Bring The Pain On [2] || Vkook

39

"You're actually going through with this?" Namjoon asked.
"Yeah." Jin muttered, "I have to do something Joon, or I'm going to go nuts."
"But,"
"Yeah, I know!" Jin objected before he could even say it, "I have to lay low and not do anything public before, you know, but I can at the very minimum meet with people! Educate me on the matter!"
"Yeah, ok." Namjoon gave in, "But are you at least taking one of the bodyguards with you?"
"Groan." Jin rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'll have whomever feels up to it accompany me."
Preferably Bonbon, he wished. Bikram did not posess the inclination for conversation.
In other words, he was boring.
Or became, boring, when paired with Jin.
The non-master of social interaction.
"I'm sorry I can't come with you." Namjoon apologised, the only avalible time for Jin's meeting happened to coincide with an online conference Namjoon had been invited to speak at, and, well, hopefully, some university, somewhere in the world would need his services, so he didn't feel he could pass this opportunity up.
"I know, hunnybunns," Jin put his hands on Namjoon's cheeks and pecked him on the lips, "but you need to nerd off with your fellow nerds today, I wouldn't have it any other way." Jin told him.
"Ok." Namjoon said and pecked him back, "Just be careful, ok?"
"I will, baby." Jin promised.

"Thank you for this, Bonbon." Jin said as they were closing in on the city, "It's going to be a long day, and, well, I'm not the one in the middle of this." he shrugged, leaving out the implied, 'so you really didn't have to come with me.'
"Don't mention it, but I do have to correct you, dr Jin" Bonbon winked, "You've been thoroughly dredged through the press and had your picture published pretty much everywhere, I'm sad to say." he made a turn to get on their exit, "Your anonymous, private days are over, I'm afraid."
"If you say so." Jin shrugged. This whole thing seemed to go on beside him somehow, with him being on the sidelines, shouting his head off to get the referee to call a penalty or something.
He was meeting up with this activist group, trying to lobby for marriage equality and for the law to change or at least permit private partnerships to be registered between same sex couples. Giving them some protection of property and inheritance in case of, well, death.
Later, he'd been invited over to Tits for dinner, together with Mr Kim and his wife's sister.
That, he looked forward to.
This, maybe not so much.

"Ok." Jin said after hours of discussions with the activists, rubbing his forehead with his hands, "Leaving all wording and content details aside, what do we actually need to change the law? Any law? In the practical sense? Who needs to do what on what level of government?" he asked, feeling like he was swimming through a group of snapping turtles feeding off the same piece of garbage.
"The support of twenty members of assembly for the bill or a presidential initiative putting forth a new law." the eldest, most quiet member of the group said, a bit exasperated.
Jin got the feeling the man'd been in this discussion since the dark ages when an evil spirit cursed him with immortality and knowledge of all the things needing to be done but imprisoned his ability to do them himself. Leaving him at the mercy of mere mortals, coming and going before his very eyes, never succeeding.
"And," Jin looked around the table, "forgive me for asking, I'm completely new to this as you know, is anyone trying to secure the support of those twenty members or the president?"
"Well, we did try to get the twenty but we ran out of money before we could actually sway all of them," a younger man said, apologetically, they were all still doing this and trying to raise money for the work simultaneously, without getting payed, "And getting the president to..." he shrugged.
"Yeah," a young woman said, "we've never even been able to get through the door..."
"But maybe two olympic gold medalists could?" Jin suggested, seeing the light in the old man's eyes for the first time today.
"Do you think they would?" he asked.
"I don't know." Jin answered truthfully, "Maybe."
"Yeah," a robust woman said, "we should at least make some ruckus in the news about how every flipping actor or popstar gets a medal of outstanding achievement or whatever the hell it's called, and not them!"
"Yeah!" someone else shouted, "There was no end to how proud the president was when they won and now it's just," there was a grimage, "like they fell off the earth!"
"Well, they kind of did." Jin smiled, "But let me talk to them first and coordinate with our lawyers so we don't screw the pooch when we don't have to, ok?" he begged, getting understanding nods.
"And I'll talk to my tech savvy friend about setting up some sort of ongoing fundraiser online or something, and I'm sure there's some money to be found somewhere that we can apply for, to get this operation more stable. And I'll talk to the lawyers about that too, we have them on flipping retainer these days..." he made a face. It was costing him a fortune, after all. Even if Mr Kim didn't charge them full prize by no means, but, still...
"Oh, there's lots of money be had if you just have the time to write the applications and look for it, alright, but, you know." one lady shrugged.
"Yeah, we have to earn a living..."
"Yeah, I get it," Jin said, they all had jobs to go to and mouths to feed as well, "but since my, life really, has been put on hiatus, I've got nothing but time. So if you want me to, I could at least try?"
"Oh, yes please!" the rotund woman said, "You'll need my signature on the applications, for now, but just e-mail them and I'll print them out and send them off." she smiled.
"Ok." Jin agreed and started to pack things up, "I'm sorry to leave you so soon," he elegantly lied, he was dead tired to be honest, "but I've got another meeting to go to, before I disappear again," he shrugged, "and I don't know when I'll be able to meet with you again, going in to town like this is such a big production right now, you have no idea." he sighed, "And thank you, for taking the time to come meet with me, I truly appreciate it!"
"No," the old man said, "Thank you, for reaching out! I look forward to working with you."

Tits had cooked up a feast and served them the nicest pasta bolognese Jin had ever tried, with garlic bread and a crisp, mouthwatering salad on the side.
"Have you ever been to Italy, Jin?" she asked as she top-upped his glass at the end of this very long, and lively dinner/strategic council.
"No, I'm sad to say I haven't." Jin confessed, "There hasn't been many opportunities for travels during medschool, other than to the occasional sports event," he shrugged, "and now I'm, you know."
"On a leash?" Mr Kim smiled.
"Mm."
"Well, as soon as you're free, you should go." Tits nodded, "My friend owns a house on the Amalfi coast, that they use maybe two weeks per year, I'll set you up with them." she sat down, "It's" she waved her hand over her head, "amazingly beautiful over there, and the food?" she kissed her fingertips, "mwah!" she stood up, "Oh, I almost forgot! I have dessert!" she went into the kitchen.
"I swear I've gained twenty-two pounds tonight." Mr Kim moaned.
"Yeah." Jin agreed, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this full.
"Ta-da!" she came back with a tray full of bowls with gelato and cherry sauce with small cups of Amaretto coffee drinks with cream on the side, "I've just made coffee for you, Bonbon, since you said you were driving?"
"Thank you." Bonbon bowed his head, he needed the pick-me-up, truth be told, halfway in a food coma as he was.
"So," Mr Kim said, trying to wrap things up, "are we all on the same page here?"
"Yeah." Jin agreed, "But I really do feel I need to get everyone else on board first, before we do anything, it should be a family, group," he sighed, "Team Dick, decision."
Mr Kim chuckled at Jin's exasperation, "Yeah, you should probably run it through Minho too," he looked to Bonbon, "I understand you're picking him and Jung Hoseok up before you go back tonight?"
Bonbon nodded.
"I," Jin began and changed his mind and changed it again, "isn't that going to be a problem? Them," he made some sort of explanatory gesture.
"Nah," Mr Kim shook his head, "he's not on your case anymore, I thought you knew that?"
"You took him off our case?!" Jin was flabbergasted.
"Nooo," Mr Kim chuckled again, "he took himself off the case so he could date the young man." he winked.
"Oh." Jin felt like a complete fool for not having had more faith in the lawyer and not understanding what everyone else had understood, he realised, that Minho was way too professional to mess around with a client without making sure that wouldn't cause trouble down the line.
Maybe he really was a bimbo?
He did a dog shake.
Nah, he decided, he was just too focused on his kids and keeping them all safe to the extent of becoming freaking nearsighted.
That was totally it.

As they were leaving, Tits took Jin aside and cradled his face in her hands, "Jin," she said, very solemnly, "you need to take care of yourself, too. You hear me?"
Jin nodded, almost scared by the intensity of her eyes.
"They aren't kids anymore, they're grown ups who can fend for themselves." she nodded, questionly, to get his agreement, "You can't fight this fight for them," she continued, "eventhough I really get your need to fight, I do, but, listen to me Jin," she looked straight into his soul, "you have to want to fight for yourself too."
Jin felt a tear fall down his cheek.
"Come here, son." she drew him in for a hard hug, "You are important too." she assured him, "Find your own, inner motivation to do this. Don't do it for the kids sake only, 'cause they're your kids, I get it, but, do it for you."
"Because I'm worth it?" he sob-laughed.
"Because you're worth it." she snickered and patted him on his back, hugging him again.
"Now," she held him out, "anytime you need someone to talk to, about anything, day or night, you call aunt Tits, you hear?"
Jin nodded.
"I mean it!" she warned, "Day or night." she nodded, "Because no matter how many people you have around you, this fight can be a lonely one, and the only way to survive, sometimes, is to lean on those who've fought it before you. Someone was there for me when I was younger, and please let me be there for you, now." she very softly ordered, "And one day, when you're old and gray like me, you can pay it forward to someone else, too." she smiled, "Even if things will get better in the future, I'm sure, it can still be a lonely path to walk. Of that I am also sure." she hugged him again.
"Thank you, miss Tits." Jin said taking her hands, "I once promised myself to take all the help I could get, I'll try to remember that promise."
She patted his cheek, smiling like the sun, "You're such a clever boy, Seokjin. Just remember to reach out, ok!"
He nodded, and pulled her in for another hug.

The house was dark and silent when they got home, hours later, and when Jin crawled into bed after a much needed shower, trying not to wake Namjoon, he'd never been more grateful.
For having someone to crawl down to.
"I love you." he whispered placing a feather light kiss on Joon's mouth.
"My love you too." Namjoon mumbled from the depths of sleep, pulling Jin closer, "But, man, you reek. Are you drunk?" he asked a little bit more awake.
"As a skunk." Jin giggled, and snuggled in closer, "That old lady is lethal." he confessed, "Probably owns her own brewery."
"Christ." Namjoon snickered, "Turn the other way, dear." he pushed Jin gently to the side, "You're the little spoon tonight."
"Ok." Jin agreed and fell asleep. Just like that.
"I missed you, baby." Namjoon whispered and kissed his sleeping husband on the shoulder, and went back to sleep.