— "i want things to be
better than before!"

NOVEMBER 11:
KIM NAMJOON

==

"um, namjoon. would it be possible to...hang out as a group tonight? at my apartment? just the seven of us, since tae has been with mrs. kim and jae the whole of today?"

"sure, i don't see why not. most of us don't have work on the weekends. is taehyung up for it?"

"he's the one who asked. i'm not sure about the rest of the group, though."

"if taehyung is free, they're all free. we haven't seen you both much lately, anyway."

"yeah...it's just been—yeah. i know."

"it's alright, jimin. is there any occasion in specific? you want to talk about society-related things, or—"

"we just...want to be with you guys before we go to the warehouse tomorrow. once m—just to ease our nerves. before we leave. you know?"

==

so here they are, squeezed together on the floor of jimin's living room, fleece blankets bunched between themselves and the various boxes of slightly-too-greasy pizza and opened cans of sodas littered all around. it feels like halloween night all over again—fortunately with the addition of taehyung—, something that seems far away from today despite it only being two weeks. time passes weirdly nowadays, namjoon has noticed. as they mindlessly blabber and sit together, the nights of the city flashing artificial light through jimin's balcony door screen, namjoon realizes dully that tomorrow they will be at the warehouse seeing abraxas. and finally, after what has felt like centuries (which, in a sense, it has been), they might end this once and for all.

"in all honesty, being a coffee boy hasn't really helped me," hoseok admits, downing the rest of his soda. seokjin and yoongi sit on either side of him, and jeongguk lays in a contorted (but seemingly comfortable, by the contentment on his face) position along the sofa. taehyung and jimin are attached by the shoulder as always, and unlike the previous night—and the stretch of silent days before—they're talkative and expressive, just how they'd been when they all first talked in useol. 

there are moments namjoon catches taehyung glancing around almost longingly at each of them. he doesn't fully understand why.

"i mean yeah, i get to see how the establishment works, talk with clients, get advice from hired investigators and journalists—well, get advice from namjoon,"  he corrects, laughing. "joon's the only one who actually talks to me."

"yeah, but even i used to be a dick to you too," mutters namjoon, embarrassed.

"or maybe i was just way too annoying."

"bullshit. i was just irritated at all of my coworkers, and i took it out on you. you're enthusiastic and you work hard, dude. that isn't annoying whatsoever."

hoseok smiles. it's a nice sight.

"but yeah. almost everyone there cares about the money and fame, not actually solving an important case," he continues, sighing. "which means they'll spend their time on celebrity scandals and 'top ten unsolved crimes of sunab!' articles—that literally defeats the purpose of being an investigator, come on. our boss cares, but he sure as hell doesn't try making his employees care too."

"but isn't this internship supposed to help you land a job?" asks jeongguk.

"yeah, supposed to, except all i do is run around with cappuccinos. i haven't even worked on a case yet. i know i'm the designated coffee boy, but i'm also an intern. and i don't think any amount of sucking up and department store gift cards will convince the boss to realize that."

it's quiet for a moment, save for the noise of the t.v. playing some movie they stopped paying attention to long ago. "is being a detective your dream job?" taehyung finally asks.

"always has been, always will be. just like namjoon. he's wanted to be an investigator ever since he was little." hoseok bites his lip. "i didn't come from a big shot family—we were financially stable, don't get me wrong, but my parents weren't well versed in careers like investigation, or law, or medicine, or anything like that. it's still crazy i managed to get into college here. but now i'm on my last year of undergrad and i haven't even scored a shadowing job, and i sure as hell don't have the money for grad school. my parents—they still have my little sister to look after, y'know?"

he rubs his temples. "it's just...i've spent so much time and effort working towards this job. i want to actually change something, do something. like namjoon. yeah...like namjoon. the genius is solving cases by the weekly. but...i'm not insanely talented or smart, and i can't just land a job with the snap of my fingers like that. i can't even land a proper internship, for god's sake—"

"i'm proof," taehyung cuts off, and hoseok turns his chin up. "i'm proof that you've changed something. you and everyone else. just think about all the insane shit you've accomplished—hell, sometimes you had the barest clues to work off of but you did. you worked off of them. listen, hoseok, i can't guarantee that you'll reach every one of your goals. but you've put so much effort and time into this, and i know how resilient you are. so i can tell you as a fact that you're going to land that investigator job, hyung. you're going to."

the sheer truth in his words catches hoseok. there's a soft crease between taehyung's eyebrows, visible when his passion is too, and despite the words being directed at hoseok, namjoon soaks them in too. he's grown up with money and with status, with opportunity and easy work, but this strikes a chord. it wasn't easy becoming a detective as young as he is. it isn't easy being ridiculed daily by his coworkers and being forced to see continuous strings of idol headlines while a cabinet of unsolved cases lingers in the basement of the building. it's never easy.

it won't ever be, but taehyung's words make namjoon realize why it's all worth it.

"why's it that these get-togethers always end up being a therapy session?" yoongi finally says in exasperation, and they all laugh. "kim taehyung is about to kick oprah winfrey from her job."

"well what about you, min yoongi?" answers jimin pointedly, grinning like a cheshire cat. 

"what about me?"

"yeah, how was life for you growing up? what did you want to do, where did you want to be?"

"well, my life story isn't exactly an interesting one," responds yoongi, fishing for a chip from the plastic bag on the coffee table. "grew up sorta poor, sorta not—we were half and half on financial aid—, grew up to be a shitty kid and an even shittier teenager. i skipped class a lot more than i could afford. i wasn't a delinquent or anything: i stayed away from things i knew to stay away from, did the bare necessity of what it took to graduate high school with at least some merit." he pauses. "i regret it, to say the least. i don't know, i guess growing up in such a small town with labor-worker parents made me believe i didn't need to try that hard. that i wasn't able to try that hard.

"so yeah, now i have three minimum-wage jobs going, but i'm over pitying myself. i'm enjoying life; i've got good friends," he gestures around him, "a decent home, things i've accomplished. i know i haven't accomplished as much as you guys have—don't argue with me, it's true—, but i'm okay with that. so, yeah. that's my story. i made it as dramatic as possible just for you."

"truly flattering," replies seokjin, eyebrows raised in mock impress. his face quickly softens. "but i admire you, yoongi. you're viewing life in a way i wish i could."

"what do you mean?"

"i'm hung over regret constantly. i mean, being a smoothie barista and a street-side singer isn't much of a lush life to go on. but i do have a job, and that's more than others have. i've just...abandoned a lot in my life, and it's hard to let go of, i guess."

"i still regret too," yoongi says, managing a small smile. "it's okay to. the hard part is not letting it overtake you."

"i know, it's just...paying for my parents in the hospital took up my time, my emotions, our money. it isn't like i could have just dropped everything and headed to college. treating my parents was always my first priority, and i'm thankful we paid for their medical bills, but i can't help...long for that opportunity, you know? i've wanted to be a doctor ever since junior high, i was doing well in high school, and all of that had to drop. i feel bad thinking like this, because i love my parents with everything i am, but...my career was gone. just like that. i was even homeless for a period of time. and it's difficult to get over."

seokjin sighs, running his thumb over the creases of his palm. "i guess i'm still stuck in the hard part."

when he turns, namjoon sees taehyung typing something hurriedly into his phone and jimin staring at seokjin with a mixed expression, one of guilt and understanding. "i'd feel the same, hyung," he says. "you worked so hard for your career; of course you'll feel regret for losing it. but the care you have for parents is incredible, seriously."

seokjin smiles, eyes softening and jimin's clear display of remorse. (it's strange, how each of them can read each other so easily like that now.) "jimin, it's okay."

"it's not, god, i treated you like shit back then at the apartment—"

"we're over that now, man," seokjin smiles. "it was a tough situation for all of us. and besides, i outburst too. the time for being assholes is over." his phrasing is what manages to coax a chuckle out of jimin, the rest of them following suit. they've all visibly relaxed, if it's even possible from their already languid states, and the room seems to feel a bit closer.

"well, enough about me and my sob stories." seokjin pats the cushion of the sofa behind him, startling jeongguk from him twisted position. "what about you, big guy? got any life chronicles to tell us?"

jeongguk scoffs, swinging his legs over the arm of the couch and leaning an arm over the top of the cushion. "if the time i hid a frog in my bathtub for two weeks in second grade counts as a chronicle, then sure! i've got tons of stories like it."

hoseok laughs, eyes crinkling. "that sounds like the kind of shit you'd pull even now."

"unfortunately now all i do is write mock business proposals and follow stocks, so i guess the interesting stories will have to wait. my dearest apologies." jeongguk delivers an extravagant bow, watching the way taehyung lights up and beams at the action. "but yeah, i grew up normally, i guess. wasn't a really smart kid—" he promptly ignores the "nothing's changed!" from yoongi with a suppressed smile— "but i played sports and did some clubs and got into the university i'm at right now. i'm studying economics because i'm still a first year and i have no idea what the hell i want to do, so it just seemed like the right option. i could use some money."

jeongguk hums thoughtfully. "well, speaking of money. my parent's aren't big shots either, so most of my college funds are from scholarships. i'm kind of a month behind on rent right now though, so that's a bummer." namjoon can't help but chortle at his word choice. "money's always been an issue, i guess. not as much as other people, because i know i'll be making enough after i graduate, but it's still tough. the only things getting me through the weeks are mrs. kim's saturday dinners. that shit's heavenly."

they're all a laughing mess at this point, clapping hands and kicking legs almost toppling the opened soda cans and chip bags. that's the thing about jeongguk; he can be thoughtful when he wants to be, strong when he wants to be, and sporadically comical when he wants to be like tonight. 

a strange kid. a strange, good kid.

"this is really embarrassing and weird," taehyung says once the room has quieted, tucking an overgrown bang behind his ear, "but this is, technically, the first 'sleepover' i've ever had with any friend other than jimin. i know it's lame, i know—i'm twenty, for christ's sake—but it's just really...cool to me? yeah, it's nice." he grins. "having lots of incredible friends is really, really nice."

silence.

"aw, tae!" hoseok hollers, immediately pouncing on him with outstretched arms. it's a spectacle to watch (that does, in fact, end up toppling a soda can—they had it coming from the beginning), and seokjin and yoongi end being dragged into it, then jimin and jeongguk, and finally namjoon. but it's nice seeing the way taehyung's eyes crinkle in laughter, and the way hoseok scrunches his nose when he delivers a flurry of light punches to the former's shoulder, and the way yoongi yells loudly when someone elbows him in the chin accidentally. 

"little sappy ass bitch, i almost teared up a bit at that!"

they're a group—a strange one at that, but bound together the strongest.

==

wot kind of tumblr ass shit was tht last line box get a mf grip dis a thriller book n u out here distributin fluff like a funnel cake stand
so anyway heres a 2.3k word chap of pure fluff xoxo
ok basically i wanted 2 talk more ab the #Gang's backstories & add sum character development while i was at it and that ended up making jeon a fuckin meme but hey we stickin to realities amirite!!
(& ofc the fact tht tae is emotionally wrecked this entire chap UM)
nyway sorey for a hella late update but the next chaps will b up MUCH quicker so stay tuned yall!! byE