“I don’t know, Chu, it sounds almost too good to be true.” She twirled her pen, lightly tapping her foot against the leg of her desk.

“C’mon Jendeuk, this is amazing! This is literally the opportunity of a lifetime, too good to say no to.”

“Okay…but why us? What makes us so special?” her voice was hesitant, quite the contrast to Jisoo’s overexcited one.

“Jennie Kim, you’ve got to be kidding me, this is our dream and you’re hesitating?! Where’s the Jennie I know and love?”

“Chu, babe, I’m kidding.” She giggled, finally stopping her little act. “Of course I’m saying yes, this is insane!”

“Ahhhhh, we’re gonna be coworkers! They want you to come down sometime next week to go over our contracts and responsibilities. They also want us to decide on a research project, the sooner we can start applying for grants, the better.”

“Good thing we already have lots of ideas then. But seriously, Chu, how is this happening? We’re way too young to be associate professors.”

“Well, it’s a small-ish university, they had a few open positions, they were really impressed with our last few research papers, and we got a good recommendation from professor Choi. I know it’s not exactly Harvard, or Cambridge, or even SNU, but it’s a good opportunity for us, and we’d never get this chance anywhere else.”

“I can’t believe this, I’ll get to be an associate professor and work with my best friend, what’s the catch?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a big city, and it’s not a top university, but I don’t even care, I’m just so excited.”

“Jendeuk and Chichu, taking over the world, one university at a time!”

“Booyah! I gotta go, but I’ll see you down here next week, love you.”

“Love you too, Chu!” Jennie hung up, loudly squealing as she tried wrapping her mind around what had just happened. She’d worked so hard for this, spending her whole life with her head buried in a book, going straight from high school to her undergrad to her postgrad to her PhD, having worked in academia since she finished her doctorate. Luckily for her, she’d met her best friend, Jisoo, during her undergrad, and they’d stayed together since. And now, holy Jesus, now she and Jisoo were moving to a whole new town together, becoming associate professors together at the age of 30, co-teaching a class covering a topic they both loved, getting paid to do research that she’d gladly have done for free!

Dreams really do come true.

***

She pushed open the polished wooden door, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light which stood in stark contrast to the blaring sun outside. The bar was nicer than most bars she was used to going to during her undergrad days; it was spacious and quite modern, despite clearly wanting to seem old fashioned. The bar itself consisted of a long wooden bar top accompanied with comfortable looking stools, rows upon rows of liquor lining the wall behind the bartender. There was a pool table, and a Ping-Pong table, a soft smell of leather and alcohol, and instrumental music being played in the background, the soft sound of chitter chatter barely being heard.

“Could I get a G&T, please?” she jumped up on a stool, smiling politely at the bartender who nodded at her, before her eyes scanned around the bar.

It was July, still a while be