"Heart Of The Azure Dragon"- Taekook/Vkook-Book 1 Of "The Sacred Beasts"

Chapter - Six

Jeongguk's pov-

I laid on the couch, my body aching from the hunt earlier that evening. I had managed to rid the city of the demons that were lurking in the shadows again, but the weight of the battle never quite left me. It was the same every time—after hunting, after erasing memories, after saving people from the demons that seemed to grow stronger with each passing day, my mind would wander back to the same place. Taehyung.

I didn’t want to think about him, not anymore. The past few days had been filled with nothing but avoiding him, acting indifferent whenever our paths crossed. It worked, or so I thought. I convinced myself that it was for the best, that staying distant would keep things from spiraling out of control.

But no matter how hard I tried, there was an unsettling restlessness gnawing at me, a feeling I couldn’t shake. I had done his best to push it down, to ignore it, but tonight, it was worse.

The sound of footsteps pulled me from his thoughts. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Mingyu always came around unannounced, but this time, there was something different about him. He wasn’t his usual loud, playful self. He looked... concerned. I sat up slightly, narrowing my eyes at my best friend.

“Something’s wrong,” I said quietly,my voice laced with suspicion. Mingyu didn’t have that usual playful grin on his face. Instead, he had a serious expression that I couldn’t ignore.

Mingyu glanced at me, his usual carefree attitude gone. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to me, his posture stiff. There was an uncomfortable silence between us before Mingyu finally spoke.

“You’re not going to like this,” Mingyu began, his voice unusually heavy. “I saved Taehyung tonight.”

My heart skipped a beat. For a moment, everything around me went quiet. The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My mind went blank as I stared at Mingyu, processing what I just heard.

“Taehyung?” my voice was barely a whisper, a cold sweat forming on my brow despite the exhaustion. “What happened? Is he... okay?” My words came out faster than I could process them, panic rising in my chest before I could control it. I hadn’t realized just how much the thought of something happening to Taehyung would affect me until now.

Mingyu sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked frustrated, not at me but at the situation itself. “I found him in an alley... a demon had him cornered. It wasn’t just any demon either. It was strong—stronger than the ones we’ve been dealing with lately.”

My heart clenched. Icould feel the anger bubbling inside me, mixing with the fear that had taken root in my chest. A demon had him cornered? Taehyung, of all people? I didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if Mingyu hadn’t intervened. The thought of Taehyung in danger, helpless and vulnerable, sent a wave of frustration through me.

My voice was cold, but underneath it, there was a trace of something else. “You saved him?” I didn’t mean to sound harsh, but my emotions were running too high. The thought of Taehyung in danger, of not being able to protect him myself, gnawed at me in a way that I couldn’t ignore anymore.

Mingyu nodded. “Yeah. I had to erase his memories, though. He wouldn’t remember any of it.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “But I couldn’t just leave him there, Gguk. He was... he was defenseless. If I hadn’t stepped in, I don’t think he would’ve made it.”

I clenched my fists, feeling a surge of emotions—relief, anger, guilt—all clashing inside me. I tried to keep my expression neutral, tried to keep my control, but it was slipping. The idea that Taehyung had been in danger, that I had nearly lost him, was too much to bear. It felt like the ground had shifted beneath me.