Yeju
"My Ju-Zi!"
Mom's voice thunders from the car speakers, and I know I made a mistake answering her call while driving.
"Hey, Mom, I'll call you back later. I'm driving right now."
I can already imagine her exaggerated pout from that. "You can still talk to me while you drive!"
"You're on speakers and I'm with a friend," I warn, glancing at Lia next to me. She has fallen asleep a while ago, and I hope she stays asleep.
"A friend? Is it the friend you were with over Thanksgiving? The friend you abandoned your dear Mom for?"
"What? You told me it was okay! You were throwing your own party and everything."
"Yes, yes, but now I am regretting it! I didn't get to talk to you all weekend."
"Yeah, well, I'll call you back later, okay?"
Before Mom could protest further, I cancel the call with a button on the steering wheel. I sneak a peek at Lia. She is still asleep. Thank goodness.
Despite the rocky start, the rest of the holiday was peaceful and amicable. Lia apologizes the next morning, and she was back to her cheerful self as if a good night's sleep was enough to wash away her anger. We spent our days binge-watching TV shows, visiting nearby malls for the holiday sales, and staying as far away as possible from Lia's family—especially Romeo, the source of all her ire.
A bitter taste forms in my mouth. No matter how well the rest of the holiday turned out to be, I cannot shake away the uneasiness that was plaguing me throughout. Lia was a completely different person at home: a lot more high-strung and nervous, always jumping to her feet to prove herself.
The family dynamic did not help; her mother looked displeased about everything, and the siblings avoided each other as if they were socially distancing in a pandemic. Meanwhile, Mr. Choi floated around, either unwilling or unable to help. It shouldn't be like this. Even my family that is broken apart is never like this.
I wish I could do something more about this, but as Lia said, this is her problem, not mine.
Her soft voice jolts me out of my thoughts.
"Thanks for coming over, by the way," Lia whispers. "I'm sorry that you couldn't be with your mom instead."
My eyes flutter. "Did the call wake you up?"
"I don't sleep very deeply in the car," she admits. There is a momentary pause before she adds, "You sound super close to your mother. I know you've told me that before, but I didn't really... Well, I didn't realize how close one can be to their mother."
That last sentence pierces my heart. I'm not sure what to say, so I take my right hand off the wheel and extend it towards her.
Her palm, soft and cold, settles on mine. Our fingers entwine.
We are silent for the rest of the drive. By the time I park the car in our apartment's garage, Lia is fast asleep again.
***
The Mondays after the holidays are always the slowest days. And since I have wrapped up all my experiments for my thesis, I expect today to be especially slow. All I need to do is to clean up my lab space, grab some notebooks from my desk, and head back to the apartment to write.
When I get to my office, I find Gabby waiting for me.
"Yeju! You are back!" His already boisterous voice is even louder than usual.
I frown. Gabby and I are not close enough for him to miss me like this. "Uh, yeah, hello. Happy post-Thanksgiving, I guess?"
"Oh, thank you! I had such a great time, our family went to a mountain in Colorado for a ski trip and it was so fun. But wait, sorry, that's not what I waited here to tell you." He takes a breath to calm himself. "Yeju, I'm here to apologize."
"For what?"
"Earlier just now—"
"Hey, Yeju." Victoria's voice halts our conversation.
Gabby's face blanches. I search his widened eyes for clues before we both slowly turn to our boss.
"Hey, Victoria," I say, "what's up?"
"Can I see you in my office?"
"Sure..."
This is the second time this year Victoria personally invited me to her office—and that first time did not go down well. What the heck did I do now?
When I look at Gabby again, his sheepish expression tells me everything I need to know. This annoying bastard... I bet I'm in trouble because of him. I raise a fist at him; he is almost two times my size but he cowers in fear.
Rolling my eyes, I follow Victoria to her office.
As I sit across from her, she arranges her hands on the desk, crossing and uncrossing her arms, lacing and unlacing her fingers. She is as nervous as I am. This is new.
She clears her throat. "So, um, I wanted to talk to you about something I overheard earlier."
Oh, I'm definitely going to beat the shit out of Gabby. If anyone overhears anything in this lab, it's probably because he talks about everything and everyone—and he is so loud all the time.
"What is it?" I ask cautiously.
"Is it true you are in a romantic relationship with Lia?"
My shoulders stiffen. "Uh..." is the smartest thing I can manage.
Victoria grimaces. "So it's true."
"Yes, but it- it wasn't... We, uh..." I trail off, not even sure what to say.
"No, no, save it. I don't want to know the details." She waves a hand. "I don't care about relationships in the lab as long as everyone's happy. But Lia is an undergrad. There are very different rules for undergrad and grad students, and I don't want any trouble, both for you and the lab. Not that I'm saying there will be trouble, but I want to be on the safe side here and prevent any issues from arising, you know what I mean?"
I blink. Victoria's tone is more amicable than I thought she would be. And she is not jumping to all the worst assumptions like what Yuna did. Even so, dread crawls up in me.
"What are you suggesting, Victoria?"
"Well, let's keep it hushed until you defend your thesis and get your degree in January next year. I've already told everyone in the break room to not talk about this again. On my side of things, I will help Lia find a new project so she can remain in the lab with a different mentor. As for you, just focus on writing. You're leaving soon too, so you should try to stay away from the lab if you can."
Relief floods through me, and I nod. What she is telling me is already what I am going to do. My project is coming to an end, and unlike Darren, I want to write from the comfort of my apartment, so I was planning on being away from the lab anyway.
"Is it okay if I'm the one telling Lia about this?" I offer. "We have been working together for a while now, and I'd like to be the one talking to her about her future directions."
"Sure, that sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm sure you'll have a better sense as to what project Lia will excel at."
My lips tug into a smile. "Probably every project."
Victoria laughs. "That confident in her, huh?"
"You bet."
We spend the next ten minutes going over my thesis outline one last time. I'm once again reminded about just how much I need to write. And how close I am to the end.
So, so close.
The meeting ends on a hopeful note, but when I return to my office, my anger surges again.
Gabby, that darn snitch, is waiting for me by the door and wringing his hands. I shove past him to get to my desk.
"I am so sorry, Yeju." He trails behind me like an annoying fart. "I didn't know Victoria was in the break room—it was so early, she doesn't get here so early!—and I really didn't mean to let her find out."
"Then stop gossiping with your loud ass voice, dammit!"
"I will stop, I promise." Gabby motions zipping up his mouth with his finger. "You will get only silence from me from now on."
I roll my eyes. Yeah, right. I am about to reply with a snarky remark when Harvey pops their head in.
"Everything okay here?" they ask.
"Yes! Everything is perfect!" Gabby exclaims.
"Your best friend here snitched about me and almost got me into trouble," I grunt. "Thank god Victoria is kind about it, or else I'm putting a fist to your ugly face, Gabs. And I bet it was you who got me into trouble the last time too!"
"What? No!" he whines. "I didn't! I didn't even believe it when I heard about it. Like, how can you be bullying Lia when you always seem so nice to Lia?"
So he did not see me scream at Lia on her first day. I narrow my eyes at the curly-haired person next to him. "Was it you then?"
"Hell no," Harvey deadpans. "I'm not a snitch."
I roll my eyes. "You are one by association. Argh, forget it." I turn around and begin shoving my notebooks into my bag.
"Okay, but the two of you do look super cute together," Gabby gushes, returning to his regular demeanor. "How did you two get together? Have y'all gone on dates yet? What do you like about her?"
Harvey smacks him in the chest. "Yo, didn't we promise Victoria not to talk about this?"
"Oh, right. Sorry." Gabby pretends to zip his mouth again. Yet another futile attempt. I can't help but roll my eyes again.
As I stride out of the office, Gabby tugs on my arm to stop me. I am about to pounce on him for that when I notice his solemn expression.
"I'm sorry again, Yeju. Truly." His voice is miraculously soft.
I sigh. "It's fine."
"And I want you to know that I support you two all the way. You seem so much happier with her around. I hope everything works out."
The last sentence is both a warm blanket and a punch to my gut.
I glance back at my empty desk. There are two equally empty chairs next to it: one for Lia, one for me. This is it. This is the end of our mentorship.
I forced a small smile. "Me too, Gabby," I mutter. "Me too."