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

Chapter 110: A Thousand Unsaid Things

Joon's expression didn't change.

"Encryption isn't enough. Especially not when the threat is persistent and targeted. We're dealing with people who want to find a crack. If even one user gets hurt because they trusted this system..."

He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't have to.

The implication was a shadow that stretched across the table.

Yoongi shifted slightly.

His hands stayed in his lap, but his posture had changed-alert now, the careful stillness of someone who didn't want to escalate, but wouldn't let something slide if it crossed a line.

I looked back at Namjoon.
And this time, it wasn't just professional.

"It's not fear that drives us," I said, voice tighter than I meant.

"It's vision. It's faith in people. If we only ever build for worst-case scenarios, we're building walls-not bridges."

Joon's jaw tensed. "And if we ignore worst-case scenarios, we're gambling with lives. We claim we're building for the vulnerable. That means protecting them from what they can't see coming."

There it was.
Sharp. Unintended. But cutting.

I heard the breath Dara held, saw Jae slowly set his pen down.

Yoongi finally spoke, soft but unmistakable. "Joon."

Just one word.
Not a reprimand-more of a warning.

A pulse of emotion threaded in the stillness.

Namjoon didn't respond.

He just leaned back slowly, crossing his arms.

And in the silence that followed, it felt like something in me folded in on itself. Like the light in the room had dimmed by a few degrees.

"If we let fear dictate every feature," I murmured, more to the table than to anyone,

"then why build anything at all?"

Joon's response came quicker than expected.

"It's not fear. It's responsibility."

His voice cracked through the stillness.

"It's doing the hard thing, even when it kills the dream. That's what leadership means."

And just like that, the conversation was over.

Ha Eun cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Maybe we, um, circle back after a formal risk review?"

Dara touched my wrist gently under the table-her signal. A silent breathe.

I nodded numbly. Closed my laptop.

Namjoon didn't meet my eyes again as we wrapped.

And as the team began filing out-quiet, uncertain, deflated-I stayed in my chair.

Yoongi lingered beside me, warm and solid and quiet.

And though he didn't say it, I felt it.

He was on my side.
But he was on Joon's too.
We all were.

And maybe that's what hurt the most.

_____________________________

My fingers hovered over my laptop lid, still shut. I didn't need to open it. I wasn't doing anything useful right now, anyway.

Jae lingered.

He stood halfway between my seat and the his desk, arms crossed, hip hitched like he didn't know whether to give me space or give me a hug.