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The word “late” has never been in Mark's dictionary. As much as he dreads his morning classes, he’d rather take Intellectual Property Law at 6:40 am than have to sit through Professor Shim’s Land Laws in the afternoon. It’s really true what people say about how bad professors can help you overcome anything - even morning grogginess and your inability to get out of bed before 10 am. But like the problem isn’t even that he’s a notoriously stingy professor, Mark has had his fair share of experience dealing with those, Professor Shim is just evil. He barely cares about his lessons, discusses the Champion Leagues in way more detail than the forms of real property ownerships and worst of all… he doesn't even give out slides. That man really makes some weird soccer analogies to land acquisition processes and calls it a day. Mark's glad he had asked his senior about the professors before deciding on the courses to sign up this semester. However, to power through three consecutive classes on Monday morning, Mark is going to need two extra shots of espresso in his go-to Iced Americano.
There's this coffee shop near campus that Mark often frequents. There are many ones situated within the campus area but those are always so packed with fellow depressing law students, he thinks walking a few extra metres for a less crowded coffee place isn't a bad alternative at all. Not that he doesn't like listening to his fellow schoolmates complain about their internship law firms, actually casually listening in on their stories are sometimes helpful, but too much of that energy does not help him and his worrying-self at all. The future may be bleak but what he can't see (or well hear) can't hurt him.
It also helps that Tranquil (yes, the cafe is literally named Tranquil) has a zero-tolerance policy against noise and that they open 24/7 (unlike those cafes on campus which start opening at 7 am). Tranquil is truly the perfect cafe. At least that's what Mark thinks until today.
Mark opens the door and steps in line. He glances at his watch. 6:10 am. Great! Mark calculates that with only two people in front of him and that it takes approximately 5 minutes to walk back to campus, he should arrive just in time for IP Law.
6:25 am. Finally there's just one more person before Mark. Hopefully it’ll be his turn to order soon enough.
“Hi, can I have a grande vanilla latte in a venti cup, 5 pumps of cinnamon dolce, 4 pumps of vanilla, 3 pumps toffee nut, 1 pump of hazelnut, no foam, extra whipping, extra caramel drizzle, light mocha drizzle and vanilla topping,” the black haired boy in front of him says, “Oh and nutmeg topping, please.”
What the hell. How long is this order gonna take? Couldn't he just get a normal order like a normal human being? This is not fucking Starbucks. Mark groans internally as he fidgets and stomps his feet rapidly in worries of not making it to class on time. It must have annoyed the boy in front of him because he turned around to look at Mark.
“Can you stop your fidgeting? I can actually feel the earthquake you're causing,” the boy says as he narrows his eyes to give Mark a sarcastic grin, “Thanks.”
Nothing is going to upset Mark Lee. Nothing is going to ruin the first day of his junior year for him. Not even this entitled brat with his long-ass coffee order that might make him late for class.
“Hi man, I was wondering if you could let me take my order first, I have a class in like,” Mark takes a look at his watch. 6:30 am. “10 minutes. Mine’s just a simple four shot Iced Americano. It really won't take long.”
The boy turns back to the barista at the counter.
“Actually,” he eyes the name tag on the barista, “Sungchan, can you also get me a venti, double cup decaf caramel macchiato, extra whip, whole milk, 6 pumps of vanilla, extra caramel drizzle with caramel brûlée topping too?”
Okay, so obviously that's a no. He could have just said no. This has gotta to be the most infuriating experience Mark has ever encountered at Tranquil. Mark bites his lips in frustration as he waits.
Mark slowly waits as Sungchan finishes up the drinks for the boy in front and follows his eyes as he sees the boy skipping out of Tranquil like he's just had the most fun of his life making Mark late for class. He knows he shouldn't take things so personally but he does. Somehow the skipping feels like it’s meant for Mark’s eyes.
“Hey Sungchan, can I just get a four shot Iced Americano,” Mark looks at his watch to see that it's already 6:40 am, he loudly groans, “You know what, please make it five shots for me. I’ll probably need all that caffeine today. Thanks man.”
The moment he's got his drink, Mark quickly shoves the tightly sealed cup in his backpack and runs back to campus with all his might, then scrambles to find room 802. Thankfully, the back door is open so he easily slips in room 802 without drawing much attention and finds himself a comfortable seat at the last row. He hopes to god Professor Jung hasn't checked the attendance yet. You can never know whether college professors check their attendance at the beginning or at the very end of the lesson so coming in mid-lecture is always a huge risk. They're so unpredictable with it, Mark thinks they're kinda smart to do that just to instigate fear in students so everyone would be on time. Not that it works on people who don't actually want to be there, but it sure does for Mark.
He opens his laptop after putting his cup of Iced Americano on the table. The ices have melted but that’s probably better for his current sore throat.
“Can anyone tell me the types of intellectual property recognized by the WIPO?”
Great, he’s already missed 20 minutes of his first class. Thanks a lot to that guy in front of him. Mark wishes he had been able to convince Jeno to sign up for this class because he has to have a note-taking buddy with him. Jeno has one of the worst handwriting Mark knows but at least the kid is attentive and doesn't accidentally space out at times like Mark does. He can't help it. He just has so many ideas to think and write about, and to be absolutely honest what the law says is probably the last thing on his mind. At least, IP Law is really the only class that’s going to benefit him if he ends up as an author instead of following through with his 10-year legal career path plan.
“Yes, the student in the back please.”
“That would be copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, and trade secrets.” A similar voice raises. Mark looks to his left where the voice is coming from. About three seats away from him is that guy. The annoying order guy earlier at Tranquil.
“That is correct. Your name please, so I can note you down for class participation points.”
“Zhong Chenle. With a Z-H.” So his name is Chenle . Mark debates striking up a conversation with him. Well the mental debate doesn’t last that long before Chenle’s eyes meet his as he settles back into his seat. Mark narrows his eyes at him.
“You.”
“Me?” Chenle feigns innocence.
“Yes, you. You're the one who made that unnecessarily long order for me to be late for class.”
“Please, it's just the first class. You're really not missing out on anything,” Chenle scoots over to peek at Mark’s notes. Chenle probably picks up on his name. “Mark. Seriously, this is like the simplest 5-week course out of the ones available anyway. The teachers are nice, the grades are generous, the syllabus is light. Why are you so worked up?”
“I-” Mark is tongue-tied. He doesn't know at this point to be honest. Maybe seeing his friends interning one by one is finally getting to him, or suddenly there has been this huge pressure to get better grades in classes that weren't there before for Mark, a need to actually win first place during the FDI moot competition this year. Junior year is a particularly important stepping stone year and the invisible pressure is not exactly letting Mark breathe.
“As an apology for making you late for class today, do you want my notes,” Chenle tilts his head and gives Mark a smile, a genuine one this time, “Although I am fashionably late for class on purpose, I did prep my notes well before class and I took short training course on IP Law during this summer so I can be your study buddy for this class if you’d like?”
“Are you...hitting on me,” Mark asks.
Chenle barely knows him. Is this what normal people say to each other on their second exchange? This generous offer feels so foreign of a law student. In the two years he's studied here, Mark has never met anyone who's offered their notes up so willingly and a proposition to be a study buddy. Mark isn't jaded, that's just how law students are. Share enough with your “friends” or they might end up in the exact law firm slot that you’ve been aiming for. Okay, so he’s either gay or has ulterior motives. Oh god, what if he's both.
“No, of course not. I’m dead serious,” Chenle quietly chuckles before smirking at Mark, “But I mean, I can if you want me to though.”
Putting aside the fact that he really did just flirt with Mark, Chenle also seems like a generally nice guy. Especially when he smiles and there’s like kitten whiskers on his face because by then Mark has long forgotten the sarcastic grin which came from the same Chenle who made that obnoxiously long coffee order at Tranquil earlier today. Mark also needs a new study buddy anyway now that Jeno’s ditched him to sign up for the afternoon classes. He’ll regret it soon enough , Mark thinks. Chenle’s proposition doesn’t sound bad at all. It’s always good to make new friends, even if the pool of competition will always be cutthroat.
“I do not,” Mark scratches his head, “Ah wait I mean I do want you as a study buddy, that would actually be really great. I meant not as in hitting on me.”
Mark wants to facepalm himself for stuttering like an idiot. Two years into doing mooting competitions and somehow he's still unable to form coherent sentences conversing with strangers. This is exactly why Renjun and Haechan relegated him down from being an oralist to a researcher.
“Cute,” Chenle says, supposedly quiet enough just for him to hear but Mark can hear it too, “Great! So do you have any classes after this one?”
“Yeah I do, I have Criminal Law and International Investment Law next. How about you?”
“Oh, I have International Investment Law too. The one with Professor Lee Jinki?”
Mark takes a look at his timetable. He has set it as his lock screen so he doesn't even have to open his phone to find out. “Yes. That's the one.”
“Cool,” Chenle looks at Mark, excitement glinting in his eyes as his lips curl into a smile, “Sooooo, you wanna go for lunch at the restaurant next to Tranquil after Investment Law? I know there’s this amazing Pad Thai dish we can try. And later we can study at Tranquil in the afternoon if you don't have class then as well.”
Mark happily nods in agreement and turns back to his laptop. This dude is so peculiar. Is Chenle really that friendly or is he still hitting on me? Am I overthinking? Jeno did tell Mark once that he’s an overthinker so Mark puts the thought away. But then again, Jeno has also said Mark is the most oblivious person he’s ever known so honestly what’s the truth Jeno Lee? Mark closes his eyes and decides to stop thinking. Making new friends is good. Stop.
He does. He opens his eyes once again to the blank Word document he has opened. It’s time for him to finally catch up and take notes on whatever Professor Jung is explaining on patents. Mark also multi-tasks by setting his opened Foxit reader tab of the Moot Problem for this year’s FDI Moot Competition on the side to read. The main legal issue this year’s Moot problem being violations of FET Standards. Perfect, this shouldn’t be too hard .
An hour and a half passes by way too fast when the professor speaks at the speed of lightning and there’s like 60 slides. Maybe deciding to break the Moot problem down during class wasn’t the best idea. Mark crosses his fingers that Professor Jung will share his slide with the class because he’s certain that even with both his eyes firmly on the board and his hands on the keyboard, he had still missed five or six slides on the protection of industrial designs.
When he finally looks up from the computer to his left, Mark realizes that Chenle has slipped out of class already. It suddenly hits him that they have not exchanged numbers. As Mark packs up his things to move to his Criminal Law class, he ponders how they’ll meet again later? Will I find him again during International Investment Law? Is that even possible in the 400-seat lecture hall?
At the very same moment, Mark picks up to finish his Iced Americano. He looks to find there's an adorable lilac Post-it note with horrendous handwriting attached to the cup.
hey mark, really sorry for making you late for class. you gotta admit the class was boring though. like i said i promise to make it up to you with my notes (not to brag but they’re pretty comprehensive). i’m feeling a bit under the weather so i’ll just skip Investment Law (can i count on you to take notes too?). anw, my number is +86 0811-2202-xxxx. call me when you’re done so we can meet up at Tranquil!
your new study buddy, zhong chenle
Mark smiles to himself as he reads the note again. Maybe his first day of junior year isn’t going so bad as it started out this morning. If anything, Mark believes he’s just scored himself a new study buddy who seems like an enigma, waiting to be figured out.
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