72
Third Person Pov
Sometimes things happen for a reason but sometimes, they happen for the worst reason imaginable.
Jeon Jungkook was a sinner in every sense of the word… yet, a misunderstood one. He wasn’t evil by design; he was simply a man who kept failing in the name of love, guilt, and redemption.
He failed to save his father.
He failed to save Taehyung’s sister.
And now, he had failed to save what was left between him and Taehyung.
A sinner, yes… but also a failure. A rich failure, wrapped in regrets and apologies that no one wanted to hear anymore.
Taehyung’s world felt muted... colorless the moment the truth unraveled.
Being around Jungkook was suffocating now; every breath reminded him of how deeply he’d been dragged into a mess that was never his fault to begin with.
Why did he have to suffer for everything Jungkook destroyed?
Why was he always the one left bleeding for someone else’s sins?
He rubbed his tired eyes, forcing the tears back, and stood up. Seokjin looked up at him, silent and worried, but Taehyung’s gaze didn’t waver. He walked toward Jungkook... slow, deliberate, like a man walking toward his own heartbreak.
Jungkook looked up at him, his expression blank.
“I can’t even hate you,” Taehyung said, his voice low, trembling with exhaustion rather than rage. “I just… pity you.”
The word hit harder than a slap. Jungkook’s jaw tightened, his chest heaving. Pity. It was the one thing he could never bear.
“In all of this,” Taehyung continued, stepping closer, his eyes glistening with unspilled tears, “what...what was my fault? Why did you make me go through that–that hell?”
Jungkook looked away, guilt shadowing his face.
“Answer me,” Taehyung demanded, his voice breaking now.
Jungkook finally looked, their gazes locking in the tense silence that filled the room.
“You.... distracted me, I was drowning and you–” Jungkook said, each word like glass leaving his throat.
“–you made me feel again, I didn't want that.
Didn't want you. So I did what I always do.
I ruined it before it could ruin me." He stopped. Taehyung’s eyes glistened, anger giving way to disbelief.
"Giving you pain… became a good distraction. But then…” he paused, his voice softening, “... even... even my hands started hesitating when the feelings got deeper.... I couldn’t hurt you anymore.”
Taehyung took a shaky breath, his heart tightening at the contradiction in Jungkook’s words... affection buried under cruelty, guilt hidden behind every confession.
And as he took a step back, the distance between them felt heavier than it ever had before... final, irreversible.
Jungkook stood there, staring at him.. the ghost of the man he had destroyed, the only person who ever made him feel human again. The air around them was still, suffocating, as if the world itself had stopped to listen.
He took a slow, trembling step forward, and Taehyung instinctively stepped back, shaking his head.
“No,” Taehyung whispered, voice tight, breath uneven.
But Jungkook didn’t stop. He reached out almost hesitantly and caught Taehyung’s hand. His fingers curled around it, desperate with the weight of every word he hadn’t said. He pulled Taehyung closer, so close that they could feel each other's heat in the cold room.
Taehyung didn’t resist this time. His glassy eyes lifted, locking onto Jungkook’s empty, haunted, full of everything unspoken.
“Taehyung,” Jungkook breathed, voice raw, breaking at the edges. “Stay with me…”
Taehyung’s head shook again, slower this time, his jaw clenching as his eyes fluttered away.
“I hurt you,” Jungkook continued, his tone trembling, “I know I did. I tore you apart. I don’t expect forgiveness, but—” he swallowed, his grip trembling on Taehyung’s hand, “—if you could just give me a chance, I’ll spend every damn day proving that when I say I love you, it’s not a lie. That it’s not just words.”
His voice cracked. “I’ve started feeling for you. And I don't know what to do with this... because it feels like the cruelest joke the universe ever played on me... to love the only person who deserves to hate me the most.”
The words should’ve meant something. But they only stung.
Taehyung gritted his teeth, staring at the floor as though it could hold him steady. His body trembled; his throat burned from holding back everything that wanted to come out.. the scream, the sob, the collapse.
Jungkook could feel it, the distance growing, the thread snapping one painful inch at a time. But he still tried, still held on, even when he knew it was useless.
“Please,” Jungkook whispered, barely breathing now. “Don’t walk away. Not yet.”
Taehyung lifted his gaze slowly. His lips trembled before the words finally escaped... sharp, broken, heavy.
“You...y-you don’t deserve it, Mr. Jeon,” he said, voice cracking but eyes fierce. “Staying with you would be an insult to my sister’s death. An insult to my son, who lost his mother because of you. And an insult to myself.”
Jungkook froze... his world falling silent all over again.
Taehyung’s words shook as he continued, tears gathering despite his resistance. “I can’t even hate you anymore…” His bitter smile trembled through the tears.
“You were just… unloved. But I can’t love you either.”
Jungkook’s hand tightened around his as if he could stop the inevitable, as if his grip could undo fate itself.
“You made my sister yearn for someone who’d already left her,” Taehyung said, voice breaking now, trembling with grief and rage. “If you’d told her the truth... just once maybe she wouldn’t have died waiting. But you didn’t. You were selfish.”
He looked Jungkook dead in the eyes, voice trembling but sharp. “And now you’ll end up like her… rotting in memories.”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
“You love me, right?” Taehyung asked suddenly, voice soaked in sarcasm but shaking at the edges. Jungkook's jaw clenched, taken aback by the venom in those words.
“Do you love me?” Taehyung demanded again, louder this time, forcing Jungkook’s eyes to meet his.
Jungkook exhaled shakily, his head dropping for a second before he nodded. He couldn’t even speak. His grip stayed tight, desperate, trembling.
“Then stay away from me,” Taehyung whispered, voice soft but cutting. “If you really love me... you’ll leave me. You’ll disappear. You won’t follow me, won’t watch me, you won’t send your men after me. And just–just let me breathe.”
His voice trembled now, tears finally sliding down his cheek. “If you really love me, you’ll obey me one last time and never cross my words again.”
For a long second, Jungkook didn’t move. His eyes softened, the kind of softness that came from breaking quietly, completely.
For the first time, it looked like he might cry, but he didn’t. His eyes shone not with tears, but with grief so deep it didn’t need them.
Taehyung wriggled out of Jungkook’s grasp, taking a shaky step back. Jungkook’s hand curled into a tight fist, knuckles paling as silence hung heavy between them. Taehyung turned to leave but froze the moment his name slipped from Jungkook’s lips.
“Taehyung… listen,” Jungkook said, his voice low but trembling... the kind of tremor that came from somewhere deep, from a place that had been holding itself together for too long.
Taehyung didn’t turn around. His chest rose sharply, his knuckles whitening where his fists clenched at his sides. “I told you no,” he said, firm, final... though the faint quiver at the end betrayed how much it cost him to say it.
The next second, his wrist was caught again firm, urgent and before Taehyung could process it, Jungkook pulled him closer. Pulling him in a hug.
The world went silent for a moment. Taehyung’s breath hitched as he found himself chest to chest with the man he’d been trying to walk away from. Jungkook’s arms wrapped around him, holding him like he’d drown if he let go.
“No…” Jungkook’s voice came out cracked, raw. His grip tightened, trembling against Taehyung’s back as if he could anchor his breaking self through touch alone. His forehead pressed against Taehyung’s shoulder, and for the first time in forever, his breath shook.
From across the room, Seokjin froze where he stood. His lips parted slightly, eyes stinging as he watched his younger brother crumble in silence.
Jungkook wasn’t the type to fall apart not in front of anyone, not even when his world burned yet here he was, clutching Taehyung like he couldn’t breathe without him. The desperation in him was quiet but fierce, like someone holding in a scream.
“Trust me–” Jungkook whispered, his voice barely a sound. “... I won’t touch you… I won’t even talk to you if that’s what you want. I’ll stay away. I’ll disappear into the background.” His words trembled with restraint, pain bleeding through each syllable.
“Just don’t go where I can’t see you...”
He inhaled sharply, and Taehyung felt the warmth of his breath ghost against his neck. “I—” Jungkook’s voice faltered, a sound escaping him that wasn’t quite a sob but close enough to one. “I won’t be able to live like that.”
Taehyung’s fingers twitched against Jungkook’s chest, not pushing him away but not holding him either. His eyes fluttered shut, lashes damp as he tried to steady his breathing.
The words hit harder than any plea could have not because Jungkook begged, but because he didn’t know how to. He was breaking quietly, and that hurt worse than a thousand apologies.
“Don’t leave me... ” Jungkook murmured again, voice hoarse, each word pressed between his teeth like it burned to say it aloud. His head tilted slightly, and his lips brushed against Taehyung’s shoulder... hesitant, trembling, lost.
Taehyung sucked in a breath, his body shivering at the contact. He could feel the tension radiating from Jungkook’s frame... the shudder in his arms, the faint tremble in his fingers that refused to let go.
Jungkook wasn’t crying. He couldn’t. But the pain in his eyes, the way his voice cracked around the edges, was worse than any tear that could fall.
It was the first time Taehyung had seen Jungkook like this when sober... stripped of pride, stripped of his composure-- a man standing before him not as the cold CEO everyone feared, but as someone who was silently falling apart in the arms of the person he’d spent months breaking.
Taehyung closed his eyes, drawing in a long, trembling breath. His chest ached with the weight of it all... the closeness, the scent of Jungkook’s cologne, the warmth of the arms around him that once made him feel safe, now suffocating him.
He pressed his palms weakly against Jungkook’s chest. “Let me go,” he whispered, but his voice broke halfway through.
He pushed, once, then again... harder this time but Jungkook only held him tighter.
“No…” Jungkook breathed out, his voice trembling against Taehyung’s temple. His lips brushed against the side of Taehyung’s face in a desperate, uneven kiss... the kind that wasn’t romantic, just broken.
“You can’t… you can’t just walk away.” His voice cracked, low and almost childlike in its plea. “We… we’re family, Taehyung. Family. How could you just leave like that?”
The word family hung between them, and Taehyung’s entire body stilled. His eyes opened, glassy with unshed tears, and he stared ahead blankly before whispering.... calm, but sharp enough to cut through the silence.
“We are not a family.”
Jungkook froze. His grip faltered not because he wanted to let go, but because the words hit deeper than he could’ve ever prepared for. His arms went slack around Taehyung, and that tiny shift of weakness was all Taehyung needed.
He stepped back, breathing heavily, looking at Jungkook with eyes that were dry but lifeless.
“I’m not your family,” Taehyung said quietly, voice trembling yet steady enough to hold conviction. “And you’re certainly not mine.”
The words seemed to echo against the walls, heavy and cruel in their finality.
Across the room, Seokjin clenched his jaw, his throat tightening as he watched the scene unfold.
The bitterness, the heartbreak, the ache in both their voices it was unbearable.
But he didn’t move. He didn’t comfort his brother.
Because this… this was the consequence Jungkook had carved out for himself.
Jungkook stood still, eyes blank, face pale. His breath came in shallow bursts as if his lungs had forgotten how to work. He wanted to speak, to say anything but nothing. His heart pounded so harshly against his chest it hurt to breathe.
Taehyung looked at him one last time, a long, hollow stare that held all the love, hurt, and exhaustion that had burned out inside him.
“I’m leaving you,” he said, almost in a whisper. “Forever.”
His voice cracked on the last word, but he didn’t look back. He turned and walked away, his steps echoing faintly as he disappeared into his room, the door closing with a soft thud that somehow sounded louder than any scream.
Jungkook didn’t move. He just stood there, staring at the space Taehyung had left behind. His eyes, once sharp and cold, were now vacant. Empty.
He blinked once. Then again. But the light in his gaze was gone.
.
.
.
Taehyung wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, the salt of his tears mixing with the trembling breath that escaped his lips.
He opened the door quietly, as if afraid even the sound of the hinge might shatter him further.
Inside, Gyubin sat on the rug, the cat curled on his lap, its tail flicking lazily while the boy stared blankly at the floor.
For a second, Taehyung just stood there watching his son’s small frame, the soft rise and fall of his shoulders, the innocence that didn’t deserve any of this. His throat burned. He swallowed hard and walked forward, every step heavier than the last.
Gyubin looked up, his round eyes searching Taehyung’s face. “Appa…” he said softly, his voice almost afraid to echo in the silence.
Taehyung let out a broken hum in response as he bent down, removing the suitcase from under the bed.
His hands were trembling slightly as he began to fold some of Gyubin’s clothes.
.. shirts, pairs of socks, the small jacket he loved and then his own.
The sound of zippers and rustling fabric filled the room, drowning the beating of his own heart.
“Why didn’t you tell me that...that Mr. Jeon is your husband?” Gyubin asked suddenly, his voice small, unsure like he wasn’t even sure if he should be asking it.
Taehyung froze mid-fold. His hands stilled on the edge of the suitcase. For a moment, his heart seemed to stop too. He didn’t look up, didn’t answer. His lips parted, but no words came out.
He just closed the suitcase halfway and moved toward the drawer, grabbing Gyubin’s medicine, his own prescription bottles, and the folder of hospital files.
Gyubin watched quietly. He didn’t push again. He could tell from his father’s trembling hands and hollow eyes that something inside him had already broken.
“We’re leaving, Binnie,” Taehyung said, his voice hoarse as he zipped the bag shut. “Get your bunny plushie.”
Gyubin blinked. His lips parted slightly. “Will… will we come back?” he asked hesitantly.
Taehyung turned toward him, eyes red but expression composed, fragile in a way that made the question feel heavier. He walked closer, crouched down in front of his son.
“Not this time...” he whispered.
Gyubin’s heart cracked at those three words. His little hands tightened around the cat, who sensed his distress and rubbed against his chest. Tears welled in Gyubin’s eyes until they blurred his vision.
He stepped back, shaking his head slightly. “Appa… I don’t wanna go,” he said, his voice breaking. “Please not again. Please...”
Taehyung’s lips trembled, and for a second, he almost gave in. Almost. But he blinked the tears back, steeling his expression.
“Get your plushie,” he said firmly, trying to sound like he wasn’t falling apart inside. “Or we’re leaving without it.”
Gyubin flinched at the tone, his chin wobbling as he nodded quickly.
He placed the cat gently on the floor and walked to the corner where the curtains hung heavy and half-drawn.
Behind them, hidden from sight, lay the small, worn-out bunny plushie.
He picked it up and held it tightly against his chest.
Then he turned around and walked back to the cat, who sat watching him with big, calm eyes. He knelt and hugged it, pressing his cheek against its fur.
“Put her down, Binnie,” Taehyung said softly but firmly.
Gyubin shook his head immediately, clutching both the cat and the plushie to his chest. “N-no...,” he whispered stubbornly. “I won’t leave her this time. She'll be hurt If I-I leave her again...” His voice cracked halfway, and his tiny shoulders trembled.
Taehyung exhaled shakily, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. He reached for the suitcase, closing it with a soft thud, and then crouched down again. His fingers curled gently but firmly around Gyubin’s small hand.
“Let’s go,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Gyubin’s glassy eyes lifted to meet his wide, trembling, confused. The cat meowed softly in his arms, the sound slicing through the thick silence.
And as Taehyung began leading him toward the door, Gyubin’s little hand shook inside his.... clutching the plushie tightly with the other while tears finally spilled down his cheeks.
Taehyung dragged the suitcase across the marble floor, the faint sound of its wheels echoing like a dull heartbeat in the heavy silence.
Gyubin walked beside him, his small hand trembling in Taehyung’s grip, clutching his plushie to his chest with the other.
The hallway lights glowed faintly golden, yet everything around them felt colorless.
When they reached the living room, Seokjin stood there. His chest tightened the moment his eyes fell on them Taehyung’s tear-streaked face, Gyubin’s glassy eyes, and behind them, Jungkook, still frozen in the same spot he’d been standing since Taehyung’s words had cut the air like glass.
“Taehyung,” Seokjin said quietly, stepping forward. His voice cracked on the second syllable.
Taehyung didn’t look up. He kept walking.
“Taehyung,” Seokjin called again, firmer this time, his voice thick with something between plea and pain.
“I know you’re hurt, but please don’t go like this. Don’t leave him.” His gaze flicked toward Jungkook... a man who looked nothing like a CEO now, just a hollow shadow standing in the ruins of his choices.
Taehyung finally stopped and turned his head slightly, his expression calm in a way that hurt to look at. “Thank you for everything, Seokjin-ssi,” he said softly, voice trembling but controlled. “Truly. But I’m done now.”
Seokjin’s exhaled sighing. He could only watch as Taehyung bowed slightly, polite even in heartbreak, before turning toward the door again.
Gyubin’s small frame shook, a muffled sob escaping his lips. “Appa…” he whimpered, his voice quivering.
“Please.” His fingers wriggled inside Taehyung’s grip as he looked at Jungkook who still hadn’t moved, hadn’t even blinked. His eyes stared blankly at the floor, as if he’d forgotten how to breathe.
“Please, Appa…” Gyubin tried again, his voice breaking completely this time. The cat mewled softly against his chest, as though sensing his grief and trying to comfort him.
But Taehyung didn’t stop. He couldn’t. His jaw was clenched, his expression frozen, every step forward was an act of force against his own collapsing heart.
As they reached the door, Gyubin’s tears finally spilled over, streaming freely down his cheeks. He turned his head, looking one last time at the man standing behind them.
And before Taehyung could take another step a single, broken word slipped out, soft but clear enough to pierce the air.
“Dadda…”
Jungkook’s head snapped up. The daze broke like shattering glass. His eyes widened, breath hitching in his throat. Taehyung froze in place, his hand tightening around Gyubin’s instinctively but the boy wriggled free.
“Binnie—” Taehyung started, but before he could react, Gyubin set the cat down and his plushie and ran, his shoes padding across the cold floor until he collided into Jungkook’s chest.
Jungkook’s arms lifted automatically, trembling as they wrapped around the boy. The strength he didn’t have moments ago suddenly surged from somewhere deep, somewhere desperate.
He sank to his knees, clutching Gyubin tightly as the little boy buried his face into his chest, crying harder.
“Please stop, Appa,” Gyubin sobbed into Jungkook’s shirt, his tiny hands gripping the fabric tightly, staining it with tears. “Please… please…”
Jungkook’s heart cracked, his throat burning. He blinked, but no tears came his eyes were too dry, too tired to weep anymore. He brushed on Gyubin's back, voice low. “You… you should listen to your appa.”
Gyubin shook his head violently, his cries turning to hiccups. “No! We—we’re a family,” he said through sobs, words trembling, desperate.
Jungkook swallowed hard, his jaw tightening as his chest heaved. Family. The word echoed in his head, both blessing and curse.
Taehyung’s grip on the suitcase faltered. His vision blurred for a moment before he clenched his jaw again and forced himself to move.
He stepped closer, eyes burning as he looked at the sight in front of him Jungkook on his knees, clutching the child they both loved but could never share.
Without a word, Taehyung reached forward, his hand trembling as it closed around Gyubin’s arm. “Binnie,” he said, his voice low but firm. “Let’s go.”
Gyubin shook his head, gripping Jungkook’s shirt tighter, his small fists curling.
“Binnie,” Taehyung said again, his voice cracking this time. “Please.”
Gyubin didn’t move. His lips trembled, his sobs coming softer now, muffled against Jungkook’s chest.
But Taehyung’s grip tightened, and with a painful tug, he pulled him back... Gyubin’s hands slipping from Jungkook’s shirt, fingers catching on the fabric before letting go.
“Appa…” Gyubin cried, his voice broken. “I don’t—”
But the rest of his words drowned in his own sobs. Taehyung crouched, grabbed the cat gently and placed it in Gyubin’s arms, then picked up the plushie, tucking it close to the boy’s chest.
“Hold them tight,” he said, his voice shaking but firm. Then he took Gyubin’s hand in his own and started walking again.
The steps toward the door felt like walking through quicksand... every movement heavy, every breath harder than the last. His heart screamed, his legs wanted to collapse, but he kept walking.
Behind him, Jungkook remained on his knees, eyes staring at the floor where Gyubin had stood seconds ago... his shirt damp with a kid’s tears and his soul soaked in regret.
The sound of the suitcase wheels grew fainter.
Jungkook’s eyes never left the door... not when Taehyung’s back disappeared down the hall, not when Gyubin’s faint sniffles faded into silence. He just sat there, unmoving, staring at the emptiness where they had been.
And then…
Then it hit him.
Like a storm collapsing from the inside, silent and devastating. His lips parted soundlessly, and before he could stop it, a single tear escaped... hot, heavy, cutting its way down the same face that once showed no weakness.
It trailed past his jaw, fell to the floor, and that single drop felt louder than the echo of the closing door.
Seokjin, who had been standing still all this time, finally moved. He walked slowly toward Jungkook, his own throat tightening at the sight of his younger brother.... the proud, cold CEO reduced to a hollow figure on his knees.
Without a word, Seokjin crouched down beside him and pulled him into his chest. Jungkook didn’t resist. He just sank, his body giving up the last of its strength as his forehead pressed against Seokjin’s shoulder.
“Hyung…” Jungkook’s voice broke, barely a whisper like the remnants of something that used to be strong. His breath trembled as his fingers clutched Seokjin’s sleeve.
“He left,” Jungkook breathed, voice small, almost childlike. “I lost him... I lostmy family again, hyung..."
Seokjin closed his eyes, his hand tightening around the back of Jungkook’s head as if he could hold him together by touch alone.
But nothing could fix that silence, the kind that comes after losing something you can never get back.