From Reluctance to Desire: A Mafia Story [JJK]

✨A TOAST TO TOMORROW✨

Y/N's POV:

After the dust settled, we spent the next few days picking up the pieces.

Of what was left of us.

Of what used to be.

Hyun Ju was gone. The monster who had broken so many lives—mine, Jungkook's, countless others—was finally gone. And in that silence that followed his fall, we felt something foreign.

Freedom.

Cautious, fragile, but real.

Jungkook didn't hesitate. He stepped into the space his father once dominated—not as a tyrant, not as a shadow of the man who raised him in pain. But as a new light. A leader.

He was finally ready to take his place—not just at the head of what was left—but at the heart of what would come next.

To honor his real father's legacy... and the victory we had bled for, he planned a gathering.

A quiet one. Something warm. Human.

It wasn't a grand hall or palace. Just a local restaurant with glowing lights, spice-laced air, and laughter that didn't sound like it had been bought with blood.

It was... nice.

Inside, the scent of sizzling meat pulled at memories I didn't know I missed. Fairy lights dangled overhead, casting gentle halos around people who had fought, cried, survived.

Jungkook moved through the room with a quiet grace.

Measured.

Controlled.

But I saw the weight on his shoulders. Grief. And something else.

"Y/N," he said, voice soft, low. "Will you help me with the toast?"

I nodded. No hesitation. "Always."

We stood at the center of the room, a hush falling like snow.

Jungkook raised his glass. His jaw was tight, but his voice didn't shake.

"Tonight, we honor my father," he began. "He was a man of strength. Of quiet pride. A man who—despite the shadows around him—believed in loyalty and in family."

He paused.

Just for a breath.

"We lost him. But his spirit remains—through us. And through what we build next. Together."

Glasses clinked. Cheers echoed. A few tears slipped quietly. Mine, too.

After the toast, the night continued to unfold like something precious, something fragile. There was laughter, clinking glasses, and moments of peace. But in the quiet space inside my heart, there was one more thing I needed to do.

I stepped away, my movements quiet as I slipped through the crowd, the cool night air welcoming me as I exited into the dim light outside.

Jungkook stood by the railing, his back to me, his posture as familiar as the feel of his presence. He was leaning against it, arms crossed, his gaze lost in the distance.

I took a deep breath and approached him, my footsteps soft on the ground. His head turned when he heard me, his eyes locking with mine.

"Y/N?" His voice was warm but carried the weight of something more, something that understood this wasn't just another moment of silence between us.

I stood there for a moment, gathering my thoughts, before I spoke. "I need to talk to you," I said, my voice low but steady. I wasn't sure where to start, but the truth had to come out now.

He straightened, his expression shifting from casual to concerned in an instant. "What's wrong?"

I swallowed, meeting his gaze head-on. This wasn't easy, but he deserved to know. "I need you to protect someone. Someone who... means more to me than I've ever said."

He raised an eyebrow, his gaze sharpening with interest. "Who?"

"Seok Ryu," I said quietly, the name tasting strange on my tongue after everything. "Kim Hyun Ju's wife. The woman who raised me."

Jungkook stayed silent for a moment, processing my words. But I could see the understanding in his eyes, as if he already knew something important was about to unfold.

"I thought she never knew the truth about me," I continued, my voice thick with the weight of the memories. "She thought I was her daughter... but I'm not. I'm Areum. I'm Hyun Yu's daughter."

The words hung in the air, and for a second, I wondered if he'd say something, but Jungkook simply listened. His expression was unreadable, but I saw the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes darkened just slightly with the gravity of what I was revealing.

"I told her the truth," I whispered, the memory of that conversation flooding back. "I told her I wasn't Y/N... and that I was Areum, the daughter of Hyun Yu. And she... she just looked at me, and said, 'I know.'"

Jungkook didn't say anything, but his hand shifted slightly, as if ready to reach out to me.

"She knew," I continued, voice shaking now. "She knew that I wasn't her daughter. But she never once stopped loving me. She took care of me. Raised me as her own. Because she loved me. Not because of blood, but because she chose to."

I could feel the weight of my confession in my chest. I hadn't ever fully understood the depth of that bond until now, until I had to face the truth.

"And when I asked her how she knew, she said..." I paused, trying to steady my breath. "She said, 'A mother knows.' She told me that a mother knows her daughter, no matter what. Even if I wasn't hers by blood, she knew me. She always had."

Jungkook's eyes softened, and he took a small step toward me. His hand hovered near mine but didn't reach out, not yet. The emotion in the air between us was thick with everything unsaid.

"I can't let anything happen to her," I said, the desperation creeping into my voice. "She loved me. She was the one person who took care of me when no one else would. Please, I need you to protect her. No matter what."

Jungkook finally closed the distance between us, his hand gently resting on my shoulder. His gaze was fierce, protective, and unwavering.

"I promise," he said, his voice low and fierce. "I will protect her. No one will harm her. Not while I'm around."

I nodded, relief washing over me, but the weight of what I had just shared didn't lift. It would stay with me, a constant reminder of how deep the bond between Seok Ryu and I truly was.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice thick with gratitude and emotion.

Jungkook's eyes never left mine as he nodded, his grip on my shoulder tightening in silent promise. "You don't need to thank me," he said softly. "She's family. I'll do whatever it takes."

The quiet that settled between us was comforting, even in the heaviness of the moment. It was a promise made—one I knew Jungkook would keep. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn't alone in carrying this weight.

I stared at him for a moment, feeling my heart beat faster with something more than gratitude. The words that had been buried deep inside me for so long suddenly surfaced, and before I could stop myself, I spoke them.

"I love you, Jungkook," I whispered, my voice trembling just slightly as the confession left my lips.

He didn't answer at first, but then, with a slow and deliberate movement, he cupped my face in his hands, his thumb brushing gently across my cheek. His touch was tender, as if he was afraid of breaking something fragile.

"I love you too," he said, his voice steady but filled with an emotion that mirrored my own.

And in that moment, with the world around us fading away, it felt like everything had finally fallen into place.

Our silence spoke louder than any words could ever say.

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