on the thursday of the week the mixtape is about to drop, jungkook goes over to yoongi's and finds that the house isn't vibrating with the sound of yoongi working on his latest tracks, but it's definitely not silent either.

now that his parents are certain he'll go to the tutoring sessions and not skip, jungkook's been told to catch a bus and walk from the tiny little town out to yoongi's place. it's not so long and jungkook's not shy of exercise, so he doesn't mind it. he's even glad for it, especially when he steps up to the house to find a giant bus advertising barbecue out the front and two camper vans looking like something straight out of a flyer for a woodstock festival.

jungkook hesitates, thinks back to whether or not yoongi told him not to come in today. he can't recall anything in particular, yoongi barely talked to him yesterday except to ask if he wanted a soda and to praise his latest piece, a golden phoenix painted in acrylics.

he listens at the door, hearing people laugh inside. he's about to step back and retreat to the bus stop— the house is obviously occupied— but then the door opens, revealing a guy standing in the entryway, eyes wide and mouth falling open just a tad. they blink at each other for a time, wordlessly, before the other's mouth clamps shut and he smiles.

'are you jungkook?' the guy asks. he's shorter than jungkook, but well-built with filled out arms and a mess of brown hair on his head. his eyes are wide and expectant, and it takes a while for jungkook to realise that this guy is studying him almost as hard as he is in return, reading all the quirks in his expression.

jungkook forces his face to relax, lets it fall back into his resting standoffish expression.

'yeah.'

the guy's face lights up and he pulls back into his house, long enough to crow:

'he's here, hyung!'

'jesus, fuck, jimin,' yoongi's voice. jungkook can almost see him massaging the sides of his temples. 'you don't need to announce it to me, you'll freak him out.'

jungkook isn't freaked out. he's confused and a little flustered because this guy is still staring at him like he's an odd piece in an art exhibition. but he's not freaked out by any of it.

jimin turns back to him, smile dialling down a bit on the intense scale. 'are you coming in?'

jungkook shrugs. 'i guess?'

grinning, jimin leads him inside, going so far as to grab jungkook's wrist as if they've known each other a lot longer than two minutes. he tugs him into the lounge and jungkook is faced with two other guys, one perched on the couch on the opposite side of the room, eyes wide and curious and the other seated next to yoongi, lips curved in a soft welcoming smile.

'hey kid,' yoongi greets, he's slumping in his seat, almost hidden behind the other man's taller form. 'welcome to the fucking circus.'

turns out, when yoongi says 'circus' he's only exaggerating a little bit and jungkook is soon introduced to seokjin and taehyung too, travellers along with jimin.

jungkook has heard of travellers before, even seen a few parties set up from time to time, or their vans and buses trailing through the town. he knows all about their wild parties and carefree lifestyles, heard his parents grumble about their lack of contribution to society as a whole. they travel up and down the country, make a living doing performances or setting up stalls at markets.

they're an alien species, they don't abide by normal rules and they're always laughing, always cheerful and dress in bright colours or earthy tones, walk around barefoot even in the middle of winter.

the air about these three vibrates with an easy sort of reassurance, nothing judgemental about them when they ask jungkook the occasional question, always eager for responses. taehyung in particular loses his goddamn mind when yoongi mentions jungkook's drawings, treats the fact like it's the most interesting thing he's ever heard in his life.

'yoongi showed me the art you did for his mixtape,' he says, bouncing up and down on the spot, like a six year old hyped up on sugar. 'it's so sick. like super sick, you're so talented!'

and it's nice, to talk and be heard, to have that level of rapt attention, and it's not long before his nervousness at the sight of new people is replaced with budding curiosity and an itch to draw all three of them, capture their personalities in a few lines.

jimin is intense, jungkook soon learns. he's intense and handsy which seems to be a thing the others just go along with. he watches people a lot, not just jungkook it seems, but everyone. jungkook watches him watch the others, works out he likes to watch yoongi the most after him and the younger can't really fault him on that because yoongi is just watchable. jimin's the kinda nice that's hard to interpret because it's so effortless that it's difficult to tell if it's real or not.

taehyung is all over the place, never stays on one tangent for too long. his resting face is somewhat disconcerting, curiously blank. jungkook makes the mistake of thinking that he zones out when the attention isn't on him but then he recounts something jin said word for word half an hour later and the younger realises he's as absorbent as a sponge. he's close with jimin, they seem to have a plethora of inside jokes that no-one has any idea about and the amount of times they stop midway through a conversation to play fight is insane. jungkook has to try like hell not to feel that sting of envy every time he glances their way. their relationship is the stuff of dreams, he can't even imagine being so close to someone.

seokjin—or jin as everyone calls him—is the soft-spoken, less intense and elder version of jimin. he's watchful, but doesn't go so deep with the staring, he doesn't talk so much either and uses words sparingly, like jungkook, but unlike jungkook, it seems to be more out of tentativeness rather than shyness. he glares daggers at yoongi when he makes a gross joke, questions a lot of taehyung's antics but he's got a kind smile and an easy sort of air about him. he owns the BBQ food-truck parked outfront and travels the country going to markets. taehyung excitedly pitches in about how he's now officially part of the crew as of last month and yoongi gives a low whistle of congratulations.

amidst the three of them, jungkook chances the occasional look at yoongi, listens to the snide, cutting comments he makes at their expense and the long-suffering sighs, watches the eye-rolls and the sideway glances. sees the fondness curl his lips upwards in a smile when he thinks they're not looking, hears the concern in his voice when taehyung talks about someone trying to pick a fight with him because he was a traveller.

jungkook's known yoongi for a while now, has never heard him mention any friends in their chats much less seen any of them. then again, that's how things are, they don't really talk about personal things. it's art or music and very little else. yoongi isn't all that big on chatting and jungkook sure as hell won't prod.

yoongi can probably count on one hand just how many friends he has, not that jungkook's in any position to judge. he'd be lucky to count them on one finger.

when he leaves that evening, jungkook realises, it's the first time he's gone to yoongi's house and hadn't drawn anything. he'd gotten distracted by the rush of it all, by how much fun he's having in their company.

when he comes back the next day, berating himself for getting distracted, the vehicles are still parked out front. jin's in the kitchen with yoongi, they wave as he pokes his head inside and go back to talking about something or other as jungkook trudges up the stairs. he doesn't really put much thought into the fact that he hasn't seen the other boys, that is, until he steps into his art room and almost jumps out of his skin.

taehyung is lazing on the floor, flicking through a collection of sketchbooks whilst jimin sits in the centre of the room, in front of the abstract paintings jungkook's been experimenting with.

at the sight of them there, jungkook is a little concerned, partly because despite how nice they are, they're in his room, the room only yoongi and he ever go into and partly because jimin is sitting in the centre of the room, in front of the abstract paintings jungkook's been experimenting with, playing with a fucking lighter.

'oh!' jimin says, looking up to find jungkook gawking in the threshold. the flame dies at his fingertips as a vibrant smile lights up his face. 'hey kookie!'

'jungkook!' taehyung screeches and then he's hurtling towards the younger as fast as he can, crossing the distance in a few long strides. it happens so quick, that jungkook doesn't realise that he's been enveloped in a crushing bear-hug until taehyung tightens his grip and seriously, taehyung has freaking noodle arms, how the hell does he manage to squeeze this goddamn hard?

'your artwork is so good!' he gushes. 'so good, oh man. it's insane, you're like ten years old, how can you draw this good?'

'i'm eighteen,' jungkook mutters petulantly, frustrated when jimin throws a teasing smirk his way.

'you're a baby!' taehyung coos and jungkook has to fight extremely hard not to pout and amuse park freaking jimin even further. 'you could draw a stick figure and it would be a masterpiece, maknae. oh my god.'

jimin, finally taking pity, sidles up beside him, pries taehyung's fingers away as carefully as he can, all whilst smiling and looking just that tad bit closer than the average person. 'yoongi wasn't joking when he said you could draw, huh?'

'course he wasn't, minnie,' taehyung says, scuttling off to peer at one of the abstract pieces. 'yoongi never jokes about anything. or he does. but it's dirty or sarcastic.' he pulls away and jabs a finger at the piece in front of him. 'i like this one!'

jungkook blinks at the piece, a splattering of colours with a grey shape in the centre hinting at a face without any definite features. he has no real attachment to it, it was nothing more than an experiment really. 'you do?'

'yeah!' taehyung says. 'i like the colours. they're pretty.'

jimin hums in agreement, back to fiddling with his lighter again. jungkook's eyes flick between him and taehyung, tracing his index finger along the white shapes in the foreground.

'do you want it?' jungkook asks. 'i mean, i'm running out of space for things and you seem to like it a lot, so—'

'yes!' taehyung screeches and for someone with such a deep fucking voice, boy, can he yell. he tugs the painting out from it's spot and sets it on the ground carefully beside him, which jungkook considers a miracle, given his reactions to most everything else. after a moment of admiring the piece from every angle imaginable, he goes on to pick up some old magazines jungkook had been planning to cut up and starts flicking through them.

'oooooh!' he cheers. 'horoscopes! i'll read them out, hold up!

'those magazines are from a year ago,' jungkook points out as jimin sniggers.

'details!'

he goes on to read the capricorn horoscope aloud, oohing and awing and swearing to the pair of them that he totally found out that one of his old friends held out on the gum front around this time last year claiming he only had one piece when he absolutely had two and that counts as a friends turning to foes moment, right? right. taehyung is totally right (jungkook it totally out of his depth with this guy, but he enjoys his and jimin's company all the same.)

jimin listens avidly when taehyung reads out his horoscope, gets just as excited as he fiddles with his lighter, up until taehyung mentions something about finding his one true love. then, he rolls his eyes and scoffs, saying how that stuff wasn't for him at all. taehyung shrugs giddily, turning to jungkook.

'when's your birthday, maknae?'

'september the first,' jungkook mutters, pen digging into the paper a tad harder than necessary.

the elder boys turn to look at him, eyebrows raised.

'...that was last week,' jimin says.

taehyung throws his head back suddenly and calls out in an ear-splitting voice: 'hyung!'

they can hear jin grumbling from downstairs.

'what taehyung?'

'not you, hyung,' taehyung tuts with a shake of his head. 'yoongi-hyung. did you miss kookie's birthday last week?'

jungkook winces at the surprise in yoongi's voice when he replies, 'his birthday was last week?'

taehyung looks scandalised as he lets out a theatrical gasp. 'you monster!'

jungkook hears yoongi stomp up the stairs and up the hall to his art room, he peers inside and squints at them all before jin comes up behind him and shoves him inside. he stumbles forward, expression a mix or curious and accusing when his eyes fall on jungkook.

'why didn't you say anything?'

jungkook shrugs. 'it didn't come up.'

'were you here that day?'

jungkook nods, smiling a little. it had been a good day, he'd drawn all his favourite things, little cartoons from his imagination, interesting people he'd seen on the street, a sketch of yoongi that he almost, almost perfected. it had been fun.

'did you do anything special with friends?' taehyung asks.

the smile drops from jungkook's face. 'no.'

'why not?'

jungkook looks away with a huff, fiddling with the thread on his fraying sweater. it's a childish action, he knows it, but he is a little cut up at the complete look of surprise spreading across taehyung's face. this is a stupid thing to be upset about. he shouldn't be upset about it.

he looks up when jimin starts tapping insistently on his bicep, eyes wide and alight with child-like excitement.

'we could have a sleepover here tomorrow!' he says. 'i can pick you up from your parents and say i'm a friend of yours from school!'

'you're short enough for it,' taehyung quips.

'oh because your gangly-limbed ass looks any older,' jimin snaps. his annoyance melts away when taehyung pouts and he turns back to jungkook grinning and bright-eyed. 'so, what do you say, kookie?'

jungkook looks over to yoongi, peers out from under his bangs. he's never stayed the night here before, can't remember the last time he slept somewhere that wasn't his own room. even as a kid he hadn't been the most social person, kept to himself mostly and spent the weekends colouring or playing video games. and even though he knows he's too old for it now, too old to be so excited at the prospect of a fucking sleepover with potential friends (god he really is pathetic) he can't help the way his heart kicks up a beat at the proposal.

but he has to be sure...

'is it okay, hyung?'

yoongi takes one long steady look at him and shrugs his shoulders. 'whatever.'

'yes!' jimin's hands dig into jungkook's biceps as taehyung runs off squealing, his fingers tighten their hold and he shakes the younger a couple of times, positively glowing as if it's the best news he's heard in his life. 'sleepover kookie!'

jungkook is picked up from his house at five the next evening by a bright-eyed park jimin, dressed in somewhat normal clothing, if not a little too overly formal for what a regular nineteen year old would wear. his parents don't ask too many questions though, probably surprised by the fact that their socially inept child actually has a friend.

'excited, kookie?'

jimin's hands are shifting across the steering wheel, fingers ever moving. he sneaks a glance at jungkook, levelling him with a bright grin and the younger just nods in reply.

it is cool, he supposes, yoongi's friends are cool, but after having the night to think it over, jungkook has to say that he's a little uneasy about the idea of a party. a lot of his lack of socialising has to do with the trouble he has making friends, sure, but that lack of contact has given him a complex. being around people makes him nervous and if he's the centre of attention at this thing, he doesn't know how it's going to go.

they arrive at yoongi's place, with jimin babbling on about some story about him and taehyung when they were jungkook's age (they're not even that much older, two years and they act a lot like some of the kid's jungkook goes to school with, just not intimidated by him.) jimin leads him out the back to the sprawling fields of yoongi's property where the others all are and jungkook gawks at the set-up.

it's a small thing, really, in the midst of the massive field, but it's incredible. balloon's are strung up about the grounds and a cooler sits on the ground beside taehyung and the cake that jin's currently cutting up. they've set up outdoor chairs and logs around one of the many fire pits in yoongi's field and the crocheted blankets pitched around offer a homely feel.

jungkook grins when yoongi comes up to ruffle his hair, makes a comment about him having to reach and gets a swift punch to the arm. he laughs when the three travellers sing him happy birthday, yoongi lounging back to watch him, a grin on his face. they finish and jin shoves a plate of cake into his hands breaking off to sit beside yoongi and jimin crouches down, digging into the cooler.

'do you drink? jimin asks him, pulling out a bottle.

'i'm eighteen ,' jungkook says.

'right...' jimin draws the word out. 'but do you drink?'

jungkook shakes his head slowly. 'no.'

'oh,' jimin frowns at this. 'well, do you want to?'

'he's not drinking,' jin's voice cuts over them. 'he's eighteen years old.'

'hyung, i was way younger when i started drinking.'

'you're not a role model in this case, jimin. your argument is invalid.'

'how is he gonna have any fun then?' taehyung pouts around the pizza he seems to be inhaling.

'you can have fun without drinking.'

yoongi snorts, quirking an eyebrow. 'you sound like one of those sad fuckers that visit high school's and warn teenagers off of sex, coz if they do it, they'll die.'

'yoongi...' jin starts.

'it's the kid's birthday,' yoongi says with a pointed look jin's way. 'let him drink if he wants to.'

yoongi reaches inside the cooler and shoves a can into jungkook's hand, then turns off to shoo taehyung away from the pizza. a little hesitant, jungkook waits until the others are preoccupied before he clicks the tab and takes a sip.

it tastes terrible. jungkook has to suppress the urge to gag. he's thankful the only person who seems to be paying attention is jin, who, after levelling him with a sort of tutting smile, motions for jungkook to set the can by the cooler. he does so, only after giving a reassuring grin at yoongi who raises his drink in acknowledgement. he really doesn't have the heart to tell yoongi that he's pretty sure the stuff they're all happily ingesting is cleverly disguised paint remover, or something equally as non-potable, so he leaves it at that and 'forgets' about the drink for the rest of the evening.

jungkook gorges himself on pizza and cake instead. no-one else really seems to notice, too caught up in their own drinks as the night goes on. he lounges back on one of the chairs set up around the fire-pit and asks about the large number of them scattered about the field. he gets an in-depth explanation from taehyung about how yoongi throws a party once a year and how they're the best things ever.

'it's a festival,' yoongi says, hiccuping around his drink. there's four discarded cans at his feet and jungkook's wondering where all the liquid is going. yoongi's not exactly big. 'not a party.'

'same thing,' taehyung says. 'there's music and good food and drinking and all the good stuff a party has, but bigger.'

'a festival,' yoongi says pointedly, but he drops it there, doing something close to pouting as he watches the flames lick through the air.

'jiminie performs there!' taehyung says. 'he will be next year as well.'

jungkook turns to look at the elder, an eyebrow raised in question and jimin smiles.

'i'm a dancer,' he says.

'a fire dancer!' taehyung shouts, sending jungkook edging back a bit. 'it's like the coolest thing ever tied with yoongi hyung's raps and jin hyung's cooking and your drawings and—'

'got it, hyung,' jungkook says, attention on jimin, mouth hanging open in awe. 'you dance with fire?'

jimin nods. 'have done since i was a kid. i dunno, seemed fun and my parents were supportive of it. i found a troupe earlier this year and have just been doing it ever since.'

'would you do some now?' jungkook asks. he's never seen someone dance with fire before.

'i didn't bring my toys with me,' jimin says, bottom lip jutting out in a pout. 'but i have something else that could be of interest.'

he runs off, bringing taehyung with him, jungkook watches them bound away, whooping and cackling until they're swallowed by darkness and only the sound of their laughter can be heard.

'nutters,' yoongi says. jungkook turns to see him, lazing out on the grass, drink raised to his lips. jin's humming a tune under his breath, licking icing off his fingers, he doesn't seem to be paying attention.

'they're your friends,' jungkook says.

'exactly,' yoongi replies with a scoff. 'nutters, right?'

it's not long until the two are rushing back. jungkook hears them before he sees them, giggling and swearing as they bump shoulders, almost spilling the contents of the box taehyung is carrying. jungkook squints trying to make out the messy writing scrawled on the front in the scarce light, his eyes widen once realisation dawns and he hears yoongi let out a scoff.

fireworks. taehyung has a box full of fireworks and is sporting the biggest grin jungkook's ever seen.

'i can't believe this,' jin says. 'have you had these with you the entire time we've been travelling together?'

'wouldn't be much of a pyromaniac without a couple pyrotechnics lying handy now would i, hyung?' jimin grins. he pulls a lighter out from his shorts and flicks the switch, a small flame coming up to bounce off his cheeks. 'i was saving them for a special occasion.'

'music, hyung!' taehyung says, pointing to yoongi. 'music music music!'

'i'm getting there,' yoongi mutters, pushing himself to his feet. he shuffles over to where the portable speakers are set up and plugs his phone in, scrolling through the contents with a sway to his stance.

'any requests, birthday boy?'

jungkook blinks, feeling three pairs of eyes turn to stare at him. he thinks about it for all of three seconds before an idea hits him.

'your mixtape?'

yoongi turns to look at him, eyes narrowed as they read jungkook's face and for a second the younger thinks he might have said something wrong. then, yoongi grunts and turns back to scroll through. he hits play and the first song on the track-list floods the air, along with taehyung's excited attempts at singing along. yoongi grins and jungkook finds himself smiling too, giddiness bubbling up as jimin begins setting up the fireworks.

jimin lights up a line of fireworks and stands too close as they shoot up into the air, exploding into bright displays of flashing colours.

taehyung runs around whilst carrying two ten-shot fireworks and has jin screaming after him about safety and things backfiring. it's the first time jungkook's heard yoongi laugh so hard he falls off his seat and it lasts for so long, jungkook finds himself joining in.

with fireworks still shooting up into the night sky, jimin brings out two poi and fiddles with them until the balls at the end light up in neon colours. he grins at jungkook and begins twirling dancing as the music plays out, weaving his body to the beat with little to no trouble, lights spinning in rapid circles in front of him.

the most amusing thing, jungkook decides, amidst the antics is that yoongi is drunk. he's absolutely smashed off his face, which results in him switching between a childishly grumpy version of himself and a giggling mess. he keeps snuggling up to the other three, hanging off their arms or pressing himself into their sides, probably would've done the same to jungkook, had jimin not ushered the elder away with an apologetic smile at the younger.

but jungkook finds it hysterical, thinks yoongi's cute with his clingy, pouty aegyo and giggling fits.

'hyung likes you,' jimin tells him, once he's managed to pry yoongi off of him and onto a somewhat sober jin, who's petting yoongi's hair soothingly. 'he just told me.'

it sounds like a roundabout elementary school confession, jimin's voice is conspiring and laced with amusement and he's whispering low in jungkook's ear like it's the biggest secret in the world. jungkook's flushing red in an instant.

'he likes me?'

the strain in his voice earns him a light punch in the arm from jimin, a teasing laugh. 'not in that way. like a brother. he's very protective.'

jungkook finds himself nodding, turning to watch as yoongi presses a sloppy drunken kiss onto jin's neck. his face is still a tad flushed and as he watches yoongi snuggle even further into jin's grip, looks comfortable there

'but he...?' he loses the nerve at the last minute and clamps his mouth shut. it's not really any of his business and he doesn't want to insinuate.

'he what? likes guys?' jungkook gives a red-faced nod and jimin shrugs. 'well, yeah, but he's one of those intensely monogamous 'i-will-only-exchange-saliva-with-my-one-true-love' type. no fun at all if you ask me.'

'oh.' jungkook isn't super fazed by any of this, hasn't got any real prejudices against anyone, but it is an interesting bit of information, especially considering just how little min yoongi divulges about himself. yoongi nuzzles into jin's neck, hands fisting into his t-shirt and he looks so goddamn tiny. jungkook never thought he'd find a grown man, yet alone one so intensely independent as yoongi, so freaking adorable.

'are he and jin-hyung together?' jungkook asks.

'nah,' jimin says. 'i mean they act like an old married couple at the best of times but they're just good friends. i'm pretty sure jin's not into guys, sadly.'

sadly. the insinuation of jimin's word clicks and jungkook finds himself stilling about the same time that the elder leans in closer, feels his pulse kicking up a beat when jimin's breath ghosts the shell of his ear.

'what about you, kookie?' jimin asks and jungkook can feel the smile in his voice as clearly as the heat in his face. 'who tickles your fancy?'

'i... i like girls.'

jimin's laugh brings a darker flush to jungkook's cheeks and he shuffles away. 'god, you're cute, aren't you? that's just precious.'

'jimin,' jin's voice rings above them and jungkook turns to see the elder's eyebrows raised in sharp arcs. 'stop, you're making him uncomfortable.'

'but hyung,' jimin pouts, jabbing one of his ringed fingers into jungkook's cheek. 'look at him.'

'i am. and he's clearly uncomfortable.' he points across the fire to where taehyung is situated, giggling to himself. 'why don't you go see what tae's up to?'

jimin glances over and see taehyung tracing shapes in the air with his sparkler. it doesn't take long for jungkook to follow the movement and realise that taehyung's drawing dicks over and over with his stick.

'i know what you're doing,' jimin says, words directed at jin despite him still staring straight at taehyung. 'and as much as i don't want it to work, it totally is. bye.'

he darts off, tackling taehyung who lets out a sharp yelp before resuming his giggling. the sparkler promptly runs out of spark and taehyung with a surprising show of strength manages to push jimin aside and get to his feet long enough to steal the remaining box of sparklers and run off, screeching at the top of his lungs.

'grab him, jungkook!' jimin screeches as taehyung sprints toward him. 'grab him grab him grab him!'

jungkook grabs him, more out of instinct than any want to do so. he grabs taehyung's legs and grips on, until the elder topples over.

'no, kookie,' taehyung whines, trying to writhe out of the younger's grip. 'we could be partners! go halfsies on the bounty!'

jungkook's grip slackens, raked with helpless laughter.

'jungkook don't you dare fraternise with the enemy!' jimin yells, pushing himself to his feet. 'i will lose my shit, i swear to god.'

'kookie i thought we were friends,' taehyung pleads, still squirming. 'friends don't betray friends to evil fire lords with height complexes.'

'you wanna die?'

jungkook sees jimin bolting over out of the corner of his eyes. fuck it. he thinks and lets taehyung go, long enough to snag onto jimin's legs this time causing the elder to stumble, cussing under his breath about treacherous brats.

'good choice,' yoongi hiccups, breaking off into a loud infectious cackle as taehyung runs off, hollering at the top of his lungs about victory.