𝑬𝑵𝑺𝑵𝑨𝑹𝑬𝑫 | JUNGKOOK

96. Hurt

Jungkook's POV

My world was spiraling the moment I walked out on Alba. The anger, the frustration, it was so much worse this time. She said she needed closure, needed to face Jimin, and all I could think was how unfair it was. How after everything we had been through, the ghosts of her past still held this kind of power over them.

I had spent days lost in that anger, avoiding everyone. My house became a reflection of the mess in my head, trash piling up, empty beer cans littering the floor, clothes scattered everywhere. I couldn't focus on anything else. Not on work, not on the future, not even on myself. It was like everything revolved around what she was going to do, and I hated it. Hated that it had this much control over me.

Everyone kept trying to reach me Namjoon hyung had stopped by a few times, gently pushing me to talk things out with Alba instead of bottling everything up. Hobi had been more straightforward, practically dragging me out to the gym to blow off steam, but even then, I stayed closed off. I didn't want to hear that I was overreacting, that I needed to give her space. Every time someone said it, all I could think was: What if she chooses Jimin?

No matter how many times they told me I wasn't thinking straight, the knot in my chest didn't loosen. It was all so messed up, and no one seemed to understand. How could I not be angry when the very person who broke Alba was still in the picture? How could I just stand by while she sought something from him that should have been long buried?

It wasn't logical, I knew that. But logic had nothing to do with the way my heart ached every time her name crossed my mind. I loved her. I loved her in a way that scared me, that made me want to protect her from anything and everything. And then, just when I thought things couldn't get any more tangled, Jimin showed up at my office.

I stared at him, surprised as hell that he'd actually come to me. We hadn't talked much lately aside from the professional stuff. My gut twisted, and my fists clenched under the desk.

"Jungkook-ah," Jimin hyung started, his voice low and calm. "We need to talk."

"About what?" I snapped, barely holding back the anger. "If you're here to talk about Alba, don't. I don't want to hear it."

He sighed, looking almost... defeated. He didn't respond immediately, and the silence in the room felt like it was suffocating me.

"I get it," he finally said. "You're pissed. You think I've come back just to mess everything up. But it's not like that."

"Isn't it?" I bit back, not bothering to hide my frustration. "Why are you even here, hyung? She's trying to get closure, and you're..." I couldn't even finish the sentence, my voice trailing off in anger and bitterness.

He looked down for a moment, his expression softening in a way I hadn't seen in a long time. "I didn't come back to hurt her, Jungkook. That was never my intention."

"Then what the hell do you want?" I demanded, my voice rising with the fury I'd been bottling up.

Hyung ran a hand through his hair, clearly wrestling with something. "I met someone," he said quietly, his eyes not meeting mine. "In New York."

That caught me off guard. "What?"

"I've been seeing someone," he repeated, this time looking at me. "We've been together for a while now."

I sat back in my chair, the anger momentarily dimming as confusion took its place. "So what? Why are you telling me this?"

He sighed again, his voice laced with something that sounded like regret. "Because... even though I met Elise, even though things are going well with her, there are parts of my past I can't fully let go of. And Alba's one of those parts."