Chapter Text
The Festival of Spring.
The streets, strewn with banners, balloons and sickeningly colourful signs, were by early morning flooded with a few hundred citizens of the small town.
The day was spent by most eating sweets, dancing, drinking and many other fun activities that I'll leave up to your imagination.
By the time the glowing beacon in the sky had faded into a beige reflection of its former self, plunged into a sea of deep royal blue sky, flashes of bright lights joined the stars, outshining them and capturing the eyes of everyone in the town. It was so unnaturally colourful that it was almost like a painter's canvas.
Situated a little way from the town square stood a dark hill, uninhabited save for a littering of cans and the six young men who discarded them. The silvery grass was beginning to make them shudder, lit only by the explosions in the air above them, which distracted them from the cold night.
"Namjoon,” the oldest of the bunch asked, “what time is it?”
Namjoon reached a hand to the sky, but his watch was lost among the colours in the sky, a soft mimicry of them bouncing off the glass face. For a moment he kept it there, before turning his wrist.
"9 o'clock." He replied, sitting up with a stretch, a swift shake of his head removing the blades of grass that hid amongst his dyed hair.
"Should we head back then? “ Yoongi asked, pulling the puffy turquoise jacket a little tighter around his small frame. “I’m tired.”
"Yeah,” Jimin agreed, hopping up with the sleeves of his sweater pulled firmly over his hands, “let's go."
Five were stood, but one remained on the ground.
"Taehyung?" Hoseok chimed, waiting for a response. "Tae, are you okay?"
Taehyung jerked his head to the voice, finally brought back to reality. He nodded curtly and stood up, immediately challenging the other boys to a race down the hill.
The six of them headed down to the train station, which was only open that late because of the festival. They often caught the train, and grew accustomed to its leather seats, long windows with little red curtains, and the carriage they occupied whenever they boarded.
Even though it was the first day of spring, frost still laced the ground surrounding them and the further they got from the centre of the town, the more snow began to cover the tracks.
Eventually they reached what they referred to as their 'home’ - an abandoned laundry shop with a light carpet of moss making its way through a few of the rooms, but trailing off before it could reach the living area. It was their secret hideout, though one a bit more interesting than most teenagers could boast about having.
There was still working electricity and gas, somehow. No one knew about it apart from them as far as they were aware, and they didn’t know who it used to belong to. A few of the washing machines still worked, while others made harsh noises before sputtering to a stop.
With the flick of a switch, the rooms were illuminated with a subtle orange glow, and the boys settled near the fireplace in the living area at the back.
"So what were you daydreaming about earlier Tae?" Asked Hoseok, leaning closer to the brunette.
"Nothing really. Just school and stuff."
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’ll believe that you were thinking about school.”
The others chuckled in agreement.
They chatted for a while, about meaningless things. Things that made them smile. Fun things. Funny things. Random things.
After a while, Namjoon noticed that the oldest was no longer contributing to the conversation and was instead asleep, with his head fallen back onto the edge of the sofa, as was Taehyung. He removed both of their jackets and, deciding that he too had little energy left, rested his head on Seokjin's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.
Eventually, the only two who were still awake were Jimin and Yoongi, sat on the sofa. The two had no problem holding a conversation on their own, in fact they could easily talk for hours on end, as they had often for the several years they had been friends. Somehow the conversation always ended up getting deep this late at night.
"So Namjoon was telling me about this philosophy book he was reading or whatever,” Jimin began, “and we got into this whole debate about karma. Do you think it’s real?"
"Where did that deep question come from all of a sudden?" Asked Yoongi with a hint of confusion, making the other smile. "Well anyway, the way I see it....we're blessed to have good lives. Maybe it's best not to question it. If you're a good person then you'll live a good life.”
"Where did that deep answer come from hyung?"
They both laughed in tired unison as the conversation died out into a few final words.
“Goodnight Jiminie.”
“Goodnight hyung.”
.
.
As morning slowly seeped in through the windows, Yoongi woke up drearily to Namjoon shaking his shoulder.
"Hyung, get up."
Yoongi stretched his stiff neck as he did as he was told, before asking the younger boy for the time.
"It's nearly 9.”
Yoongi froze in realisation.
The others, already in their coats and standing near the door, waited impatiently for Yoongi to pull on his jacket and follow them outside. As the door opened, they were met with the cool but pleasant air of the northern part of the town - less pleasant this soon after waking up.
The boys didn't have time to warm up to it.
They ran along the icy ground quickly but carefully towards the train stop. This one was much less grand than the one in town - in fact it barely even held a candle to the bus stops there. But it made no difference to them whether it was a mountain or a molehill, all that mattered was that the train arrived.
They hopped on it and eventually reached the town centre. It wasn't a long journey in terms of distance, but the train was slow, and it took 10 minutes to get there on a good day, 20 on a cold one like today, when the engine had a 50/50 chance of failing all together.
"My father is going to kill me if I'm late." Yoongi sighed, constantly checking Namjoon's watch. Namjoon was half tempted to tell him ‘get your own’, but he remembered his privilege. After all, he was the only one wealthy enough to own one.
They finally arrived and hopped off the train, running to their respective houses without a chance to say goodbye. Yoongi sprinted down his street, lungs sore and stinging from the fresh morning air, and finally reached his house.
He took a moment to catch his breath before knocking on the door.
"Ah Yoongi, you're just on time.” His dad greeted with a smile. A slightly wry one, but a smile nonetheless - he didn’t like Yoongi staying out.
Yoongi pushed the thought of his dad lecturing him later to one side, and thanked God that he wasn’t late.
"Mayor Kim wants to see you and the others today, so head down to the hall quickly." His dad explained with a half smile.
The mayor? All of them?
"Do you know why?" Yoongi questioned, only half interested in an answer. He was not looking forward to having to run again.
"No,” his father began, before pausing abnormally long to think. “I suppose he'll tell you when you get there. Go now, you don't want to be late." Yoongi nodded and decided upon walking to the town hall - his muscles thanked him.
The town hall was usually a grand place in any town, but in Omelas it was a simple single story building. The interior was still strictly organised and somewhat unsettling in its formality, but to Yoongi it was familiar and homely. Like visiting school after you’ve already left.
He stepped in and took his coat off, ruffling his hair in an attempt to look presentable. Everything about the lobby was nostalgic and not a detail had changed since he was a kid. Everything from the red carpet with an ugly pattern, the beige sofa, the desks and the large windows made him feel strangely at ease.
"Ah Yoongi, come sit down." Beckoned Mayor Kim with a warm smile. The younger bowed politely before walking over to the fully occupied sofas and sitting on the arm of one of them.
"So why did you call us here, dad?" Namjoon asked curiously.
"Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you boys are all grown up now. I've known you since you were this high." He placed a hand out near his thigh with a fond smile. "I've known you since Taehyung broke that expensive vase on the coffee table there.” They all chuckled. Mayor Kim’s smile faltered.
"So I figured it's time to show you something important." The boys exchanged baffled glances. "Come with me."
They followed him behind the desks and towards a back room that, although they were aware of its existence, they had not been in, since it was always locked securely.
They’d heard rumours of a coming of age ceremony. It ranged from parties to meetings to balls depending on who at school you asked, because obviously none of them had experienced it yet. Their parents always firmly denied the existence of such a thing. But they began to wonder if this is what the older students had alluded to.
Mr Kim unlocked the door and entered the small room, which had a curious wooden hatch on the floor. He knelt down and carefully unlocked the padlock on it, before opening it up. Something about it felt weird to them, like a scene from a horror movie when you can sense something standing behind the hero.
"Watch your step." he warned, before walking down a small set of wooden stairs that led down from the hatch.
The boys followed him down apprehensively, and were met with a small, dark viewing area of sorts, with a single glass window stretching across the entire wall in front of them. Before they could even ask any questions, all six of them were stunned into silence.
Behind the glass, slightly below them, was a small, frail figure. It looked listless and barely reacted to their arrival. Quickly they noticed; it was a boy. A young, malnourished, lonely boy.
The air was thick and stale. After what felt like an eternity of silence, but was in reality barely the time between one breath and another, Namjoon spoke up. His voice sounded half angry, half shocked.
"Dad? What is this?"
The mayor let out a quiet sigh. "This boy, believe it or not, is the reason we can live in peace."
The answer just brought about more questions than it answered for the six of them, who were still stood as mortified statues.
"This right here, this horrid sight, is what’s keeping this town safe. If this thing was ever to escape," he paused for an uncomfortable beat, “we’d be in a lot of danger.”
"Why...what is this? Why do you have someone locked up and starving?!"
"I'm afraid I can't give you too many details.” The mayor leant down to his son’s level. “You'll learn in time Namjoon,” he whispered, “once you take over from me."
Namjoon was even more confused by the answer he received. That's it? They're shown a locked up starving boy, for what reason they don't know, and expected to be fine with it?
Namjoon wordlessly turned around and walked out of the room.
This can’t be real, they thought, this must be a prank.
Slowly Yoongi swallowed the disgusting feeling in his mouth. "What have you done to him...?" He asked, watching the tortured boy, still facing away from them.
"We've done nothing to harm it."
His blood began to boil. "What do you mean 'it'? He's a person. A kid, like us."
"We should leave now." Stated Mr Kim simply. “One day you’ll understand. But for now, remember what you saw anytime you think about taking the peace of this town for granted. Most importantly, you can’t discuss this with anyone.” Another pause, to see if they absorbed what he said. But of course they didn’t, how could they? “Let’s go.”
The boy turned his head slightly and made eye contact with Taehyung. He could see the longing for help in the boy's eyes. He desperately wanted to tear away his gaze, but also wanted to keep looking, keep letting the boy know he was there. That he acknowledged him. That he wanted to help.
"Come on my boy, we need to go." Mr Kim encouraged, putting his arm on Taehyung's shoulder and guiding him up the stairs.
The boys left the hall in silence, bewildered, and got on the train. They needed time away from the town, they were too mortified to stay there.