"Yoongiiii wake up!" A voice ordered, as someone slapped his cheek lightly. He opened his eyes expecting to see Jimin but was met with Jin's face instead.
"Oh Jin-hyung, where's Jimin?"
"Eating breakfast with everyone else, come on, get up lazy."
After a rub of the eyes and a quick apology, Yoongi joined everyone in the kitchen and began to eat the food placed in front of him. Vegetables and meat wasn't exactly a breakfast meal, but he didn't care. It was food after all, and in their position it was a luxury.
After eating, everyone gathered in the living room and prepared to head out.
"So, as i was telling you yesterday," Eunwoo began, as he swiftly maouevered through the forest with the others struggling to keep up, "it seems like there might be another town nearby. We don't know for certain but why else would there be a path leading to it?"
"It's insane to think about..." Namjoon muttered. "I mean, our whole lives we've only known Omelas. We're so trapped in our own bubble that we never even considered an 'outside world'."
"Don't blame yourself," MJ interjected, "it's not your fault. It's no-ones except the people who never told us."
Yoongi let out a huff as his mind wandered to his father. Surely you must've known too. So why didn't you tell me?
Jungkook glanced over and saw the look of concentration on his face, and recognised it as something deeper. He was surprisingly good at reading people despite his years in confinement. But it makes you wonder what endless solitude, being alone with nothing but your thoughts, does to the mind.
He gently reached out and patted the older boy on the back. Yoongi stared at him, and he stared back. It was an awkward action, but one that Yoongi appreciated nonetheless. Gazing into those soft brown eyes of his brought him a sense of comfort.
Soon enough they came to a halt, and Eunwoo crouched down, brushing the dust from the ground with his hand to reveal a cracked, concrete path.
"Boom, evidence #1. Maybe if we keep searching we can find something else."
With that everyone began to search through the leaves and brambles for any sign of life. What was actually just a few hours seemed like years, and by the end of it all of them had stiff backs and scratched hands.
Taehyung was about to give up when his hand hit a thin patterned structure, and he rapidly pulled away the surrounding leaves to reveal a chainlink fence trapped within a cage of vines and leaves. He excitedly called the others to come and see his discovery.
"I knew it! Why would there be a fence out here if it's not protecting something? Or someone?" Eunwoo rambled with a grin.
"How do we get in? Is there a gate?" Jin asked, scanning the area.
"I have some pliers back at the house. But I'm kind of exhausted, should wecome back tomorrow?"
Everyone agreed and so the 10 of them headed back. As they were walking, Yoongi heard a cracking sound behind him, like a branch being stepped on. He span around, expecting to see an animal or something, but instead was met with Jaeun giving him a confused look. He quickly faced the front again.
My mind is playing tricks on me.
•
•
•
After dinner and a change of clothes, everyone was chatting and laughing amongst themselves, and Yoongi decided to wander out onto the balcony.
He leaned against the banister and breathed in the fresh evening air, let it fill his lungs, and released. This time of night was magical - fireflies danced in the air, small creatures scurried through the forest litter, and the last remnants of the sun's warmth remained on the horizon. If you focused really hard, you could even see the dim glow of Omelas in the distance. Sights like this made him feel alive.
He was so calm that he didn't even notice MJ standing next to him the whole time.
"Admiring the view?" He asked, with a half smirk.
"I like this time of night."
"I don't. It's too clear. Doesn't it almost feel like someone could be watching us through a crystal ball? Controlling us? Well if they are--", he lifted a middle finger to the sky.
"I find it calming. No people, no problems, just me and the world."
"You would think that. I wish I could be that naive."
"I'm not naive." The dark haired boy retorted, whipping his head to face MJ, who chuckled in response.
"Hot headed too, aren't you? You might want to keep that in check. Both of those are probably why you're here in the first place."
Yoongi's knuckles were turning white before he ripped them away from the railing, face flushed. "I'm here because I chose to be."
"You mean those lot chose." MJ replied, jutting a thumb towards the door.
"It was a group decision. We all agreed on it. After all, Eunwoo chose to follow you out here - how is this any different?"
MJ's gaze fell onto Yoongi, his eyes cold. "This isn't like that."
"How isn't it?"
"..."
Yoongi felt a sense of pride about being able to silence the difficult boy in front of him, until he spoke up again.
"Don't drag Eunwoo's name into this conversation." He warned. Finally he stood straight and walked towards Yoongi until they were barely a meter apart. "This is a friendly piece of advice," yeah, real friendly, "don't always go with the majority vote. I bet my life that all of you had doubts about coming out here with Jungkook didn't you? But none of you wanted to be the odd one out and say 'no.' Go with your gut, Yoongi," he knocked his fist against the younger's stomach, "or you'll end regretting it."
The blonde walked back inside, leaving a baffled and slightly pissed off Yoongi alone on the balcony. He grit his teeth, MJ's words repeatedly tugging at his mind, before shaking off his doubts and joining everyone in the living room.
He plopped down next to Namjoon and tried to catch up on the conversation.
"MJ, what do you think?" Taehyung asked in a rush, "is a coconut a nut?"
The blonde blinked in confusion. "Uh..."
"No! It's a fruit, right?" Eunwoo interrupted.
"Do i look like a farmer?"
"Yes--" before he could finish, Eunwoo had MJ's hands around his neck as he giggled and pleaded for him to let go.
After a while the two of them listened in on other conversations, and Eunwoo's eyes landed on Yoongi and Jimin.
"He reminds me of you." Eunwoo mumbled. MJ followed his gaze to see who he was referring to and sulked. "Come on, really? That guy?"
"Yeah, he's just like you when you were younger."
"I was NOT like that."
Eunwoo chuckled and MJ simply watched him. "You've taken a liking to these boys, haven't you?"
"Of course," he smiled, "they're just like us. Disobeying for all the right reasons. We have to look after them."
"Eunwoo, do you regret coming out here with Jaeun and I?" Eunwoo's surprise was obvious, but he simply rested his head on MJ's shoulder and hugged him. "Of course I don't you dumb-dumb. You're the reason I came out here. I wouldn't swap it for anything."
MJ hesitated, but decided not to hug him back, and simply sat back and allowed Eunwoo to relax against him.
•
•
•
After a while of idle conversation, Eunwoo stood up. "It's late, how about we get up early tomorrow to leave?"
"Sure." Everyone muttered.
"Alright then-"
His sentence was cut short by an earth shattering smash as the glass flew in fragments from the windows and everyone reflexively clapped their hands to their ears.
When Yoongi opened his eyes and looked upwards, the air was knocked from his lungs. The pattern of red was spreading like an explosion, dyeing Eunwoo's shirt red. Within seconds, he fell to the ground.
A/N :o
My schedule is now an update once per fortnight on a Tuesday at 10pm BST unless stated otherwise, turn your notifs on if you want to stay updated!