“Time Lapse” by Taeyeon (태연), Sunday, August 5, 2021
BIRTHDAYS HAVE PASSED SEVERAL TIMES. Leaving. It's the theme of someone who moved around when they were young. It's the theme of those who changed schools. It's the theme of those who never got too close. When attending a birthday party made you feel like an insider for just a moment. But Allan was no victim. The close-knit college experience with groups of friends slowly fell out of touch. In the six months of job searching before taking a job offer in Korea, he buried the remains of friendships in the bottom of his Facebook Messenger. His graduating study group had dissolved a few weeks before the English GRE, and with the exception of seeing the members in class, Allan thought that the Mixtape debacle may have killed the spirit. In Korea from time to time he’d receive a message from a friend. James asked if he was planning on staying there forever. Allan replied with a short message, vaguely replying that he was enjoying his time. In Korea, he too had stopped communicating with his family, only replying when his mom asked something on the family Facebook chat. But when Allan decided to become another friend person, in October 2014, communication became even less frequent.
TEARS WELL UP WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES. “It’s so clear that they like each other,” Lily said, stirring milk into her Earl Grey. The last of the adult students were trickling out of the classes to get to work or class. “He likes her, and she likes him,” Marley said, perched on his desk in front of his Scottish flag, “and the only thing coming between them”—taking a sip from his tumbler— “is culture.” “That’s so sad,” Allan said, from the doorway. “Those two are clearly meant to be together.” Throughout the year, a group of students took classes together, coming up through the levels of the curriculum. Sometimes students switched between morning and evening classes, but Michelle and Adam always took classes together. Each teacher had had the pair for at least a two-month term. They sat together and talked after every class. Once Adam came to church for conversation club, a disguised Sabbath School class, and said he was meeting Michelle later that day for coffee. When Allan raised an eyebrow, Adam quickly said that some other classmates were supposed to join. “Well, good for Adam”—Marley said shaking the remnants of his drink before a final swig—“I always found his interests so boring. Always taking about fishing. If it takes an older woman to make him interesting, I guess we all have our types.” “But, if you think of it, it’s not that big of a difference,” Lily chirped in. “Adam is in his late 30s, getting past the Korean marrying age these days. Michelle is in her late 40s, still pretty—looks better than him with that messy hair and the frumpy t-shirts.” “And Michelle,” Allan added, “a never-married school teacher whose latest assignment is in Chungju, finds a younger man she finds charming, why don’t they go for it?” “It’s because of parents,” Kelly said later that afternoon when Allan met up with the Korean teachers at a cafe. “It’s because of friends. It’s because everything in Korean culture matters. The car you drive. The job you have. The woman and the man you date. The age difference matters,” Kelly slammed her sweet potato latte on the table. The other teachers looked at her. Mi-Young muttered something in Korean. Kelly regained her composure and looked Allan in the eyes. “But it shouldn’t matter. Happiness should be the only thing that matters.”
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