↱GREAT ESCAPE↲ ⇾seongjoong/yeonbin⇽

5

"rough night?"

yeonjun is awfully quiet for someone who's already usually awfully quiet.

"you could say that."

his tone is soft, lacking the usual angry lilt that everyone in the group is used to.

it doesn't surprise yeosang, though.

yeonjun hadn't said much before the trip either, and there were plenty of opportunities for him to casually insert some mean off-hand remark or call someone an idiot. plenty.

but yeonjun didn't. he remained waiting at the sides until yeosang called everyone for the final head count.

yeosang spares the backseat passengers a glance through the rearview mirror.

yunho is sitting at the very right. he has his earphones in, eyes closed and head thrown back against the seat. but he's not asleep. his mouth isn't hanging open.

beomgyu sits on the far left, looking out the window. beomgyu practically looks like a demigod, the orange hues hitting his face in the most attractive way possible. his complexion is already an asset to begin with, and it just turned into an otherworldly golden bronze. beomgyu looks like he'd been personally chiseled by the gods.

yeosang is almost jealous.

keyword: almost.

kai is sound asleep between the two, head against beomgyu's shoulder. yeosang can see the black-blue bruise from the mirror, and all he can do is purse his lips. he's not exactly disappointed.

he's more worried than anything.

"is this..." yeosang starts, slowly, carefully.

he eyes yeonjun for a moment before turning his attention back on the long, winding road. he can see beomgyu from the backseat, the only one with ears open to know where the conversation is going.

yeosang isn't sure if yeonjun wants anyone else to know, but the latter's response didn't surprise him. it's just that being considerate is in yeosang's nature, the term just in case almost a mantra.

"don't worry," yeonjun mutters, eyes glassy as he fiddles with his own fingers on his lap.

it's an anxious habit.

the street lamps are becoming sparse, but the roads remain well-lit by small houses and the gradually setting sun.

"beomgyu knows."

yeosang attempts to catch beomgyu's eye through the rearview mirror, but beomgyu, like yeonjun, just quietly looks outside.

__

beomgyu knows.

he just does. they never bother hiding anything from beomgyu because, chances are, he probably knows about it way before anyone else did.

if anyone so much as develop feelings for someone else, beomgyu has probably known for months before they can even validate their own feelings. but with just one look, beomgyu knows.