Maya

"No, I'll be there. Don't worry," I address Da-Mi's concerns while fixing my earring.

It took me all week to finally make up my mind to attend the reunion today, and deciding what to wear took me another five hours. I might have had a rough life, but I wouldn't want to show up like a walking mess in front of my classmates from school.

I finally decided on wearing a pair of jeans and a top that looks sober and calm.

After applying a bit of lip balm and slipping on a cardigan, I examine my reflection in the mirror once before turning off the lights in the room and leaving the house. It takes me about thirty minutes to drive to the venue, and once I have reached there, I climb out of the car and hand over my keys to the valet, picking up my small shoulder bag and stuffing my phone into it thereafter.

The event is planned to happen at the huge lawn situated within this hotel, and after checking with the front desk, I locate the lawn and push past the glass doors to land myself into the reunion space.

It is 6 pm, and the sky is a bit dark already, the strip lights wound around the tree trunks lining the lawn are all turned on, and more hanging lights illuminate the trees and the entire space, giving the area a festive look.

I could see groups of men and women, standing and sitting randomly, laughing and talking among themselves, and to think that these were the kids from high school suddenly seems a little funny to me. I remember and recognize a few faces as I take slow steps towards them, but some of them are totally unrecognizable.

The boys from school have all invariably doubled or tripled in size and grown into big men, but it's quite different with the girls, or should I say, the women? They look pretty much the same, and when I finally reach closer, all eyes turn to look at me, making me grow a little nervous.

I wave my hand a little, my eyes wandering the groups in search of Taehyung.

"Maya?" One of the women who I recognize as Haneul recognizes me first, and the others join her in gasping and cooing as they stop doing whatever they were already doing and welcome me with a big group hug.

"Hey, girls! Ladies!" I return the hug, suddenly feeling a veil of tears forming behind my eyelids, and I have no idea why.

Maybe nostalgia? Maybe the happiness of being remembered by my classmates?

"Awww, I cried too," another woman who I identify as So-Ra squeezes my hand lightly as I flick a drop of my tear from the corner of my eyes.

"You all look amazing." I pull a chair for myself and sit down with the group when I hear someone shouting out my name from behind us.

Turning around in my seat, I spot Jimin jogging up to me with a big smile. I rise from my seat and approach him, totally surprised by how he looks so much younger than his high school version. He really seems to have aged in reverse, except that his chubby cheeks have melted out to highlight his stunning jawline.

He looks absolutely gorgeous.

"Jimin," my lips stretch into a wide smile when he envelops my body in a big bear hug, the force of which almost throws me to the ground beneath our feet.

Pulling away, he leans back and runs a hand through his hair, flashing the cute smile that makes his eyes close into two slits.

"How are you, Maya? You look just the same," he chuckles excitedly.

"You actually look younger. Have you become a model or something?" I laugh along when he bursts out laughing loudly.

When he regains his composure,
"Do I look like one though?" He wiggles his eyebrows mischievously, and I slap his shoulder playfully.

"Is that Maya? Where's Taehyung?" One of the men who I don't recognize from the group sitting at a distance behind Jimin shouts out, and the others join him in a laughing party.

WHAT? How the hell do they know?

Jimin notices the way my face contorts, and he is quick to clear up the confusion.
"They aren't even drunk yet," he laughs again, not exactly answering the question in my mind.

"Maya, Da-Mi recently told me everything. I'm sorry for what happened, are you doing okay?" His voice is laced with care and concern.

"Thank you, Jimin. It has been quite a few years, and I'm doing okay now. A lot better actually..." I look over his shoulder and scan the group of men, hoping to find Taehyung under the pretext of seeing the food being assembled in one end of the lawn and the cocktail counter being buzzed by some of the guys and women in another corner.

"So, you go on and join the guys. I'll catch up with them for a while," I point to the group of women sitting behind me, and Jimin nods with a sweet smile, leaving me alone so that he could go and get himself a drink.

I have no idea how many minutes pass, after which Da-Mi arrives to give me company. But surprisingly, I don't feel so awkward to be here because even the girls who never bothered about my existence in school suddenly seem a lot more sweeter and friendlier now, helping me ease in quite well and not regret my decision to attend the reunion.

As we keep talking, I learn that most of the women are married, and some of them even have kids, and I even learn about some of the guys being married as well—the interesting conversation making sure that I forget about Taehyung for a while.

Almost everyone seems to have settled well in life.

The ladies enlighten me about the eventful lives of some of our classmates—they talk about one of the richest kids in school who has taken over his father's business empire recently, and how he's still single, and then about a pair of high-school sweethearts who were a hot topic in school but broke up later and went different ways, a couple from high school who all of us shipped back then that has been happily married and gone on a honeymoon trip now.

But most of all, I am shocked to hear about one of our classmates who gave into his depression and took his own life in college, and about our class president in the final year of high school who died of pancreatic cancer last year.

So-Ra, who is an Oncologist, keeps talking in cancer terminology and mentioning the names of various tests and medications—all of which sound oddly familiar to me. Some women even have doubts about early cancer symptoms and all, and So-Ra seems happy to answer all their queries.

Over the years, everyone's life has changed so much, and it never fails to surprise me.

However, I keep my life low-key, not giving away too much, maintaining the well-practiced diplomatic answers that I have been giving everyone over the years, mainly because I dislike earning pity, which not everyone would understand why.

I have moved on from the rough times in my life, and I am living well now, and I don't want it to be a topic of discussion tonight.

"Aren't y'all hungry?" Haneul, who has downed at least three cocktails, asks all of us, and then one by one we all decide to join the men for dinner.

I go along with Da-Mi and get a minimal serving of sushi and some salad for myself from the unappetizing line-up of dishes, before we insert ourselves into the guys group.

The mealtime is noisy and chaotic, in fact, the entire reunion is chaotic, especially among the guys who are so loud.

I keep my eyes on my plate of food and eat it silently while my mind is torn between wanting to see Taehyung and not wanting to see him.

I am probably going to leave right after dinner and not meet him at all. Maybe he isn't going to turn up. Maybe he's in some other country.

As these thoughts keep crowding my mind, I sense someone joining Da-Mi, Haneul and I at the table, causing my eyes to lift to look at them, and the moment my eyes land on him, it feels as though my heart has decided to stop beating.

His eyes stay glued to me, not even blinking as he takes a big sip of his drink before removing the glass from his lips and sticking out his tongue to lick his lips.

Da-Mi and Haneul speak something to him, or are they speaking to me? I don't understand anything anymore because at this moment, everything sounds like muffled murmurs to my ears.

I give him a small smile that comes out with more nervousness than I expected it to, and he instantly returns my smile with a bigger one, his cold stare melting into a warm gaze.

Taehyung has aged for fifteen years like the finest wine known to mankind—looking so ethereal, yet so real at the same time, if that's even possible. He has grown so well, and I can't help but admire how handsome and sturdy he looks now.

"Hi, Maya," his baritone sounds from across the table, and it feels as though someone plugged my body to a live wire.

HE REMEMBERS ME? HOW ON EARTH???!

Fortunately, I am able to school my face to maintain a neutral expression and not give away the surprise and shock that is shooting within my chest.

"Hi, Taehyung," I reply calmly, internally shaking.

"Taehyung!!" A few guys join him, their eyes drifting to the others at our table, including me, and then they begin doing something that looks as if they're teasing him, and it confuses me to a big extent.

I suddenly start feeling a little embarrassed when I think back to the little gifts and letters that I left for him in his desk and how he had never responded to any of those. But going by how the guys keep talking about Taehyung and I at the same time, using both our names in the same sentence, I cannot help but assume that they all probably knew about my little moves and my juvenile crush that they're all cracking inside jokes about now.

Congratulations, Maya! You have unlocked a new level of embarrassment.

My eyes refuse to make eye contact with any of the guys, and I don't even feel like touching the food that's remaining on my plate—it tastes meh, and I have lost my appetite.

"I'll leave now." I lean a little towards Da-Mi on my left and whisper to her, my eyes desperately wanting to look at Taehyung one last time, yet not finding the courage to do so.

"Why? Aren't you going to eat?" Da-Mi's voice gives away how disappointed she is.

"No, I'm not hungry. I'll call you later, okay?" I get up from my seat without waiting for her answer, and my eyes finally give in and uncontrollably move towards where Taehyung and the guys were joking about a little while ago.

Taehyung is still staring at me, even though the other guys around him are all engaged in some kind of apparently funny conversation. He seems totally disconnected from all of that, and when I pick up my plate and step aside from the table, he gets up too, completely avoiding everyone else who is there along with him; his powerful eyes boring through my soul.

I manage not to react much, even though my limbs tremble a bit under his strong gaze. I slightly bow to everyone at the table and swiftly walk over to leave my used plate in the allotted space, and just when I hand over my plate to a waiter and turn around, I abruptly bump into Taehyung and stumble back a bit, gasping.

"I'm so sorry," I apologize, and, fortunately, I didn't push away his plate or something and end up ruining our clothes and shoes.

"Why haven't you eaten anything, Maya?" He questions me with concern, also telling me that he has observed what I have been doing with my food.

"Uhm- no, I'm not hungry," I tuck a few strands of my flyaway hair behind my ear and smile at him.

"Honestly, the food here isn't even appetizing, and I wonder why they picked this place out of everything else," he states the truth as he hands over his half-empty plate to the waiter, and then turns to face me, locking his eyes with mine.

"I know right, some tteokbokki would have been much better," I laugh a little, and he laughs too.

"Then we'll go have some tteokbokki, if that's what is on your mind now," Taehyung takes a step closer to me, and I can't help but wonder why he is noticing me and talking to me when I was practically invisible to him back then.

People change, is the only explanation that I could come up with.

"Only if you want it too," I answer him hesitantly.

"I want it too," Taehyung confirms with a firm nod of his head.

"Let's leave now?" He adds, earning a smile and an okay from me, and we soon leave the reunion area without spending any more time bidding goodbye to the others there.

I mean, if he looked like this in high school, who wouldn't crush on him?
😍

*dies*

Published on : 04/20/2022