The Love After | A JJK Werewolf AU

16: The Love that Can't be Forgotten

Jungkook doesn't come to your room that night nor the next. Baram says he's just making up for the patrol duties he's missed and observing a lone wolf that someone spotted nearby.

You know this isn't the whole truth though. You shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't want to see you right now. You'd pierced a hole in his heart that wasn't even done healing from another wound; you'd resent yourself, too, if you were him.

It's 3 days later when you ask Mi-Rae and Taehyung to drive you back to the cabin. You're still recovering from a concussion but your head wound is healing and your ankle is doing better. You think staying home will just make you more anxious, especially without Jungkook visiting. You realize aside from when you were unconscious, this is the longest you've not seen him.

You don't miss the slight emptiness you feel at the thought.

You enter and see that the bed is made. You go to the living room and see a pillow on the couch and Jungkook's wolf bed by the fireplace, and you know he'd been sleeping here and not in the bedroom.

"You sure you'll be alright?" Taehyung asks as he drops your bag on the floor.

"Yeah, I'll just, uh, I'll just wait for Jungkook," you manage a smile.

"Okay. No moving around and heavy lifting, okay?" Mi-Rae hugs you. "Call when you need anything. Sorry we can't stay any longer."

"I will, and don't worry. You have family duties. Go on now," you affectionately push your friends out the door. "Bye!"

You stay in bed and try to get some rest, hoping that when you wake up, Jungkook is back home, but try as you might, you can't seem to calm down.

You're restless. You pace back and forth in the room and try to find something to clean to get time moving but there's nothing to do; everything is as they should be. You stay outside but the breeze is too cool for the afternoon, so you settle on the couch and just wait.

It's sunset by the time you decide to start preparing dinner, and you hope this could take your mind off things, make you feel capable again. A part of you hopes he'll catch the scent and just come home.

But it's another 2 hours of waiting. You've left the stew on the stove, and you grip your cup of tea and wait at the dining table when you hear the door open.

His eyes widen at the sight of you, turning to the kitchen, then back at you.

"You're back," he tries not to sound surprised. "And you cooked," he now sighs. "You should be resting, ___."

"So should you," you reply, trying not to sound like you're nagging. "You've been out all day. Where have you been?"

"I don't ask you that when you're out all day," he says softly.

You deserve that, you know, and you try to hide the effect of his words on you.

"How did you know I was at the river?" You ask, thinking back to how far out you were that day and how Jungkook was able to find you.

"I can smell you from miles away, ___. You're still my mate even if you don't acknowledge it."

This causes a pang on your chest but you let it.

"So... did you go on a hunt?" You change the topic.

"Yeah, for this."

He places your bracelet on the table, and you can make out some scratches on the charms but they're complete, it's intact, and suddenly you feel like crying. You thought you'd lost this, afraid that it was a sign that you're losing Yoongi for good. It's one of the reasons why you were so angry. You went there to reminisce, not to lose him even more.

"You found it. How did you—"

"You weren't wearing it, and you never go without it," Jungkook mumbles, turning away. "I figured you dropped it somewhere. It was stuck on the flowerbed. It's a good thing it didn't float away."

"You spent all day looking for it?"

"Days. I traced the entire trip."

You feel your lips quiver at the thought of Jungkook spending the last few days looking for this, while you spent all of it worried and feeling sorry and upset that he hadn't come see you.

"You didn't have to, Jungkook."

You're right, he didn't have to, but he'd seen it missing when he took you to your parents' and he knew you were going to be devastated if you lost it. You kept holding onto your wrist reflexively even when you were asleep and after he'd run to the mountain, he just knew he had to find it.

He had a piece of Jin-Ae, too. It was a necklace she'd given when he turned 18, and he never took it off, until that day when he decided he had no choice but to let her go, and he threw it in a river and watched it float away.

He had to, otherwise he'd just keep living with his biggest what if, and he knew he couldn't keep doing that. It's different with you, though. Yoongi's gone, and it's more than the loss of love that you mourn, it's the loss of him.

"It's a piece of Yoongi," he says. "And he's a big part of you. You can't lose anymore. I can't... I can't let you."

You can't stop the tears that fall. Despite the hurt that Jungkook went through, despite the hurt you caused him, he wanted to make sure you didn't have to go through any more. You've been in pain and so has he. Your heart aches at the memory, while his heart aches at the present, yet he still chooses you, chooses to protect you and be with you.

He wipes your cheeks, stained with all the words you can't say, but still, you try.

"I'm so sorry, Jungkook."

"It's okay, ___. And I'm sorry, too."

He takes you in his arms and hugs you, knowing it's all he can do for now. You're back and you're safe and with everything that's happened, he can't ask for anything more. This is enough, he thinks, as your arms wrap around his body. He'll hope for you to try with him again another time.