Twisted Devotion | taekook

chapter. 4

“I have to run to a meeting, but make yourself at home,” Jun said, his voice steady, yet warm in its usual, no-nonsense way. “Just remember the house rules. No smoking, no shoes on the carpet, and definitely no feeding The Fish outside the prescribed hours and amounts. The details are taped to the table next to his bowl. Any questions?”

Jungkook shook his head, managing a small, strained smile. “No, all sounds good.” His voice was quieter than he intended, weighed down by exhaustion and everything else. “Thanks again for letting me stay here while I figure things out. I promise I won’t be in your hair too long.”

Out of all his friends—which, if he were honest with himself, didn’t amount to many—Jimin was happily living with his husband, and Jungkook couldn’t bear to disrupt that. The last thing he wanted was to bring his emotional baggage into their peaceful home. So, Jun, with his calm exterior and surprising loyalty, had been the one Jungkook turned to.

Jun, with his blank expression and a tendency to come across as indifferent, had still opened his door without hesitation. Despite his general lack of visible emotion, Jun always had a way of going to bat for his friends when they needed it most. He’d even greeted Jungkook’s arrival with a mug of coffee and a brief hug—a gesture that had warmed Jungkook more than he let on.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jun’s face softened just a fraction, the kind of softness that was easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. “We’ll get drinks later. You and I can vent about men while Jimin pretends he isn’t disgustingly happy with his.”

Jungkook’s laugh was rusty, barely escaping his lips, but it was genuine. It had been days since he last felt the release of humor, and even though it was short-lived, it felt good. “It’s a plan,” he said, his voice slightly more alive.

It had only been a week since he told Taehyung he wanted a divorce, but it felt like an eternity. None of his friends had been surprised by his decision to leave, which said more than enough about how people outside of their relationship had seen things. It stung a little, realizing how obvious his unhappiness had been to everyone except him. But then again, when you’re that close to something, you miss the cracks as they form.

Jungkook’s phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, and he didn’t need to look at the screen to know who it was. Taehyung. Again. The name that still held so much weight in his heart, the name that was now a constant source of anxiety.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, tension creeping back into his shoulders. Taehyung had been calling incessantly for the past week, and each time his name appeared on the screen, it was a fresh stab to Jungkook's already bruised heart. Despite the hurt, despite the suffocating pain of it all, he still couldn’t bring himself to block the number. Not yet. So, just like the dozens of calls before, he let this one roll into voicemail, trying not to think about the messages he hadn't listened to. The first had been too much, each word cutting him deeper than the last, and he wasn’t ready to feel that again.

“What do you mean he’s in Mykonos?” Jun’s voice cut through the silence, his anger palpable even though it was masked beneath his usual calm. His footsteps echoed as he grabbed his briefcase by the door. “That is unacceptable. He knows he should be here for the meeting.”

The front door closed with a soft but deliberate thud, Jun’s frustration lingering in the air. And just as Jungkook thought he could finally breathe, another call came through.

His breath hitched in his throat, anxiety flooding his system once more. He wasn’t sure which was worse: hearing from Taehyung or from his divorce attorney.

With trembling fingers, he answered.

“Jungkook, this is Park Wooshik,” came the deep, commanding voice from the other end. There was something about Wooshik’s tone that steadied Jungkook, even when his world felt like it was unraveling. Known as one of the top divorce attorneys in the country, Wooshik didn’t come cheap. But he was also the only person Jungkook trusted to stand a chance against Taehyung's army of high-powered lawyers.