Once Again

67

Jungkook put his fork down and took another sip of wine. Though the steak was cooked to perfection, exactly the way he liked it, it tasted like sawdust.

Jin had fallen silent after his declaration. He had shut down completely after Jungkook confessed how he felt about him.

Jungkook didn't regret admitting his feelings to Jin because it was the truth. Just like that day when he placed the promise ring on Jin's finger, he knew Jin was it for him and there would be no other.

Jungkook was shocked when Jin went on his rant. He had fully expected Jin to lash out at him, but he didn't expect Jin to include Taehyung in his wrath because Taehyung was the innocent party in all of this.

His best friend was the one who tried to talk him out of marrying Jimin, the one who tried to get him to stay with Jin and work on a solution together. But Jungkook was so overwhelmed and so overwrought with the problems besieging both his family and his Jinnie at the time that he thought marrying Jimin was the only way.

Jungkook had been so consumed with thoughts of saving everyone and everything that he loved that he never stopped to consider how it would affect the future, and how it would affect his heart, mind, and soul. Hindsight is 20/20, they always said. If only he had given Taehyung's advice more thought.

"Why did you leave me, Jungkook?"

Jin's voice was so soft that Jungkook almost missed it, thinking it was just a figment of his imagination and longing.

"Did you stop loving me?"

"No, Jinnie, no! I never stopped loving you," Jungkook was horrified that the love of his life would even entertain such a thought. "Please believe me."

"Then why? Why did you throw me away for someone else?"

Flashback...

Jungkook sighed as he stepped into his family home and made his way to the stairs to go to his room. It had been a long day at the office, and he longed to put it behind him, at least until tomorrow morning.

He was tired and all he wanted to do was to take a quick shower and call his Jinnie. Then fall asleep after listening to his voice, his sweet giggles, and his humming as he got ready for another shift at the hospital.

Jungkook missed his boyfriend, and he wished he could wave a wand over his head to shorten his training period at Jeon Corporation so he could take the first flight out to LA to fetch the love of his life, fly to Las Vegas, and marry him in one of those quaint little wedding chapels.

Jungkook didn't want to wait anymore to bring Jin back to Seoul to marry in a lavish wedding before family and friends. He wanted to put a wedding ring on Jin NOW. He wanted to make Jin his husband so they can begin the rest of their lives together. Finally.

"Jungkook?"

Jungkook sighed again. He was so close to talking to his Jinnie, but duty called. He turned to look at his father who was standing in the open doorway to his study.

"Yes, appa?"

"May I have a word with you for a moment?"

"Yes, appa."

He put his briefcase down at the foot of the stairs and went into the room, waiting until his dad had closed the door before walking over to take a seat in front of the large mahogany desk where his father often worked at when he was home.

"Not there, son. Over here. Let's talk."

Jungkook's stomach fell to the soles of his feet as he eyed the sitting area that his dad was waiting at, before his stomach bounced back to his midsection to flip and roil anxiously. Jungkook has always associated the leather sofas in his father's study with serious talks that never went well.