Nobody Like You

Extremely Short-Distance

Yeju

I take back every snide comment I've ever made about relationships because being in a relationship with Lia is neither a 'waste of time' nor 'full of dumb drama'. It is awesome.

Every day, I wake up next to her. We eat breakfast together and walk to campus together. I get started in the lab while she goes to class, and she joins me after she's done to help me out for a few hours. Then, we go back home together and eat dinner together. Occasionally, Lia caves to my request to shower together to 'save on water bills'—I'm pretty sure we ended up wasting more water though, but that's the least of my concern. At night, we cuddle to sleep. And the blissful cycle repeats.

These few weeks have been the best weeks of my life. Waking up has never been this easy, doing chores has never felt so fun, and the apartment has never been this squeaky clean. Is this what it's like to be a functioning adult? What have I even been doing for the past few years?

And it's not just me; I can tell Lia is happy too. She has been smiling a lot more and singing a lot more in the apartment, much to my delight. And at night, her boldness and love for experimentation shine through in bed.

But I can also tell Lia is not happy in the lab. Her face falls whenever we reach the campus and I have to shake her hand off. She is no longer as enthusiastic about lab work, and I know she has been cutting her hours in the lab to avoid me there.

I understand how she feels; pretending not to be with Lia hurts my heart too. But Yuna's reaction to our relationship wasn't fantastic, so I fear everybody else's reaction, especially Victoria's. After all, I went from being an 'abusive mentor' to a 'mentor together with her own mentee', the two ends of a problematic spectrum.

But it's okay, it won't be a problem for too long. I'm graduating soon. Very soon.

My smile grows as Victoria signs the paper.

"Congrats, Yeju," she says, pushing the paper toward me. "The outline looks good, your committee is impressed, and you're now ready to arrange a time for your thesis defense. You should be proud of yourself, Yeju. I am, too."

I've worked my ass off for way too long just to hear that. "Thank you, Victoria."

"You've also achieved a lot in the last few weeks. I guess getting an undergrad for you helped you a great deal."

Heat crawls up my neck. "Yeah, yeah it did."

"I'm just happy you changed your tune after that day. Say, did I help with that? With my stern talking-to?"

I cannot help but chuckle. Even a professor needs validation too. "Yeah, you kinda did," I admit.

"I knew it." Victoria leans back in her chair, her expression uncharacteristically smug. "I am so proud of myself right now."

"Have fun basking in your glory." I grab the signed paper and rise to my feet. "Anyway, I'll email the committee later today to set up a thesis defense date. I'm aiming for January, right after the holiday season. I'll CC you."

"Alright. Congrats again, Yeju!" Victoria calls as I leave the room.

My smile does not leave my face as I bolt from Victoria's office to mine.

"Guess who's ready to graduate?" I exclaim.

As usual, Darren is the only person around, stuck behind the computer. He reaches his arms out and gives me a high five. "Yo, that's awesome. Congrats."

"Thanks, dude. I almost can't believe it." I sigh, letting a wave of relief gush through me. "Hey, I'll be joining you in your thesis-writing hell soon."