FAUX LOVE

☆[23]☆

The first warmth ever to reach him and he jumped to hold onto it tight, not wanting to let go.

Was he that desperate to get out of the walls? The walls that protected him all these years.

Was he that desperate to let go of the pain of his loss? The pain that accompanied him throughout his sufferings.

__

Two days. It's been two days since Jungkook last saw Taehyung.
This is the longest he had been without seeing Taehyung. Since the day they met in Cha's office, they met almost every day. And after their dynamics slightly changed, he saw Taehyung every single day.

It felt strange and suffocating? He couldn't really tell because he never acknowledged them. He wanted to rush out of the confined space just to have a glimpse of the ethereal man. But he promised him.

In fact, it's been two days since he even saw another person. But none of them matter because there are not the ones who are filled in his thoughts.

He didn't even let Bright in. He just sent him a message to cancel his meetings until he says otherwise.

He sat in his office room, looking almost lifeless but the coldness in his eyes says otherwise. His hair was disheveled, fully in contrast to the way Jeon Jungkook usually looks. The very visible dark circles settle under the bloodshot eyes.

Without displaying any emotion in his gaze, he meticulously traced the keen edge of the knife. He firmly held its handle before engraving something onto the wooden table, all while gently touching his cheek. The same cheek that still bore the distinct handprints, where Taehyung's touch lingered.

The rhythm of his hand gliding along his cheek matched the movement of the hand carving on the table.

Upon finishing, he set aside the knife and delicately blew away the remnants of the carvings, a sly grin forming as he glanced at the name now revealed.

'김태형'

(Kim Taehyung)

His face bore a smile, accompanied by an inscrutable glint in his eyes.

"Kim Taehyung" He murmured as he traced the words he had etched. The name persisted in his thoughts, playing like a broken record. There were multiple reasons for this, but the direction of the future hinged on Jungkook's chosen focus.

"Kim Taehyung..." He echoed, devoid of any feeling in his voice. It was mechanical as if he were engraving the name deep into his mind. Despite being engulfed by this name, he was unwilling to risk a momentary lapse of memory.

"Should I pay you a visit Kim Taehyung? Would you permit me to do so? What's on your mind?" He spoke with a smirk. These were the same words he had spoken a few days earlier, yet they now bore a different resonance.

They seemed like two distinct languages stemming from contrasting emotions. But were they truly different emotions, or merely altered by the tone in which they were delivered?

Interlacing his fingers and resting them on the table, he then leaned his chin on them, never once averting his gaze from the name carved into the wood.

With a slight pout, he questioned,"Don't you think it's been long enough?"

"But I promised that I would leave you alone. I trust you..." With his posture correcting, his attention still fixated on the name, he implored. "Don't break my trust, okay? If we think about it, I can leave you alone but it doesn't apply to you, right?"

"You won't leave me alone, right?" Jungkook asked looking at the name as if the name was the person itself and continued. "I know you won't because I'll make sure of that."