WHAT HAPPENED TO US ? | KTH FF

CHAPTER 35

Two Weeks Later

The wedding cards were being printed, the venue had been finalized, and both Kim families were brimming with joy at the prospect of uniting their children in matrimony. Preparations surged forward with an infectious enthusiasm, guests were being invited, and festivities whispered promises of grandeur. But amidst the revelry, no one paused to ask what of the bride and groom themselves ?

Jisoo sat at the centre of it all, yet felt utterly detached from the life unfolding around her. Her heart, once her own, now bore the weight of another's presence, Seungcheol. She had lost herself in him from the very moment their eyes met at that fateful party, unaware that he already belonged to another, YN. The cruel irony of fate gnawed at her: the heart she had given away belonged to someone she could never have.

She had no intention of disrupting their union. She wasn’t the kind of woman to covet what was never hers. Yet, even as she told herself this, she could not will her heart to forget him. And now, to be bound in marriage to Taehyung, Yn's former lover, a chapter she believed was long since closed felt like a punishment rather than a promise.

That night, Jisoo remained curled up in her room, swallowed by silence. Her tears had long since dried, leaving faint salt trails down her cheeks silent proof of a storm no one else could see. Her once-pristine room now lay in disarray; wedding finery lay scattered like remnants of a celebration she couldn’t bring herself to embrace. Silk dresses, glittering jewellery, ornate accessories they shimmered under the soft glow of her vanity lights, mocking her despair with their brightness.

She was the picture of bridal grace, but within, she was a whirlwind of sorrow, guilt, and longing. A beautiful chaos cloaked in silk and gold, aching quietly while the world outside celebrated her dreams turned to dust.

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Meanwhile, Taehyung

The penthouse reeked of silence, broken only by the clink of crystal against glass and the soft hum of the city far below. Slouched on the leather couch, Taehyung was a vision of heartbreak and ruin. Dressed in a black suit with a white shirt half untucked, its top buttons undone he looked like a man who had once danced with elegance and now waltzed with despair. His hair was tousled, falling in soft waves over his forehead, evidence of restless hands and a sleepless night.

His eyes once bright and burning with mischief were now bloodshot, rimmed with red from too many tears and too much whiskey. He had drowned himself in drink, but the ache refused to drown with it. It stayed. It clung. And it hurt.

Memories swirled like smoke around him. Yn visiting him during a brutal fever, cradling his burning face with trembling hands, her eyes swollen from crying, her lips brushing against his with all the weight of a goodbye that was never spoken aloud. That kiss... still lingered like an imprint on his soul.

But now, she stood in someone else’s arms. His arms Seungcheol’s. Her husband.

And Taehyung? Just her past. A shadow. A closed chapter.

Another bitter sip of golden liquor slid down his throat. His eyes squeezed shut as the burn clawed through his chest, and yet it was nothing compared to the fire already raging inside. Tears slipped down his cheeks quiet, unannounced. He turned to the wall in front of him, where a large frame hung like a ghost of better days.

It was Yn. Smiling no, glowing. Her laughter captured mid-moment, holding a bouquet of her favorite peonies, the photo secretly taken by Taehyung back in their university days. That candid joy in her eyes had been because of him, once.