His Darkest Desire ||Taekook||

chapter nineteen

Jungkook stirs awake the next morning, turning onto his side as he burrows deeper into the warmth of the blanket. The bed creaks softly beneath him as he settles into a cozy position. Still half-asleep, he reaches out to the other side of the bed, expecting to feel familiar warmth—but his hand meets only cool, empty sheets. Huh? He cracks one eye open and glances over, only to find that Taehyung is gone.

There's something strange about the emptiness beside him, but he sits up anyway, wincing as tension pulls at the muscles in his back. He rests against the headboard, letting the silence settle around him. Images from the night before drift through his mind—soft moments, quiet confessions—and he finds himself lingering on them. It's taken time, patience, and uncertainty to reach this point. But seeing Taehyung slowly lower his guard, begin to trust him—it stirs something deeper than satisfaction. It feels like something real, something earned.

He tries to push the memory away—the image of Taehyung beneath him, bare and breathless—but it lingers at the edges of his mind, stubborn and vivid. He's just starting to reel himself back in when his eyes land on Taehyung, standing quietly by the mirror. And just like that, his thoughts derail again. God—he's beautiful. Effortlessly so. It almost hurts to look at him.

Taehyung stands before the mirror, his gaze tracing the soft bruises blooming along his skin—a deep purple mark on the side of his neck, another near his jaw, and one nestled in the delicate curve where his shoulder meets his neck. His fingers hover near them, not quite touching, as memories from the night before wash over him. A warmth rises in his cheeks, the blush spreading slowly as he recalls how gentle Jungkook had been—how every touch had been thoughtful, every movement deliberate. There was something unspoken in the way Jungkook held him, like he was trying to memorize every part of him without rushing a single moment.

When Taehyung had woken up, the first thing he reached for was the oversized T-shirt Jungkook had carelessly tossed across the room. He slipped it on without thinking—it swallowed his frame, the hem falling low, one shoulder slipping free to reveal the curve of his collarbone and the dusky bruise that lingered there. He stands before the mirror again, eyes tracing the faint imprints left behind, and lets his fingers glide gently over them. There's no shame in the marks—only a quiet sense of contentment, a kind of happiness that settles deep in his chest. Last night felt real. Safe. Wanted.

"Pretty..." The word slips from Taehyung's lips, quiet and sincere, just as the bed creaks behind him.
He doesn't have to turn around to know—it's the familiar warmth of Jungkook's presence, the soft thud of bare feet against the floor. Two strong arms wrap around his waist, pulling him back into a loose embrace. In the mirror, their eyes meet—Jungkook's hair is tousled, his smile still touched by sleep, but his gaze is full of something softer, something steady.

One of his hands slips beneath the hem of the shirt, fingertips grazing a patch of skin just above Taehyung's hip. The contact sends a tingle up his spine. Then, Jungkook leans in, lips brushing gently against the bruise on Taehyung's shoulder.

Taehyung watches the moment unfold in the mirror—himself, marked and held; Jungkook, affectionate and unhurried. And in that stillness, it feels like everything is exactly where it's meant to be.

"So pretty," Jungkook murmurs softly into his neck, his breath warm against Taehyung's skin. The ticklish sensation makes Taehyung smile inwardly, finding the compliment as endearing as the way Jungkook looks—disheveled and adorable in nothing but boxers.
But despite the sweetness of the moment, Taehyung tightens slightly in his arms, unwilling to let his thoughts run wild. The weight of his confession from last night presses down on him, heavy and real, even though he'd whispered it to a sleeping Jungkook. The words linger between them now, unspoken but impossible to ignore.