His hand landed right on my cheek and brought along a fresh red mark. I would be lying if I say I didn't kind of see it coming but it obviously wasn't a right decision.

The stress from the mess I created in the attempts of correcting Taehyung again was probably affecting my brain in a way that caused mismatched emotions to pour out. As a result of which, I laughed when he tried to touch my cheek and apologize. "Jungkook-ah, I'm so sor—"

"I bet you won't like to see Newton's third law getting proved wrong 'cause you very well know my reaction certainly won't be equal to your action." I cracked my knuckles bones in his face to prove a point. "I ain't going to the gym for tea parties."

He felt bad for hurting me but like the same poles of two magnets, he kept trying to repel me. "Look, Jungkook, I'm extremely sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"Sorry? Do You really think that your meaningless 'sorry's can heal the wounds you yourself carved?" Despite all his tries, I kept maintaining the same distance between us. He can't always be running away from his reality, having a dose of petty excuses for the way. "Do you even know how broken she was after knowing about Sora?"

"Who would know that better than me?" He stopped in his tracks and looked at the space between his feet. "Why are you bringing this up? You are... hurting me!" He choked on a sob when he tried to raise his voice.

I was hurting myself too while bringing it up.

5 months before Minhee's death...

Minhee's PoV

The hues of Autumn described the beauty of things right before they lose their charms and lie lifeless. Was I too sadistic for loving the fall fondly, the season that taught letting the dead go so easily?

I never let these thoughts stop me from watching the nature bursts with its full beauty from my bedroom window. It was always the same but yet so unpredictable every time.

Unpredictable and unexpected, just like her visit that day. The moment my eyes met her beautifully sculpted face, I felt jealous but what overpowered this emotion was confusion. I stirred the fluids of memory and finally it made sense as to why she felt familiar and well, made me jealous.

Taehyung had so many friends back in uni days but he was specially fond of her. Now I barely even remember the name and I was sure she wouldn't recognize me either as I never really tried to talk to her and know the reason why he liked her.

After all these years, I finally stood face to face with her. Why did I feel insecure when I knew he was mine now? "Seo Minhee?" Unexpected, as I said before. Somehow she knew me but I didn't know if it was right to feel proud about it.

"It's Kim Minhee now..." I unconsciously corrected her but it made me frown when she looked taken aback.

"So... he married you?" She let out in whispers and took a longer glance at my features. "He always talked about you but..." She didn't complete that sentence and I was glad because she seemed to be a blink away from breaking down. "Anyways, I'm Lee—"

"Sora...?" Taehyung's mouth was ajar at her sight. I was going to say he wasn't home the moment she asked about him but my fears came true when he stood in the doorway.

Not that I didn't trust him but it was just Sora. He never really talked about her to me, heck, he could barely make time for me after they started hanging out. No surprise why his proposal came to me as the biggest surprise. I never asked him about his relationships as I didn't want to invade his personal zone.

"Taehyung...?" She was fighting back her tears while I just shifted glares from him to her. Finally, she reached the limit and broke down. To my relief, he didn't try to comfort her. Instead, his eyes fixed on me while I tried to rub circles on her back. "I am glad that you still remember me, Kim Taehyung. Now I hope you'll tell me where my daughter is." I paused in the middle, something stopping me from looking up at his face.

"W-why would I know about your daughter?" He stuttered while I was still paused. He pulled me away from her and that's when I saw his face. With all the cold sweat breaking on his forehead, he looked so worked up.

"Yeah?" She looked up from her feet too, beautiful face stained with tears. "How long do you think you can keep this up? You cannot keep her in dark forever." My breath halted and heart skipped a few beats. Could there be something more to Sora and Taehyung that he hid from me all along?

"W-What is i-it?" It was hard to pretend to be calm about the situation so I didn't even try.

"Minhee, I swear it is nothin-" Taehyung never really cried during the fights we had so I was itching to know why his eyes were brimming now.

"Nothing?" Sora rolled her eyes. I really wanted to ask her to stop so I could cup Taehyung's face and ask him to tell the truth while I tried to forgive him cause how bad it could be but sadly, I didn't. "I know you must love her more than you ever loved me but isn't it too harsh to call us nothing? I'm not ready to forgive you for the promises you made and forgot. You abandoned a pregnant woman because somehow, in the middle of nowhere, you realized that you started losing the track of who you were with me. Well, at least that's what your friend Hoseok said because you couldn't even talk to me yourself and you still hold the courage to call all this nothing?"

Taehyung's silence was enough to confirm that her talks were liable. I couldn't think of something in his favor anymore. "W-where's t-the b-baby now?" I was close to having an anxiety attack as I always did when I got in difficult situations.

"I could never agree for aborting the child as one of his suggestions said. I wasn't even financially stable enough to raise a baby by myself so I chose to go with his second option that was, abandoning her too." She choked on a sob when talking about leaving her baby at an orphanage. I could feel the second-hand trauma but I still couldn't believe that Taehyung came up with that thought. "I came clean to my fiancé and he suggested adopting her. Since it had been five years already, I lowkey hoped someone took on her but we thought about talking to her adopters and turns out... Kim Taehyung adopted her three years ago."

And suddenly all the strange things made sense. 3 years ago the child was adopted by him. 3 years ago we adopted Taehee.

I skillfully stopped myself from bursting out in overflowing emotions but it was getting harder. "So you wish to see Taehee?" I felt weird calling her Taehee as it brought back the memories of the time we chose our ship as her name.

"Well, my actual intent of meeting the adopters was to take my kid back so...yeah." She said in an unwavering tone, which made her intentions clear.

I gasped a little at her words. I could never learn to let go from the Autumn. I didn't want to send Taehee off so easily but refusing the wish of a mother was just as ethical as Taehyung's deeds. "I leave the decision up to you, Taehyung."

And then, as if unconsciously, tears rolled down. Has my happiness all been a lie?

"Minhee...I am sorry." He buried his face in the crook of my neck and I could feel his tears. At least I knew the reason now.

I pushed him away with shaky hands. "I-I am sorry." I excused myself from them after bowing and walking away. I heard Taehyung call my name but it was the last thing I cared about at the moment. I made a beeline to our room while wiping tears with my sleeves. A hand grabbed my wrist amidst the mental chaos I went through.

He confessed of overhearing the conversation and followed me when my breathing became labored. I turned to look at him without hesitation because I knew I need him the most at that moment. "T-Taehee is his..." He just quietly embraced me and I cried my heart out to him.

It was Jungkook.

••••

A/N:- hey ya!
So... Taehee looking like Taehyung makes sEnSe now? The way I chose a funny title for this chap but towards the end, every character was just fucking crying lol. Anyways, Taehyung of course didn't give Sora the true reason for breaking up. what according to you is the real reason?

+I'm going out for holidays and I'm so damn happy!! But that means I won't be updating till idk when... sorry. I'll try to edit the chapters beforehand. Anyways, have happy and safe holidays y'all!