Chapter Text
“Oi, can you stop staring at your phone for five minutes and help me with these damn dishes?”
Jaemin looked up from his phone to find his roommate glaring at him. It would almost be scary if Jeno wasn’t wearing rubber kitchen gloves and holding a sponge. Jeno always liked to act tough but could never quite pull it off; his clumsy demeanour and eye smiles giving him away almost immediately. Jaemin never did understand how he could get so many girls to go out with him.
“But Jeno you know that today’s the final day the physics department announces their PhD candidates. I know two people who got their acceptance email weeks ago. If I don’t get one today I’ll have to wait another year to apply again.” Jaemin looked down at his phone wishing for a notification to appear.
“Well constantly refreshing your email won’t change that” said Jeno. He then softened his tone, “you’re going to get in Jaem”. Jaemin smiled glumly as Jeno patted him on the back for encouragement.
“Thanks man” Jaemin replied, not feeling any better. He placed his phone down on the counter, picked up a dish towel and began helping Jeno with the dishes.
“Jeez I don’t remember using any of this shit” Jaemin realised.
Jeno nodded in joint annoyance. “It’s pretty much all Haechan’s. He uses a bunch of dishes and then goes and stays with Mark before I can yell at him to clean them.”
“Why don’t we just leave them until he gets back?” Jaemin asked.
“Because then we’ll have nothing to eat off of Na Jaemin” Jeno practically yelled at him. “Plus I have a girl coming over tonight and I don’t want this place to look any more disgusting than it already does.”
“Dude a heads up would’ve been nice. You’re lucky I have work at the lab tonight.”
Jeno just shrugged his shoulders and continued scrubbing the plate he was holding, clearly not caring about Jaemin’s suffering whenever he brought a girl home. There was only so many times Jaemin could listen to his roommate having sex before he snapped and smothered Jeno with a pillow. He was about to threaten Jeno with something along those lines when he heard a small whistling sound come from his phone.
Jaemin and Jeno looked at each other straight away. “Was that…” Jeno began.
“My email notification?” Jaemin finished. “Yeah”
“Well go look at it” Jeno urged.
Slowly Jaemin put down the dish towel and reached over the counter for his phone. He could see the email notification showing that the sender was from his university’s physics department.
“Shit, it’s from them” he blurted out.
“Open it!” Jeno urged again.
Jaemin’s heart was doing its best to burst out of his chest as he swiped his phone open. He read and reread the email multiple times; not speaking, not blinking, not even breathing.
Dear Mr Na Jaemin
I am pleased to inform you that you are successful in your application to become a PhD student here at Seoul University. Congratulations on all your hard work leading up to this point. Please come meet me in my office tomorrow at 1pm to discuss the specifics of your candidacy and where to go from here. Please prepare any questions you may have for me.
Regards
Dr Bae Joohyun
PhD coordinator for the faculty of physics at Seoul University
“Well?” cried out an exasperated Jeno, clearly desperate to know the result.
Jaemin’s head snapped up. He had completely forgotten Jeno was there. “I got in” he said meekly, still not comprehending the news.
Jeno ran over to him and gave him a hug. “Well done man, I knew you could do it.”
“Thanks” Jaemin breathed out, still in shock. “I honestly don’t know what to do with myself now.”
“Call your mother, she’ll want to know” suggested Jeno. “Haechan too. He’ll tell everyone else for you.”
“Good point” hummed Jaemin. He picked up the dish towel and went back to the dishes, still needing some time to collect his thoughts. Five long years of study at South Korea’s best university had allowed him to reach a point he never really thought he would get to. Now all he had to do was not fuck it up.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
At exactly 1pm Jaemin knocked on the door to the office of Dr Bae Joohyun. He barely got two knocks in before an assertive voice called for him to enter. Dr Bae’s office was neat and professional. Folders were labelled (and seemingly colour-coded) and arranged neatly in bookshelves. The desk was placed on the far side of the room with nothing but a laptop and a few succulents sitting on top. Dr Bae was sitting upright at her desk, mirroring the professionalism she was surrounded by.
“Jaemin, it’s nice to see you again. Please come sit down.” She gestured towards the chair opposite to her.
Jaemin had only met Dr Bae once; at the interview which was part of his PhD application process. He remembered her being friendly enough but also highly scrutinising. “Thanks” he mumbled as he sat down.
“Congratulations on your successful application” Dr Bae said with a smile. She reached down to her left and pulled some papers from her desk drawer. “However I’m afraid we might have some problems with the field of work you’re trying to pursue.”
“Really?” Jaemin was confused. “I know my proposal was for pursuing a mathematical explanation for the virtual particles in an electron field and their effect on electron shape, but I also said that I would be happy to do supporting research for a professor providing that they were working in the field of theoretical physics.”
Dr Bae smiled sympathetically. “Well both of those things are unfortunately problematic at the moment. You need an appropriate person to be able to closely supervise your work and I don’t think we have anyone. We only have two professors working in the field of theoretical physics at this university: Dr Müller and Dr Huang. The most obvious choice for you would have been Dr Müller but he already has too many PhD students as it is, he can’t take on another one.”
Jaemin’s shoulders slumped. He’d had a class taught by Dr Müller last year during his Master’s degree and seen him on multiple other occasions as a guest lecturer. He was a nice man and Jaemin had been hoping to have him as a supervisor. “Okay well then how about Dr Huang?” Unlike Dr Müller, Jaemin had never seen Dr Huang before but he had read plenty of his papers throughout his studies.
Dr Bae sighed deeply. “Renjun, Dr Huang, is a bit of a handful. Our university headhunted him after he finished his Masters degree in China. He does amazing work and brings lots of prestige to this university, but he never takes on students and refuses to teach any classes.”
Jaemin furrowed his brows, “Why?”
“He’s a recluse” Dr Bae explained. “He doesn’t even use his office here. He does all his work at home and does his best to see people face-to-face as little as possible. He’s a genius, but he’s also young and arrogant. I’m afraid the likelihood of him taking you as a student is close to zero.”
Jaemin breathed deeply. “Okay well then what are my other options?”
“You could change the field you want to do. Maybe do your doctorate in experimental physics instead?”
Jaemin shook his head. “I’m much better with just the math. I’m not very creative when it comes to physical experiments. I would have a hard time of it.”
“Well you could wait another year until some of Dr Müller’s other students have finished their theses. I’ll make sure that you get the first position available.”
Jaemin shook his head again. He’d gotten accepted but he was still going to have to wait another year? That was unacceptable to him. He looked straight a Dr Bae, “Can I have Dr Huang’s number? I can at least try to get him to take me on.”
Dr Bae was clearly surprised. “He usually doesn’t answer his phone.”
“Can I have his address then? You said he usually works from home.” Jaemin was getting more and more desperate.
“Okay” Dr Bae said as she got out a slip of paper and started writing an address on it. “After you talk to him send me an email on how you’d like to proceed from here.” She handed Jaemin the paper.
“Thanks” he said as he received it. “I’ll be going now.” He bowed and walked to the door.
“Jaemin” Dr Bae called out, stopping him in his tracks. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
‘She’s probably just exaggerating’ Jaemin told himself.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Jaemin was already infuriated at Dr Huang and he hadn’t even seen his face yet.
He had gone straight from Dr Bae’s office to the address she had given him, and found himself outside of a rather nice-looking apartment building. After buzzing the intercom a few times a cranky voice had shouted at him to “fuck off” before somehow disabling the intercom altogether. Luckily Jaemin hadn’t given up so easily and managed to slip into the building behind a delivery man a few minutes later.
Now Jaemin was outside Dr Huang’s door, trying to get him to open up and talk to him. Jaemin’s door knocking had gone from polite and gentle to axe-murderer on a killing spree. He could hear Dr Huang in there shuffling about but he was just ignoring him.
After what seemed like five minutes of persistent knocking, Jaemin finally heard the door lock being unlatched and saw the door open.
“Who are you and what the hell do you want?”
Jaemin took in the sight of Dr Huang. He was short and slender with very pale skin and unkempt hair. His clothes were frumpy and obviously unwashed. His face was actually quite pretty but was completely marred by the foul expression he was hurling Jaemin’s way.
Jaemin looked him dead in the eye. “Hello Dr Huang, my name is Na Jaemin. I’m a physics student at Seoul University.” He held his hand out for a handshake.
“Yeah, what do you want?” Dr Huang didn’t shake his hand, so Jaemin let in fall by his side.
“I’ve just been accepted to do my PhD and I wanted to do it in theoretical physics, but I need a supervisor within that area so…”
Dr Huang cut him off. “Ask Müller to do it, I’m busy.” He began to shut the door.
“No wait!” Jaemin slammed his hand on the door to prevent Dr Huang from closing it. “Dr Müller already has too many students, there’s no room for me. You’re my only other option.”
Realising that Jaemin wasn’t going to let him shut it, Dr Huang stepped away from the door and walking further into his apartment. Jaemin took that as a cue that he could come inside. He got a weird look from Dr Huang but wasn’t asked to get out. ‘I’m making progress’ he thought optimistically.
Dr Huang’s apartment looked like a pile of trash. You could see the outlines of what once was a nice kitchen and living room now drowned in Dr Huang’s life. Whiteboards were scattered all around the room, each covered with scribbles and formulas. Stacks of paper almost waist high were littered around on the floor and tables. Empty takeout food containers were everywhere and the sink was stacked with what looked like a hundred coffee mugs. The room was dim with unnatural light and block-out curtains covered all the windows. Dr Bae was certainly correct about him being a recluse. Jaemin wanted to sit somewhere but couldn’t find a spot in all the mess, so he just stood awkwardly as Dr Huang struggled to find himself a clean mug in the kitchen.
“Please Dr Huang” Jaemin said walking up to him, “I’m happy to compose a thesis that will help assist the research you’re doing. I could be very helpful to you.”
“What makes you think you’re qualified to even do that?” Dr Huang had given up searching for a mug and just stared Jaemin down.
“I have my academic transcript and Master’s thesis here in you would like to look at them.” Jaemin reached into his satchel and pulled out a small folder. He held it out for Dr Huang to take, which he reluctantly did.
Dr Huang started looking at his transcript first. “Your grades vary wildly, don’t they?” he said with a smirk.
Jaemin winced a little, it was always something that had bothered him and was probably the reason why the university accepted his PhD application later than everyone else. “I have scholarships from the university but they don’t cover everything, so I’ve had to work throughout my studies. That can make the workload a bit difficult sometimes.”
Dr Huang nodded, not looking up at him. “I imagine most of the students you’re up against are there on their parents’ money and haven’t worked a day in their life.”
“Yeah” said Jaemin, surprised by the comment. “My GPA still turned out okay though so I’m fine with it.”
Dr Huang hummed in acknowledgement and flipped through to Jaemin’s thesis. He only read a little before he snapped the folder shut and handed it back to Jaemin. “I don’t need to read any more.”
Jaemin took the folder back and felt rather defeated. “You know you could at least read it. I’m a good mathematician and creative as hell when it comes to theoretical physics; and you would see that if you read my work. I know you have a genius complex where you think everyone is beneath you, and I probably am, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help each other.” Jaemin expected Dr Huang to kick him out this time, but he couldn’t hold in his frustrations.
Rather than scream at him to leave, Dr Huang just coughed slightly and said “I don’t need to read your work because I’ve already read it.”
“What?” asked a stunned Jaemin, completely rooted in place.
“I’ve already read it” reiterated Dr Huang. “You got it published in the International Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics at the beginning of the year, didn’t you? I thought it was an interesting piece. Sorry I didn’t recognise your name before.”
“Oh” Jaemin blinked a few times, trying to get his body to move again. “You thought it was interesting?”
“Yes I did” confirmed Dr Huang. “You had a few blaring oversights I must say, though that’s not your fault. They should have picked that up in the peer-review process and rejected you. But it was interesting none the less.”
“Well thanks I guess.” Jaemin was taking whatever he could get at that point.
“Come over tomorrow afternoon, we’ll work out what you can do for your doctoral thesis then.”
Jaemin’s eyes lit up. “So you’re going to become my supervisor?” he asked excitedly.
Renjun nodded. “But this better be worth my while, I’ve got no time to be concerned with a student. You better be able to handle most of this yourself.”
“Absolutely” assured Jaemin. “I’ll see you here tomorrow.”
Instead of saying goodbye Dr Huang just turned back around and continued searching for a clean mug. Jaemin just rolled his eyes and left the apartment. Once outside he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d done it, he could begin to complete his doctorate and be on the road to starting a good career.
Now he just had to figure out how to work with someone so intolerable.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Jaemin was feeling pretty stressed after meeting Dr Huang, so when Haechan texted Jaemin to ask him to come the bar they often frequented it was an easy yes.
“Hey congrats on getting into the PhD program” Haechan said excitedly as Jaemin slipped into the booth he and Mark were occupying. Mark also expressed his congratulations.
Jaemin signalled the bartender, Charlie, to get him his usual beer. “Thanks but I’m kind of wishing I didn’t.”
The couple looked confused. “Why, what happened?” asked Mark.
“I only want to explain this once; can we wait till Jeno’s here?” Jaemin was sick of reliving his nightmare.
“Its fine” Haechan said, “he just walked in.”
Jeno looked like he had a bad day too if his expression was anything to go by. He immediately went up to the bar and ordered a shot of something clear, which he downed as soon as it was handed to him. Charlie then handed him two beers, pointing to Jaemin after he handed them to him.
Jeno walked up to their booth and handed Jaemin one of the beers before sliding in next to him. “I’ve had the shittiest day at work” he huffed out before taking a giant swig.
“Really? We couldn’t tell” Haechan said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jeno narrowed his eyes at him. “Hey Haechan, next time you go to Mark’s for an undeserved sex-cation, try doing your fucking dishes first.”
The punch didn’t slow Haechan down one bit. “Someone’s jealous that I’m getting laid.”
“Please I got laid last night, its Jaemin that’s not getting laid.” Jeno brushed Haechan off.
“Why bring me into this?” Jaemin asked annoyed. “Also I get laid…sometimes” he mumbled the last word.
“Oh yeah, when?” Haechan was determined to tease someone tonight.
“Can we not talk about this right now?” Jaemin tried to change the subject. “Jeno, what happened at work?”
Jeno was a physiotherapist for the baseball team the Doosan Bears. His main job was to help with the rehabilitation of injured players. It was a job he loved but could often leave him angry because of the players’ actions.
Jeno sighed heavily. “There’s this one guy whose shoulder injury isn’t healing as quick as it should. Like it seemed to be doing really well until a week ago when his performance shot back down again, and now I’ve found out today that it’s because he went drinking with his buddies and tripped over his own feet. So I confronted him about it and them he starts blaming me for not doing my job properly and I’m the reason why he hasn’t been able to play a game again. What the fuck am I meant to do? Babysit him all day long so he doesn’t do anything stupid?”
“Sounds tough” said Mark. “What happened with your shitty day Jaemin? I wonder if you can beat Jeno.” Haechan laughed with Mark before snuggling deeper into his arms. The other two were less amused.
Jeno turned away from the gross couple and focused on Jaemin. “You had a bad day too? I thought you had a meeting with the PhD coordinator.”
“I did” said Jaemin after taking a gulp of his beer. “There are only two theoretical physicists at my university, and one of them already has too many students to take me on as well.”
“So?” asked Haechan. “You can just go with the other one right?”
Jaemin shook his head. “The other one, Dr Huang, is an arrogant asshole who never leaves his apartment. He never works with PhD students so I had to go to his apartment and beg him to take me on. After he insulted me several times I somehow managed to convince him. He’s lucky I want this so bad otherwise I would have punched him in his surprisingly attractive face.”
“He was really that bad huh?” Jeno sympathised.
Jaemin took another swig of beer. “The worst part is now I have to work with the guy. I barely managed to spend two minutes with him today, how am I meant to spend any significant amount of time with him?”
“I don’t know maybe you could just stare at his surprising attractive face some more” offered Haechan. Jaemin just glared at him.
“Guys what do I do?” Jaemin whined.
“You just have to focus on the outcome” explained Mark. “Remember last year when I did my medical internship? The only thing that got me through it was the knowledge that by the end of it I would finally be a doctor.”
Haechan smiled widely. “My boyfriend’s a doctor” he said proudly and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek.
“Yes we’re all very proud of Mark and his ability to compensate Haechan’s meagre income as a failed musician.” Jeno rolled his eyes.
“Hey!” cried Haechan. “I have a gig this weekend at the jazz club.”
“It is paid this time?” Jaemin smirked.
“Yes” Haechan sneered back.
Jaemin stopped his teasing and became more thoughtful. “You’re right Mark. I just need to think of Dr Huang as a means to an end.”
“That’s the spirit” encouraged Jeno. “And if you still hate his guts by the end of the day then we’ll just bring you here and get you nice and drunk.”
Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Great, I’m going to become an alcoholic.”