𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 -tk

chapter-55

POV:

The night was still, the Han River whispering secrets of lost dreams and broken hearts. The moon hung heavy in the sky, its pale light casting shadows that seemed to dance with the ghosts of their shattered love. Taehyung sat in the grass, the lifeless body of Jungkook cradled in his lap, his eyes fixed on the vacant, glassy stare that no longer held warmth or light.

Jungkook’s eyes, once filled with fire and defiance, now stared blankly, reflecting only the hollow void that had consumed them both. Taehyung’s hand trembled as he reached out, his fingers brushing over Jungkook’s face. His palm, stained with the residue of sin and sorrow, gently closed Jungkook’s eyes. A single tear slipped from Taehyung’s own eyes, landing softly on Jungkook’s pale cheek—one last offering, one last apology.

He smiled, a fragile, broken thing. “I did it,” he whispered, his voice barely audible, cracking under the weight of his grief. “I really did it, NO QUESTIONS ASKED OK?.”

The realization tore through him like a blade, sharp and relentless. He had taken the life of the one person he had loved more than anything. The one person who had shattered him, betrayed him, yet still owned every fragment of his soul. The wind carried his whispered confession away, a prayer to the void, a plea for a redemption he knew he would never find.

Taehyung’s gaze drifted to the river, the dark water a mirror of the emptiness inside him. He had been ready to leave—to escape this suffocating city, this life of lies and broken promises. The plane ticket to the U.S. was still in his pocket, a symbol of the future he had planned, the escape he had almost taken. But then... He saw Jungkook. Jungkook sobbing pathetically. And Taehyung’s resolve had crumbled, twisted into something darker, something crueler but definitely not revenge.

“It wasn’t revenge,” he murmured, stroking Jungkook’s hair, his touch gentle, almost reverent. “It was never revenge.”

He leaned down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to Jungkook’s cold lips—a farewell, a promise, a curse. Pulling back, he smiled through his tears, his vision blurred by the salt and sorrow. “Let’s meet in the next life, Kookie,” he whispered. “And I hope... I hope we’ll have a happy ending.”

The words hung in the air, fragile and fleeting, before dissipating like smoke. Taehyung’s hands moved to his wrist, fingers tugging at the bandage that concealed his scars. The fabric unraveled, falling away to reveal the angry, jagged lines of his past desperation—failed attempts to silence the agony that now consumed him.

He stared at the stitches, the crimson lines that marred his skin, and with a sharp, sudden movement, he tore them open. Pain flared, sharp and electric, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his chest, the hollow void where his heart had once been. Blood seeped from the reopened wounds, staining his sleeves, dripping onto the grass. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered.

He had no one. No one to hold him back. No one to save him.

Jimin... Jimin still had a life to live. Yoongi... Yoongi would find his way back to Jimin, the misunderstandings of the past nothing more than shadows they would overcome. But Taehyung? Taehyung had nothing left. No capacity to love. No will to trust. His heart had been broken beyond repair, shattered by the one person he had given it to.

He reached for Jungkook’s lifeless hand, his fingers curling around the cold, unresponsive flesh. Gently, he slid a blade between Jungkook’s stiff fingers, positioning it against his own wrist. The metal was cool, unforgiving—a final reminder of the world’s cruelty.

“This is what love does,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “It destroys. It devours. It leaves nothing behind.”

The blade bit into his skin, the pain a dull echo of the torment inside him. Blood pooled, dark and viscous, but his gaze remained fixed on Jungkook’s face—a face he had loved, a face he had destroyed.