EMPTY SPACE ; yugbam [HIATUS]

-3-

"Hey, you two kids gonna join us at the bar or is it past your bedtimes?"

Bambam and Yugyeom looked up at Jackson simultaneously. Yugyeom chuckled awkwardly.

"What's the point of us even going? We're underage."

Jackson laughed loudly, clapping them both on the shoulders. "I'll buy you something."

The two boys grinned, jumping up from their seats and following Jackson out the door. The others were standing outside by Jackson's car, waiting for him to show up. Mark sighed in exasperation when he saw Yugyeom and Bambam trailing behind him.

"Jackson, they're still 20, you can't bring them."

Jackson ignored the older boy, unlocking his car and issuing all six other boys inside. Mark sighed, giving up and settling down in his seat.

The seven of them barely fit inside Jackson's car. Yugyeom was practically sitting on Jaebum's lap.

"Are you ready to party?!", Jackson shouted, turning up the radio to full volume and grinning wildly. Bambam and Yugyeom cheered while Jaebum rolled his eyes.

They drove down the highway, watching as the large building they had called home the past couple years faded into the distance. The music blared out of the speakers and Jackson rolled down the windows, letting the loud beats fly into the wind.

Yugyeom couldn't help thinking about how he was taking everything for granted. When they were in space, he wouldn't breathe the fresh air ever again. He would never see the lights of the city again. He would never go to bars, or buy a cup of coffee, or read a book on a rainy day ever again.

G.O.T. was a life-long space mission. Yugyeom would travel to places no human had ever been before.

As soon as he stepped on that ship, he would never see Earth again.

"Yugyeom! Get out of the damn car!"

Yugyeom was pulled out of his thoughts at Jaebum's exclamation. He quickly moved out the car, embarrassed. He met eyes with Bambam who chuckled quietly.

They headed into the bar, Yugyeom and Bambam keeping close to each other in nervousness. They had both tried alcohol before, but they were still anxious.

Jackson led the group to the bar, waving at the bartender easily. He ordered a round of drinks for the seven, handing each of them their shots once they were ready. Yugyeom and Bambam received theirs nervously, and Jackson chuckled at them.

"On the count of three. 1, 2, 3!"

Yugyeom downed his drink, feeling the liquid burn his throat. He coughed and Bambam coughed along with him. The others laughed at them, setting down their shot glasses.

Mark shook his head. "This is why we don't bring children to bars."

"Hey, I'm not a children!", Yugyeom defended. His head felt fuzzy, like when he was really tired. Bambam nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, I'm out", Jaebum said, walking off into the crowd. Jinyoung and Youngjae followed him, disappearing quickly. Mark gave Jackson a long look.

"You're in charge of them."

Then he walked off, leaving Jackson in charge of Yugyeom and Bambam.

He glanced at the two. Bambam was asking the bartender for a glass of water and Yugyeom was trying to focus his eyes on the jukebox in the corner without success. He sighed, rubbing Yugyeom's head comfortingly.

"You two can order whatever you want, just put it on my tab. Be good and don't get in any fights, okay?"

And with that, Jackson disappeared into the crowd. Bambam finished his water, looking around in confusion. "Where did he go?"

Yugyeom shook his head. "I don't know. He said we can order whatever we want and to put it on his tab."

So they did order what they wanted. First, they tried the simple stuff, like beer. Then, they moved on to the more interesting choices. They sat at the bar together, laughing and throwing peanut shells at each other.

Little by little, Yugyeom started losing control of his conciousness. He laughed at jokes he was pretty sure weren't funny. His vision still wouldn't focus. His emotions were all over the place.

He found himself laying his head down on the bar, using a finger to stir his bright blue drink. Bambam was sitting next to him, talking mindlessly about something to a random stranger.

Yugyeom sighed heavily. He pulled on Bambam's sleeve and the smaller boy turned to face him. "What?"

"Isn't weird to think that in a year we could never see any of this again? Like, we'll never get to taste alcohol again, unless Jackson comes up with some way to create it in space. And...and we'll never see our barracks again, even if we hated it. And..."

He trailed off, feeling his eyes getting heavy. Bambam leaned over, placing his cheek on Yugyeom's back.

"It's okay, Yuggy. We'll always still have each other."

Yugyeom chuckled, staring out at nothing. Bambam sat up, spinning around in his seat. "Hey, there's Jackson!"

Yugyeom turned around, meeting eyes with an angry-looking chinese boy. He glared down at the two, hands on his hips.

"When I said order whatever you want, I didn't mean the whole goddamn menu."

---

Yugyeom collapsed in his bed, his eyelids heavy. He yawned deeply, stretching his arms out for a second. In the bed next to his, he heard Bambam lie down and get under the covers.

Yugyeom laughed drunkenly. "You still have your shoes on." Bambam only mumbled incoherently, his eyes shut tightly.

Yugyeom gazed at the smaller boy across the gap between their beds. They had shared a dorm room as long as they had been at NOVA. They knew every little thing about each other, their sleeping habits, their favorite and least favorite foods, and the weird things they did when they were alone. There were no secrets between them.

Yugyeom fell asleep with the comfort of knowing that he and his best friend would be together forever.

---
btw, if you couldn't tell i'm going to be switching off every chapter, so the last one was what's happening in the present and then this chapter is a flashback to when they were still on earth. i know it's kinda confusing rn but everything will be explained eventually.

i'm pretty sure i can hear a couple breaking up outside my window this is weird.

also, mfp is #1 in yugbam and romeo and juliet is #3 i am so happy i could cry.