The Drowned Cathedral: The Sea That Breathes

The place was quiet, but not dead.

It felt like the walls were breathing.

Jungkook stood alone in the wide hallway, staring up at the curved ceiling. It looked like a church, but it was made of coral and glowing bones. Soft green lights floated in the air. They moved without sound, like fish made of fire.

Every step he took, the floor gave slightly under his feet. Like skin. Like something alive.

He didn’t want to touch the walls again.

Last time, they felt warm. They moved under his hand.

Not stone.

Not wood.

Living.

He walked slowly, wrapped in the strange robe Taehyung gave him. It clung to him when he moved, like it wanted to stay close.

The air wasn’t really air. It was thick. Wet. Warm. His skin never fully dried.

Everything here felt like the sea, but there was no water.

No waves.

No sky.

Just the deep, heavy quiet.

He passed a window. Or maybe it was a door. It was tall and curved, made of glass that shimmered like a bubble. He pressed a hand to it.

Outside, there was only black.

Nothingness.

But the glass was warm.

And it throbbed under his palm.

He pulled back.

"This place isn’t dead," he whispered.

He didn’t expect an answer.

But the lights above flickered once, like the cathedral had heard him.

He walked further into the hall.

Strange carvings covered the walls. Some were names. Others looked like eyes, or teeth, or hands. He passed a silver gate that opened on its own. Behind it, a room full of mirrors. He didn’t go in.

He was afraid to see what they would show him.

After a while, he stopped walking. He was breathing hard.

Not from fear.

From the bond.

It was still there, humming in his chest. Not pulling. Not pushing.

Just... waiting.

He hated it.

And hated how much part of him wanted to follow it.

There was a sound behind him.

Not footsteps.

A breath.

He turned.

Taehyung stood at the end of the hallway, far but not far enough. His eyes glowed softly in the dark.

He didn’t speak.

He just watched.

Jungkook took one step back.

“Why are you following me?” he asked.

“I’m not,” Taehyung said. His voice was calm, like deep water. “I was already here.”

Jungkook frowned. “How did you know where I was?”

Taehyung tilted his head. “I always know.”

“Because of the bond?”

“No,” he said. “Because of you.”

Jungkook didn’t know what to say to that.

So he turned and kept walking.

But he felt those golden eyes on his back the whole time.

He found a room at the top of a narrow stairwell. It was round, with no doors or windows. The light here was soft and blue. The walls curved like a shell.

He sat on the floor and pulled his knees to his chest.

He didn’t cry.

He didn’t scream.

He just sat.

And felt the bond.

It didn’t hurt. Not now.

But it filled the room with him.

His scent. His heat. His fear.

And far away, he could feel Taehyung again.

Not close.

But listening.

Always listening.