that she was being absurd. There was no truth in any of the scenarios she was thinking about.

“Where did you even get that idea? You’re not going to lose me,” he said, shock still in his voice as he pushed back from her, wiping the tears from her eyes.

She laughed at the silliness of her tears, but she still couldn’t help getting emotional. Taehyung smiled at her laugh, confused at her sudden change in emotions but he went with it anyway, glad that she wasn’t crying anymore.

“I’m sorry, I just...had a few nightmares last night and they’re really messing with my head,” she sniffled, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly to get her thoughts cleared.

“You want to talk about what they were about?” he asked, choosing his words cautiously.

“Anything wrong that could ever happen, happened,” she summed it up in one sentence, rolling her eyes at her the unconscious part of her mind.

“You think too much,” Taehyung laughed, pulling her in for another hug, this time placing a kiss on her forehead.

Click.

“Don’t remind me,” she took in his scent, wrapping her arms around him and leaning into him, “Why are you so good at comforting me all the time? You don’t even have to do much.”

“Do I need to be with you 24/7 to stop that mind of yours from racing to the worst possible scenarios?” he chuckled, looking down at her smiling face.

“I wouldn’t complain,” she sat up. Taehyung was probably right, his father wouldn’t do anything just yet. That didn’t seem tactical enough.

“Well, since I can’t be with you all the time physically, here,” Taehyung carefully pulled out a box from his pocket and handed it to her.

She opened it slowly, knowing that inside would be some sort of jewelry. She gasped lightly when she finally saw it, taking it out of the box and holding it in her hands. It was a silver star with a diamond in the middle.

“Do you like it?” he asked, biting his lower lip and scanning her face.

“I love it!” she exclaimed. She never wore much jewelry, but this was something she could wear forever. A reminder of him no matter where she was.

She handed it back to him to put it around her neck, pulling her hair away and turning so that her back was facing him. He quickly clasped it and she turned back, her hand automatically going to hold the star, a wide smile across both of their faces.

Click.

She tried to move closer to him and pull him in for a kiss at the same time but lost balance, falling onto her back and pulling Taehyung with her since she was gripping onto his sweater, yelping in the process. They laughed as he propped himself on his elbow so as to not put his weight on her. He placed his free hand on her cheek and leaned in, kissing her gently.

“I love you, Minah,” he murmured, pulling back only enough to look her in the eyes.

“I love you, too,” she was still holding onto his sweater and so pulled him back down, kissing him more passionately this time.

She didn’t want the moment to end. She didn’t want to leave his arms, his lips, his body. She let herself be consumed by the moment, by him.

Click.