Stigma Love's Algorithm [ A BTS x Reader Poly ]

Chapter 78: Breathless Confessions

"Y/N really did everything this morning, huh?"

Hyung muses, stacking the neatly arranged banchan containers into the fridge. His voice is soft, filled with fondness.

I hum, sealing the lid on the raw hoddeok dough.

"Yeah. She even prepped the tsokolate batirol so we only have to heat it up later."

Jin hyung chuckles, closing the fridge with a quiet thud before leaning against the counter. "She's incredible."

"She is," I agree easily, wiping my hands on a kitchen towel. Then I glance at him.

"We all are."

His eyes meet mine, and something unspoken lingers in the space between us. Something warm, something deep.

Jin hyung tilts his head, his expression playful but sincere. "Damn right we are."

I smirk, rolling my eyes, but my chest feels lighter.

We finish cleaning up, moving easily around each other in the way only people who truly know each other can.

Then, as if by unspoken agreement, we both reach for the bottle of wine Y/N left out for us, settling on the couch with two glasses in hand.

Yeontan and Wacha curl up between us, their small bodies radiating warmth as hyung pulls a blanket over his lap.

I watch as he leans back, his arm brushing against mine, his presence close and comfortable.

For a while, we just sit in silence, sipping our wine, the Christmas lights casting a soft glow around the room.

Then, quietly, Jin hyung speaks.
"Last night."

I already know what he's referring to.

Namjoon, sitting in front of the fire, voice steady but heavy as he recounted the past.

How he and Jin hyung had loved each other-brightly, intensely-only for it to fall apart in the end.

How he had left.
How Jin had been left behind.

I exhale, setting my glass on the table. "You've been thinking about it."

Hyung nods, swirling the wine in his glass before he sighs, setting it down beside mine.

"I thought I'd made peace with it a long time ago. But when Joon talked about it last night... it felt fresh again."

His voice is calm, but I can hear the weight beneath it. The pain he doesn't let surface often.

I turn to him fully, shifting until my knee brushes his. "Tell me."

Jin hyung lets out a soft laugh, but there's no humor in it. It's hollow, almost fragile.

His gaze falls to his lap, fingers threading absently through Yeontan's fur, as if grounding himself in something real, something constant.

"When he left, I felt... empty." His voice is quieter now, hesitant, as though saying it aloud makes it more real. "Like I wasn't enough. Like I had nothing left to give."

A dull ache spreads through my chest.

"Hyung..." I murmur, but he shakes his head, as if stopping me before I can say more.

"I knew, deep down, that it wasn't my fault. That we were just... too different, or maybe too young, or maybe both. But knowing that didn't make the pain any less real."

He swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing as his fingers still against Yeontan's soft coat.

"It was all-consuming. I kept asking myself if I was unlovable, if I was too much or not enough. And when I found out that it was because of my father..."