chapter 36: stormy
location: yellowstone national park, wyoming, day 3

Seokjin woke up on day 3 of being at Yellowstone with one missing: get Maisie's phone number or email address.

He got up at the crack of dawn and exited the back room full of bunks. Everybody else was asleep, but Maisie and Betsy were in the main room, preparing breakfast. Seokjin recognized a bunch of American breakfast foods: pancakes, bagels, bacon, sausage, the works. He got to the end of the line and saw something he didn't recognize. "What is this?"

"Grits," Betsy replied with a smile. "Traditional old southern food. Really solid, too. Makes a great breakfast." She picked up a ladle. "Would you like gravy on yours?" And before Seokjin could even answer, she poured the gravy right on top. "Wish I could do it fancier for ya, but we don't have the time or the energy. Here ya go."

Well. Seokjin figured he was having grits for breakfast, whatever those were. He thanked Betsy and grabbed a spoon, then sat down at one of the picnic tables inside. He stirred everything together, then took a bite. It didn't have that much flavor, but the gravy added an extra kick that he didn't know he needed.

"You're certainly up early," Maisie said as she left the food behind and sat across from Seokjin. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"Still asleep." Seokjin took another bite. "This is good. It is very...plain."

"It's supposed to be. It's comfort food." Maisie leaned on her hands. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Seokjin shook his head, and over the next few minutes, he shared what he could with Maisie. He told her that he was originally from Korea, but that he was on vacation straight from there, like he still lived there and hadn't been going to school in New York City up until recently. The people he was with were his brothers and cousins, and their wives were at home looking after their children. As for the reason they were in America, they were in on a business trip, and had some extra time to do some sightseeing.

"It's in...the city south of here."

"Oh, Denver?"

Seokjin nodded. "Yes, that one."

"That's quite far away."

"He --" Seokjin motioned with his fingers, trying to seem like a desperate Korean man who didn't know much English. Models had to act, too. "One of our...brothers, wanted to see here. So we did."

"Oh, okay, so you came up all this way then to make him happy."

Seokjin thought of Jungkook and his Duke Blue notebook, how he couldn't take pictures but was writing down all of his adventures instead. "I would do anything to make them happy."

Maisie had to run back then to help with the crowds that were coming in, so Seokjin was unable to grab her number. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how futile that actually was. What sense was there in getting her number? Taehyung didn't have Sara's number, only an email address that apparently didn't exist. And besides, Sara was needed to make sure the van was running correctly. Taehyung had just gotten lucky. It wasn't like any of his other brothers were getting any in the romance department.

He was startled out of his daydream by Namjoon, who had plopped down in front of him at the table. Namjoon looked like a mess. His pink hair color was now so dull that it looked more dirty blonde than pink, and there were massive bags under his eyes. "Are you ok?" Seokjin asked, quickly, under his breath in Korean.

"No. I didn't sleep."

"Why not?"

"Shut up." And that was all Seokjin got out of Namjoon.

The others slowly trickled out of the back, and Taehyung appeared, carrying a still sleeping Yoongi on his shoulders. "He refuses to wake up," he said, putting Yoongi on the table and letting him lean on his shoulders. "Can someone get me some pancakes, please?"

Seokjin and Jungkook got up and got the entire table pancakes. They delivered them in a quick fashion, and Yoongi finally stirred when his were placed in front of him. "Oh, hey, pancakes."

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Taehyung said. "Can I get my shoulder back?"

"Yeah, sure." Yoongi sat upright and grabbed a fork. "Did you sleep well?"

"I think so. Did you stay up late last night?"

Yoongi looked over at Namjoon and smiled. "Nah. I got the best sleep I think I've ever gotten. I was just...working some stuff out mentally, and I finally came to peace about it."

Namjoon ignored Yoongi.

"Well, that's good," Taehyung said, digging into his pancakes. "We leave today?"

"We leave today," Jungkook said with a frown. "We still need to find Sara so you can make out with her?"

"We still need to find Sara because she can help us in an emergency," Namjoon said, his voice extremely cross.

Everybody got really quiet really quickly, looking over at Namjoon. "Joon, are you okay?" Hoseok asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep at all last night, okay? I don't wanna talk about it." Namjoon stared down at his pancakes.

"Uh...I can drive for you today, if you want," Hoseok said. "So you can sleep?"

"That would be great. Just go through the park, see if you can find anything, then push it and wake me up when you do."

With that, the group finished breakfast and packed up their things, no longer staying at the lodge. Since Namjoon was already in the van, already sleeping, Seokjin took their papers to the front desk to check out. Sure enough, Maisie was there, and Seokjin tried not to get after himself for not asking for her number. If he wanted one last chance, he could take it.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay," Maisie said with a smile, then, her smile widened. "Joey!"

"Hey, baby!" Seokjin heard a voice behind him, and he turned to see a tall, dark, and handsome man with an identical smile on. His heart sank as the two embraced over the counter, suddenly lost in their own chatter. Well. It would have never worked anyway. She already had someone. Seokjin gave the counter a quick bow and headed out, toward the van. Everybody else was packed up, so he climbed in behind Namjoon.

"Hoseok's driving. This oughta be interesting."

"Yeeeeeah, baby," Hoseok said with a smile, putting the van in gear. They spent the next few hours driving around until the gas gauge went all the way down. Hoseok then pulled out of the park, where there were seven or eight gas stations ready to fuel tourists up.

"I don't know what's got Namjoonie all shook up, but we need the real him back sooner rather than later." Hoseok started up the van again, then drove away from the park. Once they were on the interstate, nothing but field around them, he shoved the button, and they disappeared, like they had never been to Yellowstone in the first place.