void

Part Two

The tension in the jeep is thick as the girl in the trunk compartment thrashes and screams, her legs jolting forward to kick at the seats ahead and hands struggling to pull apart her rope restraints. Her attempt falls flat due to the tight knots in the rope and the tape around her mouth, but she still tries.

It's not an ideal situation – Yeonjun knows– but neither is being stuck in a different country with an empty tank of gas, so hey. Every man for themself, right?

He tries to ignore the feeling of guilt pooling at the bottom of his stomach as he glances down at the now full gas gauge that gleams back at him; instead, he eases onto the pedal below his boot. At least now they don't have to worry about not making it to the next stop - because of this, the situation is that much more bearable.

Even though he feels like shit for wasting tape, rope, and time on the girl, he tries to keep telling himself that it's not his fault. If anything, it's hers. If she had just left them all alone in the first place, none of them would be stuck in this situation, and it would be a hell of a lot less awkward. Just as he is thinking this, he hears Soobin speak up from the back.

"This would be a lot easier if we couldn't see or hear her, dude." He is seated right next to the girl, and his hands are gripping onto her shoulders tightly to try and get her to stop moving. Although Soobin is definitely stronger than the girl, she still struggles. Yeonjun has to give her props for her perseverance. After a second, he focuses his gaze back in front of him and steers the jeep back onto the road; still not responding to his friend.

"You're going to get tired if you keep doing that," Soobin finally talks to the girl after a few more minutes of her annoying movements, voice low so he doesn't bother anyone else in the car, "Stop moving so much. I won't hurt you, you know."

"Stop talking to her." The eldest snaps from the front, irritated now because he can feel a headache coming on, but also because he doesn't like Soobin being so close to her. He doesn't know why, but something about it just bugs him. After a few more rounds of worrying about the fact that they practically kidnapped the girl – no, she did it to herself – he decides to just force himself to stop thinking about it. If he dwells on anything anymore, he knows for a fact that he will drive himself fucking insane.

He takes a deep breath and finally accelerates, pushing the speedometer to 85 before setting the cruise control. He takes an experimental glance in the rearview to "check to make sure there's nothing behind them" but looks away when he sees what he was curious about the whole time.

The girl has given up on her struggling and lets out a defeated huff before slumping her body against Soobin's. Yeonjun doesn't let himself stare for long – he rips his gaze away from the two and focuses back on the road after a few seconds.

He feels it in his bones: It is going to be a very long drive.

-

After a few hours of his tunnel vision taking up most of his attention, Yeonjun finally decides that it is time to take a break. He feels the tension in his shoulders and arms when he slightly flexes them, and then sighs. A few miles back there was a sign signifying a rest stop, and Yeonjun feels a little more relaxed when it appears in the distance, slowly getting closer and closer.

"We're going to stop for a break." He announces, noticing that his words wake a few of the other passengers in the car. The eldest angles the wheel slightly, preparing to merge off the road so they can pull onto the off ramp and move toward the rest stop. From what he can see, the brick building is cracked and falling apart, but it is still standing.