When Jimin opened his eyes the first thing he saw was a messy spray of dark brown hair right in front of his face. It was fanned out on the pillow and the wispy locks of hair looked softer than the cotton, sticking up at the ends in messy little kinks like the edges of eyelashes. For a few seconds he could just stare at this as his brain started to wake up and then he felt something moving, something brushing against him that felt like someone else's fingers. Before he could even move his head to look down the fingers became a hand and then an arm, which reached over to lie lazily across his chest. Jimin was on his back with his head turned to the side and so he slowly shifted to look down. An arm lying across his chest that was lightly tanned, the backs of the hand scratched especially around the knuckles which were slightly pink or paler than the rest as the scarred skin healed over. He followed the hand up to the wrist and then the forearm, the elbow and then the upper, but before he could reach the shoulder a head got in the way. Same messy brown hair that had been on the pillow that revealed it to be none other than Taehyung.

The boy had shared beds with him mostly whilst on the road but he had never awoken to him in this position before, usually because the other boy seemed to be out of bed before he even opened his eyes. If he wasn't sprawled out and hogging all of the space he tended to turn his back on him whilst sleeping and not take up much legroom despite his height but he slept with a pillow hugged against his chest as well as under his head just to be awkward. He never snuggled up against his back, face against his shoulder and arm over his waist, and rather just seemed to stay in his own half of the bed. Yet this morning he had woken up to his friend practically fused to his side. Arms hugging him close, legs tucked up and wrapped around his own because he could feel the weight even though he couldn't look down to check, face burrowed against his chest.

This was because of last night.

Jimin wasn't stupid. He knew that he had caught Taehyung in a very compromising situation last night and that he really shouldn't have entered the bathroom. But when he had heard the door lock opening and then the sound of someone shuffling across the room he had been unable to stop himself from getting up to check. The bed had been empty beside him, an automatic sign that it had been Taehyung and not one of the other two boys sneaking back into the hostel room. He had thought about the way Seokjin had asked him about the alcohol the morning after the first day on the road and how he had wanted to know if that was all the boy had been carrying in his backpack, and that had made him want to get out of bed and go into the other room: full of curiosity that maybe, just maybe their friend had been scared of him carrying anything worst than cheap beer. Something like drugs, for example. So he had stupidly stumbled into the bathroom after him only to see a sight so absurd and shocking that for a moment he had been convinced that he was still sleeping.

Taehyung in front of the sink, jeans around his ankles and the bottom of his tee unable to cover the sight of his underwear; his blood soaked underwear.

Jimin hadn't seen that much blood before, for he had never injured himself enough to end up in such a way. The soju bottle shard in the elbow had been nothing more than a dribble in comparison, Jungkook's torn and swollen lip just a graze. Even his own bleeding thumb that time the two boys had sliced it with a kitchen knife seemed nothing to the sight that had been in front of him. The material had been a soft cotton white and yet last night in the bathroom it had been slick enough to have been damp to the touch, most of the seat and lower leg area near the upper thigh crimson. He had felt his pillow falling out of his hand as he had gasped in shock and then the boy had whirled around to look at him with the most cornered expression he had ever seen. Taehyung had looked like a rabbit caught in a snare and he hadn't even been able to wonder why, done nothing more than stutter when he had slammed him against the wall and threatened to kill him. At that point he should have left and crawled back into bed but he had been unable to, honestly too scared about his friend to leave it all alone.

Taehyung had prostituted himself out just to make sure that they didn't wake up tomorrow with nothing more than a couple of thousand won between them all, and he had been planning on keeping it a secret until he had walked right into it and fucked it all up.

He stared at the head of hair burrowed against his chest, seeing how messy it was. He reached up to lightly part it and after a few seconds he saw that deep cut on his hairline, the one from which a handful of hair had no doubt been pulled out of. It was an angry little wound on his pale scalp, resembling an open patch of skin that hadn't scabbed over yet: raw red and pink around the edges. He had cleaned it out with a dab of antiseptic so he was certain that it wouldn't get infected if he made sure to clean it out a few more times, and had it not been in such an awkward place he would have stuck a band-aid on it too but it was impossible. The wound was horrible to look at and that wasn't even the worst part.

Jimin would have been convinced that the boy would have refused to let him clean the rest of the blood off him, that he would have argued and argued and then maybe hit him upside the head just like his father did when trying to get a clear message across, but he hadn't. He had feebly tried to pull his underpants back up before giving in and letting him do it. He had been a little like a child and he had been scared that his friend might have been in shock of some sort, but he had then rapidly figured out that he was too tired and ashamed to try fighting with him and that was why he had relented. Jimin had seen him and the others naked quite a lot over the years they had been friends. A strange force of habit, stripping down to get changed or cleaned up whilst crashing at each other's houses or hotels on trips. He wasn't in anyway embarrassed by Taehyung's nakedness save for his tee, but it had not been the nakedness his friend had been trying to hide, rather a different matter entirely.

Jimin didn't know a lot about how to stop bleeding other than to apply pressure to a wound. That was basic knowledge and yet it was in no way applicable to the situation last night. He hadn't been able to stop the blood that had occasionally trickled down his inner thigh as he had gently wiped the smears away, hadn't been able to do much more than press the towel against his skin as he had tried to staunch the flow. He did know however that he shouldn't have been bleeding so heavily unless it meant that he had let the man from the bar really do a number on him. Yet as he had cleaned he had thought that the results clearly showed that Taehyung had had nothing at all to do with the situation; that rather his inability had been what had caused the damage. Jimin kept thinking about how such injuries might require stitches and yet it was pointless to even think such a thing. Stitches required hospitals, hospitals required cash or insurance, none of which they had to offer. Taehyung would be really pleased with him if he went through all of that hell and he ended up dragging him to a clinic and racking up a bill that was triple the amount he had been given. Why, Jimin would have had to hit up a bar or two and see to it he made a little cash too.

The boy shifted on the bed with a soft noise under his breath, something that sounded like a moan. Hearing it reminded him of the way he had sobbed last night, of how he had apologised over and over when he had no need to, and it suddenly made him feel cold. Taehyung had been caught in one of the most worst situations possible and yet he had told him, he had told him and shown him everything and that meant one thing: the boy trusted him. But should he trust him when he had such a great track record of fucking up? It's not like I gave him much choice, he thought, I did barge in like an idiot...

But Jimin wasn't going to fuck up because just like the Yoongi situation he wasn't going to tell anyone. The young man's burn mark on his inner elbow might have been worrying signs but the secret that he might just be self-harming seemed rather small in regards to this one The worst that could happen with Yoongi was that someone else noticed it first and asked him, like Taehyung nearly had, saving him from carrying the burden alone but that wouldn't happen with this situation. No one was going to notice anything that might make last night come to light because neither of them were going to say or do anything.

Jimin reached down to fiddle with his hair again and Taehyung snuffled before rolling over onto his back. The boy opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling before glancing over at the two sleeping boys. Then he twisted to look up at him and he just stared right back.

"Good morning," Taehyung said in a low voice. "Why're you awake this early?"

"You woke me up," Jimin retorted, "headbutting me and nearly squeezing me to death." The boy thought this over for a moment before shifting to lie on his stomach, wincing slightly as he did. He folded his arms on his wrinkled sheets and balanced his chin on his forearms to look right at him. Jimin saw a mottled bruise already forming on his right cheekbone, a deep brown tinged with yellow that blossomed on and along the curve to his outer corner of his eye. "Are you OK?"

"Not really," Taehyung said with a soft attempt at a shrug, shoulder blades sticking out against his skin as he did. "You?"

"Uh, I guess." He studied his face but the other boy moved his eyes to look at the pillows instead, the ones his hair had been fanned out on just a few minutes ago. "I mean, it was kinda stupid me asking that question. It's pretty obvious you're not gonna be OK after that."

"I've done it before," he replied in a whisper, "and I got over it." He asked him if it had been like last night before he didn't seem to want to give him a direct reply. He ran his eyes along the pillow before twisting slightly to look at the two boys again. "Yeah, it has." Jimin wondered how he could have possibly been through something like that before, on his own with no one to help clean him up or tell him that it was all okay, and he didn't want to even think about it. Taehyung stared at Hoseok for a moment in silence, the boy lying on his back so that just his bare upper half and the back of his head was visible, softly falling and rising as he breathed. "Isn't that fucked up?"

"Isn't what fucked up?"

"That I've crawled back to the hostel bleeding like that and patched myself up and then the next time I was desperate for cash I did it again?" There was something in his voice that sounded like venom, a bitter self-hatred.

"No, I don't think it is," Jimin replied quietly as he reached down to fiddle with the covers, flattening out creases in the cotton with his fingers. "I think that it's a sign that you needed help and you had no other choice, but now you know otherwise."

"What'd you mean?"

"Now you know you have a friend that knows and understands, that doesn't want you to get hurt again." Taehyung turned back to look at him and he cocked his head so that he could rest his cheek on his folded up arms, hiding the bruise from show. "'Cos I don't want shit like that happening to you to Tae, to any of you. Shit, I don't want it to happen to anyone at all."

"Do you think the others would be mad at me if they knew?"

"I think they'd be upset that you went to that length and that you got hurt. I think they'd care deeply about your mental and physical state, and that they might be mad at you. But not mad like, pissed off or disgusted mad, kinda just that they feel...mad at themselves 'cos you felt that you needed to do that, you know?" The boy made a soft noise at this. "Is that why you won't tell anyone, 'cos you think they'd get mad?"

"I was scared that you'd all kick my ass to the curb."

"Why would we do something like that?" Jimin asked him genuine confusion but he didn't reply. "Tae..." He went to say something to him, something comforting to take his mind off it all, but then there was a sound from across the room and Jungkook stumbled out of the bed to go into the bathroom. A minute later came the sound of the toilet flushing and then the boy staggered back into the room to climb into bed.

"I should get cleaned up," Taehyung said quietly before shifting to sit up. He tried to not show anything but Jimin saw him wincing as he stood up and nearly limped to get into the bathroom. He sat up and watched him for a few seconds before also deciding to get cleaned up. It wasn't that he was in a rush at all but rather that he wanted to keep an eye on him. He stepped through the open doorway and Taehyung was brushing his teeth in front of the sink, vigorously brushing with one hand and parting his hair with the other to check out the cut on his scalp. He leaned against the doorway and the movement reflected in the glass and let his friend notice he was watching him. "Help me think of an excuse for this?" He asked as he gestured at his cheekbone before splashing cold water on his face.

"I punched you in your sleep," Jimin said without missing a beat and the other boy laughed as he patted his face dry.

"Jimin?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to...to check something for me," he said in a quiet voice. He didn't need him to ask again and he reached behind to close the door over and let the other two boys know not to barge in. Taehyung just fiddled with the towel for a moment before hastily slipping his underwear down and Jimin noticed that the wad of paper was stuck to his skin. He hunkered down and grabbed hold of it to lightly peel it off. "How does it look?"

"Uh..." He stared at the mottled bruises that coated the backs of his thighs and even around his buttocks, not light brown like his blemished cheekbone but rather a livid purple and blues that mixed together. "Lots of bruising."

"Still bleeding?"

"I uh...I don't wanna," Taehyung reached down and parted his own buttocks with hands that were shaking slightly and he saw dried blood he had missed last night, or that had carried on leaking out after he had cleaned him up. "Doesn't seem to be bleeding right now. There's dried blood around the uh...everywhere but I think it's clotted. Is that a good thing?" The boy didn't reply as he let go and placed his hands back on the rim of the sink. Jimin looked down at the wad of paper to see that it was soaked through and stiff with blood, but at least it had stopped him from bleeding all over the underpants and bed sheets. Then he tossed it into the toilet with a sigh. "Does it hurt?"

"It feels like someone stuck a carving knife right up my ass," Taehyung remarked, and it was enough to make him wince.

"What about moving? Is it OK?"

"No, but I'll deal with it." Jimin glanced over at the bathtub for a moment to see the evidence from yesterday still in place. He had soaked the underwear and towel in freezing cold water to lift the stains and had used various washes to clean them through, but there was still faint marks on the cotton that would likely never come out. So long as he made sure to not let the others see the pair then they might just be able to keep it a secret.

"Do you wanna shower first?"

"I can't shower, not like this I'll fucking collapse," Taehyung groaned.

"Then I'll fill the tub up for you." He hastily shoved the plug in and ran the water hot. "There should be plain soap around here somewhere, you don't want any fragranced or alcohol filled shit irritating your skin, right?"

"Just pour some antiseptic inside my ass and it'll all be fine."

"I'd rather not," Jimin retorted as he checked the medical cupboard under the sink again, being certain to leave the sanitary towel on clear display for the other boy to glare at. No soap. "Ummm, well just water alone can clean the...the injured area I guess?" Taehyung twisted the tap off and awkwardly climbed inside after tossing his tee on the floor and he dunked his head in the water before hissing and slapping his hand over the area where the cut no doubt was. He studied him for a moment and then moved to stand by the doorway. "If you need me just... call or something." The boy confirmed that he would and he opened the door to go into the other section of the room. He was greeted to the sight of Hoseok sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing at his eyes.

"Shit..." he groaned before dropping his hands onto his lap. He looked like the headache was present and that marked at least the third day that he was aware of him having one since starting the adventure.

"You OK?" Hoseok shrugged and then muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'peachy'. Jimin went over to sit on the bed facing him and the boy lifted his gaze from the carpet to stare at him.

"Tae?"

"In the bathroom."

"Why is the door closed?" Jimin turned his head to eye it before reaching up to fiddle with the neckline of his tee he had slept in.

"I uh...I just closed it out of habit," he said dumbly and his friend yawned loudly before getting to his feet. "Where are you going?"

"The bathroom," Hoseok said as he retrieved his backpack with a visible wince of pain, lips pulling back from his teeth as he did.

"But Tae-"

"I've seen him naked a gazillion times I'm sure he doesn't care," he explained as he waved him off and Jimin bit down on his lip and wondered what the hell he was supposed to say to stop him but before he could think he was already crossing the room to go into the bathroom.

"Oh fuck..." He waited for the sound of loud voices to boom through it, for the door to fly open again and the boy to storm out and demand to know why he hadn't woken him up last night and told him, and yet after a minute there was nothing. He heard the flushing of the toilet and then the briefest sound of water running and then his friend came back into the room before dropping his bag on the floor and folding his legs up on the bed.

"I'm bored," Hoseok announced after a couple of seconds of silence, and Jimin realised that he hadn't noticed anything amiss, that he had either been too tired or that he really hadn't caught sight of the blood tinged water in the tub Taehyung had been sitting in.

"We'll be back on the road again soon, you won't be bored then."

"No, I'll just be tired, stiff and pissed off."

"And hot," Jungkook added as he rolled over to look at them both. "Don't forget hot."

"Thanks, you're not so bad-looking yourself," Hoseok remarked and the younger boy reached over to lightly punch the back of his arm.

"Lots of walking," Jimin said quietly. "I miss the car."

"We all miss the car," Jungkook agreed, but he was thinking about it for another reason entirely. He was thinking about how the nice padded leather seats would save Taehyung from hours and hours of limping along streets and roadsides. "Is Tae in the shower?"

"Bath," Hoseok explained. "Otherwise one of us could have shared for quickness but I wasn't going to share a tub with him. With one of you two, maybe, but not Tae."

"Why not?" Jimin asked curiously.

"Just because," the other boy said, "I don't need to explain my reasons."

"Do I detect...embarrassment in your voice Jung Hoseok?" Jungkook asked with a wide smirk and their friend's mouth opened and closed a few times quickly as he tried to think of something to retort with. "What're you embarrassed about?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me."

"Shut up Kookie."

"He's right," Jimin grinned, "you're really blushing right now, why?" And Hoseok actually reached up to touch his cheeks to check and this made them both laugh.

"Am not," he replied petulantly. "You're just trying to make me react but I won't." The younger boy pointed out that he was reacting by saying that and he huffed loudly. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Why you won't share with Tae. Why you won't share beds with him either," Jungkook said as he shifted to cock his elbow out and rest his cheek on the palm of his hand. "That's what you're supposed to say."

"I don't need to say anything."

"Come on, we're all friends here. We can talk about stuff, right Jimin?"

"...Right," he agreed with a nod, all the while thinking about how he and Taehyung were very much carrying secrets that would never be talked about.

"You two are little assholes, you know that?" Hoseok muttered before glancing over at the closed bathroom doorway. "You really want to know the reasons, huh?" When the boy nodded the boy paused. "I think that...well I kind of know, not just think, that Tae is interested in me."

"Interested," Jungkook narrowed his eyes for a moment, "like a...crush?"

"Yes, like a crush."

"OK, but why are you avoiding him?" the boy asked and Hoseok took a deep breath before sighing.

"It's not just about the crush thing Kookie, it's a lot of things. A lot of complicated annoying things."

"Did he say something to you?" Jimin asked quietly. "Did he...kiss you?"

"...He has in the past, when he was a little drunk. He would play it off on his drunkenness the next day but I don't know, I don't think he was ever that drunk to begin with, that it was all an act."

"Has he kissed you since we started the trip?"

"Once, when we hitched a ride on that freight train, and that's why I don't want to get too close right now, OK? Because I'm confused about it all." For a moment the hotel room fell silent and none of them seemed to know what to say to break it but then the sound of water draining came from the bathroom and their friend got to his feet. "I'm going for a shower."

The street in front of them turned into another narrow walkway, much like the one back in Seoul that they had all bounded along just a bare week or so ago: Taehyung in the lead followed by the fleet and sure-footed Jungkook, then him and lastly Yoongi, who had really only gotten up onto the narrow ledge because the other boy had taunted him about his height. Right now Jungkook was happily walking along it, occasionally reaching out to run his fingers along the diamond-shaped patterns in the chain link fence as he hummed under his breath. He had quite a pleasant voice judging from the rhythm alone and he wondered if the boy would add words to the sounds at some point. His voice might just cheer them all up, considering how dour the air felt right now.

The young men were walking in front of him, in a trio huddled together like always. Jimin thought about how they looked like a group of grandmothers sitting on a bench waiting for a bus and he made a remark on this that earned quite some laughter, but even with the sound of his friends laughing Jimin still felt somewhat despondent. It was a mixture of things but mostly it was Taehyung. Taehyung and his heavy secret that he was currently harboring. Just a few feet behind was Hoseok and despite having a headache he wasn't lagging as much as usual and seemed a little more upbeat, head held up rather than staring at the concrete under their feet, saying something every now and again to break the silence that might fall on them. It was usually Taehyung's job to do that but he didn't seem in the mood today, though he kept up the witty comments as to not draw too much attention to himself. It wasn't too obvious that there was something on his mind but Jimin couldn't help but feel that it was glaringly so, mostly because of his own nerves and discomfort at the fact someone might notice.

He didn't even have the opportunity to reflect on what Hoseok had said back in the hostel room this morning, about the possible crush, because he was too preoccupied staring at the other boy and making sure that he was steady on his feet, that he didn't collapse, and that his jeans stayed nice and clean of any blood.

He was certain that Hoseok was keeping something from him and yet he wasn't going to jump in and involve himself in that too, he had quite a lot on his plate already between Yoongi and Taehyung, and therefore he was just going to have to watch the boy from a distance and ascertain what it was. He had a habit of always carrying his backpack into the bathroom with him when getting cleaned up and that was what stuck in his mind the most, hell he had done it just this morning right in front of his eyes.

Why?

Whilst they had all been sleeping on the freight train those nights back his two friends had been wide awake. Awake why? Because the rattling carriage had kept them both from falling asleep or something else entirely? Something to do with the secret that Hoseok seemed to have perhaps? Had they been talking in the hours they had all been resting, and if so what about? Had Taehyung initiated the conversation first and then eased into it before kissing him? He had no clue but he could imagine that it was the case; the boy waking up to see Hoseok already awake and taking the chance whilst it had been there. It was almost romantic in a weird way, a kiss shared on a freight train heading to nowhere on a grand adventure that was currently going so very wrong. It was almost like a novel, or even a movie, and Jimin thought it was sweet. But did Hoseok find it sweet? Or did he very much not like the other boy's advances?

Well, he thought as he dropped his eyes to his boots for a moment, if he didn't then he wouldn't have gotten away with multiple kisses, would've he?

"God, my head hurts," Hoseok complained, breaking the silence once more.

"Tell me about it..." Jimin muttered under his breath.

"Need any water?" Seokjin asked as he turned and shook a bottle at him, just over halfway full. The boy moaned enthusiastically before accepting it to take a deep swig. He thought that the contents looked rather warm but it was better than nothing and Hoseok didn't seem to mind at all. "Tae, you OK?"

"Me? Never better," Taehyung retorted as he shrugged his backpack up into his shoulders with a soft grunt, "I'm A-OK."

"Jimin?"

"Hmm?" He looked up from his boots to see the young man looking at him as the boy handed him the bottle back and he went completely blank. "Uh, sorry what?"

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied with a vigorous nod, upbeat tone terribly fake to his own ears. "I'm good, it's just so fucking hot, right?"

"Goddamn," Yoongi agreed without looking over his shoulder, "you said it."

"Still no sign of that tan," Namjoon remarked as he turned to look at their friend's almost sickly pale countenance. "But we've got a few hours left on the road for it to develop."

"I'm never gonna tan," he said with a shrug, "I'm doomed to look like a corpse my entire life, which is fitting 'cos I feel like one most of the time."

"Put you in some black clothes," Jungkook called as he skipped along the ledge beside the walkway, "and smear on eyeliner and you could pass for a emo kid."

"That's more your style Kookie, I like my rock like I like my punk: dead."

"Hey, punk's not dead you fucker!" Taehyung shouted and this caused slight laughter.

"I wish it was..." Yoongi mumbled.

Jimin shifted his eyes from the back of his head to see that Seokjin was walking on a slight angle, so that he could look over his shoulder at him and the other boy. After a moment he held eye contact with him so he raised his eyebrows in a 'what?' gesture but their eldest friend just shook his head and went back to looking straight ahead, twisting the bottle cap back on securely. Did he sense something was up? He couldn't think of anyone worse to know something was wrong because he knew that his friend would find out no matter what. Seokjin had a wonderful habit of appearing out of nowhere and worming his way into a conversation only to spring questions out and trap people. It had happened the first time Taehyung had been arrested for a petty offence and he hadn't told them, it had happened when Jungkook had failed an English exam just a year ago, and it could totally happen to him. Jimin wouldn't be able to avoid the trap, he knew that he would fall right into it. It wasn't like Namjoon and his brotherly way of trying to make himself seem trustworthy enough to talk to, it wasn't like Yoongi and his bluntness that he had perfected into a near art form, no Seokjin had a fantastic habit of seeing something on a person's face and planning a way to drag it up with as little effort as possible. Always privately of course, and always with a warm smile on his face to disarm even quicker.

Jimin was going to have to avoid being left alone with him just in case. He was thankful that he didn't share hostel rooms with him or he would be completely fucked.

After several more minutes of walking he started to notice that Taehyung had slowed down and he matched his pace to stay level with him. The others widened a gap to a considerable few feet and Jungkook was even further ahead on the ledge, voice echoing along the narrow walkway so that he could hear he was finally singing. The boy didn't say a word as he slowed down, no complaints or muttered noises, rather he just seemed to start to lose his energy to the point in which he was no longer walking, more trudging. So Jimin just copied him and edged closer and closer to him until he could speak in a low voice and not alert the others.

"Tae? Hey Tae?"

"...Yeah?"

"You don't look too good right now."

"Fuck you Park Jimin I look hot as... as the sun." The boy dropped his head so that his hair hung over his eyes and he saw that it was clumped together with sweat. He could see the way his lips twisted in a rictus of pain before he forced them back up again.

"You shouldn't be walking." His friend told him that he had no choice in a sarcastic tone that sounded close to a whine. "I know you don't but-" Taehyung stopped walking and actually hunched forward to place his palms on his upper thighs. He was breathing rather heavily and Jimin didn't like how wobbly his legs looked. He seemed seconds from keeling over and he knew that he wasn't going to make it to the end of this walkway, never mind the next city. Before he could even think of what he was doing he moved to stand in front of him, getting down and gesturing at his back.

"Get on."

"Your backpack," Taehyung mumbled and Jimin shrugged it onto a single shoulder instead so that he would be able to climb on. "Dumbass, I'm not doing that OK so just-"

"Stop calling me dumbass and get on, you want everyone coming over to ask what's wrong?" The others were still walking on ahead like they hadn't realised they had stopped and they wouldn't have long before one of them turned to look back and saw them standing there: his friend practically dead on his feet and refusing to get on his back.

"I'm too heavy, I've got my bag too and-"

"Tae, just trust me alright I'm not gonna drop you. You trusted me this far, why not a little further?" His words seemed to get through to the boy because a moment later Taehyung sighed heavily and then moved to get onto his back. He wrapped his arms around his neck tightly and Jimin slipped his hands under his thighs to make stirrups. He hadn't lied, with both of their backpacks and his body it was a considerable weight to carry but he knew that he could do it. He had to do it because he couldn't leave the boy staggering for miles and miles until he collapsed.

"Shit, I just love causing trouble, huh?" Taehyung asked, breath against his ear as he got upright again and started walking.

"We cause enough together," he replied, "and like you always say: it's not fun if it's legal."

"I'm thinking of retracting that statement," he said before laughing. "'Cos it's not the smartest motto."

"Since when have you been smart?" Jimin asked and even though he was carrying him Taehyung still pulled one arm free to ruffle his hair roughly. "Does everything feel...OK? You know, no bleeding?"

"I dunno, everything hurts I can't tell."

"Shit."

"Yeah, took the words right outta my mouth Dumbass."

Hoseok shifted in front of them to look back and when he caught sight of him piggybacking him he stopped and waited for them to catch up before asking Jimin if he needed help with his bag. He shrugged it off and the other boy accepted it before stepping onto the street once more and a moment later they were also free of the walkway. Large highway running for miles on end, billboards and signs here and there along the lengths and great telephone poles that towered like trees covered in thick cables and throngs of birds sitting in the middle so that they sagged from their weight. Jimin didn't walk at a brisk pace to catch up to the gang but instead carried on the way they had been walking a few minutes ago, not exactly a leisurely stroll but close enough. Because of this Hoseok once again ended up widening the gap between them, own backpack swinging from one hand and his backpack shrugged up into his shoulders securely.

"Tae?" The boy made a noise to let him know he was listening. "Is Hoseok OK?" At this question Taehyung went silent and he almost felt him stiffening on his back in a somewhat defensive way. Jimin could only see the side of his face if he looked at him, the curve of his jaw and messy fall of dark hair, and so he just kept his eyes straight ahead instead. Then he asked him what he meant. "You know, with his headaches and all that?"

"Why would I know about that?"

"'Cos you and Hoseok are pretty tight so I just assumed that you might." He thought about what their friend had said in the hostel room this morning and decided he would venture for that in a moment, this was more important. "Best friends and all that. 'Cos he's really quiet a lot of the time and he used to be as loud and annoying as you and-"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Tae..."

"He might tell you if you ask." Jimin told him that he was sounding like he had something to hide and he shifted on his back. "What'd I have to hide?"

"What happened on the freight train," he said without missing a beat, "sounds like something that you might wanna hide." Taehyung didn't reply and he could almost hear his mind surging with thoughts as he tried to think of something to say. "I'm just saying, I wanna know if he's alright. You don't need to tell me anything else I just-"

"He has medication, that's why he has the headaches." He asked him for what and he didn't say another word. Jimin sighed and then ran his eyes over the gang in front of them. All still walking, Yoongi and Namjoon seemingly talking to each other guessing from their gestures.

"Do you wanna talk about the freight train?" he asked in a low voice.

"Talk about what exactly?"

"About Hoseok, and about how you're crushing on him." More silence from the other boy, chin digging into the space between his neck and shoulder as he carried him. "If you are you should just tell him, you know? Be open about it, get it out there and-"

"Tell me about you and Yoongi," Taehyung interrupted suddenly and for a moment he was caught off guard by the question and he couldn't even process it.

"...Wait, what?"

"Why don't you get it out in the open?"

"Get what out in the open?"

"One of you is crushing on the other, I'm not sure which but it's one of you," the boy said. "So tell me, which one is it?"

"I dunno what you're talking about?" Jimin said, feeling his cheeks starting to heat up suddenly. Why were they doing that? He wasn't embarrassed by the question and yet he could feel them burning and if Taehyung shifted and brushed his face against his he would feel it too. "Way to deflect my question though..."

"C'mon, I'm not the only one who sees it-" he interrupted to ask him what he meant, "that sees the flirting. It's light but it's there, so why are you refusing to talk about it when you're telling me I should be open?" Jimin turned his head to look at him and Taehyung looked back, obstinate expression on his face. "You do know what flirting is, right Dumbass?"

"Very funny Tae..."

"Is that all it's been? Flirting? Or has something else happened?"

"I'm not the one kissing boys whilst pretending to be drunk and making out on freight trains," Jimin retorted and for a moment Taehyung didn't reply. Then he felt the unmistakable sensation of him starting to laugh, shaking on his back as he carried him. He smirked to himself and added. "That's you Tae."

"Seriously, nothing between you two? Nothing at all?"

"I don't think so...?"

"Meaning?"

"I dunno," he would have shrugged had the boy not been weighing him down, "I didn't even know that we were flirting until three seconds ago." Taehyung snorted laughter down his ear. "What did you mean about not being the only one to notice? Have you guys been...talking about us?"

"Not like that I mean, Yoongi clearly likes you a lot Dumbass. He's always asking about you, always making sure me and Kookie aren't pushing you around too much and shit like that. You remember how he called out Kookie at the trainyard, right; just 'cos you cut yourself a little? Well, it's like that all of the time and I don't think you even notice it. It's just a normal thing for you. But we all notice it and I wonder if he does too or if it's normal for him too..."

"Showing added interest in a friend doesn't mean that a person has a crush," Jimin remarked before adding, "and what're you talking about? Yoongi's totally more tight with Seokjin and Namjoon."

"...See what I mean? You really don't notice it." He could do no more than furrow his brow in confusion at this statement. After a minute or two of silent walking, lagging behind by the same distance as before Taehyung sighed and finally broke it. "Did you know about it or did he tell you?"

"Hoseok told me, well, me and Kookie but only after we harassed him. I had a little idea I mean, you're always messing around with him and playing it off as a joke but you say some pretty...lewd things to him and sometimes the flirting doesn't seem that pretend on your half, you know? It's kinda like you're acting like it's fake to gauge a reaction off him and everyone before risking something real." The boy made a soft noise as he thought this over. "So I'm not surprised to hear about the kisses."

"I'm that predictable, huh?"

"I thought it was sweet." Taehyung asked him what he meant and Jimin let out an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I thought that the freight train kiss was kinda sweet." His friend didn't say anything at this and after a considerable silence it seemed he was just about to break it when Yoongi turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth like a makeshift megaphone.

"Jimin, Tae, hurry your asses up!"

When they ended up at the next hostel the sky hadn't even started to change yet, still a pastel blue that had a few clouds here and there and the sun on the horizon rather than setting. When he discovered the time on the small clock in their room he saw that it was just 6pm and that was why. There would be another hour or two of sunlight left before the first hints of orange started to appear. He wasn't entirely certain if the reason why they ended up with rooms that early was because of Taehyung's current state but he was willing to bet that it was. He had piggybacked him for several hours before Namjoon had offered to take over and though the boy had wanted to argue against it he had just resigned himself to his fate; playing a strange game of pass the human parcel. Jimin had stayed close though just to be sure that the young man didn't ask too many questions, but the ones he did ask were nothing unusual or suspicious at all. He asked if he had stomach pains from eating instant food that wasn't cooked right, if his feet were hurting from walking and if he had blisters, if he pulled a muscle or three messing around in the room trying to do a stupid gymnastic move to make them all laugh.

Nothing even close to the truth. They were safe for now at least.

Upon getting inside the room the first thing Taehyung did was stagger over to the bed closest to the door and throw himself on it. He didn't even bother taking off his shoes and rather just lay still as if dead. After a moment Hoseok removed them for him and then the boy had slipped his legs up onto the covers with a groan. Whether it be in satisfaction or pain he had no way of telling. Jungkook had sat down for a grand total of three seconds before announcing that he was going on a walk and then leaving without another word. With just the three of them in the room Jimin expected the other boy to start asking questions but he didn't, he just stayed seated on the edge of the bed beside him and kept silent.

So Jimin had allowed himself to slip into the other room for a few minutes just to check what was going on. They hadn't eaten all day except for leftovers from breakfast that had been cold and unappetising, and he wanted to check if anyone was needed to go to the store, perhaps to buy a few things. He would be more than happy to volunteer and he had just pushed the door open and when he realised he had sprang a trap of some sort. The three young men were all sitting around the room, Namjoon on the settee and Seokjin perched on one of the low armrests, Yoongi balanced on the window with a cigarette in his fingers like always. He went to open his mouth but was talked over instantly.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I, uh, I dunno what you're talking about?" Jimin said as he looked at Yoongi, more than aware he was repeating himself from earlier and feeling a blush annoyingly start to appear on his cheeks, now of all moments.

"What happened to Tae last night? He was fine when we stopped at the hostel last night and when we wake up he's a mumbling, staggering mess, what the fuck happened?" He tapped the end of the stick hard and ash fell onto the brown carpet. "Did he go out drinking and get into a fight?"

"Not enough bruises," Namjoon remarked. "Tae's good but he'd get at least more than one, right? So let's rule out fighting."

"Uh, guys I really dunno I woke up this morning and he wasn't feeling well and-"

"You're a terrible liar Jimin," Yoongi said in a low voice, "which is good 'cos it really speeds everything up."

"I understand that you might not know everything," Seokjin held his hands up in a supplicating manner. "But you, or one of the others, must know something yes? So we thought we would ask you seen as you were helping him out most of the day."

"I just did that 'cos he wasn't well, I didn't ask him about anything..."

"Then what were you talking about?" Jimin stared at his eldest friend for a moment and he felt his mind so terribly blank. He had not expected this. He had entered the room hoping to go out and get food and avoid this happening and yet now he was ensnared in a trap and he couldn't get out of it. "You were both talking amongst each other all morning. Didn't he tell you anything then? Didn't you ask what was wrong with him?"

"No, I asked about something else."

"Like what?" Yoongi asked sharply.

"Like...Hoseok," Jimin said in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper. "I asked him if he was crushing on Hoseok and that was it, that was the conversation." The hostel room went deathly silent for a minute and he felt like he had made a mistake by blurting this out, yet at the same time he seemed to have caught them off guard and avoided the other pressing question. "I'm gonna go out for a little while. Jungkook went for a walk a few minutes ago, I'm gonna go get some food." And with that he turned around and hastily twisted the handle to step outside. He heard one of them shifting and the Namjoon telling him to leave it and judging from the weary sigh he heard before closing the door again it was Yoongi. Of course it was, why Taehyung had told him this morning that his friend showed a great deal of interest in him...

He went back into the room to collect his boots and was in the process of knotting them up when Hoseok asked him what he was doing, so explained about getting some food. The boy thought this over before asking if he could tag along and Jimin heard the sound of Taehyung lightly snoring from the bed. His friend wanted to go out for a while and let him rest and so he said that he could, personally relieved of the company to stop him wandering too far and getting lost. Several minutes later they were leaving the hostel room and crossing the lot to get to the main road. No sign of Jungkook for the boy had long vanished, and so they walked in silence for quite some time. Jimin waited for him to unload questions on him too and yet Hoseok didn't say a word and instead stared at his boots. Was he thinking of something? Or did he not want to say anything?

"You never explained the crush thing this morning," he said just to try and liven up the still air between them, "you know?"

"I know, because I told you I don't know and I'm confused so I can't explain it." Hoseok allowed his eyes to lift for a whole second to look at him before dropping them again. "Why are you asking about it now?"

"To make conversation..."

"You told Tae, didn't you? This morning when you were piggybacking him you told him that I said all of that."

"...We got onto the topic," Jimin explained, "and I did bring it up, yeah. Are you pissed with me?" But the boy just shook his head and said he wasn't. "I think he really does have a crush on you. He tried to change topics on me but he reacted enough to make it pretty obvious. Are you still confused about it now?" Hoseok let out a soft laugh at this remark. "Hey, I know this sounds a little weird but...Tae said something to me and I wanna check with you."

"Shoot," his friend said as he waved his hand.

"Tae said that me and Yoongi...that we flirt with each other but I dunno what he means by that."

"Hmm," Hoseok thought about this and he paused, eyeing up a small convenience store just a few feet away as he did. He waited to see what he would say anxiously and after a minute he turned his head to look at him before grinning. "Now that you mention it..."

"What? What do you mean?" But the other boy didn't reply and instead stepped inside, making him chase after him in confusion. Jimin pestered him in the hopes of getting an answer but Hoseok just ignored him with that same wide smirk on his face, grabbing a red basket from by the door and proceeding to walk down one of the aisles. They were narrow and cramped, shelves packed with so much food and drinks so that it was a miracle the wood managed to hold the weight and not collapse.

What was going on? Why were they both joking about something like this? He didn't have a clue but it was enough to make him puff his cheeks out in annoyance, the sight making his friend snort laughter obnoxiously. He really didn't know where they had both gotten the idea from and he was a little worried that the others might think it as well. Hell, was there a chance that Yoongi looked at him and thought that he was 'flirting' and he just politely put up with it to save him embarrassment? But Jimin couldn't think of ever flirting with him and just trying to figure out what he might have done to give off that impression was another to make his head feel like spinning. That would mean going through years and years of interactions and he didn't have the time nor memory for that.

Several minutes later they were standing outside the store, Hoseok slipping the plastic bag inside his backpack to save having to carry it. Jimin listened to him zipping the bag back up and finally came to the conclusion that he had just acted that way for a joke, to get back at him for telling Taehyung about the crush thing. It made perfect sense and he was relieved at the thought.

"I'll have to be careful telling you shit from now on," the boy said as he started walking down the street. "I didn't know you were a gossip Jimin."

"I'm not."

"No, you're just a flirt instead, right?"

"Stop saying that!" Jimin retorted, shrugging his backpack up onto his shoulders roughly. "Or I really will start gossiping."

"It's cute, you're cute," Hoseok continued, "copying him to try and look cool." He said he didn't copy him at all and the boy rolled his eyes at this. "You hold your cigarettes the exact same way, I've never seen anyone hold a cigarette like that before except Yoongi and you. You always agree with everything he says no matter what, you share his food and clothing all of the time. It's like you really look up to him."

"I do," he explained, "I look up to him a lot."

"How come?"

"'Cos he's cool," Jimin said as he glanced at the road in front of him, "and he doesn't take shit from nobody. Not like me, I always take shit and get pushed around. Yoongi's not tall or strong-looking, but he never backs down and stands up for other people when he doesn't have to. I wanna be like that. I don't wanna get pushed around and not be able to help people 'cos I look small and weak, you know?" Hoseok made a soft noise in agreement but didn't say anything and he just stared at the passing traffic. "If I was like Yoongi my dad wouldn't treat me like shit. If I was like Yoongi Tae wouldn't have started calling me Dumbass and pushing me around so much that even Kookie does it now too. If I were like Yoongi I'd-"

There was a thumping sound from behind him and for a few seconds Jimin just carried on walking, jolted out of his thoughts by the noise and mind going completely blank as a result. Then he stopped and furrowed his brow before twisting his head to look over his shoulder, and for a moment he could do nothing more than stare dumbly at the sight a few feet behind him. Then he realised what he was looking at and he felt his breath leave his lungs in a little surprised wheeze.

Hoseok was lying on the sidewalk in a heap, last and arms spread out slightly like a weak starfish, head turned so that his cheek was on the dusty paving flags. His hair was dancing from the light breeze and he could see his eyes were closed: unconscious.

The boy had just passed out on him and he couldn't even seem to blink because he felt frozen in place. It was the distant blare of a truck horn that made him jump and then he darted over to his friend, dropping to his knees even when he felt the rough concrete skinning his knees through his jeans.

"Hey, hey Hoseok. Are you OK?" he asked stupidly as he grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Hoseok? Shit...shit, oh shit, not good, not good." Jimin glanced up at the street for a few panicked seconds, seeing no one in sight. That was good at least, for it meant no one would be calling an ambulance. "Hoseok, buddy?" His friend let out a sound that was trapped between a sigh and a groan and his eyelids flickered for a second before closing again. He had to get him back to the hostel right now, so Jimin struggled but managed to get his unconscious friend onto his back. It wasn't like carrying Taehyung earlier, the boy was limp and unresponsive and that meant that he had to lean forward awkwardly to keep him on his back because he couldn't wrap his arms around his neck to stay on securely. The building was just a block or two down and he knew that he could make it there so he just grabbed onto his thighs tightly and started running along the street.

His friend jostled from the movement but didn't fall off, which he counted as a blessing, and he also didn't come around in the scant few minutes it took from him to get back to the hostel; no more groaning, no words or movement, he was well and truly unconscious. When Jimin got to the lot he cut across it as fast as he could and went right to their friends' room. He didn't knock or even grab the handle but rather threw himself against the door and luckily for him it opened.

"What the-"

"Shit, oh shit Namjoon." The young man was sitting cross-legged on the settee and at the sight of them bursting into the room his eyes nearly popped out of his skull in shock. "I dunno what happened but he just collapsed and I-I-I-" Jimin heard himself stuttering and forced himself to stop talking, mind racing with so many thoughts that his words were getting tangled up. There was a loud clattering noise from the bathroom and then Yoongi more or less dived into the room. "He was fine and then he was just...on the fucking ground and I-"

"Go get Jin," the other man said and Namjoon got to his feet before hastily crossing the room to leave. "Get him on the bed." So Jimin shifted and slowly lowered himself down until Hoseok was off his back and on the bed instead. Yoongi came over and turned his head to the side before pulling one of his lids up with his thumb. Pupil rolled up slightly but a hint of brown still visible. His friend leaned over his face and after a few seconds sighed heavily. "Breathing is even but a little labored. What the fuck happened?"

"I dunno," Jimin replied, wondering his many times today he would hear that question, "I was out with him getting some snacks and he was fine, joking around and-" Yoongi moved away from him and he felt his arm brushing against his, making him pause for a second, "and he seemed fine, like no headache, no nothing. We had just left the store and he collapsed." Before he could ask any more pointless questions the two other men appeared in the open doorway.

"Shit," Seokjin cursed under his breath, "is he breathing?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's breathing," Yoongi confirmed with a nod. "But he's out cold."

"Another migraine?" Namjoon asked but Jimin shook his head and said that the one from earlier had went away hours ago.

"You know what I think? I think it's the pills," Yoongi said as he looked back at him.

"What pills? What're you talking about?" Jimin stared at him blankly before looking at the two other men. "What pills?"

"Hoseok was taking...medication," Seokjin explained.

"I know, I know that he had meds but why would they make him collapse?"

"Well, he might have taken one too many," he continued, "because they can be a little addictive and-"

"Wait, he's coming around!" Yoongi held a hand up to silence them and they all stared at the boy on the bed for a moment before he scrunched his eyes up tightly with a grimace. "Hoseok?"

"Nngh."

"Oh god," Namjoon sighed in relief, closing his own eyes, "I thought we were gonna need to call an ambulance-"

Jimin got to his feet and raced out of the room without a word, not even stopping to look back and see if his friend opened his eyes. Instead he went into the other room and stormed across it to get to the boy's backpack. Taehyung shifted at the sound of him dumping it on the bed and lifted his head to stare at him with sleep-heavy eyes and he just opened it and rummaged through the compartment before finding what he was looking for.

Jimin pulled the bottles of pills free and held them up to look at them. Little brown bottle with white coated tablets inside, matching cap and label stuck across the curve of the bottle. He turned it so he could read it and saw the words 'Xanax' and 'one a day'. He wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what Xanax was prescribed for because he had seen the bottle in the medical cabinet of the family bathroom for as long as he could remember, his own mother's name printed on the label. She had liked to call them "mommy's happy pills" when he had been a child and now rather just muttered about how much she needed them in a desperate and anxious tone.

Before he could stop himself or even register what he was doing he was twisting the cap off hard and going into the bathroom. He lifted his hand up and then bent his wrist so that all of the pills tumbled out and into the toilet bowl, the water causing them to start dissolving in a hissing foam almost instantly. Then he dropped the bottle and cap in and reached down to flush it. The toilet made a loud gurgling noise and the foamy water lapped at the porcelain sides before becoming a whirlpool and sucking it all away, bottle and all.

When he went back onto the bedroom area he saw that Taehyung was already asleep again and that no one had caught him in the act, so he zipped the bag up again once more and placed it back on the floor before going into their friends' room. When he stepped inside he saw Hoseok was sitting upright, groggy and distant but responding to questions. He hovered in the open doorway and then he felt Yoongi's eyes on him from a few feet away. He held his gaze and waited to see if he would say anything but after a moment he turned back to looking at the other boy without a single word. Jimin let out his pent-up breath in a sigh and thought that he might just have gotten away with it. What he did was wrong and yet right now all he was thinking was that he had gotten rid of the pills and that meant that he wouldn't overdose on them again; accidentally

or on purpose.