Once A Love Story [kv]❤️✓

EPILOGUE

5 years later— 

The wind carried the scent of pine and rain through the Selene Territory, rustling the trees in a familiar, haunting melody. 

His gaze lost in the rippling river water that shimmered under the golden hues of the setting sun. 

It had been five years since Jungkook had vanished into the night—five years since Taehyung had clutched his pups, trying to soothe their heartbreak while his own soul remained frozen in time and pain.

At first, he had refused to move on. Every night, he would sit by the window, waiting, hoping, praying that Jungkook would come back, that the Moon Goddess would be kind enough to give him back what she had so cruelly taken. 

But hours turned into days, days into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Jungkook never returned. Nor Taehyung was ever able to feel their lost bond again. 

Yet, despite it all, he endured.

He had learned to live.

Taehyung had learned, painfully, how to live without his Alpha. How to wake up without the warmth of his mate beside him. How to breathe even when it hurt. How to raise their pups with a smile despite the void in his chest. He learned. He forced himself to learn. 

Next month would mark the twins' fifth birthday. In every manner, including their eyes, hair, grins, and habits, they constantly reminded him of Jungkook. How could they have inherited it all? It amused him, and sometimes he felt relieved that he still had his Jungkook in their sons. But his heart also ached.   

"Mama!" Lilly's voice pulled him back to reality as she ran toward him, her feet kicking up dust. 

Behind her were Duri and Uri, running hand in hand after their big sister. "Mama! Mama!" They, too, were shouting.

As Lilly stood in front of him, her eyes were dazzling and full of mischief. "Brother caught a fish! A big one!" She spread her arms wide, and Taehyung chuckled softly.

"Big fish! Big fish!" The twins, full of delight and excitement, leaped together.

Taehyung's smile grew as he crouched down to the twins' level and tapped their button noses, "Did he, now? Guess we'll be having fish for dinner tonight," he mused, ruffling their hair then Lilly's.

"Oh!" Lilly gasped and looked at the twins. "Nana brought us cookies when you both were sleeping this morning!" 

Their doe eyes immediately widened. "Cookies! Cookies!" they yelled. 

Lilly grabbed Duri and Uri's hands and ran with them towards the home. 

Taehyung smiled tenderly and looked down at his hands, his smile vanishing in an instant. 

Leo recently turned 19, while Lilly was already 11 years old. Both of them never made him feel alone, always took part in caring for the twins and did whatever they could to help. He was really grateful to have them as children.

After a few months of Jungkook's disappearance, Leo had taken all the responsibilities on his shoulders— from tending cows, cultivating and harvesting crops, managing transportation to practicing martial arts with Jungwon, and studying hard. He excelled in all. It was as if witnessing a piece of Jungkook awakened in Leo.

And in all of these, Jungwon stood behind him, like a master rather than a grandfather. Leo, despite being an Omega, was able to defeat Alphas twice his size. It had shocked the entire country, and the family was so proud of him.