🥀
the jeon residence was gloomy, the dark grey clouds and pouring rain outside seemingly siding with what the disheveled brunette currently residing inside was feeling.
tears brimmed the younger's eyes as soon as he sat up seeing the empty spot beside him. he quickly stood up, tripping in the process at how weak his legs were feeling along with the soreness in between which he ignored as his trembling hands grabbed a robe and hurriedly ran down stairs.
his cheeks were stained once again with tears rolling down, vision blurry as he walked down the hallways trying to find a certain person. mind denying that he had actually left as he whispers a series of 'no'.
he heard shuffling and muffled voices in the kitchen, his feet instantly heading towards that direction. his heart pounding in his chest hoping to see the person he was wanting to see and that it was just all a bad dream.
jungkookie's in there. he hasn't left.
his heart dropped when he stood by the entry way seeing familiar faces but not the certain dark haired male that he had wanted to see. it was jimin and seokjin seating by the counter and minsoo by the stove. all giving him a look that had slapped him with reality.
"oh, tae." jimin gasped seeing the younger's frantic state, quickly engulfing him in a hug as he completely broke down, uncontrollably sobbing in his arms. he would've fallen to the floor if it wasn't for the blonde haired male holding him up.
"shh, shh. you're alright." he murmurs, hugging the other tight.
to the doctor, seokjin he clearly understood how all this was hard for the young brunette.
jungkook wasn't just someone he loved or someone he cherished. the dark haired male made him feel safe and gave him comfort.
he was his safe haven.
all throughout his life, taehyung only had known the life of being a doll. he had his life controlled and even his own body and mind conditioned for what the madam and his own mother had set up for him. it was all he had known not until he met jungkook.
they also had started as a guest and doll but their relationship was now more deep and meaningful for the brunette. jungkook had given more meaning to his life that he wasn't just born to serve, to be a doll but much more.
he had given him the assurance that he was not alone. he had acknowledged him. he was someone who gave a new purpose for the brunette especially now he was free from the shop.
the confidence and hope he had built up within himself when he met jungkook and knowing he was there for him started crumbling down now that he had left.
he was feeling alone all over again.
"h-he left me, jiminie..." the brunette croaks out, eyes filled with tears and sadness looking up at the blonde male whose heart was breaking at the sight.
the blonde male could only hug the younger tight as he sobbed in his hold as he looked at seokjin and minsoo who all looked worried and pained for the young brunette.
*
taehyung had stayed in bed for the rest of the day, crying and snuggling on the pillow that still lingered with jungkook's faint scent.
his mind still wrapping up at the fact that jungkook had really left him.
minsoo had already changed the sheets but decided to leave the pillows seeing how the sniffling young brunette was eyeing them quietly as he patiently waited for her to finish.
"tae?" jimin softly knocked on the door before entering and letting out a sigh as he eyed the untouched tray of food on the bedside table.
seokjin had somehow convinced the brunette to take a shower earlier and had asked minsoo to prepare something for him but the younger had refused to eat and stayed lifelessly in bed wearing jungkook's shirt.
it somehow gave the brunette hope when he had walked inside the walk in closet seeing most of jungkook's clothes thinking that he'll be back soon but minsoo was quick to inform him that the young jeon would leave clothes in their residence just like in all of their other houses in other countries.
it was jungkook's mother who made sure that he has clothes in all of their houses just in case they were to visit unplanned and also save him the time of packing considering the young jeon travels a lot in terms of business.
minsoo felt sorry and guilty seeing how the the information shattered the small ray of hope in the younger's eyes but she didn't want him to have false hope.
they didn't know when the young jeon will be visiting their korean residence again.
jimin lies down beside the brunette, facing him. the younger starring into space. eyes dry, red and puffy.
"wow, did i look like this when my ex broke up with me? you know the night when we first met?" jimin speaks, voice laced with utter disbelief obviously wanting to lighten up the mood.
"no, you look worse." the younger croaks out, voice hoarse. face straight and void of any emotion.
"oh wow, i'm leaving" jimin sarcastically exclaims with a playful roll of his eyes but was startled when the brunette wraps his arms around him, face burying in his chest.
a smile appears in his lips as he wraps his own arms around the younger as he gently caressed his brunette hair and started humming a lullaby and pressing a kiss on top of his hair.
a comfortable silence engulfed the two as jimin continued to stroke the brunette's hair soothingly before he decided to speak.
"jungkook wanted me to tell you everything..." he murmurs which made the brunette to look up at him.
taehyung found out the whole truth.
"jungkook was only supposed to stay here in korea for about two or three months max under his father's order..." the blonde haired male starts.
after jungkook was appointed as ceo of the jeon corporation, his father temporarily asked him to manage the company in their main base here in korea to be able to monitor their operations around asia before they start their expansion in europe where he'll be personally handling starting from one of their bases in switzerland and basically just be all over europe for the whole duration wherever he's needed.
he was to stay in korea as the initial preparations are being made but was all soon forgotten when he met V that night in the doll shop.
things obviously got a little complicated as jungkook decided to buy him out of the shop.
"he hired yoongi to do a bit of a background check on you, the madam and the shop and oh boy did they found out a lot of stuff." jimin exclaims, eyes wide like he was just spilling some high school gossip to the brunette.
taehyung founds out that the madam had indeed plans of putting him up for an auction, mr bang hinting jungkook about what she was doing and had done with his records and all.
the blonde slowly elaborated everything to the young brunette who was quiet the whole time but he could see the mix of emotions etched in his face, mostly shocked from hearing all of this for the first time.
"remember when jin-hyung did a check up on you?" the blonde asks the brunette who slowly nods. "well, aside from jungkook being overly worried for you...." he states with a roll of his eyes. "they were actually gathering up evidence about you taking the pills."
jimin had told him about the law that he wasn't supposed to be taking the pills which now made him feel anxious and worried as the madam had him taking a rather high dose.
he knew he was very stubborn about it when jungkook had been wanting him to stop taking them thinking it wasn't really a big deal but now he could actually see that it was indeed a serious issue.
a small smile had appeared in his lips when the older informed him that jungkook had actually asked seokjin to do another check up on him and will be personally monitoring his condition.
jimin continued to tell everything what jungkook had been doing to get him out of the shop along with some help from namjoon and yoongi.
"he's father eventually sent word to have jungkook now fly to switzerland..." jimin says, eyes flicking over to the brunette. "but of course he didn't follow him..." he murmurs with a sigh.
it wasn't long until the older jeon had called telling jungkook to head to switzerland but the young jeon had decided to put everything on hold telling his father that he still had to finish something important.
this obviously wasn't taken well by the older jeon and had sent someone to check up on their operations finding out that everything was normal.
he soon find out the real reason why jungkook has overstayed in korea and he wasn't pleased about it as the dark haired male had all the europe plans postponed for months.
it was only a matter of time before the older jeon decided to interfere which made jungkook completely defenceless.
"his father is a powerful man, taetae." jimin says knowing full well that the older jeon was a man of great power and influence and once he found out that a mere brunette doll was holding jungkook back, he didn't think twice of settling things his own terms.
his father had put on hold all of taehyung's release papers and without it, the brunette would not be able to leave the doll shop.
when he received word that jungkook had already bought the brunette of the shop and was to submit the papers for approval to the capitol he quickly took this opportunity, making a phone call to the capitol to have it on hold.
"jungkook was actually already having a hard time with having your ownership be transferred to him, namjoon and yoongi were really a great help but his father just wanted to join in and add to the problem even tho he wasn't invited." jimin says with a roll of his eyes, hands crossing over his chest.
the brunette bit his lip, now feeling guilty as he didn't know how much jungkook had done and struggled just to get him out of the shop. he had only thought that the madam and his debts were the only obstacle but it turns out there were a lot of other things going on.
it saddened him how he didn't have any clue and the dark haired male had not let him know about all this even going to the extent of defying his own father.
"he basically didn't give jungkook any options and blackmailed him to get him to follow what he wants." jimin murmurs, pissed off tone evident in his voice as he had also found the older jeon's ways unfair.
his father had offered him that he'll not only help him have the papers of transfer of ownership be processed but he'll also make sure to have him granted a 'release' if he wants.
the transfer of ownership from the doll shop to him was already a lot of work but even without his father's help, he knew it would be approved.
however, filing along for taehyung to be officially released was something he knew would take months and even years with the chance of even being rejected as it involves not just only a hefty amount of money but thorough investigations as well.
release of former dolls or basically filing for a doll's freedom was something that the government took very seriously.
however, with the older jeon it was just another ordinary phone call. something he could easily tick off in his to-do list.
this realisation reminded the dark haired male that the power and influence his father holds is incomparable and will ensure that taehyung would get his freedom.
so he took on his father's offer.
"your papers were immediately processed and released after jungkook had agreed to his father..." jimin murmurs as he remembered jungkook telling him that it would take at least a week at most but namjoon was able to get both the papers within the next day, no sweat at all.
"jungkook gave his word so he had to leave today." the blonde murmured.
the older jeon wanted jungkook to get himself on a plane that was bound for switzerland once the papers were released. he gave him a day to settle everything that's why the dark haired male couldn't stay any longer.
"he'd bring you along, you know... if he could." jimin says with a sad smile.
if jungkook only had more time and his father wasn't getting in the way then maybe things would've been different.
he knew how hard it was for jungkook to go against his father but in the end he couldn't win. the dark haired male also didn't want taehyung to be involved with the older jeon knowing his father won't stop if he had continuously disobeyed him.
the brunette sadly nods as he also knows that dolls under a doll shop weren't allowed to leave the country even if they are under a tag while for those dolls owned by others, they were to secure a permit from the capitol and were only allowed for a limited number of days outside the country.
as to former dolls like him that were granted release, it would take at least a year for him to be able to get a passport as he has to accomplish necessary legal documents. even with jungkook's connections it would've taken months. it was basically another complicated process.
jungkook knew about all this and as much as it pained him, he had to let go. he wasn't selfish.
he was finally able to give taehyung his freedom so he wants him to start living, doing things that he wasn't able to do because he was bounded to the shop. do everything he wanted even if he won't be by his side.
he didn't want taehyung to wait for him or wanted to give the younger a false impression of him being tied down to him as he doesn't know when they'll be able to see each other again or if they will even see each other again.
the sad truth was, they were both from completely different worlds and maybe, destiny had plans for them to just cross paths and move on after.
he doesn't want the brunette to hold back. he wants him to live the life that was robbed of him.
the brunette had been bound too long from rules, contracts, from people manipulating and using him.
he didn't want that for taehyung anymore.
he knew that taehyung was still young, so young and life has still a lot to offer him. he wanted him to grow and build himself up without being tied down to anyone or even him.
"i'll be honest with you, taetae..." jimin says gently wiping the tears that had started cascading down the brunette cheeks. "i don't know when jungkook will be back or where he'll exactly be in the next few months..." he murmurs.
"but i know one thing, jungkook would want you to be happy and focus on yourself..." jimin says with a warm smile on his face as the brunette had now snuggled back in his chest, sobbing.
taehyung knew what this all meant. he knew why jungkook had asked jimin to tell him everything.
he wanted him to let go.
he wants him to continue on and start his life without jungkook and maybe, without him at all.
the brunette has his hand clutched on the necklace the dark haired male had gave him, as he sobbed in jimin's arms. "i got that necklace to remind you that from now on you can live as you want, as kim taehyung...." his heart cracking and breaking into small pieces as he slowly nods his head remembering jungkook's words to him.
"remember that you still owe me a favour that night at the shop? i already thought of what i want...." jungkook murmurs with a soft chuckle, a smile forming on his face as he remembered that particular moment.
"i want my taehyungie to promise me that he'll continue being strong even without jungkookie by his side..." he murmurs, blinking away his own threatening tears as he pulled away to look back at the brunette. "you've always been strong..."
"can you do that for me, my love?" jungkook says with a warm smile, gently brushing the brunette's tears.
he can. he has to.
*
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a/n
i saw comments before saying why can't just jungkook take taehyung with him soo basically yes, he can, he has the capacity to do it but the conflict here is with jungkook's father.
so as previously mentioned, jungkook's father doesn't like taehyung for his son and will intervene with taehyung's 'freedom' if jungkook doesn't follow~ he didn't want taehyung to be involved with his father anymore so he had to let go~