Namjoon eyes burn from the flickering of white lights that reflects a dull yet vibrant glow to his shielded eyelids. Something is holding the weight of his body and he’s positive it’s not him with how stiff it feels. It feels completely numb like he had sat in the same spot for the entire day and his body fell asleep. There is a faint sound of metal wheels scraping against tile flooring an air of wind cradle around his body that feels like it’s floating and moving at a fast pace and out of his control. There is someone yelling but it comes off as ringing in his ear. Namjoon wants to move, he wants to see, instead he’s stuck feeling lifeless in a sea of dreams.

Taehyung stands in a line of people who all came to pay their respects to Min Woo’s family. He could see the elder woman briefly as he passed by lining up at the end of the line that seemed to wrap around the entire inside of the funeral hall. He could see there weren’t many family members around. He remembers Namjoon telling him once before that the boys all have their own stories, ones he had never really questioned, figuring they would talk to him once they were ready.  But Taehyung often wondered why Saeho and Kyummin lived all the way in Daegu when it was neither of the two boys’ hometowns. And how Kwon, Juno, and Lai ended up living in a molded basement home with barely any food to eat. The five of them having so much untapped potential that it pained him to see them struggle.

The thought of Min Woo living in Seoul all along after not debuting and how the stress of that alone ate him up until he’d given up instead of returning to a lovely home back in Busan with his Grandmother that surely needed his help. Taehyung could see it in the eyes of the elder Ajummas and Ajussis who talked to Min Woo’s younger Aunts and Uncles at a table in the corner of the dining hall that he had happened to pass by. They told stories about the bright young boy who had originally taken on running all the errands the older generation had for him. Or entertaining them with his singing, dancing, and love for trot. All while being the top student in his school. There were constant praises and admiration that even brought a soft smile to Tae’s face. 

“He didn’t mind looking after the little ones after school. I could send my kids over whenever I needed.” The small group of family members their teeth at the woman.

“You had such a bad habit of forcing him to watch them. The kid was only in middle school looking after so many toddlers. You should’ve never had them if you were going to push them off on him Jahee!” The elder Uncle says to Jaehee who looked old enough to be his aunt. The elder Aunts look at the girl unimpressed agreeing with the Uncle.

“He already had to take care of the stationery shop and you would send over the kiddies to run around stopping his work.” One of the men huffs. 

“How could you go as far as making that sound like a good thing?” One of the elder Aunts tsks at her and Jahee turns red in embarrassment. Taehyung giggles lightly, taking it as a sign for him to leave when the line begins to move. 

His attention went back to Minwoo’s grandmother. She had stopped in the middle of guests paying their respects to look at a little boy in the corner of the room in a fetal position. While the other kids played and ran around loudly he hides away from everyone. He dressed in a black suit with two stripes on the sleeve meaning he was a part of Minwoo’s immediate family. Which Taehyung was sure he hadn’t seen mentioned in his file. The boy's knees are hiked up covering his face with his thin arms wrapped around his knees. Taehyung could only see a tuft of black hair and his chubby cheek that was peeking out from the right side of his hiding place.

 Minwoo’s grandmother tsks, making the little boy stand up facing her as she dusts him off. Taehyung didn’t mean to gasp but it shocked him to see how easily the elder woman picked him. He is tiny for his age, honestly too skinny he couldn’t have been eating that well. Which meant there is a little more to his story than what meets the eyes. He isn’t accustomed to having this many people around him hence him burying himself in his grandmother’s lap. Who lightly pats his as she rocks him. Who bullied you this time? Taehyung hears as he walks up by chance catching the glimpse of the boy’s cute face. His blood boils when he notices the small gash right up under his left eye.

When Taehyung leaves the little boy is  heavily on his mind but he didn’t have the heart to ask the elder woman any questions. She would have to deal with people for three days straight while taking care of a toddler it seemed. Plus, he wanted answers and he wouldn’t get them hanging around there. Taehyung's phone lights up with a texts one that’s simple and relieving. 

He’s fine.-SJ

Taehyung sighs thankful for good news on such a gloomy day. 

“We can head to Daegu now. I’m going to get a nap in before we arrive.” He says to the driver having split up from Minjae who picked up the teens they recognized from the train video. If it wasn’t for the obnoxiously big sign they had Taehyung probably wouldn’t have noticed them. The words ‘Safe Arrival’ written on it with an NJ next to it. Taehyung's eyes lit up but he wasn’t exactly sure that was true, not without confirmation from Seojoon. He would thank those girls later they had helped him when no one else could. 

“He’s awake.” Kwon