Episode 7
Connections
I borrowed Sangcheol's phone and made a
call.
"Hello?" "Senior..." "Who is this?"
A voice that stirred familiar, glad, and sorry emotions all at once flowed out.
"It's me, Sak." "..."
Even after I revealed my name, the other person remained silent for a long while.
"Senior Hui-ya..." "Hoo... Dongbangsak... right? You're not joking?" "..."
This time, I was the one left speechless. What was I supposed to say? To her, I was practically a criminal.
"Dongbangsak!! Aren't you going to say anything?" "Yes. It's me, Senior." "Where are you? Where are you!!!" "Senior. You're still at school, right?" "Don't tell me you're at school? Where! I'll come right now." "No. I'm not at school yet. If I were, I'd come see you right now."
"One hour. I'll wait. Fly here no matter where you are! Got it?" "..." "Aren't you going to answer?" "Yes. I'll come."
I finished the
call and handed the phone back to Sangcheol.
"What? What kind of call makes you look like death?"
Sangcheol studied my expression and asked what was wrong.
"A professor at Korea University." "What?"
It was Korea University, where only the nation's brightest students attended. At the mention of a professor there, Sangcheol's face filled with surprise.
"Wow! If you had connections like that, you should've used them sooner. Or not? Hmm. Looking at your face, there seems to be some history..."
At my still-clouded expression, Sangcheol started to get angry but ended up speaking carefully.
"Sorry... It's someone I should have contacted long ago... but I reached out too late... Sigh. Let's go to Korea University. We can probably do the experiments there, too."
"Really? It's going to be tough, but if it's someone you'd rather not meet, you don't have to."
"No. You solved the parts issue for me, so I need to handle this."
I reassured Sangcheol so he wouldn't worry, then rode the delivery truck toward Korea University.
"Where truth points, we stand." When the slogan engraved at the main gate of Korea University caught my eye, I truly felt that I had returned to my alma mater.
Just a few years ago, I had been a popular business school student on this campus.
Even after meeting Mijeong and getting married, I'd been quite popular. Many women had gazed at me with eyes full of admiration, thanks to my handsome looks and having monopolized the top spot in the department.
But that was all in the past. Come to think of it, I had never imagined returning here dressed like this.
'No. What's wrong with how I am now? It's just needless pride and vanity. Hold your head high, Dongbangsak!'
Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed in front of Sangcheol, I held my head high and walked toward the business school building.
[Professor Lee Hui-ya]
I stood before the door engraved with her name.
"Hoo."
Grasping the doorknob, I let out a deep sigh, steeled myself, turned the knob, and opened the door. There was no knock.
Whoosh! Thwack!!
A thick economics textbook flew at my face. Was it Mankiw's Economics? So they still use that, huh. I could have dodged, but I didn't.
"Dongbangsak!! You bastard!!!" Her shriek-like cry, slender yet full of life, dug into my ears.
"Sak! Are you okay? Hey! Your nose... What the hell? This!"
Sangcheol examined my face and shouted toward Senior Hui-ya.
"Who the hell are you?" "Huh? Ugh!!!" Sangcheol, the type who could endure his own humiliation but not his friend's, flared up and tried to step forward.
"Sangcheol. It's fine. It's my fault." "What?" "It's a long story. Could you... wait outside for a bit? If you wait in the car, I'll come find you when we're done talking."
I'd originally intended to have the driver wait, but worried Sangcheol might misunderstand, I had him come along. Now that he'd seen this, I figured it would be okay to ask him to wait.
"R... really? I don't know what's going on, but if something seems off, come out. Got it?" "Got it."
Sangcheol glared at Senior Hui-ya, then closed the door and went outside.
"It's been a while, Senior." "Senior? How dare you call me Senior." "Because you are my senior." "I heard the gist. Good for you. Just great. You foolish, stupid idiot!" "..."
"You fool... Look at you now? Was this why you did that to me back then? Was it!!"
Lee Hui-ya. When I had entered as a freshman, she had been the top queenka of the business school as a fourth-year senior, monopolizing the affection of the seniors back from military service. She didn't know how to adorn herself, but she was so beautiful that she shone even without makeup. Of course, I too had felt an attraction toward her like that.
"Listen up! Sak is mine! Don't touch him!"
The business school had been turned upside down by her sudden declaration.
Honestly, I had even thought of marrying her. It was true that I had spent good times dating her as well. We had been rumored to be the official top kingka-queenka couple of the business school. But back then, I had been under pressure from my mother to hurry up and marry.
Of course, when she heard my circumstances, she had shouted as if furious. "What kind of nonsense is that? Short-lived? So you have to get married?" "Yes. So you and I can't happen, Senior. You have to go to graduate school like this, and your dream is to become a professor. Your family is a family of professors, too..."
"Hey! If you don't like me, just say you don't like me! If anything, say you prefer younger women. Why are you spewing such nonsense, even bringing up family? And suddenly 'Senior'? Why are you speaking formally? Since when did you ever speak formally to me! Are you cutting me off already? What the hell!"
I hadn't expected her to understand my situation. To describe me back then... yes. Trash. I was trash.
No matter how much I thought about it, Senior Hui-ya standing before me was not a woman who should marry me and have children with me.
At that time, Mijeong appeared, and Mijeong and I even caused an accident, eventually becoming husband and wife. I must not have been in my right mind back then.
After that, rumors that she had been dumped by me struck Senior Hui-ya hard. The rumors were twisted and even spawned the story that she was a woman who couldn't bear children.
No matter how much she denied it, those jealous of Senior Hui-ya endlessly reproduced the rumors, yet even amid such gossip, she had silently finished her studies.
"It's been six years?" "Yes. Roughly that long..."
After she entered graduate school and began striving to become a professor, it became hard to see her.
I too forgot about her and enjoyed my married life with Mijeong. But I didn't know. That even then, the rumors would become thorns that followed her.
Past the age of thirty. Because of her title as a professor and the rumors from the past, her path to marriage was blocked. Korean men tended, surprisingly, to dislike women who were highly educated. Her life had been ruined because of her independent nature and the rumors that followed her.
"How have you been?" "Can't you tell? I'm doing fine."
Had she really been doing fine? After getting hired at a large corporation, I too had occasionally heard rumors about her.
Of course, the news that she had become a professor was good, but the rumors following her had not disappeared.
"What brings you here, all of a sudden." "I have a favor to ask." "Hah. The great Dongbangsak is asking a favor?" "Yes."
From her sarcastic tone, I could feel her pity toward me.
'She hasn't changed. Hui-ya...' She had been someone who hated words like 'Senior' or 'Noona' when we used to enjoy our dates together. When we were dating, that's why I had just called her by her name.
Even though I used the word 'Senior' now, in my heart, I still called her Hui-ya.
"What is it. Tell me." "I need to experiment with chemical
substances. I need help." "Huh? You, a business major, suddenly talking about chemistry?" "It's..." "Explain in detail. You know my personality, right?"
I knew. I knew all too well, which was why I hadn't been able to contact her. Although things had ended badly, she was someone who clearly separated public and private matters. I figured that if I explained the situation, even someone who was like an enemy to me would help.
"Hoo. I'm developing a product this time, and to make a prototype, I need a new material. It's an experiment to create that new material." "Product? New material? That's so sudden..."
Even for Senior Hui-ya, I couldn't explain in detail the product we were trying to make.
"If I explain, then you too would be drawn into our busi—" "In! I said in. That business. Let me join too." "Without even hearing what it is." "Because it's something you're doing. At the very least, it's something thought up by the guy who entered and graduated at the top of the business school; it's not going to be a mess."
"B... but... the prototype isn't even out yet..." "You said if we make it, that's that." She had made yet another abrupt declaration.
She had been like this in the past too; she was someone who didn't change even as she got older.
"Senior!" "Stop with the 'Senior.' Are you deliberately calling me Senior to keep your distance? I'm a professor at Korea University. A professor! If you think I'm going to be ruined because of the past, you're dead wrong."
"But I can't call you like I used to." "..."
The atmosphere grew subtle. Though she couldn't completely avoid the passage of time, the haughtiness befitting a professor seemed to make her even more beautiful in place of the youthful freshness from her college days.
"Anyway. I'm joining your business too, so keep that in mind. If not, I won't listen to any request!" A talent like her offering to help the business was something I should have welcomed with open arms, but it was indeed burdensome.
"How old are your children?" "...They're seven and three this year."
"I see. So that much time has already passed." "Yes..." I couldn't read her expression as she suddenly asked the children's ages. Leaving her expression intertwined with complex, subtle emotions behind, I said I would bring Sangcheol and stepped out of the professor's office.
"Did it go well?"
"Well... Sangcheol. Senior Hui-ya says she wants to join our business. What should we do?" "What? Wouldn't it be great if a Korea University professor joined?" "That's true." "We'd have to pay a fortune to recruit someone like her, and here she's offering to come on her own—there's no reason to refuse!"
"Is that so?" "You idiot. I don't know what history you two have, but I heard business has to be handled coldly. Get a grip!"
"Ah!! Right. You're right. What was I thinking?" This business wasn't just an experimental venture. It was a business that determined the futures of me, Sangcheol, Yul, and Geon. It wasn't something to be taken lightly, swayed by past emotions.
'Having you there is reassuring.'
I felt grateful to Sangcheol, who steadied me whenever I wavered. "Let's go, Sangcheol. We're going to strike it big!"
"Yeah."
I took Sangcheol and returned to Senior Hui-ya's office.
"Ahem. I'm sorry about earlier." "No, no. I didn't know you'd come with your friend, and I was worked up. I showed you an unsightly scene." "Hahaha. It's fine. This guy has always been one to invite a beating since way back."
Sangcheol was all too quick to diss me mercilessly when he should have covered for me. He was definitely far better at navigating society than I was.
'Yeah. Rip me apart. Rip me apart to your heart's content. May you become Hui-ya's personal jester from now on!'
It had become an absurd situation where I was cheering on Sangcheol as he dissed me, but I gladly sacrificed myself.
"As for the chemistry
lab, I'll need to look into that part first. A chemistry
lab isn't something even a professor can use freely, after all. I'll check if there's an empty lab and come back." "Yes, Senior. Please do."
Senior Hui-ya went out to look into the chemistry
lab.
"She's a beauty." "I know. She was the top queenka of the business school." "Is that so? But the atmosphere seems a bit... strange?"
Sangcheol's eyes turned sly. Surprisingly, Sangcheol was quick to catch on.
"Ahem. Don't ask. There's history."
"Hehehe. You'd better explain it to me later, hyung. Got it?" "If I get the chance..."
With a distant expression, I savored the scent of the perfume she had left behind and waited for her in the office.
Bam! "Sak! A lab opens up in a week. You probably won't be able to use it for long. I got permission for about three days."
"Really? Ah. Thank you." I had worried whether we could use a lab at Korea University, where so much research was conducted, but she blew away that worry in an instant.
'Three days. I have to do it within three days. I still have a week left, so I should study up during that time.'
Even if I knew the formulas, there was no way I, a complete outsider to chemistry,
could suddenly perform experiments.
"Senior. Could I use the school library?" "Why there?" "I was thinking of studying there after we finish."
Though I couldn't study for long because of the children, I had to study even for a short while.
If I could borrow books, it would be ideal.
"I'll give you my ID card. It lets you check out books, so use it for a week."
"Ah. Really? Thank you, Senior!"
I expressed my gratitude for her kindness.
"We're business partners now; this much is nothing." "Hahaha. You're right, Ma'am! You speak the truth." "Hohoho."
Sangcheol had smoothly settled on calling her 'Ma'am' at some point.
The children's pickup time was approaching, so we couldn't talk any longer and had to part ways with her.
"I'll come back tomorrow." "Yeah. See you tomorrow. And... never mind. Get home safe." "Yes..." "Ma'am, I'll see you next time!" "Hoho. You too, Sangcheol, get home safe."
After parting with her, Sangcheol poured out praise for Senior Hui-ya on the way home.
I was simply amazed at Sangcheol's social skills—there was so much to praise after meeting her for such a short time.
Watching Sangcheol, I fell into thought. 'This is only the beginning. I haven't even taken a proper step yet.'
The passion I had thought had died down was now beginning to spring forth again.