HIS FATED MATE

32

Hiii! I don't say you guys to vote so you guys don't vote it's mean !!!!!!!!!!😭

And also i know you all want me to update but i will be really happy if you all comment about how was the chapter and your opinion and all 🫣

....

Taehyung pov

I didn't touch the food.

I sat there, spine straight, shoulders relaxed — like I hadn't been carved open by every word thrown at me.

Like I hadn't felt twelve again.

Fork clinked against plate. Someone laughed awkwardly. The sound felt wrong in this room — forced, artificial.

I kept my gaze neutral. Not down. Not defiant.

Controlled.

Jennie sat beside me, solid and warm. I could feel her presence without looking.

She didn't need to say anything. Just being there reminded me I wasn't alone anymore.

That mattered.

Grandmother's eyes never left me.

I felt them the way you feel a blade hovering too close to skin — not touching, but threatening.

I ate slowly. Small bites. Calm movements.

Let them see.

Let them wonder.

If they expected fear, they'd be disappointed.

If they expected me to crumble, they'd wait forever.

I wasn't the child they sent away.

And I wasn't the boy they broke.

Not anymore.

When dinner finally ended, I stood at the same time as Jennie. No rush. No hesitation.

"Excuse us," Jennie said flatly, already turning away.

No permission asked.

I followed her upstairs without looking back.

......

The door clicked shut behind us, soft enough to feel deliberate.

Like the house itself was trying not to provoke me.

I stayed standing for a moment, fingers still curled loosely at my side, shoulders squared. My body remembered this place too well —

—every corner, every shadow, every unspoken rule etched into the walls.

Nothing had changed.

That was the worst part.

Same chandelier glow leaking from the hallway. Same muffled voices downstairs. Same pressure in the air, like the house was holding its breath — waiting to see what version of me had returned.

I took a slow breath in.

Then another.

My heart was steady. Not racing. Not sinking.

Steady.

Jennie leaned back against the door, arms folded, eyes sharp like she was already cataloguing exits, threats, weaknesses.

She didn't look like she belonged here — and somehow that made me feel safer.

"You okay?" she asked again, quieter this time.

I nodded, then corrected myself.

"I'm fine."

I meant it.