The Drowned Cathedral: The Hunger Beneath

That night, Jungkook couldn’t sleep.

The bed in his room was soft. It felt like seaweed and silk. The lights above him glowed gently, like stars floating in water.

But his body wouldn’t rest.

The heat inside him had started again.

It wasn't loud yet, not like before, but it was growing.

Thick. Slow. Dangerous.

His skin was too warm. His robe stuck to his chest. His thighs ached. His scent was filling the air.

It was the scent of an Omega in pain.

He got out of bed and walked barefoot into the hallway.

The cathedral was silent.

Too silent.

No wind. No sea. No sound at all.

Just the sound of his own breath.

And something else…

A hum.

At first, he thought it was the lights.

But the sound came from below.

Deep beneath the floors. Far under the sleeping rooms.

It was a strange sound, wet, heavy, crawling.

Like something dragging itself across stone.

Jungkook stopped.

His chest felt tight. His heart beat faster.

The scent in the air changed.

Not his.

Not Taehyung’s.

Something wrong.

He turned a corner and looked down the long hallway.

At the end, near the stairs that led deeper into the cathedral...

He saw it.

Something crawling.

Slow. Crooked. Too long.

It moved on hands and feet, if they were hands and feet.

Its head hung low. Its back bent in a strange shape. And its mouth was wide open.

A black circle.

No eyes.

Just holes.

Jungkook couldn’t move.

He couldn’t even scream.

The thing lifted its head, slowly, like it smelled him.

Then it hissed.

And charged.

But it didn’t reach him.

A sound split the hallway like thunder.

A blur of black moved between them.

And suddenly,

the thing was in pieces.

Jungkook blinked.

Blood splashed the walls.

Black, thick blood. It smelled like rot.

In front of him stood Taehyung.

His clothes were torn. His hair was loose. His hands were red with blood.

He didn’t look human.

He looked like something ancient and burning.

His golden eyes glowed like fire through smoke.

The thing twitched once.

Taehyung stepped on its head and crushed it.

Silence.

Jungkook couldn’t speak.

He looked at the blood. At Taehyung’s shaking hands.

“You—” his voice cracked. “You followed me.”

“No,” Taehyung said.

“I felt you.”

He walked toward Jungkook slowly.

No rush. No fear.

His voice was calm.

“That was not meant to reach you. I waited too long. I let the cathedral get hungry.”

Jungkook stared.

“What was that thing?”

“One of the old pieces,” Taehyung said. “Left behind. Not all who came before… stayed whole.”

Jungkook’s stomach turned.

“And if you hadn’t come?”

Taehyung looked at him, serious, steady.

“I would have torn this place apart until you were safe.”

The bond between them burned like a string on fire.

Not snapped.

Not complete.

Just burning.

“Why didn’t you come before?” Jungkook whispered. “I needed you.”

Taehyung looked away.

“I told myself I wouldn’t come unless you asked.”

“And if I never ask?”

His golden eyes flicked back to him.

“Then I will wait,” he said. “Forever, if I have to.”

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