Chapter 2: The Secret He Remembered

Jungkook stared at Taehyung as if the world had stopped moving.

The words echoed in his mind.

"You came back too."

Back?

His heart pounded loudly.

"What do you mean?" Jungkook asked.

Taehyung's smile faded.

For the first time since entering the room, his eyes looked tired. Not the tiredness of someone who had stayed up all night, but the exhaustion of someone who had carried grief for years.

"Sit down first," Taehyung said quietly.

Jungkook obeyed without thinking.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too silent.

Taehyung pulled a chair closer and sat opposite him.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Taehyung sighed.

"In our previous life..." he began, "you died."

Jungkook's breath hitched.

The memories returned instantly.

The headlights.

The crash.

The darkness.

His hands clenched around the blanket.

"You remember it too."

Taehyung nodded.

"I remember everything."

Jungkook swallowed hard.

"How?"

"I don't know."

A bitter laugh escaped Taehyung.

"When I woke up, I was seventeen again."

The realization hit Jungkook like a wave.

He wasn't the only one who had been reborn.

Taehyung had suffered through the same confusion.

The same shock.

The same memories.

Jungkook looked at him carefully.

Now that he thought about it, Taehyung seemed different.

Older somehow.

His eyes carried emotions that shouldn't belong to a seventeen-year-old.

"What happened after I died?" Jungkook asked softly.

The question immediately darkened Taehyung's expression.

A painful silence filled the room.

Finally, he answered.

"I couldn't save you."

Jungkook felt his chest tighten.

"Kook..."

Taehyung looked away.

"I arrived too late."

The guilt in his voice was heartbreaking.

Jungkook remembered something.

In his previous life, Taehyung had called him that night.

Several times.

But Jungkook had been too busy preparing for his engagement to answer.

A terrible feeling settled in his stomach.

"Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

Taehyung froze.

For a moment, something vulnerable appeared in his eyes.

Then it disappeared.

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes.

Taehyung was lying.

After knowing him for fifteen years, Jungkook could tell.

But before he could press further, a ringtone suddenly interrupted them.

Taehyung glanced at his phone.

His expression instantly hardened.

Jungkook noticed.

"Who is it?"

"No one important."

Taehyung declined the call.

A second later, the phone rang again.

And again.

And again.

Jungkook frowned.

"Taehyung."

"It's fine."

"It doesn't look fine."

Taehyung stared at the screen for several seconds before finally turning the phone off completely.

That wasn't normal.

Not for Taehyung.

Not for someone who usually answered every call.

Something was definitely wrong.

But before Jungkook could ask more questions, Taehyung suddenly stood up.

"You should rest."

"What?"

"You just woke up."

"Taehyung—"

"I'll come back later."

He headed toward the door.

Jungkook immediately jumped out of bed.

"Wait!"

Taehyung stopped.

Jungkook hesitated.

There were countless questions he wanted to ask.

About the future.

About the accident.

About the mysterious calls.

But one question mattered more than all the others.

"Why were you crying?"

Taehyung's shoulders stiffened.

Jungkook remembered it clearly now.

The day of his engagement announcement.

Taehyung had smiled.

Congratulated him.

Even attended the celebration.

Yet his eyes had looked red.

As if he had spent the entire night crying.

The room became silent.

Slowly, Taehyung turned around.

His expression was unreadable.

"You noticed?"

Jungkook nodded.

For several seconds, Taehyung simply looked at him.

Then he smiled.

A sad smile.

"Not this time."

Jungkook blinked.

"What?"

Taehyung stepped closer.

Close enough that Jungkook could see every detail of his face.

Close enough to notice the determination in his eyes.

"In our last life, I stayed silent."

His voice was low.

Careful.

Certain.

"But I'm not making that mistake again."

Jungkook's pulse quickened.

Something about those words felt dangerous.

Not threatening.

Just impossible to ignore.

Before Jungkook could respond, Taehyung gently brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.

The simple gesture made Jungkook freeze.

"You don't have to understand right now," Taehyung murmured.

"But this time..."

His gaze softened.

"I'll protect you."

Then he left.

The bedroom door closed behind him.

Jungkook stood motionless.

His heart refused to calm down.

Because for the first time, he was beginning to understand something he had completely missed in his previous life.

Kim Taehyung's feelings for him had never been simple friendship.

And judging by the look in Taehyung's eyes...

They never had been.**

To Be Continued...

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