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

Chapter 90: A Lantern in the Dark

Not without understanding.
Not without at least reaching for him.

I sat up quietly, careful not to wake anyone, and grabbed my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen for a moment, heart pounding.

The app still sat there-mocking me, glowing softly in that liminal space between curiosity and fear.

I tapped it.

His profile was still there. Still the same picture, still the same quiet presence.

Jungkook. The one whose voice I'd never heard. The one whose pain had somehow detonated across all of our lives.

The one who had been a part of us all along-and yet somehow always on the outside.

I didn't know what I would say.
I didn't even know what I felt.

But I knew this, I didn't want to live another day haunted by what-ifs.

I pressed the message icon.

The cursor blinked at me like a dare.
And then, without thinking, without overanalyzing like I always do-I typed.

Y/N (Private to Jungkook)
Hi, Jungkook.

Y/N (Private to Jungkook)
I know we've never spoken before, and I don't even know if you'll want to see me.

Y/N (Private to Jungkook)
But I think I need to understand.
Everything.

Y/N (Private to Jungkook)
Not for judgment. Not for blame.
Just... to finally see you.
To listen.

Y/N (Private to Jungkook)
If you're willing, I'd really like to meet you. I'm free this afternoon. Please let me know.

I read it one last time-then hit send.
Simple. Real. No walls.

For the first time, I wasn't hiding behind my pain-I was walking through it.

Every second stretched out like an eternity, my breath caught between hope and dread.

Yeontan shifted in my lap, and I leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his tiny head.

Wacha padded over quietly and rested her chin on the couch beside me, her big brown eyes fixed on me like she knew something had changed.

"I don't know what will happen,"

I whispered to her.

"But I had to try."

I set my phone down on the table and leaned back against the couch, my heart already trying to brace for silence.

I wasn't sure if he'd respond.
I wasn't sure if I even deserved a response.

But I had to try.

The screen lit up five minutes later.

*Bzzt* *Bzzt* *Bzzt*

From Jungkook.

I stared at it for a few seconds, my pulse tapping against my ribs like a drum.

Jungkook (Private to Y/N)
Hello, I don't know how to face you or if I even deserve to see any of you or what to say but I know I hurt him.

Jungkook (Private to Y/N)
And I don't know if I can fix that.
But I've been thinking about this moment.

Jungkook (Private to Y/N)
I'll come. This afternoon is okay.

The message ended there, no emojis, no punctuation beyond what he needed.

But it was something.
No-it was everything.