The night sky is painted in muted tones and the moon is sitting over it like a pale disc, casting its silvery glow all around. A quiet stillness pervades the room, broken only by the synced rhythm of your breaths and the distant calls of a nocturnal creature. Your hand continues to swim through his dark locks as he rests against your chest like a drowsy newborn.
After hearing all those vile assassin plots against this sweet man, a motherly instinct ascends in you to protect him from those evil claws. Inhaling a sharp breath, you quietly mutter, cursing those heartless morons that caused such unmendable wounds to this family.
"Y/n....yaa y/n..." his words flow out in a disjointed manner, he struggles in the dark to find you, forgetting the fact that you're right there, seated on his wide lap. Realizing the potential need for intervention, you quickly place a finger over his lips, silencing the drama that was about to seep out of his throat. His usual demeanor has been completely altered by the influence of alcohol and he acts like a lovesick bird. He slowly looks up, struggling to maintain a study gaze.
The moment his gaze falls upon your face, his wide smile breaks through the tension that had built up over weeks and months of being apart and longing and a spark of newfound intensity glows in his gaze. You can't help but be struck by how he looked even more beautiful than you remembered, his face illuminated by the soft moonlight. Your perfectly manicured finger sitting over his lips slowly glides over his face, the warmth of his skin attesting that it's not a mere dream that'll vanish in the morning.
"Y/n! Can I talk like this?" he whispers, his Bambi eyes half closed in a drowsy manner, Your eyes soften. A gentle, discreet smile tugs at the corners of your lips. His intoxicated self makes your heart race even more. You just nod your head. He softly grabs your palm and places it over his chest.
"I've been carrying something hefty for a long time here, here..." you can feel his heart's rhythm under your palm, "hidden in the chambers of my heart!"
"But today, you're going to witness the vulnerability I'm about to lay bare" his eyes glisten with accumulated tears, "the most profound truth of my heart! Do you want to hear it?" he barely whispers, his unwavering eyes penetrating your soul.
"Yes...YES!" You nod your head and break into tears. You momentarily lose control over your body as an overwhelming emotion surges through your system and you softly sob in that tranquilness. Finally, you gonna hear all the answers you've been chasing since the day you landed in Korea. You're more than ready for this.
"Remember the day you rescued me in that changing room, the day our paths crossed for the first ever time? That day I felt a bond..." he delicately lifts your face and makes you look at him, " with you that transcends the boundaries of my understanding"
The earnestness in his eyes shines through the darkness.
"I did not wish to part ways with you like a stranger that day, even though my safety was hanging by a thread at that moment my mind was completely conquered by you. That crummy changing room became a palace of illusion and I wanted to stay there the entire night, with you."
You look at him curiously, intently listening to every single word.
"Considering your safety, I fled away that night. But that entire night, your memories invaded my mind in every way possible. I must admit, it was very strange. Taehyung even said I was behaving as if I'd met my lover from the past life! But who knows you might be!" he giggles in that intoxicated state.
"And the very next day, when I was longing to meet that strange girl who was holding my heart hostage, Bang PD'nim introduced the very same woman as my new manager. Can you imagine what kind of turbulence my heart went through?"
You know how it feels, seeing you with other guys. Be it Maaran or Namjoon, it's messing with my head, y/n. I mean, we're not together or anything, but it's like a punch in the gut every time. Whenever you hang out with Namjoon Hyung, I keep telling myself you guys are just friends, but there's this nagging doubt that won't go away. What if he's making her laugh in a way I never could? What if she's enjoying his company more than she ever would with me? It's like my mind is running through all these worst-case scenarios, and I'm stuck here, watching from the sidelines. I know I should be chill about it, I mean I respect your space and all that, but damn, it's harder than I thought.
And you know what's even funnier? I would always want you to settle for someone better than me, someone who could keep you safe, I really do. But there's this irrational part of me that just wishes you'd see me the way I see you. It's like I'm stuck in this loop of losing and keeping you!"
Your expression shifts from confusion to a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Then why did you hate me that much?" you sound like you were pleading with him to assure you something.
"I was trying to, Y/N!" The air gets tense, charged with the weight of a revelation he never thought he'd make.
"It wasn't you; it was me. I was carrying around all this baggage, and it had nothing to do with who you are. My past traumatized me, and I let it fester for too long. I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you away from the danger surrounding me! I already lost half of my soul in the past, and I didn't want history repeating itself, because this time I won't be able to pardon myself." your expression softens, and your hand reaches out to touch Jungkook's flushed cheek. He holds your hand gliding over his cheek and continues, "You must know, You must know in your heart I've never, not even a single moment hated you. Even if I want to, I can't. It is crazy, how much you consume my very being!"
A soft glow of happiness spreads across your face.
Jungkook pauses for a moment, his eyes never leaving yours, "I don't want to end up like that stupid Devdas, I can't lose my Paro! I know what I'm dragging you into, but I will be there beside you to protect you from all that I'm scared of. I won't let my fears separate us" He presses an affectionate kiss on your forehead and continues,
"I love you, Y/n" he whispers, and tears start to glide down his cheeks. His swollen teary eyes gazing at your weeping face chant the same thing a thousand more times. He takes a deep breath of relief as if something heavy shifted inside his heart and delicately presses his lips against your forehead, this time there is an unspoken affirmation in the warmth of his kiss. His nonchalant confession melts your heart altogether, and in a fleeting moment, a loud wail escapes your throat. Burying your face into his shoulder you begin to weep like a newborn and continue to smack your fist against his shoulder.
"You idiot! You moron! It took you 73 chapters to say these three words, huh?!"
"Yaa, don't rub your nasty runny nose on my shirt!" he chuckles and hugs you tightly like a bedside plushie.
"You dumbest dumb dumbo!" his comment earns a few more aggressive smacks from you, and he catches your fist in his wide palm while laughing at your feral behavior. After struggling for a whole minute trying to release your hand from one of the widest palms you've ever known, your slumped body and slowed rhythm of breath indicate your pathetic loss against this giant. His fingers slowly find their way between yours and intertwine in an intimate silence followed by your lips.
-
"You can foresee things right?" Your question startles Bang PD who is trying to pick that poor tomato slice out of his sandwich.
"What?!" the curve of his brow is quizzical, questioning the absurdness of your question.
"Stop playing innocence, PD-nim! You can't fool me anymore, I know you're the elder brother of Joe and you possess the power of oneiromancy!" your back-to-back shocking allegations make him drop his sandwich in a baffled state.
His mouth slightly parts in disbelief and a gasp escapes. The intensity of his shock sits on his brows and curves it even more.
"He told you all that?" His face exhibits a range of reactions that convey his astonishment. His hand clasps yours in panic and looks at your face like a scared fawn.
"Don't divert the topic PD'nim, just answer me. You can foresee things and you know something that's about to happen to me or through me! That's why you approached me with that Manager post in the first place. Right? Or is there any sane reason in your pocket to hand out such a crucial post to a random stranger you met near the river?"
"From the beginning, everything you said to me and Jungkook was nothing but a well-constructed lie. Whatever you told about the betrayal of his ex-manager was a lie, the leaked footage of Jungkook with his girlfriend was a well-planned strategy to shift the blame and focus on his manager's sudden absence. It was not even his girlfriend but a staff member of Bighit! You could've solved it in a much calmer and subtle if you wanted to, but you didn't. You made sure it went live on all news channels. You wanted a reason to console Jungkook about his manager's disappearance so you created one, a big one. How many more lies have you weaved till now to match the story in your heart? Tell me PD'nim now I want to know, what fate is awaiting me? Why did you bring me here? WHY?!!" If a third person was present in the room the overall communication style between you and your boss might've sounded confrontational, as you seek to express your anger and make your point heard.
Your overt signs of agitation and anger have silenced the giant man sitting in front of you, he knew your anger was valid and you were entitled to lash at him for the web of deceit he had been trapping you in.
His eyes, filled with regret, meet yours. His voice comes out gentle yet tinged with sincerity, each word carefully chosen to convey remorse.
"I know what I did, and I know I can't redeem myself in any way. But I'm a mere human y/n, just a simple creature created with greed, love, remorse, and most importantly desire! My desire to save something induced me to mess with your perfectly aligned fate. Now, I need yours to save what's mine." The air gets heavy with the tension of the moment, as he takes off his glass and gazes into your eyes. His eyes glimmer with tears of vulnerability.
A tightness grows in your chest, your thoughts race each other and make you unable to stay sane. The room suddenly feels too small, and every little sound is amplified. You know you've opened a door through which you can't return, even if you want to. And for some reason, you don't want to hear what he is about to say, you can feel it in your bones.
"Only you can save his life. But only his life."
-
A/N: Hey guys, surprise! I'm still alive. I know you guys want to bash me for ghosting you people. But trust me I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry. Even now, I'm not at all in a state to write, I just forced myself to write this chapter for your sake. So, if this didn't feel like my previous work, I apologize. I'll try to update more frequently and give a closure you'all deserve.
Thanks for waiting and sorry for making you wait ❤️