“Chim…”

“Hmmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Park Jimin answered. He continued to stare at her.

Lisa’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Jimin, who has been staring at her for god-knows-how-long, with an expression she could not figure. He looked adorable, with his blonde locks all over the place. But his face was contorted, as if he has been suffering from loose bowel movement for the whole day.

“You didn’t drink too much banana milk, did you?” she asked, half hoping to make him smile and half wondering if his stomach really hurts.

Jimin sighed. He removed his arm -- which was previously resting at the top rail of her seat -- and crossed his arms on his chest.

“What?” Lisa asked. “You know you can go to the restroom to do your stuff.”

Jimin looked back at her. Now, Lisa could figure the look on his face. His lips are pursed, and those small slits that he calls eyes are now squinted even more. He’s annoyed.

She can’t help but think, ‘Man, he looks hot.’

“I don’t know how you can be like this,” he said.

“Like what?”

“This carefree.”

It was quiet on the rooftop where they sneaked to, with the sound of the city breeze the only thing they could hear. Lisa smiled at him, fixing his hair. She knows where this is going now.

 

Park Jimin and Lalisa Manoban have been a couple for a month now. None of their members know about this -- or at least that’s what they think. People are getting a hunch, and that is what’s troubling Jimin.

 

She pulled her hand away from his hair. “If we get caught…” she started reluctantly.

She looked at the silver band around their left wrists. It was simple. Too simple for both their liking, but it’s the most that they could get to remind them of their bond -- their resistance to their industry’s system.

Jimin was about to reach for her hand when Lisa’s phone rang.

“It’s Jennie eonni,” she said. “I gotta go.”

She stood up and dusted her pants. Jimin followed suit.

“If you get caught,” Jimin said, “just tell them you went to the restroom.”

Lisa laughed as she was walking backwards. “Restroom? For 30 minutes?”

“Well, why do they care? Tell them you had too much banana milk.” He smiled at her, trying to sound funny in an effort to forget their fears.

Lisa waved before she opened the door back to the staircase.

 

They’ll see each other soon.

 

Or maybe not.