It was the squawking sound of a seagull that woke him up with a start. Yoongi jerked awake to find that he had fallen asleep sitting up, legs folded in front of his, head balanced on his knees. As a result it meant that the back of his neck and lower back twinged in pain, muscles stiff and cramped from the awkward position. Oh he could barely move, his back aching and his ass so numb that he couldn't feel it at all. He felt cold and it took him a minute of staring down at his boots to figure out that he was outside, rather than inside of the building. Why was he outside? He should have been curled up on one of the leather seats with Jimin on his lap, buried under a blanket: warm and comfortable. Yet he was out in the open air and he couldn't remember why. Yoongi stared at his boots to see that there were grains of sand stuck to the leather, trapped in the creases and coating the laces. There was some clinging to his jeans and he could smell salt and the tang of the ocean on the breeze along with his skin and clothing. That meant that he was on a beach, that he had fallen asleep on a beach with his friends at some point last night. He furrowed his brow as he tried to recall, limbs still sore and stiff and a sensation like a stomachache irritating him. After a minute of trying to figure it all out he lifted his head and glanced around him, muscles hurting as he turned his head. He saw his friends all lying or sitting down in a loose circle, and in the centre there was a campfire of sorts.

The campfire in front of him was nothing more than pitiful remains, a smouldering and blackened pile of twigs and burnt up leaves. There was still a furl of smoke gently wafting up from it, wispy and heavily scented from the gasoline. He rubbed at his eyelids roughly and then grabbed one of the twigs from the side, stoking at the campfire. What happened was that the charred husks of wood collapsed inwards, crushing the dried leaves to dust and ash. He prodded at it for a few seconds before dropping the twig back to the ground with a weary sigh. Then he shifted to lower his legs, crossing them in front of him. The change in position made his thighs and lower back protest but he ignored it and leaned back on his wrists. More gritty sand on his palms, rough and crunching as his skin brushed against it. Everyone else was still asleep and so he studied them in turn.

To his left were Namjoon and Seokjin. The former was lying down on his back, one arm folded under his head in a makeshift pillow and the other stretched out on the ground. He could see a little beetle scuttling along his palm and he considered knocking it free, but after a few seconds it rounded the soft curve of his thumb and moved back down on the soil. Just like Jimin and the jewel beetle moving along his knuckles, wide smile on his face. Seokjin was lying sideways on the ground, blanket strewn over his body and his head balanced on Namjoon's knee. Not far from his hand there was the Sony camcorder, still open though not switched on for he could see no light. Directly across the campfire from him was Jungkook, the boy hunkered forward like he had been, pillow hugged to his stomach and head softly nodding with each inhale and exhale. Beside him were Hoseok and Taehyung, the pair of them lying on the sandy ground, Hoseok with his head on Taehyung's chest. Much like Jungkook and his softly moving head, Yoongi could see Taehyung's chest rising and falling and his breath ruffling a few messy locks his lover's hair. Directly to his right Jimin was lying curled up in a ball just like always, knees tucked against his chest and lips softly pouted.

That was when he remembered what had happened yesterday. The frolicking half-naked - and fully naked - on the beach, the late lunch of street food sitting on the sand as the tide had ebbed and flowed around them, and then the night spent staring up at the stars. It was the sight of the two devices that had triggered his memory, for he could recall both of them being used. Jungkook had been snapping shots of the campfire and the stars and Seokjin had been recording their sleepy shit talking for most of the night. Maybe he had fallen asleep with it still recording? The battery would need charging at the gas station if that was the case. Right now Yoongi felt like he needed charging too, that he could just plug himself into a socket and be filled with a nice shot of electricity. Maybe coffee would have to suffice? It was no wonder his limbs and stomach were aching after being in the freezing cold water like that. He wouldn't be surprised if they all ended up ill as a result, stuffy heads and runny noses, sore chests and throats. Yoongi rubbed at his nose roughly and sniffed. He could still smell the campfire clinging to the air, to his clothing too. He smelt like the sea and bonfires and the scent was strangely pleasant in a way he couldn't figure out. Probably because he was so tired, as soon as he woke up he would hate it.

Yoongi retrieved the Polaroid camera from across the campfire, moving as slowly as he could to not disturb any of them. Upon getting the device he shifted to lie down beside Jimin, angling himself so that he could get the camera just right. Satisfied that he had the perfect shot he pressed the button and the shutter opened and closed with a click, the device whirring as the photo popped out of the slot. He pulled it free and checked it and Jimin made a soft noise under his breath.

"...take photos of me," he mumbled in a sleep heavy voice. He reached up to try and cover his face with his hand and laughed. "I look like...shit."

"I didn't know we were talking about me," Yoongi retorted, lying on his back so that he could shake his wrist had develop the shot. Jimin lowered his hand to peer at him from over his fingers. "Minnie, the day you look like shit is the day I look like Won Bin." His lover smiled at this, eyes crinkling even though his mouth was still hidden. Then he told him that he way much more beautiful than Won Bin. Yoongi nearly choked from laughing so hard, the noise disturbing Hoseok because he groaned in his sleep. He lifted his head and saw his eyelids flickering open for a second or two before closing again.

"I was being serious," Jimin said as he slowly uncurled from his tight ball. He stretched his legs and made a series of noises under his breath as he winced.

"Feel like shit?" Yoongi joked, and he sarcastically asked him how he had known. "'Cos I feel like shit. I didn't pay you back after yesterday actually so," he put the Polaroid camera and photograph down and then rolled over. He grabbed Jimin's shoulder and pushed him onto his back, pinning him in place. He squeaked in surprise and then Yoongi was grabbing one of his cheeks roughly between his finger and thumb. "Throwing me into the ocean, you little fucker." He squeezed and pulled at his cheek and Jimin just laughed at him even though it probably hurt. The sound of him giggling made Yoongi smile but he didn't let go of his cheek. "The water was so freezing cold I thought my ass would turn blue!"

"You're such a baby," Jimin managed to say even as he pulled at his cheeks. "You didn't even take your clothes off." Yoongi said he wasn't very keen on stripping. "Oh yeah, so that one time...?"

"What one time?" he asked in confusion, letting go of his cheek as he did. Big mistake, Jimin used his confusion to his advantage and shoved him off. Yoongi felt the back of his head bouncing off the hard sand and then Jimin was pinning him down instead. He let out a groan of surprise and his lover laughed at him, shifting to cock his elbow on his ribs and balance his head in his hand. Then he reached over with his free hand to pick up the Polaroid.

"Oh this isn't bad actually..." Yoongi groaned that he had told him that, rubbing at his tender head as he did. "It's better than the ass one you took that day on the road." Jimin said as he studied the photograph of himself; the one of him peacefully sleeping just a few minutes ago like an angel and not pinning him to the ground with a gleeful smile on his face.

"Tackle me like that again and I'll take another ass shot, 'cept next time you won't be wearing jeans." Jimin laughed at this as he dropped the photograph back onto the ground and collected the camera. He held it up and Yoongi scrunched his nose up with a disgruntled expression, the shutter sounding once more with that same crisp click.

"I don't think those kinda shots can go into the photo album," Jimin remarked as he put the camera down and shook the photograph. He asked him what album and so he explained that he meant Hoseok's one, the one that was starting to get filled up with their Polaroids from the last few days. Yoongi argued that they could make their own photo album instead. "A dirty photo album?" He smirked at this and Yoongi wriggled an eyebrow at him. "I didn't think you liked those kinds of things..."

"Lemme see it," he said as he pulled the shot out of his fingers. "Huh...look at that I am more beautiful than Won Bin."

"In your dreams," Namjoon said, showcasing that he was awake. How long exactly had he been awake for? Had he heard the joke about the dirty photo album? The idea was enough to make Yoongi snort as he turned his head to look at him. His friend lifted his wrist to look at his watch. "7am...great." Jimin asked him when they had roughly fallen asleep and he took a moment before replying. "About 1am, I think?" Six hours give or take, no wonder they all felt like shit. "I can't feel my legs right now..."

"Can you feel Jin warming your boner with his head?" Yoongi retorted, and there was a snigger of laughter that most certainly belonged to Taehyung from across the campfire. He had woken up at the most perfect moment it would seem. Namjoon lifted his head to look down to see Seokjin still lying asleep on him, their oldest friend clearly exhausted because he was usually the first one of them to wake up. Then he said that he hadn't been able to feel his head at all, but he could now that he had pointed it out to him.

"I can't feel my head," Taehyung grumbled. Yoongi watched him lift one arm and actually touch his face to be sure that it was there. He made a surprised noise at this and then peered at the top of Hoseok's head. "Last night wasn't the best idea, huh?"

"Yesterday wasn't the best idea," Hoseok agreed, moving his head so that he could balance his chin on his ribs rather than his cheek. He hadn't even opened his eyes but kept them closed. Taehyung placed a hand on his head and softly played with his hair. "Mmm, we're all stupid, you included Joonie." Namjoon scoffed and that was when Jimin finally got off him, allowing Yoongi to sit back up again. He rubbed at his head, which still stung slightly from where it had bounced off the ground. "Let's not sleep outside like this again, OK?" Yoongi agreed as he watched Taehyung twirling the other man's black hair around his fingers. Jungkook made a series of loud snuffling noises and then he lifted his head to stare at the dead campfire, squinting at it for a few seconds.

"I need to...piss," the boy muttered as he stumbled to his feet and moved closer to the edge of the bluff. Yoongi had a brief mental image of him staggering right of the fucking cliff in his current foggy state but he didn't, he stopped by the edge and proceeded to relieve himself over the side. A very nice 'good morning' to them all. Just as Jungkook zipped his jeans back up Seokjin opened his eyes. He did so slowly, blinking a few times as he furrowed his brow, and then he shifted to look over his shoulder at Namjoon. He seemed to figure out where they were rather quickly and then he sat up, rubbing at his neck as he did so. All wake now, or mostly awake.

"What day is it?" Jimin asked suddenly. For a few seconds no one replied and then they all burst out laughing, catching him by surprise as they did. "What?" he asked in an uncertain voice, smile on his face regardless.

"Shit Minnie, what month is it?" Yoongi joked as Jungkook sat back down on the opposite side of the dead campfire.

"What's the plan for the day?" Namjoon asked as he sat up with a grimace. All eyes were on their eldest friend, who was still rubbing at his stiff neck and staring at his dead camcorder.

"Food from the gas station first and uh," Seokjin yawned loudly, covering his mouth with his free hand as he did. "Go back to the house and get cleaned up and-"

"The house?" Jungkook asked before grinning at him.

"It's our house right now," their friend pointed out as he lowered his hand again. "Then how about we go into Taean County and look around at the market and stuff?"

"Can we go to the national park tomorrow?" Taehyung asked suddenly. "We could get some awesome photographs to go into the album, right?" Hoseok nodded and said that sounded like a great idea, lips lifting in a soft smile for a few seconds before dropping again. He looked exhausted and Yoongi wasn't surprised because he didn't feel much better. The idea of getting up and moving right now wasn't at all appealing and yet he also wanted to get off the bluff because it wasn't exactly warm, the wind coming in from across the water rather chill. He glanced over across the water to see that the sky wasn't the bright blue it had been yesterday morning. It was a faded blue with steel undertones and he wasn't sure if it was minus clouds or if the banks were so thick like fog that he couldn't see the sky at all. The sun wasn't out just yet either, he could see just a dull light rather than glowing orb.

"Come on," Seokjin said after a moment, climbing to his feet with a grimace. "Let's go."

They carried the sand covered blankets and pillows back down to the car and shoved bags of stale snacks away for later rather than abandon them on the bluff. That sorted, they all jumped into the vehicle. Yoongi got in the passenger-seat, Taehyung and Jimin in the backseat, Namjoon, Hoseok and Jungkook in the flatbed. The tide hadn't came in high enough to reach the car and when Seokjin gently rolled the vehicle over the slight hill and onto the other section of the beach they all saw that the sand was still damp in parts because it wasn't warm enough to dry it out. The wheels left deep tracks in the sand and then he was guiding the car back onto the road that ran along the beach. Yoongi hadn't been to any of the gas stations in Taean County. He had a feeling that Seokjin would take them to the one that would be closest to their 'home' for convenience. The ones closer to the city would likely have more customers inside, and they would look rather amusing walking in with sandy hair and haggard faces; like a bunch of drunks on a college break. Except they weren't drunks and they weren't exactly on college breaks either. He just stared out of the window and watched the sidewalks blurring out of the corner of his eye, stone and wood and brick all mingling into nothing more than blocks of colour. When his friend finally stopped the car it could have been thirty minutes later or even an hour, he had no real way of telling for he hadn't paid attention.

Getting back out of the car seemed impossible for he had just gotten comfortable, had sunken down deep into the seat and felt his aching limbs start to feel better. Either way he was being roughly dragged out by his upper arm by Namjoon, who told him that he couldn't just sleep in the car and he needed to eat something. Yoongi, thinking about his aching stomach, thought that he really didn't.

The sight outside was another boring and predictable looking gas station, this one only small with just five pumps located on the lot. It seemed that it was staying open purely on the basis people could pop inside to get cigarettes and snacks with ease; just like they were doing. His younger friends had already raced in ahead, grabbing food and snacks and drinks without a single care, Jimin paying to cover the three of them with his card. Seemed his wages from the mechanics had come in handy after all. Hoseok had went straight for the coffee, looking like he needed an espresso bigger than the bowl of noodles in Jimin's hand. The variety of cheap food on display was the same as usual, very little nutrition but lots of carbs and sodium, Yoongi didn't really care and instead just grabbed a packet of kimbap so that he could sit down at the window counter and not have to use his legs for a little while.

It turnt out that the ache in his stomach wasn't pain like he had thought, but was actually hunger. After spending yesterday eating nothing more than street food and cheap snacks from a store close to the beach, they really hadn't eaten much at all. Yoongi found that his packet of kimbap didn't last very long, and when Jimin offered him a chopstick-full of noodles he eagerly accepted them, even when they were thick and congealed with sauce. Three cups of instant coffee later his stomach felt comfortably full and so he got off the counter stool and went over to the till to buy some cigarettes. Then he wandered up and down the aisles out of boredom, eyeing packets and bottles and various things until something caught his eye.

Not too far from the counter he could see a red metal rack covered in magazines, most of them most certainly not suitable enough to be left out on display. But beside those he saw newspapers, several different ones neatly placed. He picked up the first paper and scanned the headline without much thought, eyes trained to see something important. He saw a load of shit about subways and some problem with government taxes, but that wasn't what he wanted to see. He wanted something about Seoul, a newspaper specifically for Seoul news rather than regional. So he slipped it back and checked the shelves but sadly they were all regional newspapers.

"Hey Jin?" he called over his shoulder, looking back to see his friend standing by the charging machine, rice cake in hand. "What's a local Seoul paper, huh?"

"...Hang on," his friend picked up his phone in his free hand and started typing with his thumb, doing so fast and confidently. Then he cocked his head to to tell him to come over, so Yoongi placed the newspaper in his hand down and crossed the gas station to look at the screen. He had opened Gookmin Ilbo, a newspaper he was clearly subscribed to for some reason. He accepted the phone off him and eyed the screen to try and figure out to browse the app. "What are you looking for?"

"What'd you think?" he replied in a quiet voice, soaring a glance up at him and then shifting his eyes over to the small counter behind them; looking right at Taehyung as he did. Their friend was laughing at something, stirring at the contents of his ramyun bowl as he did. Yoongi didn't have to say a single thing for he saw that Seokjin knew exactly what he was talking about. The murder. A dead body being discovered buried in a house garden. A missing man by the name of Kim Taewoo. Seokjin held his gaze for a minute before taking the phone back and hastily clicking on the screen, searching first and foremost for the word 'murder'. Drunken bar brawl death, a hit and run of an elementary school kid. Nothing. He tried 'body' and was returned with multiple articles and yet none they were looking for. Finally he tried searching for the keyword 'missing'. A third high school girl had gone missing this month, as had an elderly lady with dementia from a care home.

Yoongi lifted his gaze to study his profile, seeing his friend staring at the phone screen in something like disbelief. This was too good to be true and they both knew it was so. A body lying undiscovered for near a week now? The man not even reported missing? Yoongi knew that he could barely hold a job down because of his drinking, as he had done back when Taehyung had still been stuck with him. He must have had a job of some kind however. But maybe where he worked drunken old men and drifters came and went all of the time? It was feasible, but it just didn't feel right at all. A murder couldn't be gotten away with that easily, could it? But still, a murder with no witness and limited evidence left behind...it might just go unreported for another week or two before something happened. He had been certain of it at one point, almost anticipating the fact that Taehyung would end up wanted by the police; the kid of the dead man with a rap sheet bigger than most criminals currently in jail and that had been living on the streets. Yoongi had foreseen a future of being labelled an accomplice to covering up a murder, all of them being dragged down with their friend, and yet...

"Try searching on Naver," he suggested and Seokjin stuck his tongue out to wet his lips before opening the search engine. Yoongi leaned closer and whispered to search for the term 'body buried in garden'. His friend found multiple articles about buried bodies, but none of them in gardens or Seoul: just bodies buried under landfill waste and in industrial trash bins. His older friend made a noise at this that sounded trapped between a sigh of relief and a laugh. Seokjin was clearly as dumbstruck as he was by this sudden twist in plans, and yet Yoongi wasn't entirely certain that this was a good thing.

They weren't out of the clear. Just because they hadn't been found out yet didn't mean that it wouldn't happen in the future. Could they really avoid punishment forever? Exactly how long were they supposed to lay low down here in Taean County for before going back up to Seoul? They had likely lost the jobs that they had had, for Yoongi had blocked his boss' number the first night they had left to avoid him calling. Presumably Seokjin's job, and Jimin and Hoseok's, were gone too. A week without contact and missing shifts was bound to get them fired. They had college and school and family to get back to, and that was all. But getting back required one thing exactly: Taehyung. Taehyung had made them all come down to Taean County to get away, to relive memories of sorts. What if Taehyung decided that he didn't want to leave again? What if he thought that he could live just like he had just the previous year, stealing and squatting and once again not really giving a shit? What were they supposed to do? Leave him and go back? That would never happen and Yoongi knew that Taehyung knew this. They were trapped in place right now, and he didn't think that his friends had really realised this.

From the counter a few feet away came the sudden sound of laughter, for it seemed that Taehyung had done or said something that had made them all laugh. A quick glance over showed him slinging an arm around Hoseok's shoulders, knocking their heads together softly. He could only see their backs and yet he felt a twinge in his chest, almost as if he had been able to see their happy smiles. Why did this news, that would be a cause for joy for the rest of them, cause him so much discomfort? Yoongi knew that he worried over everything, that he made matters worse than they really were, yet there was a horrible eddy in the pit of his stomach making him restless. It was all of the coffee, he shouldn't have drank the coffee. The need to smoke was so great that he couldn't help but mutter that he was stepping outside for a moment, not even looking at Seokjin as he walked around him to get to the door. He stepped out and onto the rubberised mat and glanced across the lot. He couldn't light a cigarette so close to the pumps and so that meant crossing it and standing on the sidewalk instead, yet he found his eyes being drawn to the restroom instead.

Before he could stop himself he was crossing the lot, pulling the battered and almost empty packet of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. He pushed the door of the male restroom open and stepped inside. Small, clean mostly save for some grout trapped in the tiles around the sink. Four taps and a long stretch of mirror above them, a trash can beside the door. The urinals were directly opposite the door, a small window set at the top of the wall, and there were three stalls to his right. Yoongi studied his reflection in the mirror for a moment, really taking it all in. Not that long ago he would have seen a different sight entirely: bright copper hair and eyes with bruised bags under them, sunken cheeks from too many sleepless nights and lack of food. Now he was looking at himself in a whole new light. It was almost like high school all over again, his reflection actually looking a semblance of healthy; cheeks fuller now, skin still rather pale but not sickly so. Under his clothes his frame was still too thin, spine too easily traceable by fingers, hipbones and wrists sticking out under his skin too prominently. But he was getting better, he knew that he was. He was still stressed out just like always, but dealing with it all better. He reached up to run a hand through his hair, revealing the hints of black hidden under the lengths. He felt a few gritty pieces of sand against his palm and fingers and when the heel of his hand touched his brow it felt clammy. He pulled a cigarette free from the packet and shoved it away to get the box of matches instead. He struck the end, lit the stick and dropped the used up match in the sink. Then he looked back up at his reflection.

In the mirror behind him he could see the stalls, doors slightly ajar and almost beckoning to him. Yoongi took a deep pull and then breathed it out of his nose. The smoke hit the mirror and dissipated into the air lazily. He reached up to pull it free and wet his lips, slight flash of tongue in the mirror. He should just step outside, lean against the concrete wall and smoke this cigarette and go back inside the store. Yet he found himself turning on his heel and walking over to one of the stalls, pushing it open fully and stepping inside. He closed the door and clicked the lock in place, the outside probably going from vacant green to occupied red.

Yoongi knew exactly what he was doing and he didn't stop himself. He stuck the cigarette stick back between his lips and hastily fumbled at his jeans, hands shaking so badly that he couldn't seem to work the zipper. After a momentary struggle that felt like forever he managed to wrench his jeans and underwear down and then he was leaning back against the cubicle wall. A large dab of ash fell off the end to land on the linoleum between his boots. He felt the cold metal against his ass and thighs as he hunkered forward. He parted his thighs, one hand holding his testicles aside so that he could reach all of the way up to his innermost thigh. Yoongi pulled the cigarette free and he stared at the patch of skin, soft and supple and perfect without a single mark. He shouldn't do it but he just needed something. It would make the thoughts go away for just a little while, would bring him peace.

But it was wrong.

Yoongi gnawed on his lower lip so hard that he could feel the press of his teeth digging in. If he bit down any harder he would tear the skin and make his lip start bleeding. He had to bite down on his lip because if he didn't he would start moaning under his breath. The stick was right there, just inches away waiting to be stubbed out on his skin. But he was frozen in place. He thought about all of those nights spent awake, looking over at Jimin's sleeping face and then the sting and throb of the cigarette on his flesh. He thought about how his lover's eyes would settle on the mass of scars the morning after, his fingers softly moving along the raw skin and blisters as he applied ointment and told him that he wasn't mad at him. The cigarette was right there just like that time he had stubbed one out against Jimin's thigh; so gone with pleasure that he had lost control and how fast he had came down from it because of Jimin had grabbed hold of his wrist and pinned it to the bed and had actually yelled at him. Oh, he was filled with so much disgust right now but he needed this. He did.

He just needed to stop thinking.

He pressed the cigarette head down on his skin, stubbed and twisted between his fingers before dropping it to land on the toes of his boot. Yoongi rolled his head back against the cubicle and he let his breath out in a heavy sigh. It was that familiar sensation again, that he hadn't felt in months now; the prickling as his skin reacted to the heat. After a moment he reached down to brush the smeared remains of ash free, doing so tenderly to not disturb the growing blister on his flesh. Then he bent down to retrieve his jeans and underwear, hands no longer shaking as he fastened them back up and left the stall. When he went back into the gas station, smelling like cigarettes and calm and collected, no one even blinked. They didn't know that there was a stinging patch of skin hidden away under all of his clothes. They wouldn't see it, would see his usual scarred inner elbow and nothing more than that.

Just like Taehyung, Yoongi was safe for now.

There was nothing better than a scorching hot shower to wash away the scent of the sea from his skin and the sand out of his hair. He still couldn't believe that they had gotten away with a good couple of days now without getting caught, free water to be used at will; free hot water at that. It was an amazing sensation being able to just stand under the scorching water after Namjoon had finished getting cleaned up, the water hitting the top of his head in a steady stream. If they had had a place like this on the adventure then it would have been a lot better, better than tiny cramped bathtubs and motel shower heads that had been filthy and broken. After the cubicle had been scrubbed clean by Taehyung the shower was pretty much perfect, for even the fact it was out in the open didn't bother him that much. When the heat got high the glass fogged up anyway, making it hard to see anything but a hint of a body inside. So Yoongi cleaned his skin and hair, careful to not irritate the burn anymore than possible. It wasn't as hard as it was with the old ones that had been on his inner elbow. After washing yesterday's remains of sand and brine away he emerged and proceeded to get ready. It was irritating getting soil stuck to his bare feet but he just had to sit on the flatbed and brush it all free before slipping his boots on.

Seokjin collected the clean clothes from yesterday morning, dry and scented wonderfully from the detergent and the forest, and proceeded to hang more up without a word. He hummed under his breath in a sweet way, seemingly happy even after what had happened this morning: waking up tired and cold on the bluffs. Everyone else seemed to be in good moods too, stomachs full of hot food and coffee and skin ruddy from the shower water. Yoongi almost felt like he should force a smile for the sake of it even though he felt fine. Not overjoyed, not ecstatic, just fine. Did he need to be anything more than just simply fine? He didn't know but he thought that if he wasn't his friends might ask him what was wrong; questions that he couldn't really answer.

The ride into the market was one rather tame and quiet. Yoongi couldn't tell if it was because they were tired or just because they had gotten a lot of their excitement out yesterday on the beach. It was likely both. Riding in the flatbed once more he found he actually rather enjoyed the sensation of being in the open with the wind playing with his hair, opening up Hoseok's photo album and adding the ones from yesterday into it; the beach, the night sky, random shots taken over the daylight hours. There were still so many more pages that needed filling so it was a good thing that they had plenty of film still left, could get more readily at the gas station. He found a pen lying around the flatbed and so he removed the lid and jotted down dates beside each shot. It wasn't like the old photographs of his mother and when Hoseok was a child, the time print stamped in the corner for all to see, so he had to use his memory and figure out the date for each one instead. Taehyung and Jungkook were in the back with him and they watched him curiously, trying to figure out what he was doing rather than ask and break his concentration. Eventually when he was finished Taehyung asked if he could look at the photo album and so he passed it to him. The two boys looked over it whilst they traveled to the market, occasionally commenting on one of the shots. Every time Jungkook said something he would get an elbow to the ribs or a rough tug on his hair, presumably because he had poked fun at something. One such thing Yoongi overheard was him pointing out Taehyung's missing teeth in an old photograph and asking if he had dentures now.

The market wasn't far from the beach at all, just a dozen or so blocks away from the road that ran along the coast. Finding it on foot with Jimin yesterday had been rather tricky, following street signs and some helpful directions from an elderly lady. Yet Seokjin managed to locate it with ease, perhaps because they had passed it yesterday and he could remember the roads well enough to not need assistance. By the time that they got there it was noon had the streets were packed with people shopping: stalls and vendors yelling prices and goods out to catch everyone's attention. The car was parked at the end of the block, holdalls and backpacks left locked in the car just like always to stop them being stolen, and all they had on their persons were their wallets and cameras.

Yoongi wasn't particularly in the mood to walk down packed sidewalks with countless other bodies in the heat, but when Jimin snagged his wrist with one hand and Namjoon's with the other and laughed excitedly as he pulled them along he had no choice. His lover wanted to try every sample possible, mostly the fresh fruit on display: little chunks of watermelon on the ends of cocktail sticks, popping grapes into their mouths and charming all of the female vendors sweetly. Most of them could have been his grandmother and yet they cooed over him and gave discounts. The more he saw of Taean County the more he actually started to like it. The people seemed friendly enough, more than the market vendors up in Seoul for sure. As a rule Namjoon wasn't allowed to touch anything fragile for he had a habit of breaking things by accident, so he just contented himself by studying stalls of folk art instead, things that would look pretty on a shelf or a desk: wooden owls and glass dolphins. Yoongi found it hard to keep track of the others in the crowd but it wasn't hard to not see Jungkook towering over a lot of the people, Taehyung's laughter booming and the occasional sight of Seokjin turning around to pick something up on film. At one point he called out and waved at them from across the road and Yoongi made sure to flash him the middle finger before he disappeared through a surge of bodies.

It was so hot being surrounded by bodies and hissing grills and furnaces that at one point he had to take his jacket off and knot it around his waist. His newly revealed arms caught a few stares for the strangers could see a rippling mass of scar tissue. They could make up their own minds about what it was: an accident, a burn scar from childhood, self-inflicted. They wouldn't know the truth and Yoongi barely noticed because he was too busy snapping shots. He got ones of glass and shell jewelry hanging from stall, the sunlight catching and making them glow and turn iridescent. He got a few of rows of food being prepared, slowly roasted and turned so that steam billowed up into the air; Jimin playing with toy windmills; Jungkook from across the street trying on sun hats for a joke, posing for Seokjin's camera and unaware that he had caught him too. There was also one of Taehyung and Hoseok's entwined hands when he had passed them standing at a stall and they hadn't noticed him a few feet away.

By the time they all ended up together there was several small paper bags and skewers of food in hand and there were countless shots shoved into his jeans pocket. There was another packet of film stored away in the car that he would need to break out soon, running low on the ones left inside the camera. They were huddled together in a slight alley area that was blocked off by a chain link fence because it meant they could stay out of pedestrians paths whilst talking in a group. They still attracted stares, as any young bunch of people seemed apt to do so, particularly young boys and men. Always out to cause trouble; wasn't that the truth he thought with a smirk as he lit his cigarette.

Right now Taehyung was telling them that he knew exactly where the national park was, doing so between mouthfuls of a chicken skewer that he as offering bites of to everyone else. Yoongi declined with a head shake, stomach already full from Jimin force feeding him samples for the past hour or so. He was listing directions at the speed of light, not just to the park but to everywhere: a local library, a small modern art gallery. It was as if Taehyung was suddenly a local tour guide and he knew deep down exactly why he was doing it. Taehyung was finding every possible reason he could to get them to stay in Taean County, and with that wide grin of his he was selling it like an expert. Since when had he cared about art? Had Hoseok dragged him along to a dozen galleries in the last year for fun? Yoongi doubted it as he smoked his cigarette down to the last inch or so, listening to him going on and on. It was impossible to not get caught up in it all even when he knew, because seeing him happy after the last week or so was something that they had all been greatly hoping to achieve. It didn't even really matter at this point anyway, because no one else seemed to even be thinking about going back except him. For now the cigarette had repressed any thoughts about that particular matter.

Jungkook jerked suddenly just as their friend had been in the midst of talking about how they should break into the lighthouse one day and that was when he pulled his phone free from his khaki jacket pocket. The battery had been dead for a few days and so his phone had been silent and still and yet now he had charged it at the gas station it was ringing like merry hell. The boy stared at the device like he had never seen a phone before and then he looked up at them. Namjoon asked him who was calling, as if they didn't know the answer to that question, and so he quietly said that it was his mother. Jungkook looked like he very much didn't want to answer it and yet he had little choice but to do so.

"Hello?"

The sound of his mother's voice was so loud that they could hear it without him needing to put it on speakerphone option. To say that she was mad was an understatement: she was furious. Jungkook flinched as her screeching went right down his ear, shoulders jerking up as he did and eyes narrowing. She couldn't see his expression but he looked ashamed and submissive, ready to take it all and not argue back for once. From his position a few feet away Yoongi heard it all.

"Where are you?!" his mother asked, voice shrill not purely in anger. She was so frightened that it was causing her voice to reach ridiculous tones. "Why haven't you been answering my calls?! What's going on Jungkook?!" For a few seconds he didn't seem to know what to say and Yoongi glanced over at his friends. They were standing on the sidewalk uncertainly, food and bags in hand, eyes wide as he looked at him. Jungkook was stuck right now, centre spot for attention, and he couldn't think of anything worst. He didn't have a single excuse to use that sounded good enough. Eventually he settled for saying that the battery had ran out, lame and childish but technically true. It had been dead because of the countless times she had called and he had ignored her. "Dead?! Dead battery?! If you don't get back home you'll be dead!"

"I can't come back right now," he explained, trying to keep his voice low and not draw anymore attention to them than needed. "I'm not in Seoul."

"Not in Seoul, no of course not! No, you ran off just like I told your father you would! Once again!"

"I'm with my friends I haven't ran off I-"

"...and the medication! Are you taking your medication?! Don't you lie to me Jungkook, don't you dare!" He mumbled something under his breath, something that was an attempt at appeasing her. He said that he had ran out and he had no more left. This did not appease her in the slightest. "Ran out?! There was a three week's worth of dosage in that bottle Jungkook I check everyday, just to be sure you're taking them! I count them out in days, it was a new prescription! You've been gone for a week now, not three!"

"You've been counting them?" Jungkook asked in a quiet voice, expression going slack as he stared down the street. He wasn't looking at anything for his gaze was unfocused, but after a few seconds Yoongi saw it harden. His eyes turned flinty and he could sense anger radiating off him. It had been so long since he had seen anger coming from him, the morning in the garden nothing more than a slight flash of fear and uncertainty. "What'd you mean you've been counting them?!"

"Because you always threatened to not take them!" his mother argued back. "You always said that you were going to throw them away and not take them so I had to check! Those pills cost a lot of money Jungkook and-"

"So I can't waste them right? I can't waste your precious fucking money!"

"And you need to take them - don't you curse at me Jeon Jungkook, don't you dare!" The full name had come out now, the sign that arguing back had crossed the line of getting dangerous. But he wasn't in the room with her, wasn't even in the same city. No need to worry about being grounded and locked in his bedroom. All he needed to do was hang up and yet he could see that he was too busy arguing to do so. Confusion was on their friends faces, maybe because they could hear it all too; hear all about the pills. Seokjin and him were probably the only ones not looking confused.

The boy argued back with her, exclaiming that he couldn't believe the price of his prescription was the most important aspect of it all. Yoongi heard his mother denying this, shouting that he was twisting her words and he knew that she didn't mean it like that. By the time that the boy ended the call she was sobbing down the line and asking him why he was doing this to her again, why he just couldn't be a good boy after all that they had been through. Jungkook hung up on her and stared at his phone for a moment. Then he cocked his arm back and threw it at the ground. The phone smashed on the paving flags but didn't break, the screen splitting into a series of cracks in the glass. The sound of it bouncing off the pavement made them all jump in surprise.

"Shit Kookie!" Jimin cried out before dropping to pick up the phone. "What was that for?" He turned it over to check the screen, pushing the centre button so that it lit up. Yoongi saw nearly seventy missed messages and he gnawed on his lip as he thought how the boy's mother had likely spent her entire nights wide awake just thinking about him, phone clutched in hand just in case he returned her calls.

"You shouldn't have yelled at her like that," Namjoon said in a quiet voice. "She was pissed off at you already. Remember what I said about not arguing back?" Yoongi stared at him and silently told him to not go there, shaking his head and trying to gesture over at the boy. But Namjoon didn't know, most of them didn't, and they were all going to make it worst. "You should've just let her shout for a little while and then-"

"Stop talking," Jungkook interrupted, eyes burning into the pavement rather than look at any of them. "Just stop fucking talking I-"

"What was she yelling about?" Jimin asked, shoving the boy's phone in his jeans front pocket for safekeeping. "Why was she so mad Kookie? Did you lie to her about what-"

"I was on fucking Ritalin, OK?!" Jungkook shouted suddenly, throwing his arms out as he did. Everyone on the adjacent street was probably staring at them and yet he didn't seem to care at all. He was finally letting it all out after nearly a week of silence and suppression and it wasn't just spilling out; it was exploding. "I was on Ritalin and I was supposed to take it with me but I threw it away 'cos I didn't wanna take it! I've been on that shit for a year now 'cos I'm fucking nuts-"

"You're not nuts don't you ever say shit like that Kookie," Seokjin intoned in a low voice.

"I am! Don't say that I'm not 'cos I am and I can feel it!" The boy stabbed a hand at his chest. "Jeon Jungkook the kid that needs pills so he'll stop causing shit and hurting people, Jeon Jungkook who's fucked up in here." He tapped at his temple and it was then that Yoongi saw that he wasn't angry at them, he was angry at himself: angry for running away and tossing his pills, for not telling them all and upsetting his parents. His eyes were glossy and he just knew that he was going to start crying. "That's me, everyone knows it! My classmates know it, I can see it in their eyes when they look at me!" Hoseok reiterated Seokjin's point about him not being nuts, that he was wrong and he was upset and he needed to just take a few deep breaths and try and calm down. "I am calm!"

"Kookie," Seokjin reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "It's OK, just stop talking and-"

The boy shrugged his hand off so fast and wheeled on him that Yoongi was almost convinced that he was going to jump him, was going to punch him square in the face. But he didn't, he just knocked him aside and cocked his arm back to slam his fist right into the wall of the building. The sound of the impact was enough to make Yoongi flinch, flesh connecting with brick. It was less a thud, more a deep crunch and he wondered if that was the sound of the brick being damaged or his fingers breaking. A cloud of dust drifted down and Jungkook just stayed froze in place. They all stared at him, waiting to see what would happen next; the air thick and cold even in the current heat.

Jungkook hunkered down just like that day in the garden, hands holding onto his head. There was a hideous split in his knuckles from where he had punched the wall, his skin grazed and open like a trench. There was blood running down the back of his hand and he was just shaking all over. There was no point in suppressing his tears now, not after what had just happened. The noises he was making made Yoongi's fingers rolled into fists too, a horrible ache in his chest.

Looking at the boy hurt him more than the stupid fucking cigarettes.

They were all just standing on the sidewalks dumbly, staring at him or their boots in turn. No one seemed to know what exactly to do right now, to say something to him in case it just upset him more or they risked angering him. Jungkook was already in a bad way he didn't need to feel worse. Yoongi tried to think of something to say, to do, that could just break the silence but then Jimin did it for him. His lover shoved his food into Taehyung's free hand and then he moved to get close to him.

"Luh-leave me aluh-lone," Jungkook hiccuped as he tried to hide his face from view, "duh-don't tuh-touch me." Yet Jimin just ignored him and hunkered down behind him, arms loosely snaking around his ribs. The boy wriggled and tried to free himself but it was useless because he just held on tight. Eventually he gave up trying and just kind of sank back against him. Jimin lowered himself to his knees and tightened his embrace around him, chin on his shoulder. "I'm suh-sorry I juh-just-" he took a shuddering breath as his lips quivered, "I ruh-ruined the duh-day guys."

"No you didn't ruin it," Hoseok argued. "You didn't ruin anything so don't think that."

"It's all juh-just..." Jungkook let his breath out in a heavy sigh and Namjoon knelt down in front of him, reaching over with his napkin to gently wipe at his pink cheeks. He let him do so without complaint, own arms holding onto Jimin's, shaking fingers digging into his forearms. "It's just shit," he finished quietly.

Not too long after this they ended up back in the car. The air was a little tense but as soon as they left the market it would probably lessen. Yoongi and Jimin joined Jungkook in the flatbed but not before Seokjin had climbed in the back and knelt in front of the boy, placing his hand on his lap so that he could clean the trench in his knuckles for him and stem the bleeding. He asked him if he could move his fingers and he could, wincing from the cut in his knuckles rather than because of any potential breaks or fractures. Their eldest friend did the best that he could with limited supplies, for they hadn't really packed much more than aspirin and some bandages, a small dented box of dressings that were nearly all used up. As soon as he was finished they were rolling down the streets of Taean County again.

It took several minutes before Jungkook calmed himself down, hiccuping every few seconds as he tried to regulate his breathing, eyes and cheeks still red from his crying. Yoongi had just known that this would happen eventually, that the boy would breakdown from all of the pressure and the shit. He was just a fucking kid, one that had foolishly gotten caught to with them all and shouldn't be exposed to all of this. He should have been home right now, enjoying the beginning of his hard earned break with friends his age, going to the arcades and cyber cafés, enjoying the parks and amusements on offer back in Seoul. He shouldn't be crying and bleeding in the back of this car, hundreds of miles away from his home and family. The minute he had told him about it all, the Ritalin, Yoongi had just been waiting for this to happen.

"You OK Kookie?" Jimin asked in a quiet voice, sitting close to him just like the boy had that day back in Dangjin; when he had held his hand and hummed to him to ease his fear. The boy nodded and confirmed that he felt better now. He probably did after purging all of that anger and pain out.

Yoongi moved to take hold of his hand, angling it so that he could look at the bandage wrapped around it. It was knotted rather messily and there was a stain already coming through. He lifted the camera and hit the shutter, taking a photograph of it. Jungkook asked him why he had done that, staring at the camera in confusion. Yoongi pulled the shot free and studied it for a moment before looking up at him.

"Not every photo tells a happy story..."