Chapter Text
“Hey, you piece of shit! Get back here!”
Jungkook doesn’t have any plans to follow that particular command- instead, he keeps running despite the fact that his lungs feel like they’re on fire and he’s by now long passed by all of his normal hiding places for times like this. They’re in a railyard, he thinks, but it’s hard to tell in the rapidly fading evening light. All he knows is that if he stops, the two men currently on his tail will make whatever pain he’s feeling at the moment seem like nothing in comparison to their assault.
Still, though, Jungkook’s getting tired- it’s been too long since his last good meal, and he doesn’t exactly go to the gym in his spare time. He needs an out, and fast.
The mens’ shouts echo across the railyard, but they sounder fainter than they have in a while. That’s good enough for Jungkook. He glances around wildly, looking around for anywhere he can hide himself until they leave, eyes landing on nothing useful until- there.
In one lane of the railway, there’s a string of train cars that looks like they haven’t been touched in a long, long time. Graffiti paints the once-blue surface of each car in a rainbow of airbrushed designs and patterns, and there’s a garden of weeds sprouting up in the surrounding gravel. Jungkook eyes the latch on the frontmost car’s door, hopes it won't be locked or rusted over with age.
Practically slamming into the car when he reaches it, he fumbles with the latch for a few seconds before yanking the heavy door open. He hauls himself up into the car -the interior of which is glowing like he imagines the gates of heaven might- and shuts it just as the sound of the mens’ shouts becomes audible again. Jungkook slumps against the cool metal of the door and catches his breath for a moment, eyes slipping shut in fatigue.
They snap open a moment later when he realizes that, wait a second, the average abandoned train doesn’t come with both working lights and the sound of pleasant, bass-heavy music playing from somewhere deeper within. Jungkook glances around warily, taking in the fairy lights strung across the ceiling and the oddly homey feel of the place.
“Taetae? Is that you?” a high voice floats from somewhere in the train.
“Um,” he replies intelligently.
The music stops abruptly, and the sound of hurried footsteps starts and grows rapidly louder. Jungkook winces, pressing closer to the door like it’ll protect him somehow, and hopes whoever’s coming isn’t going to stab him for trespassing.
When the source of the voice finally rounds the corner, his jaw drops, because he wasn’t aware that actual angels spent their time in apparently-not-abandoned trains. He’s got orange hair that glows like fire, eyes that sparkle even in the low light, and holds himself in a way that suggests messing with him would be the last mistake one would ever make.
Currently those bright eyes are watching him, narrowed sharply in suspicion, and Jungkook belatedly realizes he’s been staring. “Uh,” he begins again, as eloquently as before, “I-”
“Are you police?” the redhead spits, sounding far less friendly than earlier.
Jungkook lets out a mildly hysterical laugh. “Hell no, they’d never-”
“-Gangs, then,” the boy interrupts again, showing zero pity for Jungkook’s obvious terror. “I swear to god, if you’re in with the Shadows-” he breaks off and takes a threatening step forward. Jungkook flinches, presses his back even deeper into the door. He’s about two seconds away from throwing himself out of the train car and taking his chances with the two men from earlier because at least, as awful as being beaten up may be, they’re a known evil. The boy in front of him could just as easily let him go as he could kill him, and Jungkook really doesn't like his odds.
“The silent act isn’t cute, you know,” The redhead cuts in again, folding his -noticeably buff, which is both very intimidating and very attractive and dammit Jungkook this is not the time- arms across his chest.
“I-I’m sorry,” Jungkook squeaks out, hand edging towards the door latch. “I was being chased and I thought no one was in here and I’ll just go-”
He gets halfway through turning the latch before there’s a hand on his wrist. The boy’s gaze is still filled with mistrust when he meets it, but he’s relaxed his posture slightly. “Chased? By who?”
Jungkook opens his mouth to answer only to realize he doesn’t know. “Guys in black jackets,” he finally says, looking away in embarrassment. “They didn’t exactly introduce themselves.”
“Black jackets? Ugly, pushy, probably tried to fight you over something stupid?” he prods, keeping his grip on Jungkook’s wrist. His expression betrays no emotion other than that ever-present cool hostility.
“All I did was bump into them, so- yeah, I guess.” Jungkook’s not really sure where all of this is going. At the moment, the most he’s hoping for is a lack of broken bones when everything's said and done.
The boy finally releases his grip on Jungkook, and, as Jungkook watches, he transforms into what might as well be another person. His stance relaxes and his arms fall to his sides, his eyes soften, and he breaks out in the sweetest grin and accompanying eye-smile Jungkook has ever seen. No longer cowed by the intimidation factor, Jungkook is now free to notice that he is, in fact, taller than the redhead. His head is spinning from the abruptness of the boy’s transformation. Maybe there’s actually two of them and this is all just an elaborate prank.
“I’m Jimin,” the boy says, sticking a hand out. Jungkook reciprocates with the weakest handshake he’s ever given in his life, still trying to reconcile Jimin with the person that seemed a second away from killing him just before. “Born in 96, by the way.”
“I’m Jungkook, ‘97, and, uh, what exactly is going on,” he hears himself ask faintly, and Jimin lets out a giggle that sounds positively magical.
“You’d know better than me,” he says. “From what I can tell, you pissed off the Shadows, they wanted to kick your ass, you ran, you ended up here. Sound about right?”
Jungkook nods, by now a little more mentally together. “You’re not gonna kill me, right?” he checks, and is rewarded by Jimin throwing his head back and laughing, the sound like church bells ringing. “Of course not,” he replies. “I was thinking the opposite, actually- if you want to hang out for a while until those guys get bored and leave, I have food in there.” he points deeper into the train.
“Sure,” Jungkook decides, albeit uncertainly. “Is that okay?”
Jimin’s already walking deeper into the train car. “I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t,” he points out. “I trust you enough, anyways.”
“Didn’t seem like it a few minutes ago,” he mutters, thinking back to how scary the other boy had looked initially. He slips through the threshold after Jimin only to immediately bump into him. He flinches, then blushes as the realization hits that there was no way Jimin hadn’t heard his comment.
“I’m not sure why I was so worried in the first place, honestly,” Jimin tells him, perfectly nonchalant. “You’re too young to be a cop and way too cute to be a gang member.”
Jungkook is fairly sure his blush has now painted his face a shade of red that would put firetrucks to shame. Jimin laughs in clear delight at his reaction, which certainly doesn’t help matters.
Moving over to the corner of the room and still giggling to himself, Jimin pops open the lid of a metal lockbox resting there, grabbing a bag of chips from its depths and tossing it Jungkook’s way. He catches it without thinking and sends up a brief thank you to the powers that be that he didn’t do something dumb like flinch or drop it.
After taking a bag for himself, Jimin flops down on a old-looking brown leather couch, spreading his arms wide like wings across the back. “Welcome to our place,” he says, genuine pride in his voice. “Don’t break anything or kill anyone and I’m sure you’ll fit in fine.”
It is a nice place, really- especially as far as refurbished trains go. The room Jungkook is in is lit by a variety of lamps and fairy lights that give it a warm glow, and a small but relatively new TV is hung against one wall. A few beanbag chairs and even a mattress are scattered haphazardly around it. Across the room, there’s a curtain made of what looks like bed sheets over a doorway that leads deeper into the train, and he catches a glimpse of a table and mismatched chairs through the sheer fabric.
“Are there more of you?” Jungkook asks as he glances around, having yet to move any deeper into the room. Warily, he glances at the bedsheet door as if someone could jump out of it at any second. He remembers Jimin mentioning a “Taetae” earlier, but the idea of more people than even that spending time here on the regular is equally intriguing and intimidating.
Jimin nods. “There’s six of us, actually.” He has to hide a grin at Jungkook’s look of shock. “I’m the only one here right now, but if you stay long enough everyone else should show up.”
Jungkook isn't sure what to expect from these mysterious people- are they all as pretty and intimidating as Jimin, or are they more like the hardened street thugs he’s used to? He’s not sure he wants to stick around and find out. “I wouldn’t want to impose-” he begins politely, and Jimin waves a hand.
“Please. No one’s gonna mind if you hang around for just a night. We don’t bite.” He pauses, considering. “Well, Yoongi does sometimes, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Jungkooks shifts nervously towards the exit, grateful he hadn’t yet sat down. “No, really, I’m sure those guys are gone by now-”
There’s a loud, metallic, clang from the entrance of the train. Jungkook whirls around to face it and shifts deeper into the room, every inch of him instantly prepared to fight or run. He’s torn between going to hide deeper in the train, which would keep him safe for longer, and staying to help Jimin defend himself. He likely doesn’t need it, being as generally badass as he is, but it would be a dick move to run regardless-
He starts as Jimin brushes past him, looking nowhere near as tense. Right as he reaches the threshold of the room, Jungkook snatches the sleeve of his jacket and yanks him back. Jimin shoots him a look that’s a complicated mix of surprise, annoyance, and amusement. “Yes?”
“Don’t go out there if those guys got in!” Jungkook hisses. “We should run, or hide, or, or- something that isn't that, at least.”
Jimin snickers at him, and Jungkook blushes without knowing why. “What?” he manages, dropping the other boy’s sleeve like it burnt him.
Jimin starts to leave again, pausing right before he disappears completely. “First of all, I’m offended you think I can’t take a couple of dumbasses on my own territory. And secondly, they didn’t get in. The knock means it’s one of us.”
Shit. So Jungkook’s too late to leave, it seems. Despite his well-developed instincts from years on the streets screaming for him to stay back until he’s sure the newcomer isn’t a threat, Jungkook follows Jimin out to the entrance. The heavy door of the train car is sliding open when he gets there, and he makes sure to stay well behind Jimin despite the shorter boy having no chance of hiding him.
“I’m hoooome!” sings a boy, voice a pleasant low baritone, as he leaps into the car. Although his jump is clean, he overshoots it just a bit; he ends up almost running into the opposite wall, laughing to himself a little as he recovers.
“Taehyung-ah!” Jimin exclaims, rushing forward to wrap him in a tight hug that’s instantly returned with equal force.”How’d it go?”
The boy -Taehyung- takes half a step back to look Jimin in the eyes, and the smile he gives the shorter boy is nothing short of radiant. It’s uniquely rectangular, but it only serves to make him and his joy all the more charming. “Perfectly,” he practically gushes. “We got half of their haunts on Main tagged before the sun even set, and no one even came close to catching us. Those assholes won’t know what hit ‘em.”
Jimin gifts Taehyung with a bright eye-smile in response, grabbing one of his hands. “That’s awesome!”
Jungkook stares. He feels vaguely like he’s watching something he shouldn’t. If the door wasn’t directly past the two of them, he’d probably slip out just to give them their privacy.
“Namjoon-hyung is picking up snacks at the store, but he’ll be home soon too-” Taehyung continues, before catching sight of Jungkook for the first time and stopping dead. “Who’s this?” he asks with an air of thinly veiled suspicion. While there’s none of that open hostility Jimin initially had towards him present, his gaze is filled with an intense scrutiny that’s almost scarier.
Jimin opens his mouth to answer, but Jungkook beats him to it. “I’m Jungkook. I’m sorry for intruding,” he rushes out. “But I was being chased and this was the first place I saw to go. I was just leaving, really-” he even takes a step towards the door to prove his point.
“He was not ‘just leaving’,” Jimin interrupts, looking amused. “He’s probably going to stay here at least overnight.”
“He is?” Taehyung asks.
“I am?” Jungkook repeats, voice embarrassingly high.
Taehyung stares at him for a moment, his expression unreadable, and then he’s smiling again. “Okay,” he decides, and Jungkook lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Are we out of honey butter chips?”
And just like that, it’s been decided- nevermind that Jungkook still isn’t fully sure what “it” is. He dutifully follows the other two boys back into the main room, standing at the entrance of the door awkwardly as Jimin fishes out a bag of honey butter chips from the same box as earlier.
“So, Jungkook-ssi,” Taehyung begins, and Jungkook braces himself for some kind of an interrogation. “Favorite anime?”
Despite that being the exact opposite of whatever he’d been expecting to come out of the other boy’s mouth, Jungkook’s answer comes readily. “Naruto, obviously,” he scoffs. It’s been too long since he’s been able to watch much of anything, really, but Naruto will always have a special place in Jungkook’s heart.
Taehyung looks at him again with that intense gaze of his that Jungkook can’t help but shrink back from. Being subject to the entirety of his attention at once is almost overwhelming. Taehyung seems to hold the entirety of the cosmos in his eyes, beautiful and breathtaking and vast, and in the face of it he feels comparatively infinitesimal.
But then Taehyung smiles at him again, expression bright and relaxed, and Jungkook kind of feels like he’s just been yanked forcibly out of another dimension. “That’s cool,” he says brightly. “My favorite’s One Piece, but Naruto’s awesome too.”
“One Piece is cool,” he agrees a bit awkwardly, wondering if he’s passed some kind of test.
“I have it, if you want to watch?” Taehyung offers, suddenly a little tentative, and Jungkook grins wide despite himself.
“I’d love to!”
The three of them collapse onto the old couch, which creaks dangerously under their weight despite Jimin’s assurances that it frequently holds all six of the train’s inhabitants, and Taehyung sets up the TV. They -Jimin and Taehyung, really, Jungkook’s still too shy to interrupt their comfortable dynamic- make easy conversation about things Jungkook’s never heard of and people he doesn’t know. Strangely enough, he doesn’t feel particularly left out- rather, he feels an odd sense of something like belonging as he watches them.
The sensation is weird, and he has no place experiencing it in an abandoned train car with two people he didn’t know an hour ago, but it’s persistent no matter how much he tries to tamp it down. It’s nice, really nice. He’s desperately missed that feeling of home, no matter borrowed it may be.
By the time one episode turns to two and his first bag of chips turns to three, Jungkook is feeling relaxed in a way he hasn’t in a long time. He’s slumped against one arm of the couch, attention split between the TV and the two boys curled into each other on the other end of the seat. Taehyung’s head is resting on Jimin’s shoulder, and the redhead is absently carding a hand through the other boy’s hair.
It’s cute, adorable really, and Jungkook catches himself staring at them much more often than what he’s supposed to be watching.
He’s half asleep on the couch, gaze still vaguely focused on the other end of the couch and eyes hooded with exhaustion, when another knock rings out through the train. Jungkook starts a little, still unused to the sound, and Taehyung and Jimin shoot matching smiles at each other before standing up, stretching.
“Bet’s on Joon-hyung,” Taehyung says with a grin.
Jimin, with an air of competition that suggests he plays this strange game with Taehyung on the regular, shoots back with a “Nah, it’s definitely Hobi-hyung,”
“You always bet on Hobi-hyung,” Taehyung teases. “Because you looove him.”
Jimin laughs and says something Jungkook can’t catch as the pair heads to the door. Unsure if he should follow them or not, Jungkook eventually decides to settle in and wait. He should at least let them have their reunion before his presence makes the atmosphere awkward yet again.
A moment later, there comes a banshee screech from the hallway of “Jin-hyung!” and a hum of rapid-fire conversation starts up almost instantly.
The growing wave of noise moves closer, not at all faltering in enthusiasm, and Jungkook catches bits and pieces about a flower shop and takeout. He’s suddenly nervous, like they’re going to walk back into the room and suddenly judge him unworthy of continuing to stay. He adjusts his hoodie and brushes nonexistent crumbs off of his lap like it’ll magically make him more presentable and waits anxiously.
Jimin enters first, glancing at Jungkook like he’d almost forgotten he was there. “Oh, right!” He grins at whoever’s on the other side of the threshold. “We have a guest.”
“His name’s Jungkook,” Taehyung adds as he slips in behind him, rectangle smile present in full-force.
The mystery person finally walks in, and Jungkook forgets to move, or breathe, or do anything, really, because wow, are they all this attractive? Jungkook might need to leave and never come back after this just to preserve his sanity.
He’s tall and his shoulders are broad in a way that would be intimidating if not for his face, which has a delicate, picturesque sort of beauty to it; he looks like he could easily be some kind of model or idol. The boy looks Jungkook over curiously and he snaps back into reality under his gaze, practically falling over himself to greet him.
Though the boy introduces himself politely enough as Jin, there’s an unspoken mistrust in the way he chooses to sit on one of the beanbags instead of the couch.
“So, where are you from?” Jin asks carefully, expression neutral but gaze sharp. Taehyung and Jimin wait curiously to hear the answer.
Jungkook’s not really sure how to reply- he’s not homeless, not technically, but he doesn’t really live anywhere. He has a variety of haunts and hangouts spread across the city that, together, make a patchwork of safe spots that could almost be considered a home, but nowhere concrete.
“I float around,” he settles on. “Don’t really have a home.”
“Like us,” Taehyung pipes up, shooting Jungkook a comforting smile that he nervously returns.
“Plus, he’s adorable,” Jimin adds, and Taehyung nods in vigorous agreement next to him. “We’re keeping him.”
“Really, you don’t have to do that,” Jungkook says awkwardly, glancing at Jin uneasily.
Jin, surprisingly enough, is watching the three of them with amusement and something akin to fondness in his eyes, lips upturned ever so slightly. “We’ll vote on it when everyone else gets home,” he says, and Jimin and Taehyung actually high five.
“Hobi-hyung’s going to love you, Jungkook-ah,” Jimin says brightly, and while the shift in honorifics throws Jungkook for a second, he finds that he by no means dislikes the change. He’s not quite sure how exactly he went from having no friends or even acquaintances for a solid three years to gaining two (and a half? Three? What does Jin count as?) kind-of-sort-of-friends in the span of an hour, but he’s definitely not complaining.
No matter how fleeting all of this may be, no matter if he gets kicked out in an hour, Jungkook decides right then he’s going to take what he can get before he has to go back to his lonely life on the streets.
After a couple of minutes of small talk that Jungkook doesn't participate in, the atmosphere finally relaxes again. Taehyung turns back on the TV and the One Piece episode they were on, and Jin disappears into one of the rooms deeper in the train, instructing Taehyung and Jimin to let him know when anyone else comes home. Between the fifth and sixth episodes, Jungkook somehow ends up resting his head on Taehyung’s shoulder without ever consciously moving towards him. Between the seventh and the eighth, he starts to fall asleep, the exhaustion from his earlier pursuit finally hitting Jungkook like a load of bricks.
He’s not sure how many episodes he ends up sleeping through, but Jungkook comes to a groggy alertness when a bright flash goes off directly in front of his closed eyelids.
“Way to be discreet,” a low voice deadpans from somewhere in front of him, and Jungkook’s eyes snap open when he doesn’t recognize the speaker. Instinctively, he shifts so his body covers as much of Taehyung’s as he can, already in fight-or-flight mode and ready to protect his new friend.
There’s three people watching them, all unfamiliar and wildly different, and it’s a little too soon after waking up for Jungkook to be able to effectively handle this. He gapes at them blankly from where he’s sprawled over a still-sleeping Taehyung, trying to get over the mental juxtaposition of being mentally half-asleep but physically racing with adrenaline.
The one on the left has mint green hair -he pulls it off scarily well, too, which even Jungkook’s barely functioning brain registers as impressive- and holds himself like he’s ready to fight the entire world if need be. He watches Jungkook with more suspicion than even Jimin had initially, but he’s currently so out of it, he can’t find it in himself to be intimidated.
The one on the right is very tall and wearing a beanie, and he’s eyeing Jungkook with a gaze so clearly intelligent and observant that he’s fairly sure the boy has already figured out his name, age, and favorite food despite him having yet to open his mouth. He’s also carrying several bags from a convenience store Jungkook frequents, and Jungkook dimly registers that this is probably the Namjoon that Taehyung mentioned earlier.
The one in the middle has dark hair and is clutching a cracked phone in one hand, the camera pointing at Jungkook and Taehyung. Upon meeting Jungkook’s gaze, he offers him an ear-to-ear smile that’s both adorably heart-shaped and feels sort of like being punched in the face with pure sunshine.
“Sorry!” he says sheepishly, putting his phone away. “You two were just so cute.”
He’s the only person he’s met so far who’s immediately accepted him without suspicion- Jungkook both loves him immediately and is vaguely concerned for his self-preservation instincts.
Jungkook catches mint-hair’s eye again by total accident as he glances around, and that glare is far scarier now that he’s feeling a little more coherent. Maybe there’s a reason the brunette can be so outwardly friendly without getting burned.
“That’s okay,” Jungkook says, reflexively offering up a soft smile back at the brunette- who, upon seeing it, looks like he’s just won some kind of a prize. “I shouldn't be sleeping anyway.” Sleeping is a waste when his time left here is surely limited.
“So, since no one’s asking the obvious question,” the blonde cuts in, “who exactly are you?” He eyes the position Jungkook is in, still half-covering Taehyung, with something approaching suspicion. Jungkook gets the hint and sits up, careful to separate himself completely from Taehyung.
“My name’s Jungkook,” he replies carefully, sinking into the couch in an effort to seem at unthreatening as possible. “I came here by accident and Jimin,” - a momentary pause as he decides on the honorific- “-ssi said I could stay the night.”
“Jimin let a stranger stay? You must be something special, Jungkook-ssi,” the brunette says in amazement. Another energetic grin is sent Jungkook’s way, and it’s a little easier for him to return it this time.
“I’m really not,” he replies a little bashfully. “I’ll be gone in the morning either way, so I promise won’t bother you for too long.”
The brunette immediately adopts an expression that’s alarmingly distraught, especially over someone he’s known for about five minutes. “No way- if Jimin let you stay, we’re keeping you.”
“He only let me stay out of pity, it really doesn’t mean that much-”
“-If the kid wants to leave in the morning, let him. Besides, since when was Jimin in charge here?” Mint hair finally speaks up, and although his words are blunt his tone is bordering on amused.
As if summoned by hearing his name, the commotion finally wakes up Jimin, who stirs sleepily for a moment before snapping awake when he realizes who’s arrived. “Hyungs!” Jimin’s off of the couch so fast he might as well have teleported, yanking the middle boy into what might be the tightest hug Jungkook’s ever witnessed.
“Jiminie!” the brunette cheers, hugging back with equal aggression. In a true feat of dexterity, Jimin shifts and manages to yank the boy in the beanie into a one-armed hug while still clinging to the brunette. All three of them shoot dazzling smiles at each other, and Jungkook catches a murmured “Missed you,” although he can’t be sure who it comes from.
After a moment, Jimin untangles himself from the two other boys and enfolds mint hair in a delicate hug. He doesn't reciprocate, but practically melts into Jimin’s embrace.
The whole scene is stupidly heartwarming, cute enough to be from a book or a movie, and Jungkook quietly wonders how something so pure and wonderful can come out of an abandoned train and the general misery of the world around him.
Introductions come next, as soon as Jimin decides his hyungs have been thoroughly hugged. Reintroducing himself is a little awkward, but the three boys greet him with politeness or, in the case of the brunette, and excited smile and a handshake that lasts just a little too long to be strictly polite. (Jungkook doesn't mind).
He learns that the mint-haired boy’s name is Yoongi, and that the intimidating expression he wears is essentially permanent but by no means a conveyor of his actual emotions. He seems the type to be standoffish and unfriendly, but he lets the brunette -who eagerly introduced himself as Hoseok- drag him over to the mattress on the floor with no compliant, even going so far as to end up half sitting on his lap.
The one in the beanie’s name is, in fact, Namjoon, and any intimidation factor he might have had is immediately lost on Jungkook when he smiles and Jungkook catches sight of his dimples. He’s a little awkward but nice enough, and the scrutinizing way he looks Jungkook up and down before giving him said smile makes it clear that he’s far smarter than even his first impression of the boy would suggest.
Somewhere between all the introductions Taehyung finally wakes up. He subjects the three other boys to his own set of excited hugs and collapses on a beanbag chair, for some reason choosing to pull Jungkook down with him. Jimin, right in the middle of a hushed conversation with Namjoon, exclaims, “Oh shit, Jin-hyung!” and immediately darts off to go inform him that everyone else is home.
The two return after a minute, holding hands for reasons unknown to Jungkook, only splitting when Jin falls onto the couch and Jimin takes the beanbag chair next to Jungkook. There are no hugs this time -everyone’s too lazy to move, it seems- but there is a loud chorus of “Hi Jin-hyung!”
It takes a few minutes for everyone to fully settle down, but they eventually congregate in a loose circle, draped over various bits of furniture or each other. The TV is left forgotten in favor of conversation that Jungkook can barely follow and, when he is able to understand it, it’s always about things he’s never heard of and doesn't understand. He doesn’t mind, honestly- it’s indescribably nice to be in a room so full of life, in a place where he feels welcomed.
The energy in the room is palpable and the conversation loud, but Jungkook still finds himself quickly drifting back towards unconsciousness. The presence of people he likes so much already, even if they barely know each other, and the feeling of safety that the train provides him with is intoxicatingly relaxing. Being here just feels inexplicably right. Jimin having one hand on his knee and rubbing gentle circles there while he talks animatedly isn't exactly helping him stay awake either.
He’s vindicated, at least, by the fact that everyone else seems to be slowly slipping too. It’s late, definitely past midnight, and even their collective excitement can’t quite compensate for the lateness of the hour. People start to shift into laying positions but continue talking -he’s not sure they’ll stop even when they’re asleep- and Jungkook lets himself drift off to the melodic sound of their voices.
~0~0~0~
Waking up is a briefly disorienting experience until Jungkook remembers exactly where he is. He stares at the ceiling for a minute and listens to six other people breathe, wondering why he feels more rested than he has in literal years.
Jungkook has been alone for a long, long time. Half of it’s choice- he doesn’t want to join a gang, refuses to sink that low- and the other half is circumstance. Other people like him are competition on the streets, not friends. Most of his social interaction consists of wary eye contact in alleyways and the occasional fistfight over something stupid.
These six boys, however, are the mirror opposite of all that. They’re affectionate and friendly and genuinely kind in a way that feels almost impossible, like there has to be some kind of catch. Jungkook can scarcely believe they’re real at all. And they’d chosen to let him of all people in, however briefly it may have been for.
This isn’t really his, he knows. Everything he’s found here- Kindness, friendship, safety, love, it’s all borrowed. The six of them are all wonderful people, and they’d let him feel a happiness he hasn’t felt in a long, long time, but he can’t stay in the train indefinitely and not expect their charity to run out. The world doesn’t work like that.
Rolling over with the full intent to get up and leave, he flinches as he finds Hoseok’s face less than a foot from his own. His already soft features are even gentler in sleep, and his face looks strange without the smile it so often wears. He’s still beautiful, though, profiled in the morning sunshine like some heavensent being.
Jungkook has no idea how he got so lucky, but he knows that even if he’s never going to see these people again, he’ll remember the time he spent with them forever.
Since he somehow ended up sleeping as far away from the door as he could, he has to carefully step over everyone else in his quest to leave. It’s kind of tortuous, seeing everyone’s faces all relaxed and beautiful even as they sleep, and it takes both a lot longer and much more willpower than Jungkook would like to admit for him to make it out of the room.
Finally making it to the main door of the train, he stares at it for a moment. Jungkook can’t help but imagine how it’ll go when they wake up and he isn’t there. Two scenarios are possible: relief that he’s finally gone, or disappointment that he’s vanished without a trace. Logically, he knows it’s the former -there’s no reason for it to be anything else- but the traitorous part of him that hopes it’s the latter points out that, if they will miss him upon waking up, he looks like a major asshole.
Leaving a note seems like a good idea, but Jungkook doesn’t have paper or a pen and, most importantly, he has no idea what to write. Is it even necessary to be courteous to people he’s never going to see again? Should he leave them a thank you gift basket or something?
...He’s stalling, isn’t he?
There’s a shuffling sound from the main car and Jungkook whips his head around to stare at the entryway like a deer in headlights. If he’s going to leave, he has to do it now. He picks up a hand and puts it on the door latch. Turning it feels like a momentous task, despite the handle not weighing much at all.
It’s hard to open a giant metal door with any semblance of discretion, but Jungkook manages by doing it so slowly it feels like he spends an hour moving the door bit by painstaking bit. Terror at the idea of being caught leaves him checking behind himself every minute or so and listening anxiously for sounds of movement from the adjacent train car, but no one ends up waking up. He opens the door almost too narrowly to slip out, and nearly trips on his way out of the car, but manages in the end.
The summer sunshine is blinding, at first, and Jungkook throws up his hood to block out some of the brightness. He misses the low light of the train already.
(He misses them already.)
He’ll get over it, though- the impromptu paradise of the train is no longer open to him, and once he goes back to life as usual he’ll stop wanting to come back.
Pausing briefly to listen, in case of the very off chance the men from Shadows had for some reason decided to wait for him, Jungkook picks a random direction and starts jogging. He’ll find his way back to the city and his hideouts eventually, and he’ll make sure to stay far away from the railyard.
He’s not coming back.