3 days later
They were bored, exhausted, and hungry. So far they had found nothing and they were all about ready to drop to the ground and say "nope, I'm out." But that wouldn't solve anything, so they had to keep going.
The conversations went dead long ago, no matter how much they tried to keep them going. They were all just miserable.
Amidst the silence, it was consistently Hoseok who tried to make lighthearted comments about the situation to keep the mood up, even though no one replied half the time.
"Hey, let's play I spy! I spy something beginning with t." He blurted out.
"Is it tree?" Jimin asked wearily.
"Yes! Okay, another one. I spy something beginning with g."
"Grass?" Taehyung replied. Even he didn't have the energy to put some enthusiasm into his voice.
"Yeah! Okay, I--"
"Hoseok. No more i spy." Namjoon pleaded. The boy complied, and shut up for no more than 5 minutes before piping up again.
"Hey, don't you think it's sunny today? Considering how early in the year it is the weather is really good!"
...
"Have you seen how many animals there are out here? I've counted 6 squirrels so far!"
...
"Hey you know what's funny? Back in Omelas one time--"
"Oh my god will you SHUT UP?" Jin snapped, glaring back at the boy. "No one wants to hear your stupid stories, so just be quiet, alright?"
For once, Hoseok hung his head and kept quiet for the remainder of their journey. It was uncomfortably quiet.
The next time they took a break, Taehyung was the one to notice a wooden sign peaking out from beneath a bush. He speed-walked over and shoved the cluster leaves to side, immediately letting out a gasp.
"Guys!"
Everyone eagerly ran over to read the sign, which read "Asphodel" with an arrow pointing north.
With newfound energy they all sprinted in the direction of the sign, and after they reached the top of the gradually ascending hill, they all looked down. What they saw was a medium sized, fairly well maintained town.
There were some steps carved into the side of the hill which they walked down, and after crossing a small meadow they eventually reached the edge of the town. Looking around in awe, they couldn't help but notice how rustic yet oddly modern it was. All the buildings were made from wood but the way that different colours of wood were used to make intricate patterns in some of the buildings gave them a fresh feel.
"Where...should we go?" Namjoon asked, for once genuinely a bit overwhelmed.
"I guess we should wander around and see what's here? And get some food because I'm starving!" Jin complained.
"Do they even use the same money as we do here?"
"Well from what I've heard they speak the same language as us...let's try it."
After a nervous interaction with a very confused shopkeeper, they found out that they did indeed use the same currency as back in Omelas. They bought some fruit and ate as they continued to walk around the town, mostly taking in the way everything worked there.
Whilst Yoongi didn't say it outright, he gently encouraged the others to go into every building which they passed. If there was even a slight chance that Minhyuk was there, he couldn't ignore it. He couldn't ignore MJ's pleading eyes.
As the sun set in the nightless city, the group decided to head into a nearby bar, since most other places were beginning to close. Alcohol was forbidden in Omelas (although some people still found a way to get their hands on it) but this place seemed to be much more lenient when it came to rules.
They got a table at the side of the large room and slumped into their seats, whilst Namjoon and Jin went to get drinks for them all. The bar was bustling with tipsy people and youths, but it wasn't uncomfortably loud.
The two boys returned and handed everyone their drinks. For the slightly older boys and MJ, they got wine, and for Jaeun and the rest they got some fruit juice.
"So what now?" Jin asked, after taking a sip of wine.
"Dunno. Guess we'll just hang around and see what we can do here." Namjoon replied.
The group engaged in idle chatter and tried to plan what they could do in this place. There were a few inns but they didn't have enough money for that. They didn't want to resort to stealing money unless there was no other choice.
After around an hour and another round of drinks, they were beginning to feel drowsy, especially the older ones. Maybe it was the alcohol. Even Yoongi felt mildly tipsy.
Jimin was becoming bored, so he looked over at the youngest. "Jungkook, do you wanna come with me to get another drink?"
The younger boy nodded and followed him to the bar.
"Do you think it's worth staying here?" Jimin asked the younger as they waited.
"Dunno. But I think we should hang around for a while. We might even meet Minhyuk, who knows?"
"Minhyuk? Who's Minhyuk?"
Jungkook immediately realised his mistake. He shut his mouth and looked down.
"Jungkook. Tell me. Who is Minhyuk?" He raised his voice slightly, the annoyance clear in his tone. He could tell that the younger was hiding something important from his mannerisms.
"WHO IS MINHYUK?"
"Hey, keep it down will you?" A taller boy ordered, walking towards Jimin. He felt a bit intimidated with the boy towering over him, even though they seemed about the same age.
Noticing the situation, Yoongi immediately got up and walked over, grabbing the boy by the arm. "Hey man, we're not looking for any trouble--"
"Hyung, it's fine, I was being too loud. Sorry." He apologised, bowing slightly to the boy. The boy glared at Yoongi before tearing his arm from his grip, and walking back over to where his friends were.
Jimin turned back to Jungkook, who was still awkwardly looking around. His eyes betrayed him, as his gaze immediately fell on Yoongi, and Jimin sensed that the older boy had something to do with the situation.
"Outside. Now." Jimin ordered, speed walking outside. Yoongi gave a confused glance to Jungkook, who avoided his gaze completely, for reasons unbeknownst to him. He followed Jimin outside and prepared himself for whatever was about to happen.
Once a short distance from the bar, Jimin stopped and turned to face Yoongi.
"Who is Minhyuk?"
Yoongi's eyes went wide. Suddenly he realised the situation and silently cursed Jungkook for opening his mouth. Jimin continued to stare at him.
"Minhyuk is Eunwoo's brother. We thought that maybe he lived out here, so--"
"We? Who's we?"
"...MJ and I."
"Since when were you best buddies with MJ?"
"Jimin please--"
"Yoongi, why didn't you tell us? You tell MJ and Jungkook but not the rest of us? You drag us out here without telling us why? What if Minhyuk isn't here? What then? Would you have told us then?!"
His voice was rapidly becoming louder, and Yoongi couldn't help but think that any reply he gave would just be digging his own grave deeper.
"Jimin, I did what I thought would be best for MJ."
"But you didn't think about what's best for the group, did you? The only reason you're doing what's best for MJ is because you still feel guilty about arguing with him after his best friend had just been killed. You did it just to ease your own conscience."
Yoongi couldn't reply.
"Oh so I hit the nail on the head. You're selfish, Min Yoongi. You only think about yourself-"
"Oh my god Jimin just shut up! I have my own reasons for not telling you, you wouldn't understand."
"Oh, wouldn't I? Tell me then, what are the reasons?"
As Yoongi fought to speak the words out loud, he was rapidly becoming aware about how stupid the reasons really were. Eventually he managed to get them out. Jimin's expression was becoming gradually more frustrated.
"Oh. So you think that we're inconsiderate assholes then. You think that we'd tell MJ to just give up and accept the situation."
Yoongi couldn't even defend himself here. He was aware of how stupid he sounded, but his pride prevented him from admitting that. It was rare to hear Jimin use such words, which meant that he was truly annoyed. But Yoongi took personal offence from that.
"I don't think that at all! I do however think that you're being ridiculous!"
Jimin paused slightly before replying, hurt flashing before his eyes before being replaced by anger. "You think that I'm being ridiculous? You, Min Yoongi, can't trust anyone. We're a team. We're all each other has. We need to be open and honest with each other. And until you realise that, I-I don't even want to look at you."
"....Jimin please-"
The younger boy simply gave a disappointed shake of the head, turned on his heel and walked back inside, leaving Yoongi to wallow in his thoughts. Jimin was right. Why didn't he just tell them in the first place?
After giving himself a harsh slap to the face, he returned to the bar. The atmosphere was already uncomfortably quiet. Jimin sat there in silence, refusing to answer any questions thrown at him.
Yoongi sat down and kept his mouth shut. He allowed his eyes to wander around, looking at the different people in the bar and what they were doing. His attention was eventually drawn to a group of boys standing around a pool table, seemingly in competition with each other.
As the rest of them teased another member of the group for his poor shot, a tall brunette calmly took the pool cue and aimed his shot. It was the boy talking to Jimin earlier.
Yoongi examined the boy and his facial features. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar. After a short while, he realised why.
Immediately he looked over at MJ.
"MJ?" He called, "can I see that picture again?" MJ nodded in confusion and handed over the necklace. Yoongi looked between the picture and the boy and picked up on some vague similarities between the two. Age had changed the boy, but it still looked like it was him. Minhyuk.
MJ immediately noticed what he was hinting at and stood up, looking at Yoongi, who nodded in reply to the silent question which he asked. The two walked over to the tall brunette, whilst the rest of them looked between each other in confusion.
Yoongi was the one to speak up.
"Excuse me...are...are you Minhyuk?"