earlier in the day, mention of the word "roadtrip" would have elicited enthusiastic cheers and whoops, but the weariness from the day's events instead inspires reticence in the seven bangtan boys. seokjin and namjoon exchange occasional comments in the front of the van, the oldest in his post behind the wheel while the leader busies himself with lyrics. in the middle bench, taehyung watches on as yoongi casually plays a handheld game. yoongi plugged in some earbuds to avoid annoying everyone else with the 8-bit theme music. he's very particular about sharing headphones in that he doesn't, but taehyung doesn't mind not being able to hear it. from the very back seat, jimin sits in the middle of the bench, both shoulders hosts to his sleeping bandmates - jungkook on the left and hoseok on the right. jimin has never really been one to sleep on road trips, let alone plane rides, so he volunteered to sit in the middle. he uses the quiet opportunity to observe the other members instead.

jimin notices how seokjin holds the steering wheel of their van at precisely ten and two o'clock every time he drives. there's always a laser focus in his eyes, carefully watching the road and the cars around them in case one veers a little too close for comfort. as the oldest, he's taken an oath of safety for the sake of the other members because lord knows they don't have a single careful bone in their bodies. tonight seokjin's paying a little closer attention with the crescent moon providing such low light, especially buried under foggy clouds that wash out the stars in the sky. there's a light drizzle of rain flurrying about, dusting the windshield but coating the road enough to make it slightly slick. it's late, and although there aren't many cars around, seokjin is nothing short of alert - especially considering there are no empty seats tonight.

they still have a few hours worth of driving until the seven of them reach seokjin's parents house, and unfortunately, they didn't leave as early as they'd hoped. they'd been cooped up in the recording studio all day, and since yoongi finally landed a more prominent producing role, he of course wanted everything to be perfect. he knew they were wrapping up their sound booth phase to prepare for post-production of their new album, so if there was ever a time to make sure everything was in order, it was now. once they finally managed to make it back home and eat a decent meal before taking off, there was already a two hour setback. unexpectedly, it also took namjoon some extra time convincing manager hyung (again) to let them drive themselves for the short holiday trip they managed to score before music video filming hits full swing. luckily this weekend was schedule free, giving them the chance to visit the coast at seokjin's parents' new beach house. they'll only be there a couple days, but it's not far from busan, and jimin and jungkook excitedly told their parents about the trip in the hopes they might be able to drive down and meet them for a short while too.

all the boys in the car are either asleep or preoccupied, but somehow the silence is comforting. the dull roar of tires on wet road keep the cabin from being too quiet and gives seokjin a consistent background noise to help him focus on the path ahead.

jimin shifts his attention to namjoon, where he can only see the glowing blue light of namjoon's phone screen, illuminating his hands as they fiddle with the device. furious taps of his fingers spill words onto the screen, and although he can't read what namjoon's writing from so far away, jimin knows each character namjoon spells out is a piece of the grand puzzle that make up namjoon's rhymes and lyrics. right now they might just be jumbled up verses, but jimin has no doubts that namjoon will fit them all together - probably before the car ride is even over. a small smirk forms on jimin's lips when he sees namjoon's thumb falter, hovering over the screen for a moment. his smirk grows when the same glowing light lines namjoon's sharp profile with a silver outline as the leader turns to the driving seokjin. it's hard to hear what he's saying from all the way in the back, but jimin lets his imagination fill in the blanks.

"hyung, i need your help."

"i'm driving, namjoonie."

"it's okay. all you need to do is listen."

namjoon doesn't know that jimin knows his secret, (and namjoon probably doesn't even realize that he himself has a secret), but after many observations, jimin has come to realize that in namjoon's web of much-too-intelligent thoughts, seokjin is always the one to untangle the mess and provide the clarity that namjoon needs.

in his mind, jimin has integrated himself into all these memories between seokjin and namjoon, but it doesn't quite work that way. if he could capture it into a photo, he just would never be in it, instead always the one taking it. it's a mutual agreement and as far as seokjin and namjoon are concerned, they're exclusive, meaning sans jimin (or anyone for that matter). every moment, jimin spends watching them from afar. not on purpose, but he's just the bystander, analyzing every interaction and taking every word to heart. while he commits the conversations and the looks and the smiles (and even the subtle tears and silent anger they thought he didn't notice) to memory, namjoon and seokjin have become stable. but stable is predictable, and it's not that jimin finds them boring because he doesn't. he admires them. he understands the bond they share despite not sharing it with them himself. but he doesn't wonder why, and if curiosity kills, jimin's living too comfortable of a life around seokjin and namjoon.

but yoongi always reminds jimin why he appreciates namjoon and seokjin, and it's mostly because yoongi is a goddamn tease with the way he's all over the place. one moment, he's closed off and slightly annoyed at anything and everything, others jimin forgets yoongi is the second oldest hyung with his playful dorkiness and hyperactivity, and then there are times when he's really doting and caring, but jimin sometimes feels those moments are too far and few between. it's just a little difficult for jimin because yoongi's cold front is opposite jimin's affinity for fluffy warmth. so although he doesn't doubt how much yoongi actually loves him and the rest of the members, he occasionally feels deceived. it always ends with him scolding himself for such thoughts though, and he gently reminds himself that he just has to defrost the love yoongi gives every now and then. but in truth, it's moments like these that jimin really understands yoongi's heart.

by now, taehyung has drifted down to yoongi's shoulder, leaning his head on his smaller hyung. jimin can only see the back of their heads, but he can tell that taehyung is still watching yoongi play his game by the way his shoulders are keeping relatively still, rather than rising and falling slowly like they would if he were sleeping. he does notice a subtle twitch from his same-age friend every so often though, which indicates to him that he's probably dozing off for a few seconds at a time. on the surface, jimin can't tell if yoongi doesn't mind taehyung using him as a pillow or if he's just too entranced by his game to care. but by the frustrated hisses and grunts yoongi emits under his breath, jimin figures he'd have shrugged taehyung off by now in favor of heavier concentration if it were the latter.

it's interesting to watch yoongi play so fiercely all the while keeping his movements to a minimum. if his rapping on stage was any indication to jimin, yoongi is an expressive individual and it translates to other aspects of his life as well. like when he accidentally burned his hand while helping seokjin cook dinner one night. the endless swears that flowed from his lips were drowned out by the music program the other members were watching on tv, but didn't escape jimin's ears. the red haired boy watched as yoongi jumped around, cursing, holding his hand tightly with the other in hopes of pressing the pain away. so it's not to say that yoongi is careless with his emotions, but jimin imagines it must be a little difficult for the older to contain himself when he'd rather explode as his frustration with the game builds. but he knows taehyung is the reason why he won't.

yoongi keeps his earbuds plugged in, but jimin guesses he's muted the sound in the game settings in order to listen for a snore, a mumble, or quiet request from taehyung. he notices yoongi steal a glance at taehyung every time the loading screen pops up, as if he were checking on the younger boy.

"here," yoongi reaches for his jacket sitting in the empty space of the bench to the left of him and holds it up for taehyung. the sleepy boy lifts his head and shifts to look at yoongi in slight confusion with is puppy dog stare, and jimin can tell why fans think he looks like exo's baekhyun. "it's cold," yoongi reasons, a sincere gaze locked onto taehyung's. a warm smile again forms on jimin's lips because this is his favorite side of yoongi.

"thanks yoongi hyung," jimin hears taehyung say, a raspy film covering his already low voice.

"mmh," is all yoongi says, attention focused back on the screen in front of him.

at that moment, hoseok fidgets off of jimin's shoulder and lets his body fall to the other side, leaning up against the cool glass of the window instead. the relief of the weight of hoseok's head on jimin's shoulder shocks him as he was so wrapped up in taehyung and yoongi's interaction. there's a marginal reaction on jimin's behalf, his shoulders jumping up ever so slightly, but just enough to rustle jungkook awake from slumber (which is saying a lot since the maknae can sleep through almost anything.)

jungkook moans quietly, and jimin holds his breath in the hopes that maybe he'll pass back out. jimin keeps still, waiting for jungkook. the maknae doesn't move either, except for the small rise and fall of his chest. the calmness exuding from jungkook makes jimin believe that he's passed back out and so he exhales, though the sound of the wind exiting his body almost covers up the question jungkook mumbles in a sleepy breath.

"jimin hyung... are we there yet?"

jimin's eyes widen as the realization of not knowing where they were or how long they'd been driving. for someone who observes everything, the sound of raindrops tapping the roof come as a surprise. how long has it been raining for? the arbitrary thumping of rain soothes jungkook as he snuggles onto jimin's shoulder a little more closely, trying to press the side of his body just as close.

"not yet," jimin finally whispers in response, taking note of jungkook's attempt to keep warm. he doesn't have any jacket to offer the way yoongi did for taehyung, and since jungkook is practically glued to his left arm, he's not able to wrap it around the maknae's body. but if there's one member that always catches jimin off guard, it's jungkook, who's more in tune with the dancer than he really knows, and tonight, it's like jungkook can read jimin's thoughts without even having to look at the expressions on his face.

"hold me," jungkook half asks, half demands, but with no real authority other than the fact that he knows jimin melts at his every request. luckily for jimin, jungkook rarely cashes in on that advantage, despite the fact that jimin still hasn't yet realized it. though perhaps jimin chooses not to acknowledge it because he notices everything, especially the way the strings of his heart get pulled a little more taut when jungkook is involved. and if he can't notice the physical feeling in his own chest, what kind of observer would he be?

with no hesitation at all, jimin obliges jungkook's appeal, repositioning himself at an angle so that jungkook can fit into his chest more comfortably. having to hold himself up for a total of twenty or so seconds, jungkook sways from side to side, fighting the weariness while jimin moves around. when the older invites jungkook into his hold, he wastes no time doing so, all but spilling into jimin's toned and muscular arms. the soft sleeve of his sweater makes a cuddly pillow cover that jungkook rests his cheek against.

to accomodate the weight, jimin leans back into hoseok, his back lining hoseok's left arm. jimin is careful not to put too much pressure for fear that hoseok's arm won't wake up when he does, but he knows it's a strong possibility. if nothing else, at least hoseok won't be able to hit him with that arm as revenge. not that hoseok would, but jimin knows he's got it in him on the rare occasion. with the exception of hoseok's shoulder jutting into the back of jimin's head, he decides he's pretty comfortable, especially with jungkook's slowly warming body pressed against his own.

"how much longer til we get there?" jungkook asks through a yawn.

"soon," is all jimin replies, and jungkook hums in assent, the calm vibration radiating against jimin's chest. he doesn't really know how much longer it will take to arrive at seokjin's parents' house, but he hopes it's not as soon as he promised because he could enjoy sleeping like this for the rest of the night.

with the muted sounds of seokjin's and namjoon's chatter, the hushed laughter of taehyung mocking yoongi in his frustration, and the calm and consistent breathing of jungkook and hoseok contrasting against the rain, jimin closes his eyes and drifts into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the car ride.