EDIFICE | tk (✓)

epilogue | time heals all wounds

:: THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Banana milk coffee was a weird combination. It just didn't seem right, mixing fruit with caffeine. Of course it didn't, they were meant to be separate. So why did Taehyung order it? That was an easy question to answer.

Because of Jeon Jungkook; because he missed him; because for one second, he let himself believe that he could outwit fate. How long could Taehyung keep on lying to himself in a stupid attempt to throw destiny's will off-guard and rewrite it as his own?

Yes, he had no idea of Jeon Jungkook's whereabouts — right now, the younger was probably across the road, in his office, going through his daily routine of completing paperwork. Yes, he had no idea of Jeon Jungkook's current state — from what he knows, the younger was doing well, having become CEO last year and already making headlines with his entrepreneurship.

For five years, Taehyung had successfully allowed fate to run its course. Despite knowing that the boy his heart still skipped a beat for was living in the same city, he had forced himself to stay put. After all, he had been the one to make the demand that they were only to meet again if it was meant to be.

Thinking back on it, Taehyung didn't regret it. The decision he had taken had been completely rational and even the promise was logical in its own sense. Yet why had it bugged him so much when a year had passed by without a chance coincidence allowing the pair to reunite? How hard could it have truly been to meet when they were within the same city boundaries?

For a year — hell, for five years — he pretended to have forgotten about the boy who broke his heart. To his friends, he had never once brought him up and to the public, he had never once spoken his name nor recognised the CEO of the fastest-rising company on the stock market.

God, he wasn't stupid! When the media explicitly stated Jeon Jungkook as CEO, who else could it have been? Of course it had all been a damn façade.

No-one knew the name of the company for which Taehyung had applied to work; no-one knew the reasoning behind Taehyung's sudden determination to ace this interview; no-one knew why the boy who lived each day as it came had planned for weeks ahead of schedule for the half-hour slot in the building.

No-one had to — simply because no-one would have understood.

Five years had been swallowed by time. Jeon Jungkook should have been long forgotten by now. If he wasn't, he should have been a figment of the past, left behind for a brighter future. He should not still be sought for by the one who had said goodbye. Yet here Taehyung was.

Why? Such a simple question but with so many incoherent responses. Making sense of the reasons had been difficult, even for him. So why was it that he was here, crippled over the failure of an interview he had placed all his bets on?

Because ultimately, Taehyung was afraid that Jungkook no longer harboured feelings of the same intensity — or any feelings at all. Because despite all odds, Taehyung had hoped from day one that they still had a future together. Because since the beginning, Taehyung had faith in Jungkook's scope for change, in whatever remained between them to last the test of time.

Because after all these years, Taehyung was tired of waiting.

So, he had taken matters into his own hands. He had broken his own vow under the lie he had repeated so many times to himself, it almost began to sound like the truth — that Taehyung had no idea of Jeon Jungkook's whereabouts or current state, he was applying for the sake of a better job worthy of his potential.

But in the end, Kim Taehyung had fallen. Fate did not take kindly to those swimming against its current; and it seemed that this lifetime will not be enough for the two to meet.

◇◇◇∥◇◇◇

"You do realise I'm the CEO, right?" Jungkook muttered, rolling his eyes as he crossed the street. "You should be the one running coffee errands for me, Eunwoo. Not me for you."

From the other end of the line, the employee from the twelfth floor barked a short laugh, "If it's any consolation, I'll be sure to leave a dashing customer review. Looks like you need it after those interviews."

"Okay, for that comment, all you're getting is a black coffee." Despite the slight twinge of hurt the words bring back at the memory, it felt nice to joke about the incident rather than have his friend walking on eggshells around him.

Eunwoo paused for a short moment and Jungkook was under the impression the former was going to grovel for a beverage change, considering their mutual hate for all things bitter. However, he was not amused at the response he received.

"Make it as black as your soul."

"I hate you," Jungkook sighed in defeat as he shouldered the door to the café open. "Why are you even my friend?"

"Disown me if you dare," hums the other, the connection starting to crackle slightly. "But you won't. Because even if it's not as much as you-know-who, you still love me."

"I literally just said I hate you but okay—"

There was no further exchange of words, not before an unexpected collision just a few steps into the café had the white of his dress-shirt drenched in the brown of coffee. Unsurprisingly, Jungkook's mouth opened on its own accord to yell a few choice curses—only for the strong sense of deja-vu that electrified his every cell to seal the words away behind his tongue.

"Oh, fcuk!" Comes the quiet whisper from the culprit catching their balance in front of him.

Those deep timbres of that oh-so-familiar voice. He'd recognise it anywhere. All Jungkook could hear as he slowly trailed his gaze up from the marbled tiles of the floor to the dress-shoes, the ironed suit, the purple key hanging on the necklace, was the rush of blood in his ears. White noise pervaded his mind, struggling to decipher the sheer magnitude of the situation.

When his eyes skimmed past those lips parted in shock, the mole that adorned the tip of that nose and finally locked with the honeyed orbs of the other, everything faded as if wiped clear. In the same instance that his heart ricocheted wildly against the confines of its cage, the breath he had been in process of inhaling caught in his throat. The name, after so long, slipped out of his mouth without thought, greeting the one it so uniquely belonged to.

"Taehyung."

◇◇◇∥◇◇◇

AND SO FATE BRINGS TO A FINAL CLOSE
THE TOXICITY OF THEIR PAST RELATIONSHIP;
AND BEGINS ANEW THE SECOND CHANCE
THEY HAD SO DESPERATELY BEEN WAITING FOR.

—the end—