{ lisa's pov of the stage }

The festival had already began, the moment Beyond the Scene claimed the stage as their own, taking the breaths of each and every viewer. That was purpose: to take the audience in awe. To inspire and actually encourage them to join in the club for next year.

Lisa was in the crowd, supposedly backstage to support Jimin, but she wasn't allowed to. She was sitting in the middle part of the whole auditorium, clapping along when someone would clap; cheer and yell when someone would do so; and just stare, admire the view of his boyfriend's elegance.

{ second part of the dance }

"How's Jimin's performance so far?"

"V?" Lisa recognized Jimin's friend. "Oh, just beautiful. You know how talented he is." She stood on her tip toes and started yelling how proud she was to have him as her boyfriend. The two were getting cozy, just chuckling as the crowd sat frozen in their seats with the finishing blow of the performance.

•°•°•

Jimin began wiping off the sweat from his forehead, to his back, to his chest, to his neck again, then splashed the water to his face to get rid of the smell. He took of his costume (provided by the club) and took his casual clothes on.

He plans on finding Lisa in the crowd. He knew exactly where she was; but still, having his phone in his hand wouldn't be a crime, just in case he doesn't find her.

There he was, seeping through the crowd with only his phone in his hand. The more he dug through, the more he felt so lost within the crowd. Lisa wasn't in here.

Jimin escaped from the chaotic huddle of various sweats and smells and decided to look for her with patience, like she told him to practice on. Slowly, as he got near the basketball court, he saw his best friend playing. But he wasn't alone. Lisa was there.

Jimin wasn't exactly sure how he should feel, watching this scene, let alone, be apart from it. But he decided to hide and observe by the bushes where barely anyone notices it existed there. He saw them laughing together, Lisa trying to dribble the ball herself and jumping to get it through the hoop and failed miserably, earning a tease and a pat on the head by Tae.

He couldn't bear to watch it, his girlfriend having fun with another man. Although, it is true he did want the two of them to get along together, feel closer like he's always planned. But things became different in his perspective. Especially, when Tae let go of the ball from his hand, hugging Lisa as tight as he could; he knew how close he was, close enough to smell her casual scent of strawberries and vanilla combined.

"Jimin mustn't know about us, OK?"

"But what if he finds out?"

"I'll make sure to talk to him, tell him before it's too late. I promise."

"Poor guy will be heartbroken.."

"We've been bestfriends. I'm sure he'll understand."

Those were few of the sentences he made out from lip-reading. And of course, from Tae's undeniably deep voice echoing inside the court. They didn't kiss, Jimin tried convincing himself.

Then regrets it as soon as he saw Tae hug her again, planting a kiss on her forehead and caress her shoulders gently, both enjoying the moment.

Now, a normal overly-jealous, paranoid boyfriend would jump out of the bushes and attack his friend immediately and prove to him that she belongs to him. But for Jimin, he remained calm, and just wanted to try and understand and not assume right away that they're both cheating on him. He was proud to be thinking rationally for today and hopes this wasn't what it looks like.

•°•°•

After Lisa was done with her conversation with Tae, she went back into sneaking into the crowd to find Jimin. Sadly, he still wasn't there, nor was he on stage. Then where is he?

Lisa: where are you? 😯 i can't find you in the crowd.

Jimin: i'm @ the cafeteria. let's eat?

Lisa: oh, sure!

That's strange. Usually, he'd be hyping up the festival. He likes parties, she knew. But maybe they're just gonna eat and then go back to celebrating whatever the festival is for.

So she makes her way there, only to find Jimin enjoying a shake in his hand, alone. She tiptoes right up to him, tickling him by his armpits, knowing they were his weakness, and giggled when she got the response she wanted: Jimin jumping up, almost spilling his shake from his hand.

"What's going on, big boy? I thought you were enjoying the festival. Feeling unfestive now, are we?" Lisa made her way to sit beside him, sharing a sip from his drink.

"No, I was just.. hungry." He thought of as an excuse.

"Well, I thought so. It's weird, though. You seem down. Are you OK? Or maybe you just have a cold or something." Lisa reached for his forehead to feel it versus hers. "Seems normal, your temperature."

"I'm not sick. I'm just not feeling it."

As if the scene couldn't have finished off in a better way, Taehyung arrives with his hand in the air. "Hi, you two. Feeling festive?"

Jimin couldn't help but glare at his now-seen-as opponent, sitting across from him. Of course he'd choose to sit beside Lisa.

"Whoa. What's gotten into him?" Taehyung blinks in a slow, confused manner as he pointed to Jimin.

"I don't know." Lisa could only think of giving him a shrug as an answer.

"I gotta go." With that, Jimin stands up, walking away from the two. Even Lisa knew how much he wanted to leave, so she decided not to bother him for a while. Maybe he just needs to feel better again. Maybe this is how he's coping with anger issues with himself.

But deep down inside, Jimin felt something cracking open as he let the tears run down his cheeks as he drove himself home, not caring whether he gets a ticket for exceeding his speed limit or lose gas because of it. All he did was lock himself inside his room and into the bathroom, staring at his own reflection.

Wanting to get rid of the pain, he crouched down to the sink to wash the tears off, hoping it stops. But it doesn't. They just kept falling, along with the knocking of his mother on his bedroom door.

I need to be alone for a while.

Lisa: jimin, where did you go?
Lisa: jisoo is looking for you.
Lisa: is something wrong? what happened?
Lisa: i'm really worried sick. please reply.
Lisa: please tell me what is it this time.
Lisa: jimin, please...

[ 3 missed calls from Lisa. ]

•°•°•

a/n: ending soon.

posted: dec.19,'17