Pretend • Vmin

"Betrayal"

[Edited]

Chapter Ten

"Betrayal"

Taehyung fucked up.

He always did—but this time, it felt irreversible.

He dialed Jimin's number again. Straight to voicemail. Again. And again. His jaw clenched as he stared at the screen, thumb hovering uselessly over the call button. Jimin must've turned his phone off. Or blocked him. Either option made his chest tighten in a way he didn't like.

He needed to say something.
No—he had to.

But what the hell was there to explain?

That he'd fallen for Jimin and wanted out of the stupid agreement? That he was done pretending this had ever been an act, when somewhere along the way it had turned painfully real?

No. Worse.

That he had always liked Jimin. Probably since the first time he'd seen him at school, bright, stubborn, too kind for his own good. He just hadn't let himself admit it. Not with his friends watching. Not when it was easier to play detached, superior, and untouchable.

Coward.

Taehyung grabbed his parka and headed out without thinking twice.

⸻

"He isn't here?" Taehyung snapped, shoving the door open hard enough that it slammed against the wall. Hoseok jumped back with a curse. "But where the fuck would he go?!"

"I don't know," Hoseok said sharply. "Calm down."

"Hoseok, I'm not fucking around." Taehyung stepped inside, eyes wild. "If you're hiding him from me, I get it. I deserve that. But please—just give me one minute. That's all I need. One minute."

The demand in his voice clashed violently with the desperation underneath it.

Hoseok wasn't blind. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Taehyung, listen to me. I swear Jimin isn't here." When Taehyung still didn't move, he stepped aside. "Fine. Look if you want. But he's not."

Taehyung kicked his shoes off clumsily and rushed inside, calling Jimin's name as he checked each empty room.

Hoseok watched silently.

They'd been stepbrothers for years, but he'd never seen Taehyung like this. Growing up, Taehyung had always been distant, aloof, uninterested, never asking for more than his share. He never complained. Never clung. That was why Hoseok had never resented him or his mother.

Taehyung had always seemed... untouched.

This? This was something else entirely.

If Taehyung didn't care, he wouldn't let himself look like this, frantic, undone, searching for someone he already knew wasn't here.

"Where is he?!" Taehyung demanded, spinning back toward him.

"Keep it down," Hoseok snapped. "We have neighbors."

"I don't care!" Taehyung kicked a chair, sending it clattering to the floor.

Hoseok's patience snapped. "Why are you asking me anyway?" he shot back. "Last I knew, he said he was heading to the store near your place to buy drinks and food. You were supposed to pick him up, weren't you?"

The look on Taehyung's face said everything.

"You didn't," Hoseok realized. "You let him walk ten kilometers in the snow?"