Confessions of a Cat-holic (173)

But Eddie and DJ Park were not the only good looking guys whom I would consider going out with. There were plenty of equally attractive guys but it was just that they were kind of out of reach. Either they were upper classmen or guys who were not in my circle. Eddie and DJ Park were either friends of friends or people I had seen through extracurricular activities, not some random dudes I met in a club or remote acquaintance whom I knew very little about.

Just to name a few, Eric Rhee was a graduating senior (a few years above me) also from the engineering school and the engineering council. He was an IEOR major, I believed. He was over 6 feet tall, with a built and sporty figure I barely saw among the Hong Kong circle. He was recently a co-founder and executive producer of Point Seven Labs, investor of MCTBar and Ani Ramen; he was also a strategy consultant for Market Eatery, advisor for Vesta Chocolate and founder of Umlicious. He was also the Vice President of Business Development for 16 Handles, a frozen yoghurt Korean brand that had become a household name in the US. He was also the producer of "Spain... on the road Again"​ with Gwneth Paltrow, Mark Bittman, Claudia Bassols and Mario Batali; co-executive producer and producer for "Kimchi Chronicles" with Marja and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Heather Graham, with Deb and Hugh Jackman (Streaming on Amazon Prime). His publications included "Spain: A Culinary Road Trip cookbook with Harper Collins", "Kimchi Chronicles cookbook with Rodale"; "Once Upon a Potty DVD with Barrons"; "Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan DVD Collection"; "BBQ University with Steven Raichlen DVD Collection".

Eric was born and raised in Los Angeles, educated in New York City. After receiving undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees at Columbia University, he started his career in finance at Bain Capital and as an associate management engineer for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He later discovered his passion for storytelling and entertainment and therefore developed TV shows for personalities including Lebron James, Marja and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Thomas Keller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Jackman, Heather Graham and Odell Beckman Jr. He also produced content for multinational and national brands including Samsung, JP Morgan Chase, PwC, Fruit of the Loom and 16 Handles.

He was one of the most attractive guys I had ever seen because he was tall and built but without any gay vibes. Yes, there were a lot of trans, drag or gay looking guys in my circle unfortunately, or straight looking but actually bisexual otherwise. If I had to describe his looks, I would say that the Korean actor 이정진 李廷鎮 (in his twenties especially, now he could look a bit aged because of the wrinkles) was somewhat like a hybrid of Eric and Eddie. That was why I was stunned when I saw the drama, Love Story in Harvard because the villain in the story looked exactly like the Korean guys I saw on campus!

But too bad, not only Eric was a graduating senior when I was a freshman, he was also taken. He was going out with a Korean girl in his year called Rammy Park, who was the chairperson for the Lunar Gala fashion show. Rammy Park was born in Denver, Colorado and received her MFA in Film from Columbia University. She began her career as a journalist, with stints at ABC News, The Associated Press and NY1. A 2020 HBO Directing Fellow and a Film Independent Fellow (2018 Episodic Lab, 2019 Project Involve), she had also been the recipient of grants from the National Board of Review, IFP, and the Caucus Foundation. (see rammypark.com)

So I tried out to be a model for that in my freshman year but I didn't get in. From what I knew, he was recently married with another Korean girl equally good looking, Michelle Park the Emmy award winning TV host and Stanford graduate. Michelle Park contributed around the country on local and national shows. She was most currently a correspondent at NBCLX and New York Live on NBC New York.

I had a feeling I would not be able to get to know Eric by the time he graduated, so I kind of gave up my hope of dating him. I heard he matriculated in a master program at the engineering school but I had rarely seen him around since he finished his senior year.

I told you the guys I saw in real life were better looking than the actors I saw on TV. College life was like an extended 4-year version of Netflix's Singles Inferno, except that the inferno island was then in Manhattan New York. Apart from Eric, there was a guy named DK Kim. DK Kim had that prep school vibe, which I believed was something unique about him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHzx7zwRbPg