Once Again

68

Jin clenched his silverware as he listened to Jungkook. He was gripping them so hard that his knuckles turned white, and the details on the handles imprinted themselves on his palms.

He didn't expect it to hurt so much listening to Jungkook explain why he married someone else but right now his heart felt like it was being squeezed and torn to shreds. He wanted to yell at Jungkook to stop talking. That he didn't want to hear anymore but he couldn't make himself speak.

"I met Jimin three days later at a coffeehouse in a hotel in Gangnam. My father had arranged everything because I wouldn't. I couldn't, Jinnie. It felt like such a betrayal to you."

Jin could feel Jungkook's eyes on his face but he refused to look at him. He didn't want to see Jungkook's expression.

"Suffice to say, the meet didn't go the way my father wanted it to. I had already made up my mind to reject Jimin but he was late meeting me. He made me wait for an hour before he showed up. I called my dad to tell him that I was leaving but he insisted I stay."

Jungkook played with the stem on his wine glass as he stared at the red liquid moving gently in the bowl. He appeared lost in thought.

"I later found out that he was upstairs, having sex with his lover. That's why he was late. He had to clean himself up," Jungkook was chagrinned.

Jin was stunned by the revelation. What kind of person would have sex with another before meeting his future spouse? He couldn't fathom it.

"Jimin fell for me when we met. He admitted as much when he finally turned up. I didn't care. I just wanted to get home so I could call you."

Something in Jungkook's voice finally made Jin look up. There was a wealth of pain in Jungkook's eyes.

"I felt so dirty. So cheap. So unworthy of you. And I thought if I could just hear your voice, I would be clean again."

Jungkook tried to reach for Jin's hand once more, but like before, Jin pulled away quickly and he saw the other man wince. Jin didn't want Jungkook to touch him even though his body yearned for it. He reminded himself that he was a married man. A pregnant married man, and Jungkook needed to respect his boundaries.

"But when I got home and called you, you didn't answer. And when we finally talked, you were so giddy because you had just taken part in a surgical procedure that was cutting edge. I didn't have the heart to tell you what I had done."

"That you had gone on a date?" Jin's voice was cold, and Jungkook shivered involuntarily.

"But it wasn't like that! It wasn't a date! At least not on my part."

"Did you see him again?"

"Yes," Jungkook admitted in a whisper.

"How many times?"

"Several times. But, Jinnie, please understand. I never sought him out. He came to me each time. Over and over again! And I rejected him every time. Strongly!

"Not strongly enough obviously. Because you married him."

"Yes. I did. But, Jinnie, I had to. Not just because I was trying to save my family and our company, but because I was trying to protect you. He was going to destroy you."

And Jin's jaw dropped as his mind whirled with the implication.

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From the Author: For those of you who read this book when I was BlueTulip97, this was the last chapter published before I closed BlueTulip97 on 16 October 2019. The next chapter is new for everyone.