The sky overhead looked like a bruise, a mottled patch of purple starting to dominate the horizon and push away the orange glow of the setting sun. He didn't need to check a watch to know that it was roughly 9pm or later, for the summer evening didn't start until at least then. Which meant that they were out in the middle of nowhere with nightfall on its way stuck with a broken fucking car. Right now the situation was so ridiculous that he decided to pretend that it wasn't happening. Hoseok even had his back turned away from the road so that he didn't have to look at the stupid vehicle, instead sitting on a low wooden fence that stretched across the length so that he could stare at the vast expanse of field in front of him. From behind him came the sound of his friends talking and bickering amongst each other and he really wasn't listening to their words, rather just hearing a mumbled load of nonsense like background static. There was very little to discuss and yet they had to, for there was little else for them to do: too shocked and confused to register it all. After a few minutes they would finally figure it out and start making actual plans to combat it, but for now they were just standing around stupidly.

Hoseok shifted to pull his legs up, balancing his boots on a low rut on the bottom of the fence so that his knees were cocked in front of him. The wooden fence was horribly uncomfortable and he hunched forward to fold his elbows on his knees. The grass was dancing in the breeze and the sound it made was rather like a chorus of sighs, a whispering noise like women's voices chatting amongst themselves. In the evening dusk the blades were starting to look black and the field looked like an oil spill. He snagged a handful of blades and fiddled with them for a moment, feeling them against his fingertips. They were waxy and the bottoms were wet, likely leaving grass stains all over his fingertips like blood.

"Wanna see a cool trick?" He turned his head to see Jungkook just a few feet away from him, elbows on the fence and head cocked as he studied him. The boy looked tired and yet he had forced a smile on his face regardless. He glanced over his shoulder to see the others still by the car, and then looked back at him. He shrugged and said "why not?" and his friend held a hand out to him. "Give me one of those blades then." Hoseok handed him the entire palmful of grass and he glanced over it all before plucking one free and holding it up to him. "I'm gonna make music with just this piece of grass."

"Oh yes?"

"Yeah, just watch." So Jungkook held the blade up to his lips and took a deep breath before letting it out again. He hadn't been expecting much at all, that perhaps the boy was pulling a gag to make him laugh, but when he exhaled there came the most strangest sound and he could only stare at him in wonder, mouth hanging open. It was a little like a kazoo, a thin reedy noise that wasn't particularly musical but close enough. He blew air out in a random tune, stopping and starting to try and make it sound like he was humming a line from a song and then he started laughing and lowered his hand for a second, blade of grass stuck to his lower lip rather cutely. "Told you I could do it!" He declared with a grin and then he pulled the blade free roughly and tossed it aside so that it landed on the ground out of sight. "You didn't believe me, did you?"

"Not really," he admitted, finding no reason to lie and instead tell him the truth, "I thought you were gonna do something stupid instead but that was...kind of musical, I guess?" The remark made Jungkook snort laughter. "How did you learn that, did someone teach you?"

"My dad did."

"When you were a kid?"

"Yeah, showed me how to do it way back. Must've still been in elementary school. He said it was hard and not a lot of people can do it, but he knew I would be able to. So he showed me and three attempts later I was doing it better than him."

"But of course," Hoseok said.

"Probably the only useful thing he's ever fucking taught me," Jungkook shifted slightly to glance across the field, tongue darting out to wet his lower lip which probably tasted like the grass blade, "was how to make music with grass. Hardly the kind of thing I'd get into college with, huh?"

"Pretty sure your brains will get you in no problem," he reached over and tapped on his head with his rolled up fingers but he didn't laugh or even smile at this. He just continued staring across the sea of grass instead as if not wanting to talk about the topic anymore. "The car?"

"Haven't got a fucking clue," Jungkook muttered wearily. "I'm not a car person, like Tae already knows. Engine problem I think? They're all looking at it but there's very little they can do to fix it. Haven't got any tools." They both thought this over for a moment, more than aware that that meant one thing: they were back to walking again. It was enough to make him feel exhausted and he would take hours of cramped riding in the backseat of the car over walking up hills and along freeways with exhaust fumes hitting him in the face and making him choke. But they didn't really have a choice. If the vehicle was broken it was well and truly gone and there was nothing they could do about it. They would just have to get going again, holdalls swinging and backpacks shrugged up on shoulders as they hiked the last few miles to the city. For a moment the air between them was silent and then the boy dragged his eyes away from the horizon to look at him again.

"Maybe you'll learn to make music whilst waiting for the engine to get fixed?" Before he could even respond to this Jungkook turned on his heel and wandered across the road, once more leaving him alone on the fence.

Hoseok listened to his boots crunching on the dry soil before leaning forward to grab another handful of grass. He sorted through them just like his friend had done, eyeing long and short, straight and kinked blades until he found one that looked good to him. He held it up in front of his lips and then tried blowing but nothing. The blade wriggled in the air but it didn't make a sound. He tried wetting his lips and trying again but still no music. He mentally cursed the boy for not only showing off and making it look easy, but for also giving him enough reason to want to be able to do it. Yet he couldn't make music no matter what; no matter how fast or slow he exhaled, whether the blade was long or short. There had to be a method behind it and he just had to discover it. It wasn't like he was in a rush, he had all the time in the world right now. So Hoseok got as comfortable as he could on the fence and just tried over and over even though it was pretty obvious that he was never going to be able to do it, eyes trained on the sky overhead until he heard the familiar sound of an engine rumbling and he twisted sharply to look down the road.

The unmistakable sight of twin headlights coming right towards them getting larger and larger with every passing second, sodium arc headlights bright like blue-tinged stars.

Hoseok finally took this as a sign to look back at the others and yet he didn't see the reactions he had been expecting at all. He had thought he would see his friends jumping for joy, arms pointed up at the sky and jubilant expressions revealed in the dim glow of their own headlights, a saviour coming to help them get out of this current hellish predicament. Yet what he did see was rather neutral, why none of them even seemed to be looking over at the approaching vehicle. Had they perhaps not noticed it because they were so distracted by the possible busted engine, hadn't heard it even though the rumbling was so loud on the still air that it sounded like an earthquake? The thought was so absurd that he couldn't even imagine it being the case and as the car started to get close enough for him to see the license plates and grill on the front he slowly turned on the fence so that he was facing the road. A few seconds later the vehicle just rolled past without stopping and he watched it go in dumb confusion. Why hadn't it stopped? They clearly needed assistance and yet the vehicle hadn't even slowed down. Were they supposed to flag it in some way, thumbs out like for a taxicab? Hoseok just stared at the sight of its retreating taillights and then looked back at his friends dumbly.

Then it hit him.

The reason the car hadn't stopped was because of them, a bunch of boys standing around on the side of the road in worn clothes with haggard faces and messy hair: boys who didn't seem to be in the position to have such a car and yet no sight of an adult anywhere close. To anyone passing it looked like they had stolen the car, had went on a stupid joyride in it before it had broken down on them: karma getting them back in the end. That was not the case at all but there was no way someone passing would know that. They would see their street-battered appearances, Yoongi chain smoking and chain cursing, and they would see troublemakers. Potentially dangerous troublemakers. Kids with booze and drugs - which Tae did have in the form of a half-empty bottle of soju - and maybe other things. Kids that might brandish knives and steal wallets and cars just like this one. Yet they were just in dire need of some assistance, just a couple of tools or a bit of helpful advice. He was now aware of it and it was pretty obvious that his friends had already come to that conclusion some time ago, the reason for them not jumping for joy just a few minutes past. For a moment he had actually been hopeful and in just three seconds it had been crushed once more.

"Any luck?" Jungkook called, sitting in the backseat of the dead car, legs out of the open doorway and stretched in front of him. Hoseok flashed him the middle finger and the wide grin on his face just made it more annoying that he couldn't seem to do it.

"Are we gonna flag any vehicles?" Hoseok asked. He had another handful of grass to sort through, tossing useless pieces aside.

"Nope," Namjoon replied bluntly.

"Any particular reason why not?"

"No licenses."

"...OK, but why would they want to see licenses?"

"Imagine some good excuses now then 'cos they'll probably offer to call a breakdown service for us," Namjoon explained, "and they will wanna see them. No licenses, no insurance, no registration. Right now it looks like we're riding in a stolen car. So no breakdown services, no tow trucks to get us to the mechanics, nothing."

"...Shit."

"That's what I said," Yoongi muttered, perched on the boot of the vehicle so that his boots dangled inches above the dirt road. "We're in a real fucking dilemma right now, huh?" None of them said anything against this because he was completely correct: a very stupid and serious problem. No one to call and no way to do so seen as their cellphones had been stolen yesterday, too many risks of someone calling the police on them for driving a car that didn't truly belong to them. Loudly declaring "we won it in a game of poker!" was in no way a legitimate excuse and would get them into even more trouble. It just kept getting worse and stupider every minute that he thought about it. They might as well have flashing signs on their heads to make them easier for the police to spot and therefore arrest.

The day had started off so well considering the last predicaments, had actually seemed to have been going so good that the entire day might just have been great. Even if that meant waking up cramped in the backseat of the car, muscles stiff from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in, only to have to get washed in the sink of a gas station bathroom like a vagabond (which he technically thought they could be classified as right now) and eat more instant food as a brunch and get right back to being crushed in the car. It had still been better than walking for miles on end and begging for cash on street corners. The 'adventure' had picked up any without a hitch like the previous days and he had even woken up minus of headache and that had been a blessing itself. But of course it had gone wrong somehow. He briefly wondered who they had pissed off so badly to suffer this much and then he remembered their parents, and in Yoongi and Seokjin's case their bosses and professors respectively. Why, they had left quite a few people pissed off in their wake so it really was not that much of a surprise.

"What if it's something simple and it can be fixed?" Seokjin asked in a hopeful tone. "Jimin?"

"Uh...about that..."

"What?"

"This is definitely not something simple," Jimin said, voice muffled from leaning over the hood and examining the interior. "The engine is actually broken."

Hoseok knew nothing about cars but he got to his feet and wandered over to look at the problem just because he was the only one that hadn't checked it out. Taehyung actually moved out of the way to let him glance at it and he studied the sight in front of him stupidly. Large square section filled with various parts of machinery, valves and knots and bolts and even a fan, and he didn't have a clue what any of it was. Just a little off centre there was a large metal block that took up most of the interior and little furls of grey smoke were still coming out of the grilles across the body.

"The battery?" Namjoon asked.

"No, if it was the battery we would've had no problem. We could get a boost and be on our way. See this here, this belt?" Jimin reached in to tap his finger on a stretch of black rubber. "It's snapped clean through and I think it might've knocked this," a quick gesture at a valve just beside the metal block that was pouring smoke, "free. It was leaking a few minutes ago but it stopped now. The carburetor is broken. It needs tools, maybe a replacement, and hours of work." The boy sighed heavily. "I tried fiddling but it's useless, I'm useless."

"You're not useless," Yoongi said, still sitting on the boot. "Don't say shit like that."

"Well, it's true," Jimin muttered as he shifted and let his eyes run along the interior for the hundredth time.

"He's right, you did what you could and that was more than we did," Hoseok agreed.

"All I did was tell you all what you already knew: the car's fucking broken."

"Yeah, but we know you know cars," Namjoon argued. "So if you say it's useless we know it is." The boy just ran his fingers along the belt and didn't say anything in reply. "Which means we need to let it go and start moving again."

"Fuck..." Taehyung groaned and a moment later the youngest boy echoed the sentiment. "Start moving now? The moon's about to say hello!" The remark made Hoseok smirk to himself but it really wasn't a funny situation at all. He was right, it was the hour that they usually were getting ready to settle down in a hostel and they were most certainly never out in the middle of nowhere with miles to go. "Maybe we could just-"

There was another rumbling sound, an engine of course, and it cut through the air like a blade. They all turned to look around the side of the dead car at the sight of headlights. Another vehicle that would possibly go past without stopping, disappearing into the night and leaving them at the side like trash in the gutter. Except after a few seconds the vehicle started to slow down and when it stopped just beside them they could only stare at it stupidly. Hoseok spared a quick glance at Namjoon and he saw the young man was incredibly confused.

"Hey," a man called through the open window, "looks like you're in a spot of trouble, huh?" None of them seemed to know what to say exactly. He studied the stranger for a moment because he couldn't stop himself from doing so even if it seemed rude. Perhaps mid-thirties at youngest, rather average-looking face but a smile that seemed friendly enough. Perhaps too friendly. "Need any help?"

"Um..." Jimin shifted from the front so that he was no longer hidden behind the open hood. "Do you have any tools? Like a spanner or anything like that?"

"I don't," the man said as he looked them over slowly, "but I could call-"

"We can't call anyone," Seokjin interrupted with a sheepish smile. "I haven't got my registration, you know? I'd rather not get a ticket or points on my license."

"Already got a few?" the driver joked and they made appropriate laughing noises in response. Hoseok noticed his eyes lingering on Jungkook for a longer than considered polite and he wondered if the boy did too. There was something so unsettling about it that he actually felt a strange shiver run down his spine. But why? He wasn't certain but he found it off putting enough to wander around the car and stand by the open backseat.

"Just need a few tools," Jimin said before disappearing behind the hood, no longer interested.

"You could probably got a mechanic out here," the man continued. "That could fix it for you."

"Don't know any local mechanics," Namjoon explained. "We're from Seoul, you see?"

"Long way from home..."

"Yeah, long fucking way," Yoongi muttered and Hoseok glanced over to see that he had shifted to stare at the man too. His expression showed that he looked rather wary of the stranger. The man looked at him for perhaps a second before shifting his gaze again.

"There's one not too far from here," he said, "I could give one of you a lift there. You could ride back here in the mechanic's van. Sounds like a good idea, right son?" He looked at Jungkook with that same smile and the boy shifted uncomfortably on the seat before looking over at Seokjin through the front window. Their eldest friend had an unreadable expression on his face but the way he dropped his eyes was as obvious as a curt head shake. "That would get the car fixed up nice and easy."

"Thank you for the offer but we'll pass," Seokjin said with a soft smile. "It's practically fixed anyway, right?" Jimin made a soft noise in agreement from the interior of the hood, messing around just for sake of it.

"Without those tools you needed? Look, I understand you're a little weary of strangers and I understand. I wouldn't hitch these days with all of the freaks too, too risky, but I'm not like that. I'm not a serial killer or a pervert or anything like that, I just want to help out."

"He said we'd pass," Yoongi said as he climbed off the back of the car and moved to stand by the open doorway, blocking the youngest from view. For a moment the man just looked at them, as if thinking of something to say, and then he shifted to turn back to the wheel, starting the engine again. The sound of it rumbling was bittersweet, bitter because their car didn't work like that, but sweet because the man was finally leaving. As it pulled back into the lane and drove off they all turned to watch it go, and only after the headlights had faded to nothingness in the distance did Hoseok break the silence.

"God," he muttered, "he gave me the creeps."

"Did you see the way he was looking at Kookie?" Jimin asked as he peered around the hood.

"Yeah, I'm totally gonna climb in the car in the middle of fucking nowhere," Jungkook said with a smirk, "and drive off with a stranger. He thinks guys haven't tried that one a hundred times already?"

"Hey, he could've been a nice guy," Namjoon remarked. "But it was better to not take the chance, you know?"

"Joonie, just admit it he was a real fucking creep," Yoongi said.

"I...well...OK, he was weird."

"No one stops to help these days, 'specially not for kids. Everyone wants something. If there was a girl with us I'd bet you my fucking smokes that about ten more cars would've stopped and offered her a ride to the 'mechanics'." He spat at the side of the road in disgust. "Don't trust strangers, ever."

"We were all strangers once," Hoseok replied. "But we trusted each other, right?"

"We were never strangers," Taehyung retorted. "We were long lost relations that got reunited." There was nothing on his face that showed he was joking and he seemed rather serious. "A real family."

It took a few more minutes before it finally became apparent that there was nothing to be done with the car. In that time Hoseok counted several vehicles zooming past: three vans, four massive trucks and two cars. As Yoongi had rather aptly pointed out none of these stopped for them or even slowed down. He did see heads turn to stare at them as they went past however, and in the case of one of the cars he felt multiple pairs of eyes on them from the backseat. Yet no one stopped, slowed down, called out from windows to ask if they needed help. It was rather depressing and pessimistic but clearly their friend was also a realist. He was glad of it, for he rather didn't like the idea of more awkward questions and creepy stares. He would very much like to avoid that if possible even if it was just for Jungkook's sake; not having guys eyeing him up like choice morsels with borderline predatory smiles. Why Jungkook he wasn't sure, for though the boy had a young face he didn't give off the same impressions as Jimin, small and more youthful-looking. Or maybe he just seemed that way to them all but was completely different to strangers? They probably saw him and saw nothing more than a kid, which was really the truth. And if he was a kid then there was a chance of him being naïve and possibly agreeing to such things, to try and be helpful for the sake of the rest of them, but luckily the boy had a smart head on his shoulders and six friends to stop the temptation.

It was Seokjin who finally suggested that they get moving by foot rather than all stand around the dead car. He said this in a quiet voice, almost as if he didn't expect anyone to really be listening to him or take his words seriously, but then Taehyung wandered around to the boot to pop it open, grabbing the bags and dumping them on the dusty road before retrieving his own from the backseat. He shrugged it on with a sigh and then took a sip of soju, carrying the bottle by the neck because there was no cap to be placed on top. He didn't even wait to see if they followed and instead just starting walking, not along the road but rather in the grass instead. Hoseok collected his own backpack without a word, hefting the familiar weight up onto his shoulders and knowing that it would start to make them ache after a short while. After a moment the others moved to get theirs and he noticed that there were smears of oil and rust on Jimin's jeans from where he had wiped his hands on them hastily. That was going to leave stains but that didn't really matter any more, several days on the road meant that their jeans were already worn and torn just like the rest of them.

"So wait," Namjoon asked as he got his holdall onto his shoulder and went around the vehicle. "That's happened to you before?" The question was aimed at Jungkook of course. "Guys have tried to get you into their cars before?"

"Yup," Jungkook agreed with a curt nod, turning on his heel and walking backwards in the high grass, "happens a lot actually. I mean, not all of them. Most of them are just wanting to get me off the streets 'cos it's 'dangerous' and all of that shit, but there's no point. Don't they realise I'm on the streets for a reason?" He paused for a moment before adding. "But there's been a few creeps, you know? Sometimes they get all defensive and mad at me for accusing them, and they start calling me the pervert. Some of them follow me down the street and say all kinds of shit, you wouldn't believe it. I've been offered cash before."

"No shit?" Yoongi asked in complete disbelief.

"Yeah shit, it's funny but kinda scary," Jungkook slowed down his pace and dropped his eyes to his boots, which were buried beneath the thick growth of grass. "A couple have tried to drag me into their cars before but I'm too fast for them." He turned back around and carried on walking, holdall swinging in his hand. Seokjin asked him why the hell he continued running away and staying on the streets if that happened to him. The boy didn't reply and the air went silent save for the rustling in the field and drone of traffic.

"Tae, anything like that ever happened to you before?" Namjoon asked.

"Hmmm...?" The boy twisted to look back at them and then furrowed his brow. "What? I wasn't listening?"

"Have guys ever tried to pick you up before? Or followed you or anything like that?"

"Oh uh..." Taehyung paused and remained silent.

"Or dragged you into their cars?" Jimin added as he fixed his backpack.

"A few times," he replied nonchalantly, "one time I was actually dragged into a car but I got out again. Had to roll out and nearly broke my fucking neck but I got out." Taehyung took another sip of soju and then eyed the remains for a second before tossing the bottle aside. The alcohol sprayed out of the open top before it disappeared into the grass. Hoseok watched this before glancing over at the others to see if anyone was going to say anything in response but they seemed incapable of doing so. "That's pretty much me, I always get out." Yes, except one day you're not gonna get out Tae, and I'm not just thinking about the cars.

"Why are we just hearing this shit now?" Namjoon asked, voice hinting at a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

"Why'd you think?" Taehyung retorted. "'Cos you'd nag me to death."

"It's not nagging," Seokjin said quietly. "It's concern."

For a moment no one said anything and Hoseok sighed and ran his eyes along the road beside them. No cars right now but a few would likely pass soon. He glanced over his shoulder and saw their own stalled car not too far from their location: headlights still glowing and hood open wide to show the interior with the smoking engine and broken belt. Within a couple of minutes they would no longer be able to see it and yet the lights on the horizon didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"I told you, I always get out," Taehyung said without looking back at them. "So I don't need the concern. Really. Save it for Kookie, he needs it more."

"Fuck you."

"Or Jimin, yeah Dumbass totally needs it."

"Yeah yeah, you can say that Tae but it's a load of shit," Jimin snorted. "You need all of the concern you can get." The other boy flashed him the middle finger and he grinned widely at this, fixing his backpack for the hundredth time because one of the straps was so badly frayed that it was a miracle it hadn't snapped yet.

"I'm concerned about you all," Yoongi muttered under his breath, "'cos you're all fucking stupid and have death wishes."

"I don't," Hoseok retorted. "I'm not running away and nearly getting abducted."

"Yeah, but you don't leave the fucking house," Jungkook announced with a laugh and he felt his jaw setting in annoyance. "So you can't get abducted!"

Hoseok shrugged his backpack back onto his shoulders and didn't bother replying to the boy. There was no need to explain anything to him because he didn't want to, especially not just because he happened to be the butt of a joke. Why bother telling them about how sometimes the headaches were so strong that his head felt like it was going to explode if he did so much as move, about how the sunlight irritated him enough to need to keep the bedroom curtains closed and how just lying in bed and wishing for unconsciousness to overcome him so the pain would go away seemed to be the only good thing that could possibly happen? No, he would rather let them share a cheap laugh over it instead.

"Keep making jokes like that," Taehyung said after a moment, "and the next car that goes past, I'll push you into the backseat myself." This remark was a little insensitive all things considered but the youngest boy snorted laughter regardless. The boy looked over his shoulder at him and Hoseok held his gaze for a few seconds before looking away again. "You won't be laughing when I do it."

"Let's not do that," Yoongi said, "'cos we need him to keep making us cash."

"Oh? So that's all I'm good for, huh? Making you all cash and nothing more?" Jungkook turned around and pulled a sad expression. "I have emotions, you know?"

When an engine next rumbled on the still air they had been walking for quite some time and none of them even glanced over at the road to look at it. There was no point, for they were so far away from it and deep into the field the driver likely didn't even see them as they past, the headlights not illuminating more than the thin dirt road in front of the vehicle. It was actually smart travelling at a distance because it meant less chances of an accident, or any swerving cars possibly hitting any of them should a drunken idiot start weaving down the road, but it also meant being able to travel in peace too. Hoseok didn't want to imagine someone being as cruel as to toss trash out at them as they went past but he still thought that there was a chance. Or a chance that someone might grab out at one of them, shout something disgusting before speeding off, car filled with the sound of laughter. They were easy targets standing right beside the road but out in the field they weren't at all. He supposed it was just like the age-old trick of walking against vehicles for safety purposes, always making sure that the traffic in front was heading towards rather than away. It helped stop accidents, it reduced chances of abductions, and it was just smart to follow. Plus, there was the nice bonus of not having exhaust fumes floating in their faces constantly, rather just the scent of grass and damp soil instead.

Rather than walk in the usual huddled formation that allowed them to stay on the sidewalks and in a tight little group, they all loosely spread out across the field because there was no need to stick together. But they still ended up in their own little groupings. Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin ended up on the left, not exactly walking in a triangle but close enough, quite a distance ahead of them like usual. Seokjin and Namjoon stayed rather central, both walking together at the same pace, and he and Yoongi were a couple of feet to their right, not sticking in a pair but rather just walking at their own pace. In the case of the young man he wandered in more of a meander than a straight line, curving to the left and getting closer to him before bobbing back to the right and drifting away again like a soft tide. Because of the distance they were more or less silent for the occasional remark every now and again, and he had went deep into his thoughts when he heard one of them making a loud noise and Hoseok looked up sharply in time to see Taehyung standing bolt upright, head turning to look across the field like a dog trying to locate a squirrel.

"Woah, holy shit!" he announced before letting out a sudden laugh. "You hear that? That's a fucking train!" The excitement in his voice was so strong that he could only stare at him in confusion. Why was he so excited over a stupid train? They must have seen dozens of abandoned trains at the old yard back in Seoul for him to not be that amazed by them anymore and yet that did not seem to be the case. He understood that it was kind of cool seeing an actual train these days and not a subway shuttle, seen as they were damn near extinct but still... perhaps he needed to lower his level of maturity down to the other boy's to really get it.

"Uh yeah," Yoongi said after a moment. "That's definitely a train. Thanks for the announcement. I'm sure we couldn't have figured that out on our own."

"Dumbass couldn't have," Jungkook retorted and Jimin just let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes rather than respond. He looked tired and considering the events of the night he had every right to be: smacking his head on the driver-seat and busting his nose, hunkering over the broken engine and getting acrid smoke floating up into his face, and now having to put up with the boy's jokes.

"What? You guys don't get it, do you?" Taehyung turned on his heel to look back at them. A quick glance across the horizon showed no sign of the vehicle and it was likely some distance away, for sound traveled very well out here in the middle of nowhere. But the tracks weren't that far away from them for Hoseok could see a sign mounted that seemed to be a level crossing: flashing light on it and orange and black stripes up the length of the pole.

"Get what?" Namjoon asked as he shrugged his holdall up with a sigh.

"We can ride the fucking train," the boy said before laughing again. They all stared at him and he turned back around to start walking across the field a little faster, no doubt wanting to get close to the tracks for when it went blaring past.

"I'm sorry, did you just say we can ride the train?"

"Yeah Seokjin, keep up with us. I know it's hard you being so old." Taehyung's backpack jostled on his back in rhythm with his steps and Hoseok found his own pace getting a little faster in response to keep up with him. "But we can ride it. This baby's probably got about ten freight carriages on the back. All of us run alongside it and get one open and voila! Instant ride and a place to sleep for the night!"

"What if the carriages are locked?" Seokjin asked, a valid and smart question.

"Why would they lock the fucking carriages?"

"To stop people riding in them!"

"C'mon! We won't find out if we miss it, hurry your asses up!" And so the boy actually started racing across the field and a few seconds later the other boys were right on his heels. There was still no sight of it so Hoseok thought he didn't need to run just yet and rather just kept at a fast pace. No point in wasting energy that would soon be needed to chase after the train. He was a couple of feet away from the tracks when he heard the noise it was making get louder, signalling its arrival.

The train made a noise that sounded a little like an army of huffs, air being sucked up and expelled loudly over and over until the air seemed to vibrate from it all. The ground certainly did, for he could feel the slight tremors under his boots and even see a few pebbles quivering in the soil as the vehicle got closer and closer. The first thing he saw was a blaring light, then a heavy plume of smoke, and then the front of the train. It was bullet-shaped and looked to be a slick black metal in the light from the moon, red details on the grills and around the lower section of the body by the wheels. He stared at sight of it and then Taehyung was running along the tracks towards it so fast that he was surprised. The carriages must have most certainly been open because he saw him grabbing onto something and then a moment later he was diving up and out of sight, legs kicking for a second or two before he pulled them in.

The other boys had seen his success and decided to copy him, no doubt wanting to show off just as much as he had done and make it look so simple. Jungkook tossed his holdall in first and then jumped inside and a hand shot out to grab hold of Jimin's forearm and help pull him inside. It looked surprisingly easy and yet he knew that that was not the case. The train got closer to them down the tracks, not moving at a particularly fast speed but rather nice and steady, and as it did Taehyung and Jungkook leaned out, the youngest shouting about their bags and the other holding his arm out for assistance. Seokjin tossed his bag at the boy and then took his chance, quickly darting forward and getting his upper body onto the floor of the carriage before dragging himself up and into it. Namjoon just grabbed the side of the carriage as it passed him with both hands and then used it to pull himself up and inside in a quick jerk.

"Why did I agree to this fucking adventure?" Yoongi muttered before also tossing his bag. The carriage was practically in front of them now and so his friend jogged a few feet before accepting Taehyung's hand and letting him drag him up into the carriage. Hoseok tossed his own backpack but Jungkook had been in the act of throwing the other one behind him and as a result he fumbled and dropped it.

For a second he didn't register this but then it hit the floor with a loud thumping noise, cloud of dust taking to the air as it did and then the open doorway moved right past him.

"Shit!" Jungkook called out. "I missed the fucking bag!" Hoseok retrieved it and realised that he was going to have to run alongside the freights to catch up, cursing himself for being the one that had to do it. "Throw it again!"

"Why?! So you can miss it again?!" he shouted and he heard his friends laughing from the interior of the carriage just a few feet in front of him. He picked up speed before swinging the bag up and into Namjoon's hands instead and his friend shoved it behind him. Taehyung was practically hanging out of the open doorway, lying on his stomach and waving an arm out to him and so he grabbed onto his forearm, feeling his hand seizing onto his arm tightly too, and then he let him drag him up and into the carriage roughly, grabbing onto his shoulder so that he couldn't possibly lose his grip. He felt his knees scraping along the floor for a moment and then he pulled his legs inside fully and a split second later the pole from earlier went flying past. Had he been a second late then he would have smacked right into it, and that would have most certainly hurt.

Hoseok shifted to sit down and took a moment to catch his breath, running his eyes along the interior as he did. Empty carriage that wasn't connected to the others and had no other doors excluding the one they had gotten in through. The floor was dusty against the palms of his hands and there was a faint musty scent in the air that seemed to hint that it hadn't been used in some time. At least the boy hadn't picked one that had been packed with boxes and no room for them to fit inside. That was pretty damn lucky.

"Never play football," he said after a few seconds, looking right at Jungkook as he did, "if you have to play in goal." The boy grinned at him and he could only shake his head. "Chasing after a fucking train, what am I? Five?"

"You run like a five year old," Jimin said with a smirk. "Even Yoongi managed to get in before you did."

"Hey," the young man said around a cigarette stick, "give me a break, huh?"

"At least it wasn't a joke about me for once," Seokjin said with a laugh.

"Wait wait wait," Taehyung held a hand up at them all. "A minute ago you were all looking at me like I was fucking nuts and now you're all grinning and messing around. Was it a good idea or what?"

"It was a good idea," Hoseok said with a nod, seeing the boy beaming at him. "But where is it going?"

"Pft, like I know?"

"So we just ride it to the end of the line?" Namjoon asked as he shifted and placed his holdall behind him like a makeshift pillow. Taehyung confirmed this with a nod before saying that they could ride it until morning also. "What happens if we sleep and wake up in Busan?"

"We'll figure that out if and when it happens," the boy said with a nonchalant shrug.

It wasn't much longer after they had managed to get into the freight carriage that they started to settle down in it, spitting mouthfuls of foamy toothpaste out of the open door so they could at least wash up a little, tossing wrappers from any leftover snacks out so that they were dragged under the wheels and crushed on the tracks, using backpacks and holdalls as temporary pillows and allowing them to actually lie down and rest. Hoseok didn't think that he possibly could rest seen as the floor vibrated rather annoyingly underneath them, enough to make him feel an unsettled sensation in the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away. Namjoon stayed in his original position to the side of the door but the others seemed to gravitate towards lying in a rather neat line in the middle of the carriage, far away from the open door to save any of them falling out in their sleep; which Jimin would somehow manage to achieve. Seokjin was on the end by the wall and to his left was Jungkook, the both of them sharing his light coat like a blanket because there was nothing else to use. To the boy's left was Jimin, Yoongi's jacket tucked up under his chin securely. The young man was to his side, turned so that he could only see the back of his red hair fanned out against his own holdall, and if he was in anyway cold then he didn't show it even when he was just wearing a thin cotton tee. Then Taehyung with his denim shirt blanket, and him against the other wall. Not long after they had all managed to get comfortable on the hard metal floor he heard the sounds of soft snoring and breathing that revealed that his friends were all asleep, or at least drifting off, but yet Hoseok couldn't sleep at all. He stared at the wall and ceiling in turn, at Taehyung lying beside him with his beanie hat pulled down over his eyes like a sleeping mask to block any light out from the doorway across the carriage.

Eventually he sat up with a heavy sigh and shifted so that he could get his backpack and look at it. Dust on the bottom from the floor, a slight tear on the hemline so that a little thread hung down annoyingly on one of the compartments. He reached down to unbuckle the clasp and then pulled the material open to look inside. The sight of his clothing mostly neatly folded inside, toothbrush sticking out like an antenna. He eyed the inner compartment for a few seconds before glancing over at his friends. Then he shifted to move away from the line and into the corner opposite Namjoon.

He had just gotten the plastic bottle between his fingers, pulled free from the compartment, and was about to apply pressure on the lid with his other hand to twist it free, when he heard a rustling noise and he glanced over to see Taehyung sitting up.

He reached up to pull his beanie off and then stared right at him from just a few feet away. For a moment the freight carriage seemed to go deathly silent, punctuated only by the vibrating floor and the sound of the wind blowing past the open gap, and then he felt his breath leave his lungs in a sigh.

"Shit Tae, you scared me to death and-"

"What you got there?" Taehyung asked as he eyed the bottle, as if it wasn't terribly obvious what it was in his hands. He wasn't even talking in a whisper like him, rather just a low voice, and he was terrified that he might just wake the others up.

"Medication."

"Like flu medication?" Hoseok didn't reply and instead considered putting the bottle back but it was stupid. There was no point in which trying to hide it away now that one of them had seem him with the bottle. So instead he just looked at it quietly for a second. Then the other boy was crawling along the carriage, denim shirt blanket slipping off him as he did so that his palms and knees brushed against it with a soft rustle. When he was but a few inches away, knees touching his own, he stopped and stared at the bottle too, eyes no doubt trying to scan the white label attached to the side.

"No, it's not flu medication."

"Gimme one."

"Give you...what?"

"Hey, first rule of drugs: always share what you got."

"Tae, it's not drugs it's medication."

"Same thing."

"It's not Valium, you can't get high off it." But Taehyung was holding his palm out to him anyway as if expecting him to tip a pill on it so Hoseok sighed and shook two free before giving him one. He told him not to chew it so the boy just tossed it into his mouth and swallowed hard.

"What is it?" he asked, the first thing he should have rather than requesting one.

"Xanax, and I shouldn't be giving you any because it's addictive and mixes bad with alcohol."

"Makes it easier to get drunk, huh? Too bad I'm already drunk." Taehyung shifted to look at the bottle. Hoseok hesitated before handing it to him, swallowing his own pill with a sip of warm water. "Xanax, 40mg, directions for use: take one a day with water, do not exceed stated dosage." The boy made a soft noise at this before shaking it slightly. "This is the more addictive version of Prozac, right?" He didn't say anything as he screwed the lid back on the battered plastic bottle of water. "Giving this shit to kids... might as well spread a line of coke on the doctor's desk whilst they're at it. How long have you been taking 'em?"

"Three weeks."

"That long and you managed to keep it a secret from us? I'm impressed." Taehyung grinned at this and then dropped the bottle on his lap. "It's not doing shit, is it?" He could only let out a soft laugh in response as he shoved the pill bottle back into the bag and zipped it up, the sound loud in the quiet carriage. "Is it the stupid exams?"

"I...uh, I don't know what it is," Hoseok said as the put the bottle down and reached up to run his fingers across his brow gently, fingertips swirling against his skin. "It just happened, you know?"

"Know what? What happened?" Taehyung shifted so that he was seated beside him, balancing his weight on one wrist and leaning close to keep his voice at a low volume, chin brushing against his shoulder as he did. He could smell the faint remains of soju on his breath and he knew that he shouldn't have given him one of the pills.

"I just started to feel...weird, I don't know I just-"

"You can tell me," the other boy said in a reassuring tone. "You don't have to act all skittish about it all. Just be straight, tell me all of the shit and just get it over with."

"What if I don't want to tell all of the shit?" he asked quietly, eyes moving over to look at his sleeping friends to see if any of them moved. They didn't. "What then?"

"You trust me, don't you?" he asked and he let this question hang in the air before turning his head to look at him. Taehyung's face just a few inches from his own, features readable from the light coming in through the open carriage door: eyes wide and attentive and slightly glassy in the dim lighting, corners of his mouth neutral and lips pouted ever so slightly. He held his gaze for a moment and then the boy's eyes dropped to his mouth for a second before going back up to his eyes; faster than a blink.

"I trust you, I trust all of you."

"So why not?"

"I don't want to burden anyone with my shit," Hoseok replied brusquely, "because everyone's got enough of their own. They don't need mine weighing them down too."

"You think you'd weigh us down?"

"I do."

"Then... don't we weigh you down with our shit too?" He shook his head and told him that that wasn't the case at all. "How come? And don't say "just 'cos" or I'll roll you out of this fucking carriage." Hoseok smirked at this remark and took a minute to sort his thoughts out in his head before even beginning to speak. This was the kind of conversation that required a little pre-planning and yet Taehyung had sprung it on him so suddenly that he hadn't had time to prepare at all.

"Because you all have reasons and I don't," he said bluntly and his friend didn't say a word, the carriage plunging into silence again. "That's why. I don't have an abusive asshole for a father or money troubles, I'm not a runaway or struggling with addictions or anything like that." He felt his eyes shifting to look at the bag for a second before forcing his gaze back to the wall instead. "I have no reason."

"You do have a reason," Taehyung said in a quiet voice, "and that reason matters just as much as our reasons do. Your reason is that you just do. That's it. You just need the medication 'cos you're struggling with something. Doesn't matter if there are 'reasons'. Shit, depression doesn't need fucking reasons." At the word 'depression' he felt himself flinching. That was it, the word was finally out in the open. No longer coming out of his doctor's mouth in a clinical fashion, no longer whispered by his mother because she thought he couldn't read her lips from across the room; no, he had finally heard it coming right out of his friend's mouth and he felt a strange sensation as a result. It didn't feel as...dramatic or ugly sounding as it did in his head. It seemed 'normal'. "So you don't need to feel like you'll burden us, OK?"

"...OK."

"'Cos we care about you Hoseok," Taehyung continued, moving his hand along the floor of the carriage so that his fingertips traced lines in the dust. "And if we can't handle you at your worst we don't deserve you at your fucking best."

"What's that like again?" he asked in a quiet voice. "It's been so long I've forgotten what my best feels like."

"Your best is...it's the fucking best," the boy said with a wide grin and Hoseok let out a laugh at this, "it's just the best. You could make us all smile even if it was the shittiest day of our life, I mean you really chased the blues away." He asked him if he was being serious. "Yup, as serious as I'll ever be." Taehyung's fingers advanced along the floor until he could feel them brushing against the side of his thigh, against his jeans.

"How? How did I chase the blues away, huh?"

"Your smile," Taehyung said without missing a beat. "Could just do it." He studied his friend's face and he darted his tongue out to wet his lips. "But it really does seem like forever since we last saw it; I mean really saw it at it's brightest, y'know?"

"I'm not feeling my brightest these days..."

"But you still shine like always." The comment was enough to make him smile softly and he looked over at their sleeping friends. He could see Yoongi shifting slightly and he wondered if he was awake or asleep. If he wasn't sleeping then he had probably heard absolutely everything they had said and that meant not just one of them knowing. How long until it was all of them? And then what? He was so into his thoughts as he stared at his friend that it took him a moment to realise that Taehyung had moved his face along his shoulder and before he could even mutter something at him the boy's lips were brushing along his cheek. He managed to get them to the corner of his mouth before Hoseok turned his face away.

"Let me guess," he asked, "you're really drunk...again?"

"I...uh-"

"You always do this when you're drunk," Hoseok said before sighing. "You're too predictable Tae, really."

"I...well the soju was pretty strong and-" Hoseok moved the backpack from in front of him so that he could lie down and use it as a pillow instead, settling against the bulky material and staring up at the ceiling. "I probably shouldn't have had that pill but...oops." After a few seconds he heard him shifting to lie down on the floor beside him, on his side because he could feel his gaze on his face; a weight to it as he stared at him in the dimness of the carriage. "What'd you mean, I always do that when I'm drunk?"

"You always try and kiss me when you're drunk," he explained, "so stop pretending that you don't remember." Taehyung stayed silent for a moment and he wondered if he would carry on playing dumb with him or whether he would just leave it and go to sleep instead. "That's the...fourth, yes, the fourth time."

"Are you pissed off 'cos me?"

"Pissed? Why would I be pissed off because you?"

"I dunno, you just..." the boy paused and thought his words over for a moment, "you moved your face away and I thought that you might be pissed off."

"I'm not," Hoseok said and he closed his eyes with a sigh. "Good night Tae, get some sleep."

"What about a goodnight kiss?" He didn't respond to this and a few seconds later he felt his friend's face hovering over his before he leaned forward and kissed him. It was nothing more than the lightest brushing of his lips against his and then he heard him settling down on the floor beside him. After a minute Hoseok opened his eyes again to stare at the ceiling and then came the rustling sound of someone moving across the carriage. He didn't move to see who it was because he soon detected the scent of cigarette smoke and he knew that it was Yoongi, lighting up because he couldn't sleep like always. Then he turned his head slightly to look at Taehyung. The boy had his arm folded up under his head as a makeshift pillow and his hair had fallen over his closed eyes.

The faintest tastes of the pill was still on his tongue and when he ran it along his lower lip he was pretty sure that he could taste soju too.