Midas Touch ➸ Taekook

- Thirty-seventh -

Jungkook woke up short of breath, a searing headache pounding his temples like an anvil. He groaned as he struggled to extricate himself from the crumpled sheets that clung to his skin. The air was saturated with a pungent smell, a mixture of rancid alcohol and sweat. The harsh morning light filtered through the torn curtains, stabbing into his eyes, reddened by fatigue and the previous night's excesses. He couldn't even remember when he had collapsed on the rickety mattress, but the bodies of empty bottles strewn around him betrayed his extreme state of inebriation.

For several months now, he had been living in this dingy flat, a concrete cage with cracked walls that smelt of mould and mustiness. The ceiling creaked with every step the upstairs neighbour took, and the rusty pipes emitted unpleasant groans every time he dared to turn on a tap. But he wasn't looking for anything better. It suited him, in a way: this hovel was the image of his mind - desolate, dilapidated, hopeless.

He sat up, so dizzy that he almost collapsed again. The acrid taste of bile rose in his throat, but he swallowed as best he could what was threatening to come out. His hands trembled as he reached for a half-empty bottle still lying on his bedside table. The alcohol burned his throat as he took a long sip, hoping to stifle the memories that were racing through his skull.

The images of the day before came back in violent waves: the reunion with Taehyung, which he had been waiting for for a whole year. A year during which he had clung to this faint hope of reconciliation, but everything had collapsed in the space of a few words. Jungkook gritted his teeth, his heart heavy with pain. He could still see Taehyung's icy stare, hear the reproaches, the acerbic tone, each word driving the knife a little deeper into the wound.

He had missed Taehyung so much. He'd never thought it possible to feel such emptiness in someone's absence. He'd tried to survive the pain, but all too often, alcohol had been his refuge. Every glass he emptied, every bottle he smashed on the floor was a desperate attempt to smother the memory of Taehyung's smile, that one kiss, the smiles shared. But instead of forgetting, he drowned a little more.

Instead of being with the man who had stolen his heart a year ago, he found himself in this musty room, with this unbearable hangover as punishment for his failure. And he knew that this day would only be a repetition of the previous ones, with this terrible difference: this time, he had lost Taehyung for good.

When he emerged from his room, he was surprised to see his father and Bella seated at the only table in his dining room/kitchen. It took him a few seconds to remember the other events of the previous day, and not just Taehyung's disapproving look. He ignored them, pouring himself a large glass of water before dropping into one of the chairs surrounding the table.

Jungkook stared at his glass, his eyes lost in emptiness, without paying the slightest attention to his father and Bella, sitting opposite him. The silence was heavy, interrupted only by the sound of the tap leaking somewhere behind him. Bella was clutching a cup of coffee in her hands, her gaze shifting from Jean-Luc to Jungkook. She watched him attentively, trying to understand what had happened to bring him to this point. The man in front of her was no longer the man she had known five years ago. This boy ravaged by alcohol and pain was a stranger. Where was the arrogant, playful teenager she'd always known?

"Are you going to tell us what happened, Jungkook?" she finally asked, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

But he remained silent, absorbed in his drink, as if she didn't exist.

Jean-Luc sighed and ran a tired hand over his face. He knew all too well his son's stubborn silence. That empty stare that refused to dwell on the present. He'd got used to Jungkook's meltdowns, but this one seemed worse than all the others.

As for Bella, she couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. She couldn't forget the scene the day before, when Jungkook had called out to Taehyung with a distress she'd never heard in his voice. They had looked at each other with an intensity that made her blood run cold. 'Who is this Taehyung?!' she wanted to shout. But she bit her lip, unable to face what she was afraid to discover.

And this card... The Queen of Hearts. Jungkook had always protected it, like a precious talisman. It was almost a relic to him, a symbol he'd never wanted to share, even with her. They had spent their childhood together, and she had even managed to marry him, so she had believed that one day he would give it to her, as the ultimate gesture of trust. Like a gesture of love, proof that he was giving her his heart. But he never did. So why had this Taehyung got his hands on this card? Why had Jungkook given it to him?

And to think that this Taehyung had thrown the card in his face haunted Bella. The way that boy had made him feel like he was worthless... It was eating away at her. She'd always wanted that card, as a symbol of what they could have been. And now another man had had access to it.

While Jungkook remained closed, his eyes lowered. Bella felt a wave of frustration rise up inside her. All she knew was that this Taehyung had a part of Jungkook that she'd never been able to reach. And that pissed her off.

The silence broke abruptly when a shattering of glass echoed in the cramped room. Bella had violently placed her cup on the table, splashing the blackish liquid onto the already stained tablecloth. Her eyes burned with contained rage, but also with a despair she could no longer conceal.

"Jungkook, are you finally going to tell us what happened last night?!" she shouted, her voice trembling with ill-concealed anger. "Who was this 'Taehyung'?!"

Jungkook barely looked up, his jaw clenched, refusing to take the bait. He simply took another sip of water, as if he hadn't heard anything. This indifference only fuelled Bella's fury. She turned to Jean-Luc, hoping to find an ally.

"Tell him to talk!! she implored, her voice breaking. "He can't go on like this! We need to know!"

But Jean-Luc looked away, his tired eyes staring at a crack in the ceiling. He knew the truth, or at least part of it. He knew how much his son was suffering, how the loss of Taehyung was consuming him. Supporting Bella in her quest for answers would only drive Jungkook deeper into his darkness. And he couldn't bring himself to do that.

"Jungkook..." resumed Bella, her voice calmer despite the bitterness that flowed from it. "I want to understand... Who was that boy? Why... did he have that card?"

At that moment, something inside Jungkook snapped. He slammed his glass hard against the table, flashes of anger lighting up his tired eyes.

"None of your business, Bella!! he shouted, his hoarse voice echoing around the small room. "What's it to you? You think that just because you suddenly reappear five years later, you have the right to control my life?!"

But Bella wasn't about to give up, now just as angry as he was.

"Of course it's my business!" she shouted back. " I'm your wife, damn it! I've got a right to know!"

The word 'wife' sounded like a punch to Jungkook. He burst into a joyless, bitter, almost hysterical laugh.

"Wife?" he repeated, his voice tinged with contempt. "You've never been my wife, Bella, and that's what pisses you off. If you had just a little pride and humanity, you would have recognised a long time ago that my heart never belonged to you."

Bella's eyes widened, her lips trembling with the shock of his words. But she didn't have time to reply. Jungkook stood up so suddenly that his chair toppled backwards. His clenched fists shook, his eyes sparkled with rage and pain.

Did she want an answer? Very well, she would have one. But she'd better not complain about it afterwards.

"That guy, as you call him..." he spat, every word trembling with suppressed anger, "Is the love of my life!"

An icy silence fell over the room, and even Bella, at first ready to retaliate, froze.

"And because of you two," he continued, pointing at his father and then at her, "I'll probably never be able to be with him."

~🌻~

I suffer heavy headache lately, that forbade me to use screens for too long. I need to see doctors for that, but it will take time. So I don't really know how the updates will go, sorry...💕