Drift Reality > South Korea > Itaewon 1

After our classes finished that evening, Jake and I enjoyed a savory dinner at KFC, and then headed over to Jake's place, where we had agreed to meet Bob and greg before heading over to pick up Justin and Robin. We arrived to find Bob seated in front of his computer, drinking a Cass and smoking a cigarette.When asked about greg's whereabouts, Bob responded with "That bastard went out to meet some girl. That pussy."

Jake jumped into the shower, so I entered Bob's room and sat down on his bed. I noticed a few pairs of women's underwear hanging on his doorknob.

"So, whose are those?" I asked.

"Well, you know, just one of the many," he responded. Although I found it a bit disturbing to be talking to a 45-year-old man about women's underwear, I continued: "So, do you have a girlfriend in Seoul?"

"No, I have a girlfriend in Texas aye, her name is Judy" Bob began, she is an aerobics instructor, she has the most amazing body I've ever seen." Bob slowly swiveled his head towards me while plucking a small picture frame off of his desk. "Do you want to see a picture of her?"

I took the picture frame out of his hand and looked at Bob's girlfriend - she looked like a female version of Bob. "Oh. She is very attractive Bob."

This seemed to please him and he turned back towards his computer and continued typing. He was apparently in some sort of chatroom.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" I asked.

"Well, I know some places in Itchie-won."

"I'm sorry, Itchie-won?"

"Yeah, that's what I call Itaewon. Itchie-won."

"I see." I scanned his room and saw that there were a few 70s style polyester dresses hanging on his dresser.

"I know this one place in Itchie-won" Bob began, while still typing on his computer, "where I know this girl Sarah. She can introduce you to some of her friends aye?"

"That sounds nice," I told him even though it really didn't sound very nice to me. I watched as Bob stubbed out his cigarette butt and immediately reached into his cigarette box for another.

"So, where do you think Greg went?" I asked.

"I don't know, that bastard. Probably off with some whore, aye?"

I made an ambiguous sound under my breath, which I hoped would satisfy him and attempted to change the subject: "So, how have you enjoyed teaching at ECC so far, Bob?"

He glanced at me in surprise, as if wondering if I was having it on with him. After he realized that I was being sincere, he answered,

"It's a pain in the ass. But I'm making money aye. There was nothing at home."

"Right, right. . ." I answered intelligently.

"The kids are a pain in the ass, but it's not that bad."

"Hmm. . ."

"You know what?" He said. "You're a good sh#!." With that, he got out of his seat, grabbed a worn down towel off of his dresser and headed towards the shower.

I sat in his room for a few moments, attempting to make sense of the conversation, which had just transpired, and then decided to check my e-mail on his computer.

I was loading Internet Explorer when my curiosity got the best of me and I looked into his "My Documents" folder. Not surprisingly, there was a folder entitled "Girls," which I opened up.

I was treated to a terribly graphic display of some of the most atrociously rude picture I had ever seen. There was a folder entitled "Judy." I quickly closed the window and moved away from the computer, desperately trying to shake the disturbing images out of my head.

After Bob and Jake had gotten themselves ready, we headed over to Justin and Robin's house. Officially, their house consisted of two bedrooms and a common room, which served as both a kitchen and a dining room. In reality their house was more of a shanty, and the two bedrooms was more along the lines of one bedroom and a closet. The kitchen/dining area was large enough for a refrigerator, gas stove, and a small table, but you had to walk sideways to get through it.

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