Your Highness | Jakehoon

Song Recommendation: Breathe - Mondo Grosso (feat. Shinichi Osawa)

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Chapter 5: A Love That Burns

Jake's heart is a battlefield.

Sunghoon's lips against his should feel like relief, like victory. But all he feels is fear.

Because this isn't how the story ends.

This is how it falls apart.

Jake grips Sunghoon's robes, fingers trembling. He should push him away. He should end this before it breaks them both.

But he can't.

So he lets himself drown-just for a moment.

Sunghoon's hands cradle his face, desperate, like he's trying to memorize every inch of him. The way he always does. The way he shouldn't.

Jake gasps when Sunghoon tilts his head, deepening the kiss, and suddenly, it's too much.

Too much, too late.

Jake wrenches himself back. "Stop."

Sunghoon blinks, breathless. "Jake-"

Jake shakes his head, stepping away, putting space between them. Space he should've put between them a long time ago.

Sunghoon watches him, eyes dark with something unreadable. "Don't do this."

Jake's throat burns. "I have to."

Sunghoon clenches his jaw. "Why?"

Jake exhales sharply. "Because I love you." His voice cracks, betraying him. "And I refuse to spend my life watching you belong to a kingdom that will never let you be mine."

Silence.

Sunghoon looks like he's been struck. "Jake-"

Jake forces himself to smile. "You're going to be a great king, Sunghoon." His voice is soft, a whisper of something that should have been. "And I won't be the thing that holds you back."

Sunghoon takes a shaky step forward. "I don't care about any of that. I just want you."

Jake swallows hard. "And I want you." His voice is raw. "But love isn't enough."

Sunghoon flinches. "That's a lie."

Jake exhales, forcing the lump in his throat down. "No, Sunghoon. The lie was thinking we could have this."

Sunghoon looks at him like he's breaking, like he's seconds away from falling apart.

Jake wishes he could hold him together.

But he knows he can't.

So he turns away.

And walks out the door.

Leaving behind the only thing he's ever truly wanted.

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