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4:10pm, Day 1, a convenience store at the edge of Seoul.
They don’t go to this part of the city very often. They're not on the route they intended on taking, but the highway they were supposed to get on was closed for unknown reasons, and Seokjin’s quick-thinking had redirected them to a backroad he declared he knew very well—an obvious lie they wordlessly agreed to follow, so all of them were at fault, really. The mart they’re at is family-owned, wide and empty and leaves little room for options. Yoongi has been standing in front of the same shelf of canned drinks for five minutes, hoping a staff will come and say sorry, we’re not fully-stocked today. A minor inconvenience, which, understandably, is the point of this trip.
Next to him, Jungkook is cradling a bunch of snacks. The mart doesn't even have shopping baskets. A box of chocolate milk falls helplessly out of Jungkook’s arms. “Oh no,” he pouts. Yoongi bends down to pick up the cold carton from the floor. “Thanks,” Jungkook says through a smile. Yoongi gives him a nod.
At the cashier, while Jungkook pays for the snacks, Yoongi throws a cheap lighter on the counter.
In the car, they call Yoongi stupid for forgetting to grab the cigarettes.
11.50pm, Day 3, a rest stop between Yeongju and Andong.
The gas station is empty save for the constant buzzing of the convenience store’s neon sign and the whirring of their car engine. Hoseok jumps from the back of the pick-up truck, a loud sound when his boots meet the tarmac, and stumbles as he lands on the hard pavement, giggling, then looks over his shoulder to smile at Jimin and Taehyung, who are laughing at him. Seokjin tells them to be quiet, Jungkook’s asleep, so on second thought Jimin moves to sit on the edge of the cargo bed before hopping off of it carefully.
Once they're parked next to the toilet, Namjoon quickly leaps out of the driver’s seat holding his crotch, desperate, not caring to straighten the wheels. Yoongi leans forward to check the fuel gauge and sees that their tank is still full, so there’s not much gas filling to be done for the next 48 hours, if they’re on schedule. Which means Yoongi won’t have an excuse to watch Jungkook from outside the back window while he stands by the gas pump for the next 48 hours, if they’re on schedule.
The fluorescent light is bright against the truck's dim interior, and like this, Yoongi can see Jungkook’s illuminated reflection in the rearview mirror with no interruption. His eyes linger, catching Jungkook yawning in his sleep.
“I’ll drive,” Yoongi offers when Namjoon returns. Namjoon doesn’t refuse.
00.03am, Day 4, 5 kilometres away from the rest stop.
“Hoseok, did you get the cigarettes?"
"Oh my gosh," Hoseok exclaims regretfully, rummaging through the plastic bag in vain.
Yoongi drops his head on the dashboard. "Can somebody please remember to get my fucking cigs."
9:40am, Day 6, Boryeong.
It was Taehyung's suggestion to go to Daecheon beach. As they pull up at the parking lot, a family of 5 passes by, clad in matching bathing suits, their pink flamingo floatie grazing the rear bumper.
“Cute," Hoseok mutters at the same time as Yoongi barks, "Gross," and adds, "This is too many fucking people."
"Can we not listen to Taehyung, moving forward?" Seokjin chirps from the backseat. Taehyung huffs next to him.
Namjoon revs the engine, turns his head to make eye contact with Taehyung and says sheepishly, "Sorry," because he's sweet like that, always apologising on behalf of others.
There's a line of cars queueing for a spot behind them already. Yoongi spits as they back up. They drive away.
5:40pm, Day 8, on the road.
A familiar pop song is playing on the stereo, and Yoongi notices Jungkook mouthing the lyrics quietly. Only when Seokjin turns the control and switches to a new station does he stop.
11.17pm, Day 9, at the only open family restaurant they could find between Tongyeong and Busan.
Yoongi recalls the tune on the radio.
"Hey, Jungkook," he calls out, softly, because they just had the fullest meal they've had in days, are all in a good mood, and there's even leftover kimchi on the table, and he feels indulgent. "Isn't this your song?"
Jungkook smiles in an instant, growing it into a full grin before he breaks out singing in the middle of the restaurant, sloppy English lyrics Yoongi's sure are wrong.
It's a good night, so Yoongi sings along with him.
1:27am, Day 11, Jumunjin beach.
When Yoongi was younger and trying to quit smoking, he’d stick his right hand in his pocket where his lighter was to hold the familiar weight in his palm as compensation for the lack of nicotine between his teeth. It went on for a solid five weeks before he figured he was already sabotaging himself in pretty much all other areas of life anyway, so what would one less cigarette even do? He’d smoked with Jungkook that day, who only laughed at him and turned out to be the biggest hypocrite as he quit the next month, citing his grandfather who had died of lung cancer.
Jungkook loved his grandfather, therefore out of respect, Yoongi began hiding the cigarettes from him too.
Tonight is no different. Yoongi toys with the lighter in his hand, ignoring how Jungkook’s head on his thigh is akin to having the moon in his lap. It’s not a contest of who can burn the brightest, but when Jungkook lifts and turns his head to blow out the flame at Yoongi’s thumb, eyes purposefully challenging Yoongi's, Yoongi thinks it’s a nice metaphor.
Looking up at the pitch-black sky, he apologises to no one in particular, technically, but to the rest of the city, theoretically, for keeping all the moonlight to himself. How selfish of him.
6:31am, Day 13, Seonjaedo.
It’s a hidden gem, this time—Hoseok’s find. They’re the only people there when they arrive, a vast piece of land and endless blue all to themselves, and for seven boys who were never given that much freedom in the first place, none of them are sure what they're supposed to do with this much breathing space up for claim. They accelerate along the shoreline, letting the wheels rip through the waters even though it would thin the rubber. At one point, Yoongi thinks he heard the seagulls caw in tune to Jimin’s shouts of delight. Namjoon insists it’s a private beach and that they’re probably trespassing, but then he sticks his head out the window and he’s the one screaming the loudest.
Seokjin, Taehyung and Jungkook are getting their feet wet when they spot Hoseok driving the pick-up truck in circles. Seokjin shouts, “That’s my truck, you asshole!” but there's a lighthearted crinkle on his face and that’s how Yoongi knows Hoseok could scratch the truck and Jin would simply laugh from the high of it all. Someone is howling, someone else is documenting everything on their phone, while the three of them throw their shoes ceremoniously in the direction of the drier part of the beach, rolling their pants up until the cuffs reach their thighs and jumping into the water only to bounce out almost immediately because it’s December, everything is too fucking cold, what the fuck, they should've maybe thought this through.
Day 14, the next morning.
"What are you thinking about?” Yoongi isn’t sure what he’s doing. He followed Jungkook to the edge of the pier with no plan and now has to face the consequences; silence too comfortable it feels like his heartbeat is on an amplifier. Resting his hand on Jungkook’s back, he hopes that if he makes a long enough physical contact, he’ll be able to decipher what Jungkook chooses not to share.
It’s not that Jungkook keeps to himself a lot—he’s just very good at being careful not to inflict damage, which irritates Yoongi because if Jungkook’s always the one carrying their hearts inside a glass box, who’s going to protect his?
To his right, Jungkook’s face is soft, forgiving. "The sky,” he says brightly, and it's a silly answer to what's meant to be a loaded question, leaving Yoongi to wonder if Jungkook has ever felt any hesitation.
Day 15, on the way back.
Jungkook and Yoongi are seated at the back, a weird configuration, but Jungkook’s hand is in Yoongi’s, and he’s humming to that same song again, and Yoongi fails to remember the last time he held anything so tightly.