From Reluctance to Desire: A Mafia Story [JJK]

✨UNSPOKEN TRUTHS✨

JUNGKOOK POV:

The door clicked shut behind Y/N, sealing the silence between us like a curse.

I exhaled, slow and sharp, my jaw clenching as I stared at the space she had just walked away from. The absence of her warmth was instant—cruel. The lingering scent of her perfume mocked me, whispering reminders of what used to be.

She was slipping away from me.

I could feel it in the way she looked at me now—like I was someone she didn't recognize. Like I was a stranger.

Or worse—like I was her enemy.

I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration bubbling under my skin. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be mine. Bound to me by name, by duty, by the unshakable reality of our marriage.

But she wasn't.

Not really.

Because the foundation of it all had been a lie.

My father had arranged this marriage under the belief that her father—Kim Hyun-Ju—would never betray us. 

That blood, family, and ties stronger than any business deal would ensure his loyalty.

But loyalty was nothing more than a word. A word that meant nothing when it came from a man who had already decided to stab me in the back.

And so I had done what was necessary.

I had ended him.

But Y/N didn't know that. She couldn't.

If she ever found out what I had done—what I had taken from her—there would be no turning back.

But something in her eyes today... the way she had been avoiding me, the way she had stiffened when I touched her.

Was she starting to suspect?

The thought unsettled me in a way nothing else ever had.

She was getting too close to something she shouldn't.

I had to stop it.

Before it was too late.

Flashback:

Blood had a scent.

It wasn't the same as gunpowder or whiskey or the crisp night air—it was thicker, heavier. It clung to my senses like an unwanted memory, coating my throat in a way that made it impossible to forget.

Hyun-Ju was on his knees in front of me, his head bowed in defeat. His hands were tied behind his back, but he didn't fight. He didn't beg.

He knew there was no use.

"You were like a son to me." His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. "I raised you."

I stared down at him, my grip tightening on the gun. My pulse was steady—cold.

"You should have thought about that before you betrayed me."

A bitter chuckle left his lips. He lifted his head, meeting my gaze with something like remorse. Or maybe it was just another lie.

"I was never against you, Jungkook," he said quietly. "But you were too blind to see the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?" I repeated, voice hollow.

He exhaled, his lips curling into something tired, something worn.

"If I hadn't done it, someone else would have."