Love or Destiny

Cracks Beneath Control

Taehyung stood alone near the staircase, his phone pressed against his ear, his expression slowly shifting from calm to something sharper.

"What do you mean it's being blocked?"

His tone went low in a cold drop.

A pause.

Then the voice on the other end continued explaining every detail carefully.

And with each passing second, Taehyung's jaw tightened further.

"...Who?" he asked finally.

Silence.

Then the moment he heard it the name, everything clicked.

His grip on the phone tightened.

"...Say that again."

The answer didn't change. It only confirmed it.

Jennie's father.

He was behind it.

The delays. The interference. The 'unfixed' papers Taehyung had been trying so hard to resolve.

It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't bad luck.

It was planned.

"Understood," Taehyung said, his voice dangerously calm.

He ended the call. And stood there completely still.

His mind racing.

His patience gone.

────୨ৎ────

Across the house, Jisoo sat quietly beside Rosé and Lisa, listening to their light conversation, though her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Back to earlier. To his words, to his tone and to that moment.

She exhaled softly.

No.

She wasn't going to let it stay like that. Not again.

She stood up.

"I'll be back," she said gently.

Lisa looked up. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to someone."

Rosé gave her a small-knowing look.

"Good," she said softly.

Jisoo smiled faintly then walked away. Determined.

Because no matter what happened, she didn't want distance.

Not between them.

────୨ৎ────

She found him near the hallway. Standing still.

Tense.

"Taehyung."

Her voice was soft. Careful.

He didn't turn immediately.

"...What?" he said flatly.

That was already enough to make her pause.

But she didn't step back.

"I wanted to talk," she said.

Silence.

Then...

"Not now."

His tone was short and dismissive.

Jisoo took a small breath.

"It won't take long."