It had been months. Months since Taehyung and Venom had last come face to face. Months since Jimin and Jungkook had exchanged more than just lingering ghosts of unspoken words. Months since their worlds had fractured, leaving them stranded in their own isolated, suffocating voids.

And yet... nothing had changed.

Each of them was battling their own demons, waging wars in silence—wars that left them wounded in ways no one else could see. The kind of wounds that festered in the dark.

Jimin spent his nights drowning in exhaustion, staring at the ceiling of his apartment, sleep was just another stranger he refused to let in. His hands still shook whenever he scrubbed them at the sink, no matter how many lives he tried to save, no matter how much he bled himself dry for redemption.

But there was no redemption.

Not when the memories of that night still clung to his skin, refusing to wash away. Not when his chest still ached with the bitter truth of who Jungkook truly was.

And Jungkook—he had never been good at staying still. But now, he had no choice. Jimin had banished him. And so, he drifted like a ghost, lurking in the shadows, watching over Jimin from a distance because he didn't know how to let go. He told himself it was better this way, but it felt like dying a little more each day. Because how was he supposed to live when the only light in his world had turned its back on him?

As for Taehyung and Venom.

They were no better.

Taehyung had always been good at pretending. His smirks, his laughter, his nonchalant shrugs—all of it a performance. But when he sat alone in his car at night, gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, he knew. He knew he was lying to himself.

And Venom?

She had disappeared into the abyss she had come from, leaving nothing behind but the remnants of who she had once been. She had always believed that distance would cleanse her sins. But she still woke up gasping in the middle of the night, reaching for something that was never there.

It was a cruel thing—to need someone and know you could never have them again. To miss them so much it felt like suffocating.

And yet, despite it all, none of them moved. None of them reached out. None of them crossed the space between them.

Because what was left to say? What do you say when love has turned into something just as dangerous as the world they lived in? What do you do when the silence is the only thing keeping you from shattering completely?

Taehyung's POV~

I stared at my hands.

The lines of fate carved into my palms—what more secrets did they hold? How many more truths lay hidden beneath my skin, waiting to be unearthed?

My gaze drifted to the phone resting on the cold surface of the table. The screen glowed softly in the dim light, illuminating a picture—a couple.

I recognized myself instantly. The boy beside me, smiling, eyes warm. But the woman next to him...

Hazel eyes.

Too familiar, yet too distant. A stranger. A half-stranger. Or maybe something worse.

Who was she, really? Ji Ahn? Venom? Something in between?

What was she to me? A lover? A lie? A shadow I could never escape?

And why—despite everything—was she still here? Why had she told me the truth when she could've easily let me drown in the dark?

I exhaled sharply, my eyes falling to the black blade lying next to my phone. Reaching for it, my fingers traced the letters carved into the cold steel.

The mystery behind its sudden appearance was avid now. How it reached into my quarters? Why it came here in the first place? I hadn't thought much of it at the time, just another object tossed among my things. But now, staring at the name etched into it, Venom, it felt like a piece of her—something real.

Something dangerous.

"Venom," I murmured, the word foreign on my tongue. I frowned. What a cruel name.

"Is she as cruel as her name?" I pursed my lips, staring at the gleaming metal.

I wanted to hate her. I should hate her. But then why—why couldn't I?

"She lied to me. She—"

She told you the truth without you asking. Doesn't that count?

"But she—"

She let her guard down for you. She showed you who she was, even knowing what it could cost her. Doesn't that mean anything to you, Taehyung?

I ran a frustrated hand down my face.

"I know, but—"

Just because she isn't some sweet girl made of honey and cinnamon, will you abandon her?

"No." The answer left my lips before I even realized. "No, I would never leave her."

Are you sure? You saw what she's involved in. She isn't innocent. Can you still love someone like that? Someone who snatches breaths? Hoshi, was he a victim to her too?

I swallowed hard. My grip on the blade tightened.

"She... kills people." The words felt foreign, almost unreal. "She's done things. Terrible things."

And yet you still love her.

I shut my eyes.

"Don't call her a demon. She's my... she's my love. And I know—I know—our love wasn't a lie. She said so herself, i-it changed her"

Then why did you push her away when she tried to explain?

"Because I was angry!" I snapped, licking my lips, chest rising and falling unsteadily. "I—I needed time. I needed to breathe. I needed—"

To run?

I tugged at my hair, the frustration clawing at me.

"I don't know what I want." I slumped back against the couch, head dropping onto the cushions. "I want her in my arms, but I don't want to forgive her yet. I want to see her, but I can't. It's—it's complicated."

Life isn't meant to be simple, Taehyung.

I scoffed bitterly.

"Not every beautiful face is beautiful inside" I muttered.

And maybe not every demon is as monstrous as they seem.

I exhaled slowly, my fingers releasing the tension in my grip.

"It's not that easy. This isn't a game, it's my life. And I—I want her back. I know that much. But what she's done..." I trailed off, staring at the blade in my hands. The weight of it felt heavy. Too heavy.

I needed an escape. A release. Something—anything—to quiet the war inside my head.

"I need a drink."

Pushing off the couch, I grabbed my car keys and headed for the door.

I had never touched alcohol before.

But tonight? Tonight, I needed to forget. The moment I stepped into the hallway, a sharp chill ran down my spine. A presence—someone was here.

Standing outside my house, still as a statue. No warmth. No light. No shine in their eyes. The face that had once never tired of smiling—now lifeless.

Jimin's POV~

I stood outside the apartment—the place where we once lived, where love bloomed in every corner, where laughter echoed against these walls.

Where I had him.

Our world had been small, but it had been ours.

Now, it was just another place. Another reminder of what was lost.

I exhaled shakily, gripping the last box of my belongings tighter before loading it into the trunk of my car.

"You were one of the best renters I had, Jimin. It's sad to see you leave so soon." Straightening my back, I turned to face Mr. Myun, the elderly landlord who had always treated me like a son. His kind, wrinkled face held the same warmth it always had.

I forced a smile. A fragile, fleeting thing. "I had a nice time here, Mr. Myun. I hope you find better tenants than me. Stay safe and happy."

He chuckled softly, patting my shoulder. "I wish you happiness too. Take care of yourself, son."

Happiness.

The word hit me like a blade to the chest.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat, nodding. Happiness felt foreign now. A myth. A cruel joke.

"You too, Mr. Myun."

With a heavy heart, I slid into the driver's seat, gripping the wheel tighter than necessary as I pulled away from the building.

The moment I hit the road, the tears came.

I bit down on my palm, stifling the sobs threatening to spill over. My vision blurred. My chest felt like it was caving in, suffocating under the weight of everything.

Everything I lost.

Everything I never even understood.

What if Jungkook knew? What if he had always known? About them. About me. What if he is part of that mafia? He could have found out everything in seconds.

The thought made me sick.

The nightmares never left. They clung to me like a second skin, whispering ugly truths into my ear until I couldn't tell what was real anymore.

The more I thought, the more the hate festered.

Jungkook had ripped me apart without even touching me. And yet, I still... I still—

I let out a shaky breath, forcing my hands to steady.

It doesn't matter anymore.

Nothing does.

Jungkook's POV~

My heart aches.

It burns.

And it won't stop.

I traced my fingertips over the screen of my phone, over the picture of him.

My Jimin.

His eyes turned to beautiful crescents whenever he smiled wide, his face glowing, alive.

Not like that day. Not the way he looked at me the last time. Empty. Unrecognizable.

I gripped the phone tighter, my knuckles bruised and raw, my fingers trembling.

The room around me was in ruins—just like me.

The walls bore the evidence of my fists. The floor reeked of whiskey, of cigarettes, of regret. Shattered glass littered the ground. Broken chairs. Crushed picture frames. Spilled liquor soaked into the once-soft carpet.

I had torn everything apart, but it still wasn't enough to ease the pain.

It would never be enough.

"I didn't lose you, right?" The words felt small, desperate.

I traced his picture again, my breath shallow.

"I didn't, right?"

Silence.

No answer.

No Jimin.

My chest caved in. I pulled the phone close, curling in on myself like a child lost in the dark.

"Don't leave me alone. Not yet. Please, not yet."

The sheets beneath me were cold. Everything was cold.

Except for the tears burning down my cheeks.

But at least I was warm.

And the one who was cold inside and out... what about her?

Venom's POV~

He was beautiful.

The moon that illuminated the darkest corners of my soul.

Even after everything—after the lies, the betrayal, the silence—I couldn't forget him.

What have you done to me, Taehyung?

It felt like an eternity ago when I first encountered him, but the wound he left never stopped bleeding. It was so much harder to breathe now. Every second felt heavier with this heart.

It hurts...

I sighed, my gaze fixed on the wall in front of me, tilted upside down as I dangled from the couch. The wall was covered—top to bottom—with one face.

One face, endless faces.

All of him.

Kim Taehyung.

The one person I never thought would entangle my mind and soul like this.

He never knew, did he? Never knew that every laugh, every smile, every moment, was captured by my eyes. He was the focus of my every thought, my every move.

I never could neglect him.

"Is that what love feels like? It sure is painful..."

I chuckled bitterly, the sound echoing in the emptiness of the room. It bounced back at me, mocking my heartache.

I could hear the hollow resonance in my own laugh. It was a cruel sound—like an echo of a life I couldn't touch, couldn't reach.

"It's so restless..."

I muttered to myself, my fingers reaching for the wall, trailing over the pictures like I could touch him through the paper. Like I could reach out and pull him back into my grasp.

What have you done to me, Kim Taehyung?

I asked the picture. The image of him smiling with that effortless charm. The same boxy grin that made my heart ache.

"What have you done to me?"

I pressed my forehead against the wall, my hands trembling as I traced the memories beneath my fingertips. Each picture, a moment frozen in time. A moment when he didn't know the truth. A moment when I was still a stranger in his world.

"I can't just let go of you now..."

The confession escaped me as a whispered plea, a sound lost in the silence of my own thoughts.

I couldn't let go.

But the weight of it all... was suffocating.

I couldn't stay either.

Not when I was the shadow in his light.

Not when my darkness would swallow him whole.

I pulled back from the wall, wiping my hands across my face. My chest tightened as I gazed at the photo where he smiled, his eyes glowing with innocence I couldn't protect him from anymore.

"I can't stay knowing I'm not healthy for you..."

I looked at the photo for a long moment, studying his features. His beauty. His warmth. All the things I wanted, but couldn't keep.

"But I don't want to let go of you just yet."

I sighed deeply, the weight of it all pressing against me like a vice. His smile—so warm, so pure—kept me anchored to this madness.

What have you done to this demon, Taehyung?

You're the light I've been running from, but I crave. You're the sun burning my insides.

You're the most beautiful curse I've ever known.

My weakness.

My treasure.

And ultimately, my death.

I stood there, staring at the picture one last time, the ache in my chest deepening. I couldn't leave. Not yet. Not when he was everything that made me feel human.

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ℑ𝔶𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔡𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔰.
𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯
𝕍𝕍

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