I woke up and checked my phone, it was 5 AM.

There were a few new text messages.

There were three messages from So Hee, and one from my mother.

I sent a message to So Hee saying that I’m starting work at the lab today, so I won’t be able to contact her often for the time being.

With five years of history between us, Hyun Woo himself also needed time to sort things out.

I ate cereal with milk that I bought yesterday and turned on my laptop to check my emails.

There was an email from my advisor with the lab location and start time.

It said that since he arrives at the lab at 7:30 AM as a morning person, I could come early too, and that he would issue me an access card when I arrive.

The lab was only a 15-minute walk away.

Considering the possibility of returning at night, Hyun Woo decided to wear a black hat and clothes when going out.

It might give a somewhat drab first impression, but after reading the precautions about the R District on the international student community and hearing gunshots last night, Hyun Woo chose safety over style.

He put his wallet and passport deep inside his bag and took out only $10 in cash to put in his pocket.

Since it was his first time, he left with plenty of time to spare.

Leaving the apartment at 7, the streets were messy with liquor bottles and trash as if a war had taken place, but there were no drunk or drugged people in sight.

Entering the Department of Neurophysiology building at the Harvard Medical School plaza, he went to find the lab of his advisor, Dr. Weinberg.

Perhaps because he had kept looking at the photos on the lab homepage, Hyun Woo recognized Dr. Weinberg at a glance and introduced himself.

Maybe because he had studied English conversation through YouTube and movies while coming to America, Hyun Woo was able to converse without much difficulty, and his advisor also complimented his communication skills.

And so began Hyun Woo’s first day at the American lab.

It was a lab that studied the mechanisms of alcohol addiction using various models including cell line experiments, mouse experiments, and monkey experiments. There were ten postdocs, five Ph.D. students, one technician assisting with experiments, and one personal secretary.

Hyun Woo received his access card and came to the lab earlier than his advisor to work, and also came on weekends to do experiments.

One day, he was so focused on experiments that he didn’t realize it was night and was robbed at gunpoint by a thief around midnight on his way home.

A black man who popped out of a small alley in R District showed Hyun Woo the gun hidden in his jumper and said just one word.

[Money.]

Hyun Woo had read and heard countless warnings on the international student community to never stupidly try to subdue a robber with Taekwondo like in the movies.

Hyun Woo raised both hands, closed his eyes, and pointed his chin toward the pocket where his money was.

The black robber took the “life money” of $10 from Hyun Woo’s pocket and disappeared smoothly.

After that incident, if experiments ended too late, Hyun Woo gave up going home and slept face down on the lab desk.

His advisor and colleagues were also shocked by the armed robbery incident. They said the R District was notorious for reckless driving and frequent murder and robbery cases, and told him to move to a safe area.

Hyun Woo also wanted to get an apartment in a safe area with a lush park, but the apartment prices were incomparably expensive as much as it was nice and safe.

The only way for Hyun Woo, who lacked financial flexibility, to survive was to protect his safety as much as possible while enduring the R District slums like Harlem.

And so March passed and April came.

The text messages sent to So Hee dwindled from one per week to even less.

He thought she would have noticed his choice from the distance and infrequent texts.

Considering their five years together, some nights he was torn by guilt and remorse, but he had to stay in America for at least four more years, and he couldn’t make her wait like that again.

He believed that since So Hee worked as a nurse at a university hospital, her income would be stable and she would find a good boyfriend.

He tried to offset his guilt by imagining the most ideal changes for So Hee, at least in his imagination.

Occasional messages came from Ha Yeon asking when he was coming to America, but he held back until he adapted to lab life.

After a month had passed and he was getting a bit used to life in America, Hyun Woo contacted Ha Yeon.

Thinking the weekend would be good, he sent a message on Saturday morning.

Surprised that he was in Boston, Ha Yeon asked for Hyun Woo’s phone number, and he gave it to her.

The phone rang right away.

[Oppa, when did you come? I’m totally surprised.]

“Yeah, I came in early March, but it took some time to adapt so I contacted you late.”

[I’m really disappointed. If you had told me in advance, I would have picked you up at the airport.]

“You must be tired from studying, I didn’t want to be a burden.”

[Oppa, don’t say that. It makes me sad.]

Ha Yeon said she was coming to see Hyun Woo right away, but he didn’t want to call her to the terrible R District slums.

[Do you live in university housing, oppa?]

“No. I got a studio apartment close to the Harvard Medical School building. It’s a 15-minute walk.”

[Then it must be in the Brookline area. I’ll go to the Fine Arts Museum near your school. Shall we meet for lunch?]

“Okay. I’ll wait at the main entrance at 12.”

He couldn’t tell Ha Yeon that it was the R District slums, not the wealthy neighborhood of Brookline.

Boston was a place where apartments of the same size across one street could differ by more than five times in price.

Hearing that he was seeing Ha Yeon again after 9 months made him feel a bit excited.

Hyun Woo took off his drab black clothes and put on jeans and a white T-shirt to walk to the Fine Arts Museum.

According to Boston tourist information, it was famous as one of the top 4 art museums in America and was only a few hundred meters away from the medical school building or his house, but he had never been there even once.

While waiting near the entrance, a luxurious Mercedes-Benz car stopped in front of Hyun Woo, the window opened, and Ha Yeon gestured for him to get in quickly.

Hyun Woo never imagined Ha Yeon would drive here herself, so he got in the car with a surprised look. Ha Yeon offered a handshake.

“Oppa, I should give you a big welcome hug American-style, but Boston drivers have no patience. If there’s even a little traffic, they honk and make a fuss. Let’s shake hands first, and I’ll give you a big hug when we get out.”

“I thought you would come by taxi or the Green Line subway. You bought a car?”

“I didn’t have a car at first, but my dad came to see me once and said it was dangerous, so he bought me one right away.”

As she drove, Ha Yeon explained one by one about the surrounding schools, museums, and large buildings.

Hyun Woo had also seen these place names and buildings while memorizing the Boston map, but seeing them while riding in a car felt new.

Seeing Ha Yeon again after 9 months, she seemed to have gotten used to life in America. Her skin looked more radiant and her face looked good.

Outside the window, Boston churches came into view, and after crossing the Charles River, MIT appeared on the right.

“Boston really is an education city. There are universities everywhere.”

“I know, right? I was surprised when I came too. There are many good universities.”

“I thought the Berklee College of Music here was the famous Berklee for classical music.”

“Oppa, the Berklee College of Music famous for classical is in Berkeley, California. The Berklee College of Music in Boston is good for jazz and popular music.”

Saying that as a senior in studying abroad, he must be craving Korean food by now, Ha Yeon took Hyun Woo to a Korean restaurant in Cambridge. It was even named ‘Corea’.

After parking the car and getting out, Ha Yeon raised both hands to Hyun Woo in a big hug pose.

He had never hugged her before, but he couldn’t awkwardly ignore her pose.

Ha Yeon hugged Hyun Woo tightly.

A nice fragrance stimulated Hyun Woo’s nose, and he could feel Ha Yeon’s shoulders and hair with his two hands that awkwardly hugged her.

“Oppa, you’re really tall. Hugging like this, my face is buried in your chest.”

Hyun Woo was 187cm tall and Ha Yeon seemed to be around 160cm, so unless he bent down, the pose looked quite strange.

So Hee was tall, so even when kissing, Hyun Woo didn’t have to bend down that much, but with Ha Yeon, there seemed to be quite a height difference.

“It’s nice coming to America. I can hug you like this, oppa. Hoho.”

“You must have had a hard time when you first came too, right?”

“I’m an English literature major, so I didn’t have stress over English. The dorm food was a bit tough, so after one semester, I’m living in an apartment near Harvard Square now.”

“Isn’t the apartment rent expensive there?”

“My mom came and bought me a place.”

Hyun Woo had momentarily forgotten that Ha Yeon was the daughter of the chairman of S Group, a major domestic conglomerate.

He vividly remembered the grand graduation party for her and the entrance ceremony for her younger sister Do Yeon held at the S Hotel, an S Group affiliate, but he had lived the past 9 months without seeing her, forgetting that fact.

“Come visit my place later. I’m not good at cooking, but for you oppa, I can at least make kimchi fried rice or bulgogi. Show me your place too.”

“… Uh, yeah. Later…”

Hyun Woo couldn’t bring himself to tell Ha Yeon that he was living in a shabby apartment in the R District slums, and inviting her over was even more impossible.

Ha Yeon ordered 2 portions of galbi and a kimchi stew.

Seeing the Korean side dishes again after so long, Hyun Woo felt an even greater longing for the Korean food he had missed, and his chopsticks started moving even before the galbi or kimchi stew arrived.

Ha Yeon’s eyes trembled wistfully as she watched him.

“Oppa, you really missed Korean food, huh?”

“Yeah, after eating only pizza slices, hamburgers, and chicken, tasting kimchi is so good.”

“You don’t cook at home, oppa?”

“I tried boiling ramen at home once, but the apartment residents complained about the smell so I gave up.”

Not only was Hyun Woo’s apartment small, but the ventilation was poor, so the food smells from next door or downstairs apartments wafted in as if they were right on his dining table.

In the apartment hallway, there was always the smell of mugwort from someone smoking marijuana.

On the day Hyun Woo boiled ramen, someone pounded on his door, cursing.

He couldn’t confirm if they were upset that a Korean was living in the apartment and there was an unfamiliar food smell on top of that, or if it was a drugged person picking a fight, but after that day, Hyun Woo gave up eating Korean food at home.

Watching Hyun Woo finish a bowl of rice with just the side dishes before the main dish even arrived, Ha Yeon spoke with a pitiful look.

.

.

.

“Oppa, come to my place on weekends and have meals together.”