kicks ✓ || namgi || k.th

012: broken

chapter 12: broken
location: madison, wisconsin, day 3

They were driving away from the cheese factory and Namjoon was about to press the 'supercharged' button when the entire dashboard lit up. Soon after, the van came to a stop on the side of the highway.

"This isn't good," Seokjin said.

Jimin felt tears come to his eyes. "What happened to our magic van?"

"Hang on, we'll think of something." Jungkook got up from his seat and opened the van door. "Hyung, mind if I take a look?"

"Go for it. You all know I'll just break it more."

Hoseok jumped out as well, and the two popped the van's hood and took a look. Thankfully nothing was smoking, but nothing looked out of place. None of the tires were flat.

"Whatever it is must be further under the hood," Hoseok told Namjoon. "We'll need to have it towed to a service facility. They can put it up on a rack and take a look."

Namjoon nodded and got the rest of the boys out of the van, including Yoongi, who had been sleeping the entire time. It was a partly cloudy day, with rolling green hills all around them. "Hoseok, Jimin, Seokjin, Yoongi, you guys stay here with the van," Namjoon said, taking charge. "Jungkook, Taehyung, there was a farmhouse a couple of miles back. We'll have to ask to use their phone."

They split up and walked. It took an hour to cross the hilly terrain, but all three boys made it to the farmhouse. The owner of the house was a little old white lady with way too many cow figurines in her living room, but she was nice as could be. Namjoon borrowed her landline and called for a tow, and the truck picked them all up after hitching the van.

They went all the way back to Madison, to a repair shop. Namjoon was really nervous when he walked in. It wasn't money he was concerned about; it was the fact that seven Asian men were traveling together, and their faces were still sometimes on the news, listed as missing. The late night shows were starting to interview the boys' parents, who were pleading for their sons to come home.

Last thing Namjoon wanted to see was his dad talking to David Letterman about him. He ignored the TVs whenever they were about.

Thank God the owner of the repair shop paid them no mind, or at least he didn't show it. Namjoon knew that if he could just get the van fixed, he could zap them to Hawaii or something in ten seconds. They just had to hold on until then.

All seven sat in the waiting room, which was way too cold and not very pretty. The chairs were all made of plastic. A TV in the background had cable on, some science program. A vending machine whirred nearby.

Seokjin took a magazine and read it. Everybody else stared at their feet. They were the only ones in the waiting room, hoping, praying, that their van would be fixed. Otherwise they would be stuck in Madison - and it would be a matter of time before they were discovered.

"Okay, Mr. Kim?" The owner came into the waiting area.

Namjoon stood up as everybody else looked up. "Yes?"

They walked to the shop area, where the van was up on metal stilts. "Okay, so here's the issue. This poor van is as old as dirt. Where did you get it from?"

Namjoon had to be honest. "We got it from a used car place in New York State."

"Ok. Good thing is it's a LaPostale, but I've never seen this model before. We have LaPostale parts, and they fit. LaPostale stopped making cars in the 70's during the oil crisis, but they still make bikes and other electronics. You should be lucky it's just your alternator. Everything else looks as ok as it's gonna get."

Namjoon wondered if the shop owner could tell him anything about the strange supercharged button. But he didn't want to bring too much attention to it. Church vans, after all, weren't supposed to just Star Wars style warp across the country. It would bring too much suspicion.

Instead, he asked, "Do you see a lot of these LaPostale cars?"

"Oh, yeah, we do. Sometimes we see them during August - that's when the car show happens around here. If we're out of the part we need, we usually have to call over to Los Angeles. A company overseas called Baepsae can make an almost identical replacement."

Baepsae! Namjoon couldn't help but smile. "When was this van made?"

"Model number listed on the side is A113, year 1958. So you got an oldie, but a goodie. I'll have to write these specs down just in case we ever get another A113. Anywho, she's done, so I'll get her down, you can pay, and then you'll be on your way."

Namjoon breathes a huge sigh of relief, on behalf of all seven boys. "Thank you."