Whispers of Submission jjk

Chapter 26

The morning air was crisp, yet it did nothing to soothe the suffocating weight pressing down on my chest. I sat curled up on the couch, staring at the steaming cup of coffee beside me. The newspaper lay open on the table, my fingers hovering over the headline that had stolen the air from my lungs.

JEON CORPORATION'S HEIR TO WED ROCKSTAR NAIRA!

I blinked, willing the words to disappear. Maybe if I stared long enough, they'd change. But they didn't. They remained, bold and taunting, a cruel joke carved into the page. My hands trembled as I took in the accompanying photo—Jungkook sitting across from Naira, candlelight flickering between them. His hand was over hers, his expression unreadable, calm.

A wave of nausea rolled through me.

This was what he had been hiding.

The stolen glances, the way he'd tried to win my trust again, the soft moments where I thought—stupidly—that maybe we were growing closer. And all along, he was with her.

My stomach twisted painfully.

I was a distraction. A pawn. A temporary amusement until his perfect match came along.

I let out a sharp laugh, one that tasted like acid. How could I have been so blind?

The dam inside me cracked. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed the newspaper and hurled it across the room. My coffee cup trembled from the impact, spilling over, a dark stain spreading across the wood.

I didn't care. I was already drowning in something far worse.

Jungkook's voice was clipped, controlled. "Where is she?"

The response from the other end was immediate. "At home, sir. No unusual activity."

He exhaled, turning to the window. The city stretched before him, but his mind was elsewhere. "Keep watching her. If she leaves, I want to know where she goes."

"Yes, sir."

He ended the call, his jaw tightening as he stared out at the skyline. The ache in his chest was unfamiliar, unwelcome. He pushed it aside. There was no room for weakness now.

I didn't realize I was crying until I saw my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were puffy, swollen, my face drawn with exhaustion. I clenched my fists, pressing them against the cool surface.

How could I have let him do this to me?

He never cared.

I was nothing but a game to him.

A strangled sound escaped my throat as I turned away, my phone buzzing on the table. Suzy's name flashed across the screen.

Suzy: Hey, saw the news... are you okay?

A fresh wave of humiliation crashed over me. The whole world knew. They'd all seen it—Jungkook with her. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but I couldn't bring myself to reply.

What was I supposed to say? That I had been stupid enough to believe in something that never existed?

Campus felt like a ghost town despite the swarm of students around me. Conversations blurred, laughter felt like static in the air. I kept my head down, moving through the hallways like a shadow, willing myself to disappear.

But then, a voice cut through the fog.

Deep. Velvety. Familiar.

"Y/N."

My body tensed. Every cell screamed at me to keep walking, to ignore him. But my traitorous feet stopped.

Slowly, I turned.

Jungkook stood against the lockers, his dark eyes locked onto me like a predator that had just spotted its prey. The sharp angles of his face were sculpted from shadows, his presence an unrelenting force. And despite everything, my heart clenched at the sight of him.

I forced my expression into something cold, unfeeling. "What do you want?"

He pushed off the lockers, closing the distance between us with slow, measured steps. "We need to talk."

I let out a hollow laugh, crossing my arms. "About what? How you lied to me? How you played me?"

His face remained unreadable, but something flickered in his eyes—something fleeting. Then, with calculated precision, he said, "This thing between us? It's over."

The words were a knife to my chest. I forced myself to keep breathing.

He continued, his tone clipped. "I'm getting engaged to Naira. She's the better choice. She fits my world. She's... more."

More.

The word slashed through me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "More what? More useful? More convenient? More willing to play along with your games?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. The touch was featherlight, a mockery of the warmth he once gave me. "She's not you," he murmured, so softly I almost didn't hear it.

But then, like a switch had flipped, his expression hardened. "But that doesn't matter."

I took a shaky step back, my anger rising like wildfire. "You're a coward, Jungkook." My voice trembled, but I didn't stop. "You push me away because you're too scared to admit that you feel something real. You think marrying her will make it go away? That choosing 'convenience' over what's real will make you happy?"

A flicker of something—pain, regret—flashed across his face, but it was gone before I could catch it. Then, he smirked, the same cruel, practiced smirk I had seen too many times before.

"You were nothing but a hot distraction," he said, his voice a slow, deliberate cut. "I wanted revenge for what you did to me on the first day. And breaking you? Well, that was just a bonus."

My breath caught. I hated the way my hands trembled, hated the way my chest ached with something close to devastation. But I refused to let him see it.

His voice dropped lower, lethal. "I'm bored, Y/N. Find someone else to play with."

The final blow.

I wanted to slap him. I wanted to scream, to tear him apart the way he had torn me apart. But I did none of those things. Instead, I met his gaze, holding onto every last shred of dignity I had left.

"You're pathetic," I whispered. "And you don't get to win."

His smirk faltered. Just for a second.

Then, with a bored wave of his hand, he turned. "Do me a favor," he called over his shoulder. "Don't show me your face again."

I stood there, frozen, as his figure disappeared down the hallway. And then—

I shattered.

Tears streamed down my face, silent, unstoppable. My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms as I gasped for breath.

I had loved him.

And he had destroyed me.

Jungkook shut the door to his office, his fingers gripping the edge of his desk like it was the only thing keeping him upright.

The image of Y/N's face—shattered, betrayed—burned into his mind. He had done what he needed to do. He had pushed her away. It was the right choice.

So why did it feel like he had just carved out his own heart?

His phone buzzed. "She's still at school," the voice reported. "She hasn't left."

His grip tightened. "Keep watching her. Make sure she's safe."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up, exhaling sharply.

"She doesn't deserve this," he muttered to himself. "But I can't let her go."

And he knew, deep down, that he never would.