Seokjin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, leaning out of the carriage so that he could wait for the perfect moment. He had tight hold of the door frame so that he wouldn't fall out for the metallic floor vibrated underfoot terribly, sometimes enough so that it felt like they were travelling over tiny little speed bumps. From the rest of the carriage he could hear his friends talking amongst themselves, nothing important at all but rather just doing so to stop a silence falling. He was glad for it for he didn't want the air to feel cold and distant right now; alien to them after everything that they had been through together. But the sight of Seoul was so clear on the skyline now that it would be only a few more minutes until they ended up on the outskirts and then it was time to blow the train and make their way into the city by foot.

He didn't know the exact time. He could ask either Namjoon or Taehyung for it because they both had watches - a miracle that the boy's one was still working after everything - and yet he didn't want to. He could judge it from looking out at the sky instead and he was currently estimating it to be around 7pm. Earlier on they had observed the sunrise as a group, eyed the myriad of pastel colours that Jimin had described as looking like 'a dream' and now he was looking at the complete opposite. On the horizon there was still a burnt orange that glowed with such an intensity it seemed to pulse like a living thing. The low clouds that floated just above the setting sun were tinged slightly with the colour but mostly they were a deep purplish colour that resembled a bruise, clashing against the darkening blue that was the rest of the sky. Some people might find the sight somewhat dreamy but to him it didn't contain the same emotions that the sunrise had made them all feel. The sunset made him feel what Yoongi had said; a coldness and a loneliness that seemed to permeate down into his bones. He didn't know why he was feeling this, or even thinking it, for it was nothing more than a simple sunset, but over the course of the past few weeks he had learnt to find both enjoyment and misery out of the most simplest of things.

Seokjin had always thought himself as already an adult, mature and developed to the point in which he wouldn't grow any further. He had reached that intangible point in his life where nothing would could make him feel such raw emotions like a child and be unable to control them, and yet he had found that to not be the case at all. The 'adventure' had revealed to him that he still had ways to go and for some reason this made him feel a sense of relief. Adult in age but not yet nature...he couldn't imagine a better stage to be at right now.

From across the carriage there was a sudden outburst of laughter and he turned his head to look at his friends. It seemed that Taehyung was in the midst of explaining a story of some kind, one that Jungkook had gotten himself mixed up in too for the boy occasionally added words or gestures here and there to flesh it out.

"...and I mean I nearly puked honestly," Taehyung said as he leaned back on his wrists. "So I've decided I'm gonna try and break the sound barrier, and I need Kookie to help me."

"I don't think that's even possible," Namjoon remarked with a furrowed brow. "Not on a roundabout, nu-uh, you need jet planes to break the sound barrier."

"You're underestimating my abilities," Jungkook said with a wide grin and the young man scoffed and said it was pretty obvious why he was. "Hey, if you try and dream hard enough anything can happen, yeah?"

"That's a good attitude to have," Seokjin agreed as he turned back to look out of the carriage doorway. Namsan Tower was a glowing beacon now, blues and reds and whites all up the length like the signs at the end of an aeroplane walkway. Didn't it feel like they were getting ready to land soon enough; coming down from a high that had lasted a very long time and was now over? There had been turbulence along the way but they hadn't crashed yet and now...now they were getting ready to touch ground once more. "Time to move kids," He bent down and grabbed his own holdall bag, slipping it up onto his shoulder for convenience. From behind him he heard the others shifting to collect their own, to get to their feet and come over to where he was standing.

"It's funny," Hoseok said as he peered around the doorway, sticking his head out so that the wind ruffled his hair. "We've been walking under the stars and now we're back home I can't see a single fucking one up there." He followed the boy's gaze up and sure enough he was right. There was a hazy cloud around the capital that was most certainly the result of light pollution, blocking out all stars for miles and miles in length. They could barely even see the moon because the white sliver was hidden behind a bank of clouds.

"We've all got stars inside of us, we don't need to see any of 'em," Taehyung said as he shrugged his backpack up roughly onto his shoulders. It was a little amateur but poetic enough and Seokjin could imagine seeing it in his old philosophy textbook. The train seemed to be slowing down now, drawing close to a depot that wasn't their old trainyard but rather another one outside the city. That meant that they had to jump now and so the boy did so. The sound of his boots stomping down on the ground echoed and one by one they all jumped down out of the carriage.

"I'm never gonna ride on another train," Jimin announced, "freight or passenger." He stretched his legs and then bent down to touch his toes with a grunt. "Too uncomfortable." As the boy straightened back up again the train went down the tracks at a moderate speed and they all watched it go.

"Would you rather ride a train or walk?"

"...Good point Kookie."

"Wait, I know where we are," Yoongi said as he quickly glanced around them. "We're right by the freeway that crosses over Han River. There's the coach station just a few blocks down from here."

"Then lead on," Namjoon said and the other man started walking along the train tracks before making his way around the depot. They all followed after him because it seemed like the best idea and it wasn't like they could really get lost on their way into Seoul. They weren't in a rush either, and he found himself almost hoping that it would take them a little while longer to get into the city. It took them just a few minutes of walking however until signs of life started to appear, mostly in the form of cars rolling down the road beside them and the flashing neon signs that revealed 24/7 stores and clubs.

When the coach station came into sight Seokjin found his eyes drawn to the glowing glass and metal building and for some reason he couldn't seem to take his eyes off it; so much so that he actually ended up stopping on the sidewalk in front of it. It took his friends a moment to realise that he had stopped and then they all did too, staring back at him in confusion and interest. After a few seconds Hoseok quietly asked him what was up and he didn't even look over at him.

"You know...I haven't seen my parents in months," Seokjin said, blinking languidly as he watched the people inside the building moving around; going from the ticket counters to the benches inside, and then to the doors that led out onto the lot where the vehicles were parked. "I'm such a bad son."

"Months? Try years," Taehyung said with a laugh.

"I was thinking that...that I want to see them again," he said as he finally dragged his eyes away from the glass walls of the station. "My parents, I want to talk to them about everything: college, life, my troubles, what I want to do with my life. They should know, they deserve to know."

"They're down in Anyang right?" Jimin asked. "Man, we didn't even go through there on the stupid train. You could have jumped off and-"

"Take the cash," Taehyung interrupted suddenly. "The leftover cash from that lady. Take it and get a ticket and go see them."

"Take the...oh I couldn't, I mean-" yet his words were cut off as the boy reached over to grab his upper arm and steer him in the direction of the steps that led inside, "it's not my money, I couldn't take it. It's not mine to use and-"

"We want you to use it, right guys?" Taehyung asked and they all echoed agreements as he shoved his way inside the station. "Consider it a thank you for you putting up with us and not smacking our heads together." Seokjin said that he could still do that and his friends laughed and carried on forcing him over to the counter. He tried scanning for the timetable but Namjoon beat him too it, reading out the last coach that would run to Anyang out loud and making them all panic.

"Ah, it's leaving in like two minutes! Hurry, hurry, hurry!" The youngest boy shoved him right in front of the counter and for a moment Seokjin was too confused to even be able to speak, staring at the woman rather dumbly. Then he managed to ask for the ticket to Anyang and she asked him if it was return or one-way. He told her one-way as someone's fingers fumbled into his jeans pocket and pulled the envelope of cash out.

"That will be...26,000₩," she said as the machine on the counter started whirring, little ticket stub coming out of a slot. Taehyung slid the cash across the counter and she accepted it before pulling the ticket out and getting change. Then she held it out for him to accept. "Enjoy your trip, but please hurry before you miss the coach."

"I will, I uh-" hands seized hold of him and practically dragged him across the building. Seokjin felt eyes on him but he didn't see anyone looking at them disdainfully. Rather he saw amused expressions, everyone clearly seeing how much of a rush that they were in and taking great amusement in the way the kids kept chanting "hurry!" as if that would make things go any faster. Yoongi actually jogged over to pull the door open that led to the lot and then he was being forced across it in the direction of the vehicle.

"Ticket?" a man asked, standing in front of the door with a little box hanging around his neck on a lanyard. He managed to hold it out to him and he took it from him before tearing a little stub off the end. "You made it just in time son." He said with a laugh as he gave him it back and then he moved out of the way to let him board.

"Get a window seat!" Jungkook hollered as hands pushed his back hard and nearly propelled him up the steps to get inside. Seokjin stumbled and then glanced down the length of the coach before seeing one near the back that was free. He quickly walked along the centre aisle and sure enough he saw his friends darting past too, following him to his seat. When he got to it he shoved his holdall up on the overhead luggage shelf and then dived into his seat. After some fiddling he got the window open a crack.

"Talk about lucky!" Namjoon said with a laugh as they all crowded around the window. He was tall enough to not need to stand on tiptoe to look at him but Yoongi and Jimin were not. The eldest tried shifting around and settled on moving back a few feet to be visible but the youngest just jumped up and down like a puppy trying to reach a letterbox.

"Say hi to your parents for us!" Hoseok called and he confirmed that he would.

"The adventure's finally over now, huh?!" Jimin asked.

"No," Seokjin said with a head shake, "this chapter in our lives is finished now, but there's always more to come! Does a story really end, huh? We've still got so many more left and I can't wait to see what it's going to be like!"

"There's the deep shit," Jungkook said with a wide grin and down the coach he heard the doors closing over with a pneumatic hiss.

"The trainyard! Meet me at the trainyard!" Seokjin called as the engine started rumbling loud, feeling it vibrating the seat he was sitting in.

"I'll send you a note!" Taehyung shouted and then the coach was starting to pull out of the lot.

He shifted in his seat and saw that his friends had started running alongside it, but they couldn't keep up with it for very long. The youngest boy managed to race beside it until it was pulling out of the lot, hand pressed up against the window so that when he finally had to stop he let a hand print smeared on the glass.

Seokjin studied this as the sound of them all yelling their goodbyes echoed on the air and came in through the open window.

He stopped running and dropped his holdall so that he could hunker forward and place his hands on his thighs, trying to catch his breath as he did. He didn't drop his head however because he wanted to watch the coach until it was completely out of sight. It took a few seconds to do so and he didn't blink once, staring at the back of the blue and white coach until it rounded a corner and carried onto another main road; one that they had been walking along just a minute or two ago. Jungkook took several deep breaths in through his nose and let them out of his mouth and his racing heart finally started to slow down. That sudden burst of energy had came out of nowhere and he would soon regret it now that he felt a little dizzy and his knees seemed to be wobbling; the result of exhaustion and lack of food for most of the day.

"Woah Kookie, slow down man slow down!" Namjoon called, possibly from the back of the gang if Yoongi had decided to not run like always. He heard their boots pounding on the tarmac lot and then felt something slinging around his shoulders and dragging him back upright. Taehyung unconsciously leaned against him as he also tried to catch his breath and they both stared at the road in front of them. It was now filled with random vehicles instead of the coach: cars, trucks, buses and motorbikes, and their friend was nowhere in sight. Seokjin had officially left the adventure first in order to pursue his own and that meant one thing; they were all going to start splitting up now.

"Shit, I'm too old for this..." Yoongi mumbled breathlessly and he could just picture him sitting down on the curb with a grimace, slipping his cigarettes out a moment later in the most beautifully ironic way.

"He's probably the only one that wants to see his parents right now," Hoseok said as he wandered forward a few feet and then stopped, scuffing his boot on the curb as he shoved his hands into his coat pockets.

"Uh...don't remind me," Jimin said in a quiet voice. "I'm trying to ignore that part."

"He deserves to see 'em again," Taehyung tightened his grip around his shoulders. "They better be proud of him too or I'll jump a train to Anyang and cause shit, I swear I will. He deserves something good and he's gonna come back and start college again and he's gonna make it. I know he is."

"We're all gonna make it," Namjoon said after a moment of thought.

"I've gotta get back home," Jungkook said as he bent down and retrieved his bag, "but I don't wanna go right now, you know? Not yet. I wanna stay with you guys a little longer. Even a few seconds is better than leaving.."

"You kids have all gotta get back home," Yoongi said and when he looked back he saw sure enough that he was getting his packet of cigarettes out. "Start thinking of good excuses now, yeah?" He stuck the stick between his lips and flicked his lighter on, setting the tip alight and shoving it back into his pocket. "Try and avoid saying anything that might sound a little illegal." Jimin sat down beside him and he offered him the stick so the boy accepted it and took a quick drag. "Kookie, don't go hang around a park alright? Go home and stay there."

"Sure thing dad," he replied with a grin.

"Come on Kookie, I'll walk with you," Namjoon said, holding his arm out at him. After a moment of thought Jungkook moved over to him and his friend slung his arm around his shoulders just like Taehyung had, so he placed his own one around his waist and let his holdall bag swing from his free hand. He could hear their friends still talking as they started walking down the street but he didn't really pay attention to what they were saying. Instead he just looked at the paving flags under their boots, listening to their steps in perfect sync: left, right, left, right. They reached the end of the street and carried on walking across an empty road, walking in the direction of the night market stalls. From there they would take several blocks to reach his house and there was no parks or clubs at all for him to have to pass.

"Hey, you OK?" his friend asked him, patting his shoulder with his hand as he did.

"Yeah, I'm OK I guess," Jungkook replied as he looked up and scanned the market that was getting close to them. The stalls were on both sidewalks and they were packed with people, all kinds of goods on display. He saw food stalls with great bubbling pans and hissing briquettes on which meat and vegetables were being braised; that sold jewelry that was dangling from holders and dancing in the soft breeze; that sold little tourist shit that would appeal to non-Seoulites and foreign tourists. He thought about the fact that they had been to countless cities and yet they had no tourist goods to their names, no snow globes and key chains, pens with their names on or little teddies with flags stitched to their tummies. No, they all had scars instead. At least they wouldn't break if dropped on the floor.

"You guess?"

"Yeah I mean," he paused for a moment so he could think his thoughts out, both of them smoothly steering around the first stalls and walking in the gutters instead. "I guess it's 'cos I'm scared of what my parents are gonna say to me."

"For being out for so long without letting them know where you were?"

"Yeah, for acting like a little asshole," Jungkook agreed with a nod. "I didn't even leave them a note, I just ran off. They probably think I'm dead right now after all of that time. I always ended up going back home after a week or so, it's been nearly a month now Namjoon. I'm scared that they just might kill me." He laughed to himself and turned his head to look at his friend. "What am I supposed to say to them?"

"...Not sure Kookie, really not sure," Namjoon said in a soft voice. "All you can do is apologise. Tell them that you made some stupid mistakes and that you're sorry for causing any pain. You were in a bad place Kookie, we all were. We all did stupid things to go on this adventure and now we've all started to move forward again and realise that we need to change."

"Saying sorry though, will it even mean anything to them?"

"Sometimes words don't do shit, but sometimes all you can do is say them," his friend said as he scanned the road for any approaching cars. "They mightn't seem like they mean anything at first, but they will sink in and have meaning, you know?" Jungkook made a noise under his breath in agreement. "But the best way to make sure your words mean something is to follow through with them. No more running away, no more nights spent fighting drunks and making them worry about you, yeah? No more arguing."

"I don't wanna argue," he explained, "but I'm scared that they might just start yelling at me and then I won't be able to stop myself. That's what always happens."

"Think about what happened last time you got in an argument."

"It was...it was the night when Tae came back and...shit, it was the night of Jimin's accident, wasn't it?" Namjoon confirmed that it was as he pulled him up onto the sidewalk because a car had drifted down the road and it was safer than walking in the gutters. Jungkook felt his skin go freezing cold at the thought and there seemed to be something stuck in his throat making it hard for him to swallow. "I started that stupid argument when I promised that I'd start afresh. I punched Tae in the fucking mouth man..."

"Truthfully speaking Tae needed something to sober him up. Maybe not a punch, but he needed something. I'm not mad at you for punching him, but we all know what happened 'cos of that punch."

"Yeah, Jimin nearly died 'cos of my actions, 'cos I got mad and lashed out like always. I..." Jungkook managed to swallow hard and when he inhaled he didn't like the way his breath seemed to whistle in his throat. "I didn't know that I was that bad. When I get mad I tend to blackout, I don't really see what I'm doing and I never have to think about it 'cos it's always a stranger that I'm fighting with. It was never a friend."

"But now you know, you finally understand why we didn't want you fighting."

"I do, I finally get it now. I don't wanna argue with my parents. I don't wanna risk losing control like that and doing something stupid, like hurting them I mean, shit Namjoon what's a person to do if they hurt their own mom?" Namjoon told him that he wasn't going to do anything like that but Jungkook stopped walking and persisted. "I don't wanna hurt people but I do. I do 'cos I start yelling and I lose control. That could happen tonight. It could. What if I punch my own mom in the fucking mouth too, huh?" He knew that he was talking a little too loudly and that pedestrians were looking at them but he couldn't help himself.

"Hey, listen to me," Namjoon said in a stern voice. "You're not gonna do anything like that. You're not. You're just scared and you're telling yourself that you will but you won't. You're a smart kid Kookie, real fucking smart."

"I feel like a fucking kid right now," Jungkook muttered under his breath, hating the way he lower lip quivered and he felt tears forming under his eyelids.

"You're not gonna fight with them, you're not gonna hurt your mom, OK? Listen to me." His friend started walking again and he had to drag him along with him. "You're gonna go into your house and the first thing you do is you apologise. They might start yelling, they might not, but just apologise. If they start yelling then just block it all out, yeah? Think about something else, think about us instead. Don't go against your apology no matter what. Even if they say some pretty mean shit, don't do it. Go to your room, lock yourself in, push the bed in front of the fucking door if you've gotta do it. Give them time to cool down and then go back to it. What do you do?"

"A-apologise."

"Then what?"

"Think about the good things, don't get mad."

"If things get crazy?"

"Go into my room and-and-and luh-lock the door," Jungkook said as he felt the first tear rolling down his cheek.

"Your room is your sanctuary, yeah? Like Hoseok's room used to be his. Not the streets, the streets are dangerous." Namjoon reached over and brushed the tear off his cheek before he could even try and do it. "No more running away from our problems, yeah? Just facing them now, like an adult."

"I won't run away." Jungkook nodded in agreement as he took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. "Not after everything." He let his friend guide him through the market and down the streets without another word or glance in his direction. He mostly kept his eyes glued to his own feet but when he felt that they were drawing close to his house he decided to look up instead, following the traffic as it flowed down the street beside them. Namjoon remained silent too in the time that it took them to reach the house, not even offering a little bit of advice here or there like usual, or to talk about his own situation either. When his friend finally stopped walking he saw that they were right at the front path of his house and he studied it intently. It seemed like forever since he had seen those neat paving flags that led up to the porch, the little patch of grass to the right trimmed and free of even the slightest piece of trash.

"I feel like...like I just returned home from war," Jungkook said after a moment of contemplation. "It's weird, like a kinda emptiness. I've fought my battles and now I'm done."

"You might be done but you're not alone, OK. Remember that."

"I know, I know. Thanks." Jungkook crossed the path and stopped on the porch and held his friend's eyes for a moment. "Where are you going now, huh?"

"Me?" Namjoon sighed heavily and looked up and down the street as he shoved his hands into his jeans pocket. "I think that I'm...I'm gonna go back to my shitty little apartment room and get cleaned up. Make some food. Finally call my parents after everything and see what's going on. Maybe I might be able to fix that up a little, maybe not. I gotta try yeah?"

"Yeah, hey Joonie?"

"Yeah Kookie?"

"You should go to college too," he said. "I mean, you can still try and follow your dream with Yoongi, nothing's gonna get in the way of that I know, but you could still study whilst doing it. I know that you regret not enrolling, doesn't now seem like a good time to start?"

"...You're right, I'll look into that. It's not gonna be easy but I might just manage to ace the entrance exams."

"Come on, we both know you'll ace them without trying." Jungkook laughed and his friend shrugged with a smile. "Don't go into any of those stupid gambling dens."

"I won't, technically I can't 'cos I got no cash." Namjoon started walking down the street, turned so that he could still look at him as he did. "Remember what I said, yeah?"

"I will," he replied as he turned to look at the door, "bye man." He waved his friend off and then reached up to hold his hand in front of him. He curled his fingers up against his palm and took a deep breath before rapping his knuckles on the wood. Then he lowered his hand and tried to not squirm as he waited to see if someone would answer it. He didn't want to count in his head but he seemed powerless to stop it and so he just closed his eyes and waited. When he reached ten he heard something on the other side, the unmistakable sound of a lock being drawn back and then he opened his eyes again, breath leaving his lungs in a wheeze.

"...you, oh god Jungkook is that you?" He heard his mother's voice as she struggled to pull the lock back in her worry and haste and the door had only just swung inwards when he pushed his way inside. Before he could even stop himself he dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace so tight he heard her breath escaping in a surprised noise, and then her sobs. Jungkook had never really noticed the fact that he was so much taller than her already and that her face buried against his chest because she couldn't even place it on his shoulder. "Jungkook! I was so scared, so scared and-"

"I'm sorry," he said, speaking so fast that he wasn't even sure that she would understand him, "I'm so sorry, I won't do anything like that again. I won't, I promise I won't. I'm so sorry, oh my god." Jungkook didn't release her but he shifted so that he could hold onto her arms instead. "I'm so sorry for everything and I-" He caught movement from the corner of his eye and that was when his father stepped out into the hallway from the sitting area.

"Jungkook."

"Please forgive me." Jungkook dropped to his knees on the floor and leaned forward to press his head against the wooden flooring. For a moment the house fell silent and he just stayed in place and waited, waited to see if there would be angry yelling or not. But then he heard something he had not expected.

The sound of his father taking an unsteady breath.

"Son, come here." Jungkook lifted his head to look up at him, seeing his father reaching up to remove his glasses so that he could pinch at the bridge of his nose. The man was trying to stop his own tears and he slowly got to his feet as he stared at him. His father gestured for him to step forward so he did and then he felt his arms going around his shoulders, like Namjoon had done so just a few minutes ago. A second later his mother also joined the embrace and Jungkook felt those annoying tears from earlier starting to roll down his cheeks again. "Welcome home son."

"I'm home," Jungkook sobbed against his shoulder, "I'm finally home."

The view in front of him seemed strangely unlike the Seoul that he remembered. Perhaps it was because Hoseok had very rarely left his house in the late evening hours, perhaps it was because he had a new perspective on life now? That seemed a little silly to him, a little bit dramatic and poetic but right now he felt that that might just be the case. After all he now looked at the streets and roads and found his eyes always drawn to the windows of buildings to try and locate 'help wanted' fliers when he had never done that in the past, found himself scanning for hostels and street signs when he no longer had any need to. They weren't going to be crashing in some cheap buildings with broken shower fixtures and filthy carpet pile tonight. Tonight they were back in Seoul and that meant going back to actual homes where their own beds and mostly family awaited them.

It meant going back to his bedroom again; his own little private world that he had locked himself up in not that long ago.

It seemed like an eternity ago that he had spent his entire days in that room, hardly moving at all and just lying on his bed with one of those hideous aches pounding away in his head. In reality it hadn't even been a month but it felt so much longer. The thought of once again locking himself away from the world wasn't even at the back of his mind, he was not even picturing it at all. No more headaches to worry about, stopping him from even looking at his phone - which he no longer possessed of course - because the glare from the screen hurt his eyes too much; that stopped him from studying as he couldn't really see the words on the page because they were blurred to the point of indecipherable. He still felt that terrible withdrawal from his Xanax that made him feel nervous and uncomfortable but he was going to kick it. The sensation in the pit of his stomach was horrid but it was more bearable than the headaches at least, even when it made his mouth feel too dry and his hands shake to the point where he thought it was a miracle that he hadn't dropped anything. He had vomited for the first two or so days so much that he had felt he was going to die but now that seemed to be passing. He would get the contractions and the unsettled stomach but at least wouldn't bring up the food that he had eaten and waste it. He wasn't energy-less and drowsy all of the time and that meant he was starting to recover. Just like Taehyung and his shakes from the lack of alcohol, he was going to kick it and he was going to find something better.

Hoseok shoved his hands into his coat pockets and he sighed as he eyed the road in front of them. Wide and filled with traffic coming from several different directions, they were right in front of an intersection of some kind. To the right would lead back out of Seoul and onto the freeways of Gyeonggi, to the left went further into the city. He could see various buildings and yet it the late evening he couldn't really make out what they were. Only if they had neon signs in the windows or hanging from the sides could he tell, but most of them looked to be large warehouses. Of course the industrial side of Seoul was so far out from the centre, where the loud factory machines couldn't possibly disturb the thriving tourism and the stink of smoke and gasoline wouldn't be an underlying scent that mingled with the parks.

"Tae," Yoongi said suddenly, "don't go to clubs or bars. His voice caught him by surprise and he turned to look back at the last little grouping of his friends. The young man was sitting on the edge of the curb with Jimin right beside him, both of them sharing a cigarette, and Taehyung was standing just a few feet down the sidewalk. It seemed to have gotten the other boy's attention too for he dragged his eyes away from the road to look down at him.

"In fact don't go just yet. Stay here until I think of something. You're not gonna roll into some fucking bar now, after everything and get drunk," Yoongi said as he breathed smoke out his nose roughly. "You've come too fucking far and I don't want you ruining it."

"I won't go anywhere," Taehyung said as he held both hands up, palms outwards towards them. "Trust me man, I'm not gonna fuck up."

"Where the hell can you go though?" Jimin asked, breathing smoke out of the corner of his mouth. "Back to that hostel you crash in? I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Yeah? Me neither..."

"Not the hostel," Yoongi said as he took the stick back and tapped ash off the end, tongue sticking out to wet his lips slightly before he stuck it in his mouth. "That place is bad news. You'll get trapped in a cycle again if you go back there, returning to your own haunts. It's like-"

"Picking at a scab until it bleeds," Hoseok muttered, "and opening up an old wound again." The man nodded in vigorous agreement. "They're right, the hostel isn't the right place to go. The temptation to lax back to drinking and stealing is too much. This is meant to be a new start, not a return to the old."

"Ain't got much choice lover boy," Taehyung retorted with a shrug. "That hostel is my home."

"You've got parents," Yoongi said quietly.

"I do, but that's opening up old wounds too. I can't see 'em right now. I'd need to down three bottles of vodka after that experience, I'm not ready for that."

"Then stay the night at my house," Hoseok offered. For a few seconds the other boy just stared at him blankly as he processed this, head cocked ever so slightly. When Taehyung didn't respond he added. "Just the night. We can sort something out tomorrow, figure out a way to help you from lapsing back onto the booze. You can't go back to the hostel, you can't sleep on the streets. Come home with me."

"Your parents-"

"My parents should thank you, should thank all of you, for helping me," he explained as he waved the boy's words off. "You're not gonna cause shit Tae, it's just a night. I'm so tired I'll probably pass out the minute I step inside the house. There's no alcohol in my house for you to worry about."

"Is there any pills?" Jimin asked quietly, cigarette back between his fingers just like Yoongi held his. Hoseok explained that he had nothing in his room at all, that he had only had that single bottle, and the boy let out a relieved sigh.

"What do you say?"

"...OK, I mean if there's a problem or anything I can leave, I totally-" he reached over and snagged hold of the boy's wrist. He had briefly realised that it was the first time he had done so, for it was usually Taehyung that grabbed him and wouldn't let go, and Taehyung seemed to realise this too for he looked down at his fingers in confusion.

"See you guys soon, right?" Hoseok looked at the other pair and they both nodded in agreement. "Let's not wait too long though. Let's start meeting again more often."

"Definitely," Jimin said with a slight smile.

"Don't get into trouble without us," he joked.

"Wouldn't dream of it kid," Yoongi said as he lifted his hand and waved his fingers at them. "Catch you later."

Hoseok started walking down the street in the direction that they had been heading before Seokjin had distracted them with the coach station. He was still a little confused as to where they were, scanning the streets to try and locate how far away from his house he was, but after a few minutes Taehyung took the lead. The boy scoffed that he was lost and that he was pretty clueless when it came to the streets, making sure to brag that he knew exactly where they were. He told him that he didn't believe him and this resulted in his friend grinning at him and pulling his wrist free to sling an arm around his neck. Yet it appeared that the boy was telling the truth for he didn't stop once as he guided him down the narrow side streets that seemed to cover the capital. How he could possibly know the streets this personally was still something that Hoseok couldn't wrap his head around but it came naturally to the boy; after all he had lived on them for quite some time now. He wouldn't have lasted very long without using his brain.

As they started to get into areas that he recognised he did start to think of what his parents were going to do when he knocked on the door. Would they be mad at him? He had told them that he was staying with a friend for a little while, but he knew that he had overstayed that excuse by nearly two weeks. A single week would have been pushing the boundaries and to make it even worst he hadn't even been able to be contacted after his phone had been stolen on him. How would they react when they saw that he had brought a friend back with him, a friend that he was a little too intimately acquainted with to really call a 'friend' at this point? Hoseok glanced over at the other boy and yet Taehyung seemed to be too busy navigating to feel the weight of his gaze on him. To put it simply they were in a rather difficult situation right now but it could all be solved another day. All he wanted right now was to see his parents again, apologise and rest, everything else was irrelevant at this current point.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Taehyung finally asked when they were just on the block that his house belonged to. He had noticed that the boy had slowed down considerably for the past minute or so and that he seemed to be dragging his feet.

"I only have good ideas," he retorted without missing a beat, making his friend laugh at the remark. "Tae, you've got nowhere else to go. If my parents don't want you in the house then...well then I'll go too. We'll find somewhere to stay for the night together. I don't want you being alone right now."

"Maybe we should find somewhere instead?" The boy stopped walking suddenly, eyes glued on the familiar sight of his house just down the street in front of them. "Just you and me, we don't need to worry about-"

"I need to go back," Hoseok interrupted as he started walking again, dragging him forward as he did. "My parents need to know that I'm still alive. That's a last resort Tae, and right now we haven't even tried the first option."

"They won't want me in the house," Taehyung said in an uneven voice and he realised that the boy was scared. Taehyung didn't want to go into the house because he was no doubt thinking of his own family home across the capital, the one that he hadn't been near in so long now that he wondered if the boy even remembered what it looked like. The rickety and rotted away windowsills, the boarded up attic window that had been broken for so long Hoseok had never seen it in any other state, and the unpainted fence that ran around the porch that they had all painted on as teens until the boy's father had caught them in the act and had whooped Taehyung's ass hard enough that he had been unable to sit down for days.

"Tae."

"No, listen to me. I'm that fucking unwanted dick that shows up one night outta nowhere and no one wants 'em in their life 'cos they just ruin everything and they'll see that when they look at me." The boy was seconds away from digging his heels into the paving flags and he really wouldn't be that surprised if he started whining at the back of his throat like a whipped dog. "They'll see that and I-"

"Tae, my parents aren't like that OK? They're not going to act like that so just calm down." Hoseok stopped just in front of the fence and he could see that the sitting room light was on, the window open to let a breeze inside. "We're going to go inside and you don't have to talk if you're scared. I'll talk for you and-"

Hoseok heard the sound bleeding out through the window before he caught sight of movement and when he turned his head he saw his mother leaning out of the open gap.

"Honey!" she practically shouted. "Is that you Hoseok?!"

"Oh shit..." Taehyung muttered under his breath and a moment later the front door flew inwards and Hoseok saw his father stepping out onto the porch.

"Come here," the man said as he lifted an arm up and gestured at him, so he snagged hold of the other boy's hand before he could run off and dragged him through the front gate towards the man. His father grabbed his upper arms tightly and then made a noise deep in his throat that was trapped between a groan and a sigh. "Where have you been Hoseok?"

"That's a long story..."

"We called the police and everything!" He let go of his arms and instead cupped his face between his hands and he just looked at his father and waited to see what he would say. "You look...have you been living on the streets?"

"No, I mean...not really." Hoseok shifted his gaze over to see his mother slumped against the doorway, one hand clutched to her breast as if she was trying to keep her heart from slipping out and landing on the porch step. "I went on a...a trip with friends, well it was more of an adventure and uh...I'm sorry."

"We tried calling you but you didn't pick up or reply to any of our messages."

"My phone was- I lost my phone, I'm such an idiot I know but-"

"Hoseok dear, have you been taking your medication?"

"No," he replied with a head shake, knocking his father's hands off his cheeks as he did. "I can explain everything inside, but I don't want to take the pills any more. I want to try something else instead." Hoseok looked between them both and he realised that they very much didn't understand what he was saying. "I feel much better without the pills honestly, I'll explain everything inside, I promise I will and-"

"Hoseok," Taehyung said in a voice barely above a whisper, "maybe I should just-"

"Mom, dad, this is Taehyung," Hoseok said as he lifted their enjoined hands up. "He's a...a friend. He needs somewhere to stay for the night and I kind of promised he could stay with me. Is that OK?" For a moment neither of his parents replied and he felt the most pressing urge to hold his breath but then his mother shifted and reached up to fix her hair.

"Of course dear, come inside and we can talk about everything. I'll make dinner, you must both be starving."

Jimin watched the two boys walking down the street for a moment and then he turned back to the sight of the gutter just under his boots. He had his knees drawn up against his chest and his arms folded up on them and he moved to place his chin on top too, hugging himself because the breeze was a little cold right now. From beside him he heard his friend shifting and the rustling of his jacket and a moment later the man placed it over his shoulders. It was warm from his body and he could smell that familiar scent of cigarette smoke trapped in the material. Yoongi ran his hand down his back for a second or two before stopping and reaching up to pull the nearly used up cigarette stick out of his mouth. The air between them had went silent since the two other boys had departed and he tried to think of something to say to break it and yet he couldn't seem to do so, instead just listening to the noise of the traffic on the roads around them: the rolling tires and rumbling engines, blaring radios and horns occasionally sounding like screams.

"You don't wanna go back home, do you?" Yoongi asked after several minutes of quiet. At his voice Jimin turned his head slightly to look at him. The cigarette was gone, the remains lying crushed on the curb beside him with a little black smear of ash. He hadn't stubbed it out on his skin and looking at those smears on the concrete made him think of how they would have been on his arm not that long ago. Eventually he managed to make a noise in agreement and his friend sighed and leaned back on his wrists, sticking his legs out in front of him regardless of the fact that any passing cars might get close enough to run them over.

"My dad's home right now," Jimin said in a quiet voice. "He's not working and he'll be drunk, like always."

"No way to sneak in and avoid him?"

"No, he'll hear me and he'll come in and do more than smack me on the back of the head." He turned his head to look back at the gutter. "He'll beat the shit outta me and kick me out the house again. I know he will. I'm not exaggerating, this isn't my fear talking like Namjoon would say. It's what always happens. Every time I go out with you guys I get a smack for every hour I wasn't helping him fix up shit. If I'm gone for a day or two then it's a punch. Why do you think I never used to go on school trips, huh? 'Cos I'd get the shit kicked outta me when I got back, that's why."

"Shit Jimin..."

"Yeah, I'm stuck just like Tae. I go back home and I'm gonna get kicked out again, just like he told me would happen if I ran away in the first place. So I can't go back, I'm...trapped."

"No, you're not trapped," Yoongi said as he reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll sort this out, yeah? You and me, we'll sort it out no matter what."

"I wish I went to one of those crazy schools that students live in, you know? That way I wouldn't need to go home. I'd have somewhere to stay, so I can be far away from him." Jimin laughed under his breath. "Like I'd even get into one of those places."

"C'mon, get up."

"I don't wanna go back there Yoongi," he replied a little too brusquely, "I'd rather stay out here all night and-"

"You're not going back there, c'mon."

"Promise?" he asked as his friend slipped a hand under his arm and pulled him upright off the curb.

"I promise," Yoongi confirmed as he took hold of his hand tightly. "You're not going back there tonight, we'll go somewhere else. Let's talk about something else too, huh? Not your father or any of that shit." His friend cocked his head down the street and so Jimin glanced up and down it before agreeing that he would walk with him.

"What else can we talk about?"

"Talk about school, what's going on with school?"

"Nothing much, I skipped three days for this adventure so when the break's over I'm totally gonna get a detention. My grades were probably sent home in a letter and that's something else my dad's gonna kick my ass over. I bet I got Ds in everything like always."

Down a street that he didn't really recognise because it was so far out on the outskirts of the city, the darkness that had fallen over the last few minutes making the streetlights all come on and glow like miniature suns. Jimin let Yoongi take him wherever the hell he had in mind because anywhere was better than home, he knew that all too well. The others might tell him that he needed to go back, that his parents needed to know that he was safe, but Yoongi knew just as well as he did that that was not an option. If he went back home he would probably end up in hospital again and that was something inevitable. This wasn't like Hoseok and his overprotective parents, Jungkook and his arguments that ended in tears and slammed doors, Jimin knew that his situation was something that couldn't be fixed just like Taehyung's. He wasn't going to run away like the other boy, or at least he hadn't planned on it just yet. He wouldn't last a single week on the streets and he knew it, he was just asking to get arrested or murdered, but he didn't have many other options at hand. His life was technically at risk if he knocked on the door to his own home.

Yoongi didn't say anything in response to this and he could sense that he was thinking. The man had a habit of going off into his own world and thoughts and he knew to just leave him uninterrupted because he likely wouldn't hear him even if he did say something. Jimin wondered what it was like inside of his head sometimes, always filled with thoughts that never seemed to leave him in peace. It must have been sheer hell being unable to tune it all out and it was no wonder that Yoongi was the way that he was; nervous and prone to smoking to try and calm himself down, always jumping in to try and sort things out because he couldn't stop himself,

always looking out for him as if he was just as important as his own self.

"Don't assume," he eventually said, "'cos you don't know. Be optimistic, yeah?"

"I thought you were a realist?"

"Jimin, I'm gonna tell you something right now, OK?" Yoongi said as he glanced back over his shoulder at him. "You're gonna graduate like I told you all of those days back, you are so just listen to me. You're gonna make it through high school and then, when it's done, you can do whatever the fuck you want, alright?"

"So...I could go to college?"

"Yeah, why the fuck not? Study and go there if you wanna."

"I could fix stuff up?"

"You do it better than anyone else."

"I could..." Jimin paused and let out an embarrassed laugh before continuing, "I could move in with you?"

"...Fuck it Jimin, you could move in whenever you want," Yoongi replied as he turned to look back at the street in front of them. Empty block, nothing more than a couple of cars rolling down the road every minute or so. They were in an abandoned area, that much was obvious, and he had a very strong feeling that they were drawing close to his friend's house. "But you gotta make it through high school, yeah? That's my ultimatum for you. You know what that means, right?"

"A demand that must be fulfilled or everything is...terminated."

"See, you're smart," Yoongi said with a grin as he looked over his shoulder at him. "That's my ultimatum. You gotta finish high school 'cos you need to. It's good for you, it can help you in the future even if right now it feels like it can't. If I made it through without killing my maths teacher so can you."

"Don't do a Tae."

"Exactly, but one day I'm gonna get that kid back in school too."

"Sounds like a challenge."

"I'll drag him back kicking and screaming if I have to. He's gonna need that achievement if he's not living on the streets anymore, he's gonna need at least a high school graduation to his name to find part-time work."

"...I'll do it," Jimin said after a moment of thought. "I mean I'll try and hope that- no, I don't need to hope. I'll do it, I'll finish high school."

"Damn right you'll fucking do it," Yoongi agreed with a nod. "You'll graduate and you'll find a part-time job and then you can start looking at colleges, and you can prove your father wrong. You're not useless, you're not a fuck up, you're better than he'll ever be. That's what's gonna happen. We'll help you if you need it. You're not gonna get Ds, you'll get Cs and Bs and As and-"

"As?" Jimin burst out laughing because he couldn't help himself. "Seriously Yoongi, that's not gonna happen."

"and you'll prove once or all that you're not a 'dumbass' yeah?" Yoongi held his eyes without blinking and he realised that the man was being completely serious with him. It wasn't a good-natured joke, he really did think that he was going to be able to achieve things like that. The idea of an A was so absurd that he had laughed at it and yet Jimin saw that Yoongi didn't think that it was that absurd at all. He seemed to well and truly believe that he could get such grades. It was enough to make him stop laughing and stare at him dumbly.

"I'm...I'm not gonna get an A, you know that right? I'll be lucky to get Cs."

"Cs are good enough for graduation, Ds are too but you're not gonna get Ds. We both know you're better than that Jimin."

"You really think I can do that, don't you?" Jimin asked quietly as he looked down at their hands, fingers entwined tightly. "You actually believe in me."

"I've always believed in you," he said without missing a beat, "it's myself that I have trouble believing in. But you, shit Jimin I believe you can do it. You work hard, you're a good kid and-" Yoongi lifted his hand up so that he could bring his fingers to his mouth, kissing them just like he had that day in the hospital. The same electric sensation of his lips brushing against his skin, so soft and warm, the corners turning up into a smile as he looked at him. "I believe in you with all of my heart."

Namjoon stopped on the end of the street and looked back to see the boy was still standing on the porch. He wondered if Jungkook had even knocked and waited to see what would happen and a moment later the door shifted and the boy practically tackled his way inside of the house. This made him smile to himself as he thought about what was going to happen, the apologies and the tears. He just hoped that Jungkook wouldn't give into his fears and argue with his parents even though he knew that he wouldn't. Jimin's accident had wrecked him that night and he knew that he wouldn't possibly repeat it. He hadn't been lying to the boy when he had told him that he was a smart kid, though he currently felt like he was going to have to drop the kid title soon. Jungkook was really starting to grow up and he wouldn't be a boy forever, even if that made everything so much more easier. He was turning into a young man now, one that was wise beyond his years and hopefully only going to get wiser.

He pulled his eyes away from the house after a minute and decided it was time he got back to his apartment too. He was tired and hungry and standing on a curb contemplating life wasn't going to fix either of those problems. There was plenty enough time for thinking on the go and he had a good couple of blocks to clear before he reached his apartment block. Namjoon hefted his holdall bag once more so that it was up on his shoulder and he started walking down the street.

What were the others doing right now? Seokjin was probably asleep on the coach, comfortable and safe within his dreams as he drifted off back down to Ansan where his parents were going to get a rather wonderful surprise. Jungkook was already with his, so what about the others? Still at the coach station, sitting on the curb smoking and trying to figure out what happens next or all on their own ways back home; or wherever home is was for them? Namjoon wasn't entirely certain what would happen next for him either but he was looking forward to seeing what came his way.

What had made Jungkook think about college and him in the same train of thought? He wasn't really sure and yet he would be lying if he said that the boy hadn't made him start thinking about it, even if it was a little crazy. The boy had said that he knew that he had regretted not going to college and though that wasn't entirely right there was some truth to it. Namjoon hadn't regretted upsetting his parents back then, when they had argued over it, because he hadn't been ready at all. What he currently regretted was a mixture of things, mostly the fact that he had never really gotten to challenge himself by not enrolling. Had he have picked a course and decided to drop out like Seokjin and pursue another that would have been better, for at least he had tried something and he felt like that was the biggest mistake he had made in regards to his past decision. Right now he felt a little more ready, felt like he might just be able to start studying if he set himself a goal. The boy was right, there was nothing stopping him from trying and if he managed to get a better part-time job then it would really help him out. He knew that his father would pay for his tuition as soon as he finally settled down and agreed on a course because the man had set up a fund for him back when he had been in middle school, and all he needed to do was call his parents up and say: "I'm finally gonna do it, I'm gonna go to college."

So why not go ahead and do it?

Namjoon kicked a crushed soda bottle out of his way and listened to it rolling until it landed in the gutter with a clattering noise. What would Yoongi think if he told him what he was thinking? Would his friend support him? Would he think his own possibilities over too? Namjoon knew if he called Seokjin's family number then his friend would practically yell at him down the line to do it, hell he would probably run all the way back to Seoul and force him down into a chair as he loaded up prospectuses and made him pick one. His friend had been honest with him last year when he had told him that he had been risking a lot on deciding to not enroll and at the time he had just nodded along and hadn't really listened but now he could see that he had been telling him the truth all along.

Now Namjoon really did feel like he could do it because he finally felt ready.

He was so into his thoughts that it took him a few seconds to see the man standing under the awning of the building in front of him. Middle-aged with facial hair and an open-necked shirt that seemed to be the unofficial uniform of all den bouncers, the man eyed him with interest and he felt his legs slowing down as he got closer to the building.

"Hey, what're you doing wandering at this time of night huh?" the man asked with a smile. It was a genuine one but he could also sense that it could turn predatory when he needed it to.

"Nothing important," Namjoon replied with a soft head shake, "just making my way home."

"Been working all day?"

"...Kinda."

"You should take a nice break, yeah?" the man suggested as he shifted, cocking an arm up and jabbing his thumb back over his shoulder. "Step inside and blow off a little steam, maybe make some easy cash whilst you do. How old are you?"

"Old enough to know that's a bad idea man," he said with a soft laugh, "I've been down and out in dens in the past."

"Gotta build up experience."

"I've experienced a lot of shit these past few weeks," Namjoon said as he stopped on the sidewalk just a few feet away from the man. He eyed the building and saw that it was just like the one that he had been in back when he had won the car; same brick exterior and porch with an awning that would shelter any bouncers from rain whilst they tried to pick up customers on the streets. He knew that when he stepped inside he would have to take stairs to get to a basement level, breathing in the scent of cigarette smoke and maybe alcohol as he stepped into the actual den. There would be tables everywhere, cards and chips piled like mountains. TV screens blaring images and sound mounted on the walls and stacks of papers placed here and there just waiting to be circled by his hands.

"Tonight could change all of that. You could make a killing."

"Yeah," he said, "I probably could." Namjoon bit down on his lower lip and studied the building for another moment before looking at the man. "Shame I got no cash right now."

"You get your hands on any and you wanna try and strike it rich you know where to come. If I ain't here just tell whoever is "Lim recommended you" and they'll let you in no problem."

"Sure thing man," Namjoon nodded as he carried on walking, already knowing that by tomorrow morning he wouldn't even remember the man's name and feeling a little burst of pride at this fact.

It took him nearly twenty minutes of walking but eventually he got to his apartment building and he could have sighed in relief at the sight of it in front of him. He went inside and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets to find his keys. He was counting himself lucky that he hadn't lost them after everything that had happened, that they hadn't been stolen on him along with his cash and phone. He rode the elevator up because he couldn't have possibly have braved six floors worth of stairs and he was walking down the corridor when a door popped open at the end.

"Oh hey," his neighbour Minah said as she pulled the door shut behind her and locked it, "where the hell have you been? Haven't seen you these past few weeks and I got a little worried, you know?"

"That's a long story," Namjoon replied and she smiled slightly as she shoved her keys into her red leather handbag. She was all ready for work, black tube dress visible under her light coat and shoes so high she would be nearly as tall as him if she was to stand beside him. "I'll tell you another time, yeah?"

"Good idea, if I'm late again my boss will kill me and- oh yes, I just remembered. A position working the bar opened up last night. Want me to put a word in for you and try and snag you it?"

"Please, that would really come in handy seen as I'm pretty much fired from that stupid gas station one. Disappearing for a month with a job wasn't my smartest idea, right?"

"Right," she agreed with a curt nod, "I'm just glad to see that you're OK. A little... worn down but OK, but yes I've got to blow now so I'll catch you later, yes? We can have coffee over the road at Chorong's little café and you can tell me everything."

"Sure thing, have fun at work." Namjoon watched her go before turning back to his door and slipping the keys in. He unlocked it with a quick twist of the wrist and then locked it once more after stepping inside. He dropped his holdall bag on the floor without a single care and went straight into the small bathroom area to finally clean up.

With the streaming shower water he could feel all of the dirt of the road coming free; not just the physical but the mental too. They were here now, in Seoul, they had made it back in one piece. This was his tiny apartment room with the tiny bathroom and kitchenette, with the creaky floorboard just by the end of his bed, and he was inside it. It wasn't a dream, it was reality and he was finally going to rest his head on his own pillows and not worry about where the next bit of food was coming from, or whether he would be robbed again.

When Namjoon finally got out of the shower and hastily got changed into something comfortable, switching his jeans for a pair of flannel pajama pants and his worn hoodie and tees for a loose vest, he seriously contemplated the idea of curling up in bed and sleeping. But he couldn't do that just yet. There was a gaping maw under his ribs that demanded food and he still had a promise to Jungkook to fulfill. So he wandered into the kitchen and after realising that he had nothing edible beside a few tubs of instant ramen he filled a kettle up and also collected a mug from the cupboard over the sink to add a herbal tea bag to. That would really soothe his mind, he should probably recommend Taehyung drink herbal tea instead of soju. Then he crossed his room and decided to go for it.

He opened his laptop up and tried turning it on before remembering that the battery was dead and then he got to his feet and awkwardly located the charger wire before plugging it into the wall. This time when he hit the power button it actually came on with a soft whirring noise as the hard drive kicked in. He typed his password with one hand as he reached over to pull his landline phone closer to him. The device was black, a cordless model that sat upright in the port like an antenna, and he stared at it as he let his laptop load. To call or not to call, wasn't that the most hardest question? He was just about to pick it up when there was a clicking noise from behind him and he shifted to look back across the room. The little kettle was finished heating up, a plume of smoke coming out the top just like the freight trains they had jumped on.

Namjoon got to his feet and went over to it, lifting the kettle and pouring water in the instant ramen pot and then in the mug. The tea bag starting infusing almost instantly, turning the water a light green that would slowly turn to a murky brown by the time it was done. Then he put the kettle back and unplugged it before carrying both items over to his desk by the window. He sat down with a weary sigh and moved his finger along the mouse pad to click on the little internet symbol in the top corner of his screen. White window popping up with a little spinning circle on the tab. He shifted to fold one elbow on the desk and rest his chin in the palm of his hand. But after a few seconds of staring at the screen he felt his eyes moving over to look at the phone once more.

What could he possibly say right now? Would either if his parents even want to listen to him, his mother or his father? He didn't know but he had told his friends that they should pursue their own wants, had told Jungkook not to let his fear ruin him. Right now his own fear was taking over and Namjoon wasn't going to fall prey to it. He was going to keep his promise to the boy. Namjoon picked the phone up, scrolling through the electronic address book even as he typed a university name into the Naver search portal. As he clicked on the link he let it load and turned his full attention to the phone. After locating the number he held the device up against his ear and turned back to his laptop.

One dial tone. Two dial tones.

He eyed the webpage to locate what he was looking for.

Three dial tones. Four dial tones.

He had just lifted his hand and had his fingers hovering over the mouse pad when there was a static burst down the line and he heard a voice, as familiar to his ears as his own.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hey mom. It's me Namjoon."

"Nam...Namjoonie?" she practically sighed his nickname out and he heard something in the background, something that sounded like another voice asking her what was going on. "Is everything OK? Why are you calling right now?"

"I know, I know I never call and I'm sorry for it. I'm really sorry for what happened this past year but I've got good news. I changed my mind. I'm gonna go to college."

"Yes dear," his mother's voice, muted slightly as she no doubt spoke to his father. "He is. He just told me." A second later there was another burst of static.

"Speak to me son," his father said, words sounding authoritative but tone really revealing that he was just relieved. Namjoon finally located the course link and he moved his finger over to click on it.

"I hope you're not busy," he said as he rapidly scrolled down and eyed the multitude of courses, "'cos this could take some time..." His father told him that they could talk all night if needed and Namjoon sat back in his chair and felt a smile at the corners of his lips.

"I would like that."

Just like he had expected the door wouldn't open easily, even when he twisted the keys and pressed his weight against it. It shuddered in the hinges and the wood groaned loudly but it didn't budge until he gave in and threw himself against it. Then it did the usual and opened with a suddenness that would have spilled him onto the floor if Jimin hadn't grabbed the back of his tee and pulled back, saving him from a rather painful fall. The door swung open and stopped as it hit something and he knew that it was his bike, still shoved in the hallway awkwardly. The back wheel spun round and round like a windmill until he reached down and grabbed it, shoving it out of the way so that they could enter the house. Yoongi was briefly aware of how messy the hallway was and he felt something akin to a flush of embarrassment at the sight of all of the trash and yet the boy didn't even blink at it. After some struggling he managed to get the bike in a better position and he closed the door behind him, sliding the lock in place with a weary sigh. He muttered about the mess under his breath, reaching up to mess with his hair as he did and Jimin laughed.

"You haven't seen what my room looks right now," he said with a smirk, dropping his backpack at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, you haven't seen mine either and-" Yoongi stopped fiddling with his hair as he dragged his eyes away from the floor to look at the boy. "Uh...are you hungry? Lemme me go make something to eat." He hastily crossed the hallway and managed to not trip over anything, which was a miracle in itself, and then went into the open-plan area to get to the small kitchen. Jimin stayed in the doorway for a moment as he watched him pottering about.

Yoongi dumped his holdall and went from cupboard to cupboard, into the fridge and freezer, and he found that he was running low on pretty much everything. A month away from home would do that and the remains of most of the food was going to need to be trashed. Well, there was always rice and kimchi he supposed, and that was better than nothing. So he set about washing rice to go into the cooker and that was when Jimin finally wandered inside the wide room and decided to sit down at the counter on the single stool. He made sure to clean the rice thoroughly, watching the water in the pan start to go a milky white, before rinsing it through and dumping it inside the cooker. After setting a time he hastily dried his hands on the end of his tee and sighed heavily.

"Home sweet home..."

"I'd take this over another hostel room any day," the boy said with a soft smile as he ran his fingers along the worn counter.

"It's no different than one really, when you think about it. I'm paying to sleep in it."

"...Huh, I never thought about it that way."

The kitchen fell silent for a few minutes and Yoongi wanted to break it but he didn't seem capable of doing so. He didn't have to break it, it was perfectly fine the way that it was. But after some thought he decided that it was best to talk about something important.

"First thing tomorrow I'm gonna go to your house," he said as he folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the stove. "I'm gonna knock and I'm gonna tell whoever answers that I'm there to pick up your shit. I'll bring my holdall bag. I'll fill it with all of your things, clothes, school uniform, books and shit. If I need to do multiple trips I will, I don't care, and I'm gonna bring it back here. Yeah?" Jimin just looked at him without saying a single thing. "If anyone tries to stop me then...well I'll make sure that they don't. Not your mom, I'm sure she won't give a fuck but if your father's there then there might be some trouble. But I don't care, I'm not making you go back there. I'll tell 'em that you're OK, that you're still in school and that you're safe, but I'm not letting 'em see you no matter what. Not until you wanna see 'em again, OK?"

"...OK."

"You don't need to worry about any of that shit, I'll sort it out for you. You just need to rest and enjoy the last of the break before you go back to school, yeah?"

"So...I really am moving in with you?" Jimin asked. After some thought he nodded and the boy's lips lifted in a wide grin. "Then I'll never need to go back home." The rice cooker started hissing from across the kitchen so he went over to open it, scooping the steaming rice into a bowl and placing it down in front of him, adding a small plate of kimchi and a glass of water a moment later.

"Well, enjoy it whilst it lasts," Yoongi said as he dragged himself up onto the counter to sit on it, legs dangling over the side. "I'm totally gonna get kicked outta here in a week anyway. No jobs, can't pay the rent for this shithole much longer unless I break into my savings. Oh shit, I need to call the bank about my fucking card..." He thought this over before sighing. "I'll do that tomorrow, fuck it I'm too tired for an argument."

"You can get another job," Jimin said as he spooned rice into his mouth. "I'm sure that you can. You've got a lot of experience."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to," he said with a soft smile.

"I could get a job too," the boy said as he dropped his eyes to the food in front of him, moving the spoon into his left hand so that he could pick up his chopsticks. "I could work part-time in a mechanics or something between school." He studied him as he lifted a piece of kimchi off the small plate beside his bowl. "Just like the adventure except this time it's...our adventure."

"Our adventure, huh?" Yoongi felt a strange little sensation in the pit of his stomach that he had only started feeling for the past couple of days; a giddiness that seemed to make a fluttering spread up into his chest. Was this what 'butterflies' felt like? It was like nerves and happiness all bundled up into one emotion and he didn't know if he loved it or hated it because it made him feel a little weak.

"There's a couple of weeks left of the break, I could totally get a part-time job and hopefully keep it," Jimin continued around the mouthful of food, seemingly unaware of the current swirl of emotions that he was currently floating in. There was a slight blob of sauce in the corner of his mouth and so he reached over to wipe it free for him. "You won't get kicked out then, we won't get kicked out."

As soon as Jimin was finished eating he told him that he would wash the dishes and that he should clean up before resting, so the boy disappeared upstairs to go into the bathroom. Yoongi filled the sink up with hot water and liquid soap and he washed the bowl and glass and plate through thoroughly, hearing the pipes in the bathroom clunking loudly as he did. Not that long ago he had been doing this every day of the week more or less, slaving away over a sink filled with other people's dishes for the most pitiful amount of cash but not any longer. When he was finished he put them all away again and he was about to leave the room when his eyes fell on the remains of the phone still lying on the floor by the settee.

Yoongi eyed the shattered plastic box and he wondered if the boy had seen it earlier, and if he had, what had he thought of it? He had actually forgotten about smashing it to shit and yet here it was in front of him, an annoying reminder. He didn't seem to be able to drag his eyes away from the phone but when the sound of the shower cut off suddenly he found himself coming back to reality. He moved over to the device and bent down to pick it up before crossing the room and dumping it in the trash can. Then he went back over to where it had been and hunkered down, collecting the broken receiver and shards of plastic up in his hand so that he could dispose of those too. He was going to need to replace it at some point just so that he could keep in contact with Seokjin and Namjoon, but right now emails could suffice. When there was no trace of the phone except for the gaping hole in the wall where it had been plugged in he finally crossed the room to go out into the hallway and he was about to climb the stairs when he noticed something.

Jimin's open backpack and shoes left at the very bottom: frayed and scuffed to hell and back, the laces barely even left from all of the knotting and unknotting they had been through.

He stopped and stared at them before bending down and undoing his own boots, placing them down beside the bottom step. He looked at them for a moment, thinking about how long it had been since he had seen more than his own shoes in that spot; since he had seen his with his parents back in the family home. Then he went up the stairs and peered into the bathroom to see that it was empty. The boy's clothes were visible sticking out of the small laundry basket but there was no sign of Jimin beyond the droplets of water still clinging to the side of the bathtub. He was probably in the single bedroom down the thin hall so he went inside and turned the shower on so that he could get cleaned up too. He turned the water up high in the hopes that it wouldn't go cold and it didn't. Instead it was hot enough to nearly burn his skin but he didn't mind at all, spending nearly fifteen minutes just letting the stream of water flow down, running through his hair and down his face in rivulets. When he was finished he went along into the bedroom, roughly drying his hair with the towel, and as he stepped inside he saw that Jimin was sitting on the end of his bed. The boy was wearing a pair of underwear that he had grabbed from his own backpack and he saw one of his shirts on him, the one that he had had to wear when he had managed to secure a job as a waiter a few months back before he had been fired for messing up orders too much. It didn't hang on him as loosely as it had on him and actually looked rather fitted, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the buttons undone for comfort.

"Comfortable?" Yoongi asked sarcastically and the boy looked away from the small compact mirror that he had been using to check the cuts on his cheek with.

"Very."

"I finally get to sleep in my own bed again," he said as he went over to the drawer that Jimin had left wide open and closed it, slipping another one open to get a pair of clean underwear out. He felt the boy's eyes on him as he put them on and then he turned back to look at him, still drying at his damp hair with the towel. "It's funny, you look like...like you actually belong there. That you should always be there, sitting on the end of my bed...lying in it."

"Lying? Well, I'm not very sleepy."

"Yeah? Too bad, I am. I'm falling asleep right now." Yoongi left the towel on top of the dresser and he went over to sit on the bed, suppressing a yawn as he did. "You'll have to lie awake and stare at my ugly face."

"Not ugly," Jimin retorted as he lay down beside him, head sinking into the pillows. He thought that it was a little crazy that his bed now felt heavenly to him when he had used to hate it, used to find it lumpy and annoying. "I'll probably see it in my dreams anyway..."

"Sounds like a nightmare to me." Yoongi sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling the boy's fingers softly moving along his ribs and down to his stomach, tracing little concentric circles on his skin.

"No, a dream," the boy said in a soft voice. "One that I'm currently living."

Yoongi felt himself starting to drifting, eyelids too heavy to keep open for longer than a second and the last thing that he was aware of before he fell asleep was the sensation of Jimin's fingers on his stomach, of his breath and lips on his shoulder as he whispered "I love you" against his skin.

Taehyung knew that he should probably look up from the table in front of him at some point but it felt too hard. The wood was nice and smooth and he couldn't see a single mark or gouge in it. His friend's mother must have taken good care of it because it looked brand new but he could faintly recall sitting at this exact table several years back; when he had been not even a teenager yet and had been a sweet faced child that had never touched a drop of alcohol or even cursed unless it was a whisper behind his hand so no one could see his lips moving. Yet here he was now, several days sober and a shaking mess that couldn't even look at the other boy's father for fear that the man would see everything that he had ever done. Every little fuck up, every little fuck, and so it was just so much easier to just look at the table. He had his hands on his lap and they were tangled together to stop him from fiddling nervously, legs crossed up on the floor cushion awkwardly. He was a little too tall to fit his legs under and he saw that Hoseok was now too. It finally hit him how very... adult they were and he found the thought disgusting and wished that it would go away.

He didn't want to be an adult. Adults were all fuck ups too, they just like to pretend that they weren't. Just like his dad and his mom, just like every other one he had ever known. All fuck ups.

"So, this isn't the boy you were staying with, is it?" the man asked suddenly, shifting on the other seat to look between them both. "You said Min. Something...min I think. Not Taehyung."

"Uh, no. This is a different friend. Don't you remember him?" Hoseok asked with a slight smile as he looked over at his father.

"I remember him," his mother called from the open kitchen doorway. "He's the boy that broke into the house once and ate most of the cookies that I had baked for the church bake sale."

"Ah yes," the man said. "I remember him now."

Taehyung started gnawing on his lower lip as he inwardly winced. Hadn't he told the other boy that this was a bad idea? How could they possibly want him in the house after their only memory of him was him breaking in and stealing food? And yet he heard the softest sound of the man laughing a few seconds later and he glanced up quickly to look at him.

"The very same bake sale I got food poisoning from."

"Yes," Hoseok agreed, "it was that one."

"Where exactly did you boys go on this...adventure as you called it? Down to Yongin to go visit all of those amusement parks? Along to the coast to see the beach?"

"We...we kind of went everywhere," his friend explained quietly. "It wasn't exactly the plan but we got lost. That's why I took so long to come home. We got lost all the way over in Gangwon and we ran out of money and had to make our ways back home."

"Gangwon? You two got all of the way to Gangwon?" Hoseok explained that there were more friends than just the two of them and his father made a noise under his breath. "Hear that dear, Hoseok went all of the way to Gangwon and all of that time we thought he was a few blocks down with a friend."

"Gangwon?" His mother came in through the open doorway carrying a tray and she started placing small plates of side dishes down along the length. "That's a long way from home honey, how did you get all of the way there?"

"Trains," Taehyung said after a moment of thought, "we jumped on a train and ended up...getting lost."

"Oh I'd say," she agreed with a soft smile as she looked at him. Taehyung held her gaze and saw that she wasn't looking at him like he had expected, judging him in any way. She was looking at him as if he was a dear friend of their son's and nothing more than that. "The rest of the meal is nearly finished, should only be a few more minutes. Don't eat all of the side dishes whilst you wait, please?" And with that she placed the last glass of iced tea down and then turned to go back into the kitchen. The table fell silent and he realized that the boy's father was waiting for her to come back into the room so that they could speak properly. Taehyung tried to not squirm too much on the cushion and after a moment he felt Hoseok's hand moving over to go onto his knee. The boy squeezed it tightly and when he spared another glance at the man he saw him eyeing this gesture behind his glasses before he picked up his glass and took a sip of the tea.

"Dinner is served," his mother announced in a sing-songy voice as she reemerged with the tray and it was obvious that she was too happy about her son finally being home to be angry at him. That might come later, it might not come at all but he doubted that his friend would be that lucky. She moved from seat to seat, placing down deep black porcelain bowls in front of them all. "I bet this is better than what you've both been eating on the road, right?"

"Yeah," Taehyung said as he eyed the bowl of ramyun, brown broth in which thick noodles were coiled up; vegetables and slices of meat floating on the surface. "It is, thank you." How long had it been since he had eaten a 'home cooked meal'? He found that he really couldn't remember, he didn't count Seokjin's cooking as that though it would likely be the closest thing to it. His mother hadn't really cooked. He saw the woman smiling softly at this, at his humble thanks.

"Hoseok dear, about the pills." She lifted her spoon up and eyed her own bowl. "Why did you stop taking them exactly?"

"They were making me...sick," the boy said after a moment of thought. "The headaches were so bad that I couldn't do anything. The pills caused me a lot of pain and I...I had to give them up."

"But the doctor prescribed-"

"The doctor was wrong," he said a little brusquely. "I mean...Mom, dad, I've got something crazy to tell you right now and I know you'll be shocked, mortified even, but you need to let me explain, OK?"

"OK..." His father said in a low voice.

"I got...I got addicted to the pills." Hoseok said in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper. The kitchen went silent, not even the slightest sound of cutlery against bowls or that of breathing. Taehyung glanced between the man and woman to try and gauge their reactions but he saw nothing more than passive expressions. "I couldn't stop taking them. I accidentally overdosed-"

"Overdosed?" his mother asked in a breathy voice.

"I didn't mean to I-"

"It was an accident," Taehyung spoke over him, feeling his fingers tightening around his own spoon. "Hoseok collapsed and a friend, a friend tossed the pills 'cos he was scared he'd take 'em again. He was trying to help, it caused a lot of shi- trouble, but he did help."

"He did," Hoseok nodded vigorously. "I don't have the headaches anymore. I feel ill a lot of the time, because my body still wants the pills, but I don't want to get addicted to them again. I'll try something new, something better."

"Better? Like what?" his father asked.

"I...I don't know, counselling? The doctor mentioned that but I didn't want it at the time. I was ashamed, of the depression you know?" At the mention of his condition Taehyung saw both of his parents shifting on their seats. "So I didn't want to...to sit around and talk about feelings. I wanted to hide them away instead but now, now I know that something like that can help me."

"Because of your friends?" his mother asked quietly.

"Because of my friends, yes. Because they listened and they understood and accepted. I can..." Hoseok paused as he thought his words through. "The pills can't cure me. It's not an illness like other illnesses. I'll have it my entire life and need something healthier for me. For all of us." He looked between both of his parents and then quietly asked. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad?" His father reached up to fix his glasses and then he shook his head. "You know what I say? Good riddance to those disgusting pills!" The man's tone was fervent. "They did nothing but cause trouble! They turned you into a shell of the bright young man you used to be, so damn them!"

His mother got to her feet and came over to kneel beside both of them, slipping one arm around his shoulder in a half embrace. Then her other arm went around his shoulders too and Taehyung felt his mouth dropping open in shock, his heart leaping up into his throat. He could smell her perfume, sweet and dusky, and the feeling of her soft cardigan sleeve on his skin.

"You want to try counselling? We'll try counselling, all of us together as a family," the man said in that same tone. "If you want to be gone with the pills, be gone with them. I don't like them either."

"Thank you," his friend's mother said in a voice that sounded moments away from tears. "Thank all of you."

"Wuh...what for?" he managed to stutter.

"For helping him, for helping Hoseok."

Taehyung felt something akin to jealousy over the course of the meal. It was the fact that he knew that this was what a family was supposed to be like, what parents were meant to be like. But at the same time he felt that Hoseok deserved this; much like how his other friends deserved good things too, good families, good jobs, a good education. Maybe he deserved it too, even after everything that he had done, he didn't know, but he did know that the boy hadn't lied about his parents. They welcomed him with strangely open arms. They didn't seem to care about his past, about the shit that he had caused all of the other boys on the road. They were just too happy that their son had come home again, that Hoseok was once again a little like how he used to be. That brightness he had told him about on the freight train all of those weeks ago was starting reemerge, to come out of the shell he had went into like his father had described.

When the meal was finished the boy's mother suggested that they both go clean up and rest, that they should get some well deserved sleep after everything they had been through. He could agree with the sentiment, and so he followed the boy up the stairs and into his bedroom. Boots cast off, bags left on the floor out of the way, Taehyung probably should have waited for him to use the shower first but he didn't want to. He followed after him and pushed his way inside the bathroom before he could lock the door, reaching back to do it himself with fumbling fingers. His friend laughed at him and told him that he should have waited in the bathroom and then he watched him getting undressed, eyes glued to the slightest movement of his fingers, before starting to slip out of his own clothes. Hoseok told him that this was a bad idea and yet he didn't stop him in any way when he pushed him inside the cubicle on the wall. No tubs in this house, instead a modern cubicle with a glass partition.

Hoseok said that his parents would hear them, lips against his and breath almost a hot as the shower water. He quickly figured out how to muffle himself under the sound of the shower, mouth pressed up against the back of his own hand or upper arm, or even burrowed against his chest. Taehyung also quickly figured out that the cubicle wasn't very large at all, elbows slamming into the glass partition annoyingly, but that really didn't matter. He found that he liked planting little kisses all over him. Down his spine where the bones either stuck out in little knobs against his lips, or dimpled down into a little curve on his lower back. On the backs of his knees and thighs, the delicate little creases of his inner elbows, but mostly on the sharp juts of his hipbones; the curved bones like beautiful wings. He liked how Hoseok's fingers moved along his skin and tangled in his hair, and how he whispered little things down his ear that made his chest almost ache. Taehyung had no idea how long they were in the shower but he didn't particularly care. He just took his time and enjoyed every precious second until Hoseok was dragging him out and pushing a towel into his hands, skin a little flushed and not only from the heat of the water. Then it was back into the bedroom, sharing the bed just like he had wanted from the very start.

From the slight gap in the window Taehyung could hear the annoying buzz and hum of cicadas and so he placed his head on the other boy's chest so that his heartbeat would block out the noise. He was pretty certain that he could fall asleep listening to that sound and he closed his eyes and matched his breathing to his, the slow inhale and exhale that made his chest rise and fall.

"Didn't I tell you that it would be OK?" Hoseok said in a quiet voice, shifting so that he could run his fingers through his slightly damp hair. "That it would turn out good?"

"You did," Taehyung replied in a sleepy mumble. "But I didn't believe you 'cos... nothing good ever happens to me. 'Cept...you guys." The other boy laughed under his breath and he felt it against his cheek, heard it through his ribs. "The adventure isn't really... over. It's only just started... right?"

"Right Tae, go to sleep."

"Tomorrow's a new adventure so let's...run towards it together. All of us..." Taehyung breathed the last word out in a soft sigh as his eyelids finally flickered shut. As he sank into blackness the last thing he saw was the most briefest memory in his mind.

The trainyard, the sky lit up with Venus' soft blue rays and the sound of his friends laughing.