Morning rises.
The sky transitions from its cloudy navy blue to a mercky grey, the sun shining from behind the thick blanket of clouds.
Hums of the ocean waves crashing at the foot of the hill merged with the chirps of birds flying above in the sky initiate the first movement of the seven figures on the plush grass.
The first to move is Seokjin. His eyes are blurry and unfocused. He rubs them with the back of his hand and yawns. He attempts to get up by planting his left hand onto the ground and support his body up but a weight on his arm prevents any movement.
He furrows his eyebrows and looks down at his arm. The sight of a dark haired male latching onto his arm firmly sound asleep causes a yell to escape his lips. The loud, high pitched sound jolts the man on his arm awake and confused.
Seokjin takes in the unfamiliar surrounding in panic.
'where am I? How the hell did I get here? How will I get back? Where's mom? She finally abandoned me right? Who wouldn't, I'm useless and ungly. What is happening?'
He has a mental breakdown and tears escape his eyes. When the boy finally moves away from his arm, he brings his knees to his chest and sobs, rocking back and forth.
"Woah." Namjoon watches in amazement at the male's panicked state. He has no idea what to do, so he watches with widened eyes. Was him (accidentally) "cuddling" him in his sleep that disturbing?
"W-whats happening?" Hoseok wakes up and sits up, his eyes half open. At first, he's taken back by his surroundings but then, memories of last night came crashing through.
'shit.'
He ruffles his hair in frustration. His eyes move to watch as Seokjin freaks out and Namjoon kneeling besides him dumbfounded.
"What'd you do to him?" He questions, slowly sobering up from his rest. Namjoon jumps at the sudden voice and turns back to look at Hoseok.
"N-nothing, h-he just woke up, screamed and n-now, he's doing this." He gestures towards Seokjin's trembling form. "I think he's having a panic attack."
"Well how do you calm a person who has a panic attack?" Hoseok questions he himself freaking out at this points. "What if he faints or dies or something and then we get arrested for killing a celebrity!?"
"I don't know! And he won't die. Hopefully." Namjoon yells at him.
"W-whats going on?" A deep gruff voice questions. All eyes turn to Taehyung. He mumbles, cuddled against the boy in the black hoodie, still not fully awake.
"T-Taeyong?" Hoseok questions. Taehyung snaps his gaze towards him, eager to correct the way he addressed him, but then realises where he actually is, he jumps up to his knees and looks around. He then looks back at the spot he once laid in to find the boy stare at him with widened eyes.
Taehyung's cheeks turn a slight shade of pink and he bows towards the boy. "I'm sorry."
The boy only silently moves to sit up and adjust his bucket hat.
"What am I supposed do about him?" Namjoon gestures towards Seokjin once more.
"Tr-try shaking him or calling his name or something." Hoseok shruggs, his eyebrows drawn together.
Namjoon directs his gaze towards Seokjin and sighs. He then crawls closer towards him and places a hand onto his shoulder.
"S-Seokjin-ssi?"
The voice comes as a sudden shock at first. Seokjin wants to swatt his hand away, to tell him to shut up and leave him alone, but he can't.
"Seokjin-ssi, are you okay?"
He can't. He chokes on a sob and coughs.
"Please, say something."
There's something about Namjoon's voice. Something soothing, comforting and trustworthy.
"N-Namjoom-ssi?" He whimpers. He isn't sure if he got the right name but he thinks he caught it from the previous events.
"Y-yes. Call me Namjoon. A-are you okay?" His voice is laced with concern which suprises Seokjin. He doesn't know him, why does he care. He shakes his head no.
"Okay. I want you to...breath, slowly in and out." He resorts not knowing what else to do or say. To his surprise, Seokjin nods.
Why is heso quick to trust a stranger? Maybe it's because of how lonely he has felt in his past years. He isn't used to someone interacting with him unless they want something in return. His body.
"Inhale." He instructs. The latter is hesitant for a second but obeys, drawing a slow, careful breath in.
But Namjoon doesn't seem to want to his body. Does he? If he did, he would have done something sooner right?
"Exhale." He does so.
This goes on for a minute before Seokjin is totally calmed.
"Are you good?" Namjoon ask, removing his hand from Seokjin's broad shoulder.
"I-Im good. Thank you." He brushes his hands down his face and sits cross legged.
"You're welcome." Namjoon takes his own seat and sighs.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Seems like no one wants to go home?" Hoseok mumbles.
"Yep." Taehyung agrees.
They all let their minds drift to whatever awaits them back at home. No one wants to face their problems at the moment. They aren't mentally prepared yet. But the reality is, they can't run forever. They have to do it sooner or later. But at this moment, they all prefer later.
Jimin's eyes flutter open, his whole body feeling at if it got run over by a hundred trucks. He moans softly as hot tears pool at the corners of his eyes. The pain floading back and unbearable. He smells the dried scent of blood covering his body. It hurts to breathe.
Taehyung is the first to notice his wake, Hoseok is first to hear his silent cries.
"Uhm." Hoseok looks at the others not knowing what to do or say. Taehyung crawls to Jimin's side and takes in his tattered appearance. He must have had a rough night. The sight of the boy helplessly cry in pain shoots a dart to their hearts and soon Hoseok cannot help but let a few years flow along with him. He can't hold it in. He's always been sensitive.
"Uhm...what's his name again?" Taehyung looks around and the boys shrugg. No one ever got his name. Taehyung bites down onto his lower lip and looks back a Jimin.
"Uhm...hey." he speaks softly and brings his face down closer to Jimin. "W-whats your name?"
Jimin looks up at him through long eyelashes and parted lips, taking short breaths in and out, his tears running own his face and disappear into the grass continuously. The feeling of pain he is experiencing is evident on his face.
"J-Jimin." He stutters and Taehyung delicately moves the strands of his hair off his face.
"Jimin. Are you okay?" Taehyung asks.
"N-no. Everything hurts." He cries and sniffles.
"Can you atleast sit up?" Namjoon crawls over and looks down on him.
"Hm hm." He whimpers.
"Shit." Hoseok curses under his breath.
.
.
.
"Should we take him to the hospital or something?" Hoseok suggests. They all ponder over this.
"Great idea." Namjoon speaks and get up onto his feet. His eyes comb over the area of trees behind them. "Does anyone know their way out of here?"
He looks back towards the boys. They all either shrugg or shake their heads no.
"Does anyone have their phones with?" He gets the same response back. A sigh escapes his lips.
"Let's just go and we'll figure it out." Seokjin also gets to his feet full recovered and stable.
"Alright then. What should we do about that guy?" Namjoon points towards Yoongi. The six look at him for a while.
"Why don't we leave him here?" Hoseok questions. "He's a jerk."
"We can't leave him here...Ho...seok?" Namjoon says his name unsurly. When he gets a nod from Hoseok he continues. "Hoseok. What if something bad happens to him? I can't have that on my conscience."
Hoseok sighs. "Fine."
"Guys, quickly. I don't think he can hold up much longer. Taehyung speaks up.
"Alright. I'll wake the jerk up." Hoseok gets up and walks towards a sleeping Yoongi but, he stops midway. His eyes fall onto the unknown boy.
"Are you alright?" He questions. The boy simple nods, digging his tongue into his cheek. "What's your name?" He questions once more.
The boy is hesitant to answer and tugs on his sleeves. "J-Jeon... Jungkook." Hoseok nods breifly and continues with his previous mission.
He squats down besides Yoongi and shakes his shoulder. "Hey man. Wake up"
Nothing.
"Hey, wake up!"
Nothing.
"Bruh, come on."
He shakes his shoulder intensly this time.
Nothing.
"Guys, he doesn't want to wake up." Hoseok turns to them, frustrated.
Taehyung exhales through his nose and moves to Yoongi. He roughly grabs Yoongi's collar and shakes him violently. "Wake up!" A sudden anger bubbling up within him that he had no idea where it comes from. He just can't stand to see Jimin in pain any longer.
"What the fuck?" Yoongi flutters his eyes open. His reflexes kick in and he punches Taehyung off of him.
"Yah!" Seokjin rushes to Taehyung's side. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yells at Yoongi.
"What's wrong with me?! He was the one grabbing me by my collar!" He defends himself and sits up.
"He was trying to wake your deep sleeping ass up!" Seokjin shoots daggers at him. Yoongi goes silent.
There's something about the way Seokjin just scolded him. Something that puts him in his place. Bold, sassy...it reminds him of his mom...
Yoongi clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes. "It was a fucking reflex okay!"
"Whatever." Seokjin grumbles. "Now, we need to get out of here. Jimin is in critical condition and he needs to be in hospital pronto."
"Who's Jimin?" Yoongi crosses his arms over his chest.
"The only one out of the seven of us laying on the ground half conscious covered in blood and bruises." Seokjin answers irritated as Taehyung gets up to his feet, dusting the dirt off his pants.
"Guys, we need to go now." Namjoon instructs.
"Wait, why do I have to go with you?" Yoongi raises a brow.
"Because, we all need to get out of here eventually, we need help carrying Jimin to the hospital and I'm pretty sure you have no where else to be and you certainly do not want to go home judging by the fact that you're still here." Seokjin replies as a matter of fact. Yoongi is left dumbfounded.
If it were anyone else, Yoongi would have them pinned to the ground all black and blue and bruised up but Seokjin has an indescribable effect onto him.
"I'll take that as you agreeing to go with us. Now come on." Seokjin waves him over and he slowly get up.
"So, whose going to carry him first?" Namjoon asks.
"I'll do it." Taehyung volunteers and takes off his sparkly gold and black cheeseboard patterned jacket, revealing a black, silk shirt underneath. He then ties the jacket around his waist.
He crouches infront of Jimin, signalling the others to place the boy onto his back.
Namjoon and Hoseok carefully grab both of Jimin's arms and lift him up. Jimin hisses in agony and shuts his eyes tightly, clenching his teeth.
"Apologies." Namjoon whispers as they lift him and place him on Taehyung's back. They wrap his arms around Taehyung's neck and leave the rest to him.
The boy places his large hands under Jimin's thighs. "Hang on." He instructs and Jimin nods against the crook of his neck. Taehyung slowly gets up and is surprised at how light Jimin actually is.
"Kaja."
The seven boys move into the woods and begin their journey.
\\•°🌒°•\\
"Oh my fuck, we've been walking for hours." Yoongi whines and punches a nearby tree.
"Taeyong l-"
"Taehyung." He corrects him.
"Sorry. Taehyung, let me take him. You must be tired." Namjoon offers.
Taehyung presses his lips together and stops walking. Hoseok and Seokjin help a now sleeping Jimin off Taehyung's back onto Namjoon's.
\\•°🌒°•\\
"Uhm guys...How do we get through the park?" Hoseok adjusts his grip on Jimin's exposed thighs. He had just switches with Namjoon.
The boys, after many wrong turns, frustrations and exhaustion, finally made it out and look ahead into the park.
They are a group of suspicion looking boys carrying a bloody, unconscious boy, Yoongi's white shirt is covered with dried up blood, Taehyung and Seokjin are celebrities who have been said to be missing, Jungkook is dressed in black from head to toe and plus, they come out from the depths of a deserted forest. Their whole situation is just questionable.
"Uhm...what if we," Namjoon moves to Taehyung and unwraps his jacket from his waist, "..and," he covers Jimin head with it, "...there."
He steps back and eyes his work. A scoff is heard.
"Are you fucking serious?" Yoongi facepalms.
"I don't see you coming up with a better idea." Namjoon shoots back.
"Knock it off you two." Seokjin warns them.
"We can't walk around with two celebrities, a half corpse with blood all over us. If only we had some type o-"
"Here." Hoseok is cut off by a small voice emitting from behind them.
Jungkook who is now left in a grey oversized long sleeve t-shirt, extends his hoodie towards Taehyung and his bucket hat towards Seokjin along with a face mask.
The two except the items and thank him. Without his bucket hat, the others notice scratch marks on his face and judging by his face, he must be the youngest out of all of them.
No one dares to question nor comment on each other's conditions as they wouldn't wish to answer questions themselves.
Jungkook then pulls out a black benie from the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls it over his head.
"What about...him?" Hoseok questions and nods his head towards Yoongi.
"Uhm..." Taehyung begins unbuttoning his shirt quickly. He slips it off and is now left in a black vest. "Here..."
"Yoongi." He introduces his name.
"Yoongi." Taehyung repeats and extends the fabric towards Yoongi. Yoongi slips off his large, white t-shirt, soiled in the blood of his previous victim. His pale skin is exposed to the chilly wind.
He launches the clothing back, deep into the woods and slips on the shirt.
"We good now?" Namjoon asks and they all hum in response. "Let's go then."
The crew walks out and into the park, the path that Seokjin took.
They move closely together and never fail to draw attention to themselves.
"A-act natural guys." Namjoon instructs.
"S-so, anyone watched the soccer match last night?" Hoseok asks with a forced wide smile.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? You look like you're constipated" Yoongi raises an eyebrow towards him. Hoseok's face falls into a frown.
"I'm just trying to act natural, if you could just play along and stop being such a salty ass." Hoseok snaps at him.
"Watch it. I could slice your neck open right now." Yoongi threatens.
"Oh, I'd like to see you try to kill me in public." The male clicks his tongue and adjusts his grip on Jimin.
"I can and I will. I have nothing to fucking lose!"
"No shit! I already knew you were crap."
"Hey! Quit it! If only you two could learn from Jungkook and shut up." Seokjin scolds them. "The two of you arguing won't solve our problems, you're only making us look even more suspicious.
"Well, what if I say it like this. I hate you Hoseok." Yoongi says with a bright gummy smile and places a hand on Hoseok's shoulder.
"Oh, I hate you too Yoongi!" Hoseok giggles.
"OMG! I feel like burying you alive in that sand pit." Yoongi clutches his chest and laughs happily.
"And I feel like hanging you up that tree!" Hoseok laughs along too.
Seokjin facepalms.
"Don't worry Seokjin, we're already out of the park." Namjoon reassures him and indeed they are. They now stand on a side walk infront of a busy street. Taehyung tugs his hood to cover his face more and lowers his head.
"We need to hail a cab." Taehyung says.
A loud whistle rings through the air shockingly emitting from Jungkook who steps infront of then and raises his hand. Soon, a cab stops right infront of them.
Jungkook opens the door and lets them in. With no room left, they have no other choice but to sit on each other's laps. Yoongi enters first and strictly refuses to let anyone sit on his lap. Namjoon gets in next and Jungkook sits on his lap, then Seokjin with Taehyung on him and then lastly, Hoseok and Jimin.
"Daegu Central Hospital please." Namjoon requests.
Their journey is silent and heavy. They all drift back into a deep and dark place. A place none of them want to be in. That's the thing. Silence is their worst enemy. They cannot trust themselves to be alone. It's when they're the most vulnerable. For the past minutes they had felt safe around each other.
Even when Yoongi and Hoseok were arguing: the two, despite their feelings of intense ire towards each other, had felt safe because they were interacting with one another.
Seokjin was distracted from the voices in head as he felt stressed about something else not related to his own personal problems and insecurities.
Namjoon, forgot everything that happened at home as he watched Seokjin stress about Hoseok and Yoongi as a parent would. It was amusing to watch. He was just happy to be around people around his age for the first time in his life.
Taehyung was actually free to be himself and it was refreshing to hear people address him as Taehyung instead of Taeyong and to be away from his parents that constantly breathe down his neck.
Jungkook...let's just say, he felt comfortable in his clothes...
"We're here." The driver announces. "The ride costs 50 bucks."
"Shit. Does anyone have any money on them." Hoseok whispers. They all shake their head no.
"Scram scram scram!" Yoongi whisper yells and opens the door on his end. They all dash out of the vehicle and run. Hoseok tosses Jimin onto Seokjin who is already out of the car so he too could make his get away.
"Yah! Get back here!" The driver yells.
"Back here in five!" Namjoon commands. They all nod and split up. Each ducking into allys, some down the road, some up and some across the street.
\\•°🌒°•\\
"Is everyone here?" Namjoon asks and the boys tiredly nod.
They all have united back infront of the Hospital enterence.
"Yeah." Taehyung pants out of breath.
"Ahh." Jimin writhes on Seokjin's back. "Sorry Jimin-ah"
"Alright, let's hurry." Namjoon leads the way into the large building. The six hurry behind him. Namjoon gets to the receptionist table and bows.
"How may I help you?" The woman behind the desk questions with a kind smile.
"Uhm our...f-friend right here needs medical care immediately. He's covered in bruises, open cuts, a concussion and I suspect a few broken ribs and a fractured arm." He rambles nervously tapping on the lemented table top. Seokjin steps forward with Jimin who has once again slipped into an unconscious state.
"Alright help will be with you in a sec." The woman is about to call on the wired phone placed on her working space but a few nurses with a stretcher pass by.
"Oh, Song! Na! Lee!" The woman calls out their last names. The nurses turn their attention towards her and the group of boys.
"These boys need help, their friend seems to be in a critical condition. He needs to get his wounds taken care off." The nurses nod and moves towards him. They help Seokjin place Jimin's body on the stretcher.
"His name?"
"Jimin." Namjoon answers.
"Last name?"
"Don't know."
"Age?"
"Don't know."
"Parents? Guardians?"
"Don't know."
" Home address?"
"Don't know?"
The receptionist eyes his suspicionsly.
"W-we're recent friends." He smiles awkwardly.
"Alright then." She sighs. "He'll be in good hands. They'll just run some x-rays, blood tests and give him some fluids, he looks malnutritioned and serverly under weight. You can all sit in the waiting room and grab some refreshments." She dismisses them and they do as she says.
Once they get to the waiting room, Namjoon, Yoongi, Seokjin, and Taehyung sit on the provided chairs. With nowhere left to sit, Hoseok and Jungkook sit on the floor and lean against the wall.
"So...what now?" Taehyung asks. No one answers. He sighs and tilts his head back.
"Well, I'm out." Yoongi gets up.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Namjoon asks in slight disbelief.
"Yep. Why would I stay? I don't know you guys, I have nothing that ties me down to you." He shruggs and walks away, not looking back once.
"Wow...he's so shameless." Hoseok murmers and rests his head onto his knees.
"Hate to admit but he's kinda right." Namjoon says.
The guys look at him in slight surprise.
"I mean, we can't stay here. Who knows how long would it take for him to recover and judging by the state we were all in earlier on, we have somethings to attend to."
The room is silenced the only sounds heard are in the background. Nurses and doctors calling out instructions and room numbers. Patient are pushed around on wheelchairs and stretchers.
"He's suffered from a lot of blood lost, fractured ribs, one almost punctured his lungs but luckily he's okay, his blood...."
'that could be Jimin' they all worry mentally. But why care. Why do they care about someone they barely know?
"Y-You're right. We should go." Seokjin gets up, Namjoon follows.
"Well... goodbye. A pleasureknowing you all." Namjoon bids them goodbye. He and Seokjin leave the building and go their separate ways.
Hoseok chews on his tongue and glances at Jungkook and Taehyung. "B-bye." He gets up and leaves, feeling a knot of guilt tie in his stomach. But he has to leave. He feels that the more he avoids his problems, the more trouble will build up.
Taehyung and Jungkook lock eyes before Jungkook shys away.
"You're leaving too, right?" Taehyung questions him. Jungkook is hesitant to reply. He actually doesn't know what to do.
He doesn't want to go home but also, staying in a hospital for God knows how long, waiting for someone he bearly knows and has never spoken to at all sounds awkward and uncomfortable.
"I-I..." He nods softly and gets up. He turns to look at Taehyung for a second and waves him goodbye and makes his silent leave.
Lastly, Taehyung is now left alone. He ponders over what to do next.
Should he just leave too? He's sure Jimin's family members will come by sooner or later. He'll be alright. Right?
But he looked hurt really badly. Maybe he should stay a...
"Did you hear about it too?" A woman's voice grabs Taehyung's attention. He looks over towards his left side where two women sit and share a phone screen.
"No." The blonde haired shakes her head no.
"Well, aperantly he just stormed out in the middle of a performance!" Brown haired informs her.
'it can't be..' his heartbeat kicks up without warning.
"Really?"
"Well, first he yelled at the audience saying he wasn't Taeyong and he would never be, whatever that ment. He disappeared after that and still hasn't been found." She shruggs. " His parents are even offering a..."
His ears block out anymore of it. They were looking for him. He has to go.
He shoots up from his seat and darts out of the building earning some odd looks.
"What was that all about?" The blonde haired furrows his brows in judgement.
"I don't know. Weirdo." The other shrugs as they watch Taehyung escape from their eye sight.