𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥-𝗜𝗡-𝗟𝗔𝗪

part 39 ( Confronting Reality)

Chapter 40: Confronting Reality

Taehyung stared blankly at his phone, Jennie's name lighting up the screen with missed calls and unread messages. The tension in his chest grew tighter by the second, but it wasn’t because of Jennie this time—it was Jisoo.

Ever since the appointment with the therapist, Taehyung couldn’t shake the haunting words that kept repeating in his mind: "She won’t be able to have children." The guilt that weighed on him felt unbearable. This was his doing, whether he wanted to admit it or not. His choices, his indecision, had brought them to this breaking point.

Jisoo had been distant ever since that day. They barely exchanged words, and the once-intense fire that had burned between them was nothing more than ashes. Now, she felt like a stranger in her own skin, in their shared space. Taehyung wanted to help her, but every time he tried, the walls between them seemed higher, more impenetrable.

He turned his gaze out the window of his apartment, his mind wandering to Jennie again. It had been days since they last spoke, and his heart ached for her. But how could he even think about her when Jisoo was falling apart right in front of him? How could he leave this mess and go to Jennie when everything here was shattered?

He heard a soft knock on the door, and Jisoo appeared, looking fragile and exhausted. Her once vibrant aura was now replaced with a hollow emptiness. She glanced at him but didn’t meet his eyes fully, almost as if she was afraid of what she would see.

“I’m going to bed,” Jisoo mumbled, her voice barely audible.

Taehyung’s heart clenched. “Jisoo, wait.”

She paused, her back to him, not turning around. “What is it?”

“I... I want to talk. We can’t keep going like this,” Taehyung said, his voice thick with frustration and sorrow. “You’re shutting me out, and I don’t know how to help you if you won’t let me in.”

Jisoo turned slowly, her eyes dull, as if the weight of the world had finally broken her. “Help me? How are you going to help me, Taehyung? You’ve already made your decision. You’re with Jennie now.”

“That’s not fair,” he whispered, his voice cracking under the strain. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“But you did,” Jisoo snapped, her voice rising with the anger she’d been holding back for so long. “You chose her over me. You’re staying here out of guilt, not love. Don’t you see that? I see it every time you look at me. Your heart isn’t here. It never was.”

Taehyung fell silent. The truth in her words hit him like a punch to the gut. He had tried to salvage what was left between them, but it was clear now that there was nothing left to save. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

Jisoo’s shoulders sagged as she fought back tears. “I can’t be the woman you want anymore, Taehyung. I can’t even give you the one thing you’ve always wanted… a family.”

Taehyung stepped closer, wanting to comfort her, but she pulled away, the distance between them growing wider by the second.

“I’m broken, Taehyung. I’m not the same person I was when we first met. And you… you’re not the same either.”

He felt his throat tighten, but he didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t fix this, couldn’t erase the pain they had caused each other. All he knew was that this chapter of their lives was closing, and no matter how much they tried to hold on, the damage was irreversible.

Jisoo finally met his eyes, her voice soft but filled with resignation. “You need to go, Taehyung. Go back to her. Go back to Jennie.”

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