Sineater

Fourteen

It was early morning, the sun had not even risen in the sky yet, when Jin found himself aboard Hoseok's private jet. He didn't even know where they were going yet, but he sipped on a goblet of the finest Italian white wine and reclined on the plush, velvet sofa that was along one wall of the jet.

He refused the meal Hoseok had offered him, opting to, instead, deliberate on his thoughts while watching Hoseok scrape fork against porcelain as he ate.

When he finished his meal, Hoseok took hold of his own goblet of Italian red wine, smooth as melted chocolate, and relaxed back into the plush, overstuffed chair that was positioned at the foot of the sofa, facing Jin.

Jin played with a string that had found itself unspun from the leg of his slacks as he waited for Hoseok to speak, to tell him where they were going.

Hoseok gave Jin a smug smirk as he swallowed the sip of wine. "How we run from the things we need."

Jin closed his eyes briefly as a pang of guilt flashed through him at the thought of leaving Brielle asleep in bed with no note to explain his absence in case she woke while he was gone. He stared at the opposite wall, teeth and jaw clenched. What right did this man have to speak of running away? Although, that was exactly what he had done. He didn't feel guilt at claiming her, not when every fiber of his being felt as if she had belonged to him since the day they had first met. No, he felt sadness that he couldn't give her the things she desired, the things she needed, wanted, craved.

After stepping off the plane once it landed, Hoseok escorted Jin to the car that he had waiting for them. The drive to where they were going was silent.

They pulled into a vast driveway that led to a mansion that was bigger and more elaborate than Hoseok's had been. Jin followed Hoseok as he exited the car and walked up to the home, pushing the doors open, allowing them entrance. There was a man already waiting for them just inside the foyer. He gestured for them to follow him.

He led the men through hallway after hallway, maze like, and to the second floor. He stopped briefly inside another foyer and gestured to a covered painting. "He's dying."

"That is why I'm here," Hoseok replied, lifting the white linen sheet from the painting. It was of two people in wearing the typically authentic medieval dress. The same kind of neck piece, the ruff, that Shakespeare had worn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. "Rembrandt did some remarkable things. This is not one of them." He stood straight again, smiling. "It is a De Gelder. But only I will know that." He smirked at the butler before gesturing to the painting. "Put it in the car."

Walking out of the foyer, Jin stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat, following Hoseok. "Your services don't come cheap."

"No, they don't."

"What did Namjoon give you?"

Hoseok stopped walking and turned back to Jin.

"I mean he, uh... He had nothing."

Hoseok pursed his lips for a moment, thinking how to answer. "That is not true. He gave me friendship once, and I returned it." He turned back around and began walking once again.

Hushed chattering followed them through the final hallway all the way until they stopped outside a set of closed double doors. Hoseok gestured for Jin to go inside first, following close on his heels.

As they entered the large bedroom, Jin took in his surroundings. How the butler and other house staff had turned it into a hospital room of sorts. There were machines beeping and bopping all around the bed, with cords and tubes leading to the man lying on the bed, an oxygen mask over his face. He was obviously having difficulty breathing, his face was mottled and Jin could hear the inhale and exhale as clearly as the beeping of the machines that were keeping him alive. There was a doctor standing over him, listening to his lungs as he breathed.