He meets a boy. Younger than him by a handful of years. His youthful eyes lit with a sense of adventure Yoongi found intriguing and worthy of being envied. He took his coffee over ice and sweetened until it had the potential to cause health problems.
All these little details he collected (and more) were learned over a period of only four days. The kid started the encounters. Every day, without fail, in the lobby of a sort of run-down motel at the edge of town with peeling paint and roaches.
On the fifth day, as always, he walks in, only his usual wide smile is accompanied by a reasonably sized bruise on his left cheek. It swells his smooth skin into a painful dark purple-black and contrasts the green hazel of his contacts. Though concerned, he doesn't ask about it. It wasn't his place to.
The sit in silence for a majority of the two and a half hours, sipping coffee and nibbling on the stale pastries, compliments of the lovely establishment. The ticking of the big grandfather clock behind the front desk is lulling Yoongi into a daze, the notebook computer to his right is forgotten and probably dead. He swirls what's left in his mug round and round, watching the grounds at the bottom fall into funny patterns and shapes. His mind wanders so far he's not sure what he is even thinking about. Without the usual chatter provided by the younger, the atmosphere is, more or less, dead.
When there is only about fifteen minutes left before the time the boy normally leaves, he opens his mouth, wincing at the stretch that disturbs the swollen flesh, and starts up a peculiar conversation. "You know what they say about this place, don't you?"
He has Yoongi's full attention, near-black irises filling with interest, "No. I didn't think people talked about this place at all, actually."
He doesn't miss the way the other's eyes glint in an almost mischievous way. He smirks and leans forward, like he was telling a secret. "Have you ever gone to the other side of town, by the old ware house?"
Yoongi shakes his head, the farthest he'd ventured was the tiny store/market a few steps away from the motel. He wasn't interested in much else about this town. "Why, what's over there?"
The boy's eyes are practically shining now, he's giddy about something and Yoongi can't tell what it is. He doesn't directly answer the question, opting to ask one of his own. "Do you believe in magic, Yoongi?" His long thin fingers are gripping onto the scratched surface of the table, keeping his voice as low as possible. In all honesty, the boy's behavior is starting to weird him out, but the way he talks about this supposed 'magic' draws him in closer. He can't help it when he leans in a little as well.
"Not really," he says bluntly.
The boy flicks his eyes towards the desk, where an old woman sat now. Her eyes were narrowed at the two, her hands wringing around a walking cane. Yoongi turns to see her practically glare at the boy in front of him before getting up and walking into the office behind her.
There's an obvious tension in the boy's shoulders now and he says one last thing before bidding Yoongi goodbye.
"Think about checking out the other side of town. You won't be disappointed."
He's thoroughly confused, even more so when he realizes he's never told the other his name before.
_____
unedited
honestly, i will cry if no one has heard the song at the beginning of the chapter.
(Edit: I've removed the video, the song was Hotel California by The Eagles)
