【Chapter 007 – And an Old Connection (1)】
Fortunately, I was able to avoid sleeping on the Harlem pavement.
When everything went pitch black from the blackout, some people came out of the building to check if other places were affected. One of them discovered me crouching in front of the apartment entrance.
Luckily, it was someone who knew that Mia and Jennifer lived in that building. At first, they looked at me with suspicious eyes, but after I explained the circumstances, they took pity on me.
My duffel bag and NYU ID card also seemed to help earn their trust.
The man let me inside and opened the front door, telling me to wait, and thanks to him, I was able to spend the night in the lobby.
It was called a lobby, but it was practically no different from a hallway. Of course, even that was enough to make me grateful.
“Huff, huff. Huff, huff.”
I wondered how much time had passed when rough breathing sounded right in front of me.
It was an unfamiliar place, and with the blackout plunging everything into darkness, I had stayed up all night with wide eyes. Then, seeing the outside growing dimly bright, it seemed I had unknowingly dozed off.
“Huff, huff—”
When I lifted my heavy eyelids at the sound of rough breathing, Jennifer Lin, dressed in a suit and holding a broken high heel, was looking down at me.
“Huff... huff... You were here like this all night? ...Sorry... I’m really, really sorry... I tried to get here as quickly as I could, but suddenly everything went pitch black... I couldn’t even catch a taxi.”
Soaked in sweat as if she had just finished running a marathon, she explained, her face almost in tears.
The prim first impression was nowhere to be seen, and looking at her with her drowned-puppy face, I almost ended up feeling sorry myself.
“Good morning.”
That was the second greeting I exchanged with her.
---*---
Monday morning, many places had returned to normal, but some areas still had no electricity. There were still subway sections that hadn’t resumed operations, so I had to take a taxi to school.
“Luckily, the school has power.”
“What about the dorms? How were the dorms?”
“Hayden Hall had its own generator, so it was fine. Still pretty dark, though.”
“Heon, what about you? Were you okay over there?”
We weren’t the only ones talking about the blackout.
Similar conversations could be heard everywhere around campus.
It was clearly an unfortunate incident, but that didn’t mean it was all bad. Since it was the beginning of the semester, kids who had been awkward with each other seemed to grow closer a bit faster because of this.
Come to think of it, I think it was like that back then too.
“So you spent your first moving day in front of your apartment building?!”
As we shared what each of us had gone through over the weekend, Sein asked in surprise when my story came up.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
This time, it was Donguk.
“Later on, the phones weren’t even working. I’m fine. It wasn’t that bad.”
“So? That roommate of yours didn’t come until morning?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s terrible.”
“No. She had her circumstances.”
Mia and Jennifer, both from Connecticut, had graduated from the same high school in the same year and then gone on to Boston University.
After graduating from university, Mia entered NYU Law School and immediately applied to the master’s program. Meanwhile, Jennifer had worked as a secretary at a law firm in Boston before getting accepted to Columbia Law School this year.
Last Friday, Jennifer had been on her way back from meeting former coworkers in Tribeca when the blackout hit.
“So she walked from Tribeca? All the way to East Harlem?”
“She must have run. She was soaked in sweat.”
“It’s quite a distance even for a man to walk. Even though it was morning, it must have been dangerous with the blackout.”
As Michael said, it was a distance that would take a solid two hours even walking nonstop. I didn’t know when her high heel had broken, but the journey had clearly been no easy one.
After hearing the detailed explanation from her, I realized that I, who had been able to wait behind the front door, had actually been more comfortable.
“If it were me, I would have given the key beforehand.”
“Hey, you’re the one who shook your head saying how could you live with an opposite-sex roommate; as if you would’ve given her the key first.”
“If I decided to live together, I would have given it.”
“I don’t think so. I feel like you’d tell her to ring the bell and only come in when you’re home.”
“How do you know?”
“You seem like the type.”
“What type is that?”
“The type that’s a bit of a neat freak. Doesn’t really like guys.”
“I like guys, you know.”
“Was that just a confession? Are you saying you’re a girl who goes after guys?”
“Hey, Michael!”
Pfft—
Even when the situation changes, people don’t change.
It felt like these two would be bickering in this life too.
“Yeah, there will be a lot of people with stories because of this blackout. It was unprecedented.”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Well then, shall we all go in? It’s about time class starts.”
Monday was the day I took Lawyering together with Donguk, Sein, and Michael.
***
Lawyering was the only class among 1L courses that ran consecutively through the fall and spring semesters, a time designed to help develop the practical skills needed by a lawyer.
Its purpose was to teach everything from drafting legal documents to conducting client interviews, research, and giving legal advice, while also allowing students to indirectly experience situations they might encounter in actual negotiations or trials through simulations.
Slightly over thirty students formed one “section” and stayed together for the entire year; I was included in the Monday morning “section” with Donguk, Sein, and Michael.
I hadn’t done it on purpose, nor was it something I could do just because I wanted to.
The sections for Lawyering were pre-assigned by the school.
“Wow, but how did we all end up in the same section like this, all Koreans.”
“I know, right.”
“There are more Korean students.”
“I mean people who are comfortable speaking Korean. Right? Heon, Michael, are you guys more comfortable in English?”
“No. I’m more comfortable in Korean too.”
“I’m ambiguous with both. Hehe.”
I was definitely more comfortable in Korean. It wasn’t a matter of language proficiency. It was a matter of culture.
While we chuckled at Michael’s witty answer, Professor Heyman Lark and the TAs entered the classroom.
“Hi, everyone. I don’t think introductions are necessary since we did them at orientation, so let’s get straight to class. You all read the Chimel v. California case, right? Who can briefly summarize the facts and issues of the case?”
At Professor Lark’s request, I raised my hand first.
The most surprised by my sudden action were Donguk, Michael, and Sein, who were sitting next to me.
“Yes. Your name was Heon, right? Then Heon, can you summarize as briefly as possible?”
“Chimel v. California is a 1969 Supreme Court case in which police, carrying an arrest warrant, went to the home of the petitioner Chimel, who was identified as a suspect in a coin shop robbery, and obtained evidence of the crime while searching the house without a search warrant. The petitioner claimed the search was illegal and requested that the evidence obtained at the time be excluded from the criminal trial. The issue of the case was, ‘Does the police’s warrantless search of a suspect’s home violate the Fourth Amendment?’”
I wasn’t originally the type to actively volunteer before being asked, but I wanted to live differently this time.
“Good. Brief and neat. Then while we’re at it, can you tell us the holding of the court as well?”
“Yes, I will. At the time, the Supreme Court......”
A strange exhilaration blazed in my chest.
It wasn’t as if I was presenting something the kids didn’t know, nor was it being graded, but something about this time felt like I was doing it right.
“Thanks for the neat summary, Heon. Now then, can someone else talk about the court’s dissenting opinion?”
A feeling as if I were truly living that moment.
It was a slightly overwhelming yet satisfying feeling.
***
After the three-hour Lawyering class ended, we headed to a pizza place in Greenwich Village for lunch.
“They really opened here. Most restaurants were closed all weekend because of the blackout.”
“Probably because they have a brick oven.”
“Ah, is that so? Ah, but there are really a lot of people.”
It was already a famous place, but with so many others closed, it was even more packed that day.
We ordered one pepperoni pizza and one Hawaiian pizza to go and found a spot in a nearby park.
“Hey, I didn’t know Heon had that kind of personality. You’re just full of charm.”
When Dongwook threw the joke out while picking up a slice of Hawaiian pizza, Michael chimed in.
“Right. You were that type?”
“What type is that?”
“The ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ nerd type.”
“Yeah, I’m the nerd type. So what?”
“I knew.”
Even Sein, who had been quiet, cut in.
“Really?”
“During criminal law, Professor Madison from constitutional law came in as a substitute and threw out a question, and he answered as if he’d been waiting for it. If he hadn’t been called on, he probably would have raised his hand and done it anyway.”
“Sein, even you?”
“Ah! So that’s how you got the research assistant position!”
After the hectic weekend with the blackout,
I was spending such a lively Monday.
Until the old lover I had momentarily forgotten called.
Ring, ring—
“Someone’s getting a call.”
“Who is it?”
“I think it’s Heon’s.”
“Mine?”
An unknown number.
“Who is it?”
“It’s an unknown number.”
“Could it be someone calling about the room ad you put up?”
“I already took them all down.”
“Maybe they saw it before you took it down. Don’t answer if it’s annoying. I get a lot of weird calls too.”
It was an unknown number, but strangely, it felt somehow familiar.
Who is it...?
“Hold on. Hello?”
The moment I pressed the call button, a familiar voice burst out.
“Hey! Jaeheon! Are you seriously doing this to me?”
Ah... so that’s who it was.
“You said it’s been over a week since you got your phone set up! I thought maybe something happened and you couldn’t come to New York! What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you call me? If you came to New York, shouldn’t I be the first person you contact? Jaeheon! I contacted your mom and got this number. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Jeong Sujeong...
“I was going to call once things settled down.”
“Ah— I’m upset. Ah, I’m really upset. What’s with this not-even-sorry voice? Hey, where are you? At school? I’m coming to you. Where are you?”
My old love.
And an Old Connection (2)
Sujeong and I met in high school.
When I transferred from Korea to Cardinal Secondary School in Toronto, she was already a student who had been attending the school for about two years.
She was the first person to approach me when I was struggling to adapt to school life, having gone abroad at an awkward age.
To me, who knew nothing but studying, she introduced her friends and taught me the things she knew.
If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have adapted to life abroad so quickly.
“Hey! Jaeheonje. You really... wow, how could you do that? Why didn’t you call me?”
‘Jaeheonje.’ There was only one person in the world who called my name like that.
Having hung up, Sujeong ran to Washington Square, in front of Vanderbilt Hall, in no time.
“I told you. I was going to call once things were settled.”
“Until when were you going to wait for things to settle? And settle? Hey, you should have contacted me the moment you got off the plane.”
“How could I call the moment I got off the plane when I didn’t have a phone?”
“Then you should have called the moment your phone was set up. Is that what our relationship is like? What about your place? Did you find a place?”
“I did.”
“Where?”
“East Harlem.”
“Hey, that’s far. Did you sign the contract? Did you already pay? Can’t you get out? I looked into rooms near where I am because I heard you were coming...”
From favorite music to movies, comics, and the one and only sport we liked. We clicked from the start.
Talking with her was the most fun, and she seemed to feel the same.
As if to say what would we have done if we hadn’t met, we were always together.
There were guys who teased us, asking if we were dating, but the two of us didn’t really pay attention to such talk.
It was simply fun and nice to be together.
Truthfully, I think I already had feelings for her back then. I just pretended I didn’t.
I think I was afraid that the moment I acknowledged my feelings for her, the relationship would grow distant.
After spending three years together that felt like ten, I went to the University of Toronto, and she entered Parsons School of Design in New York, and we grew apart.
Of course, even after entering university, we called and emailed each other periodically, but it definitely couldn’t be like before.
Two years passed like that.
Around the time I had grown used to being apart, she came to visit Toronto.
She said she had come to spend the end of the year together because Naeun, who was closest to her, was in Toronto.
That was when I first heard it—that she had liked me too.
At the year-end party held at Naeun’s house, she spoke to me as if reminiscing about the past.
Thinking back now, that was a confession.
I didn’t know then—why she was saying those things to me when she was going back to the States the next day, or what I should do, how I should respond.
Still, I think I vaguely planned it from then on. That if I went to law school, I would go to New York, where she was.
That was our fresh, youthful past.
“Hey, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“I’ll show you.”
“What?”
She said to me with the exact same face as when I had first transferred to Cardinal Secondary School.
“New York.”