TUNNEL

The afternoon was spent at the train station, the boy scouts working together to paint their own mural, a homage to their past. It had a different style for each of the seven, and was a mashup of the seven's favorite schemes. Yeonjun painted another scene, of a beautiful forest with a campfire and lightning bugs lighting the starry sky. This one made him feel happy, and perhaps after graduation, he might be able to finally achieve memories like this. Now came the tough part, painting a silhouette.

He looked towards the wall, defaced with the writing, and tilted his head. Yeonjun turned quickly on his heel and ran outside, to the side of the building where the boy scouts were touching up their painting. He tapped Jungkook on the shoulder, gesturing inside.

"I need you to help me out in there," Yeonjun smiled, thumb pointing towards the door.

"Sure, I'll help," Jungkook gave his signature goofy grin, setting the paint down and following Yeonjun in. "So, what's up?"

"I need you to make a silhouette of me right here," He pointed to the middle of the burning house, "I think it'll fit."

"You sure?" Jungkook asked, picking up a can of black paint, "Alright, then get against the wall."

Yeonjun did so, closing his eyes and holding his breath while the older outlined him.

"Done!" Jungkook exclaimed, stepping back, Yeonjun following in suit, and looking.

"Thanks, Kookie," Yeonjun said, taking the can from the older and beginning to carefully fill in the outline.

"I know exactly what you're doing here, Yeonjun," Jungkook said lowly, looking at the mural, "I think it's the perfect representation for you."

"Actually, I was just painting something random and someone put the writing here," Yeonjun replied with a quiet laugh, pausing for a moment, before continuing the painting.

"Really? It was like this when I came last night, that's odd," He tilted his head, looking at it, "Y'know, that house looks awfully familiar."

"Actually, the others said the exact same thing, maybe I accidentally created a liminal image?" Yeonjun joked, finishing his job, "There… I think it works perfectly."

"I agree," Jungkook nodded.

The sun was still blazing, and the fumes were high. The twelve boys were getting antsy and hungry, and decided to call it a day. The five youth piled into the truck with Soobin and Taehyun sitting in the front, leaving Kai, Beomgyu, and Yeonjun in the back. The boy scouts clambered into Jin's truck, Namjoon and Jin in the front, and everyone else raising hell in the back.

"Hey!" Hoseok shouted towards the boys, "Let's go meet up at Steak 'n Shake!"

"Alright! See you there," Kai shouted back, Beomgyu relaying the message to Soobin.

The boy scouts spun out their tires on the way out, bringing up grass and dust, leaving the youth cheering them on before following in suit. It didn't take but fifteen minutes to reach the Steak 'n Shake, which was empty as ever. Surrounded by nicer places to eat, it was just left to watch others get business.

The twelve made their way inside, the boy scouts beginning to merge and mingle with the younger ones. Hoseok and Jin seemed to be the social center of the boy scouts, and Yoongi was more like Yeonjun, staying out, but observational. They both lingered towards the back as the group chatted amongst themselves.

"You know, I remember what Jungkook told you when we saw you at his graduation," Yoongi quietly spoke, looking at Yeonjun, "Hope you remember it too, right?"

"I never forgot a single word, and I've been living by it," Yeonjun smiled softly towards the older, who returned that gentle smile.

"Good, because I sucked up to my parents too much in school, I ended up feeling caged. Jungkook ripped me from my shell when he joined the group," Yoongi pulled his hat over his eyes, probably a little ashamed to speak of himself that way. Yeonjun nudged him softly, laughing.

"Well, you guys brought out my confidence too, and the confidence of the others. I don't know where I'd be without you guys," he replied in a wistful tone, looking towards the group.

"I'd have been dead long ago without Namjoon and Jin, they found me on that day, and saved me," Yoongi said quietly, "I owe them everything."

"I'm sure they just cherish your friendship over anything you owe them, Yoongi," Yeonjun reassured, locking eyes with Hoseok, who gave him a beaming grin, "Don't you guys have nicknames? Hoseok is like 'sunshine' or something?"

"Actually, Hoseok is J-Hope, but we just call him Hobi. Namjoon is Joon, and I'm Suga," he snickered a little, "Hoseok called me that because I'm pale. Taehyung goes by V, for victory. Jungkook likes the name Kookie, but it isn't his real nickname. Jin's name is short, and he prefers to just go by his name, but will always introduce himself as 'worldwide handsome' to girls and guys he finds cute. Jimin? We call him Mochi from time to time."

"Mochi? Cute," Yeonjun cracked a bigger smile.

"Do you guys have nicknames for each other?" Yoongi asked, looking towards the others.

"Actually, we don't. I guess it never crossed our minds," Yeonjun mumbled, "Well, we also just recently found our group name too."

"Oh?" Jimin turned to face Yeonjun, curiosity peaked.

"Hey! Let's order," Namjoon called, looking towards the three, who turned their attention to the menu.

After a hectic ordering session which might've resulted in two resignations from work, they finally got their food, and headed outside to eat.

"So, what name did you guys choose? We chose the 'boy scouts' because they're youthful, right? And like doing cool things, like setting fires and such," Hoseok said, munching down a fry.

"Tomorrow by together," the younger five said in unison before laughing at each other.

"TXT, for short," Taehyun elaborated, earning a soft clap from Jimin.

Taehyung looked up, eyes wide with happiness, "Wow, that's an interesting name, isn't it?"

"Well, it fits them, doesn't it? It's like they'll be there tomorrow, together," Jin gestured to the five, "They've clearly thought it through."

"Actually it was an on the fly decision," admitted Beomgyu, earning laughs from everyone.

"Hey, can you tell us a story?" Soobin asked, looking at the boy scouts. They looked around at each other, and then to Soobin.

"Totally, which one do you wanna hear?" asked Namjoon, looking towards Yeonjun, then to Taehyun.

"Tell us about the tunnel incident, we never got a clear story about it, no one was there," Kai said, sipping his soda.

"Well, I guess Suga's got the best place to start," Namjoon gestured towards Yoongi, who looked up.

"I guess it's a bit of a long story, are you sure you wanna hear it?" He asked, watching the five nod their heads. He smiled gently, and began.

"One day, I was laying at home, I was at wit's end. I was in sophomore year, and I had no one. I was depressed, I was abused, I was caged. I just wanted to fly, and it killed me. My own dreams clipped my very wings, or so I thought. I met Taehyung through basketball, when he was working yearbook club. During the basketball photos, he asked me for my phone number, and I gave it to him. That was the beginning of our friendship," the two met eyes and smiled to each other, "From there, I met Hoseok and Namjoon, and we shared a common interest in rap. The four of us met Jin and Jimin during a music festival, when they were rehearsing for their performance. We reigned school under the radar, pulling silent pranks and such, until we met Jungkook. Kookie brought out the best of us, and really taught us how to fly. Everyone but me."

He looked down, fiddling around with a fry, "I was scared to fly away with my healed wings, I watched from afar as they soared above me, bonding. My parents clipped my wings once again in senior year, when they forced me to give up on my musical passion. That very night was almost the end of me. I was in that old hotel that burned down, listening to my final song, and setting blazes. Luckily, Namjoon and Jin happened to be there to get me out, and brought me to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, they were all there, happy to see me well and alive. My own parents refused to even pay me any attention after that."

"And that night, Yoongi was set free, finally able to fly as a free man," Jin said, smiling.

"As a celebration, we went to the highway, and to the tunnel. We blocked the road with Jin's truck, and allowed our chaos to be unleashed. We climbed all over cars, painted windows, poured drinks all over windshields and drivers. We blasted music, yelled, and ran about like a bunch of wild monkeys," Yoongi laughed, looking to Hoseok, "Then the police came. They ruined the fun, they beat us down one by one. We all ran for our sake, and laughed all the while doing it. V and Namjoon were the first to get caught, right outside the tunnel."

"It was to buy you guys time to run and hide!" Taehyung defended himself.

"And Jin and Jungkook got arrested around the corner of Mable and Hartford. I was caught and beaten up pretty good on the stairwell leading to the cable tower down by Seaside. Hoseok and Jimin almost got away but were stopped and caught by security officers by the Tri-River Hotel. It was our way of sealing our names as the boy scouts, and ensuring that you guys wouldn't forget us," Yoongi finished, beaming eyes staring right towards him from the five.

"Wow, you guys are so cool!" Beomgyu sat forward nudging Taehyun, "Bet you a hundred that I'd be able to escape the cops before you."

"You're on!" Taehyun grinned, laughing.

Yeonjun felt a tug at his stomach. He could do it, defy his parents and escape. He could be like Yoongi and fly free right now, but he didn't want to risk leaving his home behind. Yoongi could sense that Yeonjun was nervous about the entire defiance of his parents ordeal, and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Hey, trust me, defying your parents is the best way to get the message across to them. If you're scared to disobey them, that's on them," he whispered, reassuring Yeonjun.

"Thanks, Yoongi."

"No problem."