You Need To Survive

The Prologue (Part 2)

        They were all around a fire, feeling the heat. J-Hope dumped the pills for his narcolepsy into the fire. Jimin brought sparklers, so they danced around like maniacs while Jungkook attacked a nearby old piano that wasn't tuned.
        After a while, they calmed down. They sat on old couched and chairs they had found lying around. V tossed a piece of wood into the fire. Jin offered J-Hope a mini pretzel. Jungkook laid with his head on Suga's lap while Suga was absent-mindedly flicking a lighter on and off.
        Jin had projected the recordings he had taken on a wall. Now he was holding a Polaroid of a beach. He was looking at it thoughtfully. Then he turned to J-Hope and said the first thing after he showed up. "We...should we go here?"
        J-Hope looked at the picture and nodded. Jin showed it to Taehyung, who also nodded. Namjoon smiled at the picture. Jungkook got up and smiled, then blew out the lighter Suga was holding.

                                                                                                              *        *        *

        The next day, Suga drove them to the beach based on Jin's directions. Jimin, Jungkook and J-Hope were in the back of the truck, hooting and yelling. J-Hope tied a shirt to a branch and waved it in the wind like a flag. Taehyung leaned out of the window and grabbed the flag. "Hey!" J-Hope protested. Taehyung smiled evilly and threw the flag.
        "That was my only spare shirt!"
        Taehyung grinned and pulled himself back in the truck.
        Jungkook stood up and spread his arms apart, only to be knocked back by the force of the wind. All three of them laughed as he scrambled back up.
        Jimin turned his face to the wind, letting it blow back his hair like he was a model. Jungkook pushed him, and he tumbled to the floor of the truck.
        When they got there, they jumped out and ran on the sand. Taehyung tackled Jungkook and shoveled sand on him. Jimin washed his hands in a tide pool and scared J-Hope with a crab. Namjoon and Suga ran across the length of the beach. J-Hope hopped into the trunk and drove around. Jungkook grabbed the back and hung on to the back. When he let go, he tumbled on Taehyung and they both fell in the sand, laughing. Jin smiled and recorded everything.
        After a while, they got tired and stumbled to the truck. Jin took a picture of the others around it, then had an idea. He ran a distance away from the truck and mounted the camera on a dune. He started a timer and ran back to the truck. Just as he reached, the camera clicked and the picture was taken.
        But a few years later, Jimin would look at that very picture and realize that Jin wasn't in it.