Beijing, China

Beijing Capital International Airport

6:00 PM

"Attention passengers, there has been a gate change. Flight 483 to Moscow, Russia will be boarding in concourse A gate 12. Again, Flight 483 to Moscow, Russia will be boarding in concourse A gate 12. We apologize for this slight delay, and hope you have a pleasant flight."

The almost incomprehensible static voice causes four of the five men to groan in annoyance. Taehyung looked sadly at the sign above him that read D14, bottom lip jutted to form a pout.

"That's all the way on the other side of the airport!" Jimin whined from where he was draped on Minseok's shoulder. The elder was quick to shrug him off and take charge, leading the group in both direction and conversation.

"Never mind the gate change" He looked pointedly at Jimin "It's all part of the experience! Now, we are almost at the halfway mark of our trip and two of our friends have already found their soul mates. I think we are doing great, yes?" Hakyeon decided this was a good time to enter his own thoughts.

"Except that the whole country of China was a bust. No offence Kris." Kris, who had not been paying attention, looked over at the mention of his name.

"Uh, none taken?" Taehyung snickered at his confused tone.

"Anyway!" Minseok yelled, effectively cutting off whatever comment Jimins open mouth indicated he was going to make "We still have Europe and the U.S., so there's no point in looking on the bad side now. I was just trying to say we haven't gone very far and have already had success. But, seen as how that apparently won't work with pessimist Hakyeon over there, I hereby call mum unless it's relevant or positive." Hakyeon crossed his arms and grumbled indistinctly, looking away from Minseok. Kris, still not paying attention nodded absentmindedly while Taehyung and Jimin laughed together. "Glad to see we are all on the same page then!" Minseok smiled brightly and clapped his hands together "And look, we even got to the gate in time for boarding!"

*******************************************

Sheremetyevo International Airport

Moscow, Russia

8 Hours later

7:25 PM

"Oh my God" Jimin groaned as he cracked his back "Why are all the flights so long, I feel as old as you Minseok Hyung!"

"Yeah, like a walking fossil!" Taehyung joined in Jimins teasing. Minseok sputtered as he tried to formulate a reply amidst the teasing laughter of the four other boys.

"I think this mum thing is working out great, I haven't felt this positive all week." Hakyeon giggled at the sight of a stricken Minseok.

"Guys, the car is here." Kris pointed to a small van parked a few feet away, effectively cutting off their teasing.

"Ah, yeah, yes! Right, the van! Ok let's go you've had your fun, I officially take back the mum!" Flustered, Minseok puffed up his red cheeks before marching to the van, loudly proclaiming the nights itinerary as he went.

*********************************************

Two days, lot's of interesting selfies, and another long plane ride later the boys found themselves in yet another country.

"Welcome to Lisbon." Minseok threw his arms open for emphasis, basking in the warmth the sun provided.

"Wow" Hakyeon spoke up "I can't wait for another week in the backseat of a car!"

Taehyung scoffed before speak "At least you don't have to drive the car hyung."

"Yeah well Its got to be better th-"

"Ok! It's been established that cars , Minseok hyung I think we need a break. Please?" Jimin looked at Minseok, who seemed to be in the midst of an internal struggle over sticking to his strict, well organized plan or throwing off the schedule to allow them time to recuperate. Even he had to admit it was wearing him thin.

"I second this motion" Kris, normally quiet in group discussions speaks up. Minseok sighs quietly, looking at every member individually.

"How about we compromise, instead of driving all night like I planned, we can stay at the nearest hotel and start driving tomorrow whenever we wake up. We've been making good time as it is, one day shouldn't hurt right?" Minseok gave a small hopeful smile.

"Sounds great!" Hakyeons mood seemed to have done a complete 180 as he smiled brightly, hitting Minseok on the shoulder as he passed him to get into yet another van. "What are we waiting for? Come on guys, there's a nice SSI funded hotel not even two miles from here!" Minseok squinted his eyes at Hakyeons words.

"Did you...plan this?" Taehyung's eyes widened at the words Minseok had uttered.

"Why would you think that? Haha! I bet Hyung just Googled it on his way to the van! Haha!" Taehyungs obvious fake laughter and poor acting caused Kris and Jimin to snort and Minseok to huff.

"You could have just asked me for a break instead of making a whole scene." Minseok sounded mildly offended now.

"True" Taehyung said from his new position behind the wheel "But would you have allowed us a night off if we simply asked hyung?" Minseoks mouth dropped open.

"Of course I would have!" He turned to look at the boys in the back, catching Hakyeons oh sure you would look before giving in. "Ok, fine I would have told you to it up but I'm just trying to be responsible!" With that the car drove off.

*******************************************

"I spy with my little eye, something blue."

"Taehyung I swear to god if it's the sky, again, I'm going to kick you out of the van." Hakyeon spoke from his place in the back. It was 9 hours into the drive to Barcelona, with one hour to go, and the group had resorted to playing I Spy for the eighth time. Each game ending abruptly because Taehyung decided to fixate on one object every round, thoroughly annoying everybody. Sans Jimin of course, who had decided to join him two rounds ago.

"Let's change the game now. What about one word stories? I say a word, then Hakyeon, Kris and so on?" Minseok asked before deciding to go ahead with the game anyway when no negative opinions were voiced.

"Once"

"Upon"

"A"

"Sky"

"I swear to god!" Hakyeon screamed from the rear yet again as Taehyung and Jimin exploded into laughter. Minseok only shook his head in defeat.

********************************************

Barcelona, Spain

"Everybody out! We will be spending the night here, so we are free to explore for the rest of the day. I was planning on going to popular or public places first such as malls or shopping districts, maybe around the pier as well." Minseok once again took control of the group.

"I vote shopping first." Kris spoke up, much to the amusement of the others. Although he didn't speak much, Kris's particularly expensive clothing brands and sheer amount of clothing gave away his love of shopping.

"Shopping it is then." And without much preamble the boys dropped of their things and headed out.

**************************************

The shopping district, Passeig de Gràcia, was a sight to behold for all of the boys.

"There has to be over a thousand shops here." Kris breathed in wonderment, causing Jimin and Taehyung to snicker at him. Kris, electing to ignore their fun at his expense, decided to explore what the shops had to offer.

The group went in and out of many low and high end stores, the Prada store adventures consisted of Minseok telling them they could barely afford the dust in the air, let alone the actual merchandise.They were going exiting yet another expensive store, minus Minseok whom had refused entering on the grounds of "the temptations being too much" when Jimin spotted something.

"Hey guys," He whispered "look over there; it looks like a walking chicken." He pointed across the street at the back of a man in a large feathered coat. Taehyung looked at the man, who still hadn't noticed four boys openly staring at him, in amazement, breathing out a quite I want one . Hakyeon seemed to get bored fast though, and walked over to where Minseok lingered at the entrance of a nearby store. Kris looked at the younger two with a raised brow.

"I'm going to ask him where he got it." Kris had decided after some time of staring, if neither of the younger boys would, it was up to him to find out where Taehyung could try on his own chicken coat. When Kris was within ear shot of the chicken man, who still hadn't noticed anything amiss, he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me? My friends and I were wondering where...you got your...coat." Kris's voice died off when the chicken man had turned around and proved to be much more attractive than a chicken. It was also at this point he saw not chicken mans eye color swirl, and he knew that he found who he'd been searching for. Not chicken man in a quiet gasp, breathing out an introduction.

"I'm Tao...I can't believe you found me."