forever won't wait

something worth waking up for

It was dark.

The kid was nowhere to be found.

Yoongi had given up.

Why should he care so much, anyway? He had no ties to him. He wasn't really a friend. Hell, he was little more than a stranger at this point. Still...

He reminded Yoongi of himself. Of drunken, alone nights filled with street fights and never knowing when or if he would wake up. Of a hate filled heart, one which only ever ached anymore.

If he could keep Jeongguk from turning out like he did, save him from himself...

It just might be enough to give Yoongi some sense of peace, even after all this time.

---

The bed felt empty, just as it always did when Taehyung was gone.

Sometimes Namjoon felt like he was the only thing keeping his life together. When he was there, there was order, there was meaning, there was purpose; when he wasn't things fell apart.

Sometimes how much he seemed to depend on the carefree, brown-haired boy scared Namjoon.

Not that he'd tell him that. It wasn't by his choice, not really-it was more about how Namjoon felt like Tae simple wasn't ready for someone to depend on him, for someone to care about him. As much of an friendly front as he put on, Taehyung never got very close to people.

Even with how long the two of them had been together, or "friends-plus-something", as Jin usually referred to them, Namjoon still didn't really know why Tae was always worried about his father, why he tried to never stay out past 10, or why he never brought Namjoon back home. Sure, he could mostly figure it out, from the bruises he mapped along Tae's stomach and ribs, to the number of times he's patched up broken fingers and tried to get him to go to a doctor after he "fell" down the stairs for the third time in a month. It simply wasn't the same as hearing Taehyung say it himself.

None of that mattered right now. Namjoon had another triple shift today, plus the late night gas station gig he had recently picked up. He hoped to be able to rent a nicer place with all the extra money he'd been making lately, maybe one even big enough for him to invite Tae and his sister to move in with him.

After all, he just wanted Tae with him, safe.

---

Kim Seokjin's phone rang five minutes before his lunch break.

The caller I.D. read "Mother", for the third time this week.

Jin sighed. He couldn't avoid her again. His father's memorial day was tomorrow, and he'd be expected to play the nice, obedient son, just as he had on that same day for the past ten years.

He motioned to his manager that he was taking his break early and quickly redialed.

"Seokjin-ah?"

"Hello, mother."

"I just wanted to let you know that Driver Kim will be there to pick you up at eight tomorrow. Make sure you wear that good suit that I bought you. The service will end at four in the afternoon, just stick around for another half hour after in case there are any reporter questions. Keep in mind, I can have the lawyers cut off your fund if you misbehave."

Click.

Really, Seokjin didn't see why she needed him to pick up the phone for that. A message, text, or even carrier pigeon would suffice for the threat of having his main source of income cut off.

It didn't matter anyway. Jin would go, play their little game, and be free from it all before dark.

He no longer felt like eating lunch.

---

An hour before closing, the shop fell dead.

Half an hour later, Jin was finishing up wiping down the counters, sweeping the floors, and getting ready to close up shop early.

Twenty minutes to go and the doorbell dinged. Jin put down the magazine he had been half heartedly flipping through and sighed.

Jeon Jeongguk walked in.

"You", said Jin.

Jeongguk hesitated, that same deer-in-headlights look frozen on his face again.

"I'm leaving in twenty, come with me if you want." His voice was gentle, but the slight edge in it suggested that there wasn't another option.

Twenty minutes and a hot tea (for Jin) and an Americano (for Jeongguk) later, the shop was officially closed and Jin and Jeongguk were on their way.