The rain poured endlessly outside the apartment window while Jeon Jungkook sat quietly on the couch, staring at the unread messages on his phone.
*Are you home?*
*Did you eat?*
*Taehyung, answer me please.*
No reply. Again.
Jungkook laughed softly to himself, but it sounded broken.
He had loved Kim Taehyung for three years.
Three painful, beautiful years. And Taehyung never noticed.
Or maybe he did.
Maybe he just didn’t care.
The apartment door suddenly opened, making Jungkook stand immediately.
Taehyung walked in, tired and smiling at something on his phone.
“You’re late,” Jungkook whispered.
Taehyung looked up. “Oh. You’re awake?”
Jungkook’s chest hurt at how casual he sounded.
“I waited for you.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Those words always felt like tiny knives.
Jungkook forced a smile. “Did you eat dinner?”
“Mhm. Went out with Bogum.”
Of course.
Jungkook nodded slowly and walked toward the kitchen anyway. “I made soup for you.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Taehyung walked past him without even looking.
Jungkook stood frozen beside the stove.
The soup was still warm.
Just like his love.
Unwanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days passed like that.
Jungkook loved quietly.
He remembered Taehyung’s schedules better than his own. Stayed awake when Taehyung came home late. Bought vitamins because Taehyung skipped meals. Fixed his clothes. Waited outside dance practices in the cold just to hand him coffee.
And Taehyung accepted everything absentmindedly.
Like Jungkook’s love was natural.
Like it would always exist no matter how little he gave back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One night, Taehyung came home drunk.
Jumgkook rushed to hold him carefully.
“Tae, slow down-"
Taehyung suddenly grabbed his shirt weakly.
"Jungkook…”
The way he said his name made Jungkook’s heart race painfully.
“Yes?”
“I think… I’m in love.”
Everything inside Jungkook stopped. But he still smiled.
“Really?”
Taehyung nodded against his shoulder, smiling dreamily.
“He’s beautiful.”
He. Not me.
Jungkook swallowed hard. “Who is he?”
Taehyung laughed softly. “You don’t know him.”
Jungkook helped him sit on the bed gently.
“What’s he like?”
“He listens to me,” Taehyung mumbled sleepily. “And when he smiles… I feel happy.”
Jungkook looked down quietly.
Because that was exactly how he felt about Taehyung.
But no one ever asked about Jungkook ’s happiness.
Taehyung grabbed his wrist suddenly.
“You think I have a chance?”
Jungkook stared at him for a long moment.
Then smiled with tears burning his eyes.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Anyone would be lucky to love you.”
Even if it destroyed them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week later, Jungkook finally saw him.
The boy Taehyung loved.
And the way Taehyung smiled beside him... Jungkook had never received that smile. Not once.
That night, Taehyung found Jungkook sitting alone on the balcony in the freezing cold.
“You’ll get sick,” Taehyung frowned.
Jungkook looked up slowly. “Do you know what hurts the most?”
“What?”
“Loving someone so much…” His voice cracked. “And realizing you were never the person they looked at the same way.”
Taehyung blinked in confusion.
“Jungkook-”
“I loved you.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Painful.
Taehyung’s eyes widened.
Jungkook laughed weakly, wiping his tears quickly. “Don’t look at me like that. I know.”
“Knew what?”
“That you’d never love me back.”
Taehyung opened his mouth but no words came out.
And somehow that hurt even more.
Because Jungkook would have preferred rejection over silence.
“I tried so hard not to love you,” Jungkook whispered. “But every little thing about you made it impossible.”
Taehyung looked devastated now.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jungkook smiled sadly.
“Because I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“That if I confessed…” His eyes filled with tears again. “I’d lose even the little part of you I had.”
Taehyung stepped closer carefully.
But Jungkook stepped back.
For the first time.
“I’m tired, Taehyung.”
The younger man’s voice trembled. “Kook…”
“I loved you quietly because I thought loving you was enough.” A tear slipped down Jungkook’s face. “But loving alone is lonely.”
And some heartbreaks happen very slowly.
Like rain falling night after night until the whole world floods silently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks after the confession, Jeon Jungkook disappeared quietly from Kim Taehyung’s life.
No dramatic goodbye.
No screaming fight.
Just silence.
The apartment that once felt warm suddenly became painfully empty.
At first, Taehyung thought Jungkook simply needed space.
But then mornings became strange.
There was no coffee waiting for him anymore.
No small reminders on sticky notes.
No soft “Did you sleep well?” from the kitchen.
No Jungkook.
And somehow, the silence hurt more than any argument could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One evening, Taehyung opened the fridge and froze.
Inside sat neatly packed containers with dates written carefully on top.
Meals Jungkook had prepared before leaving.
Taehyung stared at them for a long time before his chest tightened painfully.
“He still took care of me…” he whispered.
Even after heartbreak.
That night, Taehyung called him for the first time.
The number was unavailable.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until Taehyung finally broke down alone in the dark apartment.
“Please pick up…” he whispered shakily.
But Jungkook never answered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months passed.
Taehyung tried dating the boy he once thought he loved.
But every smile reminded him of someone else.
Every quiet moment felt wrong.
One night during dinner, the boy laughed and said, “You space out a lot lately.”
Taehyung blinked.
“Hm?”
“You always look sad.” He smiled carefully. “Are you thinking about someone?”
And suddenly Jungkook’s face filled Taehyung’s mind completely.
The gentle eyes.
The tired smiles.
The way he always waited.
The way he loved.
Oh. Oh no.
Taehyung felt sick.
Because for the first time, he understood.
No one had ever loved him the way Jungkook did.
And maybe no one ever would again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The breakup happened quietly after that.
Because Taehyung knew it was unfair to stay when his heart belonged somewhere else.
Or rather, To someone else.
Someone he realized too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A year later, Taehyung saw Jungkook again.
It happened at an art exhibition in Paris.
Taehyung had gone there for work, exhausted and emotionally numb.
Then he looked across the room... And forgot how to breathe.
Jungkook stood near a painting, dressed elegantly in black, softer somehow but colder too.
Beautiful.
Untouchable.
Taehyung’s heart slammed painfully against his ribs.
“Jungkook…”
Jungkook turned slowly.
And for one horrible second, Taehyung saw surprise flicker in his eyes before it disappeared behind polite distance.
“Taehyung”
Not Tae.
Not the warm voice Taehyung remembered.
Just Taehyung
Formal. Far away.
“You look good,” Taehyung said quietly.
“So do you.”
An awkward silence followed.
And Taehyung hated it.
Because Jungkook used to fill every silence with warmth.
Now he felt like a stranger.
Before Taehyung could speak again, another man approached Jungkook naturally.
Tall. Handsome. Confident.
He rested a hand lightly on Jungkook’s waist.
“There you are,” he smiled.
Taehyung’s stomach dropped instantly.
Jungkook looked comfortable beside him.
"Comfortable"
The realization burned.
The man glanced at Taehyung politely. “Friend of yours?”
Jungkook hesitated only a second.
“Yes,” he answered softly. “An old one.”
Old.
Taehyung felt his chest crack.
Because once upon a time, Jungkook looked at him like he was his whole future.
Now he was just someone from the past.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, Taehyung sat alone beside the Seine River, unable to stop crying.
He finally understood the pain Jungkook carried for years.
Loving someone silently.
Watching them choose someone else.
Arriving too late.
And for the first time in his life, Taehyung wished desperately for something impossible... To go back to the moment Jungkook said:
“I loved you.”
Because if he had one more chance… He would never let Jungkook walk away again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rain had started again.
Soft droplets slid down the café windows while people hurried outside beneath umbrellas, laughing, living, moving forward.
But Jeon Jungkook sat alone in the corner near the glass, staring down at the untouched cup of coffee in front of him.
His fingers trembled slightly around the napkin in his hands.
He hated rainy days.
They always reminded him of Taehyung.
The warmth.
The heartbreak.
The love he never truly stopped carrying.
Jungkook closed his eyes tightly, but tears still slipped down his cheeks anyway.
“Stupid…” he whispered to himself shakily. “It’s been years.”
“Then why are you crying?”
Jungkook froze.
That voice.
Slowly, he looked up.
Kim Taehyung stood there in a dark coat, rain clinging to his hair, eyes filled with shock and worry.
And love.
So much love that Jungkook’s chest hurt instantly.
“T-Taehyung…”
Taehyung moved toward him carefully, like he was afraid Jungkook might disappear again.
“I saw you through the window,” he said softly. “You were crying.”
Jungkook wiped his face quickly and looked away. “I’m fine.”
“You were never good at lying to me.”
That almost made Jungkook laugh.
Almost.
Taehyung sat down slowly across from him.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Only rain filled the silence between them.
Then Taehyung whispered carefully, “Are you crying because of me?”
Jungkook’s lips trembled.
“I tried not to,” he admitted quietly.
Taehyung’s breath caught.
Jungkook stared down at the table, voice breaking little by little.
“I thought I moved on. I thought I was okay.” He laughed weakly through tears. “But every time it rains, every time I drink coffee alone, every time someone says your name…” His eyes filled again. “It still hurts.”
Taehyung looked devastated.
“Kook…”
Jungkook shook his head immediately.
“No, don’t.” His voice cracked badly. “Please don’t look at me with pity.”
“It’s not pity.”
“Then what is it?” Jungkook whispered helplessly. “Because I can’t survive loving you alone again.”
Taehyung stood suddenly and walked around the table.
Then, before Jungkook could react, he knelt beside his chair.
Jungkook stared at him in shock.
Taehyung looked up at him with red eyes.
“I was an idiot,” he said shakily. “A selfish, blind idiot.”
“Taehyung-”
“No, let me say this.”
His voice trembled so much Jungkook’s heart ached.
“When you left… everything disappeared with you.” Taehyung swallowed hard. “I kept thinking love was supposed to feel exciting and loud and overwhelming.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“But love was you.”
Jungkook stopped breathing.
“It was the coffee you made when I was tired.” Taehyung laughed weakly. “The vitamins. The waiting. The stupid soup.”
A tear slid down his cheek.
“It was you loving me even when I gave you nothing back.”
Jungkook’s vision blurred.
“But I was too late,” Taehyung whispered brokenly. “And every day since then, I’ve hated myself for it.”
Jungkook looked away quickly, shoulders shaking.
“You don’t understand,” he whispered. “I’m scared.”
Taehyung reached for his hand carefully.
This time Jungkook didn’t pull away.
“I know.”
“What if this changes again?” Jungkook asked through tears. “What if one day you wake up and realize you don’t love me enough?”
Taehyung held his hand tighter.
“I spent years realizing nobody in this world could ever compare to you.”
Jungkook finally looked at him.
And Taehyung smiled sadly.
“You were home to me, Jungkook.” His voice cracked. “I just realized it after you were gone.”
Jungkook broke completely then.
Years of heartbreak poured out of him silently while Taehyung held him tightly beside the café window.
“I loved you so much,” Jungkook sobbed against his shoulder.
“I know,” Taehyung whispered tearfully. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life deserving it.”
Jungkook shook his head weakly. “You can’t promise forever.”
Taehyung pulled back just enough to look into his eyes.
“Yes, I can.”
Then softly... carefully... he pressed his forehead against Jungkook’s.
“I love you, Jeon Jungkook.”
The words Jungkook waited years to hear.
“I love you so much that losing you ruined me.”
Jungkook cried harder.
And Taehyung wiped every tear away gently with shaking hands.
“Trust me again,” he whispered.
Jungkook stared at him for a long moment.
Then finally… Slowly…
He nodded.
And Taehyung kissed him like someone being given another chance at life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years later, the wedding took place on a quiet spring evening surrounded by flowers and warm lights.
Jungkook stood at the altar in a black suit, nervous tears already in his eyes as Taehyung walked toward him.
Still beautiful. Still his.
Taehyung took Jungkook’s trembling hands immediately.
“You’re crying already?” he teased softly.
Jungkook laughed through tears. “Shut up.”
The guests laughed warmly around them.
But Taehyung only looked at Jungkook like nobody else existed.
Like he always should have.
When it came time for vows, Taehyung’s voice shook.
“Jungkook… there was a time I thought love was something complicated.”
He smiled sadly.
“But you taught me love is patience. Safety. Home.”
Jungkook squeezed his hands tighter.
Taehyung’s eyes filled with tears.
“You trusted me again when I didn’t deserve it.” His voice cracked. “And I swear with everything I have… I will spend the rest of my life protecting your heart.”
Jungkook started crying harder immediately.
Taehyung smiled gently and wiped his tears like he always did now.
“I will never make you cry alone again,” he whispered. “And I will never break your trust. Never.”
Jungkook laughed shakily before whispering his own vows.
“I loved you quietly for so long,” he said tearfully. “But now… I want to love you loudly. Every day. For the rest of my life.”
Taehyung kissed his hands softly.
“You already are.”
When they finally kissed as husbands, Jungkook smiled against Taehyung’s lips.
Warm. Safe. Loved.
And for the first time in years, the rain no longer hurt.
