Decoupled • KTH : Book 1✔

Chapter 1

Taehyung

"Taehyung, we need to talk," Jang-Mi says while she plops herself beside my tired body on the couch, still with a good three-feet distance between us.

My eyes briefly leave the TV screen to meet hers and then shift back to the TV.

"What's it?" I ask nonchalantly while stretching my interlocked hands above my head and letting out a tired yawn.

I already know that it's about money.

"Areum's ballet recital is in two weeks from now, and we haven't yet paid for the costumes and other stuff. The deadline is in a week," she informs me and reaches out for the remote control.

Clicking my tongue in frustration, I quickly snatch the remote control that lays in the space between us on the couch.

"How much do you think a man can support? I pay for her schooling, her ballet classes and piano classes, I bear all the household expenses, plus the housing loan and the personal loan and every other unforeseen expense that comes up ever. Isn't it unfair?" The tone of my voice gives away the frustration that's boiling within me.

This isn't even the first time that this kind of a conversation which usually leads up to an argument has come up between the two of us. And it's pretty much everything that we talk about or more like fight about these days.

Jang-Mi and I have been married for seven years now, and we had dated for over a year before we got married. We were blessed with our daughter, Areum, even before we could reach our first wedding anniversary. Areum wasn't planned, and I never considered her a mistake, and although we weren't fully prepared to be parents, Jang-Mi and I decided to do it.

She exhales her frustration and flails her arms in the air and speaks with animated hand movements.

"Taehyung, please! Not again. Why do you keep pointing out what you spend for our family? Am I demanding you to pay to buy stuff for myself like many other women do? I know you can't afford that for the heck of it! I have just taken up this new job, and I know it doesn't pay much, but with my six-year career break, what else do you think I can do at this point? I've just restarted, and I'll catc-"

I wave my hand at her to stop talking.

"This topic is so boring. Please. I'll transfer the money to your account tomorrow," ending the discussion, I turn off the TV and head straight to our bedroom and into the bathroom, mainly to escape her presence and conceal my disappointment.

Standing with my hands resting on the sink counter, I look at my reflection in the mirror.

She's doing it again.
She's trying to make me feel inadequate that I'm not making enough money.

The worst pain is looking at your own teary reflection in the mirror and feeling like a total failure, and it's even worse if someone else is making you feel that way.

Fuck my life! What am I still doing in this marriage?

I splash a few handfuls of cold water on my face, hoping to wash away the failure plastered on my face, and then step out of the bathroom.

Unaware of my mental torment, Jang-Mi, my wife, sleeps peacefully in her corner, turned away from my side.

There were days in the past when we wouldn't miss a chance to cuddle up in bed, when we would skip work to pepper our days with nights and our unending nights with some breathing breaks. There were those days where we used to talk and listen to each other. There were days where we would make love through the night and still crave for more.