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

Chapter 126: Soft Wars and Silent Codes🔥

And I'll take it.
Because sometimes, the most honest thing you can say is nothing at all.

Just stay. Just breathe.
Just wait until they're ready.
And I will. Every day. Every time.

_____________________________-

Y/N's POV

Evening falls heavy.

The air outside EchoTech hums low, like it's holding its breath with the rest of us.
We're parked in silence, headlights cutting through the near-empty lot like spotlights on a crime scene.

Yoongi hasn't said a word since Si Woo's call came in.

Just... threw on his jacket, muttered "We're going," and climbed into the car like he was walking into a war room.

Namjoon drove. I rode in the back, watching the side of Yoongi's face in the reflection of the window the whole ride.

The sharp line of his jaw.
The tense twitch in his cheek.
The way his fingers never stopped moving-tapping his thigh, the console, the air.

Now, inside the office, everything feels too still. Too sterile.

Like the kind of quiet that only lives right before a siren.

Si Woo waves us toward the main dev floor, already lit by the blue glow of dual monitors and caffeine-fueled urgency.

There's someone next to him-a new face.

A wiry young woman with bright, curious eyes and a nervous posture that screams intern, fingers hovering over the keyboard like she's holding a detonator.

"She's Ellie," Si Woo says without turning around. "Smartest intern I've had in three years."

"Terrified right now," Ellie mutters under her breath.

"You're doing great," I offer gently.

Her eyes widen at the sight of me-clearly aware I've been on every news feed lately-but she manages a breath and nods.

"Look at this," Si Woo says, jabbing at the code running across the monitor.

"Here. Timestamped 0.0003 seconds after the global notification."

Namjoon leans in beside him, jaw tightening.

"That's... basically nothing."

"Exactly," Si Woo murmurs. "Which is why no one would flag it."

Yoongi steps forward, gaze razor-sharp, shoulders tense beneath his jacket. His voice is a whisper of gravel and electricity.

"What triggered it?"

Ellie clicks rapidly, fingers flying like she's trying to outrun her nerves. Logs flood the screen.

"Micro-update," she says.