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Morning came and Chenle finds Jisung at his study desk, facing both his laptop and tablet and holding his apple pen in his right hand; he approaches him and greets him a good morning.
Jisung hummed and nodded at him, then went back to what he was reading.
Chenle’s already gotten used to these quiet and cold mornings. It has been like this since Jisung decided to enter medical school. Not that he was complaining about it, but it was a significant shift from their usually lively mornings back in the day.
“Babe, are you free later? I think we have to do some grocery shopping,” Chenle says as he stands in front of their fridge, mentally making an inventory of the things they have to replenish.
Seconds passed, and he heard no reply from his boyfriend across the condo they were sharing, so he called out again, ”Babe?”
“I’m sorry, babe, I can’t. I have to study for a quiz tomorrow,” Jisung replies.
“Oh, I see. When are you free then?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. The coming weeks are really packed. They’re cramming our courses to follow the academic calendar,” Jisung explains, sounding more defeated than usual and Chenle can’t help but feel bad for his boyfriend.
“Oh babe, if only I can help you with anything, but you know I suck at science-related things,” Chenle says as he closes the refrigerator door and moves to where Jisung is still seated.
Jisung just nods at what Chenle said.
“You’ll get through this week,” Chenle whispers to Jisung’s ear as he hugs him for comfort.
“Thank you, and I really hope I do.”
The hug did not last long, but it did something for Jisung. He straightened out his back and picked up where he had left off in what he was reading.
“Jisungie,” Chenle called out, “I’m leaving. Make sure to lock the doors when you leave,” Chenle reminds the younger.
Jisung just yelled his agreement.
Chenle closes the door and walks to the elevator with a small frown on his face.
“What’s with the frown?” Donghyuck asks Chenle when he spots him on his desk.
“Huh?” Chenle feigns ignorance even though he knows it won’t go through Donghyuck’s questioning.
“Don’t ‘huh?’ me, something’s up. What is it?” Donghyuck leans his hips on Chenle’s desk.
“Nah, it's not that serious. Jisung just didn’t kiss me goodbye earlier,” Chenle confesses.
“Ah, so it’s trouble in paradise,” Donghyuck concludes.
“No, no, it's far from that,” Chenle sighs, “he’s just busy with med school and all, I think he hasn’t adjusted to the life there yet.”
“Then why are you frowning?” Donghyuck asks again.
“Can’t a man sulk because his lover forgot to give him a goodbye kiss?” Chenle shoots.
Donghyuck laughs at that, “Okay, if you say so.” He straightens up and walks back to his cubicle.
But it was not just that, Chenle had been trying to drown some of the bad thoughts that kept on popping up in his brain, but on times like this, it has a way of creeping its way back to the top of his mind to consume all of his headspace and Chenle doesn’t want that.
He does not like thinking that Jisung has already fallen out of love. Because Jisung did not… not yet.
For the rest of the day, Chenle sulks as he reads through and takes notes from various case files.
When afternoon rolled in he was called in by his immediate supervisor, Atty. Johnny Suh into his office.
The moment Chenle stepped in he was already greeted by a question, “Mr. Zhong, where’s your notes for the transpo case?”
Chenle stuttered for a minute before he got out the answer, “Atty. it's already in your inbox, I emailed it to you earlier.”
Atty. Suh looks up and scans him before landing his gaze back on his laptop screen.
“Oh, I see it already thank you,” Atty. Suh mutters in a soft voice.
“Is there anything else, Atty.?” Chenle asks.
“You make good notes,” Atty. Suh tells him as he scrolls through the file, and Chenle feels validated right at that moment.
“Thank you, Sir!” Chenle responds his voice a pitch higher than usual.
“When are you gonna take the Bar?” Atty. Suh asks him.
The question caught him off-guard but nonetheless, it was far easier than the questions he used to answer in class.
“Uhm, next year, Sir,” Chenle answers humbly, making sure that he uses his calm voice this time.
“I see, are you still gonna work here in your fourth year?” Atty. Suh looks up at him again, expecting a positive answer.
“No, Sir,” Chenle paused, gauging any reaction from his boss, when he realized that there was none, he continued, “My contract ends a week before the start of the academic year.”
Atty. Suh nodded at that before he talked again, “Shame, I really like your note-taking technique, can you pass on some of your notes to your successor before you leave?”
“Of course, Sir,” Chenle agrees even though a part of him says, “No, you should not.”
“Okay, good. You can go now.” Atty. Suh dismissed him.
As soon as Chenle had closed the door to Atty. Suh’s office, he let out a sigh of relief, relieving himself of the immense pressure that he gets whenever he interacts with his supervisor.
When the clock strikes one minute past five in the afternoon, Chenle gathers his things and readies himself to go home. However, the universe may seem to have other plans for him. As soon as he stands up, he sees Atty. Suh, with another lawyer in their firm, walking toward his cubicle.
“Mr. Zhong, would you like to come with us to dinner?” Atty. Suh asks him.
Chenle contemplated, if he declined, his boss might take it against him and use it to justify overworking him, but if he agreed, he doesn’t know what awaits him at the dinner. Weighing all his options, Chenle decided to accept the invitation.
“I’d be glad to, Atty.”
They enter a fancy Japanese restaurant and once they are seated in a private room, the other lawyer beside Atty. Suh formally introduced himself to Chenle, “I’m Atty. Doyoung Kim.”
“Chenle Zhong,” he offers his hand to shake, and Atty. Kim shook it firmly.
“You’re from UP Law right? An incoming 4th year?” Atty. Kim asks him. To which Chenle answered with a polite nod.
After their introductions, they all winded up talking about the recent cases they’re handling but, of course, without getting into much detail as every case is confidential. After a little while, they started getting served with various Japanese dishes.
The dinner went well, with Chenle ending up ordering another plate of sashimi. When he finished eating, he sensed Atty. Suh stiffened in his seat.
“Tell him already,” Atty. Kim urged.
“Calm down, Doie, the kid hasn’t even finished eating yet,” Atty. Suh replies.
Seeing the two nudging each other, Chenle couldn’t hold it and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“You see,” Atty. Kim starts, “We’ve heard things about you– all positive, don’t fret. We’ve learned that you are one of the Bar bets in your batch.”
Chenle was taken aback but he did not let it show.
“Yes,” Chenle, seemingly puzzled by what Atty. Kim is saying.
“What we’re trying to say is that since you are a Bar bet of your school, the likelihood of you passing the Bar is already above 80%, so we are going to offer you something,” Atty. Suh declares.
“A spot in our firm,” Atty. Kim flatly says.
“Oh,” Chenle utters, “Wow.”
“Yes, but we have a condition,” Atty. Kim pauses, “You have to top the Bar.”
Chenle couldn’t believe what he heard, “You mean you’re going to offer me a position in your firm if I top the Bar?”
“Yes.” Atty. Suh answered him calmly.
Chenle, despite being a talkative person, cannot find any words to say at the moment. To say that he was stunned would be an understatement. This was something out of the blue.
Once he had calmed down, Chenle asked, “Can I think about the offer first?”
“Of course, you have until the end of your contract to decide,” this time, it was Atty. Kim who answered him.
“Thank you!” he cheerfully said.