THE SIX STAGES OF A BREAK-UP │04
➪ PAIRING; jungkook x reader
➪ GENRE; lovers to strangers, angst
▍9 YEARS AGO — 13 JUNE 2013
The park was quiet, and its usual daytime bustle was replaced by the serene whisper of a gentle breeze through the trees. The night was deep, almost midnight, and the stars shimmered faintly above despite being obstructed by the forming rain clouds, peeking through the canopy of leaves.
You and Jungkook strolled hand in hand along the dimly lit path, your footsteps muffled by the soft earth beneath you. You both knew the dangers of walking in the park at such a late hour, and the countless stories of robberies and mishaps weren’t uncommon.
As youngsters who just graduated high school, you have both been warned countless times by worried parents and teachers about the risks. But tonight, those fears seemed distant, almost forgotten. There was a comforting sense of security that came from being together, a mutual trust that warded off the night’s unpredictability.
You weren’t oblivious to the dangers — you simply chose to trust in each other. The park was yours tonight, a private sanctuary where the outside world and its dangers felt far away.
Your hand fit perfectly in his, a connection as familiar as it was comforting. Every so often as you slowly strolled along the path, you would exchange a glance, a smile, or a soft word, basking in the peace of the moment. The world around you was still, the usual worries of the day melting away into the cool night air.
Jungkook looked at you beside him, his expression a mix of tenderness and concern. Your steps were slow, and though you tried to hide it, he could see the fatigue in your eyes. You had been very sick lately, and it had weighed heavily on his heart.
Breaking the silence, he gently squeezed your hand. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked, his voice soft, laced with worry.
You didn’t answer immediately. You looked up at him, your eyes warm but tired. Then you nodded slowly, offering him a small, reassuring smile. You hummed softly in acknowledgment before leaning your head against his shoulder.
As your head came to rest there, he leaned down and placed a soft peck on your head. He felt you relax at his touch, your breathing steady but weak.
For a moment, you both simply walked in silence, savoring the comfort of each other's presence. Jungkook wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pulled you closer as you continued your slow walk through the park.
For a few minutes you both walked in silence, letting the gentle breeze blow over your faces. You broke the silence by letting out a big sigh, and Jungkook looked at you with a small frown.
“Yeah, I’m just glad we finally graduated school” you answered and wrapped your arms around his arm.
“It’s like we can finally breathe now” you added.
“No more of Mr Lee’s bullshit” Jungkook giggled, reminding you of your homeroom teacher who you both had and absolutely hated.
You snorted in response, “I hate that baldy, he always found a way to pick on me” you said.
Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh as he threw his head back.
“I think he might have had a crush on you” he teased, nudging you.
You almost instantly elbowed him in the rib and shoved him away.
Jungkook winced in pain as he rubbed the aching area you just elbowed him, but the glint of mischief was still there as he laughed at you staring at him with horrified and disgusted eyes.
“Eww hell no! He’s like, what? Forty-years-old?” you almost gagged.
“Baby I’m just kidding” he lightly giggled as he pulled you in by the waist, and you smacked him in the shoulder as you rolled your eyes.
After a minute of silence, he snaked his hand around yours and intertwined his fingers with yours.
“I love you” he said, lightly pressing his lips against the side of your head.
You smiled, feeling your heart warm up at his tender touch. Giving his hand a light squeeze, you removed your hand out of his hold and wrapped them around his waist.
“I love you too” you said back.
You both continued to walk in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's presence without the need for words.
And after a few minutes, you approached a bench beneath a large oak tree, its branches stretching out like protective arms from the light droplets of rain that were starting to fall.
You sighed in relief as you wiggled your aching ankles, and the sage coloured crocs you were wearing allowed the cool night air to soothe your tired feet. You hadn’t realised how much they ached until you finally stopped walking. You leaned back against the wooden bench and let out another sigh of relief.
Jungkook, however, seemed lost in his thoughts. He was fidgeting with something in the pocket of his sweatpants, his fingers nervously moving in and out of the fabric. His gaze was focused on the ground, his lips drawn into a tight line as if he were chewing on words he couldn't quite bring himself to say.
You noticed. With the way his shoulders were slightly hunched, and how he kept nibbling on his lips, it was a telltale sign that he was nervous about something.
You reached out and placed your hand gently on his knee, “are you okay Jungkook?” you asked worriedly.
He looked up at you, his eyes wide and unsure. For a moment, he hesitated, as if struggling to find the right words.
Then, with a shaky breath, he pulled his hand from his pocket, revealing a small velvet box. The sight of it made your eyes widen and your heart skip a beat.
Jungkook couldn’t help but giggle at the look on your face, “don’t worry, I’m not proposing to you — yet” he said.
“I...I wanted to give you this,” he began.
He opened the box to reveal a delicate ring, a simple band with a small, shining stone set in the center.
“It's a promise ring. I know it's not much, but I wanted you to have something...something that shows how much you mean to me” his voice was almost a whisper.
Your eyes softened as you looked at the ring, then back up at him. You could see how nervous he was, how much this moment meant to him. The rain continued to fall around you, a light drizzle that only added to the intimacy of the moment.
Jungkook took the ring from the box and slipped it onto your finger. It fit perfectly. A smile spread across your face as you looked back at him with your heart swelling with love.
“It's beautiful” you whispered, your voice full of emotion.
“Thank you” you added in the end.
Jungkook let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, his shoulders relaxing as relief washed over him.
“I just wanted you to know that I'm serious about us. I want to be with you, no matter what” he told you.
Taking your hands in his large ones, his deep and earnest eyes met yours.
“I love you, Y/n” he said softly.
“You’re everything to me. When I look into my future, all I see is you — us, together. I want you to know that I promise to love you, to cherish you, and to stand by you no matter what life throws our way”
The rain picked up, the sound of it on the leaves growing louder, but his words cut through it all.
“Even through the toughest storms, I’ll be here, right by your side. Forever”
Your eyes watered with unshed tears, and you couldn’t hold them back any longer. They began to spill over as they left a warm trail down your cheeks. Your lips trembled as you tried to speak, but the words were lost in the swell of emotions.
Even though you have been together a little over a year, you knew Jungkook’s love was genuine. You knew he was true to his words when he said he loved you, and he was never ashamed to prove it.
Without saying a word, you threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck as. You held him close, tightening your hold and burying your face in the crook of his neck.
“I love you too Jungkook” your voice was muffled against his neck, but Jungkook heard it loud and clear.
“I love you the most, princess” he smiled, hugging your waist protectively.
You found it difficult to digest the fact that the memory was of ten years ago.
And now, here you sat quietly on the couch with your knees drawn tightly to your chest, as if by compressing your body you could contain the storm raging inside you. Your chin rested on top of your knees, a position you had found yourself in often over the past few days.
Your hair was a tangled mess, strands falling limply around your face, a sign of how little you had cared for yourself lately. It was clear you hadn’t run a comb through it in days, maybe longer.
Your eyes, once vibrant and full of life, were now bloodshot from hours of crying, the whites tinged with red like an ominous warning light. The tears had dried up for now, but they had left their mark, leaving your eyes hollow and rimmed with dark circles.
Your face was ghostly pale, drained of all color as if life had been sucked out of you. The paleness only accentuated the deep sadness carved into your features — a sadness that seemed far too heavy for someone so young.
You stared down at the small, silver ring on your finger, the one you hadn’t removed in the ten years since he had slipped it onto your hand.
It had once been a symbol of hope, of a future you were supposed to build together. Now, it was a relic of promises that had been shattered, and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to take it off.
You hadn’t moved from that spot for hours. Time had lost its meaning. The ring, once a comfort, now felt like a shackle, but still, you couldn’t remove it.
Taking it off would mean acknowledging that it was truly over, and you weren’t ready for that.
So, you just sat there, staring at it, as if by doing so you could somehow go back to a time when the promises it represented were still intact, and the world hadn’t yet fallen apart around you.
You could only laugh at your sheer twist of fate.
Jungkook always had a way of making you feel like the center of the universe, as if the stars themselves shone only for you.
You remembered the way his eyes would light up when he saw you, the way his voice would soften when he spoke to you.
He had promised you the world. He had promised you forever.
“You’re the only girl I’ll ever love,” he had said, his voice filled with conviction that made your heart swell with hope and certainty.
“There will never be anyone else.”
Those words had wrapped around you like a warm blanket, shielding you from the cold reality of the world.
He made you believe you were special, that you were different from anyone he had ever known. In his eyes, you were irreplaceable, unique, the love of his life.
But now, those words feel like daggers, stabbing into your chest with a pain that was almost physical. The man who had vowed to love you, who had sworn that no one could ever take your place, had broken your heart in the cruelest way.
He had moved on, found someone else, and left you behind in the aftermath of confusion and sorrow. The promises he made, the dreams you both built together, all shattered like fragile glass, leaving you to pick up the pieces alone.
You remembered how he used to call you late at night, just to hear your voice before he fell asleep.
How he would text you good morning every day without fail, making you feel like you were the first thing on his mind when he woke up.
How he would hold you close, whispering sweet nothings in your ear, convincing you that your love was unbreakable.
He had painted you the most beautiful art of love and trust around her, making you believe in a future that was never meant to be.
Now, that art was disintegrating, thread by painful decay.
No matter how much you tried to wrap your head around trying to understand what exactly went wrong in your relationship, there was no clear answer. There was no moment of revelation that explained why he abandoned you, why he chose to love someone else.
The nights are the hardest. When the world was quiet and still, your thoughts raced, taking you to dark places you never imagined you would go.
You sunk into your couch and laid your head back. You stared at the ceiling, the silence oppressive and suffocating. You thought of all the things you should have said, all the things you should have done differently.
Maybe if you had been more understanding, more patient, more loving, he would have stayed. Maybe if you had fought harder, he would still be yours
But deep down, you knew that it wasn’t your fault.
You gave him everything you had, every part of your heart and soul. You loved him with a depth and intensity that you didn’t know you were capable of. But it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t true to his words. He wasn’t the man you thought he was.
You had believed you were special to him, that your love was something rare and precious. But now you felt ordinary, replaceable, just another girl who fell for a boy who didn’t love her as much as he claimed.
The thought was almost unbearable.
How could you have been so naive? How could you have let yourself believe that you were the one for him, when he was never truly yours to begin with?
The silence surrounding you was broken by your raw, aching sobs.
You shut your eyes and let the tears flow freely. You felt like you were drowning in your own sorrow, unable to escape the pull of the memories that dragged you down.
His face flashed before your eyes, his smile, his touch, the way he used to look at you. It was all so vivid, so real, that it almost felt like he was still there with you. But he wasn’t. He was gone, and so was the love he had promised.
You gave him your everything, but in the end, it had all been for nothing.
He had walked away, leaving you to pick up the pieces of your broken heart. And no matter how hard you tried, no matter how much time passed, you couldn’t seem to put those pieces back together. They were jagged, incomplete, and no amount of tears could make them whole again.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
It was almost six in the evening, and you couldn’t be bothered to deal with anything or anyone right now.
So you ignored it at first, burying your face deeper into the pillow, wanting nothing more than to be left alone with your broken heart. Whoever it was, they would leave soon enough, you thought.
But the doorbell rang again. And again. Its insistent tone pierced through your despair, refusing to be ignored.
A part of you was annoyed by the intrusion. Couldn’t you even cry in peace?
With a sigh of defeat, you let the pillow fall from your grasp. You wiped the back of your hand across your tear-streaked face. But it didn’t really matter; your eyes were still red and puffy, and your cheeks still stained with tears.
Dragging yourself off the couch, you shuffled toward the door, your feet heavy with exhaustion. You didn’t care who it was or what they wanted. You just wanted it to stop.
The rational part of your mind told you to check the peephole, to make sure it wasn’t some stranger, but you were too drained to care. If it was an intruder, maybe they would put you out of your misery.
Your life had already been shattered, what more could happen?
You unlocked the door and swung it open without hesitation, almost as if you were defying the universe to do its worst. You were ready to face whatever awaited you on the other side, but nothing could have prepared you for the sight that met your eyes.
For a moment, you just stood there, blinking against the dim light of the hallway, the cool air from the outside hitting your face like a splash of cold water.
Standing on the threshold was the one person you both longed to see and dreaded facing.
Your breath caught in your throat, your heart skipping a beat before it started pounding in your chest, a confusing mix of anger, longing, and despair crashing over you.
He looked just the same as he always had, the same messy hair that you used to run your fingers through, the same worn leather jacket you had borrowed so many times, inhaling the scent of him when he wasn’t around.
But now, all of that familiarity was like a knife twisting in your chest, reminding you of what you had lost.
You both stared at each other long with unreadable expressions.
You wanted to slam the door in his face, to scream at him for the hurt he had caused. But you also wanted to throw yourself into his arms, to let him hold you and make the pain go away.
The battle between your heart and mind paralysed you, leaving you breathing through shallow, ragged gasps.
“Y/n…” Jungkook’s voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, but it cut through the fog in your mind.
The sound of your name on his lips made your heart ache, bringing back memories of all the times he had spoken to you with that same softness, that same vulnerability.
You swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over once more. “What are you doing here?” you managed to ask sternly, but your voice trembled and betrayed you.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat, and he closed it again, looking down at the floor as if searching for the right thing to say.
The seconds dragged on, each one stretching out into what felt like an eternity, and you felt yourself teetering on the edge.
What was he doing here? After everything, why had he come back?
You searched his face for answers, for some indication of what he was thinking, what he wanted.
The longer you stared at Jungkook, you could see the guilt written on his face. He looked guilty, almost as if he was regretting everything already.
Was he here to apologize? To ask for forgiveness? Or was this just another cruel twist of fate, a moment meant to shatter what little remained of your heart?
Finally, he raised his head and broke the silence. “I, uh, came to get the rest of my stuff” he said. His voice was low, and almost filled with shame.
And just like that, the tiny spark of hope you clinged on to shattered immediately.
You felt the ground beneath you give way, your stomach twisting in knots as his words sank in. He wasn't here to apologise, to say he missed you, to ask for another chance. He was here to take away the last remnants of him that were still a part of your life.
You didn’t know what to say to that but just stared at him, while your eyes screamed for him to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
Was he just going to take his things and leave?
Was he not going to ask you how you were?
Wasn’t he going to apologise for breaking your heart and shattering your dreams?
Or was he going to act like nothing had happened, as if your love had been a fleeting whim and nothing more?
You wanted to scream, to demand answers, to make him feel even a fraction of the pain he had caused you. But the words wouldn’t come. They were lodged in your throat, suffocating you, as you stood there silently staring at him.
Nevertheless, your body moved, giving him space to enter what was once your shared haven.
Jungkook shifted uncomfortably before finally stepping inside, brushing past you as if he were a mere visitor in a stranger's home.
Slowly closing the door, you watched him move to your once shared droom. And you couldn’t help but follow behind.
You watched him collecting his things with a detached efficiency that made your stomach churn. He picked up his books, the few clothes he had left behind, and the framed picture of the two of you at the beach — one of your happiest memories.
For a moment, you thought you saw a flicker of something in his eyes as he looked at the photo, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
As Jungkook gathered the last of his things in a box, he turned to face you with an unreadable expression. Your heart pounded in your chest, hoping that he would finally say something — anything — to acknowledge what he had done. But all he did was nod, as if that simple gesture could somehow erase the past.
“Well, I guess that’s everything,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion.
You felt a tear escape and trail down your cheek, but you quickly wiped it away, refusing to let him see how much you were still hurting.
“Is that all you have to say?” you finally managed to choke out, your voice trembling with the weight of everything you had kept bottled up.
Jungkook hesitated, his eyes briefly meeting yours before quickly looking away.
“Y/n, I…I didn’t want to hurt you. But it just… it just happened” he said.
The words hung in the air, as empty and hollow as you felt inside. How could he reduce the end of your relationship to such a meaningless statement? It just happened. As if falling out of love and breaking a promise were nothing more than a simple accident.
“It’s not even about the fact that you fell out of love with me,” you began, your voice cracking in the process.
“It’s the fact that you hid the actual truth and lied to me” you cried.
“I deserved more than this,” you whispered, “I deserved respect, and at least the decency of you being honest. Not this…betrayal”.
You didn’t care how awful you looked crying in front of him, the hurt inside you was too unbearable for you to care.
Jungkook sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know, Y/n. And I’m sorry. I really am. But there’s nothing more I can say” he said.
The apology felt like a slap in the face, not because it wasn’t sincere, but because it came too late — far too late and too short to mend the broken pieces of your heart. It was like putting a band-aid on a wound that needed stitches.
“Yes Jungkook, there is so much you can say. Starting off by telling me where exactly it all began to go downhill. Or what it is about me that you started to not like anymore that you felt another woman could easily replace me” you cried.
All you received was silence from him as he stared at you with guilt, nothing more and nothing less. His eyes were beginning to gloss, not that he was truly regretting but because he was ashamed of himself. As he should be.
“I deserve a proper explanation, Jungkook. I deserve to know why I wasn’t enough for you even after ten fucking years of being together” you sobbed.
Jungkook took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair once again. He looked like he was struggling with what to say, but you didn’t care. You needed to hear it, even if it would break you all over again.
“It wasn’t about you, Y/n,” he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It was me. I was lost, confused. I didn’t know what I wanted, and I didn’t want to drag you down with me”.
Your anger flared at his words. It felt like an excuse, a way to evade the truth.
“That’s not an answer, Jungkook. You broke my heart, and then you just moved on like I was nothing. Like we were fucking nothing!” you snapped.
Jungkook winced at your words, but he didn’t try to deny them. Instead, he took a step closer to you, his eyes pleading.
“I know I hurt you, and I hate myself for it. But when I met her…everything just clicked. It felt right in a way that I can’t explain. She was always there, especially during all my long and exhausting hours of office work. It wasn’t planned, it just happened, I swear. And I was a coward for not being honest with you” he tried to explain the best he could.
Your face fell at his words, feeling your heart shatter anew. You had loved him so deeply, had given him everything, only to be discarded for someone else, someone who apparently was right for him in a way you never could be.
“And I wasn’t?” you questioned.
"So then what was I, Jungkook?” you asked, your voice breaking. “Just a placeholder until someone better came along?”.
“No,” Jungkook said quickly, his voice filled with regret.
“You were never a placeholder Y/n. I loved you — I still care about you. But sometimes, love isn’t enough. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the closure you needed. You deserved better than that” he said.
But all you could do was laugh in his face, humourlessly. You couldn’t believe him.
“If you were truly sorry, you wouldn’t have hid the truth from me and then me find out through fucking social media” you snapped.
“Even then you didn’t even have the balls to come forward and be honest with me. You just left me in a dark place questioning everything about myself and how maybe it was my fault for not being enough” you glared at him.
Jungkook stayed glued to the ground and he clenched his fists. He didn’t even know what to say. You had the right to be angry. You deserved honesty from him, a proper closure, even if it meant that it was going to put you in the worst unimaginable pain in the world.
Jungkook reached out as if to touch you, but you stepped back, shaking your head.
“Get out” your words stern but voice soft.
“We’re done, Jungkook. Completely done” you said.
Jungkook flinched at your words, a sharp intake of breath as if your anger and hurt had physically struck him.
He looked at you for a long moment, and you could see the sorrow in his eyes. But you didn’t waver. He wasn’t the victim here.
Finally, he nodded, his shoulders slumping as he bent down to pick up the box.
He gave you one last look before turning and walking towards the door. And as the door closed behind him, you collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
You knew it would be a long time before the wounds he left would heal, but you also knew that you would survive this. You had to.
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