The painting🔞

513 17 21
                                    

"If my misfortune is your happiness then I'll be unhappy" -

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

"If my misfortune is your happiness then I'll be unhappy" -

The Last

PRESENT

This was the longest Jungkook had stayed with Taehyung since he shifted to Gwangju. A total of nine days. The maximum till now was the four-day holiday he usually took for Christmas every year. Both Taehyung and Jungkook's parents lived in Seoul. That saved them time whenever they decided to go home unlike their other married friends whose parents lived in different states.

Jungkook confessed to Taehyung that the heavy workload had kept him away from Busan most of last year, and he had missed spending weekends with him. He worked in the Gwangju office of an NGO, which counselled women who were victims of crime. It also organized group therapy sessions, especially for women, across age groups, to help those in need of mental and emotional support.

It was all very interesting in the beginning. Different cases, different stories, different insights into human nature and psychology. But with time, the work started taking a toll on him. He started having sleepless nights and experiencing restlessness throughout the day.

On the nights he managed to drift off, he would have nightmares filled with the 'victims' faces and their stories. He consulted the NGO's psychiatrist himself, without telling Taehyung about it. He knew he would ask him to terminate the contract and move back to Busan.

And do what? With a graduation degree in economics and a post-graduation in sociology, Jungkook had never wanted to work in a private company and focus on earning money alone. The value of life was important for him.

At the end of a hard workday, he wanted to make a difference in someone's life. Jungkook, inherently, always focused on what he had instead of what could have been. He never let delusions of grandeur take over, and as a result never felt unsatisfied with what he had or where he was.

Though, deep in his heart, he too didn't like the idea of a long-distance marriage, he consoled himself that it was a matter of just two years, as was mentioned in his contract. But another year was added when the NGO almost begged him to stay back. He discussed it with Taehyung and together they thought another year wouldn't make much of a difference.

'Sometimes we are so enamoured by the aura of mystery and romance created by the "what if' that we convince ourselves it is better than the "what is", Jungkook had once told Taehyung when they went on a long drive.

Not that Taehyung complained much during his prolonged absences. Except for the occasional 'I am missing you', 'stay longer' and 'I wish you didn't have to go back'. But those were so transitory that neither Jungkook nor Taehyung took them seriously. And the routine went on with neither doing anything to halt it.

Over the last six months, Taehyung had built a dream bubble with Yoongi in which he'd contained his reality. And Jungkook didn't exist in that bubble. Or even matter. But during the nine days he had spent with him, Taehyung felt like he had come home after a long holiday.

Cheaters ✓Where stories live. Discover now