Decoupled • KTH ✔

Chapter 10

Taehyung

"Taehyung?" Maya's face twists in shock, but it only lasts for a few seconds after which she bursts out laughing. "Are you trying to hook up with someone for the night?" She speaks as she keeps laughing, and Oh My God! My vocabulary really doesn't contain the words to explain the embarrassment that I am feeling right now.

"Uhm- not exactly," I lower my head, rubbing the back of my neck where I can already feel the heat of the embarrassment.

"But you just asked me if I wanted to give you company for the night," thankfully, she doesn't repeat the second part of what I said, and her voice is more composed now because I guess she is done laughing at me.

How do I disappear?

"I didn't know it was you. I'm so sorry," I apologize meekly, meeting her eyes briefly before diverting them back to the ground and her legs.

STOP STARING AT HER LEGS!

I quickly tear my gaze from her legs and look up at her eyes once again, my own legs suddenly feeling weak and wobbly.

"What are you doing here?" She chuckles softly, uncovering her head from the hood of her zip-up hoodie.

"I- uhm- came to buy these," I show her the toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste that I'm holding in my hand, and she laughs again; the sound of her laughter sounding strangely sweet to my ears.

"Also, trying to get laid," Maya laughs again, covering her mouth with one hand and crinkling her eyes.

She's on a mission to embarrass me tonight. Can my day get any worse?

I remain silent, and then she continues speaking, "You don't even live nearby, and you came all this way for a toothbrush and toothpaste?" She asks me, and I don't know how to respond to that.

Where do I even live? I just walked out of my house.

"Is everything okay?" She asks again, taking a step closer to me when she notices that I haven't yet answered her question.

Her eyes search mine for an answer, and from the look in her eyes, I know that she knows now that something is not okay with me.

"I- I was actually going to stay at a hotel tonight," I confess, making her perfectly arched eyebrows knit together, but she doesn't pry any more.

"My ice-cream is melting, so let's go to my home and talk about this," that was a statement, and not a question.

Before I can protest, she pulls my right hand into hers and begins walking, practically dragging me along.

Without a choice, I walk along with her. After a few steps she releases her hold on my hand, and we walk close beside each other down a dark and narrow alley.

"Do you live nearby?" I turn my head to look at her, trying my best not to stare at her thighs once again.

"Yeah, I live on the next street," she says softly, with her eyes fixed on the path ahead of us.

"You weren't living here before," I comment and side-glance at her, and her eyes find mine, slightly impressed.

"Of course, you know it, bouquet boy," she chuckles, returning her focus to the street ahead.

I laugh softly, stuffing my hands inside the pockets of my sweatpants and letting my head drop, nodding to myself.
"You used to take the red bus to Huam-Dong, and climb up all those stairs carrying your heavy backpack, and then check out yourself in the mirror door at the small hairdressers salon before going home," I knew it, I could embarrass her too.