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

Chapter 90: A Lantern in the Dark

His voice cracked at the end.
Not like before.

This was the kind of crack that came from the soul splintering under guilt.

The silence held again.

Then Jin hyung stepped forward.

"You did hurt us," he said softly.

"The things you said... they were sharp. They tore through us like shrapnel."

Tae nodded, tearfully.

"I know. I don't expect forgiveness. I just... I needed to say it."

"But," Jin hyung continued, voice thick with emotion,

"we also hurt too. And we didn't talk about it. We let the silence fester and grow until it exploded. That's not on just you, Tae. That's on all of us. We didn't give you space to feel. We tried to be strong, but maybe what you needed was for us to be honest instead."

"I needed to hear that you were hurting too," Tae admitted.

"Because it felt like I was the only one walking around with this gaping hole in my chest. But now I know I wasn't."

Yoongi hyung finally stepped forward.

His voice, when it came, was hoarse. Quiet.

"You weren't."

Tae blinked at him.

Yoongi hyung let out a sharp breath.

"I snapped. I never snap. But I was hurting too, and trying to hide it... and then you said I didn't care, and it just-broke something. And I hate yelling. But I was scared-scared that if I didn't fight back, you'd think I really didn't care. Because I do care. More than I know how to say."

Tae stepped forward, like a child seeking forgiveness from a parent.

"I know," he whispered. "I know you do. I was wrong."

Tae's voice cracked. "I never thought that. Not really. I was just..."

"...lost," Y/N finished softly.

Everyone turned to her.

She stood now, Yeontan still cradled against her chest.

"I've been lost too," she admitted.

"Grieving someone I never met. Trying to fit into a puzzle where a piece disappeared before I even arrived. And it's lonely. It's so lonely. But I never blamed you for what you said, Tae. Not truly. Because pain does things to people. It makes us lash out. But it also makes us see who's really willing to stay."

She walked toward him slowly.

"And I'm still here," she said softly.

"And I'm not going anywhere."

Her arms wrapped around him.
Tight. No hesitation.

Tae buried his face into her shoulder and sobbed.

Yoongi stepped forward too, wrapping his arms around both of them tight, it looked like he was trying to physically put them back together.

"I forgive you," he murmured into his shoulder. "We all do."

More tears spilled from Tae's eyes.

Wacha nosed at his ankle and whimpered gently, like even she needed to be included in this fragile moment of reconciliation.

Tae crouched to pull her close, burying his face into her fur for a moment. "I missed you," he whispered again.

We all came in then. Me. Jin hyung. Y/N noona. Yoongi hyung. Wacha and Yeontan curling around our feet.