The Trip - NAMJIN YOONMIN TAEKOOK

Twenty Six (NJ)

Namjoon has always been in the middle of illegal shit. It was part of who he was. At first, he could get away with it. But eventually he ran out of luck and got arrested several times in a row. That was when one of his old friends found him a job. An easy business where the chances of being arrested were lower than in his previous one...or so they told him. He was supposed to be a sort of bodyguard. The man he was protecting had more power than anyone he ever knew. The cops wouldn't even look his way as soon as he gave them some money.

The job gave Namjoon the chance to travel all over the country. That man had dozens of clubs spread around the east side of Korea. And the west? Well, that belonged to his brother. The family business was taking over everything and he wasn't even sure what it was all about. He had a very simple thing to do. Stay by the man's side when he was outside the clubs. Sit by his side on the car in case someone would try to shoot him from out of it. He could've died many times but no one seemed to have the balls to attack his boss, so he wasn't that scared.

The problem came when he got a promotion. Finally, he was allowed to enter the clubs with him. He saw the drugs and wasn't faced by them. All of those girls and boys with little to no clothes on shouldn't have called his attention if it wasn't for one thing...they looked incredibly young. It started as a simple suspicion. But he didn't take that long in confirming it. That people was there against their will. He was used to people getting in shitty places thanks to their bad decisions in life. But they had no decision in this. He felt disgusted and the whole thing was eating him up inside not letting him sleep or eat correctly.

He knew he couldn't do anything. It was a huge risk and only an idiot would go against this organization. People in it was too dangerous and powerful. He was supposed to ignore it and play along. But he hated them so much. He thought about killing the boss and then paying for it. But what was the point of it? His brother would take over and nothing would change. On one of those nights, his boss wanted to give him a reward for being a good bodyguard and sent a girl to his room. He couldn't do it. As soon as they were left alone he made sure to give her his clothes so she could be more comfortable and he allowed her to rest on his bed promising she would have a night of peace for once.

- Are you gonna save us?

She was so young, dreaming of a hero was all she could do. With a broken heart hearing the tone on her voice, Namjoon stayed by her side and made a promise.

- I'm gonna let all of you out even if it's the last thing I do. You just have to hold on a little more...

- I'll tell her about you

Namjoon had no idea who she was referring to. And for a moment he hoped that wasn't a trap. For a while he got no more news of the girl. He secretly helped some of them and started gathering information. He had things on the people there, on the cops pretending like nothing was happening, on the politicians that visited the clubs, on the church that was helping that business. It took him some time to finally find a person that would help him. A man on the National Intelligence Service called Junwoo offered to help. He was above the low range cops covering all up. He was sure it was gonna work. And he got even more helpful when she came to him.

Turns out, the brother of his boss wasn't as careful as him. And his wife was ready to give him information. When they met Namjoon couldn't believe it. The amount of files she gave him. All the things she was saving in that pendrive. He never felt as hopeful as that day. The woman was doing it all to protect her son. To give him a better future than what his husband had planned for him.

- I'll keep the original files, Namjoon. You know...in case you die

- Lovely. I'll take care of it with my life. Don't worry, we'll get out of this one.

Oh, how wrong he was. The information was destroyed now and the woman was dead. But when his story is over he looks to the side where someone has an overwhelming feeling of knowing exactly who Namjoon is talking about. Taehyung has his eyes filled with tears. And when they make eye contact he realizes he was right a few hours ago when Namjoon helped him avoid the police. He really knew who Tae was and what he went through...