[JE] Emotional Baggage
I'm sure all the KAT-TUN fans who read my fic journal have heard the news by now, and if you haven't, it's plastered all over the LJ comms. That news effectively killed off the fic I'm now posting, but since it had reached what seemed like an okay stopping point, I decided to post it anyway.
I appreciate that this is my fic journal and therefore my personal opinions don't really have a place here, but for the record, KAT-TUN have given me many happy memories and experiences I treasure, and I will continue to support all six of them in whatever they do, even if it means they go in different directions. I'm sad and I'm angry, but that anger has no direction because I do not blame any of them for this. (Well, I'm kind of angry at Johnny for spoiling my weekend with his terrible timing, and the fact that Jin's US tour dates still haven't been announced, but that's neither here nor there.) I want them all to be happy with what they're doing, and if the best way for that to happen is for them to go their separate ways, so be it.
I don't lock this journal and have no intention of doing so, but I friend back anyone who friends it just in case I suddenly have to go into lockdown. I don't care who reads these posts, you know? (I mean, I do care, but it's not important to me who you are because it has no bearing on my archiving my fic here.) However...I have to say that if you hate any of the members of KAT-TUN (and yes, I am including Jin), you will find nothing for you here. Especially if you hate Jin, because then I can't even imagine why you'd be reading this journal in the first place. If for some reason you are reading this, you might as well turn around right now and take yourself off to somewhere more suited to your mindset. I leave it to your own imaginations to work out where that might be.
And now, a short ficlet. Sorry about the brevity - blame Mr. Kitagawa! ;-)
Title: Emotional Baggage
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Kame x Jin
Rating: G
Genre: gen, angst
Word count: 830
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Summary: Jin gets a lift to the airport and a hand with his luggage.
Emotional Baggage
This time it's not a break, it's for work, and that makes it easier for Kame to say goodbye, knowing without a doubt that Jin will be back. He wasn't sure, the first time. No one was.
But now Jin's flying back and forth between Japan and the US with a much lighter heart, ignoring the warnings about how bad all the travel will be for his health on the grounds that he always gets sick in the summer anyway and what's one more fever?
The summer...and the winter, Kame thinks, not to mention spring and autumn. Jin's constitution has never been fantastic and his lifestyle doesn't help, but there's no way Jin would ever stop doing what he wants and Kame wouldn't want him to. Part of Jin's appeal is his drive and determination to be himself whether other people like it or not.
Sometimes that makes him difficult to live with, but it's the same for the rest of KAT-TUN. It still makes Kame smile when he thinks about how their childish squabbles have turned into...slightly more adult squabbles, really, because they've grown up together so in a sense, they've never grown up at all. They argue and they bicker and they tease, but they don't hurt. Not anymore.
"Thanks for the lift," Jin says when Kame finally manages to squeeze his car into a space. "I know you're busy."
Kame switches off the engine and grins. "No one else has room for all your luggage. Last time it was a guitar, this time it's a guitar and keyboards. Going to take a drumkit as well, next time?"
"There won't be a next time," Jin says firmly. "I won't have a chance during the tour; I have a hard enough time trying to perform the morning after a shinkansen trip, never mind after an international flight."
No arguments there. "Do you need a hand with your luggage?"
"Please."
They're not supposed to be seen together in public unless it's for work, or if they're surrounded by other people, but there aren't any baggage trolleys around and Kame figures they stand a chance of making it through Narita relatively unseen. They're both wearing sunglasses; Kame's got a baseball cap jammed down over his telltale highlights and Jin's hoodie is up, as usual.
Besides, Jin's already told everyone he's going back tomorrow. That ought to put paid to the paparazzi.
Between them they manhandle Jin's luggage into Terminal 1 South, where crowds of travellers wait around for their desks to open. No one gives two young men a second glance except a pair of teenage girls, who immediately start whispering when they see them. Fortunately, the girls' parents whisk them away to a queue, so Kame allows himself to breathe again.
He plans on leaving once Jin's happily settled into the ANA queue with his bags, but his phone rings before he can say goodbye and Jin gestures for him to wait. Kame knows the longer he stays in the terminal, the more likely he is to be spotted, but it would be impolite of him to leave without saying goodbye properly and the queue's moving at a decent pace.
By the time he gets off the phone with his manager Jin's back, down to one bag slung over his shoulder.
"Thanks for waiting."
"No problem," Kame says. "How long till your flight?"
Jin checks his watch. "Another two and a half hours. Plenty of time to play hide-and-seek with the stalkers."
"If the press catch you, try not to say anything cryptic this time. Do you know how many panicked emails my radio show received asking if you were leaving for good?"
"I didn't think I was being cryptic - I just said what I thought, that I wasn't sure. I can't help it if people take that the wrong way."
"You'd better be feeling sure this time," Kame warns. "Don't take it personally that we all ran off to Korea as soon as you got back to Japan."
The timing could've been better, Kame knows, but the timing has been off since March, when what should've been the fourth anniversary of their debut gave hope to some and shattered the dreams of others. They're all learning to live with it. At least being a member of KAT-TUN has never been boring.
"I'll try not to."
"Well..."
"Well..." Jin repeats, giving Kame one of those little half-smiles that says they've reached an awkward crossroads and he's not sure which way to go. He's been doing that a lot lately, like he's expecting to get brushed off at any minute, even around people he's known nearly half his life.
Jin's the one doing the leaving, but that doesn't mean they have to say goodbye just yet. There's a perfectly good Starbucks in the airport mall and Kame's got nowhere better to be right now.
"I've paid for the parking," Kame says. "I might as well get my money's worth."
I appreciate that this is my fic journal and therefore my personal opinions don't really have a place here, but for the record, KAT-TUN have given me many happy memories and experiences I treasure, and I will continue to support all six of them in whatever they do, even if it means they go in different directions. I'm sad and I'm angry, but that anger has no direction because I do not blame any of them for this. (Well, I'm kind of angry at Johnny for spoiling my weekend with his terrible timing, and the fact that Jin's US tour dates still haven't been announced, but that's neither here nor there.) I want them all to be happy with what they're doing, and if the best way for that to happen is for them to go their separate ways, so be it.
I don't lock this journal and have no intention of doing so, but I friend back anyone who friends it just in case I suddenly have to go into lockdown. I don't care who reads these posts, you know? (I mean, I do care, but it's not important to me who you are because it has no bearing on my archiving my fic here.) However...I have to say that if you hate any of the members of KAT-TUN (and yes, I am including Jin), you will find nothing for you here. Especially if you hate Jin, because then I can't even imagine why you'd be reading this journal in the first place. If for some reason you are reading this, you might as well turn around right now and take yourself off to somewhere more suited to your mindset. I leave it to your own imaginations to work out where that might be.
And now, a short ficlet. Sorry about the brevity - blame Mr. Kitagawa! ;-)
Title: Emotional Baggage
Fandom: KAT-TUN
Pairing: Kame x Jin
Rating: G
Genre: gen, angst
Word count: 830
Disclaimer: Not mine, damnit
Summary: Jin gets a lift to the airport and a hand with his luggage.
Emotional Baggage
This time it's not a break, it's for work, and that makes it easier for Kame to say goodbye, knowing without a doubt that Jin will be back. He wasn't sure, the first time. No one was.
But now Jin's flying back and forth between Japan and the US with a much lighter heart, ignoring the warnings about how bad all the travel will be for his health on the grounds that he always gets sick in the summer anyway and what's one more fever?
The summer...and the winter, Kame thinks, not to mention spring and autumn. Jin's constitution has never been fantastic and his lifestyle doesn't help, but there's no way Jin would ever stop doing what he wants and Kame wouldn't want him to. Part of Jin's appeal is his drive and determination to be himself whether other people like it or not.
Sometimes that makes him difficult to live with, but it's the same for the rest of KAT-TUN. It still makes Kame smile when he thinks about how their childish squabbles have turned into...slightly more adult squabbles, really, because they've grown up together so in a sense, they've never grown up at all. They argue and they bicker and they tease, but they don't hurt. Not anymore.
"Thanks for the lift," Jin says when Kame finally manages to squeeze his car into a space. "I know you're busy."
Kame switches off the engine and grins. "No one else has room for all your luggage. Last time it was a guitar, this time it's a guitar and keyboards. Going to take a drumkit as well, next time?"
"There won't be a next time," Jin says firmly. "I won't have a chance during the tour; I have a hard enough time trying to perform the morning after a shinkansen trip, never mind after an international flight."
No arguments there. "Do you need a hand with your luggage?"
"Please."
They're not supposed to be seen together in public unless it's for work, or if they're surrounded by other people, but there aren't any baggage trolleys around and Kame figures they stand a chance of making it through Narita relatively unseen. They're both wearing sunglasses; Kame's got a baseball cap jammed down over his telltale highlights and Jin's hoodie is up, as usual.
Besides, Jin's already told everyone he's going back tomorrow. That ought to put paid to the paparazzi.
Between them they manhandle Jin's luggage into Terminal 1 South, where crowds of travellers wait around for their desks to open. No one gives two young men a second glance except a pair of teenage girls, who immediately start whispering when they see them. Fortunately, the girls' parents whisk them away to a queue, so Kame allows himself to breathe again.
He plans on leaving once Jin's happily settled into the ANA queue with his bags, but his phone rings before he can say goodbye and Jin gestures for him to wait. Kame knows the longer he stays in the terminal, the more likely he is to be spotted, but it would be impolite of him to leave without saying goodbye properly and the queue's moving at a decent pace.
By the time he gets off the phone with his manager Jin's back, down to one bag slung over his shoulder.
"Thanks for waiting."
"No problem," Kame says. "How long till your flight?"
Jin checks his watch. "Another two and a half hours. Plenty of time to play hide-and-seek with the stalkers."
"If the press catch you, try not to say anything cryptic this time. Do you know how many panicked emails my radio show received asking if you were leaving for good?"
"I didn't think I was being cryptic - I just said what I thought, that I wasn't sure. I can't help it if people take that the wrong way."
"You'd better be feeling sure this time," Kame warns. "Don't take it personally that we all ran off to Korea as soon as you got back to Japan."
The timing could've been better, Kame knows, but the timing has been off since March, when what should've been the fourth anniversary of their debut gave hope to some and shattered the dreams of others. They're all learning to live with it. At least being a member of KAT-TUN has never been boring.
"I'll try not to."
"Well..."
"Well..." Jin repeats, giving Kame one of those little half-smiles that says they've reached an awkward crossroads and he's not sure which way to go. He's been doing that a lot lately, like he's expecting to get brushed off at any minute, even around people he's known nearly half his life.
Jin's the one doing the leaving, but that doesn't mean they have to say goodbye just yet. There's a perfectly good Starbucks in the airport mall and Kame's got nowhere better to be right now.
"I've paid for the parking," Kame says. "I might as well get my money's worth."