I head up to Seoul for the ICM, the International Congress of Mathematics. I'm nervous. Both Lee Sang-june, and his life-long crush, Ben Green, will be there. Dr. Green is a plenary speaker, and Sang-june is his number one fan. It isn't a naughty crush, but Sang-june brings Dr. Green up all the time, and whenever he does, he blushes a little.
"He's just a man." I often find myself trying to settle Sang-june down.
"Sure Mark, like Terence Tao is just a man."
Everyone knows Terence Tao is a robot.
I am standing in front of Hall D talking to Sang-june and others, when Ben Green walks by. Sang-june's back is to him. He doesn't see him. But his ears perk up a bit, and I think I see him sniff the air. "Hey, look at this, Sang-june" I say, distracting him with my baby blue coffee cup, "I have a wonderful story about this."
Throughout the week, I often see Sang-june trailing after Dr. Green, at a respectable distance. But the embarrassing episode I am expecting never plays out. Perhaps his wife has had a little talk with him.
17 August 2014
1 min read