Alright hoop jibes and town vibes, enjoy my word garbage. (And if you leave a comment I'll literally shed tears because feedback is life okay sorry I'll go bye xppp)

 

~~

 

"Kim Seokjin, a beloved son and friend, has reportedly vanished from his home... authorities have not given an official statement, though the chances after three days have become bleak... family in pieces..."

 

"Turn that off, Taehyung," Yoongi hisses where he stands behind the couch and throws his jacket over the cushions. 

 

"I was just checking-"

 

"Checking on the guy who left us? ing walked out and never looked back?" Taehyung shifts away from where Yoongi drops onto the seat and doesn't reply nor argue when the remote is stolen and the news broadcast is changed to the newest episode of some romantic comedy. Taehyung doesn't think Yoongi has a right to be angry about this, but things changed after that night. 

 

They all changed after that night. 

 

"I hate this drama," Jimin mutters when he stumbles in from the hallway, bright orange hair wrecked on his head and eyes still red with sleep. Taehyung is shoved farther into the side of the couch for Jimin to lay his head over Yoongi's shoulder and silence falls over the tension once again. 

 

Jimin hasn't spoken to Taehyung directly in over four days, always sidestepping any comments or questions until it's clear he wants nothing to do with the other. It isn't much of a surprise, but the bitter taste on Taehyung's tongue makes it hard to breathe and stings the back of his eyes. He would never cry over being ignored - that's something for teenage girls pining after their oppa, not grown men - yet it still hurts. It still burns. 

 

"Who wants greasy, disgusting gas station wraps for breakfast?"

 

Namjoon grins past the lollipop stick between his front line of teeth and tosses the bag to Taehyung, stalking down the hall to presumably wake the others. It remains silent while Taehyung tosses the enclosed burritos to Yoongi and Jimin, but their eyes are at least void of the usual bite and anger when they look in his direction, so he counts it as a win and waits for the others to come before getting one for himself. 

 

"This is disgusting," Jimin laughs over the dry chicken then takes another bite, words slurred over food when he finishes, "I love it."

 

"Foooooood, gimme gimme," Jungkook catches a burrito flying through mid-air and sets down against the side of the couch when Hoseok walks into the room, all lanky limbs and grumpy eyes as Namjoon shoves a wrap into his hand. He goes to fall asleep again in the love seat until Jungkook throws his plastic at him and reminds him, "Stay awake and eat, then you can sleep."

 

The last burrito is crushed, pitiful, and dripping juices down the side of some soggy tortilla bread and it tastes like dirt with a hint of survival on the side, but it's more than what Taehyung has fed himself in two days so he eats without being hungry and collects the trash when they're done - just like he used to. 

 

No one thanks him, but they never have. 

 

Taehyung disappears down the hallway and pulls out his cell, dialing the number he knows will never answer him again and asking one pitiful request before vomiting the knot in his stomach into the toilet. 

 

"Hyung, I want to see you..."

 

~~

 

"Uh, I don't know really. I guess it's been a while since I last told anyone?"

 

"That's fine man, you'll get out more with people like us. They call me Rap Monster. These are the worst of my friends-"

 

"Shut up, 'Mon. You'll freak the guy out, like you always do."

 

The stranger with a peculiar emptiness in his eyes smiles faintly, and doesn't see that the ones around him are filled with joy and care. 

 

"I'm J-Hope, your hope, the world's hope, everyone loves me."

 

"As if, pabo. I'm Suga. Good to meet you."

 

"Ho-hoo, ever the gentleman, aren't you?"

 

"Shut up, V," the one called Suga cracks his knuckles and traps 'V' in a headlock to the side as two others step forward. It's odd, because they seem so young. So very young. 

 

"Ignore them, man. Sorry, I'm Jimin and this is Jungkook. Cool camera, by the way. Aye, maybe that's your name; cameraman."

 

The bright streaks of sunlight shining down past their shoulders suddenly becomes terribly dim too quickly, and the 'cameraman' feels an awful twist in his stomach - one that feels familiar. He feels like screaming, but why would he want to scream? 

 

Instead of following the demands of his mind, his body lifts the hand holding the camera to eye level and reveals the smiling faces of unfamiliar people. This torn cameraman sighs past the urge to vomit, hears dewdrops of laughter, and presses record. 

 

~~

 

"We're here to protect you, Taehyung!! We found you in blood and saved you from doing something else stupid and this is the thanks we get!?"

 

"I never asked for help! I never wanted to bring this on you!"

 

"Too goddam late for that now, isn't it? We have targets on our backs because of you! Seokjin is gone because of you!"

 

"Yoongi, stop it! He's had enough already-"

 

"Shut the up, Jungkook! Our lives are worth now because of him! We can never go back-"

 

"If you hate me so much, get the out of my life! Leave me and watch me die, I don't care anymore-"

 

The awful sound of glass shattering and the clatter of a chair falling to the floor is muted by the chilling smack of a fist against skin. Yoongi collapses to the floor with blood on his mouth and Jimin pulls Jungkook back before he can make things any worse. They all know not to instigate anything when Yoongi is drunk, but nothing is as it had been before it happened and nothing will ever be the same again. 

 

"We're not leaving you, Taehyung- Just stop all this, all this- God, why are we like this-" Hoseok looks ready to collapse where he stands, words rushing from his lips in a blur and eyes filling with tears again. Namjoon is standing noticeably close to catch him if he falls, and Jungkook deflates into a simmering rage instead of a raging blaze to at least save Hoseok some heartache. They all know he doesn't need any more burdens. 

 

"Just go, get out and turn me in, save yourself if that's all you care about. Murdering that abusive bastard and being abandoned by people who will never forgive me - why the hell not? I don't need to live. Umma hates me, my friends hate me, I hate me, there's no point staying. No point-"

 

Taehyung crawls forward from where he's been leaning against the wall and glass shards cut into his palms and knees before Jungkook stalks over to pull him up again, seeing the slow trickles of red gather then fall to the floor. Someone sighs into the flat silence. 

 

Namjoon hasn't moved for a long time, and Jungkook feels tears of frustration prick at the back of his eyes and top of his nose. The light of his youth has gone, replaced with burdens and grudges and weight none of them can carry on their own. Yet they still don't know how to share the grief, because they're still too young. 

 

Jungkook begins pulling shards of glass from broken, bleeding skin and trembles when a broken sob escapes his throat. 

 

Seokjin, I really want to see you...

 

~~

 

"What are you talking about, of course pop is the greatest music ever. I mean, duh. Have you ever listened to music in your life?"

 

They've been arguing over the greatest music of all time for over ten minutes now, Rap Monster and Suga standing firm beside rap while the others vary between rock, pop, and traditional. It would be amusing if the boys would actually come to a clean truce and call it a day. 

 

"Pop would be nothing without the oldies remakes though; traditional music shaped the world of pop as we know it. Traditional is the greatest, seriously!" J-Hope whines and leans farther into where Suga has an arm thrown over his shoulder.

 

To the side, the cameraman is holding his lens still and smiling at the screen. To the new friends with magnificent stars in their gaze, the stranger is perfectly content within his silence, so they don't pry. 

 

Looking closer, this cameraman is frozen in place. His eyes are open and his ears are listening, but he cannot see nor can he hear the commotion right in front of him. A passing thought promises that he will be able to watch the videos later - he'll laugh along with them - and another simple smile spreads out along his lips. It would look inviting and so, so kind to see that particular smile, but the little trinkets of light in this cameraman's eyes have almost all gone away. What is now setting and smiling at silent jokes and invisible faces cannot be more than a doll. A drained, tired old soul too withered to remain. 

 

When real notice is taken, it becomes clear that what is seen there is a corpse, and the blinking red light means record. 

 

~~

 

"I don't blame you; I don't blame anyone at all. I'm not going to give you a hard time, Tae. Relax for a bit."

 

Jungkook feels Taehyung lean his head against his right shoulder, much like Yoongi and Jimin this morning, and smiles down at the train tracks below him. This place has been abandoned for years and had become the ideal hideout for young boys who still believed in castles in faraway lands, dragons who steal princesses, and lava floors that kill whoever walks on them. It was the perfect getaway. 

 

Now, the homely sanctuary houses an on-the-run murderer and accessories for aiding the criminal. A playground of laughter and fantasy is now littered with old cigarette buds and empty bottles of alcohol, the photogenic enigma of spiralling youth and rebellion. Jungkook remembers what has been and wishes it to become what could be. 

 

But wishes are for innocent children still dreaming, not law-breaking convicts worth killing, so he doesn't dwell. 

 

"Thanks, kid."

 

Jungkook feels a wave of grief pour over his chest - why can't they go back - and smiles while wrapping an arm over Taehyung's freezing shoulders. He remembers another person who used to let him do this and closes his eyes against the cold wind frosting their skin. 

 

Seokjin, I wish you'd come home already...

 

~~

 

"Hyung, want to play in the water with us? Don't worry about your clothes, let's just do it!"

 

Jungkook is smiling brighter than the sun and the cameraman widens his empty grin while holding his device steady, taking off towards the ocean he does not remember the name of. 

 

When had they arrived at the ocean, anyways? 

 

"Triple dog dare you, jump in! All the way, Suga!"

 

The green-haired one shrugs and flashes a peace-sign with both hands towards the blinking red light before inhaling and collapsing into the waves. 

 

J-Hope laughs like a maniac and Rap Monster runs out to kick water against Suga until Jimin sneaks up behind him and throws the fiend into the grey water himself. Jungkook and J-Hope smirk towards one another then take off down the shoreline, laughing and screaming and racing until they reach a rock in the sand and pivot around to race back. 

 

The rest of them are cheering and hooting chants into the salty air, and the cameraman feels the grin slip off his face. A kind of blank fascination crosses his features as he studies the boys still calling their support down the beach. Yet this time, there is good reason to seem so amazed. 

 

None of the figures who kicked and splashed in the open sea are dripping water anymore; all their clothes, hair, and skin are dry as they had been before they even arrived at the water. 

 

The cameraman does not think to realize this, and he is smiling once again when Jungkook stumbles in for the win, laughing breathlessly and giving his opponent a one-armed hug. He glances back at the blissful expression on the cameraman's face and motions him closer with the other hand until they all move in synced steps down the beach in one unified line. 

 

With much to sand to see and many smiles to capture, a new canvas is painted and a little red light seems to be the only thing breaking the darkness. 

 

...Darkness?

 

~~

 

"I made a promise... not so long ago, Jimin," Jungkook chides from his place against the bathtub, hair soaked and clothes a soapy mess. Jungkook hadn't emptied the bath yesterday, and Jimin had shoved him face first into the water as punishment. Jimin had been pulled in right after though, so now they're both dripping messes of bubbles and awkward smelling hydrocarbons. 

 

"Eh?" Jimin is against the wall mourning his favorite pair of jeans when Jungkook lays his head over the side of the tub, swallows once, hesitates, twice, then exhales quietly. There is an unspoken tone about his gaze and Jimin feels his anger flare a spark ready to ignite like a bomb in his chest. What has Jungkook kept from them, after all this time? 

 

"Come with me, yeah? The others should hear it too.."

 

Jimin can feel a maelstrom whirling in his stomach, whether it's anger, fear, sickness, or exhaustion he can't tell. He does see the nervous habit Jungkook has picked up over the years, a quick scratch of his index finger against his cheek, or his neck. He scratches three times and hurriedly stuffs his hands into his drenched pockets, trying to suppress what has already been seen. Jimin waits until they reach the living room to ask what's chewing holes into his stomach. 

 

"What do you know?"

 

Fortunately, everyone is already packed into the living room, Jungkook sees and Jimin prefers it that way since he knows he can't wait another second to find out what has Jungkook trembling and darting his eyes from one person to the next like he expects to be attacked. 

 

Jimin thinks briefly that he has good reason to be afraid of them, then back reels and regrets ever thinking such a thing in the first place. Why should he hurt Jungkook, of all people? 

 

"Seokjin, he and I made a promise," their eyes feel like needles piercing his skin but Jungkook is more afraid of what could have already passed than what he knows is about to come, "The same night Taehyung called and told Seokjin he killed his appa. He called me after they talked and made me promise something and not speak a word about it until-"

 

Namjoon is on his feet now, eyes wide with something Jungkook can't place and Taehyung is bordering on violently shaking where he's seated on the couch. Yoongi has an expression on his face they haven't seen in a long time; he looks like he finally has hope, however small it may be. 

 

"Until he came back- Jin-hyung told me he would come back, that he was going to get a car and money and take us all away from here. He told me he- he couldn't stand the thought of losing anyone and I heard him-" Jungkook feels a hiccup break his words and he only now realizes he's nearly screaming, tears spilling and eyes clouding until all he has left is the hope of finishing the story. 

 

"I heard him smile through the phone, like getting away from this hell was his dream, but he said he wanted to get away with us, to finally have a future with his family- He promised he would be back for us! He promised, and he never breaks his promises, so I waited and waited but I can't- I'm so scared-"

 

The drama on the television cracks with a nasty alarm, a blaring noise that stills time and breaks their spirits all in one quick moment. 

 

"Breaking news..."

 

~~

 

"The ocean is too big. It must be at least a little lonely out there all by itself," Rap Monster says over the whoosh of warm air past their skin, basking in the dying sunlight of evening. The clouds have dispersed and lovely golden hues are painting the ocean balmy shades of gold the cameraman has never seen before. The sight is breathtaking and beautiful where they're seated along an empty, incomplete pier. 

 

"You're not looking hard enough, 'Mon. The ocean has a mother, a best friend, and a lover," Suga whips out and looks out at the shimmering swirls dancing across the horizon. J-Hope snorts and elbows Suga's arm, but he only smiles in retaliation and leans forward to look at the camera forever pointed in their direction. Suga's eyes are soft and endearing as they watch that little red light.

 

"The mother of the sea is the sky; she sends her love in the form of water she keeps and prepares just for the ocean. But you have to know that dry land is the ocean's best friend, and mothers love who their children love when they can, so she gives the land water to keep it healthy too."

 

A figure stands and spies a tall metal structure, probably a scaffolding if it isn't a base for something, and wonders about how high the world can stand when one begins falling down. This figure begins walking and goes unnoticed by the others. 

 

"I mean, it makes sense but come on, mothers can be.. difficult, and yet it always rains. It never stops raining," Jimin says mildly and leans into where Jungkook has an arm draped over his neck. There are pleasant streaks of golden light swaying like water across their unblemished cheeks that remind the cameraman of tears.

 

"Nevermind that, she loves the sea and she loves the land. Here's the part that breaks the deal, makes her the villain and steals your heart," Rap Monster cringes at Suga's words but listens all the same, "The ocean's lover is the moon."

 

"Being separated by a mother who will never move and allow the moon to come any closer, all the ocean can have is the light that shines from it's lover, nothing more. That's why the ocean follows the pull of the moon; it always fights to be as close as it possibly can. It wants it's lover, but it will never reach it."

 

A calmness falls over them and the cameraman turns away confused when his lens goes unfocused, only showing an image of five blurry boys with smiles on their hearts and mirth in their eyes. Against his own thought, the hand holding the camera raises to see what has happened beyond their sight. 

 

The boy with the brightest smile - V, a hyper one but quite a happy one - is standing as high as he can over the swaying pools of gold. The voices from behind the cameraman call through the air - come down, get back here, come back, we have to leave-

 

And then the world around him, consisting of only seven boys and a sun that has never once moved on the horizon, teeters along to a slow, maddening speed. The water sways and splashes when V falls through the surface, and this cameraman feels an impact as if V had come down to land on not the water, but Jin himself.

 

Jin.

 

Jin.

 

Kim Seokjin-

 

Taehyung has fallen and has to be saved-

 

Kim Seokjin jumps off the concrete and sees the world come to a crawl around him, the dry hair of the one he's trying to rescue peaking out of the water, a warm smile welcoming him into the darkness he finds when the water turns black and swallows him whole.

 

A red light means record but a blank bulb means stop and Kim Seokjin will never see that light again. 

 

~~

 

"...the missing boy, Kim Seokjin, has been found dead in Kim's Car Rentals. Cause of death at the scene pronounced severe head trauma with bruising around the neck.. suffocation by unknown object and still no eyewitnesses... wallet and rented vehicle stolen, but a Polaroid of the victim was found.. police cannot decipher... note left behind.. reads-

 

'We'll run, but we'll run together. Forever.'"

 

In a small world once made of boyhood and futures, there are voices screaming. Boys too young for such grief are drowning, and none of them will ever rise for air again. 

 

~~

 

"Jin, it's like you forgot what you said already," Namjoon grins and slugs his arm around Jin's ribs, crushing him in a hug that the others soon follow into. Jin almost immediately can't breathe, wiggling around and struggling to even move his diaphragm let alone his arms to shove the suffocating leeches off him, but really, it's better like that.

 

It's better with them.

 

"You pabo. Of course I didn't forget: I'm smarter than all of you, remember?"

 

"Yaa, I could beat you at anything! Name it, right here, right now, and your is grass, Kim Seokjin! Grass!!" Hoseok demands, flexing his arms and pulling up his legs to show off the muscle that is probably glorified baby fat until Jin is shoving his face away and laughing. Things are different here though, because they don't need stars and they don't need jokes to keep the life in their eyes. 

 

Jin buckles his belt over his chest, does a headcount of the irresponsible brats he takes care of  ("Yoongi, seatbelt." -"Ugh... fine."), and waits until everyone is settled before turning to reply, "Well, I guess we have a while to figure it out, don't we?"

 

Every soul smiling back grins until it looks ridiculous on their faces and nods in silent agreement, laughing and screaming with excitement when Jin turns the key and kicks their very own vehicle into gear. In this world between worlds, they will never run out of fuel, never feel hungry or tired, and never have to frown or cry ever again. Old trials are passed and strong bonds have been made stronger, because there is forgiveness and there is peace for seven boys now becoming men. 

 

The road ahead is stretching long and wide before them and through years of terrible hardship and chance, their simple family was forged. They breathe free and smile with reminiscence because they know this family will remain. They all stare into the face of time without fear because they have found home in each other, and none of them will ever forget the promise made between seven hearts woven as one so long ago;

 

We'll run, but we'll run together. 

 

Forever.

 

~~

 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this little thing. Feel free to ask me any questions if it seemed a little confusing, it would be really cool to hear your thoughts!

 

Stay frosty, my friends.