Remember the Lanterns

Jay

After a great night out, Liz ended up going home with an old fling of hers, and I returned to my apartment alone, where I paced around like a lion in a cage. With nothing more to do, I decided to have a few more drinks. Several month old soju. With some old candies that I had gotten from a student, also several months prior. And I finished the bottle and the candies. Friday nights weren't meant to end like this.
I grabbed my handbag and went back to what was still my favorite bar, AU. I sit down at the bar and order myself a mojito. Sorry, no mint leaves they tell me when they deliver my drink. Sahlly, sahlly, he continues, bowing. I glance around, at the group of young women in the corner, smoking and picking at their fruit plate, at a couple on a date, also picking at their fruitplate. And there was a group of boys with like hair flips and skinny jeans, also smoking and picking at their fruit plate. Why did everybody have fruit plates? They cost 15000won for a few pieces of watermelon. I glanced down the bar, and there were two young guys having beers, no fruit plate. It was TBT, Tae Bum Two, the young student gamer. He smiled and waved. I head down the end of the bar. Another friend (not Jun whom I had met before) was there with him.
Hello Miss! he greets me. I'm seeing you, berry surprised! It's nice to see you too!

He introduces me to his friend Yeong Cheol. Also a student.
What doing? Yeong Cheol asks me. What am I doing here? I don't know.
This is hilarious to Yeong Cheol, but TBT looks at me and smiles again.
You funny Miss.
When I asked him in Korean, how the night was going, he said, berry nice, thank you! and started to fire all the usual questions at me: could I use chopsticks, did I like Korea, could I eat kimchi and other spicy foods, how many bottles of soju could I drink. I asked him if he could use a knife and fork, if he liked Western countries, if he could eat pizza and hamburgers, and how many bottles of Coke he could drink. TBT laughed at my joke, and Yeong Cheol answered sincerely. It was actually kind of cute. When we were finished, and he went to the restroom, TBT and I caught up. School was going well, he was still gaming sometimes, Jun had a girlfriend now and never saw TBT, but TBT was still single and wanted to 'make a girlfriend'. But, school was busy, he was working 'part-time' at a restaurant, which meant five shifts a week, two of which were Saturday and Sunday nights and finished when the restaurant closed, sometimes at 10pm and sometimes at 3am. And he had to go to military service. But TBT was still going out and seeing friends and having a good time. I

realised that I was faced with too much time on my hands. Much more than was good for me, because all I did with that time as stew, pity myself, stew some more. Nonetheless, before I could comment on TBT's rough situation, I was interrupted by an explosion of laughter from behind me along the bar, where I had been sitting when I first came in. One guys in their late twenties or early thirties was sitting between two women, who were laughing like firecrackers. Guy in the middle had a great smile, and noticed me looking at him. Over the next while, we made eye-contact several more times. He had nice, full lips, perfect teeth, and unstyled hair, which looked great. The girls flirted shamelessly with him. But he seemed happy, and funny. Life and energy radiated from him. My company was nice, but he kept distracting me. We made eye contact maybe like ten times while Yeong Cheol, TBT and I discussed music. As the conversation changed topics, the guy got down from his stool and walked over to a table behind me to say hello to some friends. He was wearing a plain, white t-shirt with three quarter length beige pants and Vans slip ons. He looked great. While he was talking to his friends, the two girls he was with packed up their things, waved goodbye to him and left. Instead of him following right behind them, he returned to his place at the bar. Since TBT and Yeong Cheol were in conversation, he turned to me and said: "Hi, you live here?"
Ya.

What do you do?
English teacher.
Hagwon?
Ya, BYO English. You know it? Sure. I studied there a few years ago.
He didn't once ask about chopsticks or spicy food or kimchi. Yeong Cheol and TBT said their goodbyes at some point, and new guy and I kept chatting over mojitos. Strangely, in AU, where they usually played electronic, Led Zeppelin came on.
Oh, I love this song! You like Led Zeppelin?
When I replied that I did, he nodded at me, smiled and squeezed my hand. We decided to switch to a booth, and sat next to each other instead of across. My other answers were rewarded with him shifting a little ways towards me, and closer still and then putting his arm around me and before I knew it, he kissed me on the cheek.
You like Pink Floyd? he asked me.
Yes. I sighed. Another kiss on the cheek, You like me?
Yes.
You love me?

This question wasn't as serious in Korean as it was in English. It really just meant, do you like me? Actually, it reminded me of the time when YS and I first started dating, and he mentioned us getting married. At the time I replied with, ya sure, whatever. He was actually a little offended with me, and didn't speak to me the rest of the car ride to the movies. It wasn't unusual for Koreans to do what I call future projecting. As soon as one was in a relationship, it didn't matter how soon, it was perfectly normal to future project, and talk about the things to do together later in the year, the holidays together the next year, the wedding together a few years later, and even the car and kids. it was just part of being in a relationship, no matter how truthful the intentions behind the statements were. It was actually pretty cute. I remembered starting sentences with a previous boyfriend of three years with 'if we are still together in November....' which would probably sound just as ridiculous to Korean ears as how I felt when someone said "do you love me?" after just having met them. But it still made me uncomfortable replying and so, despite the fact that we were in a bar in Daegu, in public, I kissed my new friend on the lips. He kissed me back. Gently, at first, and before long we were making out. I'm not sure how long we were at it, but it was fantastic. Made me feel fifteen again, and I was soaking wet. It was a phone call from Liz which interrupted us. By that time, the place was mostly deserted. All of the customers at the bar were gone, and

there were only a few occupied booths. Hey, you're awake! she said. Can I come over after all?
Look, I've gotta go. A girlfriend is supposed to be staying with me tonight, I told my new friend.
Sure.
What's your name by the way? It's Jay.
I'm Hannah.
Pleased to meet you.
You too.
I got myself home, where Liz was waiting for me. What a journey that was. I had had far more to drink that I thought I had.
The next day, I say goodbye to Liz in the afternoon, and spend the rest of the evening beating myself up for not getting Jay's number. I contemplate heading back to AU to see if I can find Jay, but decide that that would not only seem a little desperate, but it was also unrealistic to think that he would be there. Although I think about him for the next few weeks, I have to give up on running into him again since my first Master's course begins in less than a week at the beginning of August. Perfect timing since I need something to fill my time not at work. I was getting a little tired of my life outside of work consisting of going

out for coffees or meals (with people or alone). Things go well. I don't think of YS very often, if at all, I maintain a friendship with Hee Seong, and we chat once a week on the phone, and I go back to playing basketball with the boys on Sunday evenings at Suseong Mot. Between studying, basketball and work, I go from way too much time, to extremely busy, with barely a minute to think.