Unspoken Ties

Chapter-11 Demanding

Two Days Later

The suitcase lay open on the bed, half-packed. Y/N's fingers trembled as she smoothed out the sleeve of Jungkook's blazer before placing it inside. She took her time, carefully folding each item, making sure everything was in order-like always.

Like she always did.

Every crease, every neatly aligned shirt, every item packed with care-everything was perfect. Everything was the way it should be.

Except for the man she was packing for.

The room was silent except for the soft rustling of fabric as Y/N folded Jungkook's neatly ironed suits, placing them carefully into the open suitcase. Each movement was deliberate, methodical, as if keeping her hands busy would silence the storm inside her mind. She reached for the stack of files on the nightstand, setting them gently on top of his clothes before pulling the zipper shut.

A deep sigh escaped her lips. His packing was done. Now, it was her turn.

Jungkook had been coming home earlier than usual these past few days, a change that hadn't gone unnoticed. At lunch, he had casually announced the upcoming trip to Busan-part business, part leisure, as his cousins insisted on taking them out.

And Leena, of course, had been the most excited.

Y/N's hands trembled slightly as she folded a dress, her mind adrift in thoughts that refused to quiet. Being apart from Jungkook shouldn't feel like this-it shouldn't feel like ripping away something fragile, something that had never fully belonged to her in the first place. But she had learned to bear it, to endure the quiet rejection carved into every indifferent glance, every word spoken without warmth.

She had tried so hard to ignore it.

But those words...

"I hate you, Y/N."
"Jungkook used to love someone else."
"You were never the one he wanted."

The bitterness of them echoed in her chest, pressing against the hollow space where her heart used to beat freely.

"What if I ask him?"

The thought gripped her with a dangerous kind of hope, one that burned and clawed, demanding answers. She had never questioned him before-not about the distance between them, not about the coldness in his touch, not about the ghost of another woman lingering in his silence.

But tonight, she would.

The bathroom door creaked open, breaking her trance. She wiped a trembling thumb across the corner of her eye before turning slightly.

"Done with packing?" His voice was casual, unreadable.

She could only shake her head.

Jungkook hummed in acknowledgment, walking past her to the wardrobe. If he had noticed her tension, the way her fingers twisted in the fabric of her dress, he didn't show it.

Her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke. "Jungkook."

He hummed in response.

Y/N clenched her hands into fists. "Can I ask you something?"

Something in her voice must have caught his attention because this time, he looked up, briefly glancing her way. "What is it?" He closed the wardrobe, a blue file now in his hands. He moved to the bed, flipping through the pages with the same disinterest he always showed her.

She hesitated.Her throat was dry, her pulse hammering against her ribs.

Maybe she shouldn't ask. Maybe she should let it go, swallow it down like she had every other time she felt like she was disappearing into nothing.