Repudiation. TAEKOOK

Prologue

The forest clearing was hushed, save for the whisper of leaves and the occasional rustle of the underbrush. Moonlight spilled through the gaps in the canopy, casting a silver halo around the two figures at its heart.

Jeon Jeongguk stood motionless, his breath shallow and uneven. His eyes were shadowed,  with a conflict that churned deep within.

Before him, crumpled and trembling, was his mate. Kim Taehyung. The soft light accentuated his fragile form, and their shoulders shivered with the effort of each breath. Taehyung, eyes wide and glassy with unshed tears, pleading silently, desperately.

Jeongguk's hand twitched at his side, sending the broken lad to flinch and Jeongguk... his eyes darts at him with intent fury, never would've thought that one day, he will be ruining someone's life, he wanted to wipe those tears but he stopped himself. His jaw tightened, a muscle clicking on his cheek.

He took a step back, as if the very air around them had grown too heavy to bear. The bond that pulsed between them tugged at his heart, a chain he had not asked for, a connection he could not accept.

He drew in a shaky breath, his gaze flickering away for a heartbeat, unable to bear the sight of their anguish. The moonlight caught the glisten of a tear that slid down their cheek, and something inside him twisted painfully.

"I, Jeon Jeongguk," he began, his voice low and hoarse, "reject you as my mate."

Each word was a stone dropped into the still waters between them, sending ripples of pain and finality.

The omega's eyes, so filled with hope just moments ago, shattered. The frail doctor's body convulsed with a silent sob, hands clutching at the earth as if trying to anchor themselves against the inevitable pull of his words. His eyes wide as he felt suffocated with the words that the Alpha had just said.

Jeongguk's own heart clenched, a vise of regret and determination squeezing the breath from his lungs. He forced himself to stand firm, even as a part of him screamed to take it back, to reach out and gather them into his arms. But he couldn't. He wouldn't.

Their breathing hitched.

A sound that echoed in the clearing, mixing with the rustle of the wind and the distant call of a night bird. They curled in on themselves, the moonlight casting long, sorrowful shadows across their face, highlighting the quiver of their lower lip, the hollowed gaze that no longer saw him.

His hands fisted at his sides, nails biting into his palms. He tore his eyes away, turning his back on the sight that would haunt him for nights to come. Each step away felt like a trek through quicksand, the bond snapping and recoiling with a vicious tug in his chest. His footsteps crunched against fallen leaves, each sound a stark reminder of the distance growing between them.

The forest swallowed him whole, shadows merging with the darkness in his heart. The moon, an indifferent witness, continued its silent vigil, casting cold light over the remnants of a connection that had been brutally severed.

As Jeongguk vanished into the trees, his mate lay on the ground, abandoned and heartbroken.

... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ...... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ..... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ...