【Chapter 021 – What Happened at the Freshman Party (1)】
Saturday, 5:45.
189 West 4th Street,
The Rabbit Hole.
My research assistant work finished earlier than expected, so I arrived early.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!"
The pub was packed, and I could even see some kids who were already drunk.
Familiar old EDM music flowed from the speakers.
Truthfully, I hadn't planned on coming.
It was an event hosted privately by a few dorm guys who loved to party, so it wasn't exactly something I'd miss out on much by not coming.
However, I had used the freshman party as an excuse to Sujeong, telling her I couldn't meet her this weekend because of it, so I felt a pang of guilt in a corner of my heart at the thought of not showing up at all. So, I stopped by with the intention of staying just briefly.
"Heon! Over here!"
While looking around for a familiar face, I heard a familiar voice from not far away. I turned my head to see Donguk hyung waving from a corner table.
"You got here early."
"You're the one who arrived early. I heard you were just going to stop by late because of research work."
"It finished earlier than I expected."
"Good for you. Michael went off to hang with his dorm friends, so I was bored here alone."
It was slightly unexpected.
After hyung's wife came to New York, he hadn't been attending drinking gatherings often, so I was glad to hear he was coming.
Otherwise, I might have had to stand around awkwardly by myself.
"What about hyung's wife? I heard she was coming with you."
"Yeah. She's here. She went to the bar to get beer."
"Ah-. Oh right- I heard Sein might come too."
"She's here."
"Already?"
"Yeah. She went with Goeun."
"I see. She got here early."
"Ah, and Heon…."
It seemed Donguk hyung was about to tell me that someone else besides hyung's wife and Sein had come.
There was no need for that.
"Hey, Jeheonje!"
Her hand reached my shoulder first.
"Oh, Jeong Sujeong."
"Surprise!"
I could no longer leave after just a short while.
*
"Don't drink too much."
"I haven't had that much."
I don't know what she was so excited about, but that day Sujeong was drinking fast.
"And why are you drinking so much?"
"Why? Can't we drink a lot? I came here today planning to drink a bit. Sein, Sujeong, we're going all the way to the end today, right?"
"Yes, unnie."
"Let's go, let's go!"
Sujeong wasn't the only one excited. Perhaps because it had been so long since they'd had such a gathering, both hyung's wife and Sein seemed quite worked up too.
The three women, having quickly emptied a pitcher, giggled as they headed back to the bar.
"Hyung, what happened?"
"When did the three of them get so close? I knew you texted Sujeong-ssi every day, but when did she get close with Sein?"
"So did hyung's wife invite Sujeong?"
"Invite? No. She said she wanted to go drinking on the weekend. I casually mentioned there was a freshman party, and she suddenly said she wanted to go. So I figured you must have brought Sujeong along."
No. I hadn't invited Sujeong.
"Ah, but I'm a bit worried. My wife seems to have let loose today. Seems like staying home all this time has built up a lot of stress. Does Sujeong-ssi drink well?"
"Well, she's not a bad drinker, but…."
"Somehow I feel like the atmosphere today will go to at least a third round."
Just as Donguk hyung said, it seemed Sujeong and hyung's wife had gotten quite close in the meantime.
Not that I was in any position to say anything about it, but I never imagined this situation would arise…
I hadn't expected it.
---*---
Click.
In the evening, Jennifer opened the door expecting no one to be home, when—
"Mia?"
Mia was already there.
"You're here?"
"Didn't you say you'd be late because you had research to do at school today?"
"Heon helped, so it finished early. You're the one who got here early. You said you'd be late because you had to finish an assignment at school today."
"I just came."
"Good, well done. Staying at school until late on a Saturday isn't good for your mental health. Have you eaten?"
"No. I'm hungry. Have you?"
"No."
"Perfect. Should we order something?"
She'd blurted it out habitually, but there was nothing she particularly wanted to order. And then Heon's dishes naturally came to mind.
"What about Heon?"
"You asked because you were going to ask Heon to cook, right?"
"I asked to see if Heon was here so we could eat together."
"Heon's going to be late today."
"Why?"
"Today the Hayden dorm kids rented out a place in Greenwich Village and are throwing a freshman party. They even got a mid-sized law firm sponsorship, so some of the beer and drinks are free."
"Did he go there?"
"Yeah. He told me he'd just stop by for a bit, but these things don't usually go as planned. He might be late. Maybe he won't even come back. Hehehe. There are plenty of kids like that. Especially at freshman parties. Lonely young souls from the provinces with a lot of built-up stress, swaying around drunk, exchanging glances, and then—'Pow!'—sparks fly."
"What are you talking about?"
"That's just how it is. Anyway, I specially permitted him to come back late today. That's fine, right?"
"Huh? Ah… I don't mind."
"Don't 'I don't mind' me. You hate it when someone comes in late at night because you're a light sleeper."
"I don't mind. It's not like it happens every day."
"Right, Heon's not exactly a partygoer. Let's just let it slide for today. Though I told him that if he is coming back, he absolutely has to be back by twelve. Or rather, don't come back at all. Hehehe."
As Mia kept letting out sly giggles, Jennifer frowned.
"Heon's the one at the party. What are you so happy about?"
"I guess I'm lonely too. Sniff."
"Then stop bothering me and call Mark right now or something."
"Mark is on a business trip to San Francisco. Jen-Jen, come on, should we dress up nicely for the first time in a while and enjoy Saturday night out? A girl's night out?"
"Sorry, Mia, but I'll pass on that offer. I've been at the library all day. I'm too tired. I just want to order pizza and watch a movie."
"Great! That works too! Let's steal Heon's instant noodles and watch a rom-com!"
"No thanks. Why would we steal those?"
"It's fine. They're just instant noodles, what's the big deal? And it's not like they're in his room; they're in the kitchen. Let's eat them."
"Hmm…."
"I'll buy more tomorrow. Is that okay? I'm craving spicy Korean instant noodles more than pizza right now."
"Do you even know where they sell them?"
"Probably at the grocery store in Koreatown."
"Hmm…… No. I don't like it. That's theft."
"Ah, you picky girl. That's why I told you to just give Heon the Empire State Building observation deck ticket!"
---*---
"You're really not coming?"
Donguk hyung's prophecy that they'd go to a third round had come true.
However, the women who had finished their first and second rounds at the Rabbit Hole were planning to go to Donguk hyung's house for the third.
"I'm going home."
"Why? Because of your curfew? Hey, Jeheonje, on a day like today let's just all stay up and have fun together."
"That's right, Honey. Let's go to our house and have one more drink~."
"I go home past eleven all the time. If you're really tired, you can sleep over at my place."
"Sujeong, where are you going? Just sleep at our house. That's okay, right, oppa?"
"Huh? Yeah. Sure."
"Hyung, sorry, but I'm going to duck out here."
"Are you sure?"
"Hey, Jeheon. Are you really doing this! You traitor!"
"Ah- I didn't think you were like that, Honey, that's it, that's it. Ah- what was it, Sujeong? What did you call it earlier? Someone who ruins a party?"
"A party pooper."
"Right, a party pooper! Honey's a party pooper."
"Heon, I'm sorry. My wife is drunk. Goeun, Heon's been working as a research assistant all day today. Just let him go. There'll be more chances like this later."
"Really? But it's a shame."
Honestly, leaving three drunk women in hyung's care felt apologetic, but no matter how much I thought about it, if I went along, things would escalate.
My gut feeling was that if I left, the women would drink moderately among themselves and disperse, but conversely, if I joined, the atmosphere would be one where hyung and I would end up drinking until dawn.
It wasn't so much that I disliked that atmosphere; I was just mostly tired. Having to stay out until two or three in the morning and not being able to go back to the apartment in East Harlem wasn't appealing, and neither was sleeping at hyung and hyung's wife's house.
I felt that me killing the mood here was the best thing for everyone.
Fortunately, hyung seemed to think the same.
Without trying to stop me a second time, he took hyung's wife, Sein, and Sujeong to catch a taxi first.
"I'm sorry, hyung."
"What are you sorry for? Later, let's have a proper drink at our place."
"Yes, hyung. Get home safe."
After seeing off hyung, hyung's wife, Sujeong, and Sein, I went back inside the pub.
I had planned to just say goodbye to Michael, who had only briefly stopped by our table throughout the party while mingling with various people.
But little did I know that would become a source of trouble.
"Clemens, have you seen Michael?"
"Michael? Haven't seen him."
"Sonya, have you seen Michael?"
"No."
"Ah- where did he go? Hey, Jacob, do you happen to know where Michael went?"
"Michael? Michael Kim? I think he was collapsed in the second-floor bathroom."
"Second-floor bathroom?"
At the word "collapsed," I hurried up to the second-floor bathroom, and sure enough, I found Michael, dead drunk, hugging the toilet.
"I saw him going around from table to table taking lots of shots. Hey, Michael. You okay?"
"Hey, shibrolamremihavdrinksru…."
"What are you saying."
"Letshavsubrabrasemus…."
I checked my watch.
It was just past ten thirty.
If I took him to his dorm room and then left, it would be cutting it close. But I couldn't just leave him like that.
"Hey, Michael. Get a hold of yourself. Hey!"
Wanting to move him out even a second sooner, I tried to help him up, when—
"Blaaargh!"
He vomited.
Haah—
That's when I felt it. That it was somehow going to be a long night because of this guy.
And that feeling turned out to be right.
"You look like you could use some help?"
A familiar voice reached my ears, and when I turned around, a tall woman was standing there.
"Eleanor?"
What Happened at the Freshman Party (2)
Saturday night,
an abandoned factory in Tribeca, New York.
A party held immediately after a fashion show.
It seemed all of New York's hottest people were gathered there.
"Eleanor, over there!"
Where the model she worked with pointed, Leonardo DiCaprio stood with his date.
"He's really handsome, Leo."
He was wearing just a black shirt over jeans, but the aura radiating from him was different.
He seemed to have just arrived. The party's atmosphere shifted with his entrance.
"Did you hear?"
"…."
"They broke up."
"Really?"
"Leo and Erin Aderington. They were dating. Didn't you know?"
After Leonardo's entrance, her model friend was too busy pouring out gossip about him to pay attention to anything else. But Eleanor wasn't very interested.
In fact, she didn't seem very interested in the party itself. She was only there because the agency told her to attend. She had been staring at her iPhone screen since earlier.
"No way… Really? El, I think Leo just looked at me."
"Oh my! I think he really did look. He smiled at me… Oh shit, he's coming this way!"
"El, Leo is coming. Oh my god, oh my god-. El?"
Before her model friend even finished speaking, Eleanor was heading out of the party venue.
She had discovered something interesting in a freshman party photo posted on Twitter by her law school classmate Clemens moments ago.