|•°under the roof °•|

Love had been stronger than fear that night when Kim Taehyung took Jungkook's hand and ran away with it from that old, damp house filled with hushed arguments. It wasn't an impulsive act or a romantic adventure like in the movies; it was desperation. Jungkook's family barely survived amidst debt, grueling jobs, and incomplete meals, and yet they rejected Taehyung because they were convinced he would only plunge their daughter into even deeper misery. And perhaps they weren't wrong. Taehyung had no money, no connections, and no secure future. He was only nineteen, his hands rough from work, and his love was too great for someone who could barely support himself. He took any job he could find: carrying boxes at markets, cleaning shops until dawn, and delivering orders in the rain, but the money was never enough. The place where they lived could hardly be called a home. It was a makeshift room on a rooftop, with damp walls, a yellowish lightbulb that flickered on some nights, and a roof that leaked every time it rained. They shared an old mattress placed directly on the floor and a single thin blanket to ward off the cold. There were days when they had nothing to eat but stale bread and cheap coffee. Days when Jungkook pretended to be satisfied so he could leave the last bit for Taehyung. Days when he lay awake staring at the cracked ceiling, wondering if he'd really done the right thing by taking her with him. Because loving Jungkook was simple. The difficult part was surviving alongside her.