UNDERGROUND

Yeonjun found himself on the other side of a long bridge. His friends standing there, faces empty, blank. They paid no attention to him, as he stood on the edge. His graduation gown billowing in the breeze, a gust of wind knocking the cap off his head. He tried to call out for the group, but his voice was silent. The group turned, and stared right at Yeonjun as he lost his footing, and fell.

It went dark and silent, until Yeonjun saw a singular light appear. He walked closer to it, revealing his hometown, basked in white and black. The faces were nothing but blurs, and the sound was nothing more than muffled nonsense. He ran past people, shoving through the crowded city streets, until he reached Taehyun's house. The once standing suburban house was now reduced to a pile of ash. The world began to crumble under his touch.

"GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS!"

Yeonjun woke up with a startle, sunlight shining on his face from the blinds of the window across the room. He looked at his phone for the time, eleven in the morning. Kai was messing with Soobin, who seemed to have lost his pants at some point in the morning to the evil clutches of the younger. Beomgyu was kneeled over Taehyun, back moving as he giggled. Yeonjun craned his neck to peer over, and saw that Beomgyu had taken initiative to doodle on Taehyun's face.

"You misspelled 'idiot,'" Yeonjun pointed out, using his finger to show Beomgyu he missed the second 'i.'

"Hah, whoops, thanks Yeonjun," Beomgyu laughed, taking the marker and fixing it.

"How long did you guys sleep?" Yeonjun asked, looking over at Kai and Soobin, who finally obtained his pants.

"I slept until Mr. Young and Handsome stole my pants," Soobin said, pulling them over his legs, taking his pillow and hitting Kai with it.

Kai laughed, falling over from the unbalance.

Taehyun groaned a little and sat up, Beomgyu scurrying backwards to avoid getting caught. He opened his eyes and looked at Yeonjun.

"Morning, sleepy!" shouted Soobin, launching the pillow he was holding at Taehyun, who barely processed what happened.

The five laughed a little as Taehyun let out a yawn.

"I swear, Tae, you can sleep through the apocalypse and still not bat an eye," Kai said, nudging Soobin, who laughed.

"It's a talent, really. A special form of meditation," Taehyun joked, throwing the pillow back at Soobin, hitting Kai as well.

After sharing another few witty banters and laughs, the five decided to take a trip into town to get some hearty breakfast. Yeonjun sat in the back of the truck with Taehyun and Kai, listening to the 80's rock blasting from the cabin. They sang along to the golds, and pointed out at random people on the sidewalks, yelling and laughing. No one batted an eye at the chaotic youth, knowing full well this may be the last time they get to do this.

At least, that's only what the people thought.

They pulled into a parking garage and made their way into a raggedy old building. The sign in the front of the building showed that it was a basement restaurant connected to some apartments. The inside looked like the 70's had thrown up all over it, the cheesy wallpapers, green carpet, and cheap rainbow chandeliers. They followed the sign to the staircase, and made their way to the basement's restaurant. The sign on the door read 'The Underground' and the open sign was flipped to show they were on time. They pushed open the wooden door, and it was a bit of a flash to the past.

For a cheap breakfast restaurant and friendly hangout, it was pretty nice-looking. The walls were dark wood panels, with posters of many different rappers and rock musicians that were from the area. The flooring was a deep red carpet, with a few rugs placed by sofas and bookshelves. To the very far left was a small stage, used to host gigs for local bands and singers. There was a bar directly across, that was only used for dining, the alcohol having been removed. To the right was the dining area and lounge.

They walked over towards the bar and each took a seat on the diner stools, Soobin reaching over and tapping the bell to alert the workers they had guests. The entire facility was empty aside from a college girl enjoying her coffee, working on what can be assumed was an essay.

The door to the kitchen swung open, and there stood Hoseok wearing a brown smock, beaming.

"I was wondering when you guys would get here!" He clapped his hands together, the door opening behind him.

Yoongi's head peered over Hoseok's shoulder, and he nodded in greeting towards the others before vanishing back into the kitchen.

"How'd you know we were coming?" Beomgyu asked, leaning over the bar counter.

"Oh! Taehyun sent me a text this morning asking what we had in stock today," Hoseok replied, tapping his pen on the counter.

The door swung open, and the other boy scouts came out, wearing the same brown smock, all except Jin, who was wearing a blue apron.

"You guys work here?!" Kai asked, joining Beomgyu leaning over the counter.

"Work here? We OWN this place!" Jin said, placing his hands on his hips.

"You own this place? What made you guys wanna open a restaurant?" Taehyun asked, becoming the third to lean over the counter, Jin reaching over and tugging at his cheek.

"I like cooking, and we wanted a place that we could actually call our own. What's more 'us' than a chill hangout area?" Jin answered, letting go of Taehyun's cheek and letting out a soft laugh.

"Jin proposed the idea to us a while ago and we all decided it was a great idea! All except Yoongi. He wasn't the biggest fan of it at first," Namjoon said, gesturing to Yoongi.

Yoongi nodded a little bit, "Well, I was more concerned about music and such, and I wanted to do something for locals."

"And Jin didn't like the idea of mixing music with a diner setting, so we couldn't come to a conclusion until Taehyung found this place for us," Jimin said, arms crossing over his chest, looking towards Taehyung.

���And it came with a stage, so that was a bonus for Yoongi. We decided to make a little hangout roost for everyone to enjoy," Taehyung gestured around.

"That room through that door actually has a video game lounge, Jungkook and Taehyung like gaming," Hoseok pointed towards a set of wooden double doors.

"Sweet!" Kai and Taehyun exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

"We also got book donations for our library through that door, there's also a piano in there," Yoongi pointed towards a smaller door that was clearly much newer than the others.

"This place is like Heaven!" Beomgyu sighed dreamily, Namjoon laughing in reply.

"Anyways, you guys want something to eat? Jin's got the best cooking you'll probably ever eat!" Hoseok asked, holding his little notepad up.

"Yeah! I'm starving," Yeonjun said, looking up at the chalkboard menu.

They served practically anything you could think of, from seafood to breakfast. They even had an entire menu dedicated to ice cream flavors. Yeonjun had never seen such variety in a restaurant before, even in diners.

"You guys really went all out, didn't you?" Yeonjun pointed out, Yoongi raising a brow with amusement.

"Well, Jin made the menu, most of us can't actually cook," he said, the entire group laughing quietly from the comment.

"And I like a challenge. Cooking the same thing over and over can be boring so, I decided, I gotta appeal to everyone!" Jin explained, his confidence bursting into the hearts of the others.

The younger boys placed their orders, and the boy scouts disbanded back to their posts. The youth chatted with each other, mostly about the decor and atmosphere of the building they were in.

"Hey, Namjoon," Taehyun waved him over.

"Yeah?" He asked, walking over to speak with Taehyun.

"Do you own the apartments upstairs too?" Taehyun asked, gesturing to the ceiling.

"Yeah, we do! I inherited the building from an old family friend," Namjoon said with a smile. Taehyun gestured for him to lean in so he could whisper, and he did so.

Yeonjun watched as Namjoon and Taehyun exchanged nods and whispers, ending with Namjoon giving him a thumbs up before retreating towards the office, next to the library.

"What was that about?" Soobin asked Taehyun, who smiled a little bit.

"Oh, you know, just things," He answered with a sly smile, eyes locking onto Yeonjun. He felt a strange, uplifting surge in his stomach as he met Taehyun's gaze.

"Just things."