A Voice in Time (Blackpink) [on hold/to be rewritten]

3| the kids are(n't) alright

"White sneakers wasn't such a good idea," Chaeyoung said dolefully as she glanced down at her mud-caked trainers. 

Their little party had been trekking deep into the lush, tropical jungle and passed by a waterfall. The ground was springy and squishy, soon explained by Chaeyoung's and Jennie's sneakers sinking into the sludge when they dared to creep nearer to the waterfall to take photos. 

"You're telling me," Jennie said tiredly, hanging on to Jisoo's arm. She was exhausted from trekking—her shirt was sodden and clung to her body like a second skin. Jisoo had tried to cover her modesty by giving the shivering girl her windbreaker, even though the air was stagnant and humid. 

"Not much long to go!" called the guide as he pointed up a distant hazy slope shrouded in mist. "The Volcano Temple is just up the hill. We should be there in thirty minutes tops."

Jennie gazed up at the intimidating rocky path and swallowed. The hill was formed out of cooled lava, black and rocky in form, giving it a jagged and desolate appearance, almost haunting, with the still air surrounding them.

"Want to piggy-back unnie?" Lisa offered, seeing the older girl quake.

Jennie was about to gratefully accept when she spotted Chaeyoung's face who abruptly turned away to follow after their guide. Although tired, Jennie was not stupid—her empathetic side that had her even reaching out and being kind to enemies that were suffering noted the Aussie's fractured expression.

"I'm good Lisa-ya. Why don't you give Chaeyoung a piggy-back instead? You're good at that."

"She wouldn't want to," Lisa said quickly as she also practically fled after Chaeyoung and the guide. Jisoo and Jennie shared a glance and followed without a word, leaving the handful of staff accompanying them to bring up the rear.

"Is there something going on between you four?" Manager Unnie asked in concern, puffing and huffing up the sloping trail to the temple.

Jisoo shrugged. "What would there be? We haven't fought in ages," she responded casually but her eyes were sharp and focused on their manager's facial expression.

"I know you girls, we've been through a lot together. It's just I'm getting that vibe from your exchanges...if there's anything I can do to help facilitate your communication..."

"Thanks unnie but really, we're cool," Jennie put in smoothly.

Their manager looked unconvinced as she paused to wipe the perspiration of her glasses. "If you say so. But you know the consequences of having a break-down in the team. Please keep that in mind, for all our sake and YG itself. We don't need extra work on our plate..."

"Of course, unnie," Jisoo said cheerfully, keeping the act up. "Don't you worry about us, we're adults after all. We can handle ourselves."

She gave a sigh of relief once the manager was out of earshot, leaving the duo to catch up after Chaeyoung and Lisa.

"They're starting to notice," Jennie said quietly.

Jisoo gave a sad smile. "Notice what?"

"Chu, don't play coy." Jennie gestured at the maknaes who were walking side by side with a good distance apart from each other, although Lisa cast frequent surreptitious glances in Chaeyoung's direction.

"The children...something's not right with them."

It was their inside thing, referring to Chaeyoung and Lisa as their children, as though they were the parents. It made her heart skip at the comforting thought of her and Jennie being...together.