Unlawfully His

Chapter 16 - Goodbye

No one's POV:

The car ride was dead silent.

So quiet, even the tiniest of sounds could be heard. The subtle rumble of the car engine and even the miniscule clinking of Taehyung fiddling with his wedding band were audible.

Maybe it was the immanent feeling of something so good coming to an end.

Maybe it was the guilt of leaving each other.

Either way, no words could be found to console the strange yet profound pain that swirled inside the two male's hearts. It was almost as if the cracking, punishing echoing of heartbreak was among one of the small noises in the car.

Tensions were high for reasons that neither could control. Unspoken words making the whole situation even more draining and conflicting.

If they didn't love or even like each other- then why did it hurt so much?

Selfish reasons of wanting the other to stay got in the way. Just a little more time could have perhaps eased the rough, turbulent waves of separation.

Even as the car approached the base, the two husbands didn't know how to say what needed to be said.

After giving his ID to the military personnel at the gate, Jeongguk pressed down on the gas peddle, propelling the car forward to a parking space.

Once Jeongguk reversed into a parking space, the two men unclipped their seatbelts and got out of the car. The silence weighed down on the two as they made eye contact over the hood of the car.

Sorrow and pain mirrored in the two pairs of glistening eyes. The exact same emotions with equal intensity.

Taehyung slowly walked round the car, gulping as he took ahold of his husband's hand. Relishing in the feeling of Jeongguk's skin against his own. He would be without it for some time and it bothered Taehyung more than he was willing to admit.

"Come on," Jeongguk whispered, dealing with his emotions far better than his partner. It was what he has been training to do after all. Never showing weakness was in his job spec and yet when it came to Taehyung, everything seemed to get ten times harder.

Taehyung just nodded in reply, not trusting his own voice to not come out shakily. He could already feel the uneasy thickness forming at the back of his throat- a tell tale sign that Taehyung was building up to crying.

The two reached a small building after a few short minutes of walking hand in hand. Jeongguk led Taehyung to one of the rooms so that they could register him for an ID card to the base, should he need it.

After signing the paperwork, the two men exited the building and started to walk towards the military buses that were in the centre of the camp.

Taehyung could hardly look his husband in the eye as they made it to the crowds of families that were saying goodbye to their beloved sons and daughters.

"Tae. Just so you know, you are my next of kin. If anything happens to me then you will be the first to know," Jeongguk stated, pecking Taehyung on the forehead to comfort him.

"Okay," Taehyung mumbled, looking at their intertwined hands in sadness. The unspeakable topic of death was not something that either of them wanted to linger on.

"It'll be okay Tae. I'll be fine. If anything should happen to me, this is the address of my father. Tell him about us but don't mention that it is fake. He's a retired military police officer," Jeongguk explained as he handed Taehyung a slip of paper with the address of Kang-min on it.

The ravenet consoled his husband, when he saw a lone tear stream down Taehyung's cheek. Jeongguk tried to hold back his own tears as he wiped the droplet way with the pad of his thumb.