Jungkook stood by the large window, his gaze distant, focused on nothing in particular as the evening sun cast a faint glow across the room. The air between them felt heavy—charged with the tension of a marriage neither of them wanted.

She stood a few feet away, her arms crossed, her stance defiant. She hadn’t spoken a word since they entered the room, and Jungkook wasn’t sure if he expected her to.

Breaking the silence, he turned to face her, his expression as unreadable as ever.

“I’m not here to make you happy,” his voice was steady, almost cold, but there was an edge to it that made the words cut deeper than he intended. “And I’m sure you’re not here to make me happy either. This marriage was arranged, plain and simple—nothing more.”

He paused, letting the weight of his words hang in the air.

“We both have our families to answer to, and that’s all this will ever be.”

The words left his mouth without emotion, yet something in the way he said them seemed to suggest that even he was questioning the unspoken truth of it all.