The room was too quiet.
Not peaceful quiet.
The kind that pressed against your ears… suffocating.
Jeon Jungkook leaned back on the couch, one leg lazily thrown over the armrest, his phone slipping from his fingers as boredom took over.
"This is torture," he muttered. "You called me here for what exactly?"
Across from him, Kim Namjoon sat calmly, flipping through a thick file as if Jungkook's impatience meant nothing.
Jungkook clicked his tongue. "Hyung, if this is another lecture, I'm leaving."
Namjoon didn't look up.
"It's not a lecture."
"Then what?" Jungkook scoffed. "Another 'be responsible, Jungkook' speech? Because I'm really not in the mood—"
"Sit properly."
The tone changed.
Calm. Firm.
Annoyingly authoritative.
Jungkook rolled his eyes but adjusted slightly. "You're acting weird."
Namjoon finally closed the file and placed it on the table between them.
It landed with a soft but heavy sound.
Something about it made Jungkook's chest tighten.
"Open it," Namjoon said.
Jungkook stared at the file.
Plain.
Brown.
Too… official.
"…What is this?"
"Open it."
Jungkook sighed dramatically, leaning forward and dragging the file toward himself. "If this is about college again, I swear—"
He flipped it open.
And froze.
His fingers stopped moving.
His breath caught somewhere between his lungs.
The words stared back at him.
Clear.
Sharp.
Unavoidable.
Marriage Certificate
For a moment—
he thought it was a joke.
A bad one.
A ridiculous one.
Jungkook let out a short laugh, shaking his head as he looked up. "Wow. Very funny. You almost got me."
Namjoon didn't smile.
Didn't react.
Just watched him.
That's when the uneasiness crept in.
Slow.
Cold.
"What… is this?" Jungkook asked again, this time quieter.
"Your marriage certificate."
The air shifted.
Jungkook blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then he scoffed, louder this time. "Okay, no. Seriously. Enough jokes."
"It's not a joke."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Jungkook looked back down at the paper.
His name.
Clearly printed.
Jeon Jungkook
And next to it—
another name.
One he didn't recognize.
Didn't remember.
Didn't… feel anything for.
His grip tightened on the file.
"…This isn't real."
"It is."
Jungkook laughed again, but this time it sounded wrong. Forced.
"I would remember getting married."
Namjoon's gaze didn't waver.
"Would you?"
That made Jungkook pause.
His brows furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Namjoon leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.
"You signed it."
"I didn't."
"You did."
"I—" Jungkook stopped, flipping through the pages quickly. His eyes landed on the signature.
His signature.
Messy.
Careless.
Completely his.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
"No…" he whispered.
Namjoon's voice softened, just a little. "You signed it without reading."
Jungkook looked up, eyes sharp now. "Why would I do that?"
"You were told it was a legal agreement. Something to secure your future."
"And I just believed that?" Jungkook snapped.
"Yes."
Silence fell again.
This time heavier.
Jungkook ran a hand through his hair, standing up abruptly. "No. No, this is insane. You're telling me I'm married to someone I don't even know?"
Namjoon didn't answer immediately.
Which was answer enough.
Jungkook laughed bitterly, pacing the room. "Wow. Amazing. So where is this 'husband' of mine, huh? Waiting outside? Watching this whole drama?"
"He's not here."
"Of course he's not," Jungkook scoffed. "Why would he be? He didn't even bother to show up for the wedding apparently."
Namjoon's eyes flickered slightly at that.
Jungkook caught it.
"What?" he demanded. "Say it."
Namjoon hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"He left the next day."
Jungkook blinked.
"…What?"
"He had to go abroad. Work."
The words felt like a slap.
Jungkook let out a hollow laugh. "So let me get this straight."
He pointed at the file.
"I got married."
"To a stranger."
"Who left the next day."
"And never came back."
Namjoon didn't correct him.
Didn't defend it.
Which made it worse.
Jungkook's chest tightened.
"Two years," Namjoon added quietly.
Jungkook stilled.
"…What?"
"It's been two years."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Jungkook stared at him, disbelief written all over his face.
"Two years?" he repeated slowly.
Namjoon nodded.
Jungkook let out a breathless laugh, shaking his head. "No. No, that's not possible. I would've noticed."
"You didn't question where your money came from."
Jungkook frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Namjoon gestured toward the file. "Everything."
Jungkook's mind raced.
The house.
The staff.
The endless money.
The black card.
He always assumed it was… handled.
Taken care of.
But—
"…That was him?" Jungkook asked, voice dropping.
"Yes."
Jungkook looked back at the file, then away again, like it burned.
"So what?" he snapped suddenly. "He throws money at me and that's supposed to make this okay?"
"He was providing for you."
"I didn't ask him to!" Jungkook shot back. "I didn't ask for any of this!"
Namjoon stood up slowly. "But you accepted it."
"That doesn't mean I wanted it!"
The words echoed in the room.
Jungkook's breathing turned uneven.
His hands clenched into fists.
"I don't even know what he looks like," he said, quieter now. "I don't know his voice. I don't know anything."
Namjoon didn't interrupt.
Didn't soften it.
Because there was nothing to soften.
Jungkook let out a shaky breath.
"…What's his name?"
Namjoon met his eyes.
And for the first time—
there was something unreadable in them.
"Kim Taehyung."
The name settled heavily in the air.
Jungkook repeated it slowly.
"…Kim Taehyung."
It felt unfamiliar.
Strange.
Like it didn't belong in his life.
And yet—
it did.
More than anything.
Jungkook looked down at the certificate again.
At the name beside his.
At the proof of something he never chose.
His jaw tightened.
Then—
he closed the file.
Hard.
"Tell him something for me."
Namjoon stayed silent.
Jungkook looked up, eyes sharp, filled with something between anger and hurt.
"If he wants a husband…"
He paused.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
"…he should try showing up."