Once A Love Story [kv]❤️✓

Chapter 42

Author's pov

The temple was still. The air thick with grief and the weight of the tragedy that had unfolded. Even the winds, which had once howled through the hills, seemed to hold their breath. Inside, Jungkook was still seated beside Taehyung's lifeless body, his face twisted in pain, his hands trembling as they gripped the cold form of his mate. His grief had already reached the point where he felt as though he was suffocating in it.

The others were still there, not moving.

But the sudden, eerie shift in the atmosphere did not escape him. It was as if the world itself was changing. Jungkook's head snapped up, his tear-streaked face contorting with confusion and disbelief.

A figure materialized before him, shimmering in the soft glow of the temple's remaining embers. It was a presence, one he knew all too well, he had seen her in person before, many times. The Moon Goddess stood before him, bathed in the moonlight that seemed to come from nowhere. She was beautiful, her presence exuding an ancient power, timeless and eternal. Her eyes glowed with an ethereal light, her form regal and haunting yet mesmerizing.

Jungkook's heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, the agony seemed to ease. But as soon as it came, it was replaced by a surge of fury, a flood of emotions too wild to contain. His voice, raw and filled with anguish, broke the stillness, flinching everyone.

"Why?" His voice cracked. "Why have you cursed me like this? Why have you taken everyone away from me?!" He rose on his feet.

But the Moon Goddess didn't flinch, her eyes softening with an understanding that only an immortal being could possess. She watched him, her gaze filled with ancient sorrow.

"You never let me live peacefully, Goddess," Jungkook spat, taking a step forward, his body tense, fists clenched in rage. "First, you took my mother and sister from me—sacrificed them so I could become your monster. Then, when I finally found a reason to live, when I thought... thought I could love and be loved, you take him too." His voice wavered with grief, his words like daggers, sharp and full of accusation.

The Moon Goddess didn't argue, didn't try to defend herself. She simply stood there, her presence unwavering. Jungkook's anger only grew as he continued to pour his pain into his words, in the form of anger.

"You let me live forever, trapped in this damned existence. I watched everything I loved burn away in the fire of time, never once getting the chance to hold on to something real. You gave me immortality, but you never gave me love!" Jungkook's breath was ragged as his chest heaved with emotion. His rage consumed him, the weight of it sinking him deeper into despair.

"All I wanted was to live," he whispered, his voice now breaking with the weight of the years he had endured. He glanced at his husband and his heart bled at the sight of his pale face. "All I ever wanted was to love. And now, he's gone. I'm left here with nothing, but this cursed life... forever." His tears fell again.

Silence stretched between them, and for a long moment, Jungkook was convinced the Moon Goddess would say nothing. But then, her voice—soft yet powerful—spoke through the stillness.

"You are not alone in your pain, Jungkook. Every action has its purpose. Every soul has its fate. And yet, in the threads of life and death, everything happens for a reason."

Jungkook's eyes flashed with disbelief. "A reason? What reason? To make me suffer? To strip me of everything I ever loved? My mom, sister and now my husband and our unborn children. Everyone, you took everyone from me. You even took my closest friend, Kim Namhyuk!"

Namjoon's teary gaze casts to the ground at the mention of his late father.

The Moon Goddess did not answer immediately. Instead, she looked down at Taehyung's body, her gaze filled with a sorrow of its own.