Chapter Text
Jungkook's POV.
As I walked into Taehyung's room, it turned out that my assumptions of finding him there were wrong. His room was empty, and judging by the lack of his scent in the air, I could tell he had not been here for more than a few minutes. Maybe he had left for work once again, unannounced and unbothered, just like he always was.
But I did have a feeling that he hadn't left the mansion. I don't know why, but my mind was just constantly telling me this; I could feel his presence even though he was not right in front of my eyes.
Finding the room empty and heavy with pin-drop silence, I walked away and headed downstairs, thinking I might find him there. But as my eyes met with the empty hallway, half of my hopes of finding him died.
If I could, I wouldn't do it. If I could, I would have run far away and never come back, filling myself with so much hatred for Taehyung that the thought of seeing his face would never, even for once, cross my mind. I'd have tightened the knots around my heart and not allowed anyone in this whole world to unravel them and slide in.
But when had any of my wishes ever been accepted by the creator? None.
I did not know if my wishes were wrong, if I was wrong for wanting a normal life like everyone else, or if it was the Goddess who decided to write down all the misfortune of the world in my destiny. Perhaps the Goddess I worshipped was more cruel than the monster I saw every time I looked into the dark eyes of my mate. Or was I just born in the wrong world? Sometimes it felt like it—like I was never meant to be here.
There was a time when the thought of my mate had given me hope and made me want to stay alive and keep fighting, but that was before I met Kim Taehyung. Never in my life had I thought my dream of creating a world with my mate would turn into a nightmare, but it did anyway.
My eyes searched for any sign of the familiar face that could easily mask the ruthless personality beneath it, never giving a hint of the dark and cold soul that remained within, deep and far beyond anyone's reach. Finding him nowhere, I found myself releasing a low sigh and heading toward the last place where there was a possibility of finding him: his study. That was his hiding spot if he wasn't out of the mansion.
As I walked toward the study, I caught a hint of his woodsy smell, which took no time to make a strange warmth seep into my pores. The speculation of my suddenly awakened senses did not go unnoticed by me, despite the chaos of thoughts that kept my mind shrouded.
It was fu¢king impossible for any other thought, assumption, or mere question to creep inside my mind when all I could think of was that one male—Kim Taehyung. I was fu¢king shameless when it came to him and, hell, I hated that I never found even near the amount of regret I should have felt, no matter what I claimed to be and whatever he did to me.
If only he knew how much I loved him! How far I was ready to go for him and what we were losing because of his fears. No, I shouldn't be thinking of this. I shouldn't try to reason with his sins every time and overlook everything he did and was still doing.
He could be more important to me than my life, but that doesn't mean I'd let him take it away from me. I could sacrifice my life for him, but I wouldn't allow him to take it for the sake of his sick satisfaction. He could cope with his guilty conscience on his own, but I'd not allow him to do that by using me. I wouldn't allow him to step all over me just so he could remind himself that he was supposed to hate me and that the life I was offering him was not what he wished to live.
The cold wooden door of the study felt like the hardest obstacle I had ever faced. My hands shook as I reached for the knob and twisted it open.
Calm down, Jungkook. You can't fall weak.
I pushed all other notions aside and opened the door with all the courage I had left. The very first thing my eyes caught was the sight they were waiting for: Taehyung. He sat in his chair, pressed against the wall behind the desk, the sleeves of his black shirt folded up to his elbows. His left hand rested on the handle of the chair as he rubbed his forehead, perhaps consumed by his thoughts. The mess of paper and files on the desk did not seem to bother him at all. The closest assumption I could come up with was that something was bothering him, but that was never evident; it only resided in his mind, and that's the only thing I have always failed to read.
He was distant. Somehow right in front of my eyes, yet really far from me, as if there were miles of distance between us that he'd never allow me to cross. The boundary he has set between us has torn our lives apart, indeed.
"What are you doing here?"
The awful voice of the familiar female made me realize that my mate and I were not the only people present in this room. There was someone else's presence as well, even though it was unwanted from my side and one of the very few things I wanted to avoid.
My eyes moved to look at Olivia, missing the way Taehyung's eyes shot open and darted at me. She was leaning against his desk, beside his chair, and realizing my eyes were on her, she moved her hand to trace her index finger on the side of his face—only so she could get on my nerves. I'd be lying if I said I did not want to rip that woman into mere pieces of flesh and feed them to dogs.
It was true that I loathed Olivia from my core, but she was not the only one to be blamed. My mate had equal contributions to everything happening because he was the one who had the power over these situations. If he wanted, he could stop everything, but alas! All he wished to do was make things worse.
"Watch your mouth before you speak, Olivia. This is not your place to speak, nor do you own a single thing in this mansion, so you are the last one I'd ever give any explanation to." I spoke up, every cell of my body beginning to fume with rage just at the sight of her.
"Well... you are kinda right," she began. It was not hard to see that the disappointment in her voice was utterly fake, and it actually put me in dismay. "But what you don't know is that I own someone who supposedly belonged to you—or I could say you thought he was yours." She glanced at Taehyung before she set her stare at me, a sinister smirk spreading on her lips and evil shining in her eyes.
I did not want to take her words seriously, but there was no way to deny that I did not own even one percent of the importance that Taehyung gives to her. I meant nothing to him. He hurt me, he wounded me, he broke me apart piece by piece and never bothered to give a fuck about putting me back.
He did not want to be near me, but he kept his mistress closer. He did not want to love me, but he loved to damage me. My demolition was his greatest pleasure—satisfaction to the darkness that lived in him.
"I am not here to hear your nonsense, Olivia, nor do I care if you own him or not. But the thing I care for is that now, at this moment, I don't want you here because I need to have a talk with my mate. And before you run your mouth, let me tell you one thing straight and clear: I don't give a fu¢k if he has given you rights that make you think you own him. Nothing can change the fact that I am the mate here and you are a cheap mistress he cares for as much as a man does a wh0re in a brothel." I crossed my arms over my chest. "So, please leave."
Her jaw clenched, anger flashed in her eyes while her hands fisted at her sides, but she did not let it overpower her. Unexpectedly, she let out a laugh that lacked any humor.
"So, Taehyung hasn't told you yet?" She chuckled and walked closer to me. "Why haven't you told him yet, babe?" She looked back at Taehyung, to which he spared no reaction; his face was void of any emotion as he looked at me, not tearing his eyes away for even a mere second.
"You tell him, it's the same thing," he finally uttered, looking away as soon as he could, as if he was trying to hide something from me—or perhaps he was hiding from himself.
Of course, his carelessness toward me stung my heart, but that wasn't a new thing. I was used to his cold treatment.
"Okay then," Olivia turned to me, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Let me break the news to you. I hope you can handle it, but if you can't, that's not my fu¢king problem."
"Stop beating around the bush and spit it out," I cut her off, even though deep down I was scared, drowning in dismay, not knowing what was coming my way.
She fell silent for a brief moment, wickedness glimmering in her eyes as she watched me. It gave me a sense of the peril that could be found in the silence before the storm.
"Taehyung's going to mark me."
The ground moved beneath my feet. My eyes widened, my breathing stopped, and my entire world came to a standstill, on the verge of falling apart, trying to drag my broken soul and heart along with it.