Before you knew it, a whole month had passed and life returned to the way it was before. Sort of, anyway. You didn’t lock yourself at home unlike the previous time and continued with school and work at the café. The only thing that changed was that Soojin became exceptionally clingy after that and refused to leave you alone. You didn’t complain though because you knew that she was just concerned about you. Plus, it wasn’t like you didn’t welcome the distraction especially during the first week or so.

Even though Soojin had tried her best to convince you that Junhyung didn’t deserve your friendship or worry anymore, your thoughts did wander to him ever so often. You still wondered whether he was doing ok especially since he had told you that the reason he got drunk was because he had an argument with a group member. You frowned a little before realizing that you had already reached your house. You shook your head to clear the thoughts and keyed in the code to open your door. You collapsed onto the couch. It had been a long day and it was nice to finally be alone again, not to have to smile and look pleased just so other people around you could function normally. It was nice to be able to be yourself.

That night, you fell asleep on the couch and woke up the next morning with a stiff neck. You took a hot shower and massaged your neck in hopes of soothing your sore muscles. It helped to relax the muscles but there was that lingering ache. You chided yourself mentally for allowing yourself to fall asleep on the couch. Thankfully, you didn’t catch a cold too.

Lecture had just ended and you and Soojin were about to exit the lecture hall when the Professor called you back. Soojin raised her eyebrows at you and gestured that she would be waiting outside. You nodded and walked back to where your Professor was, curious but slightly worried to be called back.

“Ms. Lee, what time do your classes end today?” Professor Cho inquired.

You did a quick mental check. “My last class ends at 3:30 today.” You answered.

He paused for a while, you were sure that he was checking his schedule mentally as well. “Ok, I have something to discuss with you. How about you come by my office at 4? Sounds good?” You responded with a quick nod. “Ok then, Ms. Lee. I’ll see you later.” He gave you a small smile and left.

You walked out of the lecture hall just a little after he left and Soojin immediately came up to you, wanting to know why Prof. Cho had wanted to see you. You shrugged. “I don’t know yet. He said that he has something to discuss with me and asked me to drop by his office at 4.” You gave Soojin a worried look.

“Oh, don’t worry. I bet it’s nothing.” She tried to comfort you but you could see that she was slightly worried too. Being called to any Prof’s office was almost always not a good thing.

After you last class ended, you and Soojin went to the cafeteria to grab a quick snack before she had to leave for work. Usually, you would head straight to the library after she left but today, you proceeded to Professor Cho’s office. You checked your watch when you were standing in front of his office and wondered whether he would mind that you were 5 minutes early. You hesitated for a few seconds before you finally decided to knock on his door. You reached for the door handle and open the door when you heard a muffled “Come in”.

“You wanted to see me, Professor Cho?”

He glanced up from his work. “Ah yes. Please take a seat, Ms. Lee.”

“Do you know why I asked you to see me today?” He started when you took a seat on one of the chairs in front of his desk. You shook your head. “Well, do you remember the report that I gave the class to do?” He continued and you nodded slowly before grimacing slightly – That was the report you were doing on the day that Junhyung decided to show up at your doorstep drunk. You ended up completing the assignment in a rush and handing it in even though you weren’t totally pleased with it.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked when he caught your expression.

There was an on-going debate in your head on whether to come clean or not. Eventually, you decided that it was better to admit to handing up a shabby piece of work than to get reprimanded for it. “About that piece of work, I need to say something about it. I did that report in a rush and it definitely wasn’t happy having to hand it in but because it was due and I didn’t have enough time, I handed it in anyway.” You hung your head in shame.

“Aren’t you interesting.” You heard amusement in his voice and lifted your head. True enough, he was grinning at you. “If you would let me finish what I was saying earlier, what I didn’t mention in class was that the report would also be used to assess everyone’s potential. The question that was set is a question that is typically explored at a Masters Degree level.” He paused, clearly enjoying your open-mouthed expression more than he should. “I was initially rather impressed by your interpretation of the question and the depth of your understanding and analysis you showed in your answer. But now that you’ve just revealed to me that this piece of work-“ He held up your paper. “wasn’t your best, I must say that I’m very intrigued.” He narrowed his eyes at you and studied you for a while.

You felt slightly uncomfortable under his gaze but kept your eyes straight at him and waited for him to speak again. “Would it be too much if I asked you to tell me right now, verbally, what you would have done differently if you had more time to finish this report?” His asked, sounding strangely hopeful.

You must have looked shocked or over-whelmed because he took a look at you and immediately said, “I’m sorry, I guess it is a bit much to spring this on you suddenly. I just got a little too excited at the possibilities and got carried away. My...”

“No, it’s not that. I just didn’t expect it. May I?” You pointed to your paper on his desk. You had handed it up a month ago and wanted to refresh your memory.

“Of course!” He handed your paper over and gave you some time to read it again.

It was already 5:30 when you finally left his office and your brain was swirling from the intense academic discussion and the information that he had left for last to tell you. You couldn’t think about it now though, you were already late for work. You ran off in the direction of the café. 

That night, you rolled around under the covers and thought about what had happened during the day. You were lucky that the café manager knew that you wouldn’t be late without a reason and let you off with only a reminder to call ahead the next time. What Professor Cho had told you though was far more serious and important.

*

“To add on to what I said earlier about potential, before I got carried away with this discussion, I find that you definitely possess the potential to go very far and would do very well if you choose to further your studies. Have you ever thought about continuing your studies?” Professor Cho asked, kindly.

“Actually yes, I have thought about it.” You paused, unsure if you should continue.

“But?” He offered.

“But I don’t have the financial means to do so. I’m only able to study here because I’m on a scholarship.” You continued.

He nodded in understanding. “I can offer you a full scholarship for you to complete your masters but it won’t be easy. For one, you will have to complete your masters in the US because the scholarship is sponsored by UCLA. For another, you’ll need to ace your finals. To be honest, looking at your school records, the latter shouldn’t be a problem for you.” He chuckled and gave you a meaningful look. “But how are you with English?”

“I’ve been taking English language electives actually because I heard that it would be better if you knew how to converse and write in English in this field.” You quipped before thinking.

Professor Cho chuckled. “You really are very interesting. And yes, you heard right but how are you with it? Have you mastered it?”

“I can write fairly well but I’m afraid I’m not fluent in it. It’s just harder when you don’t have people to practice with.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. You’ll get plenty of practice over there. Would it be safe to assume that you’ll be accepting this scholarship?”

You tensed slightly. You didn’t know how you mom would take to you travelling to Australia on your own. “Umm. I must admit that it does sound very tempting but I still need to discuss this with my mom before I make any decision…” You trailed off.

He sensed your hesitation and reassured. “Yes, I understand where you’re coming from. Don’t worry, you don’t have to decide now. Just give it some more thought, do your own research on it, if you want, and then discuss this with your mother. Do you think you’ll be able to make a decision in a month?”

You nodded, not knowing what else to say. He handed some information on the scholarship and the University before sending you on your way.

*

You let out a loud groan and pulled the blanket over your head. You didn’t want to think about it for now. You pushed the thoughts to the back of your mind and was grateful when sleep consumed you.

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When I wrote this chapter, I had no idea it would be so long and wanted to chop it up into 2 chapters but I just couldn't find a good place to break the chapter. So I decided to leave it as a bonus to all my lovely readers :) Love you all!