chap 2 - Jump!
The skateboard wheels made a clattering noise under his feet, the wheels rolling over little chunks of pebbles or knocking them aside so that they skittered off the platform and landed down by the tracks. He turned his head and watched one such chunk bouncing; a jagged slate coloured shard that hit one of the metal lines and rocketed off out of sight. He couldn't possibly trace its movement in the dim lighting because the sky was still a mottled shade of purple overhead, a small scattering of stars nestled here and there and the moon hanging pregnant and glowing in the sky. Soon enough the moon would be going away once more, the sun rising to take its place, but there was also going to be something else in the sky this morning, right at dawn according to the reports he had checked. Taehyung didn't glance at his watch because he didn't need to see the time, he was more or less already at the trainyard and so he stopped skating, kicking hard on the back of the board so that it jumped up into his palm. He tucked it back inside his backpack, not able to zip it up and rather just leave it open, and then shoved both of his hands into his jeans pockets to turn and scan the place.
He had been here countless times in the past, they all had, and though the place was still in use the sights rarely changed in the spaces between each visit. The tracks that were just beside him weren't in use anymore, that much he knew, rather the area was used to store large freight containers that would be moved from the location in the backs of massive juggernaut-like trucks. He had caught sight of a few of these leaving the trainyard over the years but had never been told off by any workers. He always made it his goal to not be seen by any of the men just to avoid the trouble and it wasn't hard to do so. Whenever there was a truck around he would be able to hear the loud rumbling noises of things being moved, of shutter doors being rolled up, the sight of the cranes moving visible over the tops of the metal boxes as they shifted the goods for them to transport, and often he would even hear the men shouting to one another as they worked. Therefore he just stuck to moving about the lanes between the walls of containers and that was usually enough. Right now he could hear nor see anything that revealed that there was anyone in the trainyard but him at this current moment; but pretty soon there would be six more people arriving.
Taehyung glanced down at the tracks and then turned his head to the right. The view it offered him led even deeper into the trainyard, a small stone tunnel that was only a couple of feet in length that the trains used to pass under. Back when it had been in use people used to wait on top of the small bridge, for he had been up there a few times and saw that there were worn-down benches in place. He could imagine kids stepping up on tiptoe to glance over the metal railing and the sight below; the colourful and speeding trains shooting out under their feet as they did. Had he perhaps been here as a child and that was why he could visualise it so strongly? He couldn't recall, but it seemed that he might just have been here at least once; back when the area had been bustling and full of life and not cold and desolate. Back when it had contained lines of humans waiting for trains and tickets and not just metal shipping containers that stretched for miles and miles on end. He ran his eyes up the front of the bridge for a moment, taking in the deep grey stones that it was made of, visible dirty cement in the cracks to hold it up. Here and there across the high walls there were graffiti tags, even more inside the interior even though it was pitch-black in there during the daylight hours. Some of them were so old that the weather and time had aged them into faint markings like cave art and none of them were that impressive, except for maybe the one that they had left behind.
He could remember that day clearly in his mind, that late winter night when they had all climbed up the chipped stone steps to get onto the bridge, stepping in piles of filthy slush snow filled with rotting leaves and litter, boots pounding on the steps like drums. It had been his idea at first of course, like always he was the one to come up with the ideas, but unlike usual he hadn't been shot down. His friends hadn't shaken their heads and called him crazy for the suggestion, nor had they just ignored him and discussed something else as if they hadn't heard. No, his friends had listened to what he had said and then rapidly started rallying questions back and forth amongst each other; making it sound like his plan had been a very good one indeed. What was the tag going to look like? How big? Who was going to do it? How were they going to do it? After some crazy discussion they had finally settled on the idea and that was when Hoseok had slipped his backpack off and unzipped it to pull out spraycans. The other boy had been experimenting with them as an art form and had found them noisy and irritating and it had been his suggestion about getting rid of them that had started the great debate, but Taehyung had been the one to take the suggestion that one step further. Then they had all slipped their scarfs free from their necks, even when the weather was below freezing and they had started shivering as they had, and Jimin had set about knotting them into a long rope; for he had had the best knowledge on the matter with his bed sheet creation they had all marvelled over.
When it had been nice and long both he and Jungkook had pulled hard on the opposite ends to make sure that the knots didn't come loose, the boy had hunkered down in front of Yoongi and got to work securing him with it. They had picked Yoongi because he had been the smallest and lightest at the time, and he still currently was despite his age. Jimin had wrapped the scarf rope around one thigh first, before knotting it and then looping it around his waist. Another knot around the other thigh and then back around his waist. There was a few feet of length left and so it had been tied tightly around the metal railing. Yoongi had sworn that if it come undone or tore in anyway that he would have come back and haunted them all and then Namjoon had helped him climb over the railings and Seokjin had grabbed a handful of the rope and held on tight just in case it had come undone. It hadn't, and the boy - who had yet to become a young man - had rapidly shook the can of paint before starting on the tag. Jungkook and Taehyung had raced down the steps again to watch him from below, offering tips on what colours to use, or telling him to make it a little bigger. It had taken just ten minutes for him to complete the task and yet even now, after the few years it had been, the tag was still in place; where it would be long after ten years had passed.
He ran his eyes over the tag slowly, taking in the sight and colours with a soft smile on his face. A red bullet zooming across the bridge, white and black details added to make it stand out copied from Hoseok's rushed sketch that Yoongi had followed perfectly without a mistake. It was red of course because they had decided that it looked cooler that way, that it had looked like it had already been fired and punched through a body, red with blood. A rather ghastly image and yet they had all enthusiastically jumped at the idea.
Taehyung turned his head and looked at the sight that the left side offered him. He was still currently standing on one of the old train platforms and he could see the building behind him out of the corner of his eye. It was another brick creation and it hadn't even been boarded-up over the years so he could see the door and windows. They were still there even though it seemed they would have been broken and destroyed anywhere else in this city, and he had often wondered about picking the lock on the door and going in one time to see what the interior looked like. But he didn't need to because one glance through the windows revealed it to him, even with the thick dust on the panes. Long stretch of counter along the length of the room behind which tickets would have been sold, row of padded benches on the opposite side for people to sit on whilst waiting. He would even be able to see the metal and rope contraptions that used to be used to create orderly queues back when the trainyard had been thriving. The metal was brass and the ropes were a red that matched the brick walls outside.
Across from where he was standing there was another platform but no building and rather just a small copse of trees and bushes instead. If he followed the tracks with his eyes he would see them run straight ahead in the direction he had just come from, the wide area that seemed to stretch for miles on sight with nothing more than trees and fences on either side. The trainyard was set down at the bottom of a ditch and he could see highways in the distance that he had been skating under not that long ago, and if he turned around and looked at the view behind the building he would see a harsh sloping hill that led up and onto a main road. Occasionally he would hear cars and trucks zooming past up there, maybe even a horn or blare of music before they disappeared, sometimes flashing lights. He was about to settle down on the platform and await the arrival of one of the other boys when he heard a loud noise and he turned to look behind him. It was the unmistakable exclamation of a truck horn and after it had stretched for several seconds in length it cut off again and then he heard loud laughter. He didn't even need to see faces because he knew exactly who he was listening to.
There was a blur of movement at the top of the hill and he saw two bodies rapidly running to get off the main road, before another truck tried to run them down or perhaps a car swerved to avoid hitting them and ended up driving right down into the ditch.
"Uh-oh!" one of them called out before letting out a giggle, the noise revealing it to be none other than Jimin. The sound was sweet and giddy, but also a little nervous and he knew why. The hill looked rather easy to get down but in reality it was not, and only after stupidly attempting to descend it did everyone realise that. The soil was loose and not at all sturdy underfoot, filled with chunks of pebbles that would get underfoot and make one lose their balance, or jutting outcrops of stone and gnarled roots that would snag on trouser cuffs and the front of shoes to trip up and break ankles. "Not a good idea!"
"You never have good ideas Dumbass!" the other boy called as he made his way down the hill: Jungkook. The boy didn't go slowly or even try to watch his steps, he rather just bounded down as fast as he could, letting his boots come down on the soil for barely a second before he was taking another step, managing to avoid most obstacles because of his speed. Taehyung watched him as he descended, knees bent slightly, head dropped and arms out on a low angle. Every time he nearly tripped on something his fingers would curl up against his palms and when he didn't they would loosen up again, and within five or so seconds he was right down at the bottom of the hill.
"Someone's stuck!" Taehyung called, pulling one hand out of his trouser pocket to cup it around his mouth like a megaphone.
"Not stuck!" Jimin retorted. "I just don't wanna break my neck!" Jungkook's boots clomped on the concrete of the train platform loudly and then he twisted to look back at the other boy too. Jimin was still up high on the hill and he seemed to be scanning for his next step, to make sure that he didn't take the wrong one and end up falling. But there really was no right step to take on the hill, it was simply a game of luck and stupidity, and he would have been better just getting down as fast as he could like the other boy had.
"You won't break your neck," Jungkook said with a smirk, "but you might bust your ass." The other boy muttered something under his breath and then started off down the hill again. His posture was a little different. He didn't bend his knees but rather kept his legs as straight as he could, and he leaned back slightly just in case he found himself slipping forward so that he could throw his weight back, arms held out at his sides so that they were practically level with his shoulders. The younger boy had moved with quick and confident steps and yet he was moving with slow and cautious ones. He was just under halfway down the hill when his boot caught on the first object and he tripped to land back on his ass with a jarring thud and a surprised noise. He slid a few feet down and then grabbed something to stop himself before awkwardly getting back to his feet.
"I can't see in the dark!"
"Excuses, excuses!" Taehyung shouted and he heard the boy once again mumbling under his breath, no doubt cursing him whilst he was still up on the hill and safe from any ass kicks. "Just run down the last part! C'mon!"
"Or jump!"
"Yeah sure, and you two can carry me to the hospital!" Jimin said before sighing and plucking up the courage to get down the hill. He stumbled again before he did, once again falling on his ass except this time there was no roots to snag hold of and he just ended up rolling down with a strangled yelp until he landed on the platform on his back. "Shit..." he moaned as he stared up at the sky for a few seconds, chest rising and falling as he took a few quick breaths. "Next time I'm not taking the stupid hill." Jungkook remarked that that sounded like a smart idea and then the boy slowly sat up. He wasn't wearing a jacket of any kind but he did have one knotted around his slim waist, denim from the looks of it. Instead he was wearing a black polo shirt with yellow details on the collar and as a result he had managed to catch his bare arms on a few pebbles and chunks of rocks. He saw a few nicks in his skin and a long scrape on one elbow because he had folded his arms on his up-drawn knees. His jeans had leaves and other pieces of debris stuck onto the material, the ends up rolled up a few times so that he could see a glimpse of his shin from under the cuffs and then his boots which looked to have gotten scuffed in his awkward descent, if they hadn't been already.
"You OK?" Taehyung asked him before holding out a hand to help him to his feet.
"Yeah, right now I think only my pride is wounded and-" Jimin grabbed his hand and then seemed to notice the cuts on his arms. As he dragged him upright again the boy lifted both of them up to check them out, no doubt wanting to see that they were all shallow and not too deep. From a few feet away Jungkook bent down to pick up a chunk of rock that the boy had knocked free and he hefted it a few times, letting it bounce off his palm with a soft noise. Then he turned on his heel and tossed it hard. The movement made his black bomber jacket lift up with a rustling sound, so that a flash of his red tee and lower back was on show. A second later they heard it connecting with the opposite platform, the rock either splitting from the force or skittering along it as if it were skipping on water.
"Why aren't there any signs around here?" the youngest boy asked he turned and tried to locate another object to toss. "Speed signs, warnings, anything on a nice tall pole that I can use as a target?"
"There are windows over there but I wouldn't recommend breaking 'em," Taehyung said as he picked up another chunk, this one a lot larger so that it fit in his palm and he had to curl his fingers around it. "Why do you wanna do that?"
"'Cos I'm bored and the others aren't here yet," he said, before cocking his arm back and throwing the chunk at the platform they were standing on. "So we have to wait." The rock hit the concrete with a horrible thump and then he bent down to pick it up again. Another drop and a piece of it chipped and flew to hit Taehyung on the shin. It stung for a moment but didn't cut his skin because of his thick jeans.
"Hey, stop doing that." Jimin complained. The boy asked why as he once again tossed the chunk. "It's annoying and..." he stopped talking for a moment and Taehyung turned his head to look at him. He had his right arm twisted so that he could look at his elbow and the back of his upper arm and he followed his gaze down to see something wedged in the skin just above the joint, something that looked rather sharp. "Oh fuck."
"Damn, is that a chunk of glass?" At this question Jungkook stopped playing with the rock and also looked over at them, it still held in one hand and significantly smaller than it had been before. "Oh damn, that's a chunk of fucking glass!" Taehyung leaned forward to study it, nose inches above his skin. It looked to be a deep green to his eyes and that meant one thing. "Came from a bottle of soju."
"I don't care where it came from," Jimin said, voice a little panicked, "I care that it's in my fucking skin!" The other boy came over and studied it too, before reaching over to poke at it. "Can you get diseases from broken glass?"
"Uh..."
"Yeah or no?"
"Dunno."
"Probably," the younger boy said as he poked at it again and their friend knocked his hand aside with a pained noise.
"Better get it out quick," he pulled his eyes away from the chunk of glass, so much like a piece of emerald in the dim lighting, "just in case. Wanna do it? Or want me to do it?"
"You."
"OK." Taehyung reached over and pinched the chunk between his thumb and forefinger. "Want me to go slow or just-"
"Shit, shit, just pull it out man!" Jimin whined, so he pulled on the shard and it slipped free with no problem, less troublesome than a splinter. The boy scrunched his face up rather than look but if it hurt he didn't make a sound. He tossed it aside and then watched the blood start to well and run down over his elbow, some dripping onto the concrete.
"Hey!" They all twisted at the sound of another voice, husky and very familiar. "What're you all shouting about, huh?"
"Guess what Dumbass did?" Jungkook called out, and as Namjoon walked the last couple of feet to get to them and stepped up onto the platform he asked what. "Rolled down the hill and got glass stuck in his arm."
"Shit, you get it out?"
"Yeah, but it's bleeding," Taehyung explained. Namjoon reached into his pocket and he saw his hand bulging the fabric slightly as he did before pulling something free that looked like a napkin. But when he unraveled it he saw it was actually a bandanna. He asked him why he had it and the young man looked at him for a moment before turning his attentions to the injured boy.
"It's my lucky bandanna. I had this back in high school when I aced all of my tests so I like to carry it around with me, in my pocket." He grabbed hold of the boy's arm and furrowed his brow as he studied the cut, which was deep and still bleeding profusely, then he folded the square of fabric in half twice, so that it resembled a thick long rectangle, before slipping it around his arm. He pulled the knot in tight and then knotted it again to keep it secure. Jimin reached down to poke at it experimentally before thanking him. He just waved it off. "Rolled down the hill, huh? Let me guess, after you pushed him?" Jungkook snorted but said that he hadn't for once. "But you goaded him into it, right?"
"Goaded?"
"You told him it would be cool or something so he'd do it."
"Oh? Yeah, I did that," the younger boy nodded and then tossed the chunk of rock aside before wiping his hand on his jeans.
"He's always doing that," Jimin said as he ran his eyes along the bloody lines still on his forearm, "'cos he thinks it's funny."
"Hey, if I didn't then you wouldn't try anything. You're such a scaredy cat."
"Am not."
"Are too. You have that bandanna 'cos you've been gambling again, right?" Jungkook pulled his eyes away from the other boy to look at Namjoon openly. "'Cos you need a little luck?"
"What makes you think I need luck?" the young man asked with a soft smirk as he reached down to fiddle with the braces that he was wearing. He wasn't wearing a jacket of any kind but rather just a short sleeved shirt that was red and black checked, a pocket on the left breast from which he could see the card that he had given him peeping out. If he was cold in any way he didn't show it so he thought that he might not be. "Maybe I'm lucky without it?"
"If you were lucky without it then why did you have it?"
"Well..." he paused before glancing over at Jimin, "it came in handy, right?" It wasn't the answer that Jungkook was looking for but it was a good enough excuse and he didn't press any further. "Tae, you're not allowed in the den."
"Why not?" he asked in joint confusion and annoyance.
"'Cos you're not old enough, and you're so loud man I could hear you outside on the street when I was inside of the building!" Namjoon laughed at this and then let go of one of the braces to slip the card out and wave it at him. "Why did you think they would let you in? It's like a club, you know, you need I.D., you can't just walk in."
"Y'know what happened last time I used fake I.D.," Taehyung said as he rolled his eyes, "I nearly got arrested."
"Like that's the first time that's happened."
"Yeah, well I meant that I nearly got arrested for that and later I did get arrested." At this joke, that wasn't truly a joke, the others snorted laughter and he just beamed at them all in turn. "Why do I need I.D. to get into a place that's already breaking the law, huh? Isn't that a bit pointless?"
"...Good point."
"At least I look like I might be able to get inside. At least it wasn't Dumbass trying to talk to you, right?" Jimin made an annoyed noise under his breath and then complained that he wasn't that young-looking, quite a petulant whine in his tone as he did. Taehyung didn't even have to retort and instead folded his arm up on his head, using him like an armrest and placing his chin on his forearm as he did. The boy practically huffed at this and he felt him wriggling underneath him, hair rubbing against his shirt sleeve as he did.
"I look older than you," Jungkook said as he started scuffing his boot on the platform.
"You don't, you're just taller, that's all." Jimin did have a point. Despite his height the youngest boy still had a youthful-looking face, eyes too large and round to look anything other than childish, slight buckteeth revealed behind his smile that showed his true age. But Taehyung wasn't going to agree with him because it was much more fun to annoy the boy instead. "You still have the safety wheels on your bike."
"At least I can ride a bike," Jungkook retorted without missing a beat, "and my legs aren't too short." At this the boy did more than mumble and puff his cheeks up, he wriggled free from under Taehyung's arm, nearly making him him fall flat on his face as he did, and he raced along the platform before tackling the other boy. Jungkook let out a surprised laugh and managed to not fall over, twisting him around hard and then bear-hugging him so that he couldn't get away from him. Jimin took a moment to realise that his plan hadn't worked out and then it was too late and no amount of wriggling could free him this time. The taller boy placed his chin on top of his head and he was grinning widely, arms wrapped around his shoulders so that he couldn't escape.
"Kookie, seriously!"
"Kookie, huh? Oh I'm not gonna let go all night now." Jimin tried kicking his legs and twisting to loosen his arms and yet the other boy just tightened his grip on his shoulders. "I'll let you go if you say this," Jungkook paused for a moment, ""I'm such a short-ass that I can't even ride a bike but at least I can still play in the ball pit.""
"Never!"
""When I leave the house alone people want to know where my mom is and ask if I want to hold their hand until she comes back.""
"I would rather die!"
"That can be arranged."
"Kids, stop fighting right now!" Taehyung turned to look over his shoulder at the figure coming towards them, walking along the gap between the train tracks rather than on them, boot soles crunching on the pebbly ground. He knew from the voice that it was Seokjin and when he turned back sure enough Jungkook let go of him. But he shot the other boy a look that said that he would get him again later, when the young man wasn't there to stop him. Jimin rolled his eyes in a "whatever" expression but when later came around he would magically find every reason possible to leave with one of them just so he wouldn't get stuck with Jungkook.
"Thank God," Namjoon said with a theatrical sigh, "I thought I was stuck with them for the night."
"No, I saved your ass." Seokjin picked up his pace so that it was less of a walk and more of a slight jog, hands shoved into the pockets of his black coat. The lengths reached down to his mid-thighs but the material looked rather thin. He hastily crossed the tracks as if a train really would come speeding down them at any moment, and then got to the platform. Rather than climb up onto it he just pulled himself up so that he could sit on it, brushing his palms free of any concrete dust as he did. The platform would likely leave smears of dust and dirt all over his coat but he didn't seem to mind. "What are the kids fighting over now?"
"Over how much of a short-ass Jimin is," Jungkook said and the remark made Seokjin grin for a moment before he replaced the expression with a more stern one.
"He can't help it, that's mean Jungkook."
"He's such a bully," Jimin said with a head shake, "and I have to put up with him."
"You have the patience of a saint."
"And the face of a cherub," Taehyung added. This earned him a glare off the boy but at least he didn't try and tackle him too; he had learnt his lesson on that matter it would seem.
"How would you like it if someone made fun of your appearance Jungkook?"
"They can," the boy said as he held both hands out and gestured at himself, "but there's nothing about me that you can make fun of, right? I look good."
"Whatever happened to modesty?" Seokjin asked wearily as he studied the youngest boy.
"It died right around the time Jungkook got taller than Jimin," Namjoon explained, "and he finally had someone to pick on." The boy just grinned at this and didn't argue against it. After a moment of silence Seokjin sighed and lay back against the platform so that he could stare up at the sky and Taehyung decided to sit down a few feet away from him. His legs were a little tired from running across the city all day long and he could take a few minutes break whilst he waited for the last two friends to show up.
"I'm surprised you didn't crash the party," Seokjin said as he turned his head to look at him, "because that seems very much you."
"The thought crossed my mind," he replied, "but the music they were playing sucked and everyone was so annoying. I'd have ended up getting drunk and starting a fight or something, y'know me." Taehyung swung his legs over the side of the platform and felt the heels of his boots hitting against the low concrete wall. "Why weren't you there, huh?"
"Well, I was supposed to be writing a four-thousand word essay for class but that didn't happen." Seokjin laughed under his breath before looking back up at the sky. It wasn't 4am yet but it was getting close because when he followed his gaze he saw that the sky was starting to lighten a little at the very horizon, the deep purple going a lighter shade of murky pink. "I should have stayed in the library but it was too hard to concentrate, or at least that's the excuse that I'm using right now."
"Four-thousand words? Shit, I couldn't write four."
"You're not supposed to brag about that," Namjoon retorted as he sat down on Seokjin's other side, "you know?"
"Who said I was bragging?" Taehyung said as he raised an eyebrow at him. The young man studied his expression for a moment before shrugging slightly and then leaning back on his wrists with a sigh. Behind them he could hear the two other boys messing around with something, the door of the ticket area from the sounds of it. Jimin was talking about they could use a hairpin to unlock it and when Jungkook was asked him why the fuck he would have a hairpin in the first place he said that he thought he used one to style his hair. The joke resulted in a punch by the sound of it, hopefully not on his injured arm. "The last piece of school work I did was...shit, I can't even remember it."
"That's because you never did school work."
"Hmm, oh yeah, you're right." He smirked at this and then shifted forward to eye the tracks. He could see no sign of the other two anywhere and that meant that they were still on their way here or they had both decided to not show. He was desperately hoping for the first even though a horrible sensation in the pit of his stomach seemed to tell him that it might just be the second, because he didn't want them to miss this. He was so into his thoughts that it took him a moment to feel that something was prodding his backpack and he pulled his eyes away from the tracks to look at Seokjin. The young man was poking at the bag with his forefinger.
"What's in this thing?" he asked curiously. "You never have a backpack ever, everything is always shoved into your pockets, and I can feel that it's packed full."
"You'll find out," he said as he shrugged the straps back up his shoulders more securely, "so stop being nosy like Jimin."
"I heard that!" the boy called as the sound of the ticket station door handle rattled loudly.
"Stop messing with that, it's locked for a reason," Namjoon said without looking back at them and after a few seconds the noise stopped.
Taehyung sighed and shifted to bring both of his knees up in front of him, placing his chin on them and wrapping his hands around his ankles as he did. Now that the young man had reminded him of the bag he was consciously aware of the weight on it on his back and of how that was starting to ache a little too; likely as a result of climbing trees and fences over the hours, and getting his ass kicked to the curb by old man Go once again because he had looked a little too shifty in his store and the man had forcibly removed him. That hadn't stopped him from lifting a few things first of course, but it had ruined his plans and had meant he had needed to find another store he could hit up. And the old man had used quite some force. The backs of his thighs still hurt from where he had whacked him a few times with a broom handle before he had managed to dodge him, and he was aware of the fact his aim had improved since the last time he had caught him out, but at least he didn't bother calling the cops any more. That meant that he had to respect him despite everything because at least he hadn't ended up in the back of a squad car for the evening. That would have ruined the plans considerably.
"You wanna know what's in there?" Jungkook asked, now that the door couldn't preoccupy him. "You already know, it's half the contents of whatever convenience store he hit up tonight. Like always. Am I right?" Taehyung ignored him and instead looked at the trees across the other platform. His eyes had adjusted to the lighting in the area enough for him to make out snaking roots that had started to punch through the concrete like fingers, thin little tendrils that would carry on growing until the platform was buried underneath; nature reclaiming her ground once more. When he didn't get an answer the boy let out a laugh. "Silence is an answer in itself."
"I didn't know you invited Confucius?" Seokjin asked and this made Namjoon shift before asking him 'what?' in a confused voice. "I was joking about Kookie, not you."
"Oh."
"Stop calling me Kookie," the youngest boy complained, "you know I hate that nickname."
"Would you prefer Kookie or baby?" Jungkook retorted that that was Jimin's nickname.
"I didn't know you thought I was cute."
"I- what?"
"Babies are cute, you just said I'm baby."
"You're not cute, you're annoying and you cry like a baby."
Taehyung dragged his eyes away from the opposite platform before getting back to his feet to wander the length of the one that they were sitting on. He was starting to get impatient and a glance at his broken watch showed him that it was 3:47am. If the other two didn't show soon then there was a chance that they weren't going to and they were going to have to go into the trainyard without them.
"Oh yeah? Well cookies aren't even that nice either. They're hard and the crumbs go everywhere, I much prefer cupcakes." Jimin's voice revealed that he was rather proud of this comment even though it was lame. Jungkook took a few seconds to respond and when he did he apologised for calling him 'baby' because he had gotten his nickname wrong, it was actually 'dumbass'. "Stop calling me that, I'm not dumb I'm just a little...clumsy."
"Hey," Taehyung called, lifting a hand to wave it at them, "shut up a sec." And for once the others actually fell silent for him. He cocked his head and listened for a moment and sure enough he could hear something under the distant drone of traffic, something that sounded like bike wheels rolling, the spokes a little rusted and creaking with each rotation. After a few seconds he saw slight movement down the tracks and within a minute or two whoever it was would have gotten close enough for them to see, so he just walked to the end of the platform and waited. Even in the dim lighting he could see a flash of pale skin and a messy mop of hair that was most certainly a bright shade of red rather than black. It appeared that Yoongi had decided to arrive on his bike to save himself the trouble of having to run to the trainyard, and he pedalled it a few more times before letting it drift the rest of the length of the tracks, wheels going over the pebbles and making him bounce on the seat as they did.
"Look who decided to show up."
"If I didn't you wouldn't shut up about it," the young man said as he stopped the bike and stepped off with one leg, still holding onto the handlebars for a moment as he studied the platform, "and I didn't wanna come back from working a shitty shift to see twenty pieces of paper shoved under the front door."
"Y'know me too well."
"Wakey wakey?" Yoongi asked as he got off the bike fully and proceeded to push it over so that he could lean it against the platform wall. "Was that supposed to be funny?"
"Kinda."
"It wasn't," the young man sighed and then climbed up onto the platform, struggling for a second or two before managing to wriggle onto it. He looked tired and a little pissed off but he had still shown up and that was a good sign. If not then he was willing to bet that his friend would have been lying back at his house doing nothing but staring out into space until his eyeballs started to bleed. He wiped his hands on his jeans and then seemed to notice that his laces had come undone on one of his boots so he dropped to his knees to do it up again. Taehyung noted that the simple task took him several attempts because his fingers didn't seem to be quick enough and the loops kept coming loose before he could knot them. He finally did them only after furrowing his brow and sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth, deep in concentration. As he straightened up again he went to shove his hands into his jacket pockets when his eyes landed on Jimin and he stopped. "What's that on your arm?"
"Huh?" Jimin raised his eyebrows for a second before twisting said arm to stare at the bandanna blankly. Then it hit him and he made a soft noise under his breath. "Namjoon's lucky bandanna."
"Yeah, so what's it doing on your arm?" Yoongi walked past Taehyung without even glancing at him and went over to the boy and when he got close enough to him he reached over and grabbed his arm. "Blood? You pushing him around again?" He looked at the younger boy and Jungkook didn't reply. "What? Is this like that stupid blood pact that you came up with that time and he nearly cut his fucking thumb off?"
"No, I was running down the hill and I tripped," Jimin explained as the young man rubbed at the blood still on his skin with the cuff of his jacket, smearing it slightly as he did, "and I got caught on some glass. You know me, I'm so clumsy."
"Next time you won't do that then, right?" The boy agreed with a sheepish smile and Yoongi stopped cleaning his arm. "And if you had something to do with it Kookie, y'know not to do it again too."
"Hmm," the boy said before once again turning his attentions back to the ticket station door, kicking his boot against it and few times so that the dried out paint flecked down in little clouds.
"How is work these days?" Seokjin asked him and Yoongi snorted loudly.
"What'd you think? It's hell." He shoved his hands into his pockets and moved to sit in the spot that Taehyung had been occupying before his arrival, legs crossed in front of him so that he could slouch forward comfortably. "I imagine if I asked you how college was going you'd say the same right?" The other man shuddered dramatically. "Nah, you're just messing around. It's going good for you like always, you're smart so you don't need to worry about it. Now if it was Tae we would all know the answer."
"What? What answer, I wouldn't get accepted in the first place." At this joke they all laughed and he once again turned to look back down the tracks just in case anyone was moving out there. "Don't you have to finish high school first?"
"Yeah, you do, and when are you going back again?" Namjoon asked him.
"Going back? I just left."
"Tae you haven't been in school for a year now, don't even pretend that you have. The last time I saw you in a uniform was practically a year before that seen as you just decided to stop wearing it." He said that the shirt fabric irritated his skin and this earned a few scoffs from his friends. "The others are gonna graduate: Hoseok will right before the break after being put back a year for messing around, Jimin's got another year if he behaves, Kookie's got two, but they're gonna do it so why not you?"
"It requires brains."
"You're not stupid-"
"Nah, that's Dumbass remember?" Jungkook interrupted Seokjin with a wide grin and Jimin didn't even bother complaining this time.
"You're not stupid or anything like that, you're actually very smart," the young man continued, "you just like to act otherwise." Taehyung made a noise that might have been an agreement and didn't reply. "Sometimes I think you're as smart as Namjoon but that's not funny or cool so you pretend not to be. Don't you guys think so too?"
"I do," Yoongi said before yawning loudly and then turning to look over them all. "Why're we all sitting here anyway? Why aren't we in the trainyard?"
"Hoseok's not here yet," Jimin said as he started fiddling with the knot on the bandanna. "So we're waiting for him."
"You think he's actually gonna show?" When Namjoon asked why he wouldn't Yoongi shrugged. "That means he has to leave his bedroom and I heard that he doesn't do that much these days."
"Probably the stress from the finals," Namjoon said quietly, "coupled with those stupid entrance exams. Who wouldn't wanna lock themselves up and lie in bed all day, huh?"
"I supposed," Yoongi said, but his expression seemed to show that he thought otherwise.
"It's 3:52am, right now," Jungkook said as he checked his watch. "I don't think he's gonna show. You guys coming?" The boy started walking along the platform in the direction of the tunnel and after a few seconds Jimin started jogging to catch up with him. Yoongi got to his feet with a sigh and followed after them and Taehyung watched the two other men shifting and then he turned his attentions back to the rails. Hoseok was coming because he had told him that he was going to miss something, and he knew that the boy wouldn't risk missing something really cool. They just had to wait a few minutes was all. He thought about calling out after them to tell them to wait but it wasn't worth the effort; he could wait for him on his own. He started chewing on his inner lip and counted in his head whilst he waited and he had just reached one-hundred-and-fifty when he caught sight of someone walking at the ends of the tracks, at a rather slow pace as if they were dragging their feet.
"Hoseok's here," he called before jumping off the platform. "Hey, hurry you're gonna be late!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yet the other boy didn't pick up his pace. Taehyung sighed and lowered his arms before quickly walking along the tracks to get to him, quite prepared to carry him if it would mean they would get inside the trainyard on time. As he got closer he noticed that the boy was squinting even in the dark and he had his held low as he did. "You OK?"
"No," Hoseok said without missing a beat, reaching up to rub one eye, "I have a headache. I've had one for three days now and it won't go away." He commented that it was the stress and he could do nothing more than make a noise in agreement that sounded like a "hmm." He had a leather satchel on, crossed diagonally over his body so that the bag was down by his mid-thighs, worn over the top of his olive green coat so that the deep brown clashed against the colour; bark against leaves. He could see his white pullover underneath and when he reached up again to rub at his forehead gingerly he saw the cuffs covered most of his fingers and that the fabric was smeared with pencil lead.
"Want a lift?" His friend opened his eyes fully to look at him for second, and when he turned to show him his back, bent over slightly so that he could jump on, the boy relented. He grabbed onto his thighs as he shifted to let him up on his back and a moment later he felt his arms go around his neck. "Off we go!" And before he could say anything in response Taehyung started running off down the tracks back towards the platform. He heard the other boy make a pained noise, likely because he jostled his aching head as he did, but it would only take a minute or so and they would be in the trainyard and he could put him back down again. He ran as fast as he could, boot soles clomping on the wooden slats on the tracks as he did, and he took over the others before they had even gotten through the tunnel because they had stopped for them both. He heard Jungkook holler something about a race and then a loud thump as he no doubt jumped on someone else's back.
"I should have said no," Hoseok groaned down his ear and he could do no more than laugh breathlessly as he darted through the tunnel. It was so dark inside that he couldn't see a single thing but he didn't trip and instead emerged on the other side and carried on for a few feet before stopping and letting his friend down off his back. He glanced over to see the others coming through the tunnel and he saw that the youngest boy had decided to jump onto the oldest. Seokjin looked like he regretted coming out with them as the boy complained that he wasn't going fast enough. He would have whipped him if possible. Jimin stumbled on something but didn't trip, letting out a surprised laugh as he did. The object clattered and he saw it was an empty soda bottle, which he had lucky not fallen on himself because if he had and Hoseok had smacked his head on the ground then he would have gotten his ass kicked so hard; a lot harder than what old man Go had done.
"OK, so now what?" Namjoon asked as he walked towards them, slowing down to scan the interior of the trainyard as he did.
"We need to get up on one of 'em," Taehyung said as he gestured at one of the freight crates, "and then the show can begin." Yoongi asked which one as he eyed the long stretch of metal warily. "The blue one, y'know, like how the best seats in the cinema are always right in the centre? Well, that's the centre so let's sit up there. Right?" He looked them all over and saw no one agreeing nor disagreeing with what he had said, so he jogged along the containers for a moment before spotting an abandoned train carriage, one with an open doorway. He went to climb inside when Jimin hastily cut across him and jumped in first, and he could hear one of the others on his heel. Taehyung climbed up and inside before cutting across the narrow interior to stick his head through the other doorway. "Hey, there's a ladder on the side here! C'mon, we can use it to get up." He grabbed hold of the rusted bars and started climbing without a second thought, hearing it creaking slightly under his weight but not wobbling at all. He got to the top and looked over the side to see Jimin following him up and Jungkook waiting at the bottom. He went to the other side and glanced over to see the others walking over to the carriage, Namjoon not in sight so he was presumably already inside of it. "Hurry up, hurry up, we can't miss this guys!"
"Yeah, yeah," Yoongi called up at him, still looking grumpy. "We heard you the first fifty fucking times."
"The blue one! I'll be waiting!" Taehyung beamed down at them and then started running along the carriage before taking a small jump to land onto the next one. It was just a few feet in width and he could have stepped over the gap easily but it felt a lot more fun to jump and hear his boots pounding on the metal tops of the containers as he did. From behind him came a cacophony of footsteps and the unmistakable sound of Jimin giggling as he ran after him. When he got to the deep blue container he stopped to look back, seeing all of them up and moving over apart from Hoseok. Seokjin was on his knees helping him climb up the last few ladders steps and he had to more or less drag him up because he didn't seem able to do so on his own. "Ten seconds! Ten seconds or you'll miss it!"
"Stop shouting," Hoseok said as he rubbed at his temples and then walked the length of the metal walkway. Jimin and Jungkook reached him and proceeded to sit down and a moment later Namjoon joined them, followed by Yoongi who nestled between the first two boys, and lastly Seokjin and Hoseok got onto the blue container. The eldest sat down beside Namjoon so that he was on the far end and Hoseok sat down beside Jimin, so Taehyung hunkered down between him and the other young man before checking his watch. 3:58am. Any moment now it would happen.
"We're looking for something, right?" Namjoon asked as he kicked his legs over the side of the container and twisted his head around to look at the sights around them. From their perspective they could see quite a lot of the trainyard: the countless rows and rows of shipping containers that seemed to go on until the very edge of the horizon and the lanes between them all, the cranes that were currently solitary like statues, the abandoned and destroyed train remains way up at the back of the yard that were nothing more than rusted skeletons. He looked up from his watch and glanced at the skyline for a moment.
"See that, right there? That bright light?" he asked as he pointed at the light now starting to appear on the horizon, in the pinkish coloured section of sky that would soon be filled with strong beams of sunlight.
"Uh, what about it?" Jungkook asked as he followed his pointed finger to look at it.
"That's Venus."
"Oh yeah?" Jimin leaned back on his wrists, boots clanging off the side of the freight container as he did. "How do you know that, huh?"
"I saw it in a newspaper this morning," Taehyung explained without missing a beat. "I was checking the weather forecast on the street, not wanting to have to pay for the thing 'cos y'know, spending 2000₩ on a bunch of pieces of paper is fucking stupid. So, I was checking it out and there was a little box underneath it all and I saw something about how Venus would be visible this morning at exactly 4am."
"That doesn't look like Venus..." Jungkook remarked, and he wished that the boy was sitting beside him so that he could elbow him hard in the ribs.
"Nah, I think he's right," Yoongi shifted slightly, bringing one knee up to fold his arm on it, hand dangling over the side. "Why would he make that up? That requires a brain, remember?" At this joke most of them snorted laughter and Hoseok moved to slip his sketchbook free from his satchel bag, flipping it open without taking his eyes off the sight in front of them. Taehyung reached inside the bag and pulled the thin cardboard box of pastels out for him and he had only just removed the lid when the other boy's fingers snatched one of them and he started hastily scribbling with it on the sheet of white.
"I thought it would be bigger," Namjoon said as he cocked his head, squinting across the tops of the freight trains at the light on the horizon. "You know, like the size of a marble or something, and that it would be a strange colour?" The light in front of them was mostly white but the very edges of the glow could have been described as blue, and it was a lot larger than the stars that were hanging in the sky around it. It might not have been a marble but it was still a considerable sight to behold, and he couldn't believe that they weren't as in awe as he had expected them to be. But he thought that the chances were that they were very impressed, and they were playing it all down to sound cool.
"It's pretty," Jimin said after a few seconds of silence, "in a weird way." Jungkook asked him to explain what he meant by that and he paused for a moment as if thinking his thoughts through. "It's just a star in the sky, you know? It shouldn't really be that pretty or important but it kinda is."
"It's not a star Jimin," Yoongi retorted as he reached over and thumped him on the back of the head, not hard but enough to make his hair ruffle from the contact. "It's a planet. What'd they teach kids in school these days, huh?"
"Not much it would seem," Seokjin said as he folded his legs with a sigh, "seen as they don't seem to teach anything in college either." Yoongi asked him how that was going and he let out a laugh. "Let's not talk about college right now, please? I'd rather pretend that that's not a part of my life for a few hours at least." The other young man made a noise in agreement before slipping a packet of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and he had only just pulled a stick free when he saw them all staring at him.
"I'm not sharing," Yoongi said around the stick between his lips, shoving the box away and instead getting his lighter. He lit the end up and took a deep drag as it smouldered before shifting to get more comfortable, dropping his leg back down over the side. He breathed the lungful out in a sigh and that was when Jungkook muttered that he was such a punk for not sharing. "Hey kid, I work nearly eighteen hours a day and you want me to share a smoke with you? Haven't I earned this thing? Get Tae to lift you a free packet next time, huh?" But even as he said that he took another drag and then held it out for the boy to take a pull on. Then he offered it to Jimin and the boy accepted it and took a small pull before handing it back.
"Trade you an actual stick for one of these?" Taehyung shrugged his backpack off and then opened it to pull out a six-can pack of beers.
"Where the fuck did you get those?" Namjoon asked as he eyed the cans.
"Stole 'em."
"From where?"
"A market stall in Dongdaemun or something, I forget where it doesn't matter. What'd you say, huh?" Yoongi eyed the can that he had pulled free from the plastic ring and then slipped the packet out to toss it to him. Taehyung pulled a stick free, jabbed it into the corner of his lips and tossed the packet back and then the can too. Luckily the young man caught both of them. After a few seconds he pulled the ring and it foamed considerably so he held it over the side of the carriage to let it drip down onto the ground rather than all over his lap.
"You shouldn't keep stealing things," Seokjin said in a disapproving tone, "just in case you get caught again." Taehyung was too busy locating his own matches in the bottom of his bag to reply but he could feel the young man's eyes on him as he did. He lit the cigarette and then offered him a beer and he shook his head before turning back to the sight of Venus on the horizon.
"I'm not gonna get caught 'cos I'm too good for that."
"This is Cass beer," Yoongi said as the last few suds dripped from the bottom of the can, "so you didn't get it from old man Go's, which means you got caught and he kicked your ass to the curb, yeah?"
"Wow, with brains like that you really should've gone to college," Taehyung said as he breathed his first lungful of smoke out and tossed two of the cans down to Jungkook and Jimin. Namjoon also shook his head at the offer and he waved a can at Hoseok. The boy was so busy drawing that he didn't think he would notice.
"Can't drink beer," he replied as he smeared his thumb along the sheet without looking, eyes pinned to the sight in front of them as he did.
"Why not? You usually do." Hoseok seemed to stop for a moment, faltering for just a second before carrying on, and he just said that he couldn't and left it at that. A quick glance at the page showed a mix of blues and blacks that he was soon going to be adding to, and he grabbed a paler blue before adding a sharp slash of colour on the page. "...OK." Taehyung popped the lid up for himself instead and settled down so that he could sit rather than hunker, legs folded in front of him. He pulled the cigarette out of his lips and took a sip of it before sticking it back into the corner. Jimin popped his own can and it spurted foam all over his lap and he let out an annoyed noise before Jungkook smacked him hard on the back with a laugh.
"Why does this always happen to me?" He whined as the suds rapidly soaked into his jeans.
"Has to happen to someone," Namjoon said in his usual cryptic way. Yoongi offered the boy another pull on his cigarette as condolences and he gladly took it.
"Y'know...the break's coming up soon right? Just three days left and then it's here, isn't it?" Taehyung played with the pull ring on his can for a moment before looking up at them. "We should do something."
"Something like what exactly?" Yoongi asked as he sipped his own beer and looked at him over the rim of the can.
"A trip."
"That requires cash," Namjoon retorted.
"A journey, it doesn't need to be by bus or train or anything like that. We've got two legs, we can fucking use 'em, right? Just the seven of us going out into the world for the week. What'd you think, huh?"
"I can't take a break with work unless I wanna get fired-"
"Stop talking about work for like five fucking seconds," Taehyung said with a laugh, "and think about fun instead."
"I don't know," Seokjin agreed, "I don't have-"
"Where's your sense of adventure?"
"It's dead like my childhood and future aspirations," Yoongi said, and the remark coupled with his dramatic expression made a few of them snort laughter.
"Look," he got to his feet, dumping the can down on top of the freight carriage as he did, "let's just talk this over for a moment, no ifs, no buts, just talk. Do you wanna go back to working eighteen fucking hours for nothing more than a couple of hundred won?" He pointed at the Yoongi before wheeling to point at Seokjin. "Do you wanna go to college and sit there writing essays and sucking ass for credits, huh? Namjoon do you wanna sit in dens with nothing more than a couple of bills hoping for some luck, or do you wanna go and find somewhere bigger and better and really make the cash start flowing? Jungkook, you've walked all around this fucking city, surely you wanna find another park to crash in for the night for a nice change of scenery?" The boy thought this over before shrugging. "Jimin, you wanna go back home and get called a dumbass and smacked around the head for trying to help out? Or do you wanna get away and have some fun without worrying about being called useless?" Jimin stared at his own half-empty can of beer, brow furrowed slightly. "And Hoseok, imagine not having to worry about entrance exams for a whole week. Imagine that?"
"Hmm?" He looked up from his sketchbook as he grabbed a white pastel and then laughed. "I can barely imagine leaving my room for longer than ten minutes, how the hell would I end up on an adventure?"
"'Cos it's with it all of us; our very first one. Before it's too late."
"What do you mean by too late?" Yoongi asked as he narrowed his eyes at him.
"Before we all start changing and drifting apart like everyone else, before we start to grow up. What do you say, huh, just a week?" Taehyung studied them all in turn and saw that his words were starting to have an effect but he wasn't sure if it was enough. After nearly a minute of silence Namjoon got to his feet too and he placed his hands on his hips.
"I'm in."
"Me too," Jimin said as he looked over at them, no doubt not wanting to try standing up just in case he ended up falling off the top of the carriage, "I'm totally in."
"I'll do it too, but one condition." Jungkook pointed at him with the hand that was holding his beer can. "We ditch the last three days of school and start the 'journey' tomorrow morning instead."
"Deal," Taehyung said with a nod.
"...Sign me up," Seokjin said after a moment before letting out a soft laugh, "I've got nothing better to do I guess."
"I'm not going to promise anything," Hoseok said as he paused in the act of applying pastel, "but I might show up tomorrow." He told him that it was better than nothing and the boy moved his hand to grab the edge of the page as if he was going to rip it out but then he stopped himself. Yoongi was the only one left that hadn't given them an answer yet and he shifted with a sigh as he pulled his cigarette free and blew a lungful out between his lips. He held the stick just an inch or so away from his mouth as he seemed to think it over.
"If I miss a shift they'll drop my ass, y'know that? The dishwasher job, the cleaning job, and the one working that shitty little food stall in the market. I'll lose 'em if I don't show up."
"Then you'll get better ones, or a better one, rather than working like a fucking slave." Taehyung said as he looked down at him. The young man cocked his head at this and thought it over for a moment before sighing heavily.
"Fuck it, sign me up too."
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