;;

jackson sighed, reluctantly standing up and walking back with mark. the sun was setting behind them, the trees swaying gently with the wind. the silence between them was discomforting, but they made it back.

"thank god," jinyoung says, standing up and pulling the two into a hug. "i was so worried. if you didn't show up within the next ten minutes, i would've went looking for you." he says, sighing. the three sit down, exchanging glances.

"i'm hungry..." bambam mumbles, his knees to his chest as he sat.

"well," jaebum says, looking around. "we have a little bit of money. i saw a convenience store up ahead, i could go."

"don't go by yourself," jinyoung says, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"i'll be fine, jinyoung-ah," he says, sighing softly.

"but it's dark now," jinyoung says, biting his lip. "i'll come with you."

"no, you stay here and make sure everyone is safe." jaebum says, standing up. "i'll be fine. i'll have my phone on me, so call me if i'm not back in an hour. okay?"

jinyoung looks to the ground, nodding reluctantly. jaebum fishes his wallet out of his suitcase, and shoves it into his pocket along with his phone. "i'll be back soon." he says, walking out of the alley and down the street.

jaebum walked for a while, eventually making his way into the convenience store. he walked down some isles, taking his wallet out and counting how much money he had to his name.

he sighed heavily, the total coming to ten dollars and some change at the bottom of his wallet. he shoved it all back into his pocket, looking for some cheap things to buy.

he grabbed three bottled waters, a chocolate milk, two bags of chips of different flavors, and a cheap lottery ticket. he walked up to the counter and set the things down, pulling his hoodie over his head so he wouldn't be recognized. he payed for the items, giving the clerk all his money. he took the bag and started the journey back home, emitting a heavy sigh.

it had only been a mere fifteen minutes–maybe twenty, but jinyoung was already worried and ready to call jaebum. but he trusted him, so he just held his phone tightly.

"i'm sorry," yugyeom says, his head down.

"stop apologizing," mark says, sighing. "just stop."

"i'm worried," jinyoung says, biting his lip. "do you think jaebum's okay?"

"he's probably fine," mark says, glancing at him. "don't worry. you worry too much, jinyoungie."

"it's not my fault," jinyoung says, "i just don't want anything bad to happen to any of us. i would feel responsible if anything did happen."

"don't," mark says, scooting closer to him. "it'll be fine."

another forty minutes pass, and jinyoung was ready to call now. it had been over an hour since jaebum left; jinyoung's hands shook as he clicked the call button next to jaebum's contact.

it rang three times, and jinyoung bit his lip. "c'mon jaebum... pick up..." he mumbled, as the phone continued to ring. eventually it went to voice mail, and jinyoung started to panic.

"he didn't answer," he says, standing up. "i'm going to look for him!"

"no," mark says, grabbing his arm. "he'll be back. try to call him again."

"no! he said if he wasn't back in an hour to find him–"

jinyoung's sentence was interrupted by jaebum turning into the alley, quickly walking to the others and sitting down.

"thank god," jinyoung says, hugging jaebum. "i was so worried! did you not see my call?! i was–oh my god," jinyoung stops mid-sentence, looking at jaebum's face. a scratch ran across the diameter of his face, a bruise starting to form on his right cheek. the other members gather around him, a flurry of questions coming out of their mouths.

"what happened?!" jinyoung says, his hands frantically looking for what to do. "i told you not to go by yourself! i knew something bad would happen," he says, cupping jaebum's cheek and looking at the wounds.

"i accidentally knocked my bag against some dude's car and scratched it," jaebum explains, "i'm fine. it's okay, jinyoung," he says, trying to calm down the panicked other.

jinyoung's breaths were fast, his eyes darting around the other members. he felt like the room was spinning. mark started to take notice, and sat jinyoung back down, patting and rubbing his back.

"it's okay," mark says, "breathe with me, okay?" he says, inhaling and exhaling at a normal rate. jinyoung follows, eventually calming down.

jaebum opens the bag he had in his lap, taking the things out. "i didn't have much money," he says, biting his lip. "we'll have to share the waters and chips. and yugyeom," he says, taking out the chocolate milk and handing it to him. "since i was so mean to you earlier..."

yugyeom graciously takes it, "thank you, hyung."

"and i got this," jaebum says, taking out the small scratch off lottery ticket.

"a lotto ticket?" jackson says, looking at him. "really?"

"yeah," jaebum says, "maybe we'll win big. or maybe we'll get five bucks. we need anything we can get at this point."

jackson sighs, as jaebum takes out a coin from his wallet and scratches the three spaces.

"three cherries," bambam says, "what does that mean?"

jaebum looks at the bottom of the ticket, biting his lip. he smiles softly, looking at the others. "twenty dollars."

—

a/n: ayyy sorry for the lack of updates

but this ones kinda long so yeet

i hope you enjoyed!
please vote / comment, i really appreciate it!
thanks, ilysm~
-author em