Starlight and Petals (taekook)

21: Tears

recommended song for this chap: Shot glass of tears

Authors pov:

Taehyung walked into the VIP seating area, Sehun by his side, but the moment he saw the faces waiting for him, his heart nearly stopped. Seated were Eunwoo, Jaehyun, Mingyu, Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, and Seokjin. Across from them sat Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Suho, and Kai. It was a gathering of people that Taehyung wasn't ready to face. He hadn't wanted to see any of them—especially not today. His instincts screamed at him to run away, to disappear before anyone noticed, but it was too late.

Baekhyun was the first to rush forward, wrapping Taehyung in a warm hug

"You didn't even tell me you were coming! What the hell, Tae!" Baekhyun teased, laughing as he clung to Taehyung, but the words fell on deaf ears.

Taehyung's mind was elsewhere. He felt the weight of the stares from the others. The 'Jungkook group,' as he quietly called them—Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon,—nodded politely at his presence, but the tension was palpable. Taehyung knew none of them wanted him here. Except maybe Eunwoo, Jaehyun, and Seokjin, who smiled at him warmly, offering a small sense of comfort in a sea of discomfort.

Everything around him felt overwhelming—the noise, the crowd, the lights, the pressure of being in the same space with all these people. He wanted to lash out at Sehun, to yell at him for putting him in this situation. But the energy to fight wasn't there. All he wanted was to disappear, to run far away from the memories and the people who knew too much about his past with Jungkook.

I forgive you. I forgive you for everything—your betrayal, for cheating on me—I forgive it all. Let's—let's get back together

Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut as the words echo in his ears, piercing through his mind. He feels the urge to cry—so hard that he could scream until his voice fades, until he's stripped of his senses, until he loses himself completely. In that moment, he wishes for......

death..... 

As the concert began, the crowd erupted into a deafening roar. Jungkook's name echoed across the stadium, thousands of voices chanting in unison. The stage lit up with shimmering lights, the sea of fans turning their mobile phones and ARMY bombs into a glowing wave of purple. The energy was electric, magical even. And then, there he was—Jungkook, standing center stage, looking every bit like the global star he was, commanding the world's attention with effortless charisma, exactly as they have dreamed about this----nine years before and now its all reality an taehyung cant be more happy.

Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Taehyung's heart twisted painfully as the song's opening and ending notes filled the air. It was a song he had heard a thousand times before, one that carried far too many memories. Every lyric, every melody echoed in his chest, pulling him into a vortex of emotions he had been trying so hard to suppress.

He felt suffocated, yet he couldn't take his eyes off Jungkook. And despite everything, the magic of the moment—the magic of Jungkook—captured him, just like it always had.

Taehyung watched Jungkook from his seat, his heart heavy. Unlike every other concert he had a Jungkook's face wasn't lit up with joy. He wasn't basking in the energy of his fans. There was something off, something deeply painful hidden behind the stage lights and the flashing smiles and he knows----he is the reason. As the concert neared its end, Taehyung didn't know how he had even managed to sit through it, with every moment dragging him back to the memories he'd been trying to escape.