Where We Begin & End II K.N.J II

Chapter 16 - The Reckoning

A/N: Long time, no see. 

Filler chapter, I'm trying to set up everything slowly. Grateful for your patience <3 Enjoy!

Love, 

MsNoShelfControl. 

"Hyung?" My voice came out weaker than I'd intended. I saw his head snap around towards me, feline eyes sharply focused on me from where I stood behind him, watching the scene unfold before me. "Hyung, who... who was that?"

I took a step closer to him, trying not to notice how melancholy his figure seemed in its dark fit against the cheerful background filled with blossoms and butterflies.

"How long have you been there?" His voice was heavy with emotion and I felt my stomach drop at the crack in it. I swallowed before responding, "Long enough to have a lot of questions. But are you alright?"

I watched the older man's head droop down, almost in defeat, and I felt a pang of helplessness.

How did I not notice how broken you were?

An irrational guilt birthed itself in my gut, swarming my insides and slowly suffocating me. I knew it made no sense to feel responsible for his state given that I'd been in the dark about everything he'd been hiding, as we all were.

Or maybe they knew and he just didn't tell you. Why should he, after all?

Shaking my head to scramble the toxic words that my subconscious threw at me, I firmly walk up to him, stopping right in front of him and grabbing him by the shoulders. I squeeze them gently, prompting him to lift his red rimmed eyes to meet mine.

"I don't know what's really going on but you're hurting, hyung. I-I don't like that. Talk to me."

His feline eyes blinked slowly, and the glistening moisture that I could see he'd held back with great will, broke free of the restrains of his dark lashes, paving a wet path down his smooth, pale cheeks and gathered at his chin where they dangled before dripping into the charged space between us.

A space I longed to overcome.

"I don't know what to do..." His voice was hoarse, as if all the life had been scraped out of it with a blunt knife.

"I think we should get you home, hyung," I took another step closer, the tips of my fingers tingling with the need to pull him closer and comfort him.

His head drooped forward, the black silky strands dancing in the late afternoon breeze and I couldn't help but gulp as my throat tightened. "How can she just--" He gasped, as if struggling for breath, "No, she can't just leave me. She cannot. She is mine, I am hers."

I froze, my entire body turning cold as each of his words sunk into my flesh like sharp icicles, impaling me with their implications.

He was hers, as she was his.

"Hyung, please," I kept my voice low and soft, "Let me take you home."

The ride back to his place was awkward to say the least, at least on my end. I'm not even sure he was present with me, his eyes had been vacant as he looked at me and spoke words in response to my feeble attempts at conversation.

He remained in a state of what seemed like numbing shock even as I removed his shoes and blazer and tucked him into bed.

There was no response when I asked whether he was hungry or not, but I made my way to his kitchen regardless. Opening his fridge, I was amazed, "How does a person live like this?"