Forbidden Love ➸ Taekook ✓

- Twenty-eighth -

Taehyung left the party immediately afterwards. Even though he'd spent several weeks preparing it and had gone to great lengths to bring it to life, it didn't matter. He had to find Jungkook, and quickly. As far as he could make out, the boy had left. So his first instinct was to return home. Perhaps Jungkook had simply gone home.

No sooner had he passed through the door than he was surrounded by silence. The house was completely dark, with only the moon bringing a little light to the place.

"Jungkook?"

No answer. If the boy wasn't going to answer, then he'd look for him himself. He proceeded in order: first the living room, then the kitchen, before going upstairs, passing through the bathroom, his office and their bedroom. There was no-one there. All that was left was Jungkook's painting room. It was the only place he hadn't looked. He approached the door slowly and gave it three short knocks.

"Kook? Are you there?"

Still nothing. Taehyung was starting to worry. If Jungkook wasn't even bothering to answer him, then how angry was he with him? He must have been so hurt, and Taehyung felt terrible. He could have avoided this situation. If he'd taken matters into his own hands from the start, if he hadn't run away from his mother but had faced her and told her clearly what he thought, things would surely have been different. It was all his fault.

"Kook, I'm coming in."

Taehyung put his hand on the handle and turned it gently. He opened the door carefully, sticking his head timidly through the opening. He'd expected to find a ransacked room, or receiving a tube of paint on his head. But he certainly didn't expect what he found.

Nothing.

There was absolutely no-one there. The room was exactly as Jungkook had left it the evening before. He hadn't touched anything. He hadn't been here. Taehyung felt his heart break in his chest.

Jungkook hadn't returned. This place had always been his haven, his cocoon. When something went wrong, when he was sad or angry, he came here. It was his safe place. But today, he hadn't come. His heart had been broken tonight, but he hadn't come here to take refuge.

He no longer felt safe in this house. The house he shared with Taehyung. He no longer felt safe with Taehyung. The man... had betrayed his trust. And broken his poor little heart.

"What have I done..."

Taehyung dropped to the ground, burying his face in his hands. Tears beaded down his fingers as his body shook, shaken by his tears. As far as he could remember, it was the first time he had cried. He thought his first tears would be of joy, on the day of his wedding with Jungkook. Little did he know that they would be because he had hurt the boy.

It hurt. It was so painful. Knowing that Jungkook had fled this place, hurt beyond belief, while Taehyung had worked hard to make this house his home.

He had to find him. He had to find Jungkook and repair the wrong he'd done. He'd do anything, get him the moon, just so the teenager would forgive his mistakes. Jungkook was the love of his life. He wouldn't let anything come between them, certainly not some nameless woman and his stupid mother.

***

Taehyung didn't have many options, since up until now Jungkook hadn't really looked for a place away from him. The only place he could think of was his parents. After all, Jungkook wasn't officially living with him. So if there was one place he had to return to in the middle of the night, wounded and lost, it was here. Especially as the rest of his family were still at the party.

Unlike at his house, Taehyung stopped in front of the front door, not daring to enter. If Jungkook was really there, then it would certainly be open, but he was still holding back a little. So he rang the bell. He only had to wait a few seconds for the door to open. A woman in her fifties opened the door, wearing a long beige dress and a white apron. Suspicious at first, her gaze softened when she met Taehyung's.

"Oh, Mr Kim, what are you doing here at this time of night?" she asked gently.

It was Lee Yeona, the Jeons' head maid. She had seen them all grow up, and had always suspected the relationship between Jungkook and Taehyung. She was a kind and generous woman, and the Jeons didn't deserve her at all.

"Is... Is Jungkook here?"

The woman hesitated, but saw Taehyung's pleading expression and nodded.

"Can I see him?"

"I don't know... He didn't look well at all... And he told me not to let anyone in, especially not... you."

If Taehyung thought he couldn't suffer any more, he was wrong. It was as if the already broken pieces of his heart had just been trampled underfoot.

"Yeona, I've made a mistake, a big, big mistake, but I've come to put it right. You know I could never intentionally hurt him. There's been a misunderstanding..."

Yeona stared at him for a moment, thoughtful, before sighing and stepping aside to let him pass. She knew that Taehyung wasn't a bad boy, and that if he had hurt Jungkook, it had indeed been by mistake. And seeing poor Jungkook come home in tears had broken her heart. Taehyung was the only one who could make him smile again.

Taehyung didn't waste a second, and rushed upstairs, stopping in front of Jungkook's room. He was about to knock, but stopped short when he heard sniffling from the other side of the door.

Jungkook was crying. Because of him. It was like a cold shower. He'd suspected it up until now, but being brought face to face with reality was violent. He had always sworn to protect Jungkook, never to let anyone hurt him, but today, the one who had hurt him most was him. Him, Kim Taehyung, and no one else. He'd made the one person who made his heart beat cry.

He stood there for a good two minutes, listening to his cry, his own tears forming in the corners of his eyes. This was his punishment. A punishment he felt he deserved. He would endure it, and then he would fight to get his love back.

Finally, he took a deep breath, which became jerky because of the negative emotions rushing through him.

"My love..."

The sniffling stopped immediately, and he had no trouble imagining that Jungkook had gasped.

"Go away."

His words were cold. You could feel all his anger and sadness. His pain.

"Jungkook, please... I promise I-"

"I don't care. I get the message." the teenager cut him off, his voice hoarse from crying. "If that's what you wanted, all you had to do was say so. After all, I'm just an immature brat."

The boy paused for a moment, but Taehyung didn't dare interrupt, plunging them both into a heavy silence.

"I'm setting you free, Taehyung. Let's break off our engagement."