Their detention consisted of not only cleaning duty, but any other possible methods of torture that not only Mrs. Oh, but the whole teaching staff could come out with. It wasn't only Mrs. Oh that ordered them around, the other teachers finally using their service for some use. The two of them ended up as slaves, having to clean the dusty old record room the next following day. The thickening dust and foul smell got Yoongi's eyes tearing up. Jimin, on the other hand, was still worried about such nonsensical thing as supernatural being, Taehyung scaring him this time with the rumor of loud-shrieking noises resounding throughout the school building every time the sun set like a freakish alarm clock of some sort.

With Suneung coming in, school started to be a burden Yoongi never thought it would ever be in his life. Extra study and lesson s were dawning upon them. School ended a few hours later than it did the earlier semester, which with their detention meant that Yoongi and Jimin would be leaving the school building somewhere close to eight in the evening. Namjoon started to help him with his studies and frankly, Yoongi wanted to say that he didn't care about it all. The dream of leaving the town for Seoul was still lingering in his mind most of the time, his notebook being filled with more and more words of frustration each night.

Detention at least gave him an actual reason for arriving home late. Lately, being home was a curse of its own, his father's dawning look indicated that a lecture was about to come whether Yoongi liked it or not. He did a pretty good job of avoiding his parents for almost a week, sneaking in to his room or crashing at Namjoon's place (he barely ever had dinner at his own house ever since he made up with Jimin again, the old Park was more than happy to welcome him, even after the horrible thing that he did).

But of course, he knew his little game of hide and seek wouldn't go on forever, with forever turned out to be nothing but Saturday the following week, as he was about to sneak out once again for another game of basketball. It was a stern voice of his father calling out to him to have something called 'a talk with my son'.

Yoongi shouldn't actually be surprised with how the said 'talk' ended with the two of them screaming, his mother standing at the corner of the living room with hands covering , crying. His brother was there this time, watching in horror as the two Mins exchanged insults, raising their tone higher with fist tightened and jaws clenched. Last time it was Yoongi breaking his legs that got him going back home and since then they simply had a truce, postponing a war that would break out sooner or later. He knew this was coming and Yoongi wasn't surprised as well when it ended up with his father slapping him hard on the face after he called the elder a dimwitted coward. The slap didn't surprise him, nor the next fist that landed on his nose as he told his father with a condescending tone that if he wanted to punch his own son, the least he could do was to punch him like a man.

It took his own brother grabbing his father's hand, prying the old Min's bloody fist from his younger son who was on the ground, holding his own bleeding nose. All of that didn't surprise Yoongi at all. In fact it got him smiling even wider.

What surprised him however was his father, pointing his finger at the door with a stern voice afterward, chest heaving with anger, eyes looking at his own son with disgust and disappointment.

“Fine, do as you want. Leave this house like you always wanted and don't ever think about coming back!” he said.

It was what he always wanted and his father was giving him exactly that. He should be happy, should be ecstatic and smiling even wider. Yet it surprised him instead, the fact that it was happening, or the fact that his father did throw him out. Before that, it was always Yoongi who stormed out of the door first before his father even got to finish the sentence. This time he finally got what he wanted, yet he was frozen on the floor, looking back at his own father in disbelief.

“You hear me, don't you? What are you waiting for? Leave this house this instance! You're no son of mine,” his father said before turning his back from Yoongi.

His mother quickly came into the conversation, speaking for the first time, telling his father how harsh of a decision it was. The same went for his brother, telling his father to cool down at first and rethink about his decision. But of course, Yoongi wasn't a coward. He wasn't his father. He got the guts to achieve his dream and that was exactly what he did as he st ood up and r a n for the door, disregarding his mother's yell or even the blood that poured out of his nose as he ran faster and faster.

His feet brought him to the field right at the side of the forest where the gang had decided to meet up for basketball. They were oblivious at first, joking from the distance about how late Yoongi decided to show up and how they started to get bored with Namjoon's awful dribble.

It wasn't until he was closer from view and the blood on his nose being apparent, did the smile disappear from their faces. The six of them quickly huddled closer, asking him whether he was all right as he tried to catch his breath, hands trying to reach for his nose which at this point had grown numb. Seokjin gave him a clean towel to stop the bleeding with and he spent the next ten minutes or so just sitting there, trying to calm himself with Jimin patting his back.

“What happened, hyung?” Namjoon asked. “Who did this to you?”

My own father, he wanted to say. His own father finally having the guts to smack some physical sense into his rebellious youngest son. His own father finally giving him what he wanted. His own father finally kicking him out of the house.

He wanted to say all of that. He should actually be happy, should be laughing in joy. Yet he found himself at a loss of word, the numbness of his nose finally replaced by an ache that spread throughout his entire body.

Jimin had somehow noticed that because the younger came closer, squatting in front of him and placing one hand on his shoulder before askinggently . “Hyung, what could we do for you now?” he said calmly.

And oddly, he already got an answer for this one, it just popped into his head as random as the six of his friend could ever be.

That moment Yoongi had to remind himself how glad he was to have friends like them, because not once in his life had they ever disappointed him.

+.-.+

“Are your nose still bleeding?” Seokjin asked as they walked pass the field and into the canopy of the woods.

“Nah, it's better,” he said. “It's just aching now.”

“Good then,” the elder said, walking right beside him. He turned his attention towards Yoongi before squinting his eyes, making sure that he was indeed okay. “You got a torn lip as well. You should have let me take care of that before we went for the tunnel.”

Yoongi touched his lips only to find the crimson of blood at the tip of his finger, though he couldn't really tell whether it was the skin of his lips being torn or the blood from his nose. Either way it didn't really matter to him and that was exactly what he said to Seokjin. “It's okay, it'll heal in a couple of days.”

Seokjin still gave him a concerned look before their eldest sighed and turned his head back towards the road.

He didn't know why he said that, but that moment as Jimin asked him what they could do, he just randomly and suddenly thought about the Auraji Train Tunnel, telling his friends that they could bring him there if helping him was something that they ever considered. The six of them just raised their eyebrows, wondering why Yoongi ended up with such a strange request, but no one really complained or asked either as they went back to their respective houses to grab stuff for the trip soon after. He went back with Seokjin who tried his best to treat his wound.

That was practically the story of how the seven of them ended up walking down the path towards the Auraji Train Tunnel with one of them leaving drops of blood halfway along the road . Th e last time they went there was during summer, the sky was blue and the field that they crossed were colored green. This time the sky was getting darker as they headed up there a bit later. Not only that, Yoongi could see how the green had disappeared, replaced by the same red that painted his face. The once warm breeze that accompanied them was now a chilling wind, something that wasn't as amiable as its summer counterpart.

Yoongi respected how his friends didn't try to pry. They didn't bombard him with questions, they ended up not asking altogether after they started the trip. In fact, Taehyung had started to act as if nothing had happened, as if Yoongi didn't have a bleeding nose and the trip was something planned long ago instead of a random wish that Yoongi pulled out from god-knows-where. Planned or not, the younger seemed to be happy that they were going to at least spent an entire night together and had begun to tease Hoseok with another chance of a horror story around a bonfire.

Namjoon and Seokjin were a bit more cautious, giving Yoongi a look that he tried to avoid. Other than uttering his impromptu wish of spending a night at the Auraji Train Tunnel, he hadn't really said much after that. Jimin on the other hand was the most worried. Yoongi could tell by how the younger walked a little bit closer with eyes constantly venturing towards him.

Still, he kept his mouth shut, trying to focus on how Jungkook had Taehyung sitting on his shoulder while trying to perform somersault instead. When that didn't work, he raised his head to see the sky as they passed the woods, trying to search for the love of his life, wondering whether it could calm him down. Yet the stars decided to hide themselves from view that day, leaving him with a dull black sky as night replaced the sun. Were they mocking him now, working together with his father behind his back, probably celebrating with the old man for finally getting rid of his insolent son?

The couch that they left at the tunnel i n summer was still intact, the same went to the empty drum they used to make a bonfire with. Taehyung and Jungkook tried to make some fire from twigs and some abandoned sheet of papers, while Namjoon and Hoseok threw some blankets on the couch, making the place a bit more comfy. Seokjin pulled out the food he had packed and before long the seven of them were huddling around each other around the bonfire, trying to keep themselves warm.

Going there in autumn certainly meant that the night would feel a little bit more chilling than the summer night, but at least they could still pull through it in September. A few weeks more towards November and Yoongi would realize that asking them to spend a night there would simply be suicide. After all, tomorrow would be Sunday and he was clearly in need of some company, one that hopefully could take his mind off of his troubles.

H is friends surely did a good job at that, Taehyung started with his promised horror story before it turned into another orchestra of Hoseok's shriek. They ended up teasing Seokjin about his relationship with Minju and their eldest blushed.

“I could totally imagine hyung and noona opening a restaurant downtown and raising their children here,” Jungkook said.

“Oh, does this mean that Seokjin-hyung got your permission already?” teased Hoseok.

Jungkook let out a small laugh. “I mean, why not? I would be more than happy to be related with Seokjin-hyung.”

“You're only saying that to have free beef every day,” Taehyung teased their youngest.

“Well, all of you had practically been living from me I might be starting to ask for some money in return,” Seokjin chimed in.

“What about you then, Jungkook?” this time Namjoon asked. “Have you decided which university to apply?”

Soon enough it was the topic of future once again, one that Yoongi would really try to avoid right now after what had happened. He shifted slowly from his seat, feeling himself uncomfortable under the topic of conversation. He somehow wished Namjoon could take that question back.

“I don't know. I still got a year ahead of me,” their youngest said.

“Which meant that I'm still as well,” Taehyung quickly came in before hugging Jungkook from behind, ruffling the boy's hair. “I'm not going to leave our maknae in this town alone while you all left for Seoul.”

Seoul. It wouldn't be a mere dream anymore. It was going to be a reality, a definite one. With no home behind him he wouldn't have any other option but to keep going further. Yet with no home to return to he felt-,

“Are you all right, hyung?” a voice calmly asked.

And of course it was Jimin, sitting next to him with one hand on his arm, realizing how unsettled he seemed.

With that the conversation just somehow died, the others' eyes turned towards him as well. Yoongi looked at all of them in the eyes one by one. He clearly didn't like the attention, hoping that they could go on with their stories, disregarding the bigger question that actually brought all of them to this place under his wish. But somehow, he found himself opening his mouth instead, telling them something that he thought he would want to keep to himself for at least the rest of the day.

“My father threw me out of the house today,” he said with a monotonous tone. “He finally did.”

What came afterward was silence, the only thing he could hear was the fire crackling inside the pit and the wind howling outside. It was weird. Yoongi running away from home wasn't the first thing that had ever happened. By this time it wasn't even a surprise anymore.

Yet why did this one feel like it?

It was Taehyung who raised his voice the first time, smiling wide like usual. “Hey, it's okay, hyung. There's nothing for you to worry about.”

“Yeah, we'll always support you, hyung. You know that,” this time Hoseok chimed in.

Yoongi knew that he got the best group of f riends in the world. They were here for him now, following his stupid request. Namjoon ranted about how this was the first step into adulthood, going into some philosophical bull about youth and independency. Seokjin, in return, offered him a place to stay if he ever needed one, and basically all of them just said how everything would turn out to be all right. But somehow, hearing those words didn't make him feel any better. Somehow, with some sort of a twisted thought, Yoongi could only think about how half-assed their words were, even though half of him knew that his friends were being genuine, wanting nothing but to help him. And thus he just nodded, having his eyes focused on the crackling fire whilst whispering a small half-assed thank you afterward.

+.-.+

They fell asleep not long after that, his friends went on to another sing along as usual, Hoseok making some beat and Namjoon rapping for them, followed by Jungkook who was surprisingly pretty good at it. Yoongi, who wasn't in the mood at all, just ended up listening. His friends certainly understood him, for they just talked, exactly like Yoongi wanted them to. Being amongst his friends had simply helped him take his mind off of his problem. But the same thing didn't really apply as they all decided to fall asleep, or simply as slumber took them in one by one. Jungkook had indeed been sleeping on Taehyung's lap, snoring lightly as the elder was still deep in his story. Seokjin was next, fluttering his eyes slowly, followed by Namjoon who rest his shoulder upon their eldest with a big yawn.

Soon enough it was the crackling fire and the howling wind once again, with Yoongi still seated on the couch, finding himself deprived of sleep. It was Gangneung all over again, him finding sleep far away from his reach. Jimin was sitting next to him and the boy seemed to already be sleeping as well. Shifting from his seat slowly, Yoongi took a step towards the entrance of the tunnel instead, feeling the cold night welcoming him.

He sat cross-legged by the edge of the tunnel, leaning his head to the wall to his right. He searched for his lover once again, hoping that they wouldn't betray him once more , but somehow, a being named god up there was totally not in his favor, hiding his beloved from view in yet another act of mockery.

When he heard another footsteps coming from behind, Yoongi wasn't even a tad bit surprised to find it to be Jimin, the boy ended up sitting next to him by the entrance of the tunnel , as if waiting for this exact moment to speak with him alone since the very start of the day.

It was indeed Gangneung all over again.

“You're not really asleep, are you?” Yoongi said with a mocking tone.

“You got me,” Jimin answered, not denying it at all.

Yoongi sighed. From the distance he could hear Namjoon's snore getting louder, their leader seemingly getting deeper and deeper into his sleep.

“What really happened, hyung?” Jimin asked.

He didn't want to answer that, wanted to keep his mouth shut. But this was Jimin asking. And when it was Jimin who did, he somehow always found a way to betray himself, just like the stars of today decided to do.

“You've heard me. My father kicked me out,” he said softly.

Jimin didn't ask him more than that. The boy just sat there next to him, simply waiting for him to say another words. He didn't ask. He was simply there and Yoongi found the words finding its way towards his own lips without him even realizing it.

“I don't know. I thought I should be happy, because that's what I want, to walk out of that house, out of Yeoryang-myeon and finally have a future of my own in Seoul,” he said. That was the sole thing he had hoped for. “But I don't know why, when I finally got it in my grasp, I'm just-,”

-scared. He was scared. He was surprised that his father really got the nerve to kick him out. Before that, it was always Yoongi who ran away. It was him as well who came running back at the end. Maybe he was a hypocrite all along, protesting about how confining the town was, when the truth suggested that he simply didn't have enough courage to break out from his own prison. But this time he was out for good, no home for him to come to, no place for him to return to after every sunset.

“What if nothing work out for me in Seoul?” he found himself blurting the words out. “What if I failed? I don't have a place to return to anymore.”

He was finally on his own two feet and only now did Yoongi realize how terrifying that fact was. It wasn't about the money in his wallet or the roof above his head. It was the horr i fying fact that he was simply alone.

It was silence once again (or maybe Namjoon just answered his worry through his snore). Either way Jimin didn't return his words immediately, but when he did, Yoongi found himself feeling like smacking the boy on the head instead.

“You're stupid, hyung,” Jimin said with a flat tone. Too flat, in fact.

“Excuse me?” Yoongi said, turning his head around. Did mockery become a new way to console someone or his Min Yoongi-ness had simply infected the pure and nice boy like Jimin?

“I mean, didn't you hear what the others said today?” Jimin said. “Fine, you just lost a home. One, home. Don't you realize that you still got six others?”

Once again he found himself at a loss of words, just like back then as his father buried his fist on his face. This time it wasn't a fist that smacked him on the face. It was Jimin's words instead.

“I believe that you'll do fine in Seoul, hyung. Trust me, I'm from Seoul. I know what it takes to make it there,” Jimin said, joking cheesily. Yoongi wanted to return those words with something like 'you certainly didn't' or 'being a Seoul-born didn't guarantee you such talent'. “But even if you didn't, you still got six other home to return to. Each of us would be more than happy to welcome you, hyung.”

Only now did his friends' words started to seep in, making him felt like an for doubting them. The six of them did agree to his wish withoutthem even asking, going along with anything that Yoongi said simply because he needed them.

“I mean, the first time I was thrown out of my home-,” Jimin said, his tone turned sad and brooding, the boy lifting his head towards the sky, recalling his past, painful memory of Seoul. “-I really don't have anywhere else to go but here.” Jimin had indeed gone through the same or maybe even something harder than him. “And at that time, I don't even know whether I still have something called a home.”

He was indeed thrown out of his house today, but he was indeed stupid not to realize that he was already home, here inside the abandoned Auraji Train Tunnel with six other people he could call a family. He was maybe thrown out of his house, being disowned by his father, but the truth was, that house wasn't that much of a home since the very beginning, if it was to be compared with the six of them laughing underneath the starry sky after every basketball practice on Thursday.

That was his home.

“You do now,” Yoongi said softly, looking at the boy next to him.

(And that was Jimin's as well)

And when Jimin turned his head to find his eyes, he realized that the stars weren't even hiding in the first place.

“I know,” Jimin whispered, eyes fixed on him.

It was indeed Gangneung all over again and still Yoongi couldn't explain how he could see the entire sky laid in front of him. He wasn't lifting his head yet it was the whole galaxy of stars reflecting in the eyes of a boy who claimed to love him.

The stars weren't indeed hiding.

He had just simply looked for them at the wrong place.

+.-.+

Jungkook found Yoongi and Jimin sleeping at the edge of the tunnel in the morning, the younger got his head leaning on the elder's shoulder (with what their youngest said, a pool of dried drool staining Yoongi's favorite and probably soon-to-be only t-shirt). When sunshine blinded his eyes the next morning, Yoongi could oddly say that he started to feel better. The walk back from the tunnel even managed to make him laugh, as Taehyung and Jungkook waged a childish ma d eup war towards Hoseok and Jimin. Even though the sky wasn't blue and the sun wasn't bright, Yoongi could feel his chest getting warm from the scene (and even thought the sky was actually gray, at least this time the bruise on his face could make up for the blue that had been missing on the sky for the day).

It was Sunday as they got back to Yeoryang-myeon with a light heart and genuine smile painting their faces. And when the sun set and they were forced to return home after their promised basketball game on Saturday , Yoongi found himself having six pairs of eyes pointed towards him, not in an act of pity, nor that they were forcing him to do anything. They were simply waiting.

At that moment, what Jimin had told him the other night had simply echoed in his head.

“Now, whose resident would be having the privilege of housing the great and awesome Min Yoongi for the night?” Namjoon joked.

Yoongi grinned.

He had indeed six other home for him to return to.