82
Third Person Pov
The whole day, Taehyung acted as if Jungkook didn’t exist.
Every time the doorbell rang, every time those sharp knuckles tapped against the wood, Taehyung stayed still inside... breathing quietly, pretending he didn’t hear. Jungkook stood outside for long stretches, jaw flexing, waiting… listening. But Taehyung didn’t budge.
He only opened the door once, when Gyubin’s school bus dropped him off. And the moment Jungkook saw that door crack open, the CEO stepped forward, ready to force his way in, ready to demand answers but the tiny eight-year-old hopping off the bus stopped him cold.
Jungkook wasn’t going to drag Gyubin into this mess.
So he stepped back and went home before Gyubin could see him. He let Taehyung shut the door in his face.
But the muscle in his jaw ticked. His eyes went dark. His patience thinned to a dangerous thread.
Because the CEO was many things obsessive, territorial, rough, unhinged at times but he was not a man who tolerated being shut out.
Not by Taehyung.
Especially not by Taehyung.
So he stayed quiet for the rest of the evening. He let Taehyung pretend. Let him hide. Let him think he could get away with avoiding him.
But at night? At night, Jungkook wasn’t going to ring the bell. He wasn’t going to wait on the porch like a polite neighbor.
He was going in.
Whether Taehyung resisted…
Whether Taehyung begged…
Whether Taehyung hated him for it…
Jungkook would get inside that house.
And Taehyung would face him.
Tonight.
☆☆☆☆☆
Taehyung gently pressed the milk bottle to Gyuri’s lips, but the 9-month-old princess scrunched her nose and turned her head away dramatically.
Taehyung let out a tired sigh.
“Gyuri… baby, no more tantrums, okay? Drink a little.”
Gyuri puffed her cheeks, squeaked loudly, and rolled to the opposite side of the bed—making it very clear she was offended.
She had every right to be.
Appa didn’t play with her today.
Appa didn’t pick up her pacifier when she threw it seven times.
Appa didn’t even take her on their evening stroll.
Taehyung’s lips curled in a tiny guilty smile.
He crawled closer and placed a soft kiss on her warm cheek.
“My pretty princess is mad at me… hmm? Are you ignoring appa now?”
Gyuri squealed and lifted both her chubby hands, shoving his face away with surprising force.
Taehyung winced dramatically.
“Ouch! you’re hurting appa… I’m cutting these little nails tomorrow.”
Gyuri stared at him with big round eyes that said you deserve it, then let out a whiny cry as if complaining right back.
Just then, the door clicked open.
Gyubin walked in with his Rubik’s cube, eyes focused and proud.
“Appa, look!” he announced, holding the solved cube toward Taehyung like a trophy.
Taehyung softened.
“you solved it again?” he asked, pinching Gyubin’s cheek. “So smart.”
Gyubin nodded seriously before tossing the cube aside and climbing onto the bed. Without hesitation, he curled around the grumpy baby.
“Riri-baby…” Gyubin cooed, poking her cheek gently. “Are you still mad at appa?”
Gyuri immediately lifted her arms toward her brother like he was the only one she forgave in this world.
Gyubin took the bottle from Taehyung with a soft sigh.
“Come here, Teddy Bear,” he said and guided the bottle to her lips.
The moment the bottle touched, Gyuri latched on instantly—drinking like she hadn’t eaten in days.
Taehyung’s jaw dropped.
“So you were starving?” he whispered.
Gyubin cuddled her closer and kissed both her cheeks.
“Why are you so cute?” he giggled, poking her round tummy.
“Appa, look… she’s turning into a chubby teddy bear.”
Gyuri giggled around the bottle, kicking her little feet happily now that her favorite caretaker was feeding her.
Taehyung watched them, warmth spreading across his chest.
His two babies, one tiny and one not-so-tiny, curled up together… and the room finally felt peaceful again.
.
.
.
Taehyung finally exhaled, watching the night settle outside his window, the city lights blinking like tired stars. Behind him, Gyubin and Gyuri slept soundly.... little chests rising and falling,.
Peace.
For the first time all day.
Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck and glanced once more at the kids. Good… at least they were okay. He turned back to the window.
A sound. Soft.
A shift of weight against the floorboards.
His stomach tightened instantly.
Footsteps.
For a second, the breath punched out of him. J-Jungkook.
He turned sharply.
“—Oh god,” he whispered out in relief when Daisy trotted into view, tail high as she hopped onto the bed and wedged herself between the sleeping siblings.
Taehyung placed a hand over his chest.
“You scared me,” he scolded in a low whisper, shaking his head as he turned his head back to the window.
And then.....
“Is that so?”
The voice came right behind him.
Warm. Low. Dangerously close.
Taehyung froze.
His eyes widened, then his entire body jolted when a hand clamped over his mouth before a single sound could escape.
“Shh,” Jungkook breathed against his ear.
The sound of that voice… the heat of it… it slid down Taehyung’s spine like a shiver he couldn’t stop.
He instantly reached up, trying to pry Jungkook’s hand off but Jungkook’s grip only tightened, his fingers splaying across Taehyung’s cheek possessively.
Taehyung tried again—another muffled, desperate “mhmm—” leaving him.
Jungkook grabbed both his wrists in one swift move and pinned them behind Taehyung’s back, pressing their bodies close..... so close Taehyung felt the slow drag of Jungkook’s breath on his neck.
“You don’t like answering the door, hmm?” Jungkook murmured, voice dipped in sarcasm and something darker.
“So I figured… why not come through the window.”
Taehyung felt goosebumps erupt everywhere.
His knees nearly buckled at the closeness.
The warmth of Jungkook’s chest pressed against his back. The faint smell of cologne clinging to him. The quiet, controlled anger in his voice.
Taehyung shook his head, desperately trying to speak—another muffled sound leaving his lips.
“Quiet,” Jungkook warned, his voice dropping an octave. “Don’t wake them.”
And then Jungkook started pulling him backwards, his hand firm on Taehyung’s wrists.
Taehyung stumbled with him, breath stuttering, trying to resist but losing every inch of ground he tried to claim.
“Mhmm—mmh—” Taehyung tried again, but Jungkook only pressed closer, his lips brushing the shell of Taehyung’s ear as he hissed:
“I said quiet.”
Taehyung’s heart hammered so violently it hurt.
Jungkook used his foot to push the bedroom door open. The faint creak of the hinges sounded deafeningly loud to Taehyung. Jungkook dragged him out, closing the door behind them with a soft click—never releasing his wrists.
As soon as they stepped into the dim hallway, Jungkook’s grip changed.
One hand stayed on Taehyung’s wrists.
The other slid to his waist... firm, controlling---pulling him closer, steering him exactly where he wanted.
Taehyung swallowed hard, his breath shaky, every nerve in his body lit and trembling.
“Y-You can’t—” he whispered when Jungkook finally let go of his mouth.
Jungkook leaned in, his lips grazing Taehyung’s jaw without quite touching.
“Watch me.”
Taehyung’s breath hitched.
Jungkook smirked at the reaction he felt against his chest.
And without another word, he dragged Taehyung into the dark living room.
Taehyung wriggled helplessly in Jungkook’s grip, wrists straining against the strength pinning them together.
“Mr. Jeon—l-leave,” he hissed, voice thin, trying not to wake the kids. Panic and something else.... something warm and humiliating—spiked down his spine.
Jungkook didn’t move an inch.
A moment later, Taehyung’s chest hit the wall with a sharp thud, his breath scattering out of him. Jungkook’s hand forced his wrists higher, just enough to make Taehyung’s back arch.
Jungkook’s body pressed into his, solid, unyielding, burning through the thin fabric of Taehyung’s shirt.
Taehyung’s knees nearly gave out.
“You can’t just—” he tried to protest, but Jungkook twisted his wrist the slightest bit, and the pain cut the words off.
“Don’t,” Jungkook growled, his mouth right against Taehyung’s ear. “Don’t test me tonight.”
Taehyung shuddered at the voice... low, controlled, furious, yet trembling like he had been pacing outside all day.
“Now you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on with you.”
“H-hurts…” Taehyung breathed, voice breaking despite his attempt to sound firm.
“Good.” Jungkook leaned in. “Because I was hurting too.”
Taehyung slowly froze. His pulse hammered loud enough to dizzy him.
“I was hurt,” Jungkook murmured, voice rough, “when you ignored the door like I didn’t exist. When you wouldn’t look at me. When you walked away.”
His grip tightened.
“When you keep running from me.”
Taehyung swallowed hard. He could feel Jungkook’s heartbeat, too fast, too hard like he was holding himself back with every breath.
“So,” Jungkook continued, “you should feel it too.”
Taehyung didn’t know whether the shake in his chest was fear or something dangerously close to longing.
Jungkook’s hand moved at last slowly sliding up until his fingertips touched Taehyung’s nape. Just a brush. Just enough to make Taehyung gasp silently, his back tightening.
Jungkook let out a strained breath at the sound.
His eyes dropped to the exposed sliver of skin, darkening. His tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek like he was fighting himself—fighting the urge to drag his mouth there.
He gripped Taehyung’s shirt and tugged it off one shoulder in a single, sharp motion.
Taehyung jolted.
Jungkook’s breath stuttered.
“Talk,” Jungkook said quietly, dangerously. “Or I swear you won’t like the way I drag the truth out of you. And you know I keep my promises.”
Taehyung clenched his teeth, eyes burning.
“I-I hate you,” he spat, voice trembling. “I hate you so much.”
“I'm aware.” Jungkook said.
He lowered his head until Taehyung felt the warmth of his lips just barely brushing his exposed shoulder.
“And that wasn’t my question.”
His voice slipped to a whisper, dark and demanding.
“What did I do this time?”
Taehyung’s humiliation punched through him. His throat tightened.
“Why don’t you…” His voice cracked.
“…ask the woman you fucked last night?”
Jungkook went completely, unnervingly still.
Taehyung opened his eyes, heart plunging as the memory of Mina limping out, clothes messy, flashed again.
“You—” his voice trembled, “you fucked Mina last night.”
Jungkook’s reaction was instant and violent.... but controlled.
He yanked Taehyung back by the wrists, forcing Taehyung’s spine to meet his chest in an arch that stole his breath. Jungkook’s hold was punishing, but the fury trembling in it was worse.
“Come again.” Jungkook said, voice dropping into a venomous tone.
Taehyung’s voice broke.
“You heard me.”
Jungkook leaned in so close Taehyung felt the shape of his mouth against his ear, felt every syllable like a shiver.
“Taehyung…” he murmured, slow, offended, insult cutting like a blade,
“…that’s the worst fucking thing you could’ve said about me.”
Taehyung’s breath hitched hard.
His wrists trembled in Jungkook’s grip.
The room felt too small, too warm, too charged to breathe.
Jungkook didn’t release him.
“If you think,” Jungkook whispered, voice taut with a mix of anger and something far more dangerous, “that I would ever lay a hand on anyone else—
when I can barely control myself around you.....you really don’t know a damn thing about me.”
Taehyung’s heart stuttered.
Jungkook pressed his lips on the edge of Taehyung’s jaw.
“Now,” Jungkook breathed,
“you’re going to tell me… why the hell you thought that.”
And Taehyung had nowhere left to run.
“I— I saw her,” Taehyung blurted, the words stumbling out of him before he could stop them. “I saw her coming out of your house last night.”
Jungkook’s grip on his wrist tightened sharply, forcing a gasp out of Taehyung, but he still pushed the words out, voice shaking, mouth dry.
“She was limping,” he continued, breath trembling. “Limping—and cursing your name under her breath, her hair all messed up and lips swollen—and I…” He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly, as if trying to hold himself together. “I thought—I thought—”
Jungkook’s fingers dug in harder, silently demanding he finish.
Taehyung’s voice cracked.
“Since you’re rough in sex… I thought you—you…. lost control.”
His chest rose and fell fast, frustration mixing with embarrassment.
“We haven’t—we haven’t done anything in so long,” he said, almost choking on the words, “and I.... since you're not getting it from me—maybe you wanted someone else and she—she probably threw herself at you and you—”
He exhaled shakily, eyes dropping, voice raw and small but spilling fast as if he might explode if he didn’t get it out.
“I thought you couldn’t control yourself, okay? I-I thought you’d touched her because you were frustrated and I— I—”
He didn’t finish.
The silence sliced through him.
Jungkook finally exhaled, the anger in his grip fading. He loosened his hold, then let go completely, stepping back with a cold, deatched expression.
Taehyung immediately turned away, fingers brushing over his wrist where Jungkook’s marks were already surfacing.... red, warm, stinging.
He didn’t dare look at him.
But Jungkook looked at him.
Jaw tight, eyes dark, hands sliding into his pockets as if grounding his temper.
Jungkook’s voice finally cut through the thick silence.... low, dangerous, almost vibrating with insult.
“…That’s what you thought of me?”
Taehyung’s head jerked up. His eyes were already burning, lashes fluttering too fast as he tried to hold back the sting in them. His throat bobbed, words trapped somewhere between fear and frustration.
Jungkook stepped forward.
Hands still buried in his pockets like he was restraining himself with everything he had.
Taehyung instinctively backed away until his shoulder blades hit the wall with a soft thud. His breath hitched.
Jungkook didn’t stop.
“I shot my mother because she cheated on my father,” Jungkook said, tone flat—too flat. “And you… you think I’d cheat on you?”
Taehyung swallowed so hard his jaw trembled.
“You could’ve questioned my humanity,” Jungkook continued. “My morality. Hell even my goddamn sanity.” His gaze darkened. “But not my loyalty.”
The words hit Taehyung harder than the wall behind him. His fingers twitched around the wrist, the red marks throbbing under his touch. He didn’t dare respond.
Jungkook exhaled, sharp and irritated, like the accusation physically disgusted him.
“She was limping,” he said, stepping even closer until his shadow swallowed Taehyung’s. “Because she smashed her knees when she tried sneaking in through my window.”
Taehyung’s eyes widened a fraction.
“Her hair was a mess because I gripped it when she wouldn’t leave. The same reason why she was cursing me.”
“Not,” he added, voice sharp enough to slice, “because I fucked her.”
Taehyung’s breath stuttered.
Jungkook’s throat worked once before his eyes flickered away, his voice dropping to something rougher… something he didn’t want to admit out loud.
“I don’t fuck anyone,” he muttered.
His jaw tightened.“Except…”
The sentence died between them... heavy, burning, intentional.
Taehyung felt his pulse slam against his ribs.
Jungkook still wouldn’t look at him. Which somehow made the unfinished confession even louder.
Taehyung looked away, throat closing up, fingers twisting at nothing. He didn’t know what to say anymore, didn’t know which sentence would make things worse, which one would make Jungkook leave faster.
Jungkook rolled his shoulders once, slow and deliberate, as if shaking off the entire conversation.
Then he turned toward the door, steps heavy, controlled, unforgiving. He opened it without looking back.
Taehyung’s stomach dropped. His feet stayed rooted, frozen for a few seconds.
Should he stop him?
His mind screamed yes while his body lagged behind—but then something inside him snapped, and his legs finally moved.
He rushed out the door, across the porch, cold air hitting his face. Jungkook was already at the iron gate, hand reaching for it.
“Jungkook—”
Taehyung grabbed his arm.
Jungkook went still. His eyes dropped to Taehyung’s trembling hand on his sleeve… then lifted, narrowing, hard and sharp as a blade. He slowly turned back.
Taehyung’s heart punched his ribs. His eyes were wide, startled, almost scared.
“I… I just thought—”
“You think a lot.” Jungkook cut him off, voice flat.
Taehyung’s breath hitched.
He moved to walk away.
Taehyung panicked.
His grip suddenly tightened.... fisting Jungkook’s shirt, pulling him back with more desperation than strength. Jungkook halted. Stared.
Jungkook glanced down at him, and for the briefest moment, his eyes softened, catching the tremor in Taehyung’s shoulders, the small shakes betraying how hard he was holding himself together. Taehyung’s fingers clenched tighter on Jungkook’s shirt, nails digging into the fabric.
Taehyung’s voice was raw, broken, and ragged as he forced the words out:
“I was… I was just jealous, okay? Jealous. But you—you don’t…
you don’t understand! You could never understand.
I don’t… I don’t trust… I mean, I do, I want to, but…
seeing you… seeing you with… anyone else…
it—it makes me feel like… like my chest is…
is breaking. My skin… it… it tingles, and I can’t breathe right…
I can’t…” His voice cracked, his jaw trembling as he pressed his hands against Jungkook’s chest, as if trying to keep himself from collapsing.
Jungkook remained still, silent, letting him unravel, watching with intensity that was almost suffocating.
Taehyung’s breath hitched. “I… I hate it, I hate… I hate even thinking that you… that you could… be… with someone else. I wish… I wish I didn’t…
I didn’t love you. I wish I could stop… but I can’t.
I—I love you so much it… it hurts. I love you so much that it…
it makes me angry, it… it makes me jealous, it makes me…
I cry… just thinking about you with someone else!
And… and I don’t… I don’t even know how to stop it.
I… I just…” His voice broke completely, tears spilling down his cheeks.
“I just—I love you. I love you so damn much… it hurts… it hurts so fucking much.”
Jungkook’s own heartbeat started speeding as he took in the raw, unfiltered confession. The only word that landed, over and over in Taehyung’s shaking voice, was love.
Jungkook’s jaw flexed. He stepped closer, until their foreheads nearly touched, and whispered, almost teasingly, almost cruelly.
“You… you love me?”
Taehyung nodded furiously, a sob catching in his throat.
“Y-yes! I… I love you! I love you so fucking much, I can’t…
I can’t even… I can’t think straight when I…
when I imagine you with someone else! I—I’m…
I’m pathetic, I know I’m pathetic… but I…
I… I can’t stop it. I can’t stop myself from… from wanting you… from needing you…”
Jungkook’s hands finally reached out, resting lightly on Taehyung’s trembling arms, feeling the raw heat, the uncontrolled emotion. He didn’t speak for a moment, just let the confession wash over him, the tremors, the sobs, the broken words.
And for the first time, Taehyung didn’t try to push him away.
He let himself be held, let himself crumble, and let the words he had buried for so long tumble out, raw, honest, and devastatingly real.
Taehyung’s sobs rattled through his chest, but he didn’t care. He wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s neck, tugging him impossibly closer, as if holding him could somehow fuse their hearts together.
“I… I love you… I love you so much…” he choked out, fingers tangled in Jungkook’s hair, pulling him in desperation.
Jungkook didn’t pull away. His hands rested firmly on Taehyung’s back, holding him like he was fragile glass, while his own heartbeat raced uncontrollably. He lowered his forehead to Taehyung’s, voice hoarse and almost unrecognizable from the usual calm and commanding tone:
“Say it again.”
“I—I love you, Jungkook…” Taehyung’s words trembled, barely a whisper.
The moment broke any remaining restraint. Jungkook’s arms tightened around him, crushing him in a desperate hug, the faintest growl escaping his throat.
“Taehyung…” he murmured against his hair, voice low, almost ragged. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this. Do you have any idea?”
Taehyung’s chest heaved, forgetting everything—the fear, the doubt, the walls he had built around himself. He just clung to Jungkook, soaking in the raw intensity, living the moment.
“I’ve stayed awake… every night… thinking of you… wondering if I’d ever hear this,” Jungkook continued, teeth gritting slightly, voice sharper now, almost rough. “And now… now you’re here, saying it, and I can barely… I can barely keep myself from losing it entirely.”
Taehyung gripped him tighter, as if trying to anchor himself in the storm of Jungkook’s emotions.
“You’re a liar,” he murmured shakily, his voice breaking, “but… I want to believe you.”
Jungkook’s lips brushed the top of Taehyung’s head, a ghost of a kiss, and he whispered against his hair, cold yet impossibly raw:
“I’m not lying. I could prove it a thousand times if you’d let me. Every word, every thought, every damn second I spend thinking about you—I’m serious. You’re everything I’ve never admitted, everything I’ve tried to hide… and yet, I can’t.”
Taehyung’s breath hitched, chest pressed to Jungkook’s as he felt the rare, undeniable vulnerability in the man who never showed weakness.
“I love you,” Jungkook said again, voice low, clipped, yet trembling at the edges.
“I love you more than I’ve ever let anyone in the world know.
More than I can think… more than I can say…
more than you could ever feel. And I’ll keep loving you…
like this… even if you don’t want me. Even if you fight me. Even if… you run away again,”
"Even if you still don't want me back, I'll keep loving you."
Taehyung trembled, swallowing against the lump in his throat. His hands clutched Jungkook’s shirt, feeling the rigid strength beneath his fingers.
“You… you don’t understand,” Taehyung murmured, voice barely audible. “I… I thought… I thought I couldn’t… I thought I had to…”
Taehyung froze when Jungkook suddenly spoke again—this time quieter, deeper.
“Taehyung.”
His name alone made Taehyung’s breath stutter.
Jungkook didn’t let him continue his rambling apology.
He cut through it.... clean, brutal, honest.
“You’re the first person I ever loved…” Jungkook said, voice trembling at the edges, “and the last I ever will.”
Taehyung’s lungs tightened. His fingers loosened on Jungkook’s shirt. His whole world stopped for a second, just that line echoing.
Jungkook swallowed hard, eyes locked on Taehyung’s.
“After you…” Jungkook whispered, voice rough, “I’m only capable of being a criminal, not a lover.”
Taehyung’s breath caught. He pulled away just slightly, needing to see Jungkook’s face—to make sure he heard him right.
And Jungkook let him look.
Because his eyes…
God, his eyes were stripped bare.
Raw. Desperate. Open in a way the CEO never allowed himself to be.
They held pain. They held longing. They held the terrifying confession that loving Taehyung had ruined him forever.
Taehyung’s lips parted, a shaky breath escaping as his heart thrummed painfully in his chest.
Jungkook spoke again, voice lower, almost like he was admitting something against his own will.
“I’m not good at words,” he said, jaw clenching. “You know that.”
His fingers curled by his sides, hands visibly shaking though his posture remained tall.
“I can’t confess like those lovers in the books you read. I’m not a prince. I’m not a savior. I’m not…” he exhaled, “…a hero in some damn fairytale.”
Taehyung blinked slowly, breath catching at the honesty in his tone.
“But I’m good with actions,” Jungkook continued, stepping closer. “Better than anyone.”
His voice deepened.
“And I can prove it. Every damn day.”
“With you.”
“With our kids.”
“With the life we never thought we’d get.”
Taehyung’s knees went weak.
Jungkook’s throat bobbed as he forced the next words out, words that sounded like they were dragged from the deepest part of him.
“Please…” His voice cracked, just barely. “Taehyung… be my family.”
Taehyung sucked in a breathe... shaky, fragile, overwhelmed. His fingers trembled as he reached for Jungkook’s shirt again, clutching it like he needed it to stay upright.
Jungkook watched him with eyes so utterly unguarded that it physically hurt like he’d given Taehyung the power to destroy him in the space of a heartbeat.
And Taehyung felt it. All of it.
Taehyung’s voice cracked as he whispered, “Would you… take care of me…?”
Jungkook’s breath stilled. Taehyung’s eyes were trembling, wet, wide, vulnerable in a way that went straight to Jungkook’s chest like a blade.
“Take care of our kids?” Taehyung continued, voice barely holding itself together. “Drop them to school everyday? Hold Gyuri the same way you hold Gyubin? Treat them like your own blood? Would you—” his voice quivered, “—would you treat me the way I’ve always… always wanted someone to treat me?”
He wasn’t even breathing properly by the end. His throat was closing up, eyes glossy, the words spilling out like the truth had been rotting his chest and finally tore its way out.
Jungkook just stared at him.
And thenslowly, very slowly
a faint, breathless smile pulled on Jungkook’s lips. Not mocking.
Not soft either. Something… undone. Like Taehyung had cracked open a vault that Jungkook never intended to let anyone touch.
He slid his hands around Taehyung’s waist— grounding.
“Allow me.” he murmured, leaning closer, forehead just inches from his.
Taehyung’s breath hitched.
“Allow me to love you,” Jungkook whispered. His voice was low, gravelly, almost trembling with restraint. “Allow me to be the man you keep begging the universe for.”
And then..
the first drop.
It hit Taehyung’s cheek, rolling slowly down like a teardrop that wasn’t his.
Taehyung blinked, startled.
Then another drop hit Jungkook’s jaw.
Then another.
And then the sky opened.
Within seconds, the rain poured over them.... cold, heavy, unstoppable.
They didn’t flinch. Didn’t move.
Didn’t even look up.
They just stood there, drenched, breathing against each other, eyes locked like the entire world had disappeared and the rain was simply baptizing what was happening between them.
Jungkook’s hair clung to his forehead. Taehyung’s shirt stuck to his skin. The porch behind them was a blur of water and trembling breaths.
“Look at me,” Jungkook said softly.
Taehyung did.
Rain traced the edges of Jungkook’s sharp jaw. His eyes, though.... his eyes... looked softer than they ever had. Like they were finally allowed to be alive.
“You asked if I’d take care of you,” Jungkook said, voice nearly lost under the storm. “I already do.”
Taehyung swallowed hard.
“You asked if I’d take care of our kids.” Jungkook lifted a hand, cupping Taehyung’s jaw gently, so gently it broke him a little more. “Taehyung, I’d kill for them.”
Taehyung’s lips trembled.
“You asked if I’d treat you right.” A shaky exhale escaped Jungkook; he was fighting himself, fighting the emotions rising in his throat.
“I- I don’t know how to be poetic. But I know how to show you.
Day after day. Every morning. Every night.
Until you stop doubting your worth and start believing mine. ”
The rain ran down Taehyung’s cheeks like tears.
Jungkook stepped even closer... so close Taehyung could feel every unspoken promise in the inches between them.
And then Jungkook whispered
“let me be your home.”
Taehyung’s breath shattered.
And Jungkook… Jungkook looked right into him as if he was memorizing the exact moment Taehyung’s walls finally fell.
They stood there, rain soaking them to the bone, neither willing to look away.
Because this—this wasn’t a confession.
This was a vow.
Taehyung’s lips trembled before they curved into the faintest, shaking smile.
“You—” his voice cracked, breath hitching from crying too hard, “you’re sick in the head…”
Jungkook lifted a hand, brushing Taehyung’s wet fringe away from his eyes—slow, almost reverent.
The water made Taehyung’s lashes stick together, cheeks flushed and wet, and Jungkook’s jaw clenched at the sight.
“And you’re still here,” he said, stepping closer until their chests brushed. “So what does that make you, yeah?”
Taehyung’s breath caught, a small, broken sound escaping him.
“I won’t let you go,” he said, and his voice finally cracked.... like something old inside him was breaking open.
“Not now. Not again. Not even if you beg me to.”
Taehyung looked up sharply, startled.
Jungkook exhaled, rain dripping down his jaw.
“You said I’m sick,” he murmured, leaning in, “and maybe I am. Maybe I’m fucked in the head…” His fingers tightened around Taehyung’s waist.
“…but every part of that sickness begins and ends with you.”
Taehyung’s breath left him in a shaky rush.
Jungkook lifted his other hand, cupping Taehyung’s face gently.... contradicting everything about his harsh personality.
“If loving you makes me sick,” he whispered, thumb brushing Taehyung’s cheek, “then I don’t want to be cured.”
Taehyung’s lips parted, eyes glossy.
A small, soft laugh escaped him.... half disbelief, half adoration.
“You’re unbelievable,” Taehyung murmured, voice cracking again.
Jungkook’s smirk returned... slow, sinful, heart-stopping. “stay,” he said.
“Stay, and I’ll show you just how unbelievable I can be.”
Taehyung swallowed hard, chest rising and falling too fast.
Jungkook’s gaze dropped to Taehyung’s lips.
“Say it again,” Jungkook whispered, his thumb brushing over Taehyung’s parted lips like he was memorizing their shape.
“That you love me.”
Taehyung’s breath stuttered. His chest rose and fell too fast, too shaky, as if the words were stuck in his ribs.
“I… I love you,” he whispered finally, voice cracking under the weight of it.
Jungkook exhaled like he’d been suffocating for years... like Taehyung had just given him air.
“I never believed those three words could make such a difference in a man’s heart…” Jungkook murmured, voice low, rough, almost disbelieving. “I thought they were just… noise. Until you said them.”
His hands came up, cupping Taehyung’s face firmly.... thumbs on his cheekbones, fingers sliding into the damp hair at the back of his head. He pulled him in until their foreheads nearly touched. His eyes didn’t leave Taehyung’s lips for even a second.
Taehyung’s stomach twisted, heat fluttering deep inside.
“I love you more.” Jungkook whispered.
He looked into Taehyung’s eyes.... asking permission without saying a word.
Taehyung blinked once.
That was all Jungkook needed.
He crashed their lips together.
Taehyung gasped softly, breath stolen. Jungkook’s hands were already at his waist, sliding lower, gripping his hips.
.. pulling him into the hardness of his chest, his breath, his warmth.
His fingers dug into the flesh as if reminding Taehyung this wasn’t a dream, he was real, he was here, he was his.
Taehyung opened his mouth without meaning to.
Jungkook pushed his tongue inside.... slow but demanding, exploring him like he’d waited a lifetime for this. Taehyung moaned, soft and helpless, gripping the back of Jungkook’s jacket as if he’d collapse without him.
And Jungkook deepened the kiss.
The kiss held everything....fear, longing, relief, the ache of all the months they wasted.
For the first time…
It wasn’t punishing.
It wasn’t angry.
It wasn’t a weapon.
It was a kiss Taehyung had dreamed about, prayed for, broken down for.
A kiss full of hunger and love and desperation.
Taehyung kissed him back with the same intensity..... fingers tangled in Jungkook’s hair, pulling him closer, chest pressed flush against his. Jungkook swallowed every sound Taehyung made, breathing him in like he’d been starving.
Rain hit their faces again, cooling their burning skin, sliding down their cheeks.
But neither pulled away.
If anything, Jungkook kissed him harder like the rain made him bolder.
Like the world disappearing around them only pushed him closer.
Jungkook didn’t slow down. He lifted Taehyung up by his thighs.
The moment Taehyung’s legs locked around his waist, Jungkook lifted him higher, gripping his thighs with a strength that made Taehyung’s stomach flip.
The rain poured harder, running down their faces, dripping from their hair, soaking their clothes, but neither of them cared. They only held each other tighter.
Jungkook walked them backward across the porch, his mouth devouring Taehyung’s like he’d waited years for this single moment. He swallowed every gasp, every trembling sound Taehyung made.
And then...
Thud.
Taehyung’s back hit the wall again, this time with Jungkook pressing into him fully, pinning him there with his body. Taehyung’s fingers slid into Jungkook’s wet hair, tugging hard, his lips red and swollen, breaths shaky.
“Mhm…” Taehyung moaned against his lips, tapping weakly at Jungkook’s shoulder for air.
Jungkook pulled back just an inch, panting against Taehyung’s open mouth, foreheads pressed together.
“Fuck…” he breathed, voice hoarse, pupils blown wide. "I can't stop."
Taehyung shivered, rain trailing down his neck, disappearing under his collar. Jungkook’s eyes followed the path of the droplet and his grip tightened at Taehyung’s waist.
“D-Don’t,” Taehyung whispered, chest rising and falling fast. “Don’t stop…”
That was all it took.
Jungkook crushed their mouths together again....deeper, hotter, more desperate. His hands slid up Taehyung’s back, grabbing, pulling him impossibly closer. Taehyung’s thighs clenched around him, holding on like he would fall apart if Jungkook stepped an inch away.
Jungkook kissed him like he was starving.
Taehyung kissed him back like he was finally home.
The rain didn’t stop. The thunder rolled in the distance. Their breaths fogged the cold air between kisses.
Jungkook broke away just long enough to drag his thumb across Taehyung’s swollen bottom lip. His voice came out rough, trembling with barely restrained control.
“You have no idea,” he whispered, eyes on Taehyung’s mouth, “how long I’ve wanted to kiss you like this.”
Taehyung’s grip tightened around his neck, his voice barely there.
“Then… then don’t ever stop wanting me.”
Jungkook’s jaw flexed.
“I never fucking did.”
And he kissed him again.... harder this time, pinning him so firmly against the wall that Taehyung felt the full weight of him, the full intensity, the full hunger of everything he’d ever held back.
For once, Taehyung didn’t run.
For once, Jungkook didn’t push him away.
For once, they were exactly where they both had always wanted to be... right in the middle of the storm, drenched, breathless, clinging to each other like the world would end if they let go.
Taehyung’s whole body was trembling from the kiss, from the adrenaline, from everything he had waited years to feel and years to fear.
Jungkook finally slowed down.
His hands, once gripping Taehyung’s waist like he’d never let him go, eased.
They slid down Taehyung's thighs, guiding him gently until his feet were back on the wet porch floor.
Taehyung staggered. His legs giving up, and Jungkook steadied him by the shoulders, his thumbs brushing up and down like he was calming a frightened animal.
“Breathe,” Jungkook whispered, chest rising and falling hard.
“You’re shaking.”
Taehyung gulped, eyes glossy, wet lashes clumped from the rain and emotion both
“I–I’m fine,” he whispered, but he wasn’t.
Jungkook stepped closer, lowering his forehead to Taehyung’s.
“You’re trembling like you’re scared of me.”
Taehyung shook his head quickly. “I’m not scared of you. I’m… I’m scared of myself.”
Jungkook froze.
Taehyung’s voice cracked, spilling out everything he’d been holding back.
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know where to place these feelings. I don’t know what to do with this when I've always wanted it—” his breath hitched, “—like this. So gentle. So… real.”
His fingers curled into Jungkook’s damp shirt, weakly tugging.
“You make my head spin.”
Jungkook swallowed hard.
“Everything is too much...” Taehyung whispered, voice thinning.
“The kiss. The confession. I feel like I’m standing in a storm.”
Jungkook kept listening.
Taehyung’s chest caved a little.
He knew what he had to say, but saying it felt like ripping his own ribs open.
“I need…” he whispered, closing his eyes, “…I need some space.”
Jungkook stilled. His expressions dropped.
Completely.
The rain softened around them, but the silence between them deepened like a wound.
Taehyung kept speaking, even though each word hurt him more than it hurt Jungkook.
“I just… I want to think. I don’t want to ruin this. I want to step inside, breathe, let things settle.” He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. “I just need—time.”
Jungkook lowered his head, breathing slowly through his nose.
His fingers flexed at his sides like he was physically holding himself back from reaching for Taehyung again.
“Alright.” he whispered.
Taehyung’s eyes widened softly.
He expected anger. He expected coldness. He expected that clipped tone Jungkook used on everyone else.
But Jungkook just… accepted it.
He took a small step back... not far, just enough to respect the space Taehyung asked for.
But the loss of his warmth hit Taehyung immediately, painfully.
“If space is what you need,” Jungkook murmured, voice low, “I’ll give it.”
His jaw clenched once before he added, quieter:
“Just don’t shut me out again. Not like today.”
Taehyung looked down, guilt tightening around his ribs.
“I won’t.”
Jungkook nodded once.
A stiff, controlled motion.... the kind of restraint only this CEO possessed.
He lifted his eyes again, soaked hair clinging to his forehead, breathing unsteady but controlled.
“I meant what I said,” he whispered.
“Every word.”
Taehyung’s throat tightened.
“I know.”
Jungkook exhaled like he had been holding his breath for years.
“Sleep well.” he said softly.... almost tenderly.
Taehyung stepped back toward the door, each step feeling heavier than the last.
When he reached the frame, he stopped, gripping it as if grounding himself.
He didn’t turn around when he said:
“You too.”
Jungkook’s eyes softened.
But he didn’t move any closer.
He just watched Taehyung walk inside watched the door close... watched the small sliver of light at the bottom disappear.
And then…
He let out a shaky breath he had been holding since the moment Taehyung said he loved him.
Jungkook stood in the rain.
Not shaking.
Not collapsing.
Not begging.
Just… standing there, tall, broad shoulders rising and falling slowly as the downpour soaked through his shirt and dripped down his jaw. He looked like a man carved out of stone, but a single fissure ran right through the center of him.
His eyes stayed glued to the door Taehyung had disappeared behind.
He didn’t move, didn’t breathe for a moment too long, letting the rain wash the heat of Taehyung’s mouth off his swollen lips.
His chest still burned from the way Taehyung had kissed him back…
and then pushed him away with trembling words.
I need space… I need time…
His fingers flexed uselessly at his sides, wanting to reach out, wanting to feel Taehyung’s warmth again, wanting to pull him back and say don’t go, don’t leave me alone again, not after finally loving me—
but he didn’t.
He dragged a hand through his wet hair, exhaling sharply through his nose.
His fingers curled, knuckles whitening.
But not once did his face crumble.
He stared at the door again, water dripping from his lashes as thunder rolled far behind him. His voice came out low, almost a whisper to himself but steady.
“I’ll give you your space… your time…” He tilted his head slightly, eyes cold but aching. “But you won’t get rid of me.”
Not after that confession.
Not after that kiss that tasted like everything he’d wanted for years.
His throat bobbed once... the closest he came to breaking.
Then he inhaled deeply, steadying every inch of himself. The CEO mask slid back on, sharp and controlled, though his eyes still carried a quiet ache.
He walked away slowly, every step heavy but unwavering not a broken man…
…but a man who was finally willing to wait for the person he’d chosen.