“Did you get the stuff?” Jiyong asked, head stuck out of the car window.

“Do you think I’d be here if I didn’t?” Seunghyun responded, putting his cigarette back in his mouth.

Jiyong rolled his eyes before dropping his sunglasses onto his nose. “Whatever. You look ing stupid.”

“Says the guy with drawn on noose sideburns.”

Jiyong crossed his arms over his chest as he settled back in his seat, then kicked the dashboard of the car.

“What’s taking so ing long?” he hollered.

“Calm down, hyung. We’re just making sure everything is accounted for!” Daesung called from the back.

Seungri leaned against the bumper, watching the road that stretched out behind them, as Youngbae counted the bills in the briefcase in the open trunk. Once he’d finished, he shut the briefcase.

“Alright. Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.

Seungri stood up and shut the trunk as Daesung and Youngbae went to climb into the car. Seunghyun dropped his cigarette into the dirt and put it out with his shoe. He walked over to the car, where Seungri had just slid into the back, taking the middle seat. Jiyong was still bent forward, holding the seat forward.

“Move,” Seunghyun said.

Jiyong looked up at him and the older man just stared back. They were in a stalemate, neither moving.

“Seriously, Ji, just get in the back! We need to get out of here!” Youngbae yelled in frustration.

Jiyong moved into the backseat, kicking it when Seunghyun took his seat. Seungri snickered as Youngbae rolled his eyes, starting the engine. They pulled onto the road quickly.

“Where are we headed next?”

“Out of this desert, I hope,” Youngbae said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Hope so. This dry air is for my skin,” Jiyong said, shuffling playing cards in his hands.

Jiyong had always been fidgety and needed to keep his hands busy. The group had optioned to give him playing cards to mess with since he’d bounced his leg so much it shook the car before.

“We will, Ji. We need to get out of the desert quick. We don’t need anyone catching up to us.”

“Or for any of Seungri’s dad’s guy to catch up with us,” Daesung added.

Seungri sat still in the middle seat, looking out the windshield. “He’s not going to send anyone after me. Besides, the money we took was mine. I was a decent businessman before, y’know.”

“Then why join us?” Seunghyun said as he lit another cigarette.

“Isn’t life more fun this way?”

Jiyong started laughing, throwing his head back. “He thinks our life is fun…This maknae is great.”

“He hasn’t been here long enough,” Seunghyun responded.

Seungri frowned, but Daesung patted him on the knee. The youngest man looked at him and Daesung gave a bright smile. His hairstyle made it hard to see his eyes, but his smile was so bright and wide, it was easy to tell what he meant.

“They just like to heckle you. Don’t worry. We’re happy to have you, Seungri,” he said, rolling the toothpick in his mouth.

“Thanks, hyung.”

“Dae, stop trying to get in the baby’s pants,” Jiyong called then.

Daesung pulled his hand away and managed another small smile. Seungri turned his attention back to the road, quietly wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Jiyong leaned forward then, motioning for Seunghyun’s cigarette, which he handed over, though didn’t look too happy about it.

As he took a drag off it, he said, “Can we turn on the radio?”

“If it’ll get you to shut the up, sure,” Seunghyun said, turning the knob.

A Christian rock station started playing and Jiyong groaned loudly. The eldest man spun the knob, channel surfing until he found one full of pop music which made Jiyong screech excitedly. Youngbae rolled his eyes.

What an image: five grown men, carrying thousands of dollars of stolen cash in their trunk, on the run, listening to pop music. They were going to Hell. Youngbae just knew it.

A few hours later, Youngbae pulled off the road to a gas station. They needed gas, but mostly snacks.

“I’m gonna take a piss,” Seunghyun said, throwing open the door.

Youngbae turned to look in the backseat and found the three asleep. Seungri had his head slumped onto Daesung’s shoulder, mouth partially open. Daesung’s head was bowed down against his chest while Jiyong was practically draped over Seungri’s side. He chuckled and got out of the car quietly, shutting the door. The door shutting was enough to awaken the three.

Jiyong shoved the seat forward and climbed out quickly. “Need to pee!”

Seungri scooted over and stretched out his arms. He looked over at Daesung then.

“Want to stretch our legs?”

“Good idea,” Daesung agreed, scooting across the seat to get out on the passenger side after Seungri.

Daesung stretched as he got out of the car, then deposited his toothpick in the trashcan. He pulled a round plastic container from his jacket pocket and fished another out, putting it between his teeth. Seungri looked around and spotted Youngbae across the street in the dark, his head bowed.

“Umm…”

Daesung moved his bangs from his eyes and looked where Seungri was. “Oh. He’s just praying.”

“Praying?”

“Yeah. He’s gotta make good with the Lord.”

Seungri looked at him as if he was insane. Daesung chuckled and ruffled his pale blond hair.

“Just because we’re criminals doesn’t mean we aren’t spiritual.”

“Why would you be criminals then?”

“That’s Youngbae’s business,” he said, rolling the toothpick. “Let’s go buy some snacks.”

The two trekked across the empty parking lot and went into the convenience store, bell ringing over their heads. Daesung went over to the snack aisle.

“Sour or sweet?” he asked.

“Sour is more my thing.”

Seungri kept his eye on the door as they walked around and Daesung slowly began to accumulate snacks. He filled Seungri’s arms with them as well. When they approached the counter, they put down sodas, waters, candy bars, and bags of chips. As Daesung got out his wallet, he asked for a pack of cigarettes as well.

“Sweet car you’ve got out there. What is it?” the clerk asked as he rang up all of the items.

Daesung floundered, obviously unsure what to say. With his eyes still trained on the car outside, Seungri responded, “It’s a 1967 Pontiac GTO.”

The clerk made a noise to assert he’d heard and told them the total. Daesung paid and took the bags that were offered to him, shoving one into Seungri’s hand. They walked out of the store.

“You okay there, Seungri? You keep staring at the car.”

“I’m just…nervous.”

“About what? Being on the run?”

“Yeah…”

“You’ll get used to it,” Daesung said with a laugh.

An arm flew over Seungri’s shoulders and Jiyong swung into his vision. “What did you buy me, maknae?”

“I got you shrimp chips, hyung,” Daesung answered for him.

“Yay! Shrimp chips!” Jiyong hollered, throwing his arms over his head.

He bounded ahead excitedly, yelling to Seunghyun and Youngbae, who were both near the car. Seunghyun’s spiked up hair looked messy, but Seungri couldn’t tell if it had changed since he’d last looked or not.

“Umm…”

“He’s probably high. Don’t worry. He’ll just eat and sing loudly for about an hour and then pass out,” Daesung assured with another smile.

Seungri raised his eyebrows but said nothing as they reached the car. Youngbae smiled at them.

“Thanks for getting the snacks, guys.”

Seungri thought about saying something to Youngbae. He wanted to know about his relationship with God, since it was just so strange to him. Just as he opened his mouth, Youngbae’s eyes widened.

“We need to get out of here.”

Seungri turned his eyes back to the road and saw the car barreling towards the gas station, a woman with a rifle standing up from the sunroof.

“!”

Youngbae ran around the car and started the engine. Seungri stood still in fear. Seunghyun grabbed him by the waist and tugged him into the car, Jiyong grabbing his arms and tossing him into the middle seat. As soon as the door shut behind him, Youngbae floored it.

The Pontiac shot out of the parking lot and gained speed rapidly. The car behind them sped up, high beams illuminating their car. Seungri’s fingers dug into his pant legs.

Jiyong ripped open his bag of shrimp chips beside him, stuffing a handful into his mouth. Seungri stared at him, unable to comprehend how he could eat when they were possibly about to die. A shot fired and he flinched. Jiyong then reached under the seat and withdrew a revolver, which he carelessly tossed into the front seat.

“You a good shot, maknae?” Seunghyun called.

“I-I…Maybe?”

“You’re gonna learn right quick.”

Jiyong handed Seungri a handgun and then a long box to Daesung. He held one more handgun over the seat, which Seunghyun took. Jiyong then drew out two more pistols.

“Excuse me, Seungri. I’ll need a bit of your lap,” Daesung said.

Daesung opened up the box to reveal pieces to a rifle. He began to construct it as Seungri held the handgun unsurely. Jiyong leaned forward to look in the side mirror.

“You gonna put the top down, Bae?” he asked.

“In a sec,” Youngbae said, eyes focused on the road and knuckles white on the steering wheel.

The high beams of the other car flooded the Pontiac as it grew ever closer, blinding Seungri in the rearview mirror. Daesung finished putting together his rifle and clicked the magazine in.

“Ready.”

Youngbae swerved the car suddenly, hitting the switch for the top to go down on the Pontiac. Jiyong stuffed more shrimp chips into his mouth.

“Get ready for some action!” he hollered, turning around in his seat.

Daesung turned as well, balancing a knee on the seat as he aligned his eye with the sight. As soon as the top was down all the way, Jiyong stood up and began to fire his pistols. Daesung turned off his safety and began to shoot quickly. Seungri stared, mortified, as he listened to the sounds of shots going off, his ears unaccustomed.

Seunghyun patted him on the shoulder as he leaned over the front seat, firing his handgun just past his head. “Just shoot. It’s not like you can hit one of us.”

Seungri nodded and turned around, kneeling beside Daesung. He felt a bullet speed past his head and quietly thanked the heavens that it hadn’t hit him. Maybe he understood Youngbae a little bit more now. Leveling his gun, he fired. It was a terrible shot, but luckily, it hit one of the front tires and sent the other car drifting. Jiyong hooped and hollered, shooting his guns at them and managing to take out one of their headlights.

Youngbae floored the gas again and Seungri watched as the enemy car was left behind in the dust, drifting off the road as its tire grew too flat.

The parking garage was empty and Youngbae pulled them into a parking spot. They spilled out of the car quickly. Jiyong threw an arm over Seungri’s shoulders.

“Good job, maknae! You’re one of us!”

“One of us! One of us!” Seunghyun quietly cheered behind him, moving his arms up and down.

Seungri nodded. “T-Thanks…”

Despite that it had been over an hour since they’d gotten away from the other car and left the desert, his heart still seemed to be racing. Daesung squeezed his shoulder.

Youngbae drew the case of money they needed from the trunk and shut it. “Let’s go, guys.”

Jiyong slicked back his hair once more and waltzed toward the elevator waiting for them.

“You look like a gigolo,” Seunghyun called after him.

Jiyong threw the bird over his shoulder. They climbed into the elevator. Seungri stood just outside, looking at them. Daesung patted his shoulder again as he passed. Taeyang stopped beside him with the case.

“You did good, Seungri.”

He handed him a pair of sunglasses. Seungri put them on and straightened his suit before stepping into the elevator after him, feeling confident.

This was his life now.