Waking up earlier than everyone else had both advantages and disadvantages, Seokjin discovered. One such disadvantage was having no good excuse for not washing their clothes and leaving them to dry in the early morning heat. It was a job he was used to thanks to last year's experience, and at least he could admit that it was a lot more enjoyable now than hunkering over a bathtub until his back ached and then waking up with clothes that still felt slightly damp to the touch. In the open air with the breeze and the heat everything dried fast without trouble, the scent of the wind and detergent clinging to the fabric wonderfully. So, just like the previous day he found himself standing on the flatbed as he draped wet tees over the line of twine he had bought from the gas station. It was good quality and it meant that his plan had worked to perfection even when he had thought that it might fail. Truthfully he had been expecting to get the line nice and secure and then start adding weight only for it to collapse and spill the clothing down into the dirt. But not yet. It was nice and sturdy and it worked perfectly fine for now.

Seokjin found it a little quaint hanging wet clothes out to dry like this because it reminded him of his childhood; of his mother out in the small garden hanging out his uniform and his father's work clothes and singing to herself, the sound bleeding in through his open window. He could recall one of the songs, an old folk song, and he found himself humming it under his breath unconsciously as he moved along the line. He was in the act of hanging Taehyung's yellow tee, now almost free of blood stains, when he found his eyes drifting over to study the building beside him. It wasn't exactly a home per se, more like a cabin that would serve a purpose for a week or so for the owner, but nevertheless it was where he and his friends were laying their heads to sleep. With the line of clothing hanging outside of it...it almost felt like a home in a way that he couldn't explain. Of course it could never be that, for they all already had homes of their own to go back to; had families in most cases. It was nothing but brick and plaster walls, a skeleton without any interior, and yet it felt more than that to him. Did it feel that way to his friends too? Did they maybe feel something coming off this place just like he had looking at it the first afternoon that they had stumbled across it? Seokjin couldn't explain what it was, it had just dragged him in like it had had a gravitational pull.

A home maybe, once upon a time in another reality. In a reality in which just running away from the rest of the world was a feasible option. It wasn't however, and they all knew it.

His hands were damp and so he rubbed them on his tee absentmindedly as he jumped down off the back of the flatbed. His hair was nearly dry and the movement made most of it shift forward and fall over his brow. He reached up to muss at it and then thought about Taehyung's hair. It was getting out of hand, getting way too long. He would need to cut it at some point or he was going to risk walking into walls and tripping over Jungkook's outstretched foot. How exactly could broach upon the subject he wasn't entirely sure, but maybe Hoseok would do so first. After all, he must also find it annoying trying to see Taehyung's face under all of that mess, not able to see his lovely round eyes.

After fiddling with his hair for a moment he decided that he didn't particularly care if it was messy, the wind from the open driver-seat window was just going to blow it back again anyway. That was one of the advantages to waking up hours before everyone else. It allowed him to just climb into the car and drive into the city for a few minutes, to go to the station and maybe buy a few things, just ride down the streets with the windows open and enjoy a little silence before going back to the building and having his friends yelling about the most mundane of things. It wasn't that he needed to get away from them all, just that the moment allowed him to clear his thoughts and think. Thinking without the pressure of needing plans at hand, thinking without eyes on him waiting for advice. It allowed him to truly sort the important from the pointless, the good from the bad, without him feeling his confidence shaking under pressure.

Sometimes even the strongest person needed to bend to stop themselves breaking.

Seokjin had just walked around the back of the car to get to the front when he heard footsteps coming from the building and he glanced over just in time to catch Jimin stepping out. His friend was still rubbing at his eyes roughly, walking a few feet into the grass before stopping and seeming to notice that he was standing there.

"Huh? Hmm, good morning," Jimin mumbled in a heavy voice. He squinted up at the sky, which was currently still faded pink in parts. "It is morning right?"

"Yes, 6am," Seokjin explained with a soft smile, seeing his sleepy eyes suddenly open a lot wider. 6am probably meant that he had slept for only a couple of hours. He himself had slept for roughly six, the amount he was used to because of college. It seemed that Jimin was not judging from his reaction. He wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't fallen asleep until nearly 2am.

"Shit, why am I awake this early?" Jimin asked as he brushed his hair back off his brow. Also starting to get longer than it used to be, slightly kinked. Despite looking tired he knew that his friend wouldn't go back into the building to fall back asleep. He glanced over at the washing line before looking back at him. "What're you doing?"

"I was cleaning the clothes," Seokjin explained. "I just finished and I was planning on going on a quick drive down through the city." His friend eyed the car and then asked him where. "The gas station probably, maybe down to the outskirts to look at the coast." Jimin didn't ask if he could come along but he knew that he was thinking it, and so he popped the driver-seat open and cocked his head, telling him to get in.

Driving down the dirt path to get onto the main road that led into Taean County he expected Jimin to unload questions on him, just like he usually did. But he stayed rather quiet instead and just looked out of the front window. Perhaps he really was tired and that meant he was less talkative than usual, but Seokjin didn't mind. What he did mind was the sneaking suspicion that Jimin wanted to talk, but had chose not to so far. The only sound was the very low drone of traffic - for Taean County seemed like a rather sleepy city, and the low rumble of the engine. The first gas station they came across wasn't that far into the city but it served its purpose, mostly in the form of instant coffee but there was very little else to buy beyond Jimin getting Yoongi some cigarettes. Seokjin charged his camcorder at one of the machines, the battery a little drained from the day at the skateboard park, and Jimin just wandered up and down the aisles restlessly whilst he ate a breakfast of cold kimbap. His friend managed to locate Polaroid camera film and so he bought some, claiming that they were running low. They were back in the car after a half hour wait, doors slammed shut and about to leave again, when Jimin finally spoke up.

"Hey Seokjin? Is everything, you know, alright?" his friend asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eyes rather than fully. Seokjin thought about how he had always told his friends that he valued honesty, and that talking helped solve problems and heal wounds. He had been honest with Jungkook back in the market that day he had asked him if he okay, so why not be honest with Jimin too? He knew that he could trust him, yet it seemed rather hard to do so. After a minute of silence he told him that it wasn't alright, so his friend told him to talk to him; to let him know what was wrong.

"I was offered an internship at a school, Keisung Middle School," Seokjin explained in a quiet voice, fiddling with the coffee container. "I got a call on the day we left, I was in the market with Kookie and Joonie, I didn't answer it but I got a voicemail. I pretty much got it, yet here I am: half a country away drinking gas station coffee at 6am in the morning." The car fell silent and he suddenly regretted saying all of that. It sounded so cold, cutting and bitter words that he didn't mean to come out that way at all. He felt a surge of self-disgust and yet he couldn't take it back.

"Shit man," Jimin said, barely above a whisper. "You should've stayed back in Seoul and took the internship."

"How? How could I have taken it after everything that had happened? How would you have all gotten out of the city without my car? On a coach? Do you think you would have managed to get Tae on a coach, screaming himself awake all night and pissing on the seats?" At this he saw Jimin shifting to look out of the window, discomfort on his face that showed that he knew that he was right. "Tae needed me, so nothing else mattered. The internship didn't matter at all, I just needed to make sure that he was OK, and even now I'm not entirely sure that he is. So I need to stay by his side until he is."

"...But it was the perfect chance for you."

"It probably was, but I think that sometimes we get second chances. I'm hoping that we do because-"

"We all need one," Jimin finished for him. "Yeah, we all need a second chance."

Seokjin drained his coffee even when it was hot and burnt his tongue just so he could start the car and get moving, get away from the gas station and find something distracting instead. He felt like he should have felt lighter after getting all of his emotions out like that, and yet he didn't. Or at least not yet. Maybe it would take time? He didn't know, but he did know that it was a lot healthier to have unleashed some of the negativity. There was always a second chance, that was something he did know, because his entire life this past year had been the result of second chances. What about third chances? He was so into his musing about it all that it was the sensation his friend jolting upright in his seat that brought him back to reality.

"Woah, hey stop a sec!" Jimin said suddenly, catching him by surprise as he did. He had barely pulled the car up to the curb when his friend was shoving the door wide open and jumping out, leaving to stare after him in confusion. Then Seokjin undone his own seatbelt and climbed out of the car. He caught a blur of movement out of the corner of his eye and it was Jimin darting along the sidewalk and stopping in front of something very interesting. A large yellow industrial skip that was currently blocking off an alleyway. The paint was rusted and worn off in parts but it looked to have been placed there recently because the things inside were most certainly not rotten and old, just worn and abandoned. He could see a few things sticking out of the interior, black leather and something that looked like the arm of a settee. Jimin looked over his shoulder at him with a wide grin, showing that he was very pleased with this discovery.

"...Good find," Seokjin said, making his friend laugh as he did. He moved closer and got on his tiptoes so he could fold his arms up on the top of it. Even on tiptoes Jimin could only peer inside. He saw three removed car seats that had seen better days, front two and the backseat. The black leather was battered but they still looked useable. There was a two seater settee in there too, a deep brown with a busted arm on one side and the ticking sticking through the canvas. Abandoned goods just waiting for a new home.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jimin asked, turning his head to grin at him.

Getting the goods out of the skip proved a lot harder than expected. Seokjin had to drag himself inside so that he could lift the goods and place them on the side, lowering them down for Jimin. For the car seats this wasn't that hard, it just meant getting the right angle. The backseat was tricker but still manageable. The settee however was very difficult to budge. Despite the arm on one side being busted in it still weighed a considerable amount. He had to move it all on his own when it was clearly a two person job. After several minutes of sweating and cursing and groaning he was helping Jimin lift it and drop it on the sidewalk, the thud of it landing much louder than he had expected. The rest of the goods inside consisted of a broken lamp, a filthy microwave minus a spark plug, and some tattered old cushions. He climbed back out of the skip and then came the much quicker process of getting everything onto the flatbed. Now that he had Jimin to assist him it was a lot easier, just getting the seats up and arranging them so that there would be enough room to fit everything. He pushed the bumper wall up to secure the flatbed and then looked over at his friend. Jimin was dusting his hands off with a happy smile on his face and Seokjin was very glad that he had woken up and tagged along, for he might just have missed the skip on his drive without him.

"We've got furniture now," Jimin said as he climbed into the driver-seat beside him, slamming the door shut. "What's next on the list?" He joked, the sound of his laughter mixing with that of the car engine as he started it again.

Unsurprisingly when they parked the car outside the building, the flatbed packed with the furniture from the skip, Namjoon was shocked enough to be turned speechless. Seated with his back against the brick wall, novel open in one hand and the remains of a slice of cold pizza in the other, he just stared at them with his mouth hanging open: comically surprised. They were in the act of removing the first car seat when Hoseok emerged from inside of the building and offered assistance; the three of them working together to get the goods inside. Yoongi was still lying inside, awake but seemingly not wanting to move, but he had no choice. The main area had looked rather wide and cold when it had been empty, but by placing the makeshift furniture inside he discovered that it was more homely and warm. The broken settee went against the wall directly opposite the door, the single seats by one window and adjacent to the settee. The backseat was left on an angle so that whoever was sitting on it could look at both placings of furniture easily. There was no sign of Jungkook and Taehyung inside and Seokjin discovered that they were getting cleaned in the shower at the back of the house: he could hear Taehyung's loud guffawing through the walls very clearly.

"Any plans for the day?" Hoseok asked as he brushed his hand along one of the leather seats, wiping free any possible traces of dust as he did. Jimin explained that they were going to go down to the coast, calling it from the bathroom as he did, the door closed over slightly rather than shut. A moment later he stepped back into the room, drying his hands roughly on his jeans. "Who wants to tell Tae?"

Namjoon ended up doing so, shouting from his position outside to be heard over the shower. This resulted in their friend yelling and then racing out of the shower to get inside and get dressed, towel wrapped around his waist and hand tight around Jungkook's wrist. Seokjin moved their bags into the flatbed once more, not feeling comfortable with the idea of leaving them behind. He doubted that anyone would stumble across the place and enter, but he couldn't be certain. Ever since they had been robbed on the adventure last year he had been decidedly more cautious about leaving things unwatched. If anyone did stumble across the building they would only end up with bags of clothing and random shit, but better safe than sorry. He tossed the bags in the back and hesitated before going back and grabbing the blankets and pillows. Maybe they might just decide to camp out on the beach until the late hours, get to see the sunset over the waters and truly enjoy the sights? As soon as he was done he moved to get back to the car, climbing inside and watching his friends through the window. Taehyung was still in the act of getting dressed, roughly drying at his hair, and he could see how much of a rush he was in because there was a wide grin on his face. Jungkook attempted to get into his jeans, hopping on one leg until he tripped back and landed on his ass with a thump loud enough to make Yoongi and Jimin burst out into laughter from the back of the truck. It took a few minutes for them to get ready and then there were all racing to get to the vehicle.

Taehyung dived into the passenger-seat before anyone else could, pulling the door shut so hard that he wouldn't be surprised if he broke it. His hair was still damp, a bead of water running down the side of his hairline to drop from his jaw. His friend reached up to brush his hair back off his face, raking it back with his fingers. Seokjin shifted to look over his shoulder to see Namjoon and Hoseok getting into the back, three other friends already in the back. Seatbelts snapped in place, windows rolled down to full, he started the engine and pulled away from the building. Back onto the dirt road, leading into the city, past boring tower blocks that would soon have workers inside of them. The car rolled down the streets and with it starting to get closer to 7am there were more vehicles on the roads. He saw more frequent buses, cars packed with children going to school. There were also handfuls of high schoolers walking on the sidewalks, the sight of uniforms strangely comforting. It had been a couple of years since he had last worn a uniform and yet he found the sight made him feel nostalgic in the most wonderful way. He supposed that once everyone reached adulthood they would look back on those years and feel a little twinge in their chests. Being so used to seeing Jungkook wearing his uniform every few days he still felt that slight link to high school.

When they passed the market Hoseok cocked his elbows and looked out of the window, claiming that they should go there one day. Jimin asked if there were food stalls in the market, talking loud to be heard in the front from the the flatbed. Taehyung leaned out of the window to yell back and he told him that there were, street food vendors, but he couldn't really remember what kind of street foods that were on offer. This was good enough for Jimin however, who just rapidly agreed that they needed to go there too. Seokjin inwardly winced at the thought of his bank account suffering once more. Namjoon told them all that there was also a national park somewhere in the area, he just didn't know where; claiming that it would also be a great place to go discover. They all agreed, Yoongi stating that it would be good to get some shots of on the Polaroid camera. Yes, they could fill the pages of Hoseok's photo album up with beautiful shots; carry on a collage of their lives that they hadn't updated in quite a while. Seokjin could picture shots of fields of grass and flowers, little footpaths cutting along soft hills and tourist guides in his mind. If possible he greatly wanted to take them there in a day or two. He would wake them all up early and drag them along, to enjoy the peace and quiet before large groups of tourists and hikers could get there. It sounded perfect.

By the time they started to get close to the coast Taehyung started giving directions, claiming that they didn't want to go to Mallipo Beach because that was the popular one, that one that everyone visited. He knew a better one, a small beach that was hidden behind bluffs so that not a lot of people went to it. The beach with the lighthouse he had mentioned. There was likely a high chance that it was a section that had been hit by the oil spill a few years ago and Seokjin wondered if it would be the same as he remembered all of those years back or if it would be ruined. He followed the directions as well as he could, having to drive off the road at some point and then over uneven and rocky sand. It was probably not allowed and yet he didn't care.

"Here, here!" Taehyung shouted excitedly, upper body entirely out of the window. "Ah, it's here guys!" Seokjin rounded around the bottom of the bluffs, a softly rising hill of stones surrounded with dry brush that looked to be the perfect vantage point to climb up on and look down on the ocean. From the back of the car he heard his three friends loudly exclaiming, excited noises and Jungkook cursing and then bursting out into happy laughter, and he wasn't surprised.

The sight in front of them was like something he couldn't have possibly imagined.

The was a stretch of sand that seemed to run for a near mile and it wasn't at all like what he had been picturing in his head. It was golden, pristine. With the sunlight reflecting off it it almost glowed in the early morning. It looked like silk and the wheels cut through it and left clean tracks in the sand like lines on a map. The tide wasn't in yet, just gently lapping at the sand and leaving foam behind; kelp and small glints of what looked like shells being revealed as it ebbed away again. The bluffs were behind them and there was a sloping series of rocks to the side, almost blocking it off to the main road. No wonder it was so empty and looked untouched, he probably thought most people would see the bluffs and not think about going around them. Was it even a beach or should it be called something else instead? He didn't know but the the only thought that came to mind was: beautiful. Along the stretch of sand he saw the distant lighthouse. It was built on a rocky outcrop that reached out into the water, a towering monument of white and red stone. It was wider at the bottom and got thinner as it got taller. On the top there was a chunk of metal, a kind of box with railings all around it and a peaked top like a pyramid. Inside that box would be the old bulb, the one that no longer served a purpose. It was both beautiful and eerie looking at it there, growing out of the waters.

Jungkook and Jimin dived off the back before he even had time to slow to a stop, both of them darting along the sand minus shoes with their jeans rolled up to their knees. They must have hastily removed them right after seeing the beach. The sound of Jimin shouting at how cold the water was as loud and as shrill as a car alarm. Seokjin killed the engine and climbed out just as his other friends did; Taehyung chasing after them both with his arms up waving over his head. A quick glance over at the others showed Hoseok and Namjoon also removing their boots, and Yoongi moved around to sit on the hood of the car.

"Ah don't splash don't-" Jimin spluttered and cried out as Jungkook managed to kick a load of water at him. Seokjin moved to collect the Polaroid, lifting it and taking a quick snap of the sea first. He shoved the shot into his jeans pocket and then grabbed his camcorder. He powered it up just as Taehyung dived right into the water, caught the splash of his clean clothing being soaked through. Well, so much for the shower and his drying hair. He moved to go around to the front of the car, sitting back against the grill so that he could record it better without needing to zoom in.

"Aren't you gonna go in the water?" he asked Yoongi.

"Yeah, and freeze to death. Smart idea." Yet Namjoon, the smartest of them all, was splashing around with the tide up to his shins; wide smile on his face. "Want me to record? You can go down there." Seokjin retorted that he didn't want to get dunked by their younger friends. Taehyung jumped back up with a happy cry, seemingly not at all fazed by the cold. His soaking wet hair slicked back from the movement and he sprayed water on the rest like a dog shaking itself off.

"Your clothes!" Namjoon declared before bursting out into laughter. Their friend's tee was clinging to him because it was dripping wet, jeans nearly black from the water and likely so very heavy. Taehyung retorted that he didn't really need them and before they could even react to this he reached up and wrenched his tee off over his head, balling it up and throwing it back onto the sand. Hoseok bent down to retrieve it, wringing it through so that water poured out from between his fingers like a tap. Then he was starting to undo his jeans, his impromptu strip show causing them all to burst out laughing. They shouldn't encourage him, but it didn't stop Yoongi from sticking his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistling.

"Public nudity," Hoseok said as he glanced back at them. "Real classy." Taehyung was caught between laughing and gasping at how cold the water was as he struggled free of his jeans and then he was darting off to get deeper into the water.

"Kookie!" Seokjin called. "Don't do that, don't-" but it was already too late for the boy was throwing his tee away without a single care. Now Jimin was doing so too, even when Yoongi called out that he would get sick. Within mere minutes there was clothing scattered all over the sand and the three of them were diving into the deeper water. Everything about this seemed like a bad idea and yet Seokjin found himself laughing at it all. Namjoon loudly called out that he wasn't going to do it, that he wasn't going to take his clothes off, and yet that didn't stop Jungkook from dragging him down with him, soaking his clothing through and making him yell a series of expletives out at the tops of his lungs. Hoseok looked like he was contemplating it and then he let out a sudden laugh and stripped down to his underwear before taking the plunge. Judging from how his arms went up to hug himself instantly, it was a regrettable decision.

"Yoongi!" Jimin called. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" Yoongi hollered back, hand cupped around his mouth, that he would pass. Yet that just resulted in Jimin and Taehyung racing out of the water to get him, basically carrying him across the sand even when he yelled that he didn't want to go in the water. One, two, three, he was thrown unceremoniously into the sea. Yoongi made a noise akin to something he expected to come from a whale as he splashed himself up into sitting position. His white tee was ruined, see through to the point in which he should just remove it anyway. Jimin did his very hardest to try and do so, on his knees as he wrestled from behind and tried to get a hold on the hemline of his tee. Seokjin was aware of the fact that he was the only one not in the water and how very open a target he was. That clearly crossed his friends' minds for they were all looking at him.

Uh-oh.

Seokjin had roughly enough time to place the camcorder on the hood so that it could carry on recording before they got to him, Jungkook practically dragging him across the sand towards the water. Tee wrenched off over his head and boots kicked free, he managed to at least keep his jeans on but they were soaked through within seconds. It was so cold that his skin went numb and then strangely warm. Taehyung was trying to remove Hoseok's underwear by tackling him down in the shallow tide, the pair of them laughing like hyenas for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Yoongi relented enough to have his tee removed, pretending to look annoyed but failing when he snagged hold of Jimin's face and kissed him, cheeks flushed from the freezing cold and his lover's hair dripping down onto his face.

This moment right now, the feel of sand against his soles and freezing cold water trapped in his hair, laughter echoing off the bluffs and mingling with the water crashing against the rocks, it was something so perfect he couldn't believe it. An exquisite moment that Seokjin just knew that he wouldn't forget. The camcorder might just capture it all but it would be deeply ingrained in his memory regardless. How could he possibly forget the sight of Namjoon finding a starfish, hunkered down in his soaking wet clothing and pulling it free from the water, reaching over to stick it on Jungkook's chest and calling him Aqua Man? How could he not remember Taehyung getting distracted from his original mission because Hoseok wrapped his arms around him and got him stuck in an embrace so he couldn't move, or how Yoongi ran off along the shore and found a conch shell by the bluffs, lifting it to his ear and loudly declaring "Joonie, the sea just called to tell me you're a fucking nerd."? No, he just knew that he wouldn't ever forgot those things. Especially not the fun of finally getting out the sea afterwards.

Soaked clothing left drying on the car hood and roof, camcorder on the dashboard switched off, Seokjin had to grab the blankets from the back and hand them to everyone. They were all freezing cold, lips slightly blue and cheeks and chest, hands and feet pink from the freezing cold water. Jungkook was shivering so badly and yet he was giggling as he hugged his arms over his chest, and so Seokjin started rubbing at his hair to try and dry it. The tip of his nose was also pink, and he just let him do it without complaint. Their other friends were all huddled together like penguins, strangely cute in a way that he couldn't explain. Satisfied that his hair was no longer dripping he wrapped the blanket around them both. Sharing warmth was good but it didn't greatly help them all. But also the fact that Taehyung decide to announce that Jungkook had a boner with a wide grin, making the boy rapidly deny it even when his voice was uneven and it was pretty obvious that he did. Hoseok suggested they turn the heating on in the car and he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it first.

Packed inside the car in nothing more than underwear and blankets, the heating on high as they desperately tried to warm their freezing skin, Seokjin probably should have thought that it was the stupidest thing that they had done but he didn't. He thought it was probably one of the best, even with Jungkook sitting on his lap and shivering so that his teeth snapped together, wide grin on his face. Namjoon was in the seat beside them, cross-legged and with his arms hugged against his chest, all of him buried under a blanket save his head, and the others were in the backseat. Jimin was using the ends of one blanket to try and dry Yoongi's hair to no avail, and Taehyung with his face buried against Hoseok throat. He couldn't tell if he nuzzling him for warmth or kissing him.

"Nuh-next time wuh-we have an idea luh-like that," Yoongi muttered, voice jittering up and down. "I'm guh-gonna child-lock the fuh-fucking doors."

It didn't take long for their clothes to dry in the heat of the day but it didn't really matter for they had spare clothing in the bags in the back. As soon as their skin was warm and dry, hair no longer dripping wet, they simply got changed into what they had with the exception of Taehyung who had just a single pair of jeans after his accident on the road. He didn't seem to mind and just sat on the sand in his underwear without a care, bare skin covered in grains of sand that were golden, but not as golden as his skin. His spirits seemed to have greatly uplifted, sitting there with a wide smile on his face. Maybe the ebb of the waves and the freezing cold water had washed away most of his worries for the moment, made him feel weightless and clean in a way that he had been longing for all of this time? Maybe that was why he had wanted to go down to Taean County so badly, so he could submerged himself in the sea and let it all wash away?

Yoongi and Jimin went off to go get food from the market, doing so by foot because it allowed them to enjoy the weather. The market was only thirty or minutes or so from the coast anyway, so it wasn't that far at all. Seokjin hadn't noticed over the busy morning and yet they hadn't really had any food, just some light snacks leftover from the bags in the back of the car. They came back with plastic bags filled with containers of ddeokbokki, fried mandu, and hotteok, all staple street foods. Yoongi was sporting various Polaroids he had snapped of the vendors and goods. The food was shared on the sand, blankets spread out like they were having a picnic instead. It was the early noon hours and there was very little for them to do but sit on the shore and watch the tide, or the flocks of birds overhead, the distant shapes of ships on the waves. Seokjin was used to noise with his friends, of never really getting to appreciate the silence for longer than a fleeting moment, but he found that they could enjoy this silence. Mostly because most of them succumbed to naps from the sensation of full stomachs and the heat, sleeping away the lull of the afternoon.

Seokjin had watched the sun set many times in the past, usually behind the wheel of his car as he drove it down the roads, his friends sleeping in the seats and flatbed and missing it all. He had watched the blues change into shades of pink and oranges, deep reds and mingled purples like bruises. Sometimes the sky would be hidden under a thick bank of clouds, all golden as if they were stars. Yet being able to sit on the sands and watching the sky change over the hours it seemed somewhat different to the usual. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was actually able to see stars for once, and not just faded dots buried under thick layers of smog and the towering city lights. When the first scattering started to appear he was already in awe for there were so many, and when it got darker and countless more lit up the sky he found that he was shocked speechless. He had his camcorder in hand, pointed up to record it all as the sky turned into something that could only be described as magical.

As the hours had started to stretch they had to move up onto the bluffs to avoid the incoming tide. It wasn't at all hard to climb up, the car parked and all locked up on the very bottom of the slope. From their view up so high they could see down across the water and as a result the view looked unbroken, the liquid not stopping at the horizon but actually stretching up until it was all of the way over their heads. The stars looked like a scattering of sugar across a black tablecloth, easily thousands in count from what he could see. Some of them were tiny and not that bright at all, young stars or perhaps burnt out. There were quite a few that were bigger and brighter, placed strategically amongst the rest like markers on a map. They could probably read them but Seokjin didn't know the constellations. The brightest star was certainly impressive, but it was nothing like Venus had been, that glinting blue light like no other he had ever seen. He recalled Jimin calling it a star, and Yoongi smacking him on the back of the head whilst laughing. Looking over the bluff it was almost believable that they were on the very edge of the world, and that jumping over the edge would see them not falling into the waters but rather floating away into space itself.

In front of him right now Hoseok and Jungkook were attempting to make a little pit in the sand. They had dug a shallow pit of a few inches and spread the sand out before placing thick chunks of stone around it in a circle. Jimin was down at the bottom of the bluff with Namjoon collecting any debris they could find that could be burnt: splinters of driftwood on the other section of the beach, handfuls of dry brush grass that had been growing sparsely around the bluffs. Gathered together and left in the pit, a splash of gasoline added from one of the containers in the flatbed, they would have something close to a campfire. Yoongi was seated to his right, cross-legged with a smouldering cigarette between his lips. It would probably help if he tossed it onto the tinder, the little fire on the end turning into a massive flames. Directly opposite him was Taehyung, legs cocked in front of him and one elbow balanced on his knee so he could rest his chin in his palm. He was watching the pair making the campfire with a bored expression on his face. Or maybe he was just thinking, it was hard to tell.

"I've never done something like this before," Hoseok said, breaking the silence as he shifted back onto his heels, arms folded on his knees. "So it'll probably fail."

"It's a campfire," Yoongi pointed out, stick bobbing between his lips as he did. "If a bunch of kids in camp can do it, so can you."

"Kids in camp can also tie knots and talk to squirrels," Hoseok retorted with a soft smile. Jungkook placed the last rock down before cocking his head, studying the formation before reaching down to start fiddling with them once more. There was a scuffling sound behind them and a moment later the other pair reappeared.

"I didn't know making a fire was this hard," Jimin said in an exasperated tone as he hunkered down and dropped armfuls of broken twigs and leaves and other things. Namjoon had two rather long pieces of driftwood, long and thin, so he snapped them over his knee to fit them inside the ring of stones. "How do we do it?"

Taehyung shifted to get onto his knees and then he was leaning over and sorting through all of the things. He explained that they needed to create layers, grabbing the broken driftwood and placing them down in a square. Then he added handfuls of dry, curled up leaves inside of the driftwood area. When Jungkook returned with the container of gasoline from the back of the car he uncapped it and added a splash over the first layer. The scent of gasoline took to the air, pungent and unpleasant, and then he was placing the rest of the things on top. The twigs were crossed over the driftwood like a grid and he tossed the grass on top. He stole one of Yoongi's matches, striking it on one of the branches. When it caught alight he dropped it down so it landed on the leaves at the bottom and after a few seconds there was a sound coming from it; the soft crackling of leaves catching alight. The beginnings of wispy smoke started to float up through the twigs and within a minute there was a growing fire in front of them.

Seokjin had been recording the whole thing on the camcorder, the battery starting to get low, and yet Jungkook still lifted the Polaroid camera and took a snap. The shutter was as crisp as the crackling fire, the whirring of the photograph coming out of the slot on the front. He pulled it free and studied it with a wide smile and then he cocked his head up and looked at the sky. He asked if he thought that it would take a clear shot with the lighting, and after none of them could give him a precise answer he pressed the button.

"Hmm," he stopped shaking the shot and looked at it. "Yeah, it kinda looks good. Right?" He flashed it to Hoseok and their friend nodded and said that it looked good. Yoongi told him to pass it around and so he did, each of them studying the photograph in turn; Hoseok, Taehyung, Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon and then Seokjin.

Seokjin lifted the snap to study it, seeing that it was mostly a black square upon first glance. Yet in the light from the campfire and a closer inspection he saw that there were lights on it; tiny little white specks caught on the photograph. It was pretty, very pretty, and he reached inside his jeans pocket to pull his own photograph out, handing the camcorder over to Jungkook as he did. The shot that he had taken earlier down on the beach. The differences between the dark night sky and the bright day sky, the sea of stars and just the sea: the juxtaposition perfect. They would look right at place in Hoseok's photo album, side by side where they belonged. After a minute of study he went to hand it back to the boy but Jungkook told him to keep hold of it just in case he lost it by accident. So he accepted the Polaroid of the campfire too and placed both of them in his jeans pocket. He got his camcorder back and moved it over his friends to study them all through the lens.

Down below them the sound of the water splashing against the bluffs was a low roar, much like that of the campfire. Being so far from the main roads of Taean County Seokjin couldn't hear vehicles rolling down the streets, the usual drone of traffic. No, all he could hear was the echo of seabirds further along the shore in the direction of the lighthouse. They had probably nested in the top now that it was abandoned, building great nests where the spinning bulb used to be. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that the city was a mass of warm lights on the horizon. He could see tiny squares of home windows, glowing neon lights almost as bright as the stars, towering blocks of office and apartment blocks like armies of fireflies. The bluff was so close in the day and yet as soon as night had fallen it almost seemed to be miles and miles away: a beacon.

"You know," Jungkook said suddenly, causing him to turn his attention back to him. "All sitting around campfire like this...it's just asking for some spooky stories." This caused both Jimin and Hoseok to groan theatrically, and brought a wide grin to Taehyung and Namjoon's face.

"This kid won't shut the fuck up about the trainyard ghost," Yoongi said with a head shake. "Remember that time like...three years ago, I think, he said he saw some ghost chick disappearing into the tunnel?"

"And we were all drunk," Seokjin added on the end, causing a ripple of laughter as he did. "Yes, I remember that. Tae you saw it too right?" He turned the camera on their friend and he nodded enthusiastically, pretzel in hand ready to go into his mouth. "What kind of ghost?"

"A woman, I think? I just remember seeing a flash of white going through the tunnel and-"

"Feeling all cold!" Jungkook finished for him. "Like a shiver running down your spine, right?" Taehyung confirmed this as he crunched his snack, making Hoseok roll his eyes wearily. Any talk about ghosts was enough to make him want to avoid the subject. "I dunno why you guys don't believe me..."

"Maybe 'cos you and Tae used to be compulsive liars?" Namjoon suggested with a lackadaisical shrug. It was enough to make Jimin start laughing. "Oh wait, you still kinda are." Jungkook tossed a pretzel at him, the treat bouncing off his chest and landing on his lap. Namjoon thanked him and then proceeded to eat it. "You want a spooky story?" Jimin's laughter suddenly died down and across the campfire Seokjin heard Hoseok muttering "no thanks" under his breath. "Early last year, right at the beginning of spring, me and the gas station incident. Did I ever tell you guys this one?"

"No," Jungkook said, settling down to get comfortable and to listen to him with avid interest.

So Namjoon told them about how he was pretty certain that he had served a ghost one night working late at his old gas station job. A car had pulled up for gas, a rather vintage-looking model that he told them all was a Lincoln Continental, the name enough to make Taehyung whistle under his breath in appreciation. Inside was a man, a middle-aged man who had had a rather plain face according to their friend. Nothing interesting, nothing that made him stand out, just glasses and greying hair at his temples. He had been working the till rather than filling tanks for the evening and he had watched the man walk up the ramp and enter the store to approach the till.

"I thought he was gonna grab a paper, maybe ask for some cigarettes you know?" Namjoon explained. Seokjin had the camera trained on him and he glanced over at their friends to see them all watching in great interest. "But then he asked me what time it was. I thought, that's kinda weird, why didn't he just check the dashboard clock? But I told him anyway, it was 11:35pm. So he just looked at me for a moment, and then he turned and left the store. A few minutes later I noticed that the car was still there but I hadn't seen him filling the tank up so I went out to check on him. Except he wasn't there, just the car."

"...What the fuck?" Yoongi asked, brow furrowing.

"I went up to the car and checked but it was empty, no keys, doors locked. So I went back inside pretty freaked out and when I got back under the till I looked out the front window and the car was gone. Just vanished, no rumbling noise as the engine started and drove off, no tail lights to show it driving down the road."

"You sure you weren't drunk too?" Hoseok asked, attempting to be funny even when his expression showed that he wasn't amused. Namjoon explained that he had asked the manager a few days later and she had told him that past employees had reported the same thing, a man coming by and just disappearing into thin air.

"Y'know," Taehyung said, "it's a good thing you didn't pump gas for him. The fucker would've disappeared without paying." The quip made them all burst out laughing, Namjoon included. "Anyone else got some spooky shit?"

"I've got a horror story," Seokjin declared, already grinning before he had even started talking. "College." Jungkook gasped loudly and feigned horror with a rather comical expression, hand clutching at his chest. "Tuition fees, unpaid work, graded assignments."

"I'm gonna have nightmares," Jimin said with a shudder. "Don't remind me of what's coming please."

Taehyung lifted up one of the twigs from earlier and stoked at the fire with it, the end causing embers to jump up into the air and float away. There was a nice heat coming from it, a warmth that actually chased any cold away, and with one of the blankets strewn across his knees Seokjin felt very comfortable. Even when the blanket smelled of the sea; sand and salt trapped in the wool. There was a feeling in the air that seemed to demand that the silence be broken rather than enjoyed, and yet no one really seemed capable of doing so. Probably because the silence meant speaking about things that might become personal. No one wanted to mention work or college, school or home, because that could spark words that ended in something like what had happened last year: the motel room intervention. Except there was nothing to have an intervention over to his knowledge. Seokjin couldn't recall anything that they hadn't spoken about in the past being important enough to discuss. Taehyung's father situation was too far gone to even talk about anymore, something that seemed of little importance. Eventually he moved to lie down, taking advantage of Namjoon's leg as he did for he could rest his head on his thigh and lie on his side. That way he could still keep his camcorder trained on the campfire and pick everything up, mostly conversations rather than actions.

"Don't you think space is weird?" Jungkook asked suddenly, turning his head to look across the bluff. "It's just this big huge ball of blackness..."

"That's really not what space is at all," Namjoon replied sarcastically. The boy asked him what he knew about space, expression challenging and mischievous. "See that?" He lifted his arm up to gesture at the sky. Judging from the way he waved his wrist he was gesturing at something and so Seokjin twisted his head slightly to follow his pointed fingers, camcorder angled to pick it up too. Above their heads it was that wonderful sea of stars but a small grouping definitely stood out more than most, a little cluster of perhaps three stars and then another few hanging down below it; the brightest one close to the very bottom. Perhaps the star above it and to its right was also a part of it, he didn't know but he thought that it might just be so. Satisfied that everyone had looked up and saw what he was talking about he explained. "That's Orion."

"It's what?" Yoongi asked, the scent of cigarette smoke wafting over that of the small makeshift campfire. Another cigarette over the course of an hour, no surprise there.

"Orion, the constellation Orion." Namjoon looked at their friend and then snorted. "Shit Yoongi, surely you've heard of at least Orion, it's probably the most well-known constellation in the world?" But he must have shrugged judging from the rustling sound, that of his black bomber jacket as his shoulders rose and fell. "Wait...you don't even know what a constellation is? Do you?"

"Bunch of fucking stars, ain't it?" This caused a wave of laughter to fall over the gang and Seokjin could just picture the smug grin on his face upon getting approval for this. Namjoon was silent for a moment and then he agreed that it really was just a bunch of fucking stars; he had summed it up more perfectly than any astronomer ever could.

"Isn't there like," Jimin paused and it was obvious that he was thinking of something and yet he was embarrassed to do so. Embarrassed that he would be wrong and that they would laugh at him for it just like always. "Uh, constellations named after the signs. You know, star signs, horoscopes? Aren't there some called after that?"

"Yeah there is," Namjoon confirmed, and from his angle Seokjin saw Jimin beaming at this, the warm orange glow making his eyes twinkle. "In fact the signs get their names from the constellations, 'cos they're based on the same calendar." Jungkook made a soft noise and then asked if he was serious. "Do you guys know anything except Jimin, huh?"

"I'm smarter than you guys!" Jimin declared before laughing joyfully.

"The astrological calendar," Hoseok said as he reached over to retrieve a handful of pretzels, the bag rustling as he did. "That's what it is, that's why horoscopes change on a cycle."

"OK, you guys all know so much about this shit tell us some more names then," Yoongi said.

"Well I only know a few, I haven't read books on things like that for years. Not since I was a kid and thought being an astronaut would be cool," Namjoon explained as he leaned back on his wrists. The movement made his legs move ever so slightly and Seokjin shifted with him. "But the one I remember the most for some reason is: Leo Minor." Jimin asked him what that meant. "Little Lion, basically."

"Little Lion?" Taehyung asked suddenly. He had had his head back so he could stare up at the sky above them, but at his words he dropped his head down and stared at Namjoon. His eyes were wide and his mouth was pouted, a sign of fervent interest on his features. Little lion, two words that meant a lot more to him than most. Perhaps that was why Namjoon had remembered the name so strongly, for they had often called their friend that after the plush toy that he had used to own; the one with the velveteen ears and big glassy eyes, the tail he had used to carry it by so that it had hanged down by his thigh. Yes, Taehyung who had taken that plush everywhere with him, hidden away in his backpack when it hadn't been hugged to his chest and then one day he had just simply...stopped. The lion had disappeared along with a great many things, one of which being the carefree happiness that had been in his eyes and the lightness of his skipping steps.

"There's a few called things like that: Little Dog, Big Dog: Canis Minor and Major, Big Bear, Little Bear: Ursa Major and Minor." Seokjin said that he had heard about the bears, but he had never seen them in the sky, camcorder still trained to look at Orion. "Little Lion just stands out to me..."

"What does that one look like?" Jungkook asked curiously. Namjoon furrowed his brow and then reached down to draw something in the sand with his finger, claiming that he wasn't a hundred percent certain but it was something like this. Three diagonal lines, one at the top connected to another that pointed downwards, the third and final line longer. If he were to draw a line along the side and connected them together he would make a trapezium. They all shifted to look at it, Yoongi leaning over Namjoon's lap so that his shadow fell over Seokjin, Jimin having to cock his head around him to see. "That's Little Lion? Doesn't look like a lion..."

"That's 'cos our lion's over there," Jimin replied as he nodded in Taehyung's direction.

"Is there a Big Lion?" Yoongi asked. He was still leaning over to study the drawing in the sand and even though he wasn't smoking Seokjin could still smell the scent of his cigarettes coming from his clothing and breath. Namjoon confirmed that there was and he grinned. "I was gonna suggest we send Tae to space but no need."

"Send me to space? You fucker!" Taehyung said with a wide grin as he grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at him. The grains went everywhere and Seokjin was almost convinced that they all got an eyeful of it, spluttering and spitting and wiping it away with cries of surprise.

"Tae!" Jimin whined, eyes squinted and grains trapped in his dark hair. Looking at it it was almost looking at the constellations above them.

"You guys'd send me to space? Me?" Their friend poked his chest and let out a laugh. "You'd trust me to drive a fucking rocket?"

"He'd crash it into the moon," Jungkook agreed. "Shit, Tae would destroy the moon and fuck us all over." Taehyung declared that it wouldn't affect him, he wouldn't be on earth when it happened with a wide grin. Namjoon pointed out that the rocket would have exploded upon impact and then he stopped bragging very quickly.

"No crashing into the moon," Seokjin muttered disapprovingly, feeling himself drifting as he did. From the warmth of the campfire to the soft crash of the waves down on the sand below, he was starting to feel heavy all over. He was falling asleep, he just knew it, and yet despite lying on the bluffs he didn't think that that was a bad thing. It almost felt like a great idea to him, sleeping under the stars with his friends around him.

"Shit you guys, you heard mom. Guess I can't go into space..." Taehyung muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Wait, when did you want to be an astronaut?" Hoseok asked curiously, his own finger tracing lines in the sand as he did. Namjoon explained that it had been way back when he had been a kid, aged seven from his recollection. He said that he had even had a telescope. Their younger friends had never been to his house growing up but Seokjin and Yoongi had, he a couple of times and Yoongi just once. Yes, he could remember the telescope, the white and black one right beside the window and the posters all over the ceiling of planets so that lying in his bed was almost like looking up at space.

"I can picture it right now," Yoongi declared. "Namjoon floating in a shuttle thousands of miles up there, right above us, writing down every piece of deep shit that comes to mind so he can talk about it all when he gets back."

"Space seems like a great place for philosophical thoughts," he agreed with a nod.

"What'd you think it would be like up there?" Taehyung asked as he looked up again. "Do you think it would be cool? Scary?" They all muttered their thoughts on it, ranging from cool to creepy to even beautiful. "I guess being up there would be the best way to run away, right?"

"Run away?" Seokjin asked, forcing his heavy eyelids open and turning his head to look at him. "Run away from what exactly?" But Taehyung didn't reply to this and just stared up at the sky, expression blank and eyes reflecting the starlight like mirrors. Hadn't they ran away to Taean County technically? Wasn't all of those miles enough to him? He supposed not considering what had happened. They could go all of the way down to Busan, maybe even across the sea to Jeju Island, and Taehyung would probably still feel like he was on the run. From what exactly he didn't know, whether it be his fear of the police finding his father's body, a metaphorical fear, or maybe even a fear of himself and his thoughts. Seokjin thought back to the night he had woken up screaming and thought that that was a very high chance that that was the case.

"If I could," Taehyung said after a few minutes of silence, breaking the quiet in a low voice. "I'd go up to fucking space and bring you all with me. Just all of us, no one else. Just us and the stars. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

"...Yes Tae, that would be perfect," Hoseok said in agreement. Taehyung's hand moved along the sand to rest on top of his, and so Hoseok placed his Jungkook's. Then the boy put his hand on Seokjin's knee because he couldn't reach his hand. Within a moment they all had hands on top of hands, on knees or shoulders. A full circle for once rather than the loose one they usually sat in.

"Fuck everyone else," Jungkook said in a quiet voice, eyes staring at the campfire. "We're the only people that matter."