My Professor Agent

chapter 16

Chapter 16: In the Silence, We Bleed

The canteen still buzzed with murmurs, but Jungkook couldn't hear any of it.
The slap still echoed against the walls of his skull, louder than the restless shuffling of students or the hushed whispers of gossip. His cheek stung, but not nearly as much as his heart.

Taehyung’s eyes—
Those tear-filled, shattering eyes—
They were the only thing Jungkook could see.

He hadn’t meant it.
God, he hadn’t meant it.
It was supposed to be a joke, just a stupid, childish joke to see Taehyung’s little annoyed frown, to tease him like he always did, to pull a reaction from the usually composed professor.

But instead... he had pulled pain.

Real, raw, unbearable pain.

Jungkook’s fingers curled tightly at his sides. The students around him pretended not to stare, though their eyes burned into his skin. Hoseok and Yoongi approached cautiously, but Jungkook flinched when Hoseok’s hand touched his shoulder.

“Jungkook…” Hoseok whispered.

The boy didn't answer.
Didn't move.
Only stared at the space where Taehyung had stood moments ago, the air still heavy with the force of his anger, his heartbreak.

"I'm sorry…" Jungkook mumbled to no one.
To everyone.
To himself.

Without another word, Jungkook turned and walked away — not toward his next class, not toward his friends. Just away. Anywhere. Nowhere.

Taehyung’s POV

The heavy slam of the door echoed through his office.
Kai, Eunwoo, jackson and Seojun followed behind, their faces lined with worry, but Taehyung couldn't look at them. He couldn't look at anything. His breath came in sharp, broken gasps, and his hands shook uncontrollably.

"Taehyung—"
"Hyung, please sit down—"
"Tae, breathe—"

Their voices overlapped, but Taehyung barely heard them.

All he could see was red.
That goddamn color.
The color that stained his childhood in memories he had spent years trying to drown.
The screams, the blood, the nights spent curled under a broken bed, praying for the violence to stop.

And Jungkook—
Jungkook, of all people—
Jungkook had dared to stand in front of him like a twisted vision of his nightmares. Grinning. Mocking.

Taehyung let out a broken, animalistic sound and collapsed into the floor. His body shook with silent sobs, fists clenching the fabric of Kai's shirt like a drowning man clinging to a piece of wood.

"It's okay, it's okay," Kai whispered into his hair, rocking him back and forth like a child. "You're safe. You're safe."

But Taehyung didn't feel safe.
He felt exposed.
Fragile.
Destroyed.

He hated Jungkook for it.
He hated himself more.

Jungkook’s POV

The empty music room smelled of dust and old wood.
Jungkook sat on the cold floor, back pressed against the piano, knees drawn up to his chest.

He pulled the red jacket off violently and threw it across the room.
It felt like it burned his skin.
It felt like blood.

"I'm such an idiot…" he whispered to himself, burying his face into his arms.

He could still feel the sting of Taehyung's slap. Could still hear the tremble in Taehyung’s voice as he spat those words at him, words that sliced deeper than any knife.