case 01

chapter 09: c h a n g e  e v e r y t h i n g

“Here you go.”

In what was a reflexive, harmless gesture, Seulgi took two bowls of mass-produced, cafeteria pudding from the wide steel tray, placing one bowl on hers and another one on that of whoever was beside her – that day, it happened to be Jaehyun.

Instantly, she felt a rush of cold wind. Part of her sixth sense made her turn around, and she found women in the cafeteria glaring back, staring daggers at her. Seulgi furrowed her brows, unsure of what she had done to evoke the hatred and distaste of half the university’s female populace.

“Guys, is there something on my face?” Seulgi asked, approaching the table where Yuta, Johnny, Wendy and Jungwoo had already gathered. Wendy had stuck her spoon into Jungwoo’s bowl of pudding, earning a steely glare from the latter. Johnny pulled her chair for her and Yuta passed her a bottle of water. Jaehyun plopped down on the seat next to her. Seulgi took a quick glance behind her – the numerous angry glares had deepened. “What on earth is going on?”

“This.” Yuta leisurely tossed a newspaper at her.

Seulgi scanned the bolded headlines, eyes widening. “‘Jung Jaehyun – the Prince Charming of Seoul University, the boyfriend you want but will never be able to get’,” Wendy read aloud, eyeballing annoyedly. “Fresh off the university press.”

Jungwoo grimaced. “Who even decides this ?”

“They went around collecting suggestions and conducting polls a couple weeks back, asking students who they found most attractive on campus,” Wendy said, recalling all the cringeworthy questions written on the whiteboard in her editorial office. It was times like that that Wendy regretted joining the school newspaper.   

“Sounds like exactly like something you’d do.” Yuta snorted and shook his head.

Wendy scrunched up her face. “It wasn’t me!” she insisted. “Listen to this – ‘Jaehyun, second-year at the School of Medicine, hailing from an influential family of doctors and lawyers, is a fatal combination of stellar academic records, princely visuals, and manly, rugged charms.’ Do you seriously think I’d come up with this bull?”

Shoving a mouthful of pudding into his mouth, Jungwoo shrugged. “I mean, you could’ve had a crush on him all this time. I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“Hey – Kim Jungwoo! You piece of !”

While Wendy and Jungwoo started a round of their regular bicker and banter, Johnny gave Jaehyun a nudge. The look they exchanged, Seulgi noted, was almost conspiratorial. “Good job, man,” Johnny high-fived him. “Bring some of your fans to one of our get-togethers next time. Sharing is caring, huh?”

Seulgi rolled her eyes. Her eyes inadvertently fell on her vibrating phone, where tens of messages popping up on her blue screen. Some were from her friends –acquaintances, rather– who begged to be introduced to Jaehyun, and others were from unknown numbers, containing rather violent content. Seulgi had a mind to take their asses to court and bankrupt them for all they had, but she also had fifty different exams to study for.

“People these days have nothing better to do,” she commented, switching off her phone. She extracted her textbook from her bag, sporting a frown.

“Aw, are you jealous?” Jaehyun teased.

“You wish,” she replied, amused and unaffected. “Taeil-oppa keeps telling me about how your assignments are always late these days. If you really are the ‘Prince of Seoul University’, shouldn’t you earn your title?” Seulgi snorted, eyes focused on her book. “Get your together.”

Jaehyun chuckled, and Seulgi didn’t need to look at him to see that he was probably smiling like the egoistic, self-absorbed she had the poor taste to call her best friend. He was, but what she also didn’t see was the shadow that passed his eyes, beneath his bright, mirthful smile.

“What a circus.”

Wendy stuck her spoon into Jungwoo’s bowl of pudding, earning a steely glare from the latter. Next to him, Seulgi set her tray down on the table. Johnny pulled her chair for her and Yuta passed her a bottle of water. The five of them sat around a rectangular table in the cafeteria, sitting down for lunch like they had been for the past decade and a half. They had been through the motions so many times that they were on autopilot. Though, there was one missing part.

Seulgi glanced at the empty seat next to her. “Where’s Jaehyun?” she asked, turning to the others.

“Who knows,” Yuta shrugged. “Probably napping somewhere. I’d be, too, if I’d seen the mess this morning with my own eyes.”

Wendy shook her head, unamused and slightly irked, mostly because Jungwoo had managed to snatch his pudding back. “At this rate, this building is going to be known for having loads of action. People are going to come in droves.”

Yuta sipped at his water elegantly, his pinky stuck upwards the same way it would when he held one of his vintage teacups. “As long as it makes us money,” Yuta replied nonchalantly. Johnny stretched an arm over Wendy’s head and high-fived Yuta. Wendy shook her head again, as if to say: Boys.

“I never thought I’d say this, Seul,” Johnny remarked, reclining in his seat, “but you couldn’t be more wrong – having Sungchan talk his parents into mediation?” Johnny snorted. “Honestly, I wonder if he’ll ever talk to them again.”

Seulgi exhaled a sigh. After the drama that had transpired in front of Jaehyun and Jungwoo’s office, she could understand Johnny’s skepticism. “It was worth a shot,” she replied. “It’s because this divorce proceeding is so emotionally-charged that it would be good for close family members to intervene, bring them to their senses, and steer them towards a proper mediation. It’ll be better for Sungchan, too. What do you think, Jungwoo?”

Johnny groaned. “Don’t ask him. He’s a shrink. Of course, he’s going to agree with you!”

“Naturally,” Jungwoo said.

“Thank you, Jungwoo,” Seulgi beamed, giving Johnny a triumphant look. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“In theory, it probably is the right practice. Though,” Jungwoo added, lifting his head to look at Seulgi, “I doubt the boy has the emotional maturity to rein his parents in.”

“Well, that’s where Jaehyun can come in, right?”

Yuta raised his eyebrows dubiously. “And you think Jaehyun has the emotional maturity?”

“He should,” Jungwoo deadpanned, “considering it’s his ing job.”

His remark sent the others erupting in peals of laughter. Seulgi felt slightly apologetic for stifling a laugh, but knowing Jaehyun, he probably wouldn’t mind.

Jaehyun a paper cup to the young boy doubled over one of the outdoor benches. Sungchan raised his head, bowing as he accepted the cup and its murky brown contents and tried to stifle a frown. Jaehyun could tell that the boy wasn’t used to cheap, freeze-dried coffee –Sungchan was essentially Johnny, but actually rich and not just a pretentious – and was just attempting to be polite. At least someone cared, even if the coffee he offered was .

Jaehyun reluctantly sat next to Sungchan. He wasn’t one to meet his clients, people related to his clients, or people trying to be his clients out of his office. It was something only, Jungwoo, Seulgi, Johnny, Yuta, Wendy –alright, everyone– did. In his defense, he didn’t like his worlds to intersect. He didn’t need better business prospects – he had enough money.

And so did Sungchan. Judging from Sungchan’s sullen, downcast expression, Jaehyun could tell that the boy probably also knew that sometimes money couldn’t buy everything.

“I’m sorry about what happened just now,” Sungchan mumbled. He daringly took a sip of his coffee, recoiling slightly when the sour, packaged taste of the coffee spread over his tongue.

There was no use telling him that it wasn’t his fault, Jaehyun knew. When you’re a kid in a ed-up family, you suddenly feel like you have to apologize for all their faults. He knew that well enough.

“What were they like?”

Sungchan turned to him, brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“You said your parents weren’t always like that.”

Sungchan looked at him, slightly startled by the reminder. Jaehyun knew part of Sungchan had probably thought Jaehyun wouldn’t have remembered. “Oh, right,” Sungchan replied, muddled. “Well, they’ve been like that for quite a while.” He tried to lighten the atmosphere with a chuckle.

Jaehyun raised his cup to his lips. “Well, you seem to have some good memories. Vivid, too. Vivid enough for you to come to me to try to help them save things.”

Sungchan nodded slowly. “When I was younger, at least, we used to go on family trips,” he recalled. “Sometimes to Jeju, sometimes to Busan. Places close by, because those were the places they’d go to when they were at the initial stages of their courtship. We’d go rowing, fishing, ice-skating – that’s where I picked up the sport. I remember my dad would tell me about how he’d go rowing, wind up down the wrong stream, and my mom would be so worried because she couldn’t find him.” He chortled bitterly at the thought. “And to think, now they’d rather be gone from each other’s lives.”

“My father had a few mistresses, but one day, he started bringing one of them home. My mother caught one sneaking out, and I lied to her and told her that she was my tutor. I thought it’d help things for a while, but one day, my mother caught him screwing her at home. It made it worse that she thought she was my tutor.” Jaehyun kept quiet. Sungchan shifted his eyes to him. “I know what you’re thinking – it seems ridiculous, considering what a dirtbag my dad’s become. But they’ve both got their vices – my father has his women, but my mother also has her men. She’s just more discreet, more, for a lack of a better word, tasteful.”

“This family,” Sungchan continued, “it you up. Everyone has so many expectations put on their shoulders that they tremble from the weight. When they tremble, they make mistakes. They hurt people.”

Jaehyun flinched. He had heard that before. Probably because he had been the one who said it.

Sungchan slowly rose to his feet. “It’s alright, Dr. Jung. Thanks for still offering your help,” he said, forcing a smile. He was trying to keep the levity in his voice, but it was already starting to sink down. “I’ll just live with it. I’m already ed up, anyway. Anything I try to do wouldn’t change a thing.”

“My life is ed up anyway,” Jaehyun chuckled bitterly, taking a swig from a green bottle. “What would anything I do change?”

As Jaehyun watched Sungchan’s retreating figure, a certain memory flooded into his mind. He could still hear her words as clear as day, ringing in his head and gripping at his heart.

“Everything,” Seulgi whispered. There was a sheen of determination shining in her eyes. “What you choose to do… It can change everything.”

Jaehyun trudged through the large, brass double doors, to the scent of grilled meats and kimchi wafting through his nostrils. There was a rushed patter of footsteps, and soon his mother’s face came into view, a wrinkled smile spread across her face.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming back today!” she beamed excitedly. She seemed to teleport to him, scooping his briefcase into her arms. “Thank god I made extra food!”

He raised a pink, lavishly-wrapped box. “Sooyeon-noona wanted me to bring you these.” Even he found the thought unbelievable. Sooyeon never would have waited an hour in line for macarons. He must have been insane.

But his mother seemed to believe it. Her son was back for dinner on a work day, and anything he brought was just a cherry on top of the cake. She bounced back to the kitchen, babbling happily about how those were her favorite macarons, and she should probably make some flower tea later to go with them.

Jaehyun followed her to the kitchen, glancing briefly at the living room along the way. It was as large, as ostentatiously decorated as he remembered, but oddly empty. “Where’s Dad?” he asked, more out of habit than curiosity.

His mother shrugged. Her face didn’t even darken anymore. “You know, one of his ‘business trips’,” Mrs. Jung replied. Jaehyun could almost hear the apostrophes.

“You should go on a trip too, Mom,” Jaehyun said, sitting on one of the seats by the counter. “Ask Sooyeon-noona and Soojung-noona to take you on one. They’ve got loads of free time, anyway.”

Too much free time, in fact. Way too much to not be spending it at home. He knew Soojung was in France and Sooyeon probably whisked herself away to Italy. They should have brought Mom with them, Jaehyun frowned. But he knew he wasn’t free from blame - it was the first time he had been back in weeks. He probably had gone to see Taeil more often than he had gone home. And he knew all three of them were like that for the same reason.

“I will, I will,” his mother said dismissively. “I need to find you and Soojung spouses first. I heard Soojung’s new