The Trials and Tribulations of Pathos - Jikook

Chapter 16

Jungkook and Taehyung spend the rest of the day packing up their little campsite. It doesn't take long, seeing as they have so few worldly possessions, but they go slowly in an attempt to have more time in their park haven. So far, they've acquired a hairbrush, a couple of small towels, and another couple of knives.

The pair get hungry around noon, so they head off to the business district to find some discarded takeout. It doesn't take long for them to camp out behind a small cafe, and not much longer for a waiter to come and throw out a couple of sandwiches.

Taehyung and Jungkook make a quick grab at them so they don't sit in the trash for long, and are more than happy to see that they're all wrapped individually and look completely untouched. Maybe someone misordered? Food that never got picked up? It's anyone's guess, but it's a score in their book. There are a total of five sandwiches in the plastic bag, and bright grins light up the two males' faces as they realize that this will last them almost four days.

The pair pick the meat and cheese out of the sandwiches they're going to save, eating just the inner parts for now in order to preserve the food. They sit in silence eating the salami, turkey, ham, and provolone until Tae looks up at Jungkook with his lips turned down.

"I just thought of something- it costs a shit ton of money to get a plane ticket, right? We'd have to pick a lot of pockets or win the lottery, neither of which is a great solution. But that isn't even the end of it. We need passports and birth certificates and proof of citizenship, none of which we have. You weren't even living in Korea before this, so it would be almost impossible to get citizenship, let alone a passport."

Jungkook's eyes drift downwards, appetite almost lost as his mind turns the new information over. Taehyung definitely has a point. It would be impractical to go through the steps to get himself government papers, especially when it would take months, even years, to become fully legal. Months and years they don't have. Besides, the JIPPC probably has people on the lookout for their names showing up in places in order to catch them before they get too far. This almost completely crosses out any hope of getting out of the country.

"Maybe we should just go as far north as possible?" Jungkook inquires, eyebrows lifted up in a hopeful glance. "If we could find our way up to Incheon or Seoul, that might be enough..."

He trails off when he sees Taehyung shake his head slowly. "It might be enough for a little bit, but after a month or two we'd get found out. Not as good for a long-term situation, we need to go further."

Jungkook sighs, nodding his head solemnly in agreement. "We could always try something underground," he suggests meekly. "I mean, there has to be a number of illegal underground businesses that send drugs and stuff out of the country. They have to ship to Australia or something, we could see if we could get on a ship like that."

Taehyung's face lights up for a second before falling once again. "Then we'd really be in deep shit though. I mean, we could potentially get out of the whole illegal-pornstars-against-our-will thing, but it won't be as easy to get out of being willing drug dealers."

"Sure, Hyung, but it's not like we have any hope of getting out of the first one either. Think about it- not only did we participate in prostitution, no matter how unwillingly, but I also crossed the border illegally. I'd get fined and jailed for far more than just porn."

Taehyung's eyes soften in sympathy, his hand letting go of his half-eaten cluster of salami and turkey to pat Jungkook's head soothingly. "You're right. And I wouldn't just leave you here, so that means we're both either becoming alleged drug dealers or working our asses off to get you legal documents so we can exit the country in a way the government would approve of. Although, I wouldn't mind becoming a drug dealer for a little bit if it helps us get out of here safely.

"Well, maybe not completely safe, but you get what I mean," Taehyung finishes with a laugh. Jungkook's lips turn up in an attempt at a smile, head leaning over to rest on the older's shoulder. "We'll figure it out," he mutters. "We'll do what we have to. For now, let's focus on this awesome ham and the fact that we have food for days while we plan how to rob some rich tourists of their coffee money."

•○●○•

It doesn't take long for the pair of escapees to find their first target. It's a young French girl with way too much botox and name-brand accessories for anyone's taste. She's pretty in a fake plastic kind of way, and even her little white chihuahua is decked out in an emerald encrusted Dior turtleneck. When Jungkook sees her he shoots Tae an incredulous look.

The best part is that she's carrying her wallet in a large pocket on her dog's sweater.

It's all Jungkook can do to not start wheezing at how odd both owner and dog look compared to the rest of the crowd, but even more so at how they both bear a surprising resemblance to each other. The French girl and her dog both have their heads raised and their chests puffed out, and even the chihuahua has somehow mastered the art of looking down its nose at everyone and everything from its perch in the girl's matching Dior handbag.

Taehyung and Jungkook trail the pair before they walk into a local clothing store. The lady walks in and is almost immediately ushered back outside, the employees telling her that the store has a no pet policy and apologetically asking her to leave the chihuahua outside.

She yells at them a bit in rapid-fire French before shrugging off their apologies with a huff and pulling the little chihuahua out of her purse and setting it on the ground. She makes some kissing noises and gives it a smooch on the lips (to which Jungkook and Taehyung gag slightly at. Dogs' mouths are some of the nastiest things ever, and no matter how much they both love dogs, they can't imagine putting their mouth anywhere near its slobber.) and disappears into the store after tying its bedazzled leash to a nearby pole.

The pair of young males look at each other knowingly, lips pressing upwards in a half smile. It doesn't take them long to walk over to where the small dog is sitting, yapping at anyone who gives it a sideways glance.

"Heeeey little guy-" Jungkook starts, recoiling slightly as the dog offers another loud yap, its beady little eyes following Jungkook's every move with a disapproving glare.

As the blonde chats up the hissy dog, Taehyung moves around it in preparation to grab the small wallet the French lady had accidentally left inside the turtleneck's pocket.

He snatches it up in one fell swoop, alerting the dog to his presence as he does so. Immediately after he grabs it the dog turns on him, ignoring Jungkook's more frantic coos and calls, and runs at him with the aggression only a tiny dog like itself could muster.

In short, Taehyung is absolutely terrified.

He runs away from the dog's gnashing canines, but not before the dog nips him roughly on his ankle. Taehyung yelps, hands flailing to come to grasp around his wound, and the wallet goes flying.

It lands right in front of the hostile chihuahua, effectively distracting it enough for Tae to hobble out of its reach.

"I got it!" Jungkook calls, swooping in to pick up the small leather pouch, and coming face to face with the frothing mutt. He offers it a small wave and a hesitant lopsided grin before it sinks its tooth into the side of his hand. Jungkook groans in pain, pulling his arm away quickly and backing away to where Taehyung watches on in sympathy. The pair share a grim glance as they look around at the few people that have stopped to watch the commotion, and they quickly turn tail and hobble away, the dog's fierce yips reminding them of their painful bites.

A quick glance in the wallet tells them they've already made over half of the money they need to pay for a ferry ride, and the pair quickly forget about their wounds in favor of reenacting the whole scene over and over as they laugh with each other and congratulate one another for a job, maybe not well, but at least mediocrely, done.