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Taehyung was feeling lonely. The way you felt when you had someone in your mind but not beside you. And then there were questions to make the loneliness worse. What had he meant by that message? They did meet. They had coffee together. He kissed him as well. He couldn't possibly have imagined all these things. He told him loud and clear that their plan to disappear had to wait for some time. And he understood. Like he always did, without questioning him, This was not a Mills & Boon romance. Both of them were married to different people.

The note Taehyung had written and placed under the vase of fresh lilies was for his husband, Jungkook. He'd taken an entire day to think what he could write to justify his act. What coud a husband say to a husband before leaving him abruptly for no fault of his? He simply didn't have the courage to tell him the truth. That was wrong, he knew. And he'd convinced himself that a note would make up for it. After dwelling on it for a long time, he thought the best thing, instead of a long emotional message, would be to write three simple words: 'I am sorry.' To tell Jungkook that he still loved him, he kept the note under the vase with lilies, his favourite. Few words; old fashioned symbolism--the end of a relationship.

Jungkook was supposed to fly back from Gwangju today. And what did he have for him? A note stating that he was sorry. The more Taehyung thought about it now, the more ridiculous he felt. How had he come to this decision? Was he simply being impulsive As he tore up the note and threw it in the dustbin, Taehyung realized he had something more important to find out: Where on earth was Yoongi? He had been messaging him since last night, he had tried his number twice in an interval of three hours but there had been no response. The first time it rang but the second time the number was switched off. Had the battery drained out or had he intentionally switched it off?  Taehyung wondered but concluded he must be up against some problem. And beyond a phone call or a message, there was no way he could reach him. Yet this was the person with whom he had decided to disappear for the rest of his life and create an alternate reality.

A day after he met Yoongi at the restaurant, Taehyung decided to stay home but he soon realized he needed to distract himself from thoughts of him. Work was a good distraction.

At thirty, Taehyung was a serial entrepreneur. His career had started during his fourth year at IIT, Daegu. His hometown. At twenty-one, he had conceived a mobile phone gaming app which he'd sold to an MNC for a hefty amount. It had made him realize that degrees were a sham. What mattered was talent, how he channelled it and added to it through everyday learning. This gave him the courage to drop out of IIT in his final year, which triggered a lot of questions from his family. At twentyfour, Taehyung sold another business idea to an MNC. It was for a cab-hailing service which was launched two years later. He married Jungkook at the age of twenty-seven and soon after set up a food aggregator and delivery start-up in Daegu.

As he stepped on to the seventh floor, his company's name and logo came into view: Kim Corporation. From the time he pushed open the thick glass doors till he reached his cabin, he was greeted by a number of people. One of them was Park Jimin. The only person in the office he wasn't sure whether to respond with a smile or just an acknowledging nod.

Taehyung had a few meetings as per the schedule but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help but wonder that he wouldn't have been here if Yoongi had not postponed their plan. After lunch, he settled down to listen to his favourite music to calm his mind, but kept an eye on his phone for a message or call from Yoongi. But he didn't do either. Jungkook called him when he left his place in Gwangju, then when he got into a cab, then when he reached the airport and finally just before boarding the flight to Busan.

Taehyung and Jungkook had been in a long-distance marriage since the past three years. Before that, they were in a relationship for ten years, right from college. Jungkook was studying sociology in DU. They met during a group trip to Illsan where common friends introduced them. Jungkook had never been in a serious relationship before and neither had Taehyung. While Jungkook had seen too many disloyal men around him, dating her friends, to trust anyone, Taehyung had simply considered love and relationships a waste of time and had instead concentrated on getting through IIT. But this changed after he met Jungkook. And even though Jungkook had wanted to quit his job after marriage, Taehyung knew how much he enjoyed his work and had made him change his mind, When he was asked by the NGO he worked for to shift to Gwangju for a special project, he told him it was a matter of just two years and they would sail through. He had promised he would travel to Gwangju once a month and urged him to do the same. Two years had quickly turned into three. They had both kept their promise and continued to visit cach other over weekends. Today, for a change, Jungkook was flying in to spend the long week with his husband. Initially, he'd asked Taehyung to come to Gwangju so they could plan a trip to somewhere But Taehyung had 'other' plans and had used work as an excuse.

Taehyung drove to the Busan airport to pick up Jungkook. This was the longest they'd gone without meeting. And the first sight of him made him feel guilty.

'Where are your specs?" he asked. Jungkook had this quality. He always put Taehyung at the top of his list of priorities. And what was he planning to do? Taehyung felt guiltier.

'I forgot.' Taehyung wasn't able to cook up any other excuse. He had been having eyesight problems but no doctor had been able to treat it. The specs and lenses they made him wear didn't help either. And yet Taehyung always insisted that he wear them.

"Sometimes I feel I should have cloned myself and kept one version here to make sure you are taking care of yourself and doing what you ought to,' he said. Taehyung laughed at that.

'You had dinner?' Jungkook asked the moment he plonked himself beside him in the car.

'I did. And you?' he asked

'I didn't want to but my stomach was grumbling so I had a sandwich. I don't think I'm going to eat any more tonight. How are my plants?'

The only responsibility he'd given Taehyung when he had shifted to Gwangju was to care for his plants.  He was a passionate gardener and a plant Dad.

Why don't you take the plants with you?' Taehyung had lamented once.

'If I take everything from here, I may lose the will to come back,' he had said, 'Home is not where you are. Home is where the ones you love are,' he had added. Taehyung couldn't have agreed more.

Right then, Jungkook's phone rang and he excused herself to answer it. Taehyung could make out it was a work call. He drove to their apartment in silence.

As they neared their gated apartment block, they saw a crowd gathered at the entrance. Taehyung honked his way in. He wasn't interested in knowing what the bedlam was about, but Jungkook immediately jumped out once the car stopped and walked to the main gate. Perhaps it was this insatiable curiosity that made him want to get involved in people's stories. And that is why he was doing so well at the NGO.

Taehyung was unlocking the main door of their apartment when Jungkook came up, his eyes clouded over.

'A man died in the afternoon. Didn't you come to know when you left the building to come to the airport? Jungkook asked.

'No. I came straight from the office.'

'I see.'

'Some Min Yoongi,' Jungkook said. Taehyung froze for a second before recovering quickly and turning the key one last time. The news left him numb.

....

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What do you think about the dead man? Is it the same Yoongi that Taehyung was cheating on jungkook with?