The moonlight is dim tonight. Taehyung slips his hands into his pockets as he walks down the icy street. The sight of people scurrying home at this desolate hour doesn't happen quite often, with most already huddled in the warmth of their homes or in the cupboard boxes down some alley, but a few hurrying bodies pass by him on the way, their heads hung down and their bodies shrivelled together, The light doesn't illuminate their features like it usually would do to one's face, and the cold wind blows harsher tonight, but they don't seem to notice it, The urgency of filling their stomachs and the scarcity of time pushing them on like a whip at their feet. Taehyung forces himself to look away from the faces of the few souls who have turned down another street and away from him as he breaks into a slow run. A few turns and he emerges by the river that connects the two run-down districts, he crosses part of the wooden bridge and takes in deep breaths as he watches the water that flows down the river. The light, although not as bright as usual is concentrated in the small ripple of waves, in the liquid. It provides him with peace, with an assurance that there is still light in the dark. As funny as it might seem to many, he doesn't like the daylight, says that it is too cheerful, too fake, only the dark symbolises what they are facing, and the light in it reflect flickers of hope, the most they can get out of the situation.

"Hyung"

"Aye, Guk? Why are you here. Shouldn't you be at home?" Taehyung turns at the sound, the click of his shoes blending in with the soft roar of the river.

"We ran out of bread Hyung." The younger smiles sheepishly, "Saegkkal* ate up all of the pieces I left on the counter."

Taehyung shakes his head and Jeongguk reddens a little and laughs.

"Alright, let's go."
-
The cashier looks up for a moment, "Paying by cash or by colour sir?"

Jeongguk stops fiddling with his colour necklace and the bakery goes silent for a moment before he tells him he would pay by colour, he is just about to transfer a half an hour worth of colour into the system when Taehyung beats him to it, the change in the necklace is not visible, but the system enlarges what is shown to be green as far as Taehyung can recall, some dark shade of it and the bright illuminous numbers etched onto his wrist decreases accordingly before it continues to run in the background. "Have a nice day." The cashier enters something into the keyboard before glancing up with a smile in which Taehyung replies by nodding as he follows the younger out of the store.

Taehyung and Jeongguk both had a silent trip home, if Jeongguk had anything on his mind, he didn't voice it out. And so Taehyung doesn't try to wipe the displeased look off his face.

Namjoon is the first one to greet them, a book in hand with glasses and dark patches framed eyes which suggest both a look of disinterest and a lack of sleep. "Oh, you guys are back," The sound of Jimin and Hoseok bickering resounding in the background as he speaks and both Taehyung and Jeongguk peer into the doorway out of curiosity, the exhausted boy too looks back for a second before shrugging, "Honestly go and deal with them," He turns back with furrowed brows, "I can't anymore, you guys are around their maturity level, perhaps they will listen to you, and that-" Yoongi's snores fill up the apartment, overlapped with the yelling and shouting. "would be awesome." He leaves them at the door and turns into his shared room.

Taehyung shrugs and kicks off his shoes, Jeongguk follows after him, retrieving the older's shoes while slipping off his ones and placing them both neatly by the door before a huge salivary creature rounded them up. Saegkkal, the huge dog pounces onto Taehyung who laughs and pats his head. He had honestly no idea how they had taken in the dog, just somewhere around the fact that they were starving and the dog was too, and Yoongi had miraculously agreed.

Saegkkal really had Hoseok to thank though, after all, throughout their childhood years, Yoongi had been the only Hyung the younger had, they had gotten through the days in the slumps together and Yoongi had grew to have a soft spot for him, according to a drunk Hoseok a year back. Hoseok really only had to ask if they could keep him and Yoongi had agreed.

The intensity of the voices risen and Jeongguk gives Taehyung a small tap from behind before nudging his face towards the two quarreling Hyungs and the older nods and releases Saekkkhal who trots away before looking up towards the mess in front of him.

"I asked if you ate the meat I was putting out on the table for Tae, shit I knew you did so just be a man and admit it." Seokjin spat as he waved his spatula up and down animatedly, his facial expressions huge and displeased.

"Hyung, I said that I didn't, I said that I had already had my portion so what's your matter?!" Hoseok glares at Seokjin from a slumped position on the dining chair with his arms crossed together.

"Eh watch out kid, your manners, who is the older one here?!" Seokjin raises his voice, his pitch going a few notes higher and Taehyung catches the small shudder that ran through Hoseok before shaking his head.

"I'm back."

Seokjin and Hoseok turn at the sound.

"Tae I-"

"There's bread, I will have it for dinner." Taehyung simply says.

The apartment went silent for a moment save from Yoongi's snoring sounds before Seokjin nods,

"Alright."

Taehyung throws his bag to the side and stifles a yawn as he turns into the bathroom to take a quick shower before lying on the mattress with his damp hair spread out. He ponders over things a bit, letting his mind run on, deep down he knows that he considers himself lucky to have a roof over his head and friends to get through the thick and thin with him. Friends from different backgrounds, one had even left his privileges for him, privileges that no one who belonged to this district would give up if they even had the chance to have it, all of that to be with him, to be with them all. He dozed off for a solid five minutes before Jeongguk came in and laid down beside him, the creaking of the bed under pressure waking him up instantly.

"Hyung?"

"Mmm Hmm?" Taehyung turns his head towards Jeongguk with half open eyes.

"You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"I Uh-" Jeongguk starts before stopping himself. "Never mind, it's nothing."

It wasn't rocket science, Taehyung would say the innocent boy in front of him was rather readable. He knew that he was unhappy that he had paid his time when the younger had wanted to. But nothing is going to change, so why talk about it and risk an argument.

So he just leans back and hold a soft look at the petulant pout on the younger's face, the vestiges of his teenage years.
-
"Uh Hey."

Taehyung turns to see a boy with big doe eyes and soft hair staring back at him with a mix of both awkwardness and fear,

"Sorry, I'm kinda lost you see, do you happen to know where the bridge is?" He attempts a smile, one where the icy wind freezes it and tempts his hands into his skillfully made leather coat which is buttoned over a cotton shirt tucked into a warm pair of jeans.

"Which bridge brother?"

Taehyung says after a moment. The boy isn't from the district, that he knows, his clothes are more than extravagant for someone here, but the thing is, why would someone from the rich districts come to the humble dwelling of the poor, well, for that he has got no inkling of.

"I dunno, I just crossed this bridge that I have never been on before, took a few turns and I'm here." The boy furrows his brows and traces the directions with his finger in the air, turning back several times to study the atmosphere and try to recall the general direction which he had came from, before slumping his shoulders down and giving up, "I dunno."

"I can't help you if you don't, you know?" Taehyung raises an eyebrow.

"I- I know." He looks down at his feet.

"But there's one place you can try your luck at." At this, his eyes lit up, the pair reflecting the dimly lit street light.

"Where?"

"Come along." Taehyung starts walking on and the boy follows behind him rather hesitantly, but anxiously enough to catch up with his pace after a little while.
-
"Uh hey."

"Oh why you again?" Taehyung ask in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Need me to show you the bridge again?"

"Nuh- uh Thanks brother, but I think I have gotten it."

The world they live in is an abstract piece of what they call black, white and murky grey. The bright flecks that dash across the sky and the dark shadows that loot the alleys, the varying shades of grey painted on lifeless trees. The swirls of a complicated mix in one's eye, lifeless or filled with grey emotions. However, when Taehyung stares into the dark eyes of Jeongguk, he sees a soul, a soul of hope, and suddenly the world lights up just a little, and Jeongguk smiles.

Jeongguk stays, he brushes the reason off as that he loves the stars in the Milky Way, something he can't see in his city. Where artificial lights flicker on and off and artificial smiles adorned his life. He is introduced by Taehyung to his Hyungs, and he gets a job similar to Taehyungs and moves into their shared apartment.

The boys like to climb onto the rooftop of a house in an abandoned alley. The view there, they deem, is majestic, towering over both the city and the district. The stark difference however highly laughable, it is easy to ponder over what had happened to the world. Why lives are being limited to a number, to a status, to wealth. Jeongguk talks about him growing up under wealth and a promise to a long lived future and Taehyung mutters about scrambling about the streets and outrunning other strays who pick on him for food and time, often finding himself with a dangerously low time count. Jeongguk speaks of adventure outside the walls of wealth and Taehyung dismisses adventure as survival.

*Saegkkal = Colours (provided that google translation didn't fail me)