Namjoon's fingers were still tightly fisted in Jimin's shirt, his knuckles white with anger.
"You bastard... You fucking idiot!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the room.
"You wanted to save him so badly that you destroyed yourself instead! Did it ever cross your mind what this would do to you? To him? You made sure his heart kept beating... only by making yourself the person he'll spend the rest of his life hating. Was that really the only way you knew how to love him?!"
His grip loosened the second he saw tears silently rolling down Jimin's cheeks. Those weren't the tears of someone defending himself. They were the tears of someone who had been carrying the weight of an impossible decision alone for far too long.

Namjoon's anger dissolved into guilt as he slowly let go of his collar. Jimin didn't even bother hiding anymore.
His hands trembled as he desperately wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his clothes, but the tears refused to stop. They kept falling faster than he could erase them.

Namjoon quietly guided him to the couch, making him sit before taking the seat beside him.
"Jimin... look at me." Namjoon's voice was much softer now. He gently held Jimin's shoulder until those swollen, red eyes finally met his.
"Tell me... why? Why did you choose this? Why did you decide that becoming the villain in his story was better than letting him know the truth? I know how much you love him. I knowthe way your entire world begins and ends with him. So why did you make the one person you love the most believe you abandoned him? Why make him hate you? Do you even realize he'll spend the rest of his life believing you never loved him enough to stay?"
His voice cracked. "You know he'll hate you forever... don't you?"
Jimin smiled. It wasn't happiness. It was the kind of smile people wear when they've already accepted a pain that cannot be undone.
He lowered his head, inhaled shakily, brushing his hairs behind and whispered, "I know." His lips trembled before he continued.

"And I'd still choose this again. Every single time. You know why, hyung? Because I'd rather spend an entire lifetime watching him breathe while he hates me... than spend even one single day standing in front of his grave wishing he had hated me instead.. Hatred is something a living person can carry. A dead person carries nothing. As long as he's alive... he can hate me, curse me, erase every memory of me if that's what keeps him moving forward. But if he dies..."
His voice shattered completely.
"If he dies... then there won't be another tomorrow for him. My pain ends with me, hyung... but his death would end everything."
"But you could've told him," Namjoon argued desperately. "You could've trusted him. You could've explained everything. He's not a child, Jimin."
Jimin let out a hollow laugh that sounded more like a cry.
"You really think I didn't try? You think I woke up one morning and decided this was my plan?"
He looked up with exhausted eyes.
"Do you know what those weeks were like for me after I found out someone was planning to kill him? I stopped sleeping. I stopped eating. Every single day I kept making new plans only to tear them apart because every road ended the same way.. with him refusing to leave me. I imagined every conversation possible. Every excuse. Every lie. Every truth. I rehearsed them in my head until sunrise. I even stood outside his house countless times thinking, 'Today... today I'll tell him everything.' But then I'd see him smile at me... and I already knew what his answer would be before I even spoke."
Namjoon remained silent.
"I know Min Yoongi better than anyone," Jimin whispered.
"You think if I had walked up to him and said, 'Someone powerful wants you dead. Please go abroad. Please leave me behind for your safety,' he'd agree? No."
He shook his head immediately.
"He would've laughed. He would've held my hand and said we'd face it together. If I begged him to leave, he'd refuse. If I cried, he'd stay. If I pushed him away gently, he'd pull me closer. That's who he is... His love isn't practical, hyung. It's reckless. He would've chosen me over his career. He would've chosen me over his own future. Hell..."
Jimin's breathing became uneven.
"He would've chosen me over his own life. And that's exactly what terrified me."
His fingers clenched tightly together.
"The people after him weren't ordinary people. They weren't making empty threats. They didn't care how many chances they had to wait. and I'd lose him forever. Tell me, hyung... how was I supposed to live knowing every time he walked out the door could be the last time I'd ever see him? How was I supposed to smile at him while wondering if someone was following him? How was I supposed to answer his calls knowing one day the phone might ring and instead of hearing his voice... I'd hear that he never made it home?"
He stopped speaking, pressing a trembling hand over his mouth as tears flooded his face again.

"But he's heartbroken, Jimin..." Namjoon whispered.
The words pierced deeper than anything else. Jimin closed his eyes so tightly that more tears escaped anyway.
"I know," he answered almost soundlessly.
"That's the one thing I knew would happen. I knew breaking his heart was the only way to make him leave. If there had been even one tiny piece of hope left... he would've stayed. If he believed I still loved him... he would've fought for us. If he thought I was suffering too... he would've refused to let go. So I had to become cruel. I had to become cold. I had to make sure when he looked at me... all he saw was someone who no longer wanted him. Because only then would his pride drag him away from me. Only then would he leave this country. Only then would he be out of their reach."
He laughed bitterly through his tears.
"Do you remember my birthday last week?" Namjoon nodded slowly.
"We were watching a movie together day after that night. I didn't choose that movie because I liked it.. I had something in mind. I purposely choosed it because it was about long-distance love. I was testing him... desperately praying maybe... just maybe... he'd think differently than I expected. During one scene, one partner leaves for another country to build their career while promising to come back later. I looked at him and casually asked, 'Don't you think he's making the right choice? Career should always come first, right?' I tried so hard to sound normal. I wanted to believe there was even the smallest chance he'd agree."
Jimin smiled weakly through the tears.
"Do you know what he said without even thinking? He looked straight at me and smiled like I had asked the dumbest question in the world. Then he said, 'No career is more important than my heartbeat. No dream is worth leaving the person who keeps me alive. If I ever have to choose... I'll choose you every single time.'"
Jimin covered his face as his shoulders shook violently.
"That was the exact moment I knew I'd already lost. The moment those words left his mouth... every hope I had disappeared. Because I knew there was no version of the truth that would make him leave. The only thing stronger than his love for me... was his stubbornness. So I stopped trying to convince him. Instead... I convinced him I never loved him at all. I took every beautiful memory we built together... and burned it with my own hands because hatred travels farther than love."
Jimin paused.
"Love would've chained him beside me. Hatred pushed him onto that plane. Every word I said to him... every cruel sentence... every fake smile... every lie... I wasn't trying to make him believe I stopped loving him. I was trying to make him survive. If becoming the villain in his story is the price for seeing him grow old somewhere safe... then I'll gladly carry that title until my last breath."
Jimin let out a hollow laugh.
"You know, hyung..." he whispered, staring blankly at the floor.
"People keep telling me I'm strong. They think I endured everything because I had courage. But they don't know the truth. It isn't strength... it's punishment. A broken heart can heal someday, but guilt..."
He swallowed hard, his voice was trembling.
"Guilt never heals. It wakes up with you, eats every peaceful moment, and reminds you that you're the reason the person you love is suffering. Every single day I've been living with that."
He rubbed his wet eyes before forcing himself to continue.

"Only I know how difficult it was to say those words to him... to make him hate me... to become the villain in his story. Thank you for helping me, hyung. If you weren't here today... I think I would've collapsed."
Namjoon remained silent for a few seconds before asking the question that had been haunting him for days.

"Jimin... who wants Yoongi dead? Who's behind all this? Who keeps trying to kill him?"
Before Jimin could answer, his phone suddenly vibrated. The screen lit up with a familiar name. His expression immediately changed.
He quickly wiped away the tears on his face and gestured for Namjoon to stay completely silent. Taking a slow breath, Jimin answered the call in a calm, emotionless voice as if he had never cried.
"Hello."
A deep voice echoed from the other side. "Is he dead already?"
Namjoon's eyes widened instantly. He recognized that voice within a second.
"No..." Jimin answered carefully. "He escaped again."
"What the fuck?" the man barked. "I thought at least you were responsible. I thought you had grown up. You can't even handle one simple job? And you call yourself my son?"
Jimin shut his eyes for a brief moment. Every word stabbed him, but he refused to let his emotions slip.
"I'm sorry, Appa. I'm trying my best. It isn't as easy as it looks. Yoongi is smarter than I expected. He's careful. He's always one step ahead. It might take some time."
"I'm only staying out of this because you're in Korea handling everything yourself," the man replied coldly.
"Don't mistake my patience for kindness. If you can't do it, just say it. It won't take me even a single minute to finish him myself. Shooting by my own hand isn't that difficult than hiring men."
Jimin's jaw tightened so hard that it hurt, but his voice remained respectful as he was playing act.
"No need, Appa. Please trust me. Didn't you always say I was the only person worthy enough to continue your work? Didn't you say that's why you told me everything? Then trust your own son. I'll handle it. I won't disappoint you. I'll walk the same path you walked. At the end we have the same blood."
There was a brief silence before the man finally spoke.
"Fine."
The call ended.
The room fell completely silent.
Namjoon stared at Jimin as if the ground beneath him had disappeared.

"...It was your father?" he whispered in disbelief. "All this time... it was your own father? He's the one trying to kill Yoongi?"
Jimin slowly nodded without looking at him. "Yes." His voice had become empty.
"The day I found out... I wished I had been wrong. I prayed I was overthinking everything. But every doubt I had turned out to be true."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"After our marriage, Appa started bringing up Yoon's property far too often whenever i called him. Sometimes he'd ask about the will. Sometimes he'd casually ask whether Yoon had updated any legal documents. At first I ignored it because he was Yoongi's guardian. I convinced myself it was normal for someone managing his affairs. But something never felt right. The way he asked... the greed in his eyes... it wasn't concern."
Namjoon frowned. "So that's why you asked your father to promise you something before the wedding?"
Jimin nodded. "Yes. Do you remember i mentioned it while telling Yoon.. I told him that one day I'd ask for something, and no matter what happened, he'd have to do it? That promise wasn't random. By then I already had doubts. I didn't know the entire truth yet, but I knew something terrible was hiding beneath everything. I just needed proof."
"So... his plan..." Namjoon asked quietly. "Did it begin after Yoongi's parents died?"
Jimin closed his eyes and nodded again.
"Yes. The moment Yoon became alone... Appa saw him as nothing more than an opportunity. While everyone believed he was raising an orphan out of kindness... he was simply waiting for the perfect moment to take everything that belonged to him."
Namjoon's breathing became heavier. "How did you confirm it?"
Jimin looked at him with lifeless eyes.

"I used his own language against him." A bitter smile appeared on his lips. "I called him one day and told him I wanted something. He sounded surprised because I'd never asked him for anything before. He asked me what I wanted. So I said..." Jimin paused for a second before repeating his own words. "'I want Yoon's property.'"
Namjoon's eyes widened.
"You know what he said?" Jimin laughed bitterly. "'That's my son. I knew you had my blood in you.' Not a single question He asked.. He was proud." Jimin's voice cracked. "That was the moment I knew my father wasn't the man I grew up believing he was."
"So you kept testing him?" Namjoon asked.
Jimin nodded. "Yes. I wanted to hear the truth directly from him. So I pretended to hesitate. I casually said... 'What if Yoongi wasn't alive anymore? Then everything would belong to me, right?' I wasn't even asking seriously. I was testing him. I wanted him to deny it. I wanted him to get angry on me and shout. I wanted him to call me insane."
Jimin's eyes filled with tears again. "Instead... he simply replied..."
He looked at Namjoon with unbearable pain. "'Then finish him, otherwise i would.'"
Namjoon's face froze.
"He didn't hesitate for even a second," Jimin continued. "Then he started telling me everything as if he had been waiting for someone to ask. He confessed his entire plan. He said his only goal had always been Yoon's wealth. That's why he pushed this marriage so desperately. Because once Yoon died, every legal right, every property, every asset would naturally be transferred to me as his husband. And since I was his son..."
Jimin laughed bitterly. "...everything would eventually end up in his hands."
Namjoon clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. "How the hell... I never imagined Uncle Gowin could become someone like this."
"I'm ashamed to even call him my father," Jimin whispered.
"Do you know what's even more disgusting? After I agreed to act like I was on his side, he still didn't trust me completely. Every attack Yoon survived you know... every hired man... every accident... every attempt..."
He looked at Namjoon.
"I knew about them from the very beginning. I kept trying to stop them before they reached Yoon and if I couldn't I just simply messaged you. I kept changing plans, misleading those men, but Appa never stopped sending more people. He never believed his own son was capable enough to do the job. To him, I wasn't his child anymore. I was just another pawn."
"You saw five attacks, i cancelled and misled more than ten attacks. About that car crash.. I thought he wouldn't do anything because his own son was there but at last you know.."
Namjoon's voice was barely audible. "All this... just because of money... How can someone be this greedy?"
Jimin slowly nodded. "We always hear people say money changes people. That's wrong. Money doesn't change them... it reveals who they truly are. My father didn't lose himself because of wealth. Wealth exposed the monster he had been hiding all along. And the cruelest part is..."
His voice broke into a whisper. "The person trying to protect Yoongi... and the person trying to kill him... Both carries the same surname."
"Why wouldn't you tell Yoongi about Uncle Gowin?" Namjoon finally asked.
The question had been stuck in his throat ever since everything started falling apart. "Don't you think he deserves to know the truth? He has the right to know who actually ruined his life."
Jimin let out a slow breath and lowered his eyes. For a long moment he didn't answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm, but every word carried years of pain.
"For now, No... he doesn't.. it's very early. I know Yoon better than anyone, Hyung. You know how his mind works. Once something enters his head, he doesn't stop until he destroys himself trying to fix it. Right now... all his hatred is directed toward me, every betrayal... he has attached them to my name"
Jimin paused.
"And as cruel as it sounds... I need that hatred to stay exactly where it is."
Namjoon's brows knitted together in confusion, but Jimin continued before he could interrupt.
"Because hatred towards me will make him survive. It'll make him want to become stronger, emotionally independent, more powerful... just to prove that he never needed me. Every success he'll achieve, he'll dedicate it to proving me wrong. His anger is keeping him alive. But if that hatred shifts from me... to my father..."
His voice cracked for the first time. "Then it won't be ambition anymore. It'll become revenge."
Namjoon stayed silent.
"You know my father isn't just another criminal. He has no criminal records, yet..." Jimin's fingers slowly clenched into fists.
"..He's a monster who smiles while betraying people. He doesn't leave witnesses. If Yoongi finds out he's the reason behind everything... he'll never sit quietly. He'll go straight to him. He'll confront him without thinking. He'll fight with emotions instead of logic." Jimin laughed bitterly.
"And against my father... emotions are nothing but a death sentence. He'll kill Yoongi before he even gets the chance to ask a single question."
"But keeping him in the dark..." Namjoon whispered.
"...is keeping him breathing." Jimin finished. "People think heartbreak is the worst pain someone can feel. It isn't. Losing the person you love hurts... but discovering that the man you respected like your own father was the one destroying your life all along... that breaks something inside you forever. You don't recover from that. You stop trusting people. You stop trusting yourself. Yoon has already lost enough. I won't let him lose the last piece of himself too."
"Can you believe he once tried to end his own life? I'm terrified he'll try again after finding out the man he considered his father did all this. But when it comes to me... he won't.
I know he won't. The way I provoked him, the way I fueled his anger... his voice and his eyes told me everything. He'll come back. He'll stand in front of me as someone stronger than ever.
Stronger than any storm. That's the version of him I'm waiting for.. the one who can hear the entire truth without breaking, because he'll have built himself strong enough to survive it."
Namjoon looked at him, speechless. He really had no words after hearing all this.
"And there's Jungkook." Jimin whispered after another pause.
"Everyone keeps forgetting him." His eyes turned distant. "I'm older. I've seen enough of this world to force myself to accept reality, even if it tears me apart. But Jungkook... he's still innocent. To him, our father is just... Dad. The man who held his hand when he was little. The man who bought him birthday gifts. The man who taught him how to ride a bicycle."
Jimin smiled sadly.
"Tell me, Hyung... how am I supposed to look into my little brother's eyes and tell him that the father he loves is actually nothing like how he thinks? That the man he waits for every night just for one call has blood on his hand, who knows? How do I destroy his entire childhood with one sentence? I can't... I just can't."
Namjoon slowly looked down as everything finally started making sense.
"So... that's why..." he murmured. "That's why you asked me to play along."
Jimin nodded.
"I was so confused this morning when you asked," Namjoon admitted. "I kept asking myself why you would willingly make Yoongi hate you even more. I couldn't understand why someone who loved him this much would keep pushing him away."
He looked back at Jimin. "Now I understand. You weren't protecting yourself... you were protecting him."
Jimin gave a faint smile that never reached his eyes. "Sometimes the safest place for someone is as far away from you as possible."
Silence settled between them before Namjoon spoke again.
"Today..." he whispered. "After I saw yesterday a bullet firing at the cafe Yoongi worked..."
Jimin closed his eyes.
"I thought it was over," Namjoon admitted. "When I saw Yoongi standing there just inches apart.. So I came to find you."
His memories replayed vividly.
"Jimin..." Namjoon had said the moment he entered the room. "I have to tell you something."
Before he could continue, Jimin quietly interrupted him.
"Someone has been trying to kill Yoongi."
Namjoon immediately took out his phone. "Exactly. And someone keeps sending me anonymous messages warning me before every attack. Look."
He showed him the screen.
Jimin looked at the messages without the slightest surprise.
Then he quietly said, "I'm the one sending them."
Namjoon blinked. "...What?"
"I'm the one sending every single message to you, Hyung."
"You?"
"I can't go to save him otherwise, the person would've known I was lying to him. Every move around Yoongi is being watched. But nobody suspected you. So I made you my shield..."
Namjoon stared at him in disbelief.
"You... planned all this?"
"I had to."
"Jimin..." Namjoon whispered. "Explain."
"I will," Jimin answered softly. "But before that... I need one favor from you."
"Anything."
"The person ordered me to send someone to kill Yoongi today."
Namjoon's face instantly hardened.
"I already knew he would," Jimin continued. "That's why I needed you. Listen carefully. You have to reach Yoongi just after the man does. Save him... but don't stop there."
Namjoon frowned.
"When you catch the attacker... ask him loudly who sent him."
"And?"
"Ask him to call me.'"
Namjoon froze. "You want Yoongi to hear that?"
"Yes."
"Jimin, are you insane?"
"If Yoon starts doubting him instead of me, everything falls apart. He will know I betrayed him. The investigation ends before it even begins. Every piece of evidence I've collected disappears overnight... and Yoongi die...." He couldn't finish.
"So you're sacrificing yourself..."
"Doesn't matter."
Namjoon couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I need Yoon to believe I really wanted him dead," Jimin whispered. "Because the moment he stops believing that... he'll start looking in the wrong direction."
"And you'll become the villain in his story."
"I already am."
The room fell silent.
Namjoon slowly shook his head. "You're asking me to help destroy the only relationship that ever mattered to both of you."
"No Hyung.. I'm asking you to help keep him alive.. if he is alive who knows we again stand infront of each other years later and start again.. "
Those words echoed through the room.
Back in the present, Namjoon looked at Jimin with eyes filled with disbelief and admiration.
"You were brilliant," he admitted quietly. "No... brilliant isn't even the right word. You turned yourself into the villain so no one would suspect the real monster."
Jimin looked away.
"I did it because I ran out of choices. Every day I stayed beside my father all these years feels like I was standing next to the devil himself. "
"But I can't leave, until I have enough proof to put him behind bars forever. If I move too early... he'll erase every piece of evidence and disappear. Then every sacrifice I've made... every tear Yoon cried because of me.. it'll all become meaningless."
Namjoon swallowed hard. "So until that day..."
"I'll continue pretending to be my father's obedient son."
"And Yoongi?"
Jimin forced a small smile despite the pain in his eyes. "I'll handle Yoon."
"How?"
Jimin slowly lowered his eyes.
"One more lie..." Jimin said quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself instead of Namjoon. "One more lie won't change his opinion of me. If hating me is the price he has to pay to stay alive..." A faint smile appeared on his lips, but it carried no happiness. "...then I'll make sure he hates me with everything he has... until the day I can finally tell him the truth."
His fingers slowly intertwined with each other.
"But the day I tell him everything..." he continued after a long pause, "I don't want him to be the same Yoongi who stands behind me today. I want him to become stronger... so strong that he can stand in front of me without needing my protection anymore. Stronger than me. Strong enough to hear every truth without breaking apart."
His eyes unconsciously drifted toward the window.
"And on that day..." he smiled bitterly, "...he'll finally realize that his Heartbeat was never the reason for his heartbreak."
Namjoon quietly looked at his friend.
Final he understood everything.
Every harsh word. Every lie. None of it had come from a lack of love. It had all come from loving someone far too much.
A small smile slowly found its way onto Namjoon's face.
Somewhere along the journey, the feelings he once thought were love had quietly disappeared. Looking at Jimin now, he didn't feel jealousy anymore. There was nothing romantic left in his heart.
Only respect... And friendship.
"I'm jealous," Namjoon admitted with a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Not because of you... but because of the way you both love each other. It's honestly unfair." He leaned back against the couch. "I hope one day I find someone who loves me the way you love Yoongi... and someone I can love the way you love him."
Jimin smiled faintly but didn't reply.
After a brief silence, something suddenly came to Namjoon's mind.
"By the way..." he said, looking back at Jimin. "How is Yoongi supposed to live alone in Singapore?"
"I've already planned everything. I even planned what to tell my Father and how to handle it here.."
Namjoon raised an eyebrow.
"Do you remember Doctor David Liam?"
"Our former medical professor?" Namjoon immediately replied. "The one who's been working in Singapore for the last few years and owns his own hospital there?"
Jimin nodded.
"Yes."
"I didn't know this either. You can call it coincidence if you want... but he's Aura's father."
Namjoon's eyes widened slightly. "Aura?"
"The same Aura who's Yoongi's friend?"
"Hm."
"I met Doctor David a few days ago by chance. That's when he told me Yoon had received the Singapore scholarship." Jimin let out a quiet breath before continuing. "Aura had already told him about me... so he knew Yoongi has been living with me all this time. We chatted for a bit.. "
"So?"
A faint smile appeared on Jimin's face.
"Yoon lied to me."
Namjoon frowned.
"He told me he didn't get the scholarship. So I decided to use that lie."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"I looked at it from every angle. It's the best opportunity for his future... and the safest place for him right now."
"What do you mean?"
"Aura and her mother are shifting to Singapore permanently," Jimin explained.
"Kevin will be going with them as well. His family can easily afford it, so everything is already being arranged. Yoon won't be alone there. He'll have both of his closest friends beside him."
Namjoon slowly nodded. "And Doctor David?"
"I talked to him about everything."
Only everything that was necessary.
"He promised me he'll look after Yoon as if he were his own son. He also said he'll keep updating me about him from time to time."
Jimin's gaze unconsciously dropped to his own hands.
"I've already told him something else too."
"What?"
"No matter how much the scholarship covers... if Yoon ever needs anything more, I'll send the money. Whatever the amount it is."
Namjoon stared at him for a long moment before slowly smiling.
"That's actually a good plan." He nodded with complete confidence. "And if it's Doctor David... then I can guarantee you don't have to worry. I know him well. If he gives you his word, he'll keep it."
Jimin finally looked up.
"Best thing appa doesn't know anything about doctor David. I'll make excuses than this never cross his mind"
A faint smile appeared on Namjoon's face, but it disappeared just as quickly.
"Yoongi is getting everything," Namjoon said quietly. "A scholarship, a better future, people who'll look after him..." His voice softened as he looked at Jimin. "But what about you?"
Jimin fell silent.
His eyes remained lowered, and for a long time he didn't answer.
Finally...A small smile curved on his lips.
The kind of smile people wear when they're trying to convince themselves more than anyone else.
"I'm happy..."
He answered so softly that even he didn't know whether it was the truth...
...or just another lie he had learned to live with.
JIMIN'S POV
A few minutes after Namjoon hyung left, I heard the front door open again.
Jungkook.
The moment he stepped inside, his eyes immediately started searching around the house.
"Where's Yoongi Hyung?" he asked so naturally, completely unaware that everything had already fallen apart.
For a second...
I couldn't answer him.
I forced myself to smile before quietly telling him that Yoongi had left for his studies and that everything had happened so suddenly that there wasn't enough time for a proper goodbye.
The moment those words left my mouth, Jungkook's face fell.
"What?"
He stared at me as if he hadn't heard me correctly.
"He... he left?"
I nodded. "He'll come back."
That was all I could say.
Jungkook's eyes instantly became red.
"He seriously left without telling me?" His voice cracked with disappointment. "I'm his best friend... and he didn't even say goodbye?"
I watched him wipe his eyes angrily before looking away.
"Fine." He sniffed. "I'm never talking to him again. "He can stay wherever he wants. I don't care."
I knew he didn't mean a single word. He was hurt.
I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him why Yoon had really left... Why I had forced him to leave... Why both of us had cried until we couldn't even breathe.
But I couldn't. So...I lied.
After somehow calming Jungkook down, I quietly walked toward my bedroom.
The moment I pushed the door open...
My chest tightened. It didn't feel like my room anymore.
It felt like... A place where every corner carried his existence, yet he himself was nowhere to be found.
I slowly stepped inside.
The first thing my eyes landed on was the moon wall hanging hanging neatly on the wall.

My fingers unconsciously reached toward it.
A weak smile appeared on my lips before disappearing just as quickly.
"It's not even been a few hours..."
My voice came out as nothing more than a whisper. "...and I already can't do this. How am I supposed to live without you?"
The tears I had been holding back escaped once again.
Looking at that moon reminded me of that night when we were lying on this very bed after watching a movie. We had somehow ended up talking about the tattoo on his chest, and I had casually told him that maybe one day I wanted a tattoo too.
Without even thinking, he had smiled and said, "Then get a moon."
I had looked at him in confusion.m "Why a moon?"
"Because it suits you." I remember laughing at how random his answer was before replying,
Back then...
Neither of us knew that a simple sentence would become one of the memories I would end up clinging to.
My eyes slowly wandered across the room.
His books... Still lying on the table exactly the way he had left them.
He hadn't taken a single one.
Beside the window, the two small plants he had gifted me stood quietly, their leaves gently moving with the breeze coming through the open window..
Every single gift...
Every little thing he had brought into my life... Was still here.
Only... The person who had given them wasn't.
My fingers slowly touched the heartbeat bracelet around my wrist.
The bracelet he had put on me himself.
That was it.
The little control I had left completely disappeared.
My legs gave up beneath me, and I slowly sank onto the floor beside the bed. Pulling both of my knees close to my chest, I buried my face against them as the sob I had been suppressing finally escaped.
I cried.
I cried like a child who had just lost the most precious thing he had ever known.
"I'm so fucking bad..."
The words broke between my sobs.
"I made him cry... I made every effort he made for me look meaningless..."
I covered my face with both hands.
His words... His tears... His smile before leaving...
Everything kept replaying inside my head over and over again until it became difficult to breathe.
The hardest part wasn't watching him leave. It was the fact that... I couldn't even hug him one last time.
Because I knew... The moment I wrapped my arms around him, I would've broken completely. And I would've never been able to let him go.
I thought he was the one leaving broken.
But sitting alone in this room... I realized I had shattered just as much.
Suddenly... I felt a hand rest gently on my shoulder.
For one impossible second, my heart reacted before my mind did.
Yoon...
I immediately looked up.
The hope disappeared as quickly as it had come.
It was Jungkook.
Without saying a single word, he knelt down in front of me before pulling me into a tight hug.
I couldn't stop myself. I held onto him just as tightly.
This was probably the first time Jungkook had ever seen me cry like this.
He gently rubbed my back, letting me cry without interrupting.
"I know you're sad too," he said softly after a while. "You're missing him just like I am."
I closed my eyes.
If only you knew...
"But hyung..." he continued, "you're the one who always tells us that career should come first."
His voice carried a small smile despite everything.
"So don't worry. He'll come back. It's only a few months. We'll meet him again."
I silently nodded against his shoulder.
Then he said something that made my heart ache even more.
"Distance doesn't matter when two people love each other."
He smiled faintly. "Love always finds its way."
Another tear slipped down my cheek.
When... When did my little brother become this mature?
"Shhh..." He gently patted my back. "Don't cry anymore. I was angry at him too... But now I understand."
I slowly nodded before finally pulling away from the hug.
Jungkook looked at my tear-stained face and sighed.
Using his sleeve, he carefully wiped away the tears still clinging to my cheeks.
"That's enough."
He gave me a small smile. "No more crying."
I looked at him for a long moment before silently nodding.
"...Okay."
I know he believes his own heartbeat broke his heart.
I only pray that one day fate lets me hold that broken heart again..
I won't ask for forgiveness,
but to heal it until it remembers why it once called me its heartbeat.
I was his heartbeat.
He was the piece of my heart.
--TO BE CONTINUED
If you think the plot ends here...you found villain.
You've only reached the part I wanted you to see.
The real game and plot begins in the present.
Now go read chapter 1 and chapter 2 again bcz i edited them. Make sure to comment again and let me know.
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