vớ vẩn 2

chap 23 - Little Rush

Yoongi slipped the cigarette free of the packet with a sigh as he folded his legs in front of him, trying to get comfortable even though the idea seemed completely impossible to him. The platform underneath him was hard and warm from the sun and they weren't the only ones on it, for many people passed them by to get to the other station platforms, the ones trains actually stopped at. They were hanging around the outside of building that sold the tickets, that had a little café and seats inside for people to enjoy whilst they waited, and everyone that passed them made sure to stare. He didn't have his jacket on because it was too warm but he didn't really care if any strangers saw the welts on his arm. His friends had seen them and accepted his problems, had let him know that they understood and that they were going to help him. They were the only people that he cared about, the rest meant nothing to him. They could stare, even take a photograph if they wanted, and he wouldn't give a shit.

He lit the cigarette and took a quick drag to help it smoulder, exhaling it out of his nose and rolling the stick to the corner of his mouth as he did. He shoved the hostel room lighter back into his jeans along with the packet and squinted through the smoke to look at his inner arm. The welts weren't as angry-looking as they had been because he had left them alone, hadn't prodded at them or added to the collection, but they were still noticeable from a distance. Most of his inner elbow was still pink as a result of them, one or two raw patches that hadn't started scabbing over or swelling into blisters. The oldest one was a scab, ugly and itchy, and he reached over to poke at it. No pain, but the blisters and wounds still stung from shower water or if his jacket sleeve rubbed against them.

"Anything yet?" Seokjin asked suddenly, seated right beside him on the platform. He was leaning back on his wrists so that he could looked at their friends, back to the lines as if they held no interest to him.

"Uh..." Hoseok looked over the top of the wrinkled route map at him before going back to it. He was seated on a bench just a few feet away. "Not yet, give me a few more minutes."

They had gotten off the train at Gongju, doing so only because they had been a little scared that the train would have carried on down south and end up going in the wrong direction; taking them into North Jeolla instead of North Chungcheong. Though the train had traveled at a decent speed it didn't seem to have covered as much ground as they had been hoping and that had meant sleeping just a bare few hours before having to leave to jump another one. Yoongi had tried sleeping in those hours and he had managed at least three that he was aware of, not falling deeply enough to feel rested but rather as if he had taken just a brief nap. But that nap had been better than nothing and he wasn't going to complain seen as Seokjin had decided to not sleep at all and had instead kept an eye on everything. When he had drifted off his friend had been seated against the wall of the carriage, turned so that he could look out of the open doorway and watch everything with a keen interest, eyes scanning not only the scenery but also the signs that were placed here and there. Therefore Seokjin had taken the initiative to ensure that they didn't end up having another 'Gangwon incident' and though it was irritating they just had hold their heads up and deal with it no matter what.

"I'm kinda hungry," Jimin said after a moment of silence, shifting on the bench.

"We're all hungry," Jungkook sighed in agreement.

"Can't afford to buy food in the station café, too expensive," Namjoon said as he sat down in the free space on the bench. "We'll have to wait for later."

"Are we going to eat at all today?" the boy asked.

"We will," Seokjin said reassuringly. "We'll jump off in a city in the evening and get food, rest at a hostel for the night."

"Can we afford that?" Yoongi asked as he slipped his cigarette back between his lips, still staring at the welts on his inner arm.

"If we get lucky and end up in North Chungcheong like I hope, yes."