My Professor Agent

chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Weight of Silence

The night had fallen by the time Taehyung returned to his apartment. He parked the car in the quiet parking lot, the headlights cutting through the darkness for a brief moment before fading into the stillness. He sat there for a while, hands gripping the steering wheel, staring ahead with hollow eyes.

The memory of Jungkook’s face—broken, desperate, pleading—kept flashing in his mind. His voice echoed too, raw with regret.

> “I would rather hurt myself a thousand times than hurt you once.”

Taehyung shut his eyes tightly, leaning back against the headrest. His chest ached. He wanted to believe him, he really did. But the truth was that wounds weren’t measured only by intention—they were measured by pain. And the pain he carried was heavier than Jungkook could ever understand.

Dragging himself out of the car, he entered his apartment. The silence inside wrapped around him, both comforting and suffocating. He dropped his keys onto the table, his body sagging with exhaustion—not of the day, but of emotions that had drowned him since yesterday.

He poured himself a glass of water, but his hands trembled too much. The glass slipped, crashing onto the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. Taehyung froze.

The broken shards glimmered under the dim kitchen light, and in them, he saw pieces of himself—fractured, sharp, impossible to put back together.

He crouched down slowly, picking up the shards one by one. His finger brushed against an edge, and a thin line of red bloomed across his skin. He hissed softly but didn’t stop. Instead, he stared at the blood pooling on his fingertip.

The color red.
The color he hated.
The color that haunted him.

It reminded him of nights filled with screaming, of memories drenched in loss, of a childhood stolen far too early. It was the color of his past—the one he had buried deep, but never escaped.

And now, it was the color of Jungkook’s words, words that had ripped open an old wound he had sealed shut long ago.

Taehyung leaned back against the wall, sliding down until he sat on the cold floor. His hand trembled, blood dripping lightly onto his palm, tears spilling freely down his face.

“Why…” his voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “Why do you keep doing this to me, Jungkook?”

His chest heaved as he pulled his knees up, curling into himself. He hated how much power Jungkook had over him. How even after everything, even after the pain, his heart still beat louder whenever Jungkook’s name crossed his mind.

He wiped his tears roughly, trying to steady his breathing. He couldn’t let himself break completely—not again. He had promised himself years ago that no one would be allowed to destroy him the way life already had.

And yet, here he was—falling apart, not because of his past, but because of Jungkook.

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Meanwhile, across town…

Jungkook lay in his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, but all he saw was Taehyung’s face when he turned away. His words replayed like a haunting chorus.

> “Sometimes, damage is done. And mine… mine were carved into me long before you ever came into my life.”

Jungkook’s chest clenched, his fists tightening at his sides. He hated the distance between them, the wall that seemed to grow taller every day. He had always been reckless, thoughtless, playful—but never cruel. Not to Taehyung. Never to Taehyung.