"Alright, Guys, for the next meeting please read page 307 to 373. We're going to talk about the Rise of Early Modern Individualism and how the Early Europeans develop their new ideas and faiths that lead to their journey to the New World. Write a minimum two thousand-word essay of what you've read and don't forget to put your insights into it, we'll discuss it together next week. And if you write the right thing, I'll probably tell you why this is my fave reading."

Various expressions were heard throughout the class responding to her last sentence. Some answered simultaneously with a 'yes, ma'am' but then she chuckled at somebody muttering 'seriously?' while carrying their class' thousand-page textbook as if she had just said that a three-headed dog was a real creature, instead of a mere myth you would find in Harry Potter movie. Jisoo cleared her teaching equipment at the lectern, putting her laptop into the satchel bag while answering some students' questions about one or two statements she mentioned during the class. She made her leave right after everybody's gone.

A student from the university press media was waiting for her when she reached her office. She gave her the latest edition which covered her last speech at an international conference held by the Political Science and International Relations department last month. The university press was so eager to interview her after the speech since it was her first official appearance in front of the whole campus audience, plus the conference participants from all over the world since she got back from the US a year ago. And it was quite a talk, not because she was talking about the issues of moral rights through the Asian heritage or because she was practically the newly elected Head Deputy of the International Relations Office for the global university. The participants and additional invitees were crowding the auditorium hall because she spoke as the first professor of the Graduate School of Politics, Government, and Communication who specialized in contemporary political philosophy, ethics, and ancient Chinese philosophy, more to that, the youngest one in the history of Korean universities.

Jisoo thanked the third-year undergraduate Law student, who introduced her name as Gong Minji and invited her to come into her office to tell her about her article.

"We sold out this month's first edition for covering you as the face of the month, Professor. SNU and Yonsei had pre-ordered a hundred and fifty copies respectively since we posted the first sneak peek of your speech at the conference. We're currently printing five hundred more copies for the second edition to fill for KAIST, Hanyang, and Ehwa. We're so thankful for you, it officially broke the record of The Avengers: End Game." she told her excitedly.

"Good for you. You wrote a great article too, this is what you call an exemplary exemplification essay." she praised Minji's good work as she read the article the girl wrote about her.

The two-page article has one half-page picture of her delivering her speech and two other one-eight-page size pictures, one of which when she took a picture with all the conference committee after she got off the stage. The third picture caught her attention since it showed a scene where this certain audience was addressing his point of view toward the question before him. The picture was taken from the edge of the stage, so when it showed her from her side, it got a full front side of him.

Jisoo had no idea what made her lay her eyes on this particular man in the first place. Maybe it was because he sat next to Baekhyun, who had got her a mental breakdown after a shocking confession he told her before she got on stage. Like seriously, even right this second it's still hard to believe that Baekhyun would choose that exact moment when she was feeling highly nervous about the fact that she would be speaking in front of the high officials of the university, as well as the executive invitees and international audiences, to tell her that he was in the process of divorcing his veterinarian wife. She meant like, yes, she indeed still held that romantic feeling for him even though it was over for them as he decided to marry that girl when she was not in the country. And yes, she mostly failed to show that he was still that guy she had a crush on where she was supposed to get over him years ago. But Baekhyun was just a distraction, so yeah, maybe that's why she could spot that guy easily from where she stood.

Or maybe, it was because this particular man didn't make that face which the others would show when they heard about her education and career history. As the moderator recited her CV to the audience, she saw many heads turned to talk about it with the person sitting next to them, some of them cringed or showed an exaggerated muffled squeal to her summa laude on her double major degrees, but this guy was nodding his head listening to the moderator seriously with a small smile on his face. As if he mentally said that he was proud of her handful of achievements.

Their moment started when she was talking about the racial issues and cultural discrimination against Asians in the West while sharing an unhappy encounter she once experienced with a Trumpist coming from a racist background when she traveled to Singapore three years ago. One which involved hate speech towards a specific Chinese when she was Korean. On the question and answer session, one of her students from the International Relations department asked the first question.

"Professor Kim, I'm Kim Jongho from your Contemporary Law class, I hope you still remember me." she went from a nod to his introduction to scoff by the friendly address. It's nothing flirty though, or maybe it was, but she didn't take it too seriously.

Being a young professor on the campus had its perks in getting a friendlier relationship with her students, she was aware of how famous she was in this department. She was prominent in making a very boring class into some real fun, even the used-to-be unpopular class like the previous The Western Heritage subject managed to get a full house when she was in charge.

She had no idea if it was about her age or her method because all she did in the class was just have a discussion, tell stories, and make jokes with the students. But maybe those were exactly what made her likable when she tried to involve the students in every subject of the class and listened to them talk instead of the other way around. It felt like they were having a study group discussion among their peers.

"Your question, Kim Jongho?" she asked.

"Well, pardon me, Professor Kim. It's a little out of topic, but since we talked about the Chinese, I came to recall one of your lectures talking about Chinese democracy. So, why do you think China's government lets its students go abroad? Aren't they afraid they will come back as people prefer the freedom of information and democracy?"

She couldn't help to look at Baekhyun at the time. The man was smiling at the question and it was a coincidence since they had once discussed it when she wrote a paper on China's economic invasion of Asia early this year. She caught the look of the guy next to him, who showed a stoic face but seemed to wait for an answer from her.

"This is an interesting question that prompts us to reconcile the western narrative of 'democracy is the best medicine for you' proposition. I will even take it a step further; wouldn’t there be a brain drain if they found paradise and never wanted to go back? Humans are creatures of comfort and elsewhere who are always in need of intellectuals and expertise. It will take a day to discuss your question alone, but to answer it briefly, in the old days of dynastic and feudal politics, especially under the oppressive and corrupt Qing which was seen as a foreign power, these guys do go home with a revolution in mind. They come under different ideologies and are supported by different governments including Japan, strange bedfellows have different motives but some similar goals. But we have to concede that today’s Chinese government was the result of a successful revolution from the bottom up that defeated the Nationalist government on the mainland. This was bought at a great price by the Chinese people, spanning five generations from the time China became a republic. It sees itself as the successor state to all of the history of the Central Plains. The issue is whether it can deliver the mandate of the Chinese people and make China the pinnacle of human civilization again." she explained thoroughly. Baekhyun smiled wider at this.

"Sending students represents confidence in the system that these guys will return or even eventually return when the environment is conducive enough. It seems that they are very confident that this can be achieved. We are not witnessing an exodus of political or economic refugees. Restriction of information only works in a closed society where people have no idea what’s happening elsewhere. It is self-defeating and futile if massive numbers of people are constantly on the move, traveling and taking up residences outside the country, most of the time. This is a new metropolitan culture in the making. Freedom of information, on the other hand, is a magnified problem if you can’t speak or read Mandarin because Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google are not there. Within China, they have WeChat, Baidu, Weibo, etc, and that does just as well. Those will be on a personal level. I personally don't believe that a change to Western-style politics answers any of China’s problems or boosts their pace towards their goals. Chinese people are used to having the state playing a paternalistic role in their lives, this is their Confucius heritage. The mobility of the Chinese opens their minds to many new ideas and direct exposure to other cultures which may be superior to merely being reliant on official channels of information, fake news, or hearsay. As such, I believe that the main proposition of this question does not stand."

Jisoo ended her answer by gulping down a half bottle of water at the lectern. She saw how people were reacting to her long reply to the previous question. And she was about to cue the moderator to take more questions when the guy next to Baekhyun raised his hand. Jisoo nodded her head to invite him to speak.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Yixing." he said as he got the mic for himself, "And as you can see by my name, I'm Chinese." stating the obvious, which then invited people's laughter. "But I've been living here in Korea for about..." he paused to glance upwards, "A year and a half."

Jisoo raised her brow to his brief information, "For someone who has lived here for a year, your Korean is very fluent, Mr. Zhang. You might even speak better Korean than me." she joked, it's more directed to herself actually, so she was quite surprised to see people laughed at it.

"You have no idea. I didn't get to sleep for six months to learn your language, Professor," he confessed stoically, and Jisoo couldn't help to chuckle. "Anyway, I'd like to address additional insights responding to your speech on discrimination and your student's question if I may?" Jisoo waved her hand to let him do so, and Yixing started to speak facing her and Kim Jongho alternately. 

"I believe I am the type of person you are talking about, Brother." he said to Kim Jongho, "I completed my BA and MBA from Harvard University, so I would speak for those going abroad to study and who can speak up for themselves. So, um, before I came to America, I indeed thought the political model adopted by this country could largely resolve the societal issues we have back home. However, when I learned about Yu Liu and read her book 'Details of Democracy', I became skeptical of what America claimed, especially after reading more of her works and learning that she has been taking a pretty anti-establishment stand after she came back from America with her doctorate in politics from Columbia University. Contrary to previous materials I read, she attempts to approach some huge, abstract topics like 'democracy', and 'freedom' from personal experiences and negligible yet vivid figures in daily life, which makes her argument much more convincing. When I studied in America for five years, I met and talked to people from disparate backgrounds. Sure, I am moved by the diversity of this country and the pleasant harmony of the human race. I also enjoy unblocked access to all the information available. However, this does not hinder my growth of skepticism in the official accounts claimed by its government. I tell you what, people living in China have a romanticized view of Western countries and Western people in general. The best 'cure' for this romanticism is to actually live in a Western country for a few years."

By this moment, Jisoo was watching how all the heads now were directed to Yixing. He was the living proof of the answer they needed for Kim Jongho's question. And she couldn't help to be mesmerized by his charm as he delivered his speec