𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 {𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗼𝗼𝗸}

17. A House of Silence

A Small Note Before We Start This Chapter...💌

I wanted to share something. I'm not sure how many of you are really enjoying the story lately. The last chapter reached around 500 views, and the poll had 57 responses, but only 34 votes, so I felt a little sad.😔

Of course, I know I can't force anyone to vote or comment. I would never want that. But I just wanted to say that if you are enjoying the story, your support truly means a lot to me. It's not like I receive hundreds of votes, so every single vote and comment makes a difference and genuinely makes me happy.🥺

Sometimes I wonder if maybe the story is not good enough, or if it feels too slow, or if my writing isn't good enough. I hope that's not the case, but those thoughts do come sometimes.🤧

If you like the story, please consider voting and leaving a small comment. Even a short message means a lot and motivates me to keep writing.🫠

Thank you for reading and staying with this story 🤍

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Let's step into the exciting journey of Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook as their story continues to unfold. 😇

Welcome to the next captivating chapter of their extraordinary tale. 💞

💖💖

The night did not end with answers.

It ended with silence.

Jungkook's words had shattered something inside the car, something invisible, yet impossible to ignore. After that, nothing truly followed. Taehyung had tried. He had asked again. And again.

But Jungkook could not answer.

So the only thing left was the low hum of the engine filling the space between them.

Taehyung started driving back home.

His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary, knuckles paling beneath the dim wash of streetlights slipping through the windshield. His jaw stayed locked, eyes fixed straight ahead, though he was not really seeing the road anymore.

Beside him, Jungkook had curled into himself in the passenger seat.

The sleeves of his cardigan were pulled over his trembling fingers, his shoulders drawn inward as if he could somehow make himself smaller, quieter, as if he could make himself small enough to vanish from the moment.

Tears slipped silently down his cheeks, dampening the fabric around his wrists.

He let them fall.

He was too exhausted to keep holding everything inside.

Taehyung noticed.

Of course he did.

He noticed every small shake of Jungkook's shoulders. Every uneven breath Jungkook tried and failed to steady. He noticed the way Jungkook kept his face turned toward the window, as if even looking at him would make everything worse.

And still, Taehyung kept driving.

Because if he looked at the boy for too long, he was afraid he would not be able to hold himself together.

The silence followed them home.

It stayed with them as Taehyung parked the car, as the engine died, as neither of them moved for several seconds longer than necessary.

Then the doors opened.

Cold night air rushed in, but it wasn't colder than the distance sitting between them.