Decoupled • KTH ✔

Chapter 43

Maya

Our second cups of cold coffee remain untouched as Jang-Mi continues pouring her heart out while I listen to her with all my concentration.

"I did feel guilty about not being able to make enough money to help him with his efforts for our family, but he also never once felt bad about accusing me of being lazy and not wanting to work and earn just because he felt that I got used to the comfort of being a stay-at-home mom. Motherhood is the most underrated job on earth, Maya, and it sucks when your own husband doesn't acknowledge it as anything at all," finally, after what seems like eons, Jang-Mi's eyes lift to meet mine.

I lick my dry lips and nod before I speak to her.
"I can't agree more. I'm not a mother, but I can feel and understand how hard it is for anyone to keep doing something without receiving any encouragement from anyone in any form. You've been a very strong woman and an amazing mother, Jang-Mi. I have met Areum once, and only after seeing you here, I realized that she's your clone. She's a blessing, and I'm so proud of you for choosing her over everything else...your career, your marriage, money, comfort, everything else. I admire you for your courage and will. It's not easy at all to give up so many things," I speak in one stretch, my voice a little hoarse from being quiet for a long time.

She shakes her head a little with a small smile.
"It isn't so hard to make choices when it's for your own child. I never had second thoughts about giving up anything at all for her sake. She means the whole world to me," her eyes visibly light up when she begins talking about Areum, and it tells me how both Taehyung and Jang-Mi have loved and prioritized Areum over everything else, even over their own relationship—which is actually not the best they could have done, in my view.

We remain silent for a few seconds, after which Jang-Mi asks me,
"You told that you lost your partner. What happened?" She releases her hold on my hand since both our hands are starting to grow a little clammy.

"Yeah, I was married to my boyfriend of three years while I was still in college, and just one week into our marriage, my husband fell sick, and he was diagnosed with stage 3 bone cancer. Treatments didn't work well too, and his condition just kept getting worse, spreading into his bloodstream as well. He had a leg amputated, yet he pulled along for a while. But eventually, he gave up his fight one day, leaving me all by myself," I send a small smile her way when I see her gasping, her eyes going wide with shock.

"Just one week into your marriage? Oh my God! I'm so sorry to hear that. It must have been so hard for you," she gently pats the back of my hand, earning a few soft nods from me.

"It was. It was terrible watching him slowly die right in front of my eyes. He didn't deserve that at all. We really dreamed of a colorful future together, like almost everything was planned out and all. But life just had other brutal plans for us," I blink away a few tears that are threatening to spill.

"I felt that," Jang-Mi agrees. "Nothing ever happens as per our plans. It is almost like life and fate are always angrily waiting to rip apart all our plans. It makes no sense to plan out anything. I hope you're doing better now," she asks me softly.

"I'm doing much better. It has been twelve years already, and I've moved on too," I assure her with another smile, and she nods in understanding.

"Taehyung had mentioned about you when we first started dating. You were his first love in school, and he always told nice things about you which sometimes made me a little jealous, but I wasn't worried much because back then, everything was just love and happiness among the two of us," Jang-Mi pauses for a breath and then she continues speaking.

"I actually doubted that he was, maybe, seeing another guy because one morning he came back home dressed in some unfamiliar man's clothes," she chuckles a little.