FUMES

Kai spilled the drink all over Yeonjun's lap as they were cleaning off the table. It was a very stark feeling, especially in contrast to the summer heat, but earned laughter from the five teens. Yeonjun took that as the chance to go change into his other set of clothes before they went walking towards the station. He packed away his shirt and pants, tugging on a pair of ragged jeans and an old college sweatshirt from his dad. He zipped the bag up and made his way out to the parking lot with the others.

"Sorry about those pants, Yeonjun," Kai said, nudging him, "but I think I prefer Yeonjun looking like a bum in a basement."

Yeonjun laughed and nudged the younger back, "Nah, I was gonna change anyways. We're ready to head out, yeah?"

Soobin raised his arms and pointed forwards, bursting out, "Let's go!"

It took about half an hour to walk to the abandoned train station, and the group was still running strong. They forced open the doors to the sales booth and Beomgyu set his backpack down, the cans of paint clattering against each other.

"Let's get to work, guys!" Kai shouted, opening the bag and snagging a few bright colored cans of paint. Taehyun grabbed a few cans and branched off with Kai to paint the bathrooms. Soobin grabbed a bunch of shades of blue, and started on the walls and windows of the ticket booth. Beomgyu nudged Yeonjun and urged him to grab some cans from the bag.

"You know there's more in Kai's bag right? We needed a place to store them, Kai and Taehyun have the rest," Beomgyu said, picking out his signature pinks and whites, heading towards the front of the station.

On outings like this, Beomgyu served as the lookout, being the more observant and fast-acting out of the bunch. Yeonjun picked up a few cans and headed for the back of the building, the large wall in the back. The entire station was beginning to smell like the fumes of the paints, but with how open the building was, it aired out as quickly as they came.

He began spraying the walls down, widely coating an area in white to be a better canvas than bricks. He worked intently, eyes fixed on the wall and paint, all the sounds of the other guys faded away. Reds, golds, blacks, all began to come together… His vision manifesting into physical form. In the corner, it was labeled TXT, the new group's name. He figured it was appropriate.

Yeonjun pulled his phone out and snapped a photo of the picture, proud of his work. Tossing the cans aside, he headed to check on the others. Soobin, naturally, had painted a pure blue mural of a city street, mixing in some white and black abstract shapes. It was impressive, to say the least, and the color choice set a very odd but familiar feeling. Seeing it was almost like a liminal image, a place he can vaguely remember but has never been.

"Yeonjun! Any pointers here? I'm out of ideas, and almost out of paint," Soobin said, turning to face the other.

"Tag it, show some pride in your work. I tagged mine, TXT… The new name, it fits really well as a graffiti tag," He suggested, placing his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.

"You're a genius, senior," Soobin gave a playful wink and got to work on the tag.

"I'm gonna go check on the other guys, I can't imagine the monstrosities that Kai and Taehyun created," Yeonjun cracked, heading for the bathroom stalls.

Bright is an understatement for the paintings. Blinding is the correct term. Arrays of bright greens, yellows, and blues littered the room, abstract and very graffiti-like. It wasn't one image, each wall was a different style, different array, and definitely different themes. The plain wall across from the stalls was painted predominantly blue with a large yellow and white tag reading TXT. Seems they had the same idea, using the new name. Kai was still spraying away at one of the stall doors, while Taehyun cleaned up the cans they had used up.

"Wow, looks like summer puked in here," Yeonjun said, placing a hand on Taehyun's head and ruffling his hair.

"It's called abstract, baby," Taehyun teased, swatting at the elder's hand, "it's art."

"I know, I know," He held his hand up defensively, "the colors really suit you guys. I think it's neat."

Kai poked his head over at the sound and smiled, waving a hand, "Yeonjun, you like our masterpiece?"

"I love it!" Yeonjun replied in a loud tone, gesturing around, "Totally screams Kai and Tae!"

He spent a few minutes shooting the breeze with the two before checking up on Beomgyu outside. He walked towards the platform and was taken aback by the sight. Instead of the abstract, or graffiti imagery, he was met with an array of pinks and purples, fashioned to look like flowers in a snowy day. Beomgyu was texting away on his phone, cans neatly placed beside him. He seemed happy, a smile never leaving his face or faltering for even a moment.

Yeonjun took a seat next to him, laying his head against Beomgyu's shoulder, "Thanks for helping set up a night like this, y'know."

"Aw, don't get all sappy with me, Yeonjun, you know I love hanging out with you," Beomgyu smiled, gesturing towards the picture, "You know what flowers those are, right?"

"No, I didn't do my flower studies unlike you," Yeonjun snickered, looking at the flowers. They sure were pretty though…

"They're called alstroemerias, they're a symbol of long-lasting friendship, happiness, and life. It's not just a pretty picture of them… It's so much more when you recognize the symbolism," Beomgyu's attention drifted back to his phone, "There's so much that we can't put into words, but we all know what it is."

"Seeing yours really puts mine to shame…" Yeonjun mumbled, not negatively, but just to set his mood.

"I doubt that, I've seen some of your works before," Beomgyu nudged him.

The street lights started to flicker and turn on, and not even a few moments passed before the crickets began to chirp, and the cicadas buzzed in the low evening sun. Yeonjun sat with Beomgyu in comforting silence for just a few minutes before heading back in, urging Beomgyu to follow.

Beomgyu pocketed his phone and followed Yeonjun over to the back wall, looking over it. Whereas everyone created the bright and colorful masterpieces, Yeonjun's stood out like a Banksy. It was an image of a two-story white house engulfed in flames. There was something oddly familiar of this image, and it tugged at both of their stomachs the longer they looked at it. Yeonjun had a thing for realism, and it usually resulted in interesting outcomes such as this.

"Woah, holy shit!" Soobin yelled, looking at the image, scaring both Beomgyu and Yeonjun.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Why does it look so familiar though?" Kai wondered, walking a little closer, "Even the tag doesn't look out of place- What is it?"

Yeonjun looked over at Taehyun who had fallen silent, staring at the picture.

"Yeonjun, that's my house," Taehyun took his eyes off the picture, and locked them on Yeonjun.

Yeonjun rose a brow, and Soobin spoke up, "Yeonjun's never even seen your house before, Taehyun, it might just be a coincidence."

"It totally is, I was just painting whatever was coming to mind," Yeonjun laughed a little, "It just looks a little bit like your house, right? There's a lot of houses like this, after all."

"Yeah, you're right, we don't have that attic window there," Taehyun laughed along with Yeonjun, the odd feeling dissipating from the group.

"Well, the street lights are on, so we better get heading home before Yeonjun's parents scalp him for being out past 9." Soobin joked, earning a gentle nudge from Yeonjun.

"They wouldn't do that, it needs to be past 10, then I'm dead," he played along, the others laughing, ribs hurting from the paint fumes and previous laughter from the earlier parts of the day.

"God, this laughing is gonna give me abs, I swear," Taehyun exclaimed, leaning on Kai for support.

"Anyways, let's get out of here," Beomgyu said, shouldering a backpack and heading for the platform.