Decoupled • KTH : Book 1✔

Chapter 2

Taehyung

Once again, waking up alone in bed this morning, I have a hard time opening my eyes. I don't remember when I slept last night, but it must surely be only a couple of hours that my eyes and mind rested because right now it feels as though a whole rock band is having a party inside my head and banging out their tunes at full volume.

Jang-Mi is in the kitchen, scuttling around making breakfast, and when I enter the kitchen, she throws a nasty glance my way before slamming the fridge door shut.

Scratching the faint stubble on my chin with a finger, I ignore her and proceed to make a cup of coffee for myself before I crash on the couch and grab the newspaper that's lying on the coffee table.

As I whip open the newspaper, my sleep-deprived eyes lazily scan through the news articles on the front page before they land on a particular announcement that's printed on the bottom right corner.

It is an announcement for a high school reunion that is planned to happen in the upcoming weekend to celebrate the completion of fifteen years of graduating high school.

But why would I be so invested in this particular announcement?

It's because the reunion is for the students who passed out of the high school that I attended, and it is our batch that is completing the fifteenth year this year.

Right at the mention of high school, the first name that occupies my thoughts is Maya.

The doe-eyed, dark-haired, honey-skinned girl who had my whole heart—my first crush, my first love—although I'm confident that what I was feeling was purely a one-sided pubescent love, which will surely go to my grave along with me.

Will she attend the reunion?

I don't use any kind of social media platforms, and so I'm completely unaware of what my friends from school are up to. Navigating this maze called adult life is stressful enough that I haven't ever thought about getting in touch with my friends from school.

However, this reunion sounds like something that might help me relax and rewind a little, and even better if I could meet Maya there—probably with a kid or two of her own. I don't even know if she would remember me.

My gut instincts tell me that I should probably attend this reunion, and maybe, just maybe, something beautiful could happen in my uneventful life.

Unknowingly, I am smiling to myself before I set down my cup of coffee and call the RSVP number to confirm my attendance for the event.

The call is connected to the helpdesk at the hotel where the event is planned, and after a brief confirmation about my attendance, I give them my name and also tell them that I would be attending it alone.

Even though the announcement states that we are welcome to bring our family, Jang-Mi wouldn't want to come anyway, and if I take Areum along, then I wouldn't be able to drink even if I feel like it, or spend a little more time with my friends since I would have to bring her back home before her bedtime.

So I have decided to attend the reunion by myself.

After a shower, I dress up for work while Jang-Mi gets Areum ready for school, and then I leave the house with my daughter to take the bus to her school.

Once inside the bus, Areum unzips her backpack and pulls out a jumbled Rubik's cube, holding it out to me.

"Appa, do you know how to solve this? Eomma bought it for me last week, but I don't know how to do it. All the pieces on one side have to be the same color, but it is not turning that way," she pouts in a disappointed manner.