DESTINED LOVE

Chapter 56

The night ended not with peace, but with a quiet ache that wrapped around both of them like a storm too soft to scream, yet too loud to ignore. It wasn’t just a date gone wrong — it was a night soaked in guilt, regrets, and words left unspoken. The ride back home was silent. Not the kind of silence that comforts — but the kind that tears through skin, the kind that drowns hearts in weight they can’t carry.

Once they reached home, neither of them spoke. Taehyung quietly opened the door, Jungkook followed. No goodnight, no soft kisses, no shared smiles. Just silence. A silence that screamed more than a fight ever could.

They slipped into bed, not as lovers, not as husband and husband — but as two strangers lying beside each other with hearts still beating for the other, yet too bruised to reach out. Jungkook turned to one side, facing the wall. Taehyung turned to the other, swallowing down his cries. And the night passed like that… not asleep, not awake — just stuck in the space between sorrow and love. Two souls in the same bed, yet galaxies apart.

The next morning came, but it didn’t feel like a new day. It felt like a continuation of the same ache, the same weight they both carried in their chests. The sun rose slowly, painting the room in gold, but inside that room, everything was still dull and quiet. Both of them laid still, pretending to sleep, backs facing each other, but their hearts crying silently under the weight of everything unsaid.

Taehyung blinked his eyes open slowly, feeling the sting from the tears he shed during the night. He turned his head slightly, looking at Jungkook’s back for a second longer, then looked away. He got up from the bed quietly, careful not to disturb the boy who was pretending to sleep. His feet touched the cold floor as he dragged himself into the bathroom, splashing water onto his face, hoping maybe it would wash away the guilt that was digging into his soul. But it didn’t.

After getting ready, Tae walked downstairs and saw Mr. Jeon talking with Namjoon as they both prepared to leave for the office and jimin helping them. Ami, Yoongi, and Jin had already left earlier, and the only ones left were Hoseok sitting on the couch laughing at something on his phone.

He sighed softly, eyes slightly puffy, and with a heavy heart he walked towards Hobi and quietly sat beside him, the tension still clinging to him like a shadow.

"Can I talk to you?" Taehyung asked, getting Hoseok’s attention. Hobi straightened up and nodded silently.

"Yesterday, when I was leaving the company, I got a call," Tae started, his eyes fixed on the floor before slowly shifting to Hobi. "He gave me a location and said if I wanted answers, I needed to get to that place. I thought I had an hour — I left early, one hour before my date with Kookie. So I went to the location he sent. It was an old factory... and when I went in, someone knocked me out. I don't know who it was because I didn’t see their face. After about three hours, I woke up... but there was no one there. I wanted to come back immediately, but I stayed to search for any clues. I didn’t find anything," he explained, rubbing his forehead tiredly.

Hobi, who listened to everything carefully, looked confused and asked, "Wait… was it a man you spoke to on the call? If it was a man, okay, we’ll consider that. But why did he lure you to that place just to knock you out? What did he gain from that?"

Tae let out a shaky sigh and said, "Because he fucking knew yesterday was Kookie’s birthday. He didn’t want us to be together. I feel so guilty for forgetting it. I always dreamed of doing something grand for him. I even ordered a chain as his birthday gift... but I forgot. I checked — it’s arriving today, of course, just my luck. Whoever that psycho is... they want us apart. And they’re doing everything possible to make that happen."

"I think it’s time you tell Kookie everything," Hobi said quietly.

"I want to, hyung. I really want to," Tae said, his voice thick with emotion. "I want to tell him why I wasn’t there yesterday, why I didn’t show up for the date. But after seeing him that broken... and how he still protected me in front of his hyungs, even while he was falling apart — I don’t want him to carry another burden. I don’t want him to worry, or be scared. I just want to protect him, even if I’m the one he hates."