No problem, let's work through this together. We're starting with 15438 and are subtracting 2149 from it.

Step 1: We'll start by subtracting the digit 9 and the borrow 0 from 8 in column 1 and get -1.
We add -1 to 10 and get 9 as the first digit of the result.

Step 2: We'll start by subtracting the digit 4 and the borrow 1 from 3 in column 2 and get -2.
We add -2 to 10 and get 8 as the next digit of the result.

Step 3: We'll start by subtracting the digit 1 and the borrow 1 from 4 in column 3 and get 2.
2 is the next digit of our result.

Step 4: We'll start by subtracting the digit 2 and the borrow 0 from 5 in column 4 and get 3.
3 is the next digit of our result.

Step 5: We'll start by subtracting the digit 0 and the borrow 0 from 1 in column 5 and get 1.
1 is the next digit of our result.

So, 15438 - 2149 = 13289.