Jungkook'

— Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

The evening light from the phone screen revealed only Jungkook's face from the dim room—focused, with a shadow lurking beneath his cheekbones. On the other end of the line, Taehyung sat with his head resting against the back of the sofa, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were dry but empty, like those of a man who had tired of crying the day before.

"Did you fight again?" Jungkook leaned closer to the camera, catching every movement on the screen.

• This time we broke up.

Taehyung said it evenly, as if he were talking about the weather. For him, it was a fact he'd already come to terms with before he even realized it.

Jungkook exhaled slowly. Something fluttered in his chest. Not pity, no. Something hot, greedy, long dormant beneath a crust of patience.

"Why this time?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Taehyung rubbed the bridge of his nose and smiled bitterly.

• Someone started a rumor that I was secretly sleeping with you.

“And he believed it,” Taehyung finished almost in a whisper.

• You believe it, you say.

Jungkook looked away, his tongue pushing against his cheek as usual. A gesture Taehyung had seen hundreds of times and never paid much attention to. Just a habit of his best friend. But now there was something different about this movement. Jungkook was looking off to the side, at the edge of the table where his own phone lay with its deleted chats, and the corner of his lips was creeping upward. Slowly. Uncontrollably.

"Why would anyone say something like that?" he said, returning his gaze to the screen. Eye to eye. Innocent, feigned sympathy, with a hint of resentment for his friend. The perfect mask.

"I have no idea," Taehyung snorted tiredly. He looked straight into those eyes and saw nothing but sympathy there. Because he was used to seeing only that there.

Jungkook turned away. Abruptly. And when he turned back to the camera, that same smirk played on his lips. Sly, sharp, completely at odds with the role of comforter. His tongue poked into his cheek again, and this time he didn't try to hide it. He grinned, staring into the camera like a beast who'd finally waited for its prey to be alone.