The difference between seeing things from a loud tourbus rather than a whining truck is that everything looked smaller. While in a small truck, like the one they were in then, Jinyoung felt as if he could reach out and touch the grass and the flowers growing within it. He felt closer with the world, a feeling he'd never really had the opportunity of properly feeling, it felt relieving  since his mind was finally blank.

He rolled the window down and let his arm hang on the side of the door, the now warm air flowing over his arm. Then the truck began to sputter, it stuttered and jerked to several stops until it finally came to a full halt, a high pitched screeching escaping from under the hood as it shut itself off completely. They both froze, Jaebum being the first to actually open the door and check what the problem was—well, what it was that time.

Jinyoung stuck his head out the window, he watched Jaebum pop the hood and smoke emerge from it in a large grey cloud, "I'm guessing that's not supposed to happen?" He called out, eyes squinting in a playful way because he knew nothing about cars. Only how to drive them and when a certain light went off on the dashboard to take it in to an auto shop—he'd never gotten that far though.

"What? Turn itself off and smoke? It's not a transformer or a ticking time bomb, Jinyoung, so, no. That's not supposed to happen." Jaebum said as he placed his hands on his hips and took a step away from the truck, tilting his head for a moment, "Help me push it out of the road." He said, remembering they were still in the middle of a narrow street. Though no one was coming, it was still a smart idea. Jaebum pushed from one side of the truck and steered it towards the green grass on the side of the road, Jinyoung helped from the opposite side of the truck.

They left both doors open while Jaebum worked on the truck, Jinyoung used the manual window handle to lower the windows glass down and perch his feet out through the sill of the trucks door. The book in his hands became less and less interesting and harder to read as the sun began to sink lower and lower. The loud slamming of the truck's hood being shut startled Jinyoung, somewhat because it was so abrupt and another reason being it was getting darker and darker and it made him nervous. He had no idea what was out there but he'd seen enough horror movies to have an idea.

Jaebum sat in the truck then, pulled his phone out, and tapped away at the screen. Jinyoung stared at him for a moment, watched his fingers move quickly and his smile light up at some of the fans comments. Jinyoung may have smiled to himself too but he'd never admit it. He watched for just a second more—forcing himself to speak.

"What did you do?" He asked, ridding his face of his goofy smile and giving Jaebum a more serious look.

Jaebum shrugged, "I fixed it."

"So, why aren't we moving?" Jinyoung asked, mocking his tone and his shrug—a dangerous act but one he'd done several times since he'd met Jaebum.

"It has to sit over night." Jaebum pocketed his phone, giving his attention to Jinyoung. He knew Jinyoung was scared of large fields at night, mostly because almost every horror movie they've seen takes places in similar scenes like the one over the white picket fence less than a foot away from them. Even though Jinyoung didn't want to admit it, and probably never would, he was undoubtedly terrified.

Jinyoung's brows arched in a equal mix of surprise and terror, "What? Cars sleep now? Where are we gonna sleep?" He asked. He had an idea, but he didn't want Jaebum to say it. The thought itself already sounded uncomfortable.

Jaebum laughed, clapping Jinyoung on the shoulder, "You can sleep in the truck, I'll sleep back there." He pointed his thumb at the bed of the truck. The ridges of it looked painful and uncomfortable to Jinyoung already, even though he wasn't the one sleeping back there. Jinyoung's heart ached at the thought.

"You're joking, right?" He asked yet another question, hoping this was all a prank and the car was, in fact, drivable right then and there. Just enough to get them to some type of hotel, any type of hotel. He'd never slept in a truck—then again he'd never went on a spontaneous road trip  before either.

"It's not that bad, Jinyoungie." Jaebum said in a childish tone, pinching Jinyoung's cheek. His hand lingered on Jinyoung's cheek for just a moment but he'd felt it even after Jaebum had pulled away. He exited the car and Jinyoung stared in disbelief as he took the sleeping bags he hid in the back and layed them out. Jaebum looked unbothered and Jinyoung began to believe that he'd planned the whole thing—it was too real, though, there was no way. He squinted his eyes at Jaebum's unknowing figure in slight suspicion then sighed to himself.

"Think of it as camping." Jaebum called towards Jinyoung, still smoothing out the sleeping bags to make the uncomfortable situation as comfortable and sleepable as possible. Jinyoung just rolled his eyes at that. How the older could be so calm in a situation like theirs was a mystery to him, one he didn't know if he'd ever really solve.

Jinyoung scoffed, pushing open the back windshield of the truck that hovered over the bed just for Jaebum to hear him and maybe for slight comfort too, "I hate camping." He states, shoving his sweater off, adjusting his tee, and bundling it up to mimic a pillow. He curled up on the trucks long—and shockingly comfortable—seat and shut his eyes. But, he didn't drift, not in the slightest. He was too aware his eyes were closed, that he wanted to and needed to sleep, so his body wouldn't let him. His body was more focused on what could happen while his eyes were closed.

"Bad example." He heard Jaebum say to himself.

Jinyoung rolled over, facing the steering wheel but sleep still wouldn't consume him. He sighed, annoyed and painfully wide awake, "Jinyoung-ah? Are you okay? I promise we'll have somewhere to stay tomorrow." Jaebum sounded sincere and Jinyoung's heart ached. He wanted nothing more than to show Jaebum that he was enjoying the trip and that every trip had it's mishaps—this being a major one.

There was something else that was forbidding Jinyoung to sleep. A cold burst of wind blew in through the open windows and told him what he'd been missing.

Jinyoung sat up, exited the truck, and stood at its side. He used one of the tires and propped his foot on it, pushing himself up and over the side of the truck and into it's bed. He saw Jaebum freeze, staying frozen as Jinyoung laid next to him, pressing his chest against Jaebum's side and resting his head on his shoulder.

It was silent.

"You're really close." Jaebum mumbled while he let out a slow breath. Jinyoung could feel his heart, the hard thumping of it made him smile. He wanted to know why. Why Jaebum was so nervous, why he froze at Jinyoung's touch, why his voice became smaller the closer Jinyoung got. Jaebum knew the answer, only Jaebum knew the answers to those questions and only he could reveal them. Would he ever? Probably not.

Jinyoung pulled the blanket onto both of them, "I'm cold." He mumbled against Jaebum's shoulder, shutting his eyes tightly as he chased sleep, the fight being easier then. Jaebum was soft and Jinyoung hated the thought of having to wake up and not be pressed against him ever again. He felt uneasy then, the things running through his mind already tiring him out.

"And?" Jaebum asked, he still hadn't moved an inch but his breathing had settled back to normal.

"You're warm. One plus one equals two, hyung." Jinyoung's voice became lazier and lazier as he drifted farther and farther.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared." Jaebum sounded nervous to say it at first but halfway through he had let it come out smoothly.

Jinyoung smiled lazily against his shirt, his hand wrapping around Jaebum's wrist tightly under the blanket, "Well, you don't know any better." He'd said it slower than he'd thought he would've.

Jaebum pushed on, "It's safer in the truck, you know?" He had a voice that even he was unsure what it meant. Whether it meant he was happy to have Jinyoung so close to him or if he was terrified at the fact, most likely a bumpy mix of both.

"Ah." Jinyoung poked his side and proceeded to press against him harder. Sleep met him halfway and shook his hand, pulling him into a exhausting hug and consuming him in the process of it all. Jaebum had felt him slowly go limp, at one point he pulled his arm from between their bodies and wrapped it securley around Jinyoung.

Jaebum's focus had ascended on the night sky and his ears had perked at the sound of the crickets chirping softly. He couldn't help but wonder how much the stars resembled Jinyoung's eyes. They were shining and so was he, but there were too many similarities and Jaebum couldn't name them all, even while Jinyoung slept. The twisted feeling in his stomach returned and he shut his eyes, the hand on Jinyoung's back gripped the cotton of his shirt.

❧

Jinyoung had woken up to his head knocking softly against the window as the truck made its way down a bumpy road. He stayed with his forehead pressed against the cool glass, following the quickly moving plants and fence posts to wake him up.

Jaebum sensed him stirring, felt the presence in the truck change and add, it told him that Jinyoung was finally awake, "You should've seen the sky last night. It was straight out of a masterpiece." He said.

The sun shined bright on the truck and the A/C was blowing on medium, "How long have we been driving?" Jinyoung asked, yawning and stretching his arms forward.

"Two hours, not that bad." Jaebum said.

Jinyoung hummed, nodding, "What were you saying about the sky?"

Jaebum took his phone from the seat between them both, tapped on it with his eyes switching between it and the road, and tossed it into Jinyoung's lap. He began to scroll through the pictures, the stars were bright—so bright they were actually visible with the phones cameras quality—and the night sky was a dark blue, complimenting the stars occupying it with a blush. He kept swiping until he couldn't swipe anymore, then he went back. He settled on the picture just before the one Jaebum had set for him to start at, it was of Jinyoung himself. One he hadn't noticed Jaebum had took. He grinned, eyes darting to Jaebum for half a second before he clicked out of the photo library and placed the phone down between them again.

He turned his head to face the window again—finding it easier to stare outside rather than keep a straight face, "I want to be a masterpiece." Jinyoung found himself saying, he didn't regret it. He was captivated by the outside—by the way so many things could look so different and still be a masterpiece on their own. Joined together, they were even better, paired—like he and Jaebum—they created beauty in a world that could be ugly a majority of the time.

Jaebum's hand had gripped the wheel tighter for a moment as they turned down a dirt road, "Paintings have no life to live." He spared a short glance at Jinyoung, "You do." 

Jinyoung laughed at that, the back of his hand had come up to cover his mouth as he tilted his head back in amusement. Jaebum smiled to himself as Jinyoung laughed—more at the fact that Jinyoung was genuinely laughing and less at the fact that he thought he was funny.

"Then what are we?" Jinyoung asked. It was a genuine question, though he wanted it to sound like a silly one he really didn't care to know the answer to. But, he truly wanted to know what Jaebum's answer would be.

"Artists." Jaebum replied in an exaggerated and extra tone, he flared his fingers in the air as if he were adding a magic touch—it was more of an extra touch, one that Jinyoung rolled his eyes at.

Jinyoung chuckled, "Cheesy."