Yoongi pulled the cigarette out of his lips and as he breathed the lungful of smoke out he watched him working away. Jungkook, seated in the dry grass with his legs folded in front of him. The boy had came back from the store just a few minutes ago and he was already working away on something, something he could only hesitate a guess at. The supplies consisted of a random selection of items that must have cost him less than 9000₩: a cardboard box for keeping files or papers in, a tiny little roll of clear tape, some scissors, and something that looked like a magnifying glass. On the list of things to do a DIY project like something out of elementary school was not what he had expected to happen today but why not? It seemed that Jungkook was making it with a purpose. So why not leave him to it? At least the kid was doing something with his hands and behaving, he supposed.

Right now, inside of the building he could hear the others talking together. They were still lying on the floor like a bunch of kids, the photo album being passed around them as they tried to sort out what went where; what order each page went into. He had heard promises of more photographs getting put in it in the future though he didn't really know what that meant. More as in new photographs or old? To get the old photographs they had to get back to Seoul first and the way it was looking right now...that might not be possible.

Every single time he swallowed his throat ached and he wasn't surprised at all. After having the tight squeeze of Taehyung's fingers interlaced around his neck he supposed that it would be tender. His friend hadn't exactly held back on him and at one point Yoongi had almost been convinced that he would have crushed his windpipe had his friends not managed to stop him. He had felt it, that press of his thumbs digging down so deep into his skin that it had been a miracle that they hadn't punched through his skin. It was a sensation that was hard to explain because Yoongi hadn't just felt it around his throat but also in his head. He had felt a strange compression building up behind his eyes as if Taehyung's force could have made his very head just pop off and roll across the dirt like a football. Luckily it hadn't but having his head still firmly on his shoulders meant that he could feel the rest of the aches and pains too.

His cheekbone was hurting from the hard punch and just Jimin's fingers caressing it had made the skin feel too tender. His nose had swollen and went down over the duration of the night but it still hurt too. He was counting it lucky that it hadn't been broken. In fact he would go far enough to count it lucky that he was still breathing right now.

Taehyung had nearly killed him.

It wasn't even worth thinking of it as a fight that had gotten a little out of hand, like what had happened to Jimin in the motel room that night. The soju bottle had not been aimed to kill, had barely even have the intent behind it to maim. It had been a sheer accident in the heat of the moment and nothing more than that. But what had happened last night had not been an accident. He had seen the look in Taehyung's eyes when he had dived off the back of the flatbed at him. He had seen murder in his eyes.

Yet this morning he had been woken up to the sensation of fingers moving along his brow and it had been Taehyung sitting there in front of him. Cross-legged, fingers tangling in the lengths of his hair softly as if they hadn't been wrenching hard enough to make his scalp burn yesterday. It had been a surreal experience and the rest of his day was probably going to be the same too.

Yoongi took another drag on the cigarette and watched Jungkook slowly cutting a hole in the box, a neat round hole the same size as the lens of the magnifying glass. He worked a little slowly, a clear sign that he didn't want to fuck up even if it was a simple enough task. Yoongi knew all about the simple things being easy enough to fuck up, after all he had spent a year with Jimin and had watched him go from a bumbling mess to a more confident young man in that time. He had seen how easy it was to burn a piece of food or grab a pan handle when it was scorching hot; how to break a TV remote by dropping it and other various small things. Jungkook was being careful because he didn't want to ruin it. Whatever he was making was clearly important to him. That meant not rushing him even when he wanted to see what it was exactly that he was making. Yoongi had an inkling but that didn't mean that he was right about it. Jungkook finished cutting the hole out and he tossed the piece of card aside and then he was grabbing the roll of tape. Yoongi eyed him to see him peeling a long stretch free and tearing it with his teeth and then he was attaching the magnifying glass to the inside of the box. Now he was certain that his hunch was correct but he just waited anyway.

When that was done the boy got to his feet and brushed the knees of his jeans free of dirt. He turned on his heel to step inside the building and Yoongi took another drag on the cigarette whilst he waited for him to reappear. He did a moment later with the camcorder in hand and he hunkered back down again in front of the box. Jungkook set the camcorder up inside, shifting it this way and that until he had aligned it the way that he wanted and then he saw him powering it up. He put the lid on and then gently turned it around to face the wall and Yoongi watched in rather dumb amusement as an image showed up on the wall. In the current sunlight the image wasn't clear but rather broken and faded, but he just knew that it would be bright and vivid as soon as the sun set and plunged everything into darkness. Jungkook let out a sudden laugh, and then lifted his fist up in a brief victory pump: the perfect plan having come to fruition.

"Good one kid," Yoongi remarked as he dabbed ash off the end of the stick into the grass. "You learn that in school before or after your nap?"

"I learnt it in camp," Jungkook explained as he removed the lid and turned the camcorder off, reserving its battery. "The only good thing I learnt in camp, except maybe how to tie knots."

"What's that good for exactly again?"

"For tying Jimin up when he's being annoying."

"...Actually, you should teach me how to do that," Yoongi retorted, seeing Jungkook rolling his eyes at the joke. "Could come in handy." He stopped talking for a moment as he studied the box, cigarette dangling between his fingers unsmoked. "Lemme guess, this is Seokjin's idea, right?"

"No, mine," Jungkook corrected with a soft head shake. "I came up with the idea last night."

"When? I don't remember you mentioning it?"

"...I couldn't sleep last night," the boy replied after a moment of thought. "I woke up and couldn't sleep, neither could Seokjin so we talked for a little while, you know?" Yoongi nodded and took another drag. The cigarette was starting to burn down now, nothing more than a slight inch left on the stick. "I thought about the camcorder and I said we should watch it, so that's why I made this." He made a soft noise at this to let the boy know that he understood. "Yoongi?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Tae...he didn't mean that. What happened last night, he didn't mean it. It was a mistake." There was an earnest expression on his face and it was almost enough to make his words believable. "Mistakes happen sometimes, he didn't mean to hurt you like that."

"Yeah I know, my own fucking fault for saying that shit anyway," Yoongi muttered as he stubbed the cigarette out on the flatbed and tossed it away. "I was given warnings and I ignored 'em."

"That's why I made this," Jungkook shifted to place his hand on the top of the box, as if he was patting it. "To remind us all that mistakes happen, but that doesn't mean the world ends. Right?"

"Right?"

"Even families argue and fight sometimes," Jungkook said in a soft voice. "Our family can do that too."

It was nightfall by the time that the projector was set up against the outer wall of the building. The broken backseat had been carried out for use and it was currently placed in front of the open flatbed of the car. The camcorder was placed on the bottom of the metal can, having been tipped upside down to make an temporary table. There was snacks but Yoongi hadn't touched them so far. Swallowing wasn't the most enjoyable thing right now with his bruised throat but cold sips of soda were pleasant enough. Just a year ago it would have been a beer bottle in his hand rather than a can of soda and the juxtaposition was both jarring and comforting. No stink of booze in the air, just that of the trees and his friend's faded scents: cologne and wash and shampoo clinging to their skin and clothes.

Yoongi was sitting in the middle of the backseat, Hoseok to his left and Seokjin to his right. On the flatbed behind him, lying on the metallic flooring were Jimin and Jungkook. His lover had his head rested on his left shoulder so that Yoongi could feel the weight of his chin sticking in and one arm lazily placed over Hoseok's shoulder. Jungkook was also using Seokjin's shoulder like a pillow and every now and again Yoongi felt his fingers on his bomber jacket, lightly tracing a crease or maybe going up to his hair for a second or two. The boy probably had his legs tangled around Jimin too just so that he could get comfortable. Namjoon was sitting to Seokjin's side in the grass and Taehyung was beside Hoseok, arm linked around his lower leg and cheek balanced on his knee.

It felt strange all sitting around like this, like nothing had happened yesterday. Should they have done this sooner? Should they have done this before Yoongi had said all of those horrible things and Taehyung had tried to strangle him? Maybe it would have stopped that, he didn't know but he knew that he regretted his actions. But Yoongi knew that nothing he could say could change what had happened. It would be a band-aid on a flesh wound and under the comfort the pain would still fester and rot.

"So we have no clue what's on these things?" Namjoon asked as he shifted to look back at them. His face was currently illuminated by moonlight only but Yoongi could see his eyes glinting.

"No, there could be anything on them," Seokjin agreed. "Several years worth of recordings."

"Jin you used to record everything," Hoseok said after a moment of silence. He was telling the truth and it made their friend smile.

"I know, I know I was scared of losing memories so I wanted to record them all no matter what. It's strange, because surely if a memory is special I would remember it no matter what?" Seokjin paused and they were all waiting for him to continue. "You never forget the important things, the good and the bad, but I guess you forget the smaller things."

"Yeah, but sometimes things seem little at the time," Jimin argued, breath light and warm against Yoongi's neck as he did. "And only when you see them again do they really register as important."

It was a good sentiment, one that Yoongi silently agreed with. Sometimes things did seem small and insignificant at the time, a stupid joke, a nice day out with friends; the kind of things that people were apt to forget over time. But even those things were important in their own way when times were difficult. And right now things were very difficult, and yesterday showed this. Just a simple recording of some stupid jokes could really lighten the mood for them all; stupid antics and dopey grins that they hadn't seen in quite some time.

"So that's why we need to hurry up and watch them." Jungkook retorted with a wide smile audible in his voice. "C'mon c'mon, hurry up and play it!"

"Hey man I'll break this if I have to touch it," Namjoon declared as he held both hands up. "Don't make me do it." Seokjin sighed wearily and then shifted to get off the backseat. After some fiddling he settled on a card and he opened the slight compartment to slip the current one free and place the new one inside. He switched it on and pressed a few buttons to load the memory card, and then he placed it in the projector box. For a few seconds there was a blurry mess on the wall and then he managed to angle it correctly and the image cleared up. Then he put the lid on and the camcorder was rolling. Seokjin sat back down and this time Jungkook shifted so that he could actually bring both arms around his neck; burrowing in close to get more comfortable. It was strange seeing the boy being so overly affectionate, seen as the last time he had seen him like this had been that day in Dangjin. Had something happened to him to make him act like this suddenly? Had the fight yesterday caused this sudden urge to be affectionate and friendly? Whatever the case Seokjin didn't seem to mind at all, hadn't even reacted to it.

So Yoongi pulled his eyes away and instead looked at the brick wall to watch what was happening right now. The view showed a pair of sneakers, battered red Keds with white laces knotted loosely. Yoongi recognised them as Namjoon's shoes for his friend had worn them threadbare. Even when he had had countless other pairs of shoes, not like Taehyung or Jimin. The shot lifted to show a long stretch of road. At the end of said street Yoongi could see he and his friends all grouped together, with the exclusion of Seokjin who was visible out of the corner of the frame.

" You remember how to break, right?! " Seokjin called, hand cupped around his mouth. The audio was fuzzy but they could hear the words clear enough. There was a loud shout back from someone and Yoongi recognised that pitch any day: it was Jimin telling him that he did. That was when he remembered what day this was. This was the day that Hoseok had gotten a bike as a birthday present of course, and the first thing that he had done with it was offer to let them all ride on it first. That was why Jimin was sitting on the mountain bike right now and getting to peddle.

At first Jimin started off a little shaky and even though Namjoon had zoomed in and made the shot go blurry he could see that there was a hand on the back. Yoongi was holding onto the seat by the edges of his fingers to try and keep it steady for him and after a few seconds he had gotten the hang of it. That was when Jimin picked up speed and he let go of the seat. Taehyung had his board in hand and so he jumped on it to slowly skate alongside him and it took Yoongi a few seconds to figure out what happened next.

Taehyung thought that it would be hilarious to cut right in front of him on the board. The boy shot in front of the bike and the audio from the recording was the unmistakable squeak of surprise from Jimin. The pitch was like that of a small animal, a frightened guinea pig and then the bike was veering off from the centre of the road and off he toppled. Yoongi almost hear the bone-jarring thud as he bounced off the tarmac; knees and palms shredding on the rough material.

" Ah fuck, " Namjoon said as the camcorder shifted, signalling that he moving to get closer to the boy. There was a brief pounding of footsteps and then he was stopping in front of him. Jimin was bawling. Yes that was the correct term to use. He was sitting on his ass and he was just bawling his eyes out whilst the rest of them just stood there and stared at him. His left knee was skinned raw and bleeding, and that was why he was crying.

Yoongi was struck by how beautiful Jimin was even as a child to his eyes. It was strange looking at him as an adult now when on the recording he had been looking at him through the eyes of a twelve year old. Had he known back then perhaps that he would love Jimin as much as he did now; those droopy eyes of his and his full cheeks, the soft little tip of his nose and how he had a small and sweet look to him? Probably not but now he couldn't unsee it.

" Hey Jiminie, it's OK, " Seokjin said as he moved to hunker down beside him. Thin frame, he hadn't started to broaden in the shoulders yet but he would start not that long after. " It's just a scratch. A little scratch ."

" Buh-buh-blood! " Jimin whined, voice strangled as he tried to talk through his tears. " Buh-but there's buh-blood. "

" 'Course there's blood stupid ." Oh here Yoongi entered the picture fully, dropping down on his other side and reaching over with his hand to wipe the blood free from his leg. Granted child Jimin had every right to cry for the blood had went all of the way down his shin at this point, a thin dribble that looked more than it was. If Yoongi recalled correctly it had scarred for nearly two weeks before going away. " Just blood, we all got it yeah? "

" Duh-dun hurt juh-just the buh...blood ." Jimin took a quick gasp of breath and Yoongi wiped his bloody hand on his jeans like it was nothing.

" Jiminie, you're such a pussy," Taehyung said, all of eight on the recording and already using such wonderfully vulgar terms. It was enough to cause them all to start laughing at the recording. It was easy sometimes to forget how foul mouthed he had been as a child.

" What's a pussy? " Jungkook asked in both a curious and amused tone. As if he found it funny even when he didn't know what it really was. He wasn't on view right now, his voice coming from the side instead slightly distorted.

" Dunno, I heard my dad say it," Taehyung responded with a shrug, lower lip pouted out.

" I know how to make this better," Seokjin said as he shifted forward and gently pressed his lips against Jimin's kneecap. Not even the injury but rather just above it, the little curve of bone. But it was enough to make Jimin stop crying almost instantly, letting out a little hiccup as he dropped his eyes down to look at his leg. His eyelids were swollen pink from crying, just like the tip of his nose and his cheeks. " See? It doesn't hurt now does it? "

" Nuh...not really, " the other boy said, reaching up to rub at his eyes with a small, curled up fist. " Duh-did I scratch the bike? "

" Don't worry about the bike, " Hoseok retorted, having also came over to where Jimin was sitting on the floor. " You're the thing that got scratched." This made the still snivelling boy laugh softly. " Tae, that was mean. "

" He said he knew how to break, " Taehyung retorted with a shrug. Eight years old or not Yoongi couldn't help but sense a flirtatious hint to his smirk, which he would never have noted back then. " Now Jiminie knows to tell the truth. "

" I wuh-was telling the truth," Jimin argued. " You scared muh-me, that's wuh-why I fell. "

Within the next minute or so Jimin was upright and not crying anymore, cheeks pink but otherwise looking calm once more. His skinned knee was still bleeding and it had likely stung like a bitch but he was back to smiling rather than looking glum. Of course when Jungkook jumped on the bike next he was zooming off along the street without a single error. Even when his legs were too short to really fit in the peddles right. It was to be expected, the boy excelled at everything even at the fresh age of six going on seven. Namjoon picked him up on the screen and his black hair was blown back off his brow to show a round face, those large eyes of his even bigger as a child. The sight of him on the screen made Jungkook laugh in embarrassment.

"Look how cute you were!" Jimin declared, no doubt ribbing him as he did with a sharp jab of his elbow.

"I look like a fucking baby."

"'Cos you were," Namjoon pointed out with his own laugh. "You weren't even seven yet on that recording I think." The recording cut off suddenly and they all stared at screen for a moment and then Seokjin made a noise under his breath.

"The battery ran out that day, I remember that now. It ran out before we could even record it all."

"Try a new card," Taehyung suggested. "Don't let it play one through to the end, switch it up."

"You change it I'm comfortable."

Taehyung hadn't used the camcorder for anything other than recording before and so he struggled with it. He couldn't figure out how to get the memory card out but after some fiddling he figured out that pushing on it allowed him to pull it out. So he slipped the card free and stared at the small pile left on the side of the metal bin before selecting one.

"Any time tonight Tae," Jungkook called jokingly just as he had slipped the second card inside of the device. Taehyung smirked at the remark and then he placed the camcorder back into the box and hit play. Like Seokjin he had to move it around to get it in the perfect position. The image blurred a few times as he did and from the box came the sound of voices, Hoseok's and Namjoon's from the sound of it. Then he got it into the right position and moved to sit back down in the grass.

The sight he was greeted with was that of a cake on the brick wall. A massive white cake with fruit toppings; little slivers of kiwi and strawberry halves placed neatly around the outside. There was a little slab of dark chocolate to the side and on it Taehyung could see his name in white chocolate characters. That helped him figure out day this was.

"Ah! I know that cake!" Seokjin declared before laughing. "Remember Yoongi? Remember the trouble we had getting that thing?"

"Yeah, we had to pick it up but they fucked the order up," Yoongi explained. "There was supposed to be yellow cream filling and shit but they did it pink and messed the toppings up. So we got a discount."

"You guys gave me discount birthday cake?" Taehyung asked as he turned his head to look at them both. "You fucking cheapskates."

"Hey that shit was still expensive," Yoongi argued. "They just knocked a couple of hundred won off. Should have gotten it for free for fucking the order up but they didn't give us it."

"They hustled a bunch of thirteen year olds," Namjoon said with a head shake.

" I hate lighting candles, " Hoseok said on the recording. Ten years old and still as lean now as he was then. " I get the last one done and then a draft blows them out again. "

" Should have bought those fake ones, " Namjoon retorted, just short of being ten too. " The ones that never blow out. "

" Pft like we can afford to spend that much on fucking novelty candles, " Yoongi said. His voice was distant and that presumably meant he was smoking across the room away from the cake to be courteous.

" Tae would blow them out, " Jimin joked before laughing sweetly.

"Well," Taehyung said as he twisted back to look at his friend. "My true talent does involve blowing..." Jimin tried to not smirk at this but he failed.

" Ah ah ah! All lit, don't move, " Hoseok declared on the recording. " Don't even breathe. "

" I'll try not to," Seokjin retorted sarcastically and then there came a loud sound from the camcorder; something that sounded like a door being kicked open.

That was when he bounded into the house and Taehyung felt a little like he was being punched in the stomach. Both he and Jungkook entered the house and the sounds that erupted at their arrival weren't what was to be expected. Likely because of the fact he was carrying a fucking puppy in his arms. A big fluff ball of white with a red collar on. His fur was as white as his beaming smile and Taehyung wished that he didn't know exactly how the next few months went down for him. The boy projected on the brick wall didn't know.

Aged nine, just a few months before it happened: the rape and the death of the dog he was currently holding in his arms.

" Shit Tae you ruined the surpri- "

" Look at him! " Taehyung practically shrieked at them all, voice several pitches higher than they were currently used to. On the brick wall his excited face was enough to have his friends all laughing. " Puppy! Look at the puppy! Fucking puppy! "

" Yeah we can see the puppy Tae, " Namjoon explained as he held his hand up. " Where did you get the puppy? "

" It's his present, his dad bought him it, " Jungkook explained, his own child face excited. He had a hand currently scratching at the dog's ears. On the recording, though he wasn't the main focus of the recording Taehyung saw Yoongi looking over at the others. His expression said it all and now, being older, Taehyung knew exactly what he was thinking. How the fuck had his father gotten him a dog for his birthday?

" He's my puppy! " Taehyung announced with that same grin, wide and happy. So very happy.

" What's his name? " Hoseok asked, turning away from the cake as he did.

" Soonshim! Soonshimie~ "

Within the next few minutes of recording the footage shifted into something as close to a birthday party that he could recall. He knew that he had had them when he was younger, a small child, but after a point they had stopped. Which explained why his friends, aged from seven to thirteen had thrown him one in Hoseok's home instead. Soonshim became the centre of attention when Seokjin zoomed right in to fill the screen with his face; white fur and large brown eyes, black wet button nose. His pink tongue lolled out to lick at the blob of cake cream on the corner of his mouth and Taehyung beamed on the recording.

In reality he just felt cold.

"Soonshim was a handsome dog," Yoongi said suddenly. "Real handsome."

"He would've made a badass dog," Jungkook agreed. "Would've gotten so big."

"Yeah but he was a pushover," Jimin argued, and to prove this point the puppy was currently shaking paws with Namjoon on the recording. With his tongue lolling out Soonshim really did look like a dope of a dog rather than a brute. "A real puppy."

"Looks who's talking," Taehyung retorted in a quiet voice, staring at the dog on the screen.

He could still remember that day perfectly clear in his mind, the day that Soonshim died. He had been in the house of course, lying on the floor of the living area with some stupid comic in his hands when there had came that loud thump like a body hitting the floor and then the screech of car tires. Oh how his father had yelled and cursed from outside loud enough to have made him get up and look out of the front window. He had been greeted with the sight of his father doing the drunken weave and stagger of one too many beers; no sight of Soonshim lying on the front path where he had been a moment ago but the front gate wide open.

Yes, a few years might just have passed but even now Taehyung wasn't so certain if he really had been responsible for it all. He had always knotted his rope around the peg in the front garden, always. And he had always been sure to lock the gate too. Sometimes he wondered if it really had been his fault but in the end it didn't really matter now. Soonshim was dead and had been dead for nearly nine years now; half of his lifetime.

"Want me to change the card?" he asked, no longer wanting to look at the dog because it made him uncomfortable.

"I'll do it," Namjoon got to his feet and stretched his legs before wandering over to the projector. "Let's see what I pick, huh?"

It turned out that Namjoon could work the camcorder without breaking it, which was a first. It had probably had something to do with the fact that he and Seokjin had usually been the ones recording with it in the past. Somewhere deep down he clearly still retained the memories of how to replace memory cards and such, and so he managed to do it faster than Taehyung had. This fact elicited a joke cheer from his friends and so Namjoon sat back down in the grass, back against the slight gap of the leather backseat beside Seokjin's leg.

There was a large bag of popcorn on Yoongi's lap but his friend hadn't touched it. Rather it was there for Jungkook and Jimin to grab the occasional handful of. Namjoon shifted to grab a handful and the screen did the usual, opening up on a fast blur of colour and nonsense until it settled to focus on something. As he chewed a mouthful of salted popcorn he saw the recognisable sight of Yoongi's family garage. Sometimes they had used to hang in there but not often, and usually only when there was a problem that meant that they couldn't all meet in the trainyard.

A low and broken coffee table was the focus of the shot: a rounded piece of dark wood with nicks in the surface.

" Where did you get these, huh? " Yoongi asked on the recording, looking rather amusing for he had yet to dye his hair various bright shades of red and blond but it was longer than it had been on earlier recording. The fall of hair across his brow hid his brows from view as he leaned forward and spread a deck of cards across the table. Red backed cards covered in creases with peeled back corners.

" Found 'em, " Taehyung explained with a soft shrug, sitting beside him at the table; Hoseok on the opposite side.

"I don't remember this," Jungkook said and Jimin made a noise in agreement.

"Minnie that's 'cos you caught fucking rubella off some kid," Yoongi explained, neglecting to add that it was because his stupid father hadn't gotten him in the immunisation shot. His lover furrowed his brow at this and seemed confused. "We weren't allowed to visit for like two weeks in case you infected us."

"...Oh," Jimin made a soft noise but he still seemed confused. Namjoon wouldn't be surprised if he was for he had been stuck in bed with a temperature and fever for almost ten whole days. On the projector Yoongi was shuffling cards to deal, mumbling something about rules as he did.

"Where was I?" Jungkook asked and none of them replied for a moment. Where was eleven year old Jungkook? "Probably grounded." Their friend said after some thought. "Yeah, I think I was grounded."

" You're kidding right? " Yoongi retorted before snorting. Clearly one of them had asked him a question but Jungkook had spoken over him. He was lounged back in his chair, legs wide and cards held loosely in one hand. Looking at him like that it was almost believable that he had been hustling cards his whole life and not like he was a rookie sixteen year old. " My old man having fun? He'd have to pull the stick outta his ass first. "

Namjoon hadn't known his friend's father too well. Nothing more than the usual he supposed, the occasional greetings and meals sat at the table. He did know that the man was conservative in nature and values, and that made him and Yoongi never see eye to eye. Yoongi hated being raised in a family that placed more value on honour and restraint than compassion and fulfillment, which was why he hadn't really gotten along with the man well as a teenager. Freedom of expression wasn't exactly a Min family tradition, and he wondered what his father would think of Jimin?

" Hey I know a way to have fun, " Taehyung said suddenly, lowering his card hand down as he did. He was twelve years old on this recording, not yet thirteen and also not yet starting to dress the way that he had for the last several years now: living in jeans and denim jackets and hoodies, a random assortment of band logo tees. No, on the recording he was wearing a red and white striped tee instead, one that made him look like he walked straight out of a kid's cartoon show combined with the messy tangle of his hair and the band-aid on his nose. Namjoon couldn't recall what excuse he had used for that one, for it was a strange location for an injury. Probably something to do with a door, that was the favoured excuse for injuries wasn't it? Regardless of the causation he didn't like looking at it on the wall, playing on the camcorder like that. It made him wonder and he didn't like wondering about what exactly it really could have been.

" What? " Namjoon asked, on the recording seated just to the side of Seokjin who was recording. He could see a hint of his face out of the frame.

" Strip poker. "

"Christ Tae," Hoseok said suddenly, the first thing it seemed he had said in quite some time. There was amusement in his voice so maybe there was also a smile on his face. "How old were you?"

"Yeah," Jimin shifted on the flatbed, jeans rubbing on the metallic flooring. "There's no stripping right? 'Cos that's like child porn, I don't wanna watch that."

"No stripping," Seokjin clarified. "We never played it."

Namjoon watched them all fiddling with the cards on the screen and he didn't feel a thing, not even a slight discomfort. He had never really had a thing for cards, just a knack for playing them. It was more betting that he had gotten hooked on, the numbers and the slips. Watching teenaged versions of him and most of his friends playing a bad attempt at poker was nothing at all. Seeing betting probably wouldn't affect him that much now either, not after a whole year without a single bet.

It was a strange how a fun habit could take over and become an addiction. Namjoon wasn't even aware of at what point his playing had turned into an addiction. He just recalled finding himself always at that stupid den in Seoul with cash in hand and papers to scan and that was it. Just like with his other friends: Yoongi and the cigarettes he had smoked to piss daddy dearest off now a constant bi-hourly habit; Hoseok and his medication that had been prescribed to help him that had caused so much more trouble; Taehyung and the alcohol. Taehyung and his still shaking hands that would forever linger from the drinking, who couldn't look at a glass of alcohol without having to wet his dry lips.

Some habits really were hell to break.

"I wanna pick," Jungkook said as he got onto his hands and knees and wriggled off the flatbed. He had to climb over the side to do so, boots pounding off the grass and dirt. Then he was racing over to pull camcorder free and pick his card of choice.

Jungkook would be lying if he claimed that he hadn't looked at the cards a little last night, when everyone else had been sleeping. He really hadn't gotten much more than three hours of sleep at least, most of that spent lying in the flatbed before Seokjin had started the car and drove a near mile with him stuck in the back. As a result of being wide awake he had just ended up collecting Seokjin's camcorder from his friend's bag and had powered it up. He had checked through just a single card, watching it through from start to finish until he had found what he had wanted. The one memory that he could most certainly recall being recorded on the cards because it was still so vivid in his mind. Maybe it was cheating to already know what he was looking for but he didn't really care. It was a good memory from start to finish and he knew that it would make them laugh and smile, rather than risk finding something possibly upsetting.

Taehyung might have thought that no one had noticed but he had seen his face when Soonshim had appeared on the wall. He had watched his smile at the cake turning down at the corners slowly until they were tucked in tight: a sign of inner turmoil. His fingers had pulled into tight little fists and his lower lip had started to get nibbled on. Looking at that dog had reminded him too strongly of the past, the bad past, and that wasn't what he had wanted at all. His idea had been to purge the negativity not foster it. But Soonshim had appeared on the projector screen and he had been triggered into remembering his pet. Dead for nearly a decade now, dead in a manner that was very suspicious. An accident or ran over on purpose by his drunken father? And how long after the death of his birthday present had...had his father attacked him? Just thinking about it was enough to make his hands shake and his stomach knot up tightly, the taste of salted popcorn on his tongue making him nauseous.

All of those years there had been chances of something like that happening but Jungkook had almost prayed that it hadn't. But yesterday, having heard him shouting it out like that, Jungkook had been sure that he felt felt his heart tearing in half. Taehyung had been raped by his father all of those years back and only now had he been told about it. His best friend and he had only just found out.

Jungkook slipped the card into the device and then he placed it inside of the projector box. After securing it in place he popped the lid back on and shifted so that he could climb back over the side of car. He got comfortable in the flatbed and then his chosen memory started playing.

It was the day that he had brought the soapbox car with him. The reason it was Jungkook's most vivid memory wasn't because it was funny or anything like that. It was because it was the first time he had really gotten to hang around with them. He had been friends with them, mostly Taehyung and Jimin who he had messed around with on the school yard. However with the others he had only been able to see on several occasions for short amounts of time, like Hoseok's birthday bike. But not the day of the soapbox car, that had been his first real time spent with them all.

"Kookie picked a good one," Yoongi said as he twisted to reach back and ruffle at his hair. Jungkook beamed at him and then glanced at the wall.

"I remember this," Taehyung said as he shifted in the grass, moving his legs to get more comfortable. "Yeah, this was a good day."

"One of the best," Jungkook agreed.

The projector image on the wall was that of the soapbox car right now, a zoomed in shot. It wasn't the most well made of things, having been built in a school workshop that very morning. It had been a special day for his elementary class and Jungkook had liked it a lot, being able to direct his energies into something other than sitting at a desk for the entire day. It was several pieces of thin cuts of wood held together by a few nails. He had needed his teacher to knock them in because he hadn't been allowed to use the hammer. On the bottom of the box there were a few thin pieces of metal, recycled pieces of bicycle with the wheels attached to make the wheels. Four wheels, thin but sturdy-looking. Or they had looked that way when he had made the car anyway.

" You didn't paint a name on the side, " Namjoon said, hunkered down at the side of the soapbox car.

" They do that? " Jungkook asked, soft and sweet and not at all a troublemaker in the making. He would be soon enough of course, but back then his idea of delinquent behaviour had been snorting milk out his nose at classmates and snapping pencils in half and putting them back in the class pencil jar. His concentration hadn't been the greatest, a sign of things to come.

" Yeah, names and numbers and stuff, " Namjoon explained. " To tell 'em apart. "

" I was the only one that made a car, " Jungkook replied, childhood naïvety showing through and making them all laugh. Namjoon had told him that he needed an individual car so that everyone could tell it was his, and so he had told him that it didn't matter because there had been only one car. Smart in a way, he supposed.

" We should add shit to it, " Jimin announced, nine years old and already using newly learnt curses from Taehyung. " Tae? "

" Y'know I got it," Taehyung said as he dropped to his knee and started rifling through a backpack that was supposed to be filled with school stuff. Instead it was filled with stolen things he had nabbed. In amidst various treasures of grabbed Tamagotchis and whatever else caught his magpie eyes, was a squeezable tube of red paint. Seokjin asked him what the hell he had that for and the boy grinned at him, looking right at all of them as he did: eyes almost meeting theirs from the brick wall. " Stole it for fun. "

" What kind of fun? " Hoseok's voice came from behind Seokjin, tinny.

" Painting. " But they all knew that by painting he didn't mean on pieces of paper, rather the walls of buildings and public property.

There were no paint brushes and so they ended up spreading paint on with their fingers. Non-toxic, it also ended up on clothing and faces. Jimin ended up with a red handprint on the left side of his face courtesy of Taehyung. Mostly their prints covered the front half of the soapbox car and it was the sides that ended up labelled with the name. After some consideration, Seokjin making sure to stop them from putting any curses or slang words into the name in case his parents saw, they settled on one.

"'Mighty Jeon'?" Jungkook asked before bursting out into laughter. "Why did you let me pick that, it's the shittiest name ever?"

"Yeah nowadays you'd be called 'Fucking Nerd'," Taehyung retorted.

"What did I say?" Yoongi shifted on the backseat before making a noise under his breath. "Ah yeah, tough Kookie." This caused a ripple of groans to spread across their friends. "Should've called it 'Tough Kookie'."

On the wall right now Jungkook sitting in the soapbox car, the only one small enough to fit except Jimin - who was most certainly not allowed. Legs tucked in, hands on the tiny wheel even though it was just there for effect and a wide grin on his face: ready to go. By all rights his older friends should have stopped this from happening for it was clear that it was going to fail from the start, but they didn't. Clearly they had either been too stupid to realise or they had been wanting to see if something funny would happen. Either way Seokjin ended up at the bottom of the hill, camcorder held up to record it all. Taehyung hunkered down behind the soapbox car and then he gave a hard shove so that the creation was shooting off down the slope, with a giggling Jungkook in tow.

Halfway down the hill the first tire popped free and shot across the road to hit the curb. Not long after that came the hideous screech of one of the axles dropping down to scrape across the tarmac, quite a few sparks flying up into the air. At the bottom there was but a single tire left on, the other three and one of the two axles scattered across the hill. The wheel had even been pulled free in his hands and the left wooden wall was bent and splintered.

And yet Jungkook was still grinning from ear to ear as if it was Christmas.

" That was so...so fucking cool! "

Jimin was starting to feel a little sleepy right now but he couldn't give into it. If he fell asleep he would miss the rest of the videos and he hadn't even picked his own one yet. That meant that he had to stay awake no matter what, even when his eyelids were heavy and they wanted to close. It was just so surprisingly comfortable lying on the flatbed with his head balanced on Yoongi's shoulder and the feel of Hoseok's breath on his lower arm. As soon as the soapbox recording started to peter out, no longer anything of too much importance to watch, he declared that it was his choice to pick and so he wriggled his way out of the back of the car to get to the camcorder.

"I hope I get a good one," Jimin said as he hovered his fingers over the cards, playing a game of choice in his head from the ones left. There were six and he could find a great memory or a rather boring one.

"They're all good ones," Namjoon argued. "That's the fun part."

Jimin moved the cards aside one by one as he played the little rhyme over in his head until he was left with a single card. Blue, a nice deep blue with a faded sticker on the front. He slipped it into the machine, dropping the viewed card inside the box with the others and after some pressing of buttons he had the recording playing. He placed the camcorder inside carefully angled and placed the lid back before getting back into the back of the car.

"Oh, I see skin!" Taehyung declared, making Jimin twist to look at the wall as he swung his legs over the side to drop into the back. The camcorder was clearly being held by someone that was pointing the camcorder at themselves. Jimin saw a flash of bare skin, a midriff, and hints of green grass visible in the background. The view lifted to show Hoseok's face and that was when Taehyung out a wolf-whistle, sticking his fingers in the corners of his lips as he did.

"That's got to be Han River, right?" Seokjin asked over the sound of Taehyung getting lightly hit on the back of the head by his lover. Judging from Hoseok's soaking wet hair on the recording as he shifted the focus just over his shoulder at his friends he was correct. It was right on the bank of the river, the slightly grass and dirt slope around the balusters that held the bridge up. "When was the last time we went down there?"

"I think...I think I was thirteen," Jimin explained. "Didn't it happen right after my birthday?"

"I think so," Namjoon agreed. "I must've been fourteen, so Hoseok was just turned fifteen." Said fifteen year old Hoseok was talking to the camcorder right now, a running log of the day it would seem. Happy and glowing Hoseok, a side of him that Jimin was starting to forget even existed. On the embankment behind him was the sight of their friends in various states of clothing. Probably wasn't a good idea for them to have jumped in the water with tees on but that was a mistake of the past now.

" There are fish in there, " Taehyung argued, still twelve at the time. " I swear there are, I'll fucking catch one! "

" What with, your big mouth? " A biting retort from ten year old Jungkook.

"OK look," Taehyung shifted to look at them all. "There are fish in Han River OK?"

"Yeah, and big fucking monsters too," Yoongi joked. "Remember that time we showed Minnie that film and he cried?" Jimin sighed heavily and he just knew that his lover would be grinning widely.

"Maybe there are sea monsters too? You ever seen one? No, so you dunno there could be."

"Sure thing Tae, whatever you say," Namjoon agreed with a soft nod.

" Yeah, that's a good idea Kookie. Open your mouth and I'll grab your ankles, " Taehyung argued on the projected recording. " And I'll use you like a fucking net. We'll catch all of the fish then. "

" Tae, there aren't fish in the river, " Hoseok explained, the disembodied voice of reason coming from the camcorder. " And even if there were then you couldn't eat them. "

" Why not? " the boy asked as he ran a hand through his sopping wet hair, revealing a face just a little immature on the recording. Jimin also looked confused at this, seated on the embankment beside him with just a pair of undershorts on.

" Pollution, " their friend said in a weary voice. " That's why you can't eat the fish. "

" Would still be better than the shit my mom makes, " Taehyung retorted with a wide grin. It had looked very amused back then but Jimin wasn't so sure now. It looked a little wounded to his eyes now, but that could have just been his imagination. Then the boy was holding up a hand to get Hoseok to pass him the camcorder and after a moment it was placed in his hands. The lens was turned around so that most of his face was taking up the screen, for he must have accidentally zoomed in. After some cursing and the brief clicking sounds of him hitting buttons and he managed to fix it. " Clearly this is a nicer thing to look at than the river, right? " He grinned and then turned his head from side to side as if showing off his jawline; the sound of the the rest of them laughing at him. The sudden change in perspective showed most of his upper body off and that was when Jimin saw it.

There on his upper shoulder was a perfectly formed bruise. A deep brown ring-shaped bruise that looked to have come from a pair of teeth. Sure it could have been a coincidence but he didn't think it was. Not anymore. No, Jimin looked at that and thought that it was exactly what he was thinking about. Mottled teeth marks of course, it made perfect sense.

" You're not gonna believe me but I think I just saw a fish, " Yoongi announced from a little down the embankment, hunkered down on the very edge of the dirt to look down at the water. Taehyung made an excited noise under his breath and then the view blurred as he jumped to his feet and hastily went over.

"Shit I remember what comes next," Yoongi said as he shifted on the backseat. And sure enough Taehyung's excitement to reach him wasn't to see the fish at all. It was to shove his friend into the water with a hard kick to his lower back. There was a high-pitched yelp and then a splash and water managed to fly back and land on the camcorder lens, obscuring most of the sight of Yoongi flopping around in the water. "Now y'know why I don't trust you fuckers around water."

" See! I told you there were fish! " Taehyung declared with a laugh as he turned back to look at his friends.

Hoseok was aware of the fact that he was going to have to pick a card soon because everyone else excluding Yoongi had. So far they had all been relatively nice memories he supposed, all of them light and sweet even with the colder undertones to them. He hoped that he could pick a good one too. Namjoon had said that all of the memories were good, hadn't he? So that meant that he would get a good one too. After waiting for the recording from Han River to switch over to a rather mundane one of them at a convenience store he shifted to get off the backseat.

"I wonder what lucky Hoseok'll pick?" Yoongi remarked.

"I haven't been lucky in three years," Hoseok muttered as he got the camcorder out and followed the same ritual that everyone else had: the switch of the cards. He didn't look and rather just went with blind luck instead, slipping the black card inside and then putting it in the box so that the projector would flash the image onto the wall. He lingered beside the box for a moment just to be certain and that was when the image cleared up to show the unmistakable sight of bottles of cheap soju.

"Shit, do you want me to change the card?" Hoseok asked anxiously as he fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. Anything involving alcohol was a bad idea and they all knew it.

"No...no, it's fine," Taehyung said with a head shake. "It's fine, I'm OK." He didn't sound or look okay but of course he would say that he was; just like the notebook and the paragraphs about him. Hoseok glanced over at the others and yet they just looked back at him blankly. Should he go against Taehyung and change it because he knew he was uncomfortable, or should he let it play to not make Taehyung feel like a burden? "It's just a video, it's nothing."

Taehyung hadn't even turned fifteen on this recording, knocking back soju from the actual bottle rather than a plastic cup like the rest of them; swallowing hard and not even letting out a hiss at the burn of the alcohol. It was clear from one look at that he was pissed off and it didn't take long for them to all figure out why. It was the sight of Jimin's busted lip that had pissed their friend off, that much was clear. Yet Jimin seemed to not mind at all judging from his expression on the recording.

"You remember how you got that one, huh?" Yoongi asked as he turned his head to look at his lover. Jimin looked half-asleep on the flatbed and he mumbled something about him breaking the back door lock.

" Fucking pathetic man, it's fucking pathetic! " Taehyung hollered suddenly, shifting the atmosphere from rather calm to hostile as he lifted the hand with the bottle up so that he could point at him. " You should stand up to him Dumbass. "

" He's my dad Tae I can't stand up to him, we've already talked about this, " Jimin argued back, even with his split lip on clear display. " I just gotta put up with him. Soon enough I can go, can leave the house and forget about him. "

" Exactly, " Namjoon agreed. " That's the only thing you can do right now Jimin. "

" Nuh-no, " Taehyung said as he got to his feet. " You can fight back."

" Tae, " Hoseok said in a low voice, his own plastic cup in hand. Hoseok briefly wondered if all of those swallows of alcohol had in anyway helped aggravate his depression or not. " Let's not talk about this. "

" If you let him think you're weak he'll keep doing it, " Taehyung intoned, splashing quite a lot of soju all over his boots as he did.

" Says the kid that ran away, " Yoongi retorted. " Not everyone can just do that Tae, OK, it's not-"

" Well I tried! " Taehyung shouted, jabbing his thumb at his chest. " I tried to fight back! Look at me now, huh, just- "

The bottle of soju was tossed across the trainyard in their direction, shattering all over the dirt ground. The recording cut to black for perhaps a second before continuing again. This time the camera was in Taehyung's hands and he was sniffling loudly as he walked along the side of the freight carriages. Wobbly and deer-like steps judging from the fact the camcorder was recording his boots. There was a noise like he was running his hand along the side of the carriage and maybe even humming under his breath. He took a sharp twist suddenly and then he was climbing into one of the freight carriages.

The sight inside showed Hoseok in the midst of stubbing a cigarette out, sixteen and already starting to feel his mind getting plagued by the occasional dark day or three. Slumped in the corner was a passed-out Jungkook of the tender freshly turned age of thirteen; identifiable by his hair which was much too long.

" Hey, " he said, gaze trained to look past the camcorder and rather at Taehyung instead. " You feeling OK? "

" Not really, " came Taehyung's despondent response.

" You should turn that thing off and actually try talking to people instead. " Hoseok sniffed and then leaned back against the freight carriage wall. "What? " Taehyung was still holding the camcorder in hand and he had it focused on Hoseok's face. The view bobbed with his unsteady hand, from his eyes down to his mouth and then back up again.

" Lover boy? " Hoseok made a sound to let him know that he was listening. " Shit you're so...pretty, like it's crazy how pretty you are. "

" Tae, you're so drunk right now. "

" Yeah, fucking wuh...wasted, " Taehyung agreed.

Hoseok tried to recall this happening and yet he struggled to tell the evenings apart. When most of the nights at the trainyard were spent getting drunk over and over like clockwork it was hard to pick a certain memory out. But he did know one thing: this was not the first time that Taehyung had come onto him like this. No, he had simply started by forcing kisses on the side of his mouth and had then progressed to sweet words, and then had come the open mouthed attempts and the furious palming at the fronts of their jeans.

" I can smell soju on you. Did you spill a whole bottle over yourself? " Hoseok joked, own face looking a little tipsy right now. He could see that his cheeks looked pinker than usual, eyes a little glazed.

" Lover boy? "

" I have a name Tae. "

" Fuck, you're so pretty. " Hoseok laughed and told him that he had already said that. Taehyung just guffawed in response. " Like the prettiest thing I've ever seen and- " The focus blurred as he moved suddenly, dropping to his knees on the carriage floor to get closer to him. " Fuck, are you real? Are you...you real? "

" Yes Tae, I'm real, " Hoseok replied as a hand reached out from behind the camcorder to touch his hair.

Hoseok dropped his gaze to look down at Taehyung but all he saw was the top of his head, messy hair spread over his knee. What did his lover think watching all of this? Did he find it sweet in its own rather fucked up way, or was he horrified to see just how he had acted just those few years ago? It was hard to tell and Hoseok himself hadn't quite figured out how he felt about it all.

" Muh...must be real if I can touch you, " Taehyung muttered on the recording and then his fingers knotted in his hair. This caused a sudden gasp of pain and surprise and then Taehyung was more-or-less darting forward to try and kiss him. The camcorder didn't pick it all up exactly, just a quick flash. It seemed that Taehyung had forgotten that the device was in his hand and so he had lifted his hand to try and grab at his face. There was a thumping sound that was undoubtedly the camcorder hitting him on the side of his head and then it was falling out of his hand.

" Shit Tae the camcorder, the- "

The projector image blurred suddenly and there was a loud clattering sound as the screen cut to black. The sound didn't cut however.

" Tae, stop that. Don't grab me like- "

" Sorry sorry sorry, " Taehyung's voice sounded in an attempt at being soothing, a drunken slurred coo. " I didn't muh... oh... "

" Tae? "

" Uh, think I'm gonna puke, " he groaned. " I duh-didn't mean to grab you I just...shit you were so pretty, I just. " A series of loud hiccups followed by groaning noises. " Shit I'm sorry, I'm sorry I- "

" Tae, it's alright just don't grab..at me like that, OK? "

" So fucking drunk like...like him. I'm a fucking drunk. " There was a series of rustling noises and then what sounded like someone lying down. Presumably it was Taehyung getting on the flooring of the carriage to curl up into a ball like he had used to always do when he had been drunk.

It was at this point in the recording that Yoongi got off the backseat without a word and moved to the projector box. No one said a thing as he pulled the lid off and grabbed the camcorder, getting the card out before any more of it could continue. Seokjin mentally thanked him for doing so, even when it plunged the air into a rather icy silence. Hoseok had been right, he should have changed the card over and saved them all the trouble of seeing that, especially Taehyung.

Their friend hadn't needed to see himself physically grabbing at Hoseok and forcing kisses onto him like that, not after everything. It would just make him feel worse, they all knew that would.

Yoongi grabbed a new card without looking and just shoved it inside the camcorder. Except this time he didn't put it inside. Instead he fiddled with the device as he clearly found something suitable to show them all, pressing buttons to skip through the videos until he clearly found something.

"I think this is the last one," he said as he moved to put the camcorder in the projector box. "Battery's nearly dead. So let's end it on a good one, right?" He angled the screen and then proceeded to pop the lid on, the brick wall covered in an image of a wide two storey white building and a yard full of bodies.

"Holy shit!" Jungkook declared suddenly as he shifted on the flatbed, nearly head butting him as he did. "This is my middle school graduation!"

"...Oh yeah it is," Namjoon agreed after a moment of thought. "Shit I almost forget what your school looked like." Their friend hadn't went to the same middle school that their three youngest friends had, so it wasn't that much of a surprise that he had forgotten what it looked like.

The camcorder switched around suddenly to focus on Seokjin and to his side Yoongi was visible, just a slight flash of reddish coloured hair. Jungkook's middle school graduation had been almost three years ago now, meaning that both he and Yoongi were actually twenty. They looked pretty much the exact same save for hair length and colour, a little weight loss or gain here and there.

"There she is!" Taehyung declared suddenly. "The most beautiful mom in the world!" The joke was enough to have them all laughing; Seokjin included. Trust their friend to get the witty response in first before anyone else could beat him to it.

"... y'know he's gonna hate these fucking things anyway, " Yoongi muttered, face buried under a worn knit scarf as he did. " Flowers? Bet you he'll say "flowers are for pussies". "

" I like flowers, " Seokjin said as he shifted the camera to show a hint of the white flowers in Yoongi's hands.

" Thanks for proving my point Jin. "

"Ah, Yoongi!" Jungkook burst out laughing at this, having never heard this joke for he had been inside the school preparing for his graduation. "Good one."

"You loved the flowers though," Jimin mumbled sleepily from over Seokjin's shoulder. "Don't pretend you didn't."

"They were alright, I guess?"

On the wall the focus shifted to that of Namjoon weaving between bodies to get closer to them. He called out something about how the others had promised to skip class, as he made his way over, oblivious to the stares from parents at his words. Of course they had had to skip, for Jungkook's graduation had been a weekday. So, much like the previous card, the recording stopped and started randomly as Seokjin turned the machine on and off recording. When it next jumped to another scene Hoseok and Jimin were shoving through bodies, the former holding onto the latter's wrist and them both in high school uniforms. More quick discussions on everything from the flowers to what time the ceremony started, to whether his parents would show and maybe see them and get mad.

Seokjin recalled that neither did for they were busy working. Just like his high school induction ceremony a few months later too. No, they were the only ones that had shown for both. It was no wonder Jungkook saw them as his family more than his parents.

It was just as Jimin was leaning forward to sniff the flowers that there was a loud clattering sound and then Taehyung came into the picture. He wasn't wearing a uniform of course but just casual clothes, because this was when sixteen year old Taehyung had decided that school just wasn't for him. No scarf or gloves or even a coat but just a thick woolen hooded sweatshirt, it was a miracle the boy hadn't caught his death back then. At the sight of him scaling the chain link fence quite a lot of parents exclaimed and no doubt pointed fingers at him.

" I didn't miss it right? " Taehyung asked with wide eyes as he dropped down beside them.

" No, still hasn't started yet, " Namjoon said as he shifted and fixed the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Then Taehyung's gaze fell to look at the flowers.

" Who the fuck died? "

The next time that the recording jumped it was to show them inside a large gym hall of some sort. His friends were standing on a balcony overlooking the hall and the ground floor was covered in a mass of uniformed bodies. Seokjin was still recording and after a few seconds a hand shot out, recognisable as Yoongi's.

" There he is. See him in the corner. " The camcorder followed his directions and zoomed in on a head of black hair: Jungkook.

" No offense to the other kids here but Kookie's the most handsome. "

" God Dumbass your boner is showing. "

" Tae keep your voice down man, " Namjoon muttered. " The camcorder will pick it up. "

" Kookie is the most handsome, " Seokjin agreed, the screen jostling slightly. " But he won't turn and look at the camera. "

" Call his name, " Taehyung said as he shifted to get closer to the balcony barricade.

" That doesn't sound like the best ide- "

" Jeon Jungkook! " Taehyung hollered over Hoseok. The boy glanced back at them for a second before turning back; quite obviously shy. This made them all start laughing on both the wall and in reality. " That little fucker. Remember that time I touched your nipples! " That was enough to get him, and pretty much most of the students down there to turn and stare at them.

"Now I remember why the headteacher glared at me." Jungkook muttered to himself.

Seokjin had recorded the ceremony in most parts and so for the next several minutes that was all that played. But when it was finished the footage jumped to them all lathering attention and affection on their youngest friend; Jungkook holding the bouquet and trying to look annoyed but failing because was smiling much too widely. He had his hair ruffled, arms around his shoulders, a cheek-pinch off Jimin that resulted in a whine and plenty of congratulations.

" Y'know, what'd you wanna eat right now Kookie? " Taehyung declared suddenly, dragging the boy close.

" Right now, ah, jajangmyeon. "

" Jajangmyeon? " Taehyung repeated with an eyebrow. " Then let's go get some fucking jajangmyeon. "

" Tae, " Yoongi said in a low voice. " Got no cash. "

" I got cash, " the boy announced as he placed the top of his head against the side of Jungkook's. At this a ripple of confusion seemed to run through them all in the recording, but not in reality. In reality they all knew exactly how he had earned the cash. " My treat. "

The rest of the recording centred around shared food that Taehyung had ordered, that none of them had questioned. Plenty of shots of Jungkook happily eating away with the bouquet on the table beside him and his school uniform blazer that they had all promised to deface. Jimin joked about about giving him a kiss as a congratulations and the boy had threatened him with his chopsticks. The last thing that the camcorder showed before the battery died was a shot of Jungkook slowly running a finger over the heads of one of the flowers when he thought that he wasn't being recorded.

"What a great thing to end it on, huh?" Yoongi said after a few seconds of silence. "Just think, a year from now you'll be graduating high school too."

"Mmm, that is weird," Jungkook agreed, voice also heavy because he was falling asleep. Jimin had already beaten him to it, curled up tight with his head balanced on one arm. "Weird and scary."

Yoongi shifted to climb onto the flatbed too, lying down behind Jimin to press himself up against his back and along an arm around his waist. Seokjin asked him if he was planning on sleeping there for the night and his friend nodded in agreement before burrowing his face against his hair. Jungkook was practically falling out of the back of the flatbed, arms and head dangling over the edge.

"Kookie, you can't sleep like that."

"Too...comfy," Jungkook mumbled, not budging once. "Carry me."

"Are you a baby?" Taehyung joked, still seated in the grass. The other boy just made a snuffling noise in response. Jungkook wasn't as heavy as his frame seemed to hint that he was, or maybe Seokjin had just underestimated his own strength. Either way he lifted the boy off the flatbed rather easily, causing Namjoon to laugh softly at the sight of him in his arms.

"Now I really do feel like a mother," he muttered as he carried the boy into the building. The single seats were still inside and so he lowered him onto one gently, trying to not knock his head on the hard leather and wake him up from his light doze. But he must have been awake for he grabbed hold of his wrist before he could turn on his heel and leave the building.

"...don't go." Jungkook's words were heavy and slurred and he realised that he was pretty much asleep. "Don't wanna be on...own."

"I'm not going I'm just-"

"Scared of being alone," Jungkook finished before letting his breath out in a heavy sigh.

"I'll be right back, OK? I'm just going to give Yoongi a blanket, then I'll come straight back." Seokjin managed to pull his hand free from his grip and when he turned around he saw that Namjoon had already settled down on the single car seat a few feet away.

"Is he OK?" his friend asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes just...yesterday was a rough day," Seokjin replied, not having to add: for all of us onto the end because they were both already aware of this. He moved to grab one of the blankets that he had left folded up on the broken settee, having to navigate across the building from the moonlight alone. He collected the folded pile and went back outside to see his friends were practically all asleep. So he gently dragged one blanket over Jimin and Yoongi on the flatbed and then another over Taehyung and Hoseok who were on the backseat.

"Good night," he said to himself as he secured the blanket over their ribs. Taehyung surprised him by mumbling the sentiment back. There was just one blanket left but when he stepped inside he saw that Namjoon had already shrugged his hoodie over him and that he looked very comfortable the way that he was.

Getting onto the single car seat with Jungkook proved rather awkward because it wasn't wide enough to fit them on but after a moment the boy shifted in his sleep and freed up enough room for him to settle into. He probably could have just gotten onto the settee instead but Jungkook had asked him to stay close so it only seemed fair that he did. Seokjin fixed the blanket in place when the boy started talking.

"Do you think we'll be...together forever?" he asked in a quiet voice, still sleepy but seemingly conscious enough to talk.

"I don't know Kookie," Seokjin replied honestly, not wanting to lie to his friend. "I hope so."

"I couldn't live without you, without any of you," Jungkook added, wriggling slightly on the car seat so that the backs of his legs knocked against his shins.

"I know, I couldn't live without any of you either," Seokjin said as he stared at the back of the boy's hair. "Go to sleep Kookie."

"Mmm, tomorrow might be...a good day," Jungkook said in a rather optimistic way, even when he was falling asleep.

"It might be."

"It's always a good day when I'm with you guys."