𝐎𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐚'𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 [𝗄𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗏]

Chapter Thirty One

~~~~

The door closed behind Jeongguk with a quiet click, but to Taehyung, it may as well have been an earthquake.

He stood frozen in place, his breath unsteady, his heart slamming against his ribs like it was trying to break free.

His lips still tingled.

His fingers twitched at his sides, curling into fists before he could stop himself. No. He wouldn't let himself feel this. He refused.

But his body betrayed him.

A sharp breath left him, almost a curse, as he pressed his fingers against his lips, as if he could erase the feeling, as if he could forget the way Jeongguk had looked at him right before it happened—like Taehyung was the only thing in the world that mattered.

His stomach twisted, anger rising to smother the confusion.

Because how dare he?

How dare Jeongguk storm into his space, touch him like that, kiss him like he had the right—only to throw out those words like an afterthought? You drive me insane.

Taehyung swallowed hard, his throat tight. Was that supposed to be a confession? A declaration of frustration? A cruel joke?

He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

His chest ached—not just from the kiss, but from everything that came before it.

Fourteen years.

Fourteen years of silence, of pretending, of watching Jeongguk live his life without knowing the truth. Fourteen years of swallowing his own pain, convincing himself that this was for the best.

That Jeongguk not knowing was safer. That keeping his distance was the only way to protect what little they had left.

And now?

Now, in a single reckless moment, Jeongguk had shattered the delicate balance Taehyung had spent years trying to maintain.

A bitter chuckle slipped past his lips, humorless and tired.

Of course, it had to be like this.

~~~

Jeongguk barely made it down the hall before his knees nearly buckled beneath him. His breath came in uneven gasps, his heart hammering so violently against his ribs that he thought it might tear straight through his chest.

He pressed a trembling hand against the wall, his other clutching at the front of his shirt as if it could steady the chaos inside him. His fingers curled tightly, his nails biting into the fabric.

"What the fuck did I just do?"

His cheek still burned from Taehyung's slap, but the pain wasn't nearly enough. It wasn't enough to drown out the weight of his own shame, the suffocating realization that he had crossed a line he should have never even thought about crossing.

"I'm shameless..." he whispered, his voice raw, shaking, barely more than a breath. His vision blurred for a moment, but he blinked the tears away before they could fall.

Taehyung had pushed him away.

Taehyung had rejected him.

And Jeongguk knew he deserved it.

No—he deserved worse.

If Taehyung had wanted to rip his throat out right then and there, Jeongguk would have let him. Would have kneeled before him and bared his neck, welcomed whatever punishment his hyung—his Luna—deemed fit.