[Episode 23 – What Happened at the Freshman Party (3)]
“Oh my, I think the sun is already rising.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
“How long has it been? I think this is the first time since I got married that I’ve stayed up all night talking with someone.”
“I think it’s been a while for me too.”
The dark window had taken on a deep blue hue before they knew it.
Sujeong and Goeun talked without realizing how much time had passed.
The conversation that started with talk about romance continued ceaselessly to favorite movies, music, and even private family matters, and by the time morning came, the two had become New York’s “best friends.”
“So what are you going to do? Are you going to confess?”
“I don’t know yet. Do you think it’s a good idea for me to do it, unni?”
“I’ll support you no matter what you do.”
“I really don’t know. Actually, I was so happy when Heon said he was coming to New York. Heon definitely seemed happy too. So I thought it would be really nice when he came. I thought that if he just came, if the two of us were together in New York, we would naturally start dating. Without anyone having to confess to anyone, just… like it was always meant to be. Am I funny?”
“No. You’re not funny. Who would turn down someone as kind and pretty as you? That’d be an idiot.”
“Hahaha. An idiot?”
“Exactly. That’s the conclusion this reaches.”
While the two women were reaching this agreement, “Woman 3,” who had been lying on the sofa, got up.
“Ah—my head hurts. What time is it?”
“Oh my, our Miss Tojjaengi woke up? It’s seven o’clock.”
“Sein, are you okay?”
---*---
Flash.
‘Where am I?’
When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar scenery entered my view.
A high ceiling, unfamiliar furniture, and…
‘Eleanor?’
Ah, right. Last night I came to Eleanor’s apartment in Chelsea.
We talked about this and that, and I fell asleep sitting on the sofa.
‘How did I fall asleep?’
It was a really comfortable sofa.
Though I was tired too.
‘But why did she fall asleep here?’
If I had fallen asleep first, she could have gone to the bed, but she was sleeping sitting in the other corner of the sofa.
I sat still for a while, afraid I’d wake her if I moved, and looked around the room.
It was a studio-type apartment, so everything was visible at a glance.
It was spacious. Even accounting for the fact that it looked spacious because there were no separate rooms, it was a large space for one person.
On one side, there were her photos. Not hung on the wall, just placed on the floor. In them, she was as glamorous as a celebrity.
I also noticed a phonograph and many LPs and CDs.
There were a few flower pots by the window.
Surprisingly, there weren’t many clothes.
It felt very different from the East Harlem apartment where three law students lived together.
It was truly the kind of space that looked like a professional model lived there.
Though she was a model.
“Good morning.”
While I was looking around her room, she greeted me as if she had been awake for a while.
“Good morning.”
“We fell asleep.”
“We sure did.”
“Were you uncomfortable?”
“This sofa is really comfortable. It feels like I slept in a bed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“The bed is more comfortable, though…”
She turned her head and pointed to where the bed was.
Actually, we hadn’t come here immediately last night.
We stopped by a pizza place she knew first. We ate a late-night snack there and talked about this and that, but around 2 a.m. the store closed and we had to leave, and she explained that her studio (studio-type apartment) was nearby.
There weren’t really any other options. I felt bad saying no, as if I were rejecting her invitation twice.
So I came. I was tired too…
“It looks comfortable. Big.”
“Big enough for two.”
“Hmm… yeah… Is it queen-sized?”
“King-sized.”
“Ah, I see.”
I didn’t think that meant we’d end up sleeping.
Rather, last night things were fine, like we were comfortable friends, but now that we were facing each other in the morning, it was slightly awkward.
“It’s morning.”
“So?”
“Want to go get coffee?”
“We have coffee at my place too.”
“Ah. Uh… I was just thinking of going out for breakfast. I’m hungry.”
“Even after eating all that pizza last night?”
“Well then, should we just have coffee?”
Pfft—
She laughed as if amused, perhaps because my behavior was awkward.
“Fine, let’s go out. You don’t seem to have any intention of trying out how comfortable my bed is.”
At her response, I quickly got up.
Then Eleanor called out.
“Heon.”
“Yeah?”
“Just know this.”
“What?”
“If after three months you’re still going to keep things this way, I think my pride will be very hurt.”
*
“Today was fun.”
“Me too.”
“Then get home safe.”
“Bye.”
We had brunch at a small cafe near Eleanor’s house and parted ways.
Then, while heading to the subway to go to the East Harlem apartment, a familiar sign caught my eye.
Only then did I realize where I was.
It was the neighborhood where Sujeong’s apartment was.
Since it was night, I hadn’t recognized it properly yesterday.
No wonder there had been familiar corners since a while ago…
Buzz— Buzz—
｢S｣
The initial on the phone screen.
It was Sujeong.
“Hello.”
—Did you get home okay yesterday?
“…Yeah.”
—I heard Michael took you back to the dorm because you were drunk?
How did Sujeong know that?
—Yesterday both Sein and I slept at unni’s house.
I see. I thought it would end early if I left, but it didn’t.
—Sein found out this morning after calling him.
“I see.”
—So weren’t you late? Did you get home okay?
“I wasn’t late.”
—That’s a relief. Seheon, are you going to school today too? You said yesterday you might go.
“No. I’m planning to stay home today.”
—That’s perfect. I’m on my way there now. Let’s eat together.
At that moment, I realized.
That my intention to act considerately might have been wrong.
“No, don’t come. I’m tired, so I’m just going to sleep today.”
A Petty Lawsuit (1)
There was a Procedure (Civil Procedure) class on Tuesday morning.
I arrived early and was eating a cream cheese bagel in the courtyard when an unexpected person appeared.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I skipped Lawyering yesterday.”
“Exactly. You skipped one of the few classes we have, so why did you come to school on a Tuesday morning when you don’t have class?”
“Catherine saw me.”
Catherine was our group Lawyering TA.
“Huh?”
“She said she saw me at the Sunday party.”
On Saturday, there was a law school freshman party hosted by several male students living in Clemens and Hayden dorms. On Sunday, there was a party hosted by medical school freshmen near Union Square.
It seemed he had gone there and met Catherine Bayak, our group TA.
“So why did you go to the med school dorm kids’ party?”
“You never know. What kind of connection might be there.”
Actually, law school and medical school seem unrelated but are connected.
Besides the commonality that both are schools training professionals, there is a kind of mutual, reciprocal relationship where they want to interact with each other—should I call it an unspoken “respect”?
Of course, they sometimes have pride battles about whose field is superior, but they are closer to each other than other departments or schools, to the point of throwing joint parties at the end of the year and end of the semester.
“You wanted to drink again after drinking so much on Saturday?”
“Ah, right. You took me back to the dorm, right? Thanks, bro. If you hadn’t, I might have been kidnapped and had my organs harvested while sleeping in the Rabbit Hole bathroom. I owe you one, bro.”
“I’ll buy you a meal later. But what does Catherine seeing you have to do with you coming to school this morning?”
“I got a threatening email from Catherine yesterday. She said if I don’t submit the homework that was due yesterday by this morning, she won’t accept it. She knows all about me skipping class to drink on Sunday. So I stayed up all night writing it and brought it.”
“So that’s why your face looks like that.”
“Ah—I’m going crazy. Drinking for two days, then staying up all night again to do this. I’m going to submit this today and go get some real sleep.”
“Don’t you have Crim in the afternoon?”
“My Crim professor won’t know I was drinking, so it’s fine. Ah! Heon, there’s an MBA kids’ party this Friday, want to go together? They definitely have a lot of money. I heard it’s at some high-end bar on Wall Street.”
“I’m good. I’ll pass.”
“You never know. They could all become our clients later.”
“People you meet at a party?”
“Yeah.”
“You said your dream is to be a criminal lawyer.”
“White-collar criminals are worse guys.”
“So you’re trying to get to know potential criminals in advance?”
“Well, that’s part of the intention. But dreams and reality are always different. Who knows, in about five years I might become a divorce lawyer. Professionals have high divorce rates. And above all, divorces involving professionals are profitable.”
“What? Hahahaha.”
Come to think of it, he already knew even then. That he would later become a divorce specialist.
“What? Why are you laughing like that?”
“Nothing. It’s just fascinating. Keke.”
“What is?”
“Just… what you’ll really become later.”
“Why so cryptic. Ah, by the way, didn’t you get an email from my brother?”
“Your brother? The one who works at Kirkland?”
“Yeah. He read the brief you wrote and was impressed, so he asked for your contact info to give to his firm’s recruiting person. I gave it to him. Then he said he’d email you to reach out first, but it didn’t come?”
“I didn’t get an email like that.”
“Really? I even confirmed yesterday that it was the right email.”
“I didn’t get it. That kind of email… Ah! Is your brother’s email [email protected]?”
“Ah, crazy. Why did he send it from that email. Stupid.”
“Is that really your brother’s? I thought it was spam and kept sending it to junk mail.”
“That’s it. Send one if you’re interested. I’m not interested because my brother works there, but Kirkland is top tier, after all.”
Kirkland & Ellis is indeed top tier. As of 2012, first-year associate salaries were $180,000, exceeding the New York law firm average.
“That’s not it.”
“What?”
“It’s not that you’re not interested because your brother works there; it’s that Kirkland isn’t interested in you.”
“Heon.”
The guy suddenly frowns.
‘Is he offended? Did I make a mistake? From his perspective, we’ve only known each other for about a month and a half.’
“Good point. You really have insight. You’re going to be a great lawyer.”
That’s right.
In this life, I definitely will be.
“You too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Michael, you’re going to be a great divorce lawyer.”