The Kim Family Tetralogy

6

Taehyung was feeling sick to his stomach.
So much vile hatered and threats of sexualised violence was being hurled at them, at him, at Jungkook!
"Taehyung," Minho-hyungs, calm, comforting voice said, "you should stop looking at all that for a second. It can drive anyone into a deep depression to expose themselves to the ugly underbelly of society like that. And I need everyone fully operational." he said in a low voice.
Tae slammed the laptop shut, "It's horrible, what they're saying." he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yes." Minho sighed, "and they're going to be nastier to you and Jimin than Jungkook and Hobi."
"Why?"
Minho sighed again. Deeper this time, "Because you read more feminine to those crazy people. And being feminine is the worst thing you can be, apparently. Except if you're a woman. But then you have to be some sort of girly feminine that's enough girly to be attractive but not too girly so everyone thinks your an rapeable idiot but not too little either because then you become too smart, masculine and unfuckable. But still not masculine enough to be taken seriously. Just someone who hasn't gotten enough dick. According to my sisters. Whom I do trust on theese matters." he shrugged.
"I'm pretty sure Jungkook is attracted to me because of my masculinity, though." Taehyung stated.
"Yeah, that is usually the case if your gay." Minho agreed, dryly, "But these crackpots aren't rational." he shook his head, "We men aren't rational when it comes to our masculinity, that's just the sad truth right now."
"How do we tackle this shit?" Tae wanted to know.
Minho sat quiet for a minute or two, "That depends on what you want to achieve."
"Ah." Tae said, realising the full scope of what he'd kind of tried to push away from his consciuos mind this whole time, "Fuck."
"Yeah." Minho said, "Do you want just the two of us," he motioned between them, "to come up with a plan of action, there's been, developments, or should we make it an orgie?"
Tae couldn't help but laugh at the phrasing, it was a bit unexpected.
"Fuck." Minho hissed, "I'm sorry! It's just you're all kind of my age and I've been around you a lot more than I'm used to! My clients are most often grey politicians in suits or corporate CEOs in suits, or, just, men, in suits, that need legal help for some sinister reason or another. You lot feel more like friends." he admitted, pretty embarrassed. He was usually able to keep his professional apperearance up a lot better.
"I like you." Tae smiled, "So let's make it an orgie!" he giggled.
"Aish!" Minho shook like a dog and got up, "I'll summon the rest of you." he walked away mumbling to himself, "I cannot believe how unprofessional I'm being right now!"

Hobi still had his killer migraine lurking in the back of his head, waiting for an opening to hit again, so he'd put on some sunglasses and baseball cap, making him look as a true sex offender trying to sell porn, or expose himself to little kids, or something.
But he wanted to be part of the war council and didn't think he'd be getting much sleep anyway, knowing the other's were downstairs talking about everything that'd happened.
Yoongi almost laughed up his liver when he saw him over the internet. He'd decided to join them, digitally.
"I can't, I can't!" Yoongi was panting for air, slumped over infront of his laptop, "can someone move me, please!" he wailed, "Get me out of the line of sight of that perpetrator! Aaah! I'm dead, I'm dying, I'm dead!"
"Well, I'm hurt." Hobi said, with a hand infront of his chest, mock sobbing.
"Children." Jin said, making everyone calm down.
Yoongi was still giggling, though, but silently.
'He probably just muted himself.' Hobi thought, sourly and stuck his tongue out at him. Getting prof when Yoongi looked down in his lap with shaking shoulders and tears running down his face.
Asshole.

"Shall we begin?" Minho-hyung said, and the spirits dropped. But there wasn't really any way around it so...
Everyone nodded.
"What's the fallout?" Jungkook asked between clenched jaws.
Minho sighed, "You're trending in every way possible, even internationally, there's a gazillion requests for interviews," his eyes swept quickly over Hobi with a humorous glint to them, "some sponsors have dropped you, others haven't, demands, debates, treaths, outrage, pride, let's just say the country's in an uproar. For a multitude of reasons." he paused, "And you've got some decisions to make." he sighed again.
"Walk us through them?" Jin asked.
Yoongi waved, "I would like to suggest you take a good, loong, think about what you want to do, what would make you feel good before even starting to think about what anyone else might want or not want from you." he said.
"I've tried." Hobi said, in a tiny voice, he was scared, no point in trying to hide it, "But it's hard. I can't see what my, what our options are, if there even are any? And I'm scared."
"You do have options." Minho said, steadfast, "I want you to understand that you get to decide how you move forward from this, that is your decision. You can't control what the world wants from you or what they want to know, but you do get to decide how you want to respond to that from now on."
"What are our options, then?" Taehyung asked, taking Jungkook's hand in his.
Minho stared at nothing, right infront of him and seemed to decide something, "I happened to get an e-mail from my eldest sister yesterday, and I'm gonna have to get your autographs later, I'm afraid," he shivered at the thought, making the rest of them huff out a laugh, "but one line in the mail stood out to me, just as one thing Min Yoongi said, during our first meeting, something along the line of, 'don't let them, i.e. the press, make it all about their sexualities.'"
He silenced, but then continued, "There are, established, ways of dealing with something like this. My knee-jerk reaction gives two immediate and opposite options where you need to decide," he ticked it off on his fingers, starting with his thumb, "are you still active athletes on this level or do you retire? Do you want to stay in this country or relocate to one where you could live as you like and that would welcome you? Do you never want to speak of this again or do you want to use the momentum to further the LGTBQ+ cause?"
"So, basically, we fight and that's all we do or we go silently into the night?" Jungkook huffed.
Minho leaned back in his chair holding his hands infront of his nose like he was praying, "As I said, that's the two options everyone has up their sleeve," he agreed and paused for a bit, "ok, so, let me make the case for a third, higly advanced, nigh on impossible balancing act here," he had to think for a bit, "I'm sorry if I seem to go off topic here, but bear with me?"
They all nodded, "Say you want to achive gender equality? When have you actually reached that goal?"
"When all genders have equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities." Namjoon determined.
"Yes," Minho agreed, "but what does that actually mean? Hear me out," he leaned forward, "We have a job opening, let's pretend, and two applicants with exactly the same qualifications, age and experience but different genders. Who gets the job today? The guy does, and he gets payed more. Women have to be better, and might still not get the job." he sighed.
"Yeah, most countries now have laws for that, but that doesn't seem to be doing the trick. And the higher up the chain you go, the better the women have to be to compete agaist men, clearly beneath them in skill and competence. And they have to be pretty on top of that." Minho continued.
"I would argue that until a cheating, ugly, totally incompetent, lesbian or trans, woman of colour, without any redeeming qualities what so ever, serves as the president of the United States of America, we have not achieved gender equality."
He slumped back in his chair, "Obviously, that's not a future any of us would like to see happen ever again, no matter the gender." he shivered, "The case I'm making is this, in today's society it's only allowed for straight cis-men to be a good tennis player or a great scientist or popstar. Everyone else gets a prefix."
Minho leaned forward again, "Say you go back to your regular lives, with a few adjustments for safety reasons, and demand the right to do so, the right to be successful in your fields, as you all are, without having to explain yourselves or make everyone comfortable. But without hiding, not defending it, not answering questions about it, just owning it. Not once have I heard a straight person have to answer questions about their sexuality in order to be praised or keep doing what they're doing. To have to come out as straight to set the record right?" he shook his head, "You, we, would have to devise a plan that would turn all their questions boring, self-evident and out of place, which they are, but place the burden of shame on them, for asking and not having fixed this, yet. Simply refusing to let your lives be all about your sexuality? Which is none of anyone's business anyway. Taking the right to be normal?"
"You think it's doable?" Taehyung wanted to know.
"It'll be tricky as hell, and you will get criticised from all sides, and you would have to be on your toes the whole time, and it'll probably demand more of you than the other two options, but, yeah, it might be a way forward, that's not been taken as many times before, yeah." Minho said. "And if it doesn't work you could always use one of the other options." he shrugged.
"I like that idea," Yoongi said, "but,"
"Yeah, you're right," Minho said, "there is the added complication of those film clips being out and about, but I think this approach should work for them too."
"Do you think it will change anything? I mean, in this country?" Jin asked.
"I think it will change people's attitudes," Minho said, "which is more important than you would think, but, sure, there's still true activist work to be done to get new laws in place and all that."
"'Cause I personally wouldn't mind using all this hoopla to get things going in this country." Jin explained.
"As I see it," Taehyung said, "we have three related, but separate things we're up against, One," he held up his thumb, "the right to love, live and marry and everything that comes with that, whomever you want, provided it's consentual, two" his index finger was raised, "the right to not be held responsible for someone else's crime and be exploited by that, and, three" he continued down his hand, "the right to privacy, or maybe that's the same as the one before? But I mean the right to be viewed as more than just your sexuality, gender, skin colour, religion or what have you."
"You are the smartest person I know." Jungkook said and pulled Tae's head towards him and kissed his hair.
"Ehum." Namjoon said.
"Yah!" Jin protested, and "Hey!" Yoongi shouted at the same time.
Sore subject.
"I'm not gonna dignify that with even a reaction." Hobi hissed and crossed his arms.
Jimin didn't say a word. He really did not want to be a part of this. He didn't want to get his life turned upside down, without any say in the matter.
"Am I the only one who find this whole business completely wacko and thinking about changing my name and have a sexchange and leaving the country?" he asked, turning the room dead quiet, "I mean I have a hard time accepting this is how it's gonna be now?" he felt like crying.
"Jimin," Hobi said and reached for him, stopping halfway when the movement made him dizzy and nauseous.
"You don't look so good." Jin said to Hobi, "I think we should take a break," he turned to the rest of them, "I need to examine Hobi and he should go lie down."
"Ok," Minho said, "let's let this brew for a bit, and we'll resume in a couple of hours? Everyone good with that?"