Flashback
⚠️ Mentions of sensitive topics (the author is in no way promoting any of the scenes included in this chapter)

"Are you okay, son?"

The question was hanging for a long while before Jungkook found his voice to respond.

"Yeah.. I need to go, it's almost time for my shift." Jungkook uttered as another long silence followed.

"Don't forget to always take care of yourself. I love you."

His mother's soft voice almost brought him to tears. In difficult times, her tenderness gave him strength.

"Love you too, mom."

At the drop of the call, Jungkook could only sigh as he went back inside the café where he began taking orders for the customers.

His days were filled with nothing but work to keep him busy and stop himself from thinking about anything else.

"Here's your Caramel Macchiato."

There was a long pause before the customer forced a smile, all the while not taking the drink he offered.

"Uhm... I ordered Matcha Oreo."

She was smiling awkwardly before Jungkook finally realized his mistake— his fifth time for the day.

"Sorry. I'll make you one quick."

Before he could start making one, his coworker, Jungwon, took charge.

"Let me handle this, hyung."

Jungkook forced a smile, appreciating the younger's help.

"It's okay. I'll do this." He insisted, but Jungwon tenderly pat his shoulder.

"You're clearly out of it, hyung. Go rest for a bit."

He saw him smile, telling him it's going to be all right which made him nod.

"Thank you."

Jungkook stepped out of the café for a while to breathe some fresh air. It was suffocating, everything was.

As he fished out a cigarette and began smoking, the anxiety and stress he had been feeling for the past month flashed before his eyes.

It had been like that ever since Taehyung left him.

No proper sleep. No rest.

It's like Jungkook didn't know when to stop until he got numb.

Even waiting for him to come back became tiring, but he couldn't stop.

He couldn't stop himself from loving him even though he left without a single word and took it upon himself to give him back to his 'family'.

However, Jungkook chose not to return to that hell hole in the hopes of having Taehyung back.

He chose to wait, regardless of how vague the chances were.

Funny how thinking about Taehyung cleared his head. He took another puff before returning inside the café and took over the counter.

"Thanks, Jungwon."

A soft smile appeared on the younger's lips before handing him the register.

"Call me when you need assistance, hyung."

The young man has such a kind heart which matches his refreshingly beautiful face.

"I will, thanks."

As Jungkook went back to his work, he tried his best to remain focus, something he should've been used to do by now.

With every customer entering and exiting their café, he least expected to see a familiar face, someone he didn't even think of.

"Jeon?"

At the call, Jungkook lifted his gaze and find a beautiful face he had a chance to know before, it was for a short while, but Jungkook remembered.

How could he forget the woman he had rejected to be engaged with.

"Yeri." Jungkook saw relief on her face for being recognized.

"I thought I'm mistaken. How have you been?"

"I'm doing fine. How about you?"

The question made her smile as she answered to someone who's like a friend.

That one coincidence of meeting became frequent, and Jungkook could honestly say he had found a friend in her.

It may be different on Yeri's side, but she did not show any malice or ill intentions toward Jungkook, something he's been grateful for.

As the days go by, he found himself confessing his troubles to her while she listened attentively.

No judgment, no unnecessary affection.

Slowly, Jungkook released himself from the suffocation he'd been feeling.

But not for too long.

It was one of those days when Yeri passed by the café to have her drink, only to meet Jungkook by the doorway.

He's crying, obviously out of it as he dashed on the street to hail a cab.

"Jungkook! Hey, what's going on?" Yeri tried to call his attention, but Jungkook was too blinded by his tears to even spare her a glance.

"Fuck! Please stop!" Jungkook cursed, almost stopping in the middle of the street to stop the cab.

Yeri immediately dragged him by the arm to move him away from danger and calm him down.

"Hey! Look at me. What's going on?" She asked and for the first time that day, Jungkook met her eyes.

"My mom!... my mom."

Yeri did not have to hear another word to know what had happened. She cupped Jungkook's face to keep his gaze steady on her.

"I'll drive you there."

Without a word, both of them drove silently through the crowded streets, all the while with their hearts on their lungs.

Anxiety and fear crept on the space between them, and nobody dared to break the silence.

As they finally arrived in the hospital, though as heartbreaking as it ought to be, Jungkook was once again suffocated by the scene that welcomed him.

Under the white sheet, lifeless, was the woman who kept him sane till that day.

————

"Are you really going to be like this?"

Yeri abruptly grabbed the cigarette away from Jungkook's mouth, probably his fifth for that day.

She didn't hear any word from him as he aimed to take another one but failed.

"Jungwon said you'd been smoking nonstop. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

The question made Jungkook smile, a sad and empty one.

"I wish."

Yeri almost slapped him across the face, but held everything in. She couldn't blame him, after what had happened.

It's been two weeks since the tragedy, and Jungkook had never been all right since.

"Fine. Let's just go and die."

Yeri dragged Jungkook toward his car, but the other refused.

"I still have work to do."

"Why work when you're about to die anyway?"

She didn't let him speak, almost pushing him on the passenger seat.

Throughout the drive, they remained quiet, as still as the ocean on the side of the cliff.

"I'm dying anyway."

Jungkook didn't seem to understand Yeri as he silently stared at the blue skies from the opened window of the car.

"Might as well die with someone, right?"

Her voice faltered, catching Jungkook's attention. When he turned to look, he was met by Yeri's tear stained face.

She pulled over, stopping on the side of the highway before throwing her gaze on Jungkook.

"Let's just die."

Jungkook saw the sadness on her face, the desperation, the loneliness.

His chest tightened, almost losing his breath when Yeri tugged on her hair, removing it on the process.

And only then did Jungkook understand the words she said.

"I'm done fighting to live. I'm so tired, Jungkook... so tired."

Yeri was on her breaking point, something Jungkook did not expect to see.

How can a young and healthy woman hide the gravity of what she's been going through?

He never had any idea, for Yeri was always full of life, full of hope.

Things Jungkook had lost.

As he stared at Yeri for a long time, Jungkook didn't notice the tears streaming down his eyes.

He's looking at her and saw his own reflection.

Both of them were desperately trying to overcome their own battles, but Yeri chose to fight and live.

Jungkook had lost his hope, but Yeri held on to it.

They're two souls, a reflection of the other.

Through their visions blinded by tears, they both came to a conclusion.

"Let's live."

————

They say when it rains, it pours.

This saying had been ingrained in Jungkook's life as the circumstances were not falling in his favor.

He had thought everything would finally be in its place, but life said otherwise.

A month passed by when Jungkook received a letter from the columbarium where his mother's urn was stored.

He was informed that the urn was transferred to a different place after a request was made by Jungho Jeon, his father.

Enraged, Jungkook marched his way to the place he could never call home, only to see the woman he hated the most.

"Where is it?" Jungkook asked, flaring in anger.

"Hello, who lets a commoner enter my home?" Sunmi uttered, her scrutinizing eyes landed on Jungkook's face.

"Where did you take my mom's urn?!"

Jungkook was raging. Wasn't it enough? They've made his mother's life miserable, until the very end, they chose to cage her.

"Why don't you ask you father? After all, he has the right to keep her ashes."

"What right are you trying to say? I am the only person who has the right to keep her!"

With a smirk and taunting expression plastered on Sunmi's face, she told the guards to drag Jungkook away.

"Not one step in this household again."

Even though Jungkook struggled his way, his efforts were futile.

After all, he's powerless, unable to protect anyone he loves.

His world crumbled down, leaving him with nothing.

He used to have his everything with Taehyung and his mother alone, but in a snap, everything was gone.

With no sense of direction, Jungkook let his feet take him to the place where he could end his sufferings.

However, like a hint of light in his darkened world, he received a call from the person who reminded him of life.

"Hey, let's grab lunch."

Yeri's voice sounded ecstatic, but Jungkook could not return the same enthusiasm.

"Sorry, Yeri... I don't think I'll be seeing you again."

Jungkook's shaking voice alarmed Yeri who immediately turned serious.

"Where are you?"

Instead of answering, Jungkook took a sharp breath, letting himself feel the gush of wind for the last time.

"In another life, I wish to have the power to protect what's mine, the money to survive... the influence." Jungkook chuckled, knowing how impossible he sounded.

"Where the hell are you, Jungkook?" Yeri asked in a serious tone.

"Maybe then, I'll finally find my happiness." Jungkook whispered, aiming to end the call. However, Yeri's voice rang desperately in his ears.

"Use me! For the love of God, use me!" She pleaded, voice breaking.

"Use me to gain power, use me to protect the people you love... please, don't do anything to hurt yourself."

Jungkook felt his chest tighten as he heard Yeri's cries. Why does he always make such a kind woman cry?

"I'll be your power, money, and even influence... so please, please live."

"Why?" Jungkook asked, voice breaking.

"Why are you being so kind to me?" He added, falling down on his knees.

"Because I'm your person, Jungkook. I don't care if you're not mine, nor do I ask for you to be mine, I'm your person, regardless." Yeri uttered in between sobs.

For the first time, Jungkook smiled through his tears. He couldn't understand why he felt relieved to have someone on his side.

His person.

"All I ask is for you to live and let me stay by your side." Yeri continued.

"I don't know how much time I have left, but I hope you'll stay with me and won't let me die a lonely life." She added, voice sounding desperate.

Jungkook stared at the blue skies. There's no hint of rain, only sunshine.

"I promise." He whispered, feeling the burden in his chest slowly subsiding.

"I'll stay by your side."

As the skies cleared and the wind gushed to touch his face, Jungkook let out a sigh.

"Let's live."

———
idk about you, but I was crying the whole time I was writing this.

Setting Taekook aside, I do hope you now see the kind of bond Yeri and Jungkook share.

It's not romantic love, it's platonic love.

Deeply rooted by the circumstances, it's the kind of love that transcends anything.

Anyway, five more chapters before the end of Secrets.

Love lots 💜