Vegas Ruby🥀 | Taennie ff |

Chapter 23

"My heart is so full of you I can hardly call it my own."

— Liana Rădulescu

𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

Ruby

The next morning I found Jungkook pummeling the life out of the punching bag, but all I could think of were Taehyung's words, and I knew I'd never see Jungkook the same way again. Christ, he still terrified me, but I almost understood him —part of him anyway. Jungkook was cruel and brutal, merciless and quick to snap, but it wasn't all there was to him.

"Why are you staring?" he panted as he sent the bag flying with another hard kick.

I wasn't even sure why I had come here. It was where Taehyung and his brothers hung out to play pool, watch fights and discuss business, or pummel a punching bag during the day. In the evening when we all had dinner together, my presence was tolerated, but I usually stayed away the rest of the time, giving them their space.

My eyes were drawn to Jungkook's back. I had never been close enough to him to notice that the tattooed fallen angel covered up burn scars. I hadn't realized the rough patches on his palms were burns and healed wounds from fending off his mother.

Jungkook turned to me fully, narrowing his eyes, and for a moment I wanted to go over and hug him, hug the young boy who saved Taehyung and Suga and even the unborn Jimin, who fought an insane mother and burned so they could all live, but Jungkook was a man now and not one you wanted to console. My eyes lingered on the scar crossing his eyebrow, and compassion for him filled me. Maybe Jungkook was beyond redemption in many people's eyes, but he had saved his brothers, had saved Taehyung.

I wondered how he remembered that day, but I wasn't brave enough to ask him. Jungkook stalked toward me, and I looked up into his face when he stopped right in front of me. "Why are you giving me that fucked-up look?" he growled, but for once there wasn't only anger in his eyes... there was apprehension.

I shook my head. "I wanted to thank you for saving Taehyung." Jungkook stiffened and something hard and dangerous curled in the depth of his eyes.

"Two nights ago," I added, because self-preservation kicked in, but Jungkook knew that wasn't what I'd been referring to.

Yet he stepped back and gave a tense shrug. "Someone had to snap him out of it."

I took a step back as well.

"Oh, and Ruby, not a word about any of this to Suga and Jimin. They don't need to know."

About Taehyung's breakdown. About the past. They didn't remember, didn't know, and keeping that truth from them was probably another way Jungkook protected them.

My eyes were closed as I listened to the music, my fingers gliding over the keys. Nothing brought me more serenity than creating melodies. It was an outlet for the chaos of emotions inside of me.

"You're really good at it," Jungkook said.

I jumped, my eyes flying open and settling on Jungkook. He stood in the doorway for a moment then walked toward me. As usual, my body tensed in his presence.

"Still?" he asked with a wry smile. He leaned against the piano, looking down on me with these impossibly dark, dangerous eyes. "Still terrified of me."