In a few minutes, he was approaching the driveway to the guesthouse where Yoongi and his family were. The scale of where Yoongi belonged versus where he was coming from suddenly seemed very daunting, but he did not let this deter him. He parked his bicycle on the stand and carefully wrapped the umbrella back into a closed cane lookalike. Tucking it under his arm and brushing his hair to the back, Taehyung walked up the stairs, half a floor, to the living room. His damp, ragged clothes were not the best first impression for a family like Yoongi's but Taehyung didn't know any better. The smile on his face and the determination kept growing with each step.

The sight of Yoongi's clueless father welcomed him, as he entered after a polite knock. He hadn't seen or noticed Taehyung and the sight of this drenched visitor made his brows frown in question. Taehyung stood in front of them, hands shaking out of nervousness and not fear. He pointed to himself and stuttered, "Aehyun" at the moment of his hands signing his name simultaneously.

To his right side, behind the glass pane, diving the living area from another sitting space, Yoongi emerged from the shadows of the curtain, which still danced behind him. Yoongi's presence suddenly felt like a warm embrace in the cold rain that washed up against the glass panes of the guesthouse. Their eyes met, and a sudden gush of emotions burst inside Taehyung. Yoongi's face had emotions too, but opposite emotions. There was a surprise, mixed with fear and suddenly the realization dawned on him. The corners of his mouth gave a hesitant smile, which looked more like a wince.

Taehyung's heart sank and his chest tightened a bit at this sight, he was in two minds: whether to talk to Yoongi's father standing in front of him or lurch towards Yoongi to ask him why he looked like he was in pain.

Better senses prevailed (or so he thought) as he turned towards Yoongi's father, With a folded letter in hand, he extended it towards the man. The paper suddenly felt heavy, weighed like the entirety of Taehyung's unspoken love for Yoongi and his own promises.

Just as Yoongi's father moved after a couple of seconds of hesitation, a swift figure intervened. Before his hands could touch the paper, Yoongi's mother, because of her intuition of what it could be, stepped forward and whisked it away. As her eyes locked with Aehyun's there was a silent conversation that happened between the concerns and questions unasked.

Taehyung stood there, powerless, motionless, and confused. As she held the letter tightly in her grasp, his once broad smile and soaring confidence now sank.

A silent exchange between Aehyun and Yoongi made the air vibrate between them. Time went still as the moment stood there, where only they could talk, and no one else could hear. A feeling of Damocles' sword clearly hung there.

Then it happened. The sword fell.

She showed up. Right next to Yoongi. Her arm was tightly locked with Yoongi's. She was absolutely beautiful and she seemed to fit perfectly there - in Yoongi's life. It was clear right away that this was the woman Yoongi wore the ring for, the woman Yoongi was going to marry.

Taehyung's heart clenched, a pool of feelings churning inside him. He could see his own pain in Yoongi's eyes clearly. Lips quivering, not able to yell the love they held out loud.

She smiled, having no idea that she had walked into a silent storm. Her presence was a stark reminder of the path that had not been taken and a choice that had been made.

With a sudden change in energy and demeanour, Taehyung leaped forward, an air of panic and desperation surrounding him. His fingers closed around the paper as he snatched it from Yoongi's mother's hand. His heartfelt confession crumpled under his grasp, a physical manifestation of the dreams he dared to see. Yoongi's father, perplexed at what just happened, turned to his wife for some answers to clear this confusion.

"Charity. He came for a good cause." Yoongi's mother explained, her voice was steady enough to mask any turmoil going on inside her. She met Taehyung's gaze, begging for a promise to protect their world's delicate balance and go with the lie she just told. And then a simple but profound lie sealed the letter's fate as well as the love it contained.

Out of the entire awkward silence, Yoongi's father extended a hand, a few currency notes crinkling between his fingers. Taehyung was the one who accepted it, with his trademark smile and saying thank you with gestures. Each note weighed heavier than a stone in his palms. His heart twisted, and whatever left pride he had crushed there and then. With everything happening, he still held onto the facade and started making a retreat, bowing and gesturing, Thank you.

He wanted to just dart out from there, but that couldn't happen. He found himself caught in a staring match with Yoongi. Taehyung swallowed hard to swallow back his tears, which threatened to fall. But Yoongi's eyelids betrayed him as a single teardrop fell, so heavy that it couldn't slide on his cheek, falling straight to the floor.

Jinho, standing beside Yoongi, followed their exchange with a puzzled look. Her eyes were shifting between Yoongi, Taehyung, and back at Yoongi, seeking some sense about it. Taehyung paused at the threshold of the exit door, hands asking a question he already knew the answer to, but facades need to be maintained and Taehyung took that responsibility on himself.

He mimed a ring on a finger, and raised brows in little mischief, eyes never leaving Yoongi's. The small nod of confirmation from Yoongi came, unshed tears hiding the agony behind it.

In response, Taehyung wore his trademark broad smile, using every ounce of strength left in him. His hands came up again and then together, forming a heart and complimenting the couple. "A perfect match" his gestures and lips seemed to say, even as his soul felt like it left the body for now. 

Jinho returned the smile sweetly, oblivious to the pain Taehyung's smile hid. Yoongi's eyes stayed glued on Taehyung, regret and pain mingled. Taehyung bowed for a final time and stepped outside, onto the steps, in the rain. Struggling to open his umbrella, he let the tears fall as the rain masked his face.

Emotions inside him were as fierce as the storm on the outside, winds and raindrops lashing on his face. He gave up on the umbrella and started to walk away from the guesthouse. Suddenly, he felt the raindrops not fall on his face anymore. Yoongi was there, holding an umbrella over him. Taehyung jolted as if lightning had run through him. Pulled by an invisible thread, Yoongi ran behind him calling "Aehyun" but to no avail. As Taehyung reached his bicycle, Yoongi held onto his arm which he jerked away, tears covering his face entirely. They stood there, in the middle of the road, under a single umbrella.

"Why?" Taehyung's eyes questioned him as his heart felt like it would explode out. He stood there, pointing to the car, probably the one Jinho came in, gesturing the ring, miming that she was beautiful, educated, and rich, just like Yoongi. And what did he have, A broken umbrella, a torn jacket, a stitched-up shoe, and a tattered bicycle? His gestures were much louder than they had ever been, clearly communicating the frustration and pain.

"Look at you, look at your life..." Taehyung signed, calming down a bit. "Of course, why should you and why would you choose me? I will never understand what you talk about, I will never read the same books."

Suddenly, Taehyung made piercing eye contact, forcing Yoongi to make one and stay there. "Why then? Why did you kiss me? Why did you give me hope?" His hands and body shook with each word his hands spelled out—anger, sorrow, and heartbreak taking up the space between them.

"Aehyun.." Yoongi wanted to just comfort him, say something. And that didn't help much. Taehyung's dam broke the entirety of emotions, taking over, and the tears pent inside finally found a way out. He stood there with his bare soul, while Yoongi could only stand and watch him crumble.

Yoongi's hand fell from Taehyung's shoulders as he turned and walked away. Walked away from Yoongi. The hands, which said everything with fervor a while ago, now hang limply by Taehyung's sides. His fingertips still moved, very tiredly, maybe with an inner monologue he was having. He dared not to look back, where Yoongi still stood, more like rooted. But Taheyund did. He did look back.

"Be happy, Yoongi. Always be very happy." Taehyung whispered to himself, words unspoken but felt. He willed Yoongi to feel these words."Find joy in marriage and life."

With rain as his only companion, Taehyung rode on, the image of Yoongi still etched in his mind and a beautiful love story in his heart. "I will maybe have a good story to tell the village kids one day as their Ajhussi." Taehyung smiled to himself as he headed towards his home.

That rainy night, as he crossed the Jeon estate, Jungkook stood in the window, mesmerized by the dance of raindrops against the glass. He had been standing there for probably hours; he never really had the sense of time for that one. With a snow globe in his hand, he kept inverting it and then saw the snow settle in the snow globe against the backdrop of rain. At one point, he saw an inverted image of a man riding a bicycle. As Jungkook moved the snow globe away, he saw Taehyung. He kept following the bicycle till his vision allowed and when Taehyung moved away from his vision, he moved back to the snowglobe.

It was nearly 10:30 pm and Taehyung's dad was fast asleep. Taehyung himself had a bunker bed for kids on the mezzanine floor built to give some sense of space to the other's house. Instead of crawling up to his bed, he crawled next to his dad. No questions were asked as his dad gave him a tight hug and he slept with his head on Sunghun's chest.

AN:- Hope you are liking the story