The familiar room that always had been a cocoon of joy and warmth was now deluged with dreariness, fumes of melancholy exuding from every corner.

The source of it all was Jungkook’s heart, black and fractured, barely holding itself together. It effectuated a cumbersome shroud that clung to his seated form and sprawled further, tainting the air with a dark energy.

Jungkook extended a hand towards the nightstand, listless fingers curling around his phone. He searched for Woosung’s number and tapped on it, then brought the phone to his ear. It rang for a while, each beep a faraway noise in Jungkook’s senses.

Woosung’s voice sounded through the phone with a grave undertone. “What?”

“Did you tell him everything?”

“Yes.”

Jungkook’s dismal eyes circled the floor as he allowed a moment’s silence to preponderate. “Is he home?”

“No. I don’t know where he is. Even Jihyun left,” Woosung said, bitterness coating every word.

“You told her the truth too? I’m amazed.” Jungkook’s voice held no hint of amusement or irony; the despondency lodged in his core had squeezed out of him any shred of strength and brightness.

“She figured something was wrong when I came home yesterday. I couldn’t keep lying to her anymore.” Woosung rubbed his face, a heavy sigh escaping him. “Jungkook. You have to keep your word. Don’t seek revenge. I’m tired of fighting the Jeon family.”

“I’m tired too,” Jungkook uttered. “I just want to be with Taehyung. Let’s stay out of each other’s way from now on. But tell me first. How... did you manage to kill my father?”

“I found out he had made a new investment without telling me anything. I called him and yelled at him. He came to the company. I wasn’t planning on killing him, Jungkook. At least not that day. But we fought so fiercely and I couldn’t... I drew out my gun. He reached for his gun too, but I shot first.”

Jungkook’s chest plunged to a stuttering fall as he processed every word. He had noticed the tension between the two, often interrupted them when they started screaming at the company, perceived how they talked about each other as if they were just acquaintances, if not enemies. But no matter how many times he asked his father if something was wrong, Jaesuk wouldn’t tell him anything.

Jungkook should have pushed him to talk. Maybe if he knew, he would have been able to prevent the disastrous events that followed. But everything was in the past now, and Jungkook could do nothing to change it.

“Okay,” Jungkook said, barely audible. “Let’s not to talk to each other again.”

“I agree.”

A moment of stillness flowed by before Jungkook lowered his hand and ended the call. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he headed out of the mire of depression that was his room and shuffled towards Jiyu’s room.

He knocked gently on the door and cracked it open, peeking inside. A mirthless yet loving smile tugged at his lips as he caught her rubbing her sleepy face with her small fists. “Did I wake you up, baby girl?”

“No,” she muttered as she sat up in her bed. “I woke up a few minutes ago. I tried to sleep again, but I couldn’t.”

Jungkook stepped inside, drawing closer until he slipped into the bed. “Why did you try to sleep again? You didn’t rest enough?” he asked softly as he pulled her into his lap, cradling her sideways against his chest.

Jiyu’s drowsy features sank even more with a tinge of sadness that adorned them. She nestled her head against Jungkook’s shoulder, lacing her arms around his waist. “When I’m awake, I keep thinking about the two bad men who took Taehyungie oppa.”

Jiyu’s words, coiled around her vulnerable voice, sledgehammered his chest with such force his breath froze for a moment. He tightened his grip around her, placing his other hand on the side of her head, keeping her pressed against his body. “You don’t have to worry about them, baby. I found the bad guys and saved Taehyungie. He’s okay.”

Jiyu’s eyes widened, filling with tears of relief as she drew back to look at him. “Really? You—You saved him?”

“Of course, angel,” Jungkook said with ultimate softness, his own eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I promised I’ll protect Taehyung. Maybe I couldn’t stop the bad guys from taking him, but I found them right away and brought Taehyungie back.”

Jiyu clasped him tightly, squeezing her head against his chest as she grinned. “You’re the best oppa! Can we go see him?”

A mild chuckle spilled from Jungkook as he pressed gentle kisses on the top of her head. “He’s still resting. Like you didn’t go to school today, Taehyungie will stay home too and rest. I promise I’ll bring him here tomorrow, okay?”

“But—But he can come here to rest,” Jiyu opposed, her lips shrinking into a pout. “We can rest together.”

Jungkook released a nasal sigh, controlled and silent. “I can try to talk to him. But I can’t promise he’ll come over today. Taehyungie... is sad. He has some issues with his family and he has to solve them first. You’ll understand if he can’t come over today, hmm?”

“Yes, oppa,” Jiyu whispered, the veil of sullenness lifting slightly from her face. “Tell him I’ll give him lots of hugs and kisses to make him happy again. I don’t want him to be sad.”

“You’re so precious, baby,” Jungkook said, adoration dripping from his quiet voice and sparkling in his eyes. “I’ll tell him. Don’t worry.”

As Jungkook continued to cradle her, sensing the subtle palliation of Jiyu’s sadness, he could only pray that Taehyung would accept to see him and maybe, hopefully, talk to him as well.

🥀

Jungkook stood outside of Jimin’s house early in the afternoon, the dark clouds that hung above reflecting the blackness of his heart.

He rang the bell and waited, assimilating the quietness that surrounded the isolated house. His drawn features regained a spark of life as the door slid open, anticipation braising within.

Jimin stood at the other side, nibbling his lower lip, his nervous eyes that refused to stay still on Jungkook’s face conveying his awkwardness. He pasted a structured facade on his traits with an inkling of sternness, feigning nonchalance. “Jungkook. I haven’t seen you in forever. What brings you here?”

Jungkook’s brows lifted with a notion of mocking surprise, though the searing melancholy persisted, obscuring any scintilla of brilliance. “I’m here to see Taehyung.”

“Oh.” Jimin shifted uncomfortably, his gaze finally settling on the ground between them. “He’s not here.”

“Jimin,” he murmured, disapproval glinting in his eyes. “Come on.”

Jimin’s facade cracked rather quickly, allowing his worry about his dear friend to manifest in the form of a sulky frown. “Fine, he’s here. What the hell happened yesterday? He’s not talking, Jungkook. He’s just... He’s crying all the time.”

Jungkook’s stomach churned and shriveled with agony, his poor heart writhing at the new information. He expected Taehyung’s wretched state, but he didn’t think he wouldn’t even talk to his best friends.

A vile surge of alarm rocketed through Jungkook, speeding up his pulse and constricting his neck. He suddenly lunged forward, but Jimin’s form blocked his way. “Jimin-ah. You know I can throw you out of my way with ease. Step aside.”

Jimin stood his ground, squaring his shoulders, determination marking his face. “He won’t talk to you, anyway. Give him space.”

“I don’t need him to talk to me. And I’m done giving him space,” Jungkook said, a quiver of both desperation and frustration coloring his voice. “If he wants to cry, he’ll cry with me beside him. If he wants to sit in silence, he’ll sit with me beside him. He’s blaming himself for something he didn’t even do. I can’t stand this.”

Jimin studied the vortex of emotions whirling in Jungkook’s shimmering eyes in silence. The strictness in his features dissolved into sorrow as a flicker of understanding embraced his determination, causing it to surrender. “He’s in my room,” Jimin uttered as he stepped aside.

Jungkook leaped at once, brushing past Jimin, his steps hasty and wobbly as he made his way upstairs. Reaching the first door, he paused to gather his composure, though his breath kept scurrying in and out of his lungs as if scared. And he was terrified. Terrified of the sight he would face.

Jungkook pushed the door open, only then perceiving the tremor of his hand. The sight nearly dislodged his heart from the brutal torsion it gave, an ocean of devastation drowning him at once.

Taehyung was curled up into a ball on the bed, a mask of absolute desolation engraved on his face, tears flowing out of his bloodshot, soulless eyes. Taehyung didn’t even flinch when their gazes locked; he only flicked his eyes down as if he didn’t see him.

“Tae,” Jungkook said — his name a heavy, poignant whisper on his lips. He crept closer, each step cumbersome, as if his despondency was dragging him down, wanting to swallow him. He squatted in front of him in the gentlest of movements, his sunken eyes shining with a thick layer of burning tears.

The anguish within him raged fiercer, oppressing his existence and torturing his poor heart, as Taehyung rolled over, turning his back to him. “Tae, please,” Jungkook breathed out, his chest squirming in his efforts to fence in his sobs. He ventured to place a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder, but he yanked it away when he felt the jolt of his form.

Jungkook’s heart shattered a little more, its sharp fragments gouging into his core. The pain of Taehyung’s rejection was like a wildfire dancing mockingly around him, reducing his bones to the consistency of lava. Every ounce of his being ached, the suffering almost unbearable, as if his very soul were being scorched by its intensity.

But it wasn’t the time to cry, sink into despair, or give up. No. He needed to calm Taehyung down, alleviate even a shred of his agony, and soothe his wrenching chaos.

With newfound purpose and resolve, Jungkook filled his lungs with fortifying air and commanded his dolorous, shrill feelings to shush. “Fine,” he said, more to himself, as he pushed himself to his feet. He rounded the bed, shedding his jacket, and tossed it on the nightstand. He sat on the edge of the bed and knocked off his shoes, mulling over what to say to him all the while.

Jungkook scooted up until he rested his back against the wall. He glanced down at Taehyung, catching a fresh wave of tears dripping down his face without sound. “You know what I suddenly crave right now?” His features clouded over with disappointment as Taehyung turned his back to him again, but he didn’t let it affect him.

“A chocolate cake,” Jungkook continued in a light, sweet tone, despite the heaviness squashing his existence. “I remember the last time I ate one. It was that Saturday, remember? You had a mission and couldn’t come with me to the pastry shop, so I went alone and bought a chocolate cake. You came home late, tired and sleepy, but you still sat with me to eat the cake. You rested your head on my shoulder, and just moments later, you fell asleep. I carried you to our bed, and you didn’t even flinch. That’s how tired you were. I guess my point is you’re amazing. You always make time for the people you love, even if you’re exhausted.”

Jungkook’s eyes, tinged with wistfulness and a driblet of hope, glided to Taehyung’s back. He wasn’t discouraged by the utter stillness he faced; instead, a soft smile ghosted over Jungkook’s lips like a twinkling star in the pitch-dark sky.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Jungkook uttered sweetly, almost able to hear Taehyung’s voice in his head. “‘You’re doing that thing again, talking about whatever to make me feel better.’ Yes, I am. And I won’t stop. I’ll pester you until your tears stop. And now you’re thinking, ‘No, you’re not pestering me. I love your company.’ And I love your company too, Tae, even if you don’t talk to me.”

Taehyung dipped his face slightly, wiping his wet cheeks with the hand resting beside his head, as he sniffled. A wavelet of warmth bloomed in the center of his chest at Jungkook’s cute behavior, cocooning a smidgen of his wretchedness. But his traits remained bathed in sullenness, his burning eyes still hazy and featureless.

“Ah, and that day,” Jungkook carried on, his smile brightening with fondness as the memory took hold, “when I had to go on a mission that lasted a whole week. It was the first time we spent so many days apart. You had asked my mother to take Jiyu to her friend so we would have the house to ourselves.”

Jungkook paused, a mellow breath rolling off him. “You had filled our room with rose petals and had bought a bouquet for me and a chocolate cake. We spent the whole day together, talking, making love, sleeping, just feeling each other close. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have someone like you in my life. You were the dream. You still are. You never stopped being my dream. And I wish I could just... feel your warmth against me again.”

The silence that mounded between them again was taut, feeling as if it would bury them with its enormity. Jungkook waited, hoping to detect any sort of reaction from Taehyung — any sign that Taehyung wanted to feel his warmth against him, too. But nothing happened.

Jungkook’s veneer of confidence and resolve marred with piercing dejection, his smile flattening into a bitter line, his eyes gleaming with sorrow. “I guess you’re thinking, ‘I want that too, but I don’t deserve it. I have to hurt alone, like I did in the past five years. You left me all alone to hurt for years.’ You have no idea how sorry I am, Taehyung. Even if you know the whole truth now, it’s hard to forgive me. I know. That’s why I’m not asking you to forgive me. You probably don’t want to hear this now, so I won’t say more. But... please. Can I lie down with you? Please?”

It was startling how right Jungkook was to everything he said again, how well he understood his internal chaos. The suffocating loop around Taehyung’s heart loosened just a little, enough to allow it to beat calmer now. No tears threatened to fall from his dreary eyes again. Jungkook’s words, wrapped around his velvet, soothing voice, softened his creased characteristics, pacifying a fraction of the sadness clinging to them.

And slowly, Taehyung’s form relaxed. The rigidness in his shoulders subsided, and even though he didn’t speak, his breathing grew steadier. Moments of complete stillness later, he heard movement from behind, feeling the weight on the mattress shift. An overwhelming warmth cloaked his back as Jungkook latched onto him, his muscular arm curling over his stomach, holding him so sweetly, so desperately.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking now. You’ve never stayed silent for so long,” Jungkook whispered against his nape, a broken rush of air slipping through his mouth that juddered his chest. He closed his eyes, absorbing the coziness of Taehyung’s frame against him and dragging on his familiar, musky scent.

“I don’t know... what to do, Tae. I’m so scared,” Jungkook said, the unsteadiness in his voice punctuating the storm of fear within. He clutched him harder against his chest just as his form started twitching with the said fear, his stomach spiraling, his breath a pant hurting his lungs. “I-I was talking this whole time like I know everything, like I have the solution for everything. But—But I’m terrified. I don’t know shit. If you want me to leave, I will.”

Taehyung could feel the scurry of Jungkook’s breath against his nape, the jerky waving of his chest, the tension in his form, the desperation in his grip around him, his fear. He hated everything — they all melded into one stab of pain that slashed through his heart.

Taehyung’s hand slithered downwards, his fingers seeking out and finding Jungkook’s forearm. They twined around it, the hold tender yet firm, speaking louder than any word.

Jungkook’s heart lurched and his stomach knotted excruciatingly at the simple yet soul-melting touch. His face wrung with relieved sadness, and the tears that flooded his eyes a second later rained down his face so easily, as if he had been holding them back for too long. “Fuck,” he choked out brokenly as he screwed his eyes shut, his chest rocking against Taehyung’s back.

A stirring flurry of worry eddied in Taehyung’s gut at the wrecked sound of his voice and his sniffling. “Why...” Taehyung’s voice drowned in its hoarseness, and he cleared his throat with a weak cough. Conceiving the reason for Jungkook’s sudden breakdown on his own, Taehyung expelled a spasmodic sigh, his feelings a tumultuous blizzard, overwhelming him. “Don’t cry, Kookie.”

Taehyung’s words triggered a multitude of emotions within Jungkook, nostalgic and sorrowful, warm yet wrenching. They punched more tears out of him and amplified the spasms of his body. His despondency found reprieve in those words and his touch, but they also demolished every scrap of Jungkook’s composure, leaving him stranded in the turbulent sea of his conflicted feelings.

Taehyung alternated between squeezing Jungkook’s arm and caressing it, his movements slow-paced and tender. “Thank you,” he whispered, a loving suavity underlying his voice. “For being here. For doing this for me. You know... everything. You get me more than anyone. You still know me better than anyone.”

Taehyung took a moment, focusing his attention on Jungkook. The shaking of his frame wore off little by little, his choked sobs quietening steadily. Taehyung produced a small sigh, a breath of relief. “I don’t want to fight you, Jungkook. I don’t want to be mad at you or push you away. I get why you left me. But I can’t just delete the five years I spent in misery. So don’t ask me to go back to how things were. I can’t do it. At least not yet.”

Jungkook’s sobs had reduced to mere sniffles, his breathing more even as he listened. He wiped his nose with his sleeve and laid his head on the pillow again. “I know,” he croaked out. “I won’t ask you anything like that. All I want to ask is to let me be close to you. Drive around the city together with no destination. Spend time at the park. Play with Jiyu together. Eat together. Something, anything... together.”

A semblance of a smile lifted Taehyung’s lips just barely, the drilling oppression over his traits melting away. “Hmm. I like that.”

“Re—Really?” Jungkook spluttered, wet eyes doubling in size as they dug holes into the back of Taehyung’s head. “You want... to spend time with me?”

“Yes. I want to remember... I have to see...” Taehyung gave up on explaining himself with a throaty sigh, still unable to untangle his convoluted feelings.

Jungkook brushed away the last traces of his tears, squeezing him reassuringly. “It’s okay. I know what you’re trying to say. I’ll do anything for you. I won’t pressure you in any way. If I do something that’s too much, though, you have to tell me, okay? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Mild lines of puzzlement crazed Taehyung’s forehead. “Like... what?”

“Hug you like right now. Or hold your hand. Or kiss... your forehead. Or pamper you like the baby you are.”

A chuckle bubbled up in Taehyung’s chest and flowed out in a muted, dulcet wave. “I’m not a baby.”

“You are,” Jungkook uttered, his smiling lips grazing against Taehyung’s nape. “The cutest baby.”

The room felt lighter now, the heaviness of their shared sorrow fizzling into coziness. They lay there, the silence between them no longer oppressive but comfortable as usual, as they immersed themselves in the palliative closeness of their forms.

Taehyung drew in a deep breath, melting against Jungkook’s warmth a notch more as he released the air. “How’s Jiyu?”

“She was shaken yesterday and worried about you. My mom gave her a medicinal herb to calm her down, and she slept mostly yesterday. I told her this morning you’re okay. She wants to see you.”

“My poor baby,” Taehyung mumbled, his chest clenching in worry. “She must have been so scared.”

Jungkook hummed a bitter sound. “She was. Thank you, Tae. For protecting her.”

“Don’t thank me for that. Of course I would protect her. She means the world to me.”

Jungkook smiled softly, his heart brimming with fondness. “You’re amazing,” he said, drawing a feathery kiss on Taehyung’s nape where his lips lay. “Is this okay?”

A trail of tingles cut down Taehyung’s spine at the touch of his lips, his chest arching just slightly. It was staggering that after so many years Jungkook’s kisses, caresses, or simply his presence made him all tingly and shy. Like the rush Taehyung felt the first time Jungkook pecked his cheek, kissed him, made love to him. Every moment with Jungkook still felt like the first time.

Taehyung tried to tame the butterflies in his stomach and the fluttering of his heart, though his efforts were futile. “Yes,” he said nonetheless, his voice no more than a whisper.

“I can feel how tense you are. I told you, if something makes you uncomfortable—”

“It’s not that,” Taehyung cut him off in a gentle tone. “I just feel... weird. Good weird.”

Understanding raised the tips of Jungkook’s lips with a ray of softness, resisting an urge to kiss his skin again. “I feel the same.”

Taehyung found his smile again at his delicately spoken words, giving a squeeze on Jungkook’s forearm. “You’re hugging me,” he pointed out and instantly felt the hold around his belly firm up. “You know what that means.”

“You won’t let me leave you ever again?”

“Hmm. I still feel... like you have to hate me for what Woosung—”

“Tae. No.”

Taehyung sighed, a veil of sullenness engulfing his traits. “I know you don’t hate me. I know it’s not our fault. But I haven’t accepted everything that happened yet, Jungkook. It’s too fresh. Even though deep down I knew what Woosung had done, it wasn’t real in my head because we hadn’t talked about it. Now all secrets are out. Now it’s real. And scary. And it hurts.”

Jungkook stayed unmoving and silent, fixing his attention on Taehyung’s warmth to alleviate the melancholy that clasped him again. “I get it. You should take all the time you need to process everything. But please don’t blame yourself. I never hated you for anything, Tae. I could never hate you. I only loved you. I still love you. And I always will love you.”

Taehyung retained the heavenly confession like a gem, inscribing it into his heart. These three words, although he had heard them countless times from Jungkook, flooded his being with all sorts of warm emotions, making him feel so cherished, so safe, so full.

Taehyung’s fingers danced lightly across Jungkook’s arm, tracing the prominent veins with a gentle, absent-minded touch. “I love you too,” he murmured softly, the words spilling from him on a sigh that blended with the warmth between them.

Fuck, the relief, the bliss, the excitement — everything was too much for Jungkook. They still had a long way ahead, a path full of dolorous conversations and heartfelt apologies, but this moment was the dawning of the long journey of repairing their fractured relationship. And even though they didn’t say it with words, both knew it.

Jungkook remained still, not wanting Taehyung to cease the delicate caresses he drew on his arm. “Romantically?” he asked, teased really, his eyes sparking with mischief.

Taehyung snorted, delivering the lightest of slaps on Jungkook’s forearm as he picked up on his impish tone. “Dork,” he uttered, his smile widening at the sugary sound of Jungkook’s laugh. “In any way possible.”

Jungkook’s playfulness diminished to fondness threaded with mild surprise at Taehyung’s easy confession. He wanted to say a million things, kiss Taehyung until he would steal all the air from his lungs, beg him to start over right then and there. But he did nothing. He knew Taehyung had made an enormous step just by lying with him, letting Jungkook hug him and even kiss his nape. He would be too greedy if he asked for more this soon.

Jungkook simply cradled him like the baby Taehyung was, relishing every single second. “Me too, Tae.”

They settled into a homelike quietness, a tranquility that enclosed them like a cozy blanket. Their focus was solely on each other, soft smiles hanging on their faces, dreamy stars shimmering in their eyes. Their steady breathing merged into one mollifying tune, with the serene pulse of their hearts resounding through their intertwined forms.

The heavenly moment stretched, both losing track of time. Not even a shard of darkness remained within; only a consuming warmth both had missed so much. Too much.

Two knocks rippled across the room, nudging their bubble, and the sound of the door opening seconds later snapped it. “Hey, sorry, guys, I have to—oh,” Jimin muttered as he took in the sight of their loving embrace. “I didn’t expect that.”

Mellow chuckles surrounded the two, still refusing to break apart. “Yeah,” Taehyung snorted. “What is it, Chim?”

“I have to go to work. You can stay, of course.”

“Thanks, Jimin-ah, but we’ll leave,” Jungkook said.

“We will?” Taehyung asked, looking at Jungkook over his shoulder.

“Hmm. I’ll take you on a ride.”

Taehyung let his head fall against the pillow again, a timid smile pulling on the corners of his lips. “Okay.”

As Jimin caught himself smiling at the cute scene, he cleared his throat, forcing a strict expression on his traits. “Yah, assface.” He noticed Jungkook perked his head up at once, nailing him with a quizzical stare. “You owe me and Hoseok an apology.”

Jungkook’s expression softened with a glimmer of wistfulness. “I know. I will explain everything and apologize until you forgive me.”

“Good,” Jimin said, trying to maintain his nonchalant facade but failing. He knew Jungkook since high school, and no matter how mad he was at him for leaving without a word, he still loved him and cherished him. “Anyway. I’ll call you later, Tae.”

“Okay. Bye, Chim.”

Jimin directed a delicate smile at his best friend and headed off to the bathroom to get ready.

Jungkook supported himself on his elbow as the door closed, leaning over to finally lay his eyes on Taehyung. Sensing his movement, Taehyung twisted his head, looking up at him. The eye contact was tender, another type of connection that threaded their souls together tacitly.

Jungkook stroked a hand up Taehyung’s torso in a slow caress, fond eyes steadfast on each other. His fingers trailed over his sternum and collarbone, following the curve of his neck and climbing over his jawline with ultimate gentleness. The silky soft caress concluded its journey to Taehyung’s cheek, embracing it in a loving palm.

Taehyung’s breath caught in his throat at the chaste stroke, his heart prancing and writhing in a dance of tingling nervousness sweetly mixed with warmth. Jungkook’s eyes held another whole world in them, one that spoke of peacefulness and bliss, promising to keep him safe and offer unconditional love.

It was a gaze Taehyung had received a myriad of times before, yet it was different now. It was stronger, deeper, more intense and desperate than any other time. Sculpted out of years of pain and torment, of a harrowing void neither of them wanted to experience again. Blossomed from a bone-deep longing, a love that had never died.

Jungkook’s gaze sparkled as it cruised over Taehyung’s face, soaking in his little fond smile and the mellowness that was engraved on his stunning characteristics. He breathed a subdued sigh, smoothing his thumb over the crown of his cheek. Every detail, from the curve of his lips to the stars in his eyes, was a precious memory of a life he yearned to have with every fiber of his being.

“Wanna go on a ride with me?” Jungkook asked, his voice as velvet as melted chocolate.

Faint creases leaped into sight at the corners of Taehyung’s eyes as his smile grew, the warmth in his gaze matching Jungkook’s tender expression. “With the way you’re looking at me, I would go anywhere with you.”

Jungkook preserved their heart-melting stare, his chest aching with a gnawing urge to destroy the distance between their lips. The magnetic pull was almost unbearable, but he had said he would wait for Taehyung to kiss him. And he wouldn’t go back on his word. Never again.

“Let’s go then,” Jungkook whispered, tracing one last gentle caress along Taehyung’s cheek with his thumb.

They slipped out of the bed, leaving behind the dreary place where Taehyung had been crying almost nonstop since yesterday. A cozy, familiar air shrouded them, dispersing all worries for now. They had made a start. A start that was only possible now, with no secrets left hidden. A start both craved like oxygen. A start both needed to feel alive again.

A start that was enough for now, even though there were still so many things left unsaid.

───⭒───༺🖤༻───⭒───
Rereading this chapter melted my heart🥹 It's so sweet! I hope you feel the same. Next update tomorrow💜

Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy holidays💜