Namjoon slides his phone back into his pocket and heaves a sigh.

“Jin hyung said he will come and pick us up right after he finishes work. But seriously”, Namjoon turns to frown at the person behind the driving wheel, “I can’t believe you got us stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no gas.”

“Hey, this is not ‘nowhere’!”

“Then where are we?”

“I would be able to tell you if you didn’t insist on having the window open and let everything fly away!”

“You wouldn’t read the map anyway.” Namjoon snaps.

Yoongi grumbles something along the line of “I knew going on this trip was a terrible idea” but he keeps the words inaudible in his throat because Namjoon was right. Part of the reasons why they are stuck in the dead iron machine in the middle of this nameless god-forsaken countryside is because of his baseless confidence in his sense of direction.

“So what now?” Namjoon runs his fingers through his hair in frustration, eyes squinting at the empty dirt road and the grass fields that stretch into infinity by their sides. There is no hint to how two tired and hungry and so very lost college boys should spend the next six hours.

“I’m gonna take a nap.” Yoongi says flatly, already adjusting his seat so he can stretch out his legs.

“Oh c’mon. You are not going to sleep in the car.” Namjoon pulls Yoongi seat back up, much rudely. “That’s not the point of a field trip –”

“ – wasn’t my idea – “

“- and I seriously need a place to charge my phone. I need to keep it alive until Jin hyung can pick us up.”

**

Fifteen minutes later and Yoongi is dragging his shoes on the rocky sidewalk, the weight of his backpack increases ten-fold with each minute passes, still not as heavy as the painful regret of letting Namjoon drag him away from what would have been a better way to spend their waiting time.

“Hey, I think I see a house!” – Namjoon says excitedly.

Great! Sweaty and grumpy, Yoongi is definitely all ready for some socializing time.

Yoongi was half expecting an old grandma when Namjoon knocks on the old wooden door, so when it creaks open and a boy with bright round eyes a bowl cut peaks out Yoongi is a little taken aback.

“Oh, hi. Uhm… actually… err… we are…” and Namjoon is obviously surprised too.

The boy’s eyes dart between Namjoon and Yoongi, and he probably decides that they are harmless because he opens the door fully.

“Are you guys lost?” The kid smiles, while Yoongi is literally drooling at the Popsicle in his hand.

“Yes, yes, we are. How do you know?”

“Well” the boy shrugs and lightly on his melting dessert, the tanned skin on his bare arms catches the bright sunlight a little too well in Yoongi’s eyes “Nobody ever visits this place. So either you guys are from here, or you are lost. And I know literally everyone in this village, so…”

“Oh… I was just hoping that I – we –“ Namjoon turns his body to gestures at Yoongi, who lazily waves his hand “-  can, maybe, stay for a while before our friend comes and picks us up, that is, if it’s not too convenient…”

“Sure!” The young boy grins so widely his eyes turn into little half-moons “You guys can come in! My grandma went on a trip so it’s just me watching over the house anyway.”

As the remove their shoes and step into the house, Namjoon and Yoongi exchange a glance, a mixture between a pleasant surprise at their luck, and not believing the extremely zealous host who welcomes them in without a question asked.

***

The pair quietly settles down in the living room as the boy disappears into the next room. Yoongi scans around the simple decoration and he finds himself quite fond of the various musical instruments lying around, some look old and covered with indecipherable scribbles in ink. On the opposite wall lie several wooden racks filled with CDs, some with distinct covers that Yoongi can immediately recognize with just a glance. The house seems like a curious time capsule of music.

"Here" the boy is back, handing his guests two chilled juice boxes, his blinding grin still stays imprinted on his face "You must be very thirsty."

"Thank you" Namjoon receives both and passes one to Yoongi "oh by the way, I am Namjoon, and this is…"

"… Yoongi" Yoongi fills in, one beat late because he is a tiny bit distracted by the boy’s eyes, the right slightly bigger than the left, and for some reasons he finds them… adorable.

"We are both college students from Seoul."

"Oh! Then you are older than me! I am studying in Seoul too! I’ve just graduated from high school so I’ll be entering college after the summer." The boy extends his hand, curiously towards Yoongi instead of Namjoon "my name is Jimin."

"Hi…" Yoongi takes Jimin’s hand which feels so tiny within the long fingers of his own "thank you for letting us stay."

Jimin shakes Namjoon’s hand next before he sits down to the huge armchair next to them. The big furniture seems to swallow him up as he sinks in, folding his legs neatly, grabs the game console lying on the table and starts a new game.

"Do you guys want to play?" Jimin turns towards the two older boys.

"Thanks, but I don’t play games. Actually do you mind if I charge my phone somewhere?" Namjoon asks, pointing at the black screen of his now dead phone.

"Sure, there is an electric socket right beside the guitar." Jimin then looks at Yoongi. "How about you? Or are college students too old for games?"

"No way in hell" Yoongi smirks, picking up the other console in front of him.

 

Yoongi left behind his consoles when he packed for college, decidedly to keep himself focused on study, but he has never been able to resist the temptation when he is presented with a gaming device.

But playing with a stranger is tricky, so Yoongi stays reserved and quiet for the first half of the game, focusing on the buttons underneath his fingers. But Jimin’s being overly excited – he was almost jumping up and down on the couch - and his cute cackling are too contagious to resist. Within minutes, Yoongi finds himself screaming at his bastketball players on the screen, standing in the room with champion fist in the air, or laughing - thigh-slapping-and-body-folding-in-half laughing - mostly at Jimin. Whatever he’s lacking in skills, Jimin makes up for it with his ridiculously loud cheering. The younger boy also has a habit of sticking out his tongue when he concentrates, and having this pout on his face when he loses. Yoongi wouldn’t admit it if you asked but he finds Jimin’s little actions rather… distracting, even more so when somehow, they end up sitting side by side on the couch, Jimin’s elbow occasionally pokes at Yoongi’s side.

“Ahhhhh… I don’t want to play anymore…” Jimin flops down in his seat after what could possibly be their 100th game, arms and legs lying exhausted by his side, his eyes and nose squeezed in frustration but unbelievably soft cheeks all puffed up “Hyung you are too good at this”.

And all Yoongi wants to do is to reach out and ruffle the younger boy’s hair, but it seems inappropriate since they have just met for a few hours.

“I actually used to play basketball in real life, you know?”

“ ‘Used to’? Did you stop playing because you’re not tall enough?”

Namjoon, sitting close enough to hear their conversation, proceeds to spill his drink all over the table.

***

As Jimin leaves to get more drink and snacks, Namjoon shuffles closer to Yoongi with that look in his eyes.

“Don’t.” Yoongi pre-empts.

“I haven’t even said anything yet.” but Namjoon’s wiggling eyebrows and annoying grin are enough to tell Yoongi which direction the conversation is going.

“We were just playing some stupid video games.”

“Except for someone was glancing at Jimin half of the time.”

“Oh for goodness’ sake he’s a highschooler.”

“Correction: was a highschooler, and will be entering college soon.”

“He might not even continue his study in Seoul!” Yoongi exasperates.

And Namjoon wastes no time in finding that out the as soon as Jimin is back.

“Hey Jimin, do you have any plans for College yet?”

“Yeah! I have already applied for Seoul College of the Arts!”

“OH GREAT! Yoongi hyung and I are actually studying in SCA!”

“REAAAALLLY???”

“Yeah! You should really call us up when you’re back to Seoul. Yoongi hyung would love to bring you around the campus.” Yoongi pinches Namjoon - causing the latter to jump in his seat - and gives him an incredulous look.

“If that’s the case then I would love to.” Jimin smiles at Yoongi and the latter has to look away because he can feel the warmth bubbling in his cheeks.

“So, what departments are you in?”

“We are both in Music. But I have a second major in the English language and Yoongi hyung has a second major in lazing around”

“Hey! You…” Yoongi wants to make some retort but Jimin’s giggles throw him off guard “… anyway, my second major is photography. But I spend most of my time on music.”

“Wow. I love music. You can tell that I spend half of my allowance on CDs.” Jimin gestures at the CD racks that are filled to the rim. “But I bet you guys have much bigger collection than mine.”

Yoongi moves over to the racks to pick up some CDs, and nods approvingly at the records he sees, unable to hide the smile stretching on his lips.

“You have good taste, Jimin. Some of these are really legendary tracks.” Yoongi lifts up one with Warren G written in bold “Namjoon, remember how I skipped lunch for one whole week so I could afford this album?”

Jimin “wowww” in amazement.

"But my favourite is still Epik High! I brought all of their albums with me to Seoul.”

“Epik High?” Yoongi’s eyes light up at the familiar name “What’s your favourite song?”

“Uhm, it’s so hard to choose, but probably…. Their third album’s title song-“

“FLY” They both say in tandem.

And the two new found soulmates spend the next ten seconds just beaming at each other as if they have just met their long lost childhood friend.

“I have to let you listen to something” Yoongi quickly opens his backpack and takes out his laptop, while Jimin is literally hopping on the spot, hands fisted in front of his chest in excitement “Hey, sit down.”

Namjoon moves away from his spot on the couch next to Yoongi, eyes rolling but Yoongi obviously doesn't catch it since he is still busy sieving out his earphones. Jimin slips one side into his ear while Yoongi takes the other. And from the moment he presses the “play” button, Yoongi’s eyes are glued to Jimin’s face, anticipating his every reaction.

At first Jimin closes his eyes, nodding to the familiar beats, but they snap open when the music suddenly changes, the snares and basses rearrange themselves into an intricate pattern that seems to hit every sweet spot in Jimin’s ears. His mouth comes agape as he turns to Yoongi – “NO WAY”, and Yoongi smiles back. A few seconds later and Jimin eyes close shut again, his lower lip caught in his teeth as he nods even more enthusiastically to the music, hands throwing gestures; and Yoongi swears he can watch this kid jamming to music - his music - all day long.

And then it happens. Jimin’s jaw goes slack; his eyes open wide as he draws in a quick breath.

“Holy sh- HYUNG! THIS IS YOUR VOICE.”

“Yeah” Yoongi flashes his gummy smile, unable to hide his pride.

Yoongi watches as Jimin’s expression changes with the lyrics, sometimes it’s a subtle frown as he focuses on the words spitting fast through the earphone, sometimes it’s half-lidded eyes as he grooves to the chorus. Lucky for Yoongi the music did not go on forever, because by the last few beats his chest is almost bursting with pride and happiness.

“Oh my god” Jimin takes out the earphone, adorable eyes blinking in amazement “You made a remixed cover of Fly… and it’s really dope! Your music, your rap… they are so good!”

Yoongi mumbles a soft thank you, trying not to break his face from grinning too hard.

“Is this a prank? Are you two actually celebrities or something?”

Jimin’s silly exaggeration squeezes out an amused chuckle from Namjoon, while Yoongi cracks up, partially out of embarrassment, holding his stomach and obviously unable to hide how pleased he feels. It’s not his fault for being a Daegu man with a big ego, and that Jimin is being ridiculously good with his praises.

“Yoongi hyung” there is something about the way the kid calls him, voice b with conspicuous satoori that induces a heavy thump in Yoongi’s chest “do you have anything else that you don’t mind showing me?”

Jimin flashes his cavity-inducing smile and Yoongi can almost feel Namjoon’s stupid gaze drilling at the back of his skull.

“Yes, hyunggg” Namjoon says, his voice one octave higher than usual and Yoongi makes a self-reminder to kick the guy in his shin when they leave “why don’t you show Jimin your latest mixtape?”

Yoongi darts a deadly glare towards Namjoon, who then pretends to be busy with his phone, but he passes the Jimin the earphones again anyway and starts clicking on the special folder in his desktop.

The next few hours pass by in the blink of an eye. The more time they spend listening to music, watching the concert fancams and discussing about nothing important at all, Yoongi feels less like getting to know Jimin, but more like remembering someone he have known for the longest time, like being reminded of himself years ago, eyes bright and overly eager to step into the open world and take whatever that is offered. The way Jimin’s eyes light up, the adorable nervousness in his voice, the uncontained excitement that runs from his fluffy hair to his bouncing toes, Yoongi can’t take his eyes off the ball of energy and passion and sky-high dreams that is Jimin. He starts to like this strange boy for reasons that are too early to think about.

***

“So… should I ask Jin hyung not to come so we can spend the night?”

“Shut up, Namjoon.” Yoongi exhales, scrolling up his wire and putting his laptop back in his backpack.

“Jokes aside, I’ve never seen you warm up to someone that quickly. And that really says something because I have known you for years.”

Yoongi glances at Namjoon with a what-do-you-want-me-to-say look.

“On the other hand it maybe because he’s wearing that sleeveless shirt.” Namjoon shrugs, earning him a hard hit to the back of his head.

“Hey!” Jimin bounces back to the living room, grinning “I’ve given your friend the direction. He should be here in less than fifteen minutes.”

Yoongi secretly hopes that Jin’s sense of direction has not improved from the last time they travel together.

***

“I’m just saying. I literally begged you for three weeks straight before you let me listen to that mixtape.”

“Are you gonna shut up or do you want me to throw you out of the car?” Yoongi threatens.

“That’s better. Jin hyung can pick me up and his driving is much better than you anyway.”

“By much better you mean he’s getting you two back to Seoul by next year?”

“Whatever… but Jimin does seem like a nice kid. I hope he calls us when he gets back to Seoul. I can see him fitting in with our gang just fine.”

Yoongi pulls the car into a halt, and squeezes his eyes shut in pain.

“Hyung… don’t tell me you didn’t give him your number…”

***

“Really, I can’t believe you got us stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no gas.”

“C’mon, Hoseok.” Yoongi pulls his backpack from the backseat “Let’s go find a place to stay while waiting for Jin hyung.”