Jungkook-hyung! || Jinkook

6. Making arrangements

I wasn't sure if I should actually bring Namjoon along with me when I go to check the time machine, but if I leave him in the house when we're supposedly going to see his friend his mom might get suspicious. Namjoon fulfilled our promise about letting me borrow his mother's car after all. Of course, I won't bring him all the way to the machine because that would be stupid and Namjoon is smart enough to figure me out if he saw the machine. 

I glance at him as he sits in the passenger seat, our eyes meeting for a moment when he gives me a suspicious look. Other than that he's busy staring out the window. We're approaching the place where he and his mom had their accident less than a week ago. Perhaps he's nervous. Either that or he thinks I'm weird for taking him so far out into the woods. I'll admit, he doesn't have much of a reason to fully trust me yet, so I can understand if he's weary of me. 

"We're almost there," I say while trying to remember when exactly to stop the car to be as close to the machine as possible. It's not visible from the old road after all. 

Namjoon's eyes dart around over the trees, studying the surroundings more carefully after hearing me talk.

"This is it?" he questions. "Just what is it that you're gonna do here?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't say that, it just makes me even more worried about what you're up to!"

"Aw, you're worried about me?" I tease.

He huffs and crosses his arms with a glare as I start to slow down the car.

"It's not you I'm worried about. What if the police sees my mom's car here and links it to your crimes?"

"For the last time, I'm not doing anything illegal. I just gotta check up on something."

"In other words you've already committed the crime and now you're making sure no one has found out. What do you have hiding in the woods? A stolen exotic animal? A marijuana farm? Perhaps a buried body?"

I can only sigh at his interrogation. I free myself from the seat belt and step out of the car. My arms reach for the gray sky as I stretch my tired body. 

"Stay here and don't do anything until I come back," I order. "If someone stops to ask what you're doing here, just say that we're on a roadtrip and I went to take a leak in the forest."

"You want me to cover up for you now too?"

"Please, Hyung, just go with it."

"Stop calling me that! You're weird. Just hurry up and do what it is you're here to do then."

I roll my eyes at his attitude and set out for the machine. I'm not entirely sure if this is the right path, but the trees look kinda familiar and the moss and grass are slightly dented as if someone has walked here. That someone being me when I first arrived. I peek over my shoulder to make sure he's not following me, but thankfully I can see Namjoon's silhouette in the car. 

My countless trips to the lab are benefiting me right now because despite the different scenery, my feet take me straight to the time machine. It looks the same as when I left it and the door is still jammed shut. At least it hasn't left without me. That would've been pretty disheartening. 

Assuming that the same about of time has passed here as in my own time, the others probably know I've traveled back in time and are somehow waiting for me to return. I need to give them some kind of sign about what time period I'm in and when to send me back. All I need to do then is to be in the machine on the designated time. 

My best bet is to use my phone and try to send a message. I doubt that a normal message would cut it though. I don't have any reception out here and Seokjin's number probably doesn't even exist yet. Perhaps a scheduled text message could work? It's worth a try, but I best have a backup plan as well. How else can I make sure that the others know when to send me back? Maybe if I leave a permanent mark somewhere? Like on a building that still exists in my own time. Another idea would be to just tell teenage Seokjin and make sure he remembers it in the future as well. Yes, one of those three must work.