Jungkook's resentment grew with every event where Taehyung shined. It wasn't just the way she spoke so fluently, or how adults always leaned in when she talked-it was how effortlessly she made him feel less. And even worse, she didn't try to do it. She just existed that way.

So Jungkook made a decision.

He would expose her.

Not with something reckless, but with something smart-calculated. He would find the cracks in her perfection and let the world see them.

It started with casual observations. He watched her at gatherings, listened in on her conversations.

"She's always on," he muttered to himself during a school fundraiser, watching her charm a group of parents. "No one's that perfect all the time."

He noticed things no one else seemed to: how her smile dropped the second people turned away, how she seemed tired beneath her eyes, how she left early from parties and always walked alone to her car.

One night, he followed her out after a charity event.

"You always leave before the crowd dies down," he said, stepping into the parking lot light. "Trying to avoid someone?"

She jumped slightly, hand gripping her bag tighter. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just...observing," Jungkook said, voice casual. "You're not really the life of the party once the show's over, huh?"

Taehyung looked at him, eyes cool but unreadable. "Everyone performs, Jungkook. You just don't like when someone does it better."

He didn't have a response. Not a real one.

He had expected to find arrogance or deceit. Instead, he found a girl carrying the crushing weight of everyone's expectations.

But it didn't stop him.

Not yet.

He tried befriending her younger sister at first, pretending to be interested in helping with schoolwork.

"So, uh," Jungkook said, flipping through a textbook. "Your sister always so...perfect?"

The girl laughed. "You sound like half the school. Tae's just-she works really hard, you know? Like, scary hard."

"Yeah?" he said, feigning indifference. "Even at home?"

"Especially at home," she whispered, as if it were a secret. "She cries sometimes. Thinks I don't hear. But I do."

It frustrated him even more.

Taehyung wasn't cold-she was guarded. Always composed, always on edge. Almost like she was afraid to make a mistake.

And now, Jungkook didn't know if he wanted to expose her anymore...

Or understand her.

---

The evening was lit with celebration-firecrackers bursting in the sky, laughter echoing through the streets, and music thumping from the grand wedding hall in their neighborhood. Jungkook, dressed sharply in a fitted black suit, wandered through the crowd, already restless.

(Jungkook looks)

He should've felt joy. This was his cousin's big day, after all.

But something felt... off.

That's when he saw her.

Taehyung.

(Taehyung's looks)

Not among the guests. Not near the dance floor or buffet or even the edge of the celebration.

She was across the street, standing beneath a dim lamp post, whispering to a guy Jungkook didn't recognize. The man wore a dark hoodie pulled low over his head. He kept glancing around nervously.

Jungkook's eyes narrowed.

Who the hell is that?

He wasn't just struck by the secrecy of it-it was Taehyung's face that made him pause. She wasn't smiling. Her brows were furrowed, her arms crossed tight. She looked unsure. Nervous.

Almost... afraid?

Then she followed the man.

She glanced around once, then slipped behind the building, into the alley no one ever used.

Jungkook's stomach dropped.

Without hesitation, he moved, weaving through the crowd and down the steps, unnoticed. The music grew fainter behind him.

He stuck to the shadows, careful not to make a sound.

As he reached the alley's edge, he heard his voice.

"Just take it... and stay quiet."

He handed the man something-an envelope. Her fingers trembled slightly.

The man look at her smirking.

"Not so pure now, are you?"

Taehyung flinched, but didn't reply.

He sneered as he stepped closer.

"You thought you could erase the past? Pretend like it never happened? That you're some kind of angel now?"

Taehyung's voice shook.

"You took those without my permission... I was only 19..."

"Doesn't matter," he said flatly. "The internet won't care. They'll eat it up. You know how this works, sweetheart. You smile in one photo, cry in the next-and it's over. Your clean little image? Gone."

She blinked rapidly, her breaths quickening. Her knuckles whitened around the envelope.

"Please," she whispered, "I've done everything you asked. Just... leave me alone."

"Not quite. One more thing." He stepped in, voice lowering to a growl. "Come with me. Tonight. Or this goes viral."

Taehyung froze. Her lips parted but no sound came out.