|| CHAPTER - 35 ||

•| CHAPTER - 35 |•

•|When The Lies Are Stronger Than The Truth|•

✿───❀  ♡  ❀───✿

The ceremony had finally begun, and a buzz of nervous excitement filled the large auditorium. Students sat in neat rows, straightening their clothes and fixing their hair while their names were called one by one.

Each graduate walked proudly across the stage, receiving their degree, their final marks echoing through the hall for everyone to hear.

When Taehyung's name was called, a wave of excitement stirred the crowd. The announcer's voice rang with pride as he declared, "Kim Taehyung, Topper of the Year!" Cheers erupted almost instantly, led by Raven, who was standing on her toes, clapping so loudly that people turned to look.

Taehyung walked to the stage with that same quiet confidence he always carried, but if you looked closely, there was a slight hesitation in his steps. His eyes scanned the crowd instinctively, and for the briefest second, they landed on Evie.

She sat motionless among the sea of moving heads, her hands tightly clenched in her lap. Their eyes locked for just a moment, but Taehyung was quick to tear his gaze away, pretending he hadn't seen her at all. The distance between them felt more painful than the silence.

He accepted his degree with a small, polite smile, bowed respectfully to the headmaster, and posed briefly for the camera. Raven's cheers rang louder than anyone else's, her pride evident in every word she shouted. Taehyung made his way back to his seat without sparing a single glance towards Evie. Whatever had been between them... it was as if it never existed.

Names continued to echo through the hall, but Evie barely heard them. She sat frozen in place, trapped inside her own head, numb to the celebrations unfolding around her. Then, without warning, her name was called.

"Evie Parker!"

Her father immediately stood up from his seat, his hands clapping furiously, a proud grin lighting up his face. "That's my girl!" he cheered, not caring one bit about the formal atmosphere.

Some of the nearby parents chuckled at his enthusiasm, but Evie barely noticed. Even Jungkook, lounging lazily beside her, had started clapping, whistling between his teeth like he was trying to draw attention to her. He leaned slightly towards her, his breath brushing her ear as he murmured, "Show them, Evie. Go break a few hearts."

She didn't even look at him. She rose calmly from her seat, head held high, and made her way to the stage. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if invisible weights were tied to her ankles. Yet she moved gracefully, refusing to let the chaos inside her show on the outside.

The announcer's voice rang with a certain respect, "Evie Parker—graduating with Distinction!" Another ripple of impressed murmurs ran through the crowd. Her academic success was undeniable, even if her world had collapsed around her.

She took her certificate with a mechanical smile, posed for the photo, and turned back toward her seat. She could hear her father's proud clapping. She could hear Jungkook's playful whistles. But none of it reached her heart. It all sounded like echoes from another world.

Sliding back into her seat, she gripped her certificate tightly in her hands, as if it could somehow anchor her to reality. Jungkook was still clapping beside her, his grin smug, his eyes glinting with something she couldn't quite name–mockery, amusement... or something else entirely.

The ceremony rolled on.

Then, after several more names were called, a loud cheer rose again as "Jeon Jungkook!" was announced. Jungkook shot up from his seat with a dramatic flair, a mischievous grin stretching across his face.

The crowd reacted instantly, whistles and cheers bouncing off the walls. It didn't matter that he had scored only average marks; Jungkook knew how to own a room. He walked towards the stage as if he were walking a runway, hands stuffed casually into his pockets, arrogance oozing from every step.

Accepting his degree with a playful wink at the camera, he shook the headmaster's hand like they were old friends, making the audience laugh with his casual charm. When he returned, he dropped into his seat beside Evie with a loud thud, slouching comfortably, his degree flopping uselessly onto his lap.

"Not bad, huh?" he drawled, casting her a sidelong glance. "Average grades, but still the star of the show. Guess popularity's a real talent."

Evie said nothing. She kept her eyes on the stage, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

Jungkook was seated so close beside Evie that she could feel the casual brush of his arm against hers every time he moved. The auditorium was buzzing with the sound of applause and distant announcements, but right now, the only thing Evie could hear was Jungkook and he had absolutely no plans of shutting up.

"Wow, you really topped, huh?" he said, his voice dripping with fake admiration as he leaned in closer, pretending to examine her face. "Never thought someone so boring could score so high. Guess miracles happen every day."

Evie remained stiff and silent, keeping her eyes glued to the stage, pretending he didn't exist.But Jungkook was relentless.

"Hey, hey, don't act deaf now," he continued, clicking his tongue impatiently. "At least say thank you, Idiot. I cheered for you too, didn't I? Wasted my precious energy on you." He let out an exaggerated sigh like he was terribly offended.

Before she could react, Jungkook casually reached over and snatched the certificate and report card clutched in her hands. Evie gasped quietly, turning toward him in disbelief but he was already flipping them open, acting as if they belonged to him.

"Hmm," he muttered, squinting at her marks with a thoughtful expression. "Top scores in almost everything. No wonder you walk around like you own the place."

Evie could feel a wave of anger rising inside her, a slow burn that made her jaw clench so hard it hurt. Still, she didn't say a word. She sat there rigidly, her hands trembling slightly on her lap, biting down the urge to punch him right in his smug face.

Jungkook chuckled under his breath, clearly entertained by her silence. "Tch. I still say brains are wasted on you. You don't even know how to use them properly. What's the point of being smart if you're still so stupid in life, huh?"

That was it. Evie snapped her hand forward and snatched her certificate and report card right out of his hands with a sharp tug. She didn't look at him, didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her glare. But her body language was enough. The stiff shoulders. The trembling fingers. The heavy breathing.

Jungkook simply leaned back in his chair with a lazy smirk, completely unfazed. He crossed his arms behind his head, looking ridiculously pleased with himself, as if annoying her was his favorite hobby.

"Feisty," he murmured, more to himself than to her. "I like that."

Evie was seconds away from losing her patience when something shifted in the corner of her eye. Across the row, Taehyung was getting up from his seat. His movements were stiff, his head slightly lowered. Raven leaned toward him, whispering something, but Taehyung only shook his head gently, offering a weak smile before murmuring an excuse and slipping away through the crowd.

Evie's heart instantly leapt into her throat.

Without thinking, she rose from her seat too, clutching her documents tightly against her chest. Jungkook's voice followed her immediately, half amused, half mocking.

"Where are you running now, Parker? Can't even sit for two minutes without getting bored?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even glance at him. She moved quickly, weaving through the crowded people, ignoring the confused glances thrown her way, ignoring the call of her own name from behind.

All she could see was Taehyung's retreating figure and all she knew was that she had to follow.

Evie quickly walked out of the hall, following after Taehyung with hurried steps, her heart pounding heavily inside her chest, her emotions a tangled mess of anger, pain, and frustration.

She didn't stop to think, she didn't call out again, she simply caught up to him, reached forward and grabbed his arm roughly, forcing him to turn around and face her, and as he turned, clearly startled, his expression stiff and guarded like he hadn't expected her to come after him.

Evie wasted no time, her hands clutching his collar in a tight grip, pulling him towards her with a force she didn't even realize she had, and as she looked up at him, her eyes burning, she asked, her voice sharp and angry, "Still going to pretend you didn't see me, huh?"

Taehyung froze under her touch, his body stiff, his face unreadable, but Evie didn't care about his reaction, her emotions were pouring out faster than she could control, her grip on his shirt tightening even more as she pulled him closer again, her words coming out fast, full of all the hurt.

"You think I'm a fool? Hm? What the hell do you think of yourself? You've been ignoring me for days like I don't even exist, like I'm nothing, and I still kept making excuses for you, still kept telling myself maybe something happened, maybe you were busy, maybe you needed time."

Taehyung didn't say anything, just kept looking down at her, his expression closed off, his jaw tight, but Evie couldn't stop now, she had held all this inside her for too long, and now it was breaking out of her in waves she couldn't control, her voice rising slightly, full of frustration, "Am I an idiot? I kept calling you, texting you, waiting like a fool, and you didn't even bother to send a single reply, not even a word! And I still kept understanding you, still kept telling myself maybe you'll come back and explain, maybe you'll have a reason."

She shook him lightly by his collar, her emotions boiling over, her eyes glistening but she refused to wipe the tears away, refused to show weakness now, "But today... today you saw me there, you looked right at me, and still walked away like I was invisible, and that was fine, I still tried to hold it in, I told myself it's okay, you must be going through something... but then I saw you... sitting beside her."

Evie's voice cracked slightly, her breath hitching but she forced herself to continue, her grip on him not loosening, "Smiling, talking... letting her touch you... like everything's fine... like you were happy, like nothing's wrong, like you didn't just throw me away like trash."

Taehyung's expression faltered for a second, the mask slipping just a little, but Evie wasn't looking for his pity, she wasn't looking for his explanations anymore, she just wanted to know, needed to know, her voice lowering slightly but shaking with the force of everything she had kept buried. "You didn't have time to talk to me, you didn't have time to even look at me, but you had time to sit with her, talk with her... how could you?"

Her voice dropped to a whisper, one single tear slipping down her cheek, but she didn't bother wiping it away, just stared at him fiercely, breathing hard, "What's going on, Taehyung? Tell me."

She pulled him a little closer by his collar again, the anger and hurt in her eyes unmistakable, her chest heaving from the force of her emotions.

Her body trembling slightly from the effort of keeping herself standing when all she wanted to do was break down, and Taehyung just stood there.

Taehyung hands hovering awkwardly, unsure whether to push her away or hold her, his mind torn because even though every part of him wanted to be cold to her, to remind himself of the reasons why he was angry, why he had stayed away, seeing her like this–raw, angry, broken–made something in him falter, made him hesitate for the first time, his heart clenching painfully inside his chest even as his mind screamed at him to stay strong.

He looked at her, really looked at her, at the way she clutched onto him like he was the only thing holding her together, at the way her voice shook but her eyes never wavered from his, and for a brief moment, just a moment, the anger he had been holding onto slipped away and all he could see was the girl he once knew, the girl who was now standing in front of him, completely exposed, not pretending, not lying, just hurting, and he didn't know what to say, didn't know how to react, so he just stood there, staring down at her.

His fingers brushing lightly against the hands still gripping his collar, not pulling her away, not pushing her closer, just pausing, caught between everything he thought he knew and everything he was feeling right now.

Taehyung closed his eyes briefly, his chest rising and falling heavily as he took in a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm the storm that was roaring inside him, and when he opened them again, his gaze fell back on her, and without even realizing it, his hand which had been gripping the hand she had clenched around his collar tightened slightly, as if a part of him still wasn't ready to let her go completely.

Evie stood there, still holding onto him stubbornly, her breathing uneven, her face flushed from the intensity of her emotions, and when she finally spoke, her voice was so soft, so broken, that it barely carried between them, "You don't want me anymore, right? You got tired of me?" she whispered, her eyes searching his face desperately for any hint of denial, her fingers trembling slightly against the fabric of his shirt, "If that's the case, you could've just said it, Taehyung... you could've just been honest... not like this... not by treating me like some desperate fool chasing after something that's already dead..."

Her words hit something deep inside him, a place he didn't even realize and he watched her as she looked up at him with those raw, pleading eyes, her voice cracking slightly with the weight of everything she was trying to hold back, "I didn't even see any reason... no explanation... you just pulled away, like we had nothing... like we never mattered."

For a moment, Taehyung's hand twitched, the urge to wipe away the tears slipping down her cheeks overwhelming him, the urge to pull her into his arms and make all this pain stop gnawed at him so violently that he almost gave in–almost but then, like a cruel stab to his heart, the memory flashed across his mind, sharp and brutal, refusing to be buried, refusing to be forgotten.

He remembered standing there at the farewell event, frozen, helpless, as he watched her—the same girl who was now standing here acting like the victim—with Jungkook without a care in the world, laughing, kissing him like no one was watching, like the love they once shared meant absolutely nothing, and it wasn't something someone else told him, wasn't some twisted rumor or manipulation—he saw it with his own eyes.

And now she stood here, still clinging to him, still pretending like she was the one who had been wronged, still acting like she had no idea why he was breaking.

Taehyung's chest tightened painfully, a single tear slipping down his cheek before he could stop it, the betrayal too deep, too raw to hide, and when he spoke, his voice was low, steady, but filled with a bitterness he couldn't mask even if he wanted to, "Don't do this..."

He gently but firmly pulled her hands off his collar, ignoring the way her fingers clutched at him for a moment longer, confused, desperate, unwilling to let go, and when her confused, shattered gaze met his, he forced himself to look her in the eye, even though it felt like ripping himself apart from the inside.

"Don't act innocent," he said, his words quiet but cutting, his chest heaving with the effort it took to keep his voice from shaking, "Don't stand here and pretend like you're the victim when you're not."

Evie look at him, her lips parting as if she was going to protest, but he didn't let her, didn't give her the space to twist it anymore.

"I was a fool," Taehyung said, his jaw tightening as he fought the urge to break down right there in front of her, "A fool to trust you. A fool to believe in you. A fool to love you."

He took a small but deliberate step back, creating the space between them that should have been there all along, the space that now felt colder, more permanent than he ever thought possible.

"But I won't be a fool anymore."

There was a silence.

Evie's hands fell to her sides, her body swaying slightly as if the weight of his words had knocked the air out of her lungs, and Taehyung just stood there, forcing himself to turn away even though every instinct inside him screamed to run back to her, to fix it, to pretend it hadn't happened but he couldn't, not this time.

Not after everything he saw and witness for his own eyes.

Evie stood frozen in her place, the world around her blurring into a dull as Taehyung's words echoed inside her mind as she couldn't able believe them.

"A fool to trust you. A fool to believe in you. A fool to love you."

She couldn't believe it—couldn't believe that Taehyung, the person who once looked at her like she was his entire world, now stood there throwing those words at her like she was nothing more than a mistake he regretted making.

Her throat burned with the urge to scream, to beg him to take it back, but her feet wouldn't move, her voice wouldn't come, and all she could do was watch helplessly as more tears spilled down her cheeks, blurring her vision.

Every part of her wanted to run after him, wanted to grab his hand and ask him why he was being so cruel, why he was looking at her like a stranger but something inside her broke the moment he said those words, and she realized chasing after him would only strip away the last shred of dignity she had left.

If he truly believed loving her made him a fool, then maybe there was nothing left to save anymore.

Meanwhile, Taehyung stormed away from her, his steps heavy and uneven, barely seeing where he was going as he shoved open the heavy glass doors of the college building and stumbled outside, the cool evening air hitting his burning skin.

He walked blindly toward one of the deserted corners of the campus, where no one would see him breaking apart, where he could finally breathe or at least try to.

He leaned against the rough brick wall, his hands fisting into his hair as he tried to force the images out of his mind—her tear-streaked face, the way her hand trembled when she reached for him, the way her voice cracked when she spoke but no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't leave him.

Because just as vividly, he remembered her at the farewell event and that betrayal burned hotter than any sorrow could.

His chest heaved, his body trembling with the weight of everything he was trying not to feel, everything he was trying so damn hard to bury, and for a long moment, he thought maybe he could stay there, maybe he could drown quietly in the silence of his own misery–until a voice came.

A voice he recognized instantly.

"That was rude as fuck," Jungkook's voice came out, casual, mocking, like he was amused by the wreckage he had helped create.

Taehyung's head snapped up, his body immediately stiffening as he turned to find Jungkook standing a few feet away, arms crossed, leaning lazily against the other side of the wall like he had been there for a while, watching.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Taehyung ground out, his voice low and dangerous, his hands curling into fists at his sides, barely able to control the urge to punch him right there.

Jungkook shrugged nonchalantly, pushing off the wall and strolling a few steps closer. "Accidentally, man," he said with a smirk, pretending innocence that only made Taehyung's blood boil more, "Actually, I was searching for Evie. She excused herself during the event, and I was just trying to find her... then I saw her with you and..." he tilted his head mockingly, "unfortunately, I heard everything."

There was a beat of tense silence, the only sound was Taehyung's breathing as he tried to process whether Jungkook was serious or just trying to get under his skin.

"But," Jungkook added, grinning like he found the entire situation entertaining, "I gotta say, you were way too rude, dude."

Taehyung's jaw tightened visibly, his nails digging into his palms as he fought to keep his composure.

"Let her go, man," Jungkook continued casually, as if he wasn't the very reason behind Taehyung's misery, "Everyone makes mistakes. She's human, not some saint. You saw her eyes, right? You saw how guilty she was... come on, give her another chance."

Taehyung said nothing, his silence more dangerous than any words he could have spoken.

Jungkook, clearly mistaking his silence for hesitation, smirked and added carelessly, "Besides, it's not even her fault if she couldn't resist me... happens all the time, you know. Girls just lose themselves around me. But honestly," he said with a mock sigh, "I've never seen one cry like that afterward. She must really love you or something."

Something inside Taehyung snapped.

Without thinking, he lurched forward, closing the distance between them in two long strides, his hand halfway raised as if he was going to punch Jungkook across the face but somehow, at the last second, he stopped himself, breathing heavily, and with anger.

Instead, he leaned in close, his voice low with rage. "You're going to regret what you did to me," Taehyung said, every syllable filled with cold, bitter promise, "You both will."

He took a step back, his eyes blazing with a fire that words couldn't express, a storm that no apology would ever be able to calm.

"I hope every single day that you get everything you deserve... for everything you've done."

He held Jungkook's mocking gaze for one long, tense moment and then he turned and walked away without another word, each step heavy but determined, like he was leaving behind not just them, but a part of himself he would never get back.

Behind him, Jungkook simply stood there, smirking, as if none of it mattered, as if he hadn't just witnessed someone break right in front of him because for Jungkook, it was all just a game he thought he had already won.

"Pathetic Lovesick fools." He muttered under his breath.