Remember the Lanterns

Mr. Kim

I got a text on Sunday afternoon asking if I wanted to meet Chris for coffee at his friend's coffee shop. Your friend owns the coffee shop? Or we are also meeting your friend at the coffee shop?
Both! Meet me at the firestation at 5pm. Ok see you at 5.
Chris met me there and we walked into 'Dress Hyang' which means 'Dress Smell' or 'Dress Aroma' I was told, and figured they might mean 'Dress Fragrance' or 'Dress Perfume' but neither of these were much of an improvement on the translation I had been provided with. It wasn't quite a coffee shop, it was actually a dress café/photo studio. You could certainly drink coffee, but the primary purpose of going there was to rent a dress, put it on and take photos of yourself and your friends. The coffee was only there to drink while you perused the albums of dresses. There were also suits for the men. I noticed a few Lolita style French-maid type outfits, a medieval dress and men's garb, lots of prom style dresses, kimonos, some traditional Korean wear, and, to my surprise, several different wedding dresses and tuxedos. Apparently young couples would come and do fake wedding photos – you could book Mr. Kim to be your photographer for an extra 30000won. To be honest, it was pretty awful inside: the décor was mostly sickly sugary pink, with yellow roses painted on the wall. There was

lace hanging all over the place, elevator music playing, heart shaped cushions on the seats. There couldn't be a sappier place. For the dress café/photography section, there was fake church background, a fake garden background, a settee in a fake Victorian living room, a fake sky, among others. Chris and I sat down and started chatting, and then Mr Kim came over. I call him this because this is how Chris introduced me to him. Mr Kim asked Chris to ask me if I had been to a coffee place called Mr. White earlier that week.
Why yes! I did last week during the holiday, when it was raining. Why?
Kim Myeong-Sang is Mr. Kim's younger brother.
But an older, hotter, taller version with more muscles. He was gorgeous. MS had mentioned to Mr. Kim that he had met a foreign girl in the coffee shop earlier this week. Mr. Kim, where MS had a baseball hat, wore a beanie, and like his brother, had on a tight fitting t-shirt that showcased his developed chest and jeans.
Hello! It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.
So, this is your place?
He glanced at Chris for a translation. He didn't speak any English....Noooo! Just my luck!

Chris and I continued chatting while I tried to avoid staring at him. He tried a few sentences with me in Korean, I struggled to respond. Chris translated occasionally, but I was already giving up hope of getting to know him better. He handed me two tickets for free polaroids with my Viennese coffee, which I presume he gave to customers after their photo shoots. He snapped a Polaroid of Chris and I together. After a couple of hours, I went home, happy to have some phenomenal new eye- candy, but disappointed that nothing would come of it, I was sadly certain.