so far away | yoonkook

night : 09

on the bus, namjoon doesn't stir.

he might be snoring but that's okay, it's only an indication that he's still breathing, although irregularly, but he's still alive. yoongi is sat beside him, making sure he doesn't throw up on the bus floor or on him.

the kid sits alone on the seat on yoongi's left, watching the streets as if he's memorizing scenes from his favorite movie. he doesn't do much when the light turns red and they stop.

yoongi doesn't want to talk but at the same time he wants to. he certainly wants to.

he's giving him side glances. the kid catches a few and snickers each time. yoongi doesn't know what he finds so funny about a guy who's too guarded to say anything and is too afraid to ask for his name.

"you don't have to look at me like that, we live under the same roof now." he says when he turns his head the exact moment yoongi turns to look at him again. the smile doesn't show on his lips and yoongi wants to find out how he does it.

because how could yoongi not know that he's smiling if it weren't for the glint in his eyes?

the light turns green and namjoon's head dips forward, gravity pulls him from behind, then his head hits the cushion and finally wakes him. his lids lift up very slowly and he parts his lips, tongue reaching the roof of his mouth and tastes the reeking alcohol laced in his breath and contorts his face in a way that has the kid laughing.

he's annoying, yoongi concludes. but it's the first time that yoongi's thankful he ended up with someone as annoying as him.

his noise and shallow joys sickens yoongi in such way that he can't even comprehend why he's disturbed in the first place.

was this the aftermath of his breakdown or the result of his distaste for actual boyish foolishness?

it's rare you find hearts as innocent as that, when the smallest things can trigger such a genuine kind of happiness. yoongi wants to know how he does that too.

actually, yoongi wants to know how he does everything and wants to know him.

"why are you out this late?" yoongi coughs up the courage to ask. although his voice is frail and nearly inaudible, it's quiet enough in the bus for the kid to hear it.

"groceries." he replies, slanting his head towards the bags between his feet.

"that's all? groceries? I won't believe you."

"and why is that?"

"for one, you're a boy. you like adventure, you like the outdoors, you're hard-headed. two. you're young. mischief's written all over your face. you're rowdy, loud, you don't like quiet and the usual bores you. madness's just waiting to bruise on your forehead. and mellow? is not in your dictionary."

"oh, so you're a psychic now?" he asks, reclining and lacing his fingers against his stomach.

"I've lived long enough to know a liar when I hear one. more importantly, I know you're an asshole." yoongi replies monotonously, looking at the boy with a hidden interest.

"I'm not even offended by that."

"it's because you accept that you are one."

the kid shrugs, turning his head towards the driver's direction.

yoongi watches as beams turn his profile more refined. soft glows mold onto his edges and with every passing color, yoongi imagines that he absorbs everything that hits his way and makes them his.

sometimes his hair would turn burgundy when streetlamps released a strong orange, other times his skin would burn bright red when he caught the color of the stoplight.

then there was yoongi's favorite, when his eyes glimmer as they turn electric blue when neon azures entered through the glass.

he doesn't speak once to break the silence or look back to see yoongi observing.

he already knows yoongi's observing so he lets him relish some more in hopes that he'll eventually get tired.

but he's yet to learn that yoongi rarely gets tired of just watching.

"why don't you just take a picture?" he asks when they're nearing their stop.

it's better to save memories this way, yoongi wanted to say.

"you're not worth my phone gallery's memory." yoongi replies coolly.

the kid is shaking his head in amusement when the bus comes into a halt. he picks up his plastic bags and yoongi picks up namjoon and they get off with the kid leading the way.