"Me and Jungkook are... well acquainted with one another," Taehyung said quietly I nodded bracing myself for him to speak he stared deeply into my eyes before sighing
"My father wasn't just part of a syndicate" he said quietly "He was one of the people who started it." My breath caught my lip quivered a bit but I kept a straight face
"He believed in control, power, fear he thought emotions made you weak and when I was younger... he tried to teach me the same thing." he continued his voice trembling
"He wanted me to be like him cold and unbreakable. Someone who could hurt without hesitation and ever since I was young he had me do these trainings he had me hunt and kill people he would beat me when I cried and he always told me he was doing it for the better good doing it to make me a man his heir" he paused tears slowly streaming down his cheeks
"I never asked for any of that I just wanted to be normal play games and hang out with friends but for a while his influence took over me I was cold, I would hurt kids for fun I hurt them like my father hurt me I hurt them bad I acted like my father" I felt my chest tighten I placed my hand on his cheek slowly wiping his tears
"I tried to change for the better" Taehyung whispered
"I didn't want to I hated what he did I hated what he expected me to become so I made it my life goal to NEVER have anything to with him or his sick evil twisted business " I sat and listened to him my heart heavy listening to his horrid childhood back stories he swallowed hard I placed my hand onto his shaking hand to reassure him
Taehyung's hand stayed beneath mine, no longer trembling as violently, but still unsteady—like he was holding himself together by sheer will. His eyes flickered down to our joined hands again, as if grounding himself in the fact that someone was here, listening, not recoiling.
"Theres more" Taehyung inhaled slowly
"Our fathers weren't just colleagues," he began. "They were... brilliant. Dangerous. Obsessed. They believed they could reshape the world if they just had the right leverage."
He paused, eyes distant.
"They started working on a biological project together a virus not one meant to kill at least not directly It was designed to weaken to destabilize to force compliance a weapon disguised as a scientific breakthrough."
My breath hitched. "That's—"
"Horrifying" he finished for me "I know." He rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand almost unconsciously
"My father thought it would make him untouchable Jungkook's father... he saw an opportunity He took the research sold it to a private buyer and vanished before my father even realized what happened." Anger flickered across Taehyung's face
"My father lost everything his reputation his power his allies and he blamed Jungkook's father for all of it."
"And he took it out on you," I whispered Taehyung didn't answer at first His jaw tightened, his eyes lowering
"He trained me," he said finally "Not like a son Like a weapon he wanted me to be the one to restore what he lost To reclaim the power he believed was stolen from him." His voice cracked just barely
"He wanted me to hate Jungkook. To see him as the enemy. To destroy him if I ever got the chance."
I felt my heart twist painfully. "But you didn't." Taehyung's eyes lifted to mine dark conflicted and vulnerable in a way that made my breath catch
"No," he whispered. "I couldn't. Even when I tried."
A heavy silence settled between us thick with everything he wasn't saying I could feel the weight of it pressing against him suffocating him.
"What happened between you and Jungkook?" I asked softly
Taehyung let out a shaky breath. "We grew up circling each other. Rivals. Enemies. At least... that's what we were supposed to be." His gaze drifted away as if replaying memories he wasn't sure he wanted to revisit.
"But when you're raised in the same world... when you're trained by the same kind of men... you start to understand each other in ways no one else can. We were supposed to hate each other, but instead we became... connected. Not friends. Not allies. Something else."
"Something complicated," I murmured.
A humorless smile tugged at his lips. "That's one word for it." He exhaled slowly, shoulders sagging.
"We pushed each other. Challenged each other. Fought each other. But we also... understood each other. More than anyone else ever could." His voice softened, almost fragile
"And that scared me. Because every time I looked at him, I saw the life I could've had if our fathers hadn't destroyed everything. I saw someone who was supposed to be my enemy... but felt more like a mirror."
My chest tightened. "And now?"
Taehyung's expression darkened. "Now he's the only person who knows what it's like to carry the weight of what our fathers did and the only person I can't bring myself to hate no matter how hard I try." He looked at me then really looked at me and something in his eyes made my breath catch.
"And that's why you need to be careful," he said quietly. "Because being close to me means being close to all of this. The rivalry. The history. The danger."
I squeezed his hand gently. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be," he whispered.
"No," I said firmly. "I shouldn't. Because you're not your father. And you're not defined by what he did."
Taehyung's throat bobbed as he swallowed and sighed placing his head in his hands "You say that like it's easy."
"It's not" I admitted. "But you're trying and that's all that matters now" he lifted his head from his hand and stared at me for a long moment something raw and unguarded flickering in his eyes.
"You don't know what it's like," he said softly. "To feel like your entire life was shaped by someone else's sins. To wonder if you're destined to repeat them."
I leaned closer our foreheads touching my voice steady. "Then break the pattern." his breath hitched.
"You already are," I added. "By choosing to tell me this. By choosing honesty over fear. By choosing to be different." Taehyung's eyes glistened not with tears but with something deeper something like hope fighting its way through years of darkness
"I don't know if I can," he whispered.
"You can," I said. "And you don't have to do it alone."
For a moment, he didn't move. Didn't breathe then slowly, he let his forehead rest against mine like he was afraid I'd pull away.
I didn't.
His voice was barely audible. "You don't know what you're getting into."
"Maybe not" I murmured. "But I know you and that's enough."
He looked like someone who had been waiting his entire life for someone to tell him he wasn't alone.