EDIFICE | tk (✓)

TWENTY-SEVEN | the truth hurts

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After Jungkook finished speaking, the silence hung around his neck like a noose, tightening until it was starting to get a little difficult to draw breath.

Perhaps it was the fact that Taehyung was so silent that caused his heart to race, made him wonder if he had done or said something wrong. Or rather, it was the fact that he had finally opened up about things that he'd rather have kept locked away to a whole world of uncertainty.

Bringing his eyes up to Taehyung's face, he was met with the boy's blank face, hiding the emotions that Jungkook desperately sought for. Currently, the other had his lip caught between his teeth and Jungkook could almost hear the gears working away within his head as Taehyung struggled to find the right words to express his thoughts.

Because that was Taehyung. As carefree as he was, when it came down to deeper matters, every word that escaped his mouth was carefully constructed to perfection, whether to break or rebuild perspectives.

Perhaps it was that knowledge that forced Jungkook's heart to race in almost painful anticipation. After all, there were only two ways this conversation could go.

It was a long while before Taehyung finally opened his mouth to speak. The second the sound of his voice met his ears, Jungkook felt his heart lurch violently in his chest, eyes hurriedly locking onto the brunet's own.

"Jungkook," the words came out in a heavy sigh, almost immediately foreshadowing what was to come. "I'm sorry about your past. You didn't deserve to be put through that. No-one does."

Jungkook grimaced but didn't comment, simply nodding. The tone of Taehyung's voice made it obvious that the boy understood that what he had been told wasn't with the intention to garner pity.

"But your past doesn't excuse your actions," the careful articulation of the statement caused a lump to form in Jungkook's throat. "It helps me to understand why you are the way you are, what forced you to become this way but . . . it doesn't excuse what you put me through."

"You trust me enough to tell me this, Jungkook. I really appreciate that. I understand that you're trying to express your regret," Taehyung inhaled deeply. "But you broke my trust. I have feelings, I'm not an object for you and Jimin to bet over for your own selfish reasons."

"Last night, during the thunderstorm," the brunet continued doggedly, the sheer strength he was mustering to speak evident through his voice, "I didn't come to you for the reason you think. I felt vulnerable, abandoned and adding the thunderstorm to the mix . . . I was weak. Thank you for comforting me but there wasn't anything more to it than me having reached my breaking point."