Student Assistant
Roommates (dropped)"Hey," one of your co-student assistants pokes her head out from behind the door. She was in the same year as you were, and was one of the few girls in your batch who did not fawn over your roommate (she wanted someone older and manlier, or so she said.)
You pull away from the microscope, blinking back into the megascopic world of white walls and laboratory coats, and turn to her. "Yeah, what's up?"
She grins all-knowingly, "Guess who's here?"
You checked the clock: 11: 30 pm. With the deadline fast approaching, all the student assistants--including you--agreed to sleep over in the lab and work overtime (for an additional fee, of course).
"Lu Han," you answered, no hint of uncertainty in your voice. The deer had called you at least thirty times and texted you at least a hundred for the past six hours. You didn't know if your incoming headache was due to his incessant meddling or from using the microscope for nearly half a day. The colors were beginning to blur and you could hardly distinguish red from blue, and black from white.
She slumps her shoulders, her expression falling just as fast. "Aw, you're no fun. You're never any fun."
You give her a tiny smile and shake your head. "I know. Now get back to work, Sae Rin. Professor Shin needs those results."
Sae Rin laughs and gives you a stiff salute, "Aye, Aye, Captain." With a cheeky grin, she turns on her heels and disappears to the other side of the lab.
You're lost in the microscopic earth of crystals and colors when your roommate arrives. "Sae Rin said that her ideal man looks just like you: lab coat and all," he comments casually. "You're not actually allowed here, you know," you tell him, eyes still focused on your sample. "The microscope room is for employees only. Go stay at the lobby."
Lu Han laughs his melodic, songbird-esque laugh, placing something on the floor. "Sae Rin let me in; I even greeted Professor Shin and she told me to feel at home. You're the only one who said that I'm not allowed here."
"Really now?"
Lu Han takes a stool from the other table. He pulls it beside you, and plops down on it. "Yup! She also told me I could spend the night here. You're short of one hand, right? Since Jae Sook's sick and all."
You finally pull away from your microscope, swiveling your stool to face him. You look at him incredulously as the implication of his words dawned on you. Damn that Professor Shin and her weakness for Chinese men. "You're not actually suggesting that you help out, are you?"
He pouts, seeing the look on your face, "I've helped out here in the past--"
"Lu, bringing some pizza doesn't exactly count as helping out."
"It's moral support!" he defends himself, "And besides, I'm pretty sure I know enough earth-stuff..."
"Like what?"
Lu Han's head sways side to side as he pondered on your question. "Like...How you hate diamonds."
You open your mouth to counter and scold him, when he adds, "B-because they form under a ton of pressure! L-like if they were people. they'd be the type you hate because they fall under a lot of peer pressure and that their luster is really just a facade they put up to conceal their weakness."
"Why do you know that?" you asked him, referring to his analogy.
His cheeks slowly blush into the color of apple blossoms as he scratched his neck. "Your notes, remember?"
"Ah, right." How could you forget? Because of the horrible combination of being forgetful and messy, Lu Han often got one of your old notebooks in place of his missing ones (you always suspected that his notebooks never existed in the first place). You didn't mind, really, but what annoyed you was his unreadable handwriting and the unorganized manner by which he took down notes (sometimes the flow was downwards, and then sidewards,and sometimes the continuation of a sentence would be 13420394803924 pages away from where it left off). Deciding that there really wasn't anything you could do to argue with him (again, damn that Professor Shin and her weakness for Chinese men), you returned to your microscope.
You hear Lu Han stand up and take something from the floor. "I brought you some doughnuts," he said, peeking over your shoulder.
"Any more closer and I will punch you," you warn him, feeling him inch closer.
Lu Han stumbles back, sputtering out an embarrassed apology. "Sorry! I was just wondering what you actually saw there."
You turn around a hundred-eighty degrees and find him smiling sheepishly, a Dunkin' Donuts paper bag in hand. He notices you eye the bag. Smiling, he takes out the familiar box of dozen and places it on the table, beside your microscope. Opening the box, he gestures for you to come closer. "They're Monkey Bananas[1]! I added some matcha munchkins, too!" he tells you, showing off his purchase. And it was a good purchase, to boot, because matcha munchkins were great and Monkey Bananas were just as amazing.
You can't help but smile at your roommate and forgive him for his nonstop pestering. "If you didn't bring this, I might have thrown my phone at you. Imagine the look of annoyance on my face when I turned it on and discovered how many times you've been calling and texting me. Seriously, Lu Han, you've got to calm down."
Lu Han pouts again, handing you some tissue as well as a paper plate he'd brought along. "Is it wrong that I get worried? You always work too hard." He suddenly turns around, back facing you. "I don't like it when you're stressed."
"Yes, well--" you shove a whole munchkin in your mouth, "Forty-seven calls and one hundred-fifty texts just add to that stress. Totally unnecessary, man."
"Sorry, it's just..." he takes his seat again, "I get lonely when you're not around."
"Can't sleep at night," he mumbles, back still facing you. He was becoming conscious.
You swallow the munchkin and set the plate beside your microscope. You position yourself in front of the machine and get another sample. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor," you say, adjusting the focus. Lu Han getting lonely when you weren't around was a universal truth you accepted and acknowledged ever since your first overnight field trip. It happened every time you were away: he always looked like the morning you arrived. Also, without your permission, he'd steal your blanket, saying that it was an incredibly unusual cold night.
The squeaky sound of the pivoting stool distracts you from your work. You push off the table to give yourself a weak spin. Lu Han is there, lips curled in a golden smile. "I don't mind. I brought a sleeping bag with me. Although," his eyes cast downwards, towards the floor where your bag and still-rolled sleeping bag lay, "You won't be sleeping at all, will you?"
You shrug in reply, and tell him that he shouldn't be so worried and that it didn't matter. "It's Saturday tomorrow, anyway." Your words don't get through him, however, as he frowns.
Lu Han sighs. "Well, there's nothing I can do." He jumps off the stool and starts to roam around the small microscope room. It's just as big as your room and housed three microscopes--including the one you were using--two sets of longs tables that ran against the walls, a big table in the middle and some storage shelves. He stops at the glass cabinet across your table and scrutinises the fist-sized samples inside. "A deadline's a deadline, after all. Not even Professor Shin's going to sleep, huh?"
"Nope," you answer, mounting another glass slide on the microscope. You lean forward and look through the eyepiece, a plethora of dizzying lines, shapes and colours greeting you.
"You science people are craaazy," he laughs, sauntering towards his seat.
"Crazy but useful. This is for the betterment of humankind. And speaking of being useful, didn't you say that you were here to help out?"
"Shall I sing for you?"
"Shall I kill you."
Lu Han chortles, his blithe voice seemingly breathing life into the dull room. "I kid, I kid. What shall I do, Seonsaeng-nim?"
"Get me some green tea," you ordered through a smirk.
You'll teach him how to look through the microscope later.
[1] Dunkin' Donuts in Korea has this banana-shaped doughnut called Monkey Bananas. I don't know if they still sell it, but it looks pretty interesting (and cute!) I saw it here.
Author's Note:
Hi, all! Just a 'short' (idk why it ended this long huhu) chapter I wrote inspired by a friend who's studying to be a scientist.
I really really admire people who get into science. Despite what everyone says, I think scientists are one of the most creative people around. I mean, we wouldn't have the technology we have today if no one thought of a design for it, right? And it's not just technology. What I love most about scientists is that they continue to discover new uses and facts from things that have existed for ages. Of course, they discover completely new things, too. Pretty cool.
I'm still working on Taemin's story :( I lost my outline/draft, so I've sort of started over from where we left off. Huhu my heart hurts :(
Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you guys leave a comment or two :)
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