"I haven't slept with anyone in five years. Haven't even kissed anyone." Taehyung says. Jeongguk's stomach flips, as he looks at him with that sense of a primal conqueror. Like he wants to own him whole again. "But when I saw you at the bar, you were all I wanted."
Even Sarang could never know because a child is bound to let it out eventually. Only Jeongguk knows that the child they are discussing is actually from the two of them. And even if Jeongguk could lie to everyone else, he has a hard time looking into Taehyung's eyes and lie about this.
Omg why do I feel like this is what’s happening to Guk, and Sohee being evil will ensure she doesn’t find another mate to linger the debt.
She might also be the reason Tae ended up back there
If they were to ever break it, the one breaking the promise would have to pay the penalty for all the years they wasted on their mate and until their mate could find another among already mated Psychopomps, that debt had to continue getting paid.
Since the engagement is set since birth, what if Guk looses half his life force if he breaks it?🤔
The souls sustain it but maybe his life is tied to Sohee’s somehow🤔
"There is so much you don't understand."
"Excuses."
"They're not. I swear. It's not that simple."
Taehyung pushes him off.
"No! Just listen to me-"
"Let me go."
"I can give you anything else but I can never-"
"I said let go." Taehyung says in a shaky voice, angry.
There is an unspoken undertone to what he is saying. He never asked for these things, he never asked for Jeongguk either.
Jeongguk is not stupid. He understands exactly what Taehyung is implying.
"She's my fiance. You're the other man."
"I don't think I'm even that."
"What?"
Jeongguk's tears actually fall. Taehyung doesn't remember ever seeing this man cry. What the hell? Jeongguk touches his cheek and Taehyung hears something. It sounds like his own voice from the past.
'You can't. Unless you turn back time, stop me from everything I suffered and you put me through, unless you disappear from my life like you never existed, I will never forgive you.'
"Love is really stronger?" She asks.
"Of course. I'm a human. I've felt fear, I've felt sad and hurt and hate and all those other emotions but nothing is more overwhelming than love." Taehyung says.
She gets closer to him, holding his hands.
"Then you have to love daddy!"
Taehyung presses his lips together.
"So you can in fact claim him but not me." Taehyung says.
"One brat at a time, give me a break." Jeongguk says.
"He's weird. He doesn't play right. I want him." Sarang says stubbornly.
Taehyung doesn't know why he feels a bit seen by that.
"I didn't teach her any of these. She picked it up from her friends." Jeongguk doesn't actually need to explain but he is.
"Why is he here if you didn't get him for me? Is he already here? Why can't he be my new pet?" The little girl asks.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Humans are not pets."
Taehyung's expression changes again, his eyes growing wide.
"I'm a man."
"Breeding is not the same as in your world in here. It doesn't matter what kind of human you are, you can be used as a breeding machine." Jeongguk says, rubbing his thumb on Taehyung's bottom lip.
Even if they slept together not that long ago and Jeongguk was literally all over him until the last moment, having him talk back to him like that and then refuse to kiss him has made Jeongguk kind of annoyed.
He doesn't want to get his fiancé here either, just over a stupid sexual frustration.
"And?" Jeongguk asks, folding his arms like he sees absolutely nothing wrong with what he has been doing.
"Why? You knew I was grieving, didn't you? You knew and you still tortured me-"
"Give me a break. So what if your friend died? You humans all die. If you cared, your ex wouldn't be alive now."
Obviously, Bogum could see it too. And at some point, he couldn't handle the fact that there was someone Taehyung was more attached to than him, his boyfriend.
"I hate you so much." Taehyung says, looking just as disgusted as he feels.
"You don't. Or you'd have me k*lled by now."
But this is different. He can point out why but somehow the way the man is sucking on his bottom lips makes his knees shake. How is he so good at kissing?
"More. More!" He whines. The man chuckles next to his lips.
"Not even gonna ask for my name, angel?"
Jin has a knowing smile. It annoys Taehyung because it makes him feel pitied. Like Jin knows something that Taehyung doesn't and his way of thinking is childish.
"Why would I want to forget?"
"Why do you think?" Jin asks. Taehyung looks down, confused.
But if he was the one who took Taehyung, why did he let him go back?
Why can't he remember anything? Why did he act as if they had never actually met?
Why did he break down that whole house so Taehyung wouldn't have any way of knowing about the past or even making a connection?
"Why not?"
"Because your body is crushed." Jeongguk answers. "If you go out there, they won't let you survive. I can help you move forward-"
"I want to stay here." Taehyung cuts him off.
Jeongguk stares at him.
"You can't stay here."
"I can't move on. You don't know the life I lived."
It's bright! So bright that it makes Taehyung feel something in his heart, even though he shouldn't be feeling anything.
"How do you always manage to get yourself in trouble?" Jeongguk mumbles but Taehyung hears it because of how close he is.
Can he talk underwater?
His hands are fading. What is going on?
Jeongguk rushes to him and holds his back, touching his cheek with his other hand.
He can touch him?
How can Jeongguk touch him?
Is he dead too?
Somehow, he feels something that feels so close to warmth on the spot Jeongguk is touching him.
Even in the human world, statues and names might shield someone from the outside world but it doesn't mean that they are not being abused from the inside.
"How can I find a soul holder?" Taehyung asks.
"Usually they are the ones who find you, if you're lucky."