Lia

My Friday classes end in the late afternoon, so by the time I reach the lab, Yeju is already knee deep in her experiments.

Dropping my bag onto my table—I now have an official space to sit in the office, right next to Yeju—, I sit down and watch her fly across the lab. A graduate student approaches her to ask a question, and she answers without even stopping her task. This woman is a mess in the apartment but a goddess of multitasking in the lab. 

I wanted to tell Yeju about an idea I had after reading some extra research papers yesterday, but I guess that will have to wait. For now, maybe I’ll get some studying done—the office is empty and perfectly quiet for it.

As I take out my notebooks, my eyes dart back over to the lab. Yeju is writing something down for that graduate student, her brows slightly furrowed in that usual expression she has on whenever she teaches. I like that expression. It’s calm and serious, a stark contrast to her personality outside of work.

After she stopped being angry at me for no reason, the last few days have been great. She has been helpful in the apartment and patient in the lab. She still snaps at me occasionally, but she will follow up with an apology immediately after. I don’t mind it; I love the research, and I like being mentored by her. 

I like ‘teacher-mode’ Yeju.

A knock on the door snaps me away from my trance. I spin around to see three people grinning widely at me. There’s a tall, blond man leaning against the door frame, a petite woman with short brown curls, and a pink-haired woman who’s exactly in between the other two’s heights.

“Lia?” the pink-haired woman asks.

I blink. Why does she know me? She does look vaguely familiar… And then it hits me. 

“You’re Yuna!” I exclaim. I’ve only ever seen her Facebook profile picture, but that pink hair is enough to help me identify her.

“Yes! Oh my god, it’s so nice to finally meet you in person! I’m a second-year grad student, and I work in Mike Strasbourg’s lab two floors up, in the same building!” She gestures to the other two behind her. “These two are in my year and working in Victoria’s lab just like you.”

The tall man, still leaning against the door, gives me a two-finger salute. “Heya, I’m Gabby. He, him.”

“I’m Harvey,” the other person says. “They, them.”

“Oh.” I feel embarrassed for calling them a woman in my head. “H- Hello. I’m Lia, uh, she, her?”

“So, Lia.” Yuna slides into the chair next to me—Yeju’s chair. Gabby and Harvey follow suit, each grabbing an empty chair. Suddenly, I am surrounded by three unfamiliar graduate students, staring at me with a strange eagerness.

“Tell me,” Yuna says, her round eyes sparkling with curiosity, “how has it been living with Yeju and, from what I hear, working with her?”

“Uh…” I shift in my seat. “It’s been great, actually.”

Their smiles falter as they glance at one another.

“Lia.” Yuna lowers her voice. “You can be honest with us. I know she gave you a very hard time the day you moved in.”

I remember the distressed text messages I sent her, and I chuckle. “Oh, yeah, she did. The first few days were rough. But it’s much better now. She’s much nicer now. It’s been great.”

Yuna’s giant smile returns. “I’m so glad to hear that. You know, I bet it’s because I scolded her. She finally decided to listen to me.”

Harvey snorts. “Most definitely not. It’s probably because of Victoria.”

“Victoria?”

“Oh, Victoria was so angry with Yeju,” Gabby chimes in. “Like I’ve literally never seen her this angry with someone before. She pulled Yeju to her office and scolded her first thing in the morning on Tuesday. It was crazy.”

My mouth drops. Was that why Yeju was crying that day? She was staring at her e-notebook, so I thought she was upset about a failed experiment or something. I didn’t know it was because she was scolded by Professor Song… 

Yuna is as shocked as I am but for a completely different reason. She slaps Gabby on the arm, causing the poor guy to cry out in pain.

“And you kept this juicy story away from me all week?” she demands.

“I forgot!” Gabby whines as he rubs his arm. “I had that presentation on Thursday to prepare for. Hit Harvey, they forgot too!”

Yuna ignores the request and turns back to me. “Well, thank god you are working at Victoria’s lab. She cares for her students and does not tolerate dumb nonsense like that.”

I laugh. “Yeah, I took her class last semester and I can tell that she cares a lot.”

“You made a fantastic decision. Honestly, I tell this to every new grad student: either join Mike’s lab or Victoria’s lab. The two best choices in the school.”

“Oh, I don’t think I know much about Professor Strasbourg. What do you work on in his lab?” 

Yuna lights up at the question. “We study obesity and diabetes! And all the factors that can cause or alleviate diabetic symptoms, the potential therapies, etcetera, etcetera. My project is about the long-term effects of bariatric surgery, one of the most effective treatments for obesity and type two diabetes.”

Gabby leans forward. “Basically, she gives mice diabetes, performs surgery on them, and then kills them. Can you believe this girl, so sweet and innocent-looking, but her job is to torture and kill mice?”

The topic makes me queasy, but thankfully, Yuna slaps Gabby’s arm again and retorts, “I’m not torturing them. You’re a man studying the vagina. Explain that!”

“Given that I do not have one and I am not attracted to them, I can provide the most unbiased observations, duh.” Seeing my curious expression, he elaborates, “Yeju studies bacteria in the gut, but I study the ones in the vagina. Specifically, I’m trying to figure out which bacteria cause BV—bacterial vaginosis, this condition that can cause serious infections and preterm birth—and how they cause it.”

“That is so cool,” I gush. “What about you, Harvey?”

“I’m on team gut bacteria like Yeju,” they say. “But I’m focusing on bacteria that can metabolize this medication for Parkinson’s disease called L-dopa. We’ve found that some gut bacteria can turn the drug ineffective before it even gets to the brain and does its thing for the patient. So I aim to find out how this metabolism occurs in the gut.”

I let out a small sigh. “Wow. All of your projects sound awesome.” Indeed, these projects, in addition to Yeju’s and all the other projects Professor Song offered to me, are fascinating. And the way the three of them describe them—with so much energy and fervor—makes me want to run into the lab and set up a hundred experiments right now.

“And you seem very interested in them.” Yuna raises her brows and smirks. “Do you want to go to grad school? Go into academic research?” 

“I don’t know,” I admit. I asked Yeju the same question yesterday, but her answer was lackluster. “May I ask why you chose to go to grad school?”

“It was Yeju who convinced me!” Yuna says. “I was considering between doing grad school or going straight into industry to work, but she was so enthusiastic about science—everyone was when I was visiting—that I knew I’ll love it here.”

“Yeju? Enthusiastic?” I cannot stop the incredulity in my voice.

The three of them laugh while exchanging looks with one another as if expecting my response.

“She changed a lot,” Yuna explains. “These few years have taken a toll on her. COVID lockdown kinda screwed her over, and her project took a huge impact. She’s still trying to recover from it.”

“Oh, that’s…” I trail off. Yeju does seem particularly gloomy, especially compared to her peers in front of me—who are brimming with life.

Gabby lowers his head such that it is at my eye level. “I’ll let you in on a lab secret,” he says. “You know how we have offices, each with four grad students? Well, every office in here has distinct personalities. So this office right here is known as the office of misery and depression. Sorry, Darren!”

Somehow, Darren is sitting at his desk—I never noticed his arrival. He gives us all a thumbs-up. “No worries.” 

“And the office next to this is the office of gym bros,” Gabby continues. “They go to the gym every day together, and they’re all swole as hell. And then the next one over is ours! Me and Harvey and two other grad students. We’re the office of rainbows. AKA, we’re four of the queerest people you can find in the lab.”

The office of rainbows. I cannot help but smile. “I guess I should be in that office.”

There is a brief pause as my statement lands on everyone. For the second time since that incident in the summer, I let it slip. 

Then, all at once, the three graduate students rush toward me and give me a giant group hug.

“Yes, Lia!” Yuna cheers. “Yes!”

“One of us! One of us!” Harvey chants.

“You should sit in our office instead!” Gabby exclaims. “Not this depressing little hole of a place! Sorry, Darren.”

“No worries,” Darren says, not even looking at us.

Warmth fills my body, both from the group hug and from their response. I squeeze them back, laughing and jumping along with them. Once again, I am reminded of why I love college and why I so desperately wanted to leave home. I’ve felt a million times more accepted with RJ and Chloe, with Yeju, with these three people I just met ten minutes ago, than with the people I spend most of my life with.

Our group hug breaks apart when Yeju barges into the office.

“What the hell is happening here?” she demands.

“We’re poaching your undergrad!” Gabby declares, draping his hand around my shoulders.

Yeju rolls her eyes, but her lips pull into an amused smirk. “Fuck you, go get your own. By the way, Lia, you should head home first. I’m running late on my experiment.”

“Hang out with us instead!” Yuna joins Gabby by hooking her arm around me. “We know a great spot with cheap margaritas. Let’s go!”

I glance at Yeju. Her smile is softer now.

“Have fun,” she says. “I’ll see you back in the apartment.” She turns around and heads back to the lab.

My heart drops a little. I don’t know why but I want to call out to her, to help her with her work, to tell her my ideas about the project. 

But the trio tackles me into another group hug. 

***

After I admitted that I am not yet twenty-one—only a few months more, and I can’t wait—, the trio brought me to Gabby and Harvey’s apartment instead. They had tons of liquor as well as a karaoke machine. We sang, we drank, and we chatted for hours. The three of them were full of warmth and sincerity, and I was full of joy by the end of the night.

It was an awesome end to my first week back in school. Despite the rough start, this semester is going to be as great as I wanted it to be.

I don’t remember what happened after my fourth shot of tequila, but when I open my eyes, it’s morning. I’m on my bed and wearing a different shirt.

And Yeju’s sleeping face is right next to mine.