True Love and Other Disasters || KTH

04 | Begin

— she'll tear a hole in you, the one you can't repair, but I still love her, I don't really care

The worst part about going back to the place you had once left about a decade ago was that no one remembered you, even when you remembered everyone.

Scrolling down through all the contacts I had on my phone, I tried calling everyone and figured that most of them had changed their number. I could not blame them, the last time I had met them was when we were thirteen years old and I was twenty-five this year. So many things must have happened, and we had not kept in touch.

Still, it was better to have someone showing you ways, good places to eat, and having a drink with you. Last night I had drunk alone in one of the street vendors and it sucked. There were two girls sitting at the corner while their eyes constantly gazing up and down to their phones. I must have looked pathetic.

My finger paused one contact named "Jung" as my mind tried to recall who he was. Was he Ho-Seok's brother? No, that one was Jimin. Who was this?

Out of curiosity, I chose the call option and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" A deep male voice answered.

Damn. Was he one of the teachers? His voice sounded like he was at least thirty years old. Not that all male who had a deep voice must be old, it was more to how he'd said the word, with charisma and reprimanding voice.

"Hey. Is this Jung?"

"Yeah. Who are you?"

I could recall none of my friends who had this way of speaking yet again, it had been twelve years since.

"I'm not sure how I have your number but my name is Kim Tae-Woo and I believe we are friends back in secondary school."

A long moment of silence. This was awkward and made me want to hang up. I put the phone away and ended the call. I continued scrolling down my contact list when my phone rang. It was Jung.

I answered. "Hello?"

"Taetae!" The voice greeting me back was not the same voice that had answered my call earlier.

I frowned. "Who is this?"

"Jung! Nam Jung-Soo! We went to secondary school together. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah." I honestly had no idea which one was him but I knew for sure the guy who had answered me earlier was not him. The voice was different. "Hey, who answered my call earlier?"

"Ah, that's my big brother. Nam Ho-Seok, you remember?"

I knew it. So Jung was Ho-Seok's brother, not Jimin.

"I forgot you have an older brother," I replied, not knowing what else to say.

Jung laughed. "Yeah. I'm the middle kid. My little brother Jimin is still in university now. He's studying art. Between you and me, I think he will follow Ho-Seok Hyung footsteps and become a performer."

Okay. So they were all related. Great. My brain needed an upgraded.

"I see." I was not a people person, which Jung seemed to be one, hence I found myself not knowing what to reply. He, on the other hand, treated me like I was an old friend he had known for years. It made me feel bad because no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember his face.

"So, Tae, are you finally back here in Seoul? The last time I heard, you moved to the States." Jung chuckled. "I thought no one comes back once they went to the States."

I thought I would never go back to South Korea either yet here I was. "Yeah. I am planning to stay here for a while. What about you? How are you doing?" I glanced at the watch on my wrist. It was two PM. "Are you still working? I can call later."