The Trades We Choose | Jensoo

Chapter 2: Worth It

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Carl Jung

-

There really is a huge difference between hearing the job market for college graduates is pretty much nonexistent and actually living it. For whatever reason you'd thought this wouldn't apply to you. You'd gone to school under the journalism field and graduated Summa Cum Laude. You had been through plenty of internships with professional news stations and you had prior experience in front of a camera, so you'd been sure you would be hired when you graduated.

You'd been wrong. And because working on minimum wage was not going to keep an apartment in Itaewon, (regardless of how shitty the apartment was) you'd had no choice but to give up your cozy abode and move back in with your father.

Seunghyun was more than happy to have his daughter home and you really did love your father. You did. But the freedom you'd gotten living on your own, even though you hadn't really been that far from home, had been a blessing. Your father meant well, but he was entirely too overprotective.

Furthermore, you needed a job. A real job that would make you a real and decent amount of money. Your best option for that was to ask Lisa. Lisa was 5'4, the type that's all brains and witty remarks. She is your best friend. You felt bad asking her to help you with your job hunting, but Lisa was crazy tech savvy and could do this a lot easier than you could.

Lisa, of course, had been glad to offer her services. She asked you to meet her for coffee at Starbucks, more than aware of your (which was absolutely non-existent regardless of what they may try to tell you) addiction. You meet her there on a Sunday, and she already has your Caramel Frappuccino sitting waiting for you with her laptop open, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"I'm so sorry I'm late." You tell Lisa breathlessly. Yes, it was way more environmentally friendly to ride a bike around the city, and also it saved a girl a lot of time from sitting in the devastating traffic as well as money on gas. But by the same token, it could get seriously tiring when you were struggling to make it to a Starbucks on time when you'd told your friend you'd be there 10 minutes ago.

"I knew you would be. Don't worry about it." Your cheeks flush at the thought that you being late for things was becoming an expectation. You sit down next to Lisa and scoot your chair right next to them.

"Anyway," You start to change the topic. "How are things with Chaeyoung?" Lisa's fingers pause from flying across their laptop for a moment at the mention of her girlfriend, before they go back to typing whatever they were working on, you don't look at the screen, respecting their privacy.

"We're great actually." She saves and closes her document, before turning to you. "You know, I thought it might be weird. I mean, I've known her for like, ever. I thought us being together romantically might be a bit awkward. But, it feels like we've been dating for years. It feels so right. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do." You tell her. What Lisa and Chaeyoung had was kind of something you longed for. You'd seen, for years, the lovesick looks of Chaeyoung Park (your floor during your first year of college) and Lisa had tossed at each other when she thought no one was looking. You never felt the need to push them to get together, you figured one day they'd open their eyes a little and realize the both of them shared the same affections for one another anyways.

It had worked out for them, too. Their relationship was honestly adorable. You felt admittedly pathetic wishing someone looked at you like they looked at one another. You're sure you're not jealous, you're just in love with the idea of someone caring for you that much... How could you not want something like what Chaeyoung and Lisa had?