Drift Reality > South Korea > Jinie 3

It was then that fortune smiled upon me because just as her friend was beginning to get restless, a solitary Korean fellow at a neighboring table approached her and began speaking with her.

Jinie and I continued our nonsensical banter for several minutes, and then her friend leaned over and began whispering something in her ear. The guy who had joined us then asked me, "do you want to go to another place after this?"

Ordinarily, I would have no problem just moving with the general flow of things, but in this case, prudence calmly explained to me that after only being in this country for one month, and seeing as how I was incapable of communicating with 80% of the population, maybe it wasn't the best idea to go cavorting around with a group of people who I had known for a total of about one hour. I could end up "in some ditch," as my Mother always enjoyed telling me when I was young.

As usual, the conflict between male common sense and a beautiful girl was short lived, and next thing I knew we were driving on the highway to God knows where and I was sitting in the back seat with a beautiful girl who did not understand a word that I was saying. As a benefit to all my readers, I have included a translation along with the following transcript of dialogue between Jinie and myself:

Jinie: (points at me) Girlfriend? (Offers a questioning glance)
Translation: So, do you have a girlfriend?

Jiyan: (shakes head vigorously and looks at Jinie) Boyfriend? (Offers a questioning glance)
Translation: No, I'm hoping you can help me with that. Wait, do you have a boyfriend?

Jinie: (Smiles and shakes head)
Translation: No, I just haven't met a guy who excites me, you know? I need an interesting guy who challenges me.

Jiyan: (smiles knowingly)
Translation: Maybe I could be you boyfriend. I'm interesting, I used to drench my toys with WD-40 and destroy them in a blazing inferno.

Jinie: (Points at me with a questioning look on her face) Job?
Translation: So, what do you do for a living? What makes your boat float? Tell me more about yourself.

Jiyan: (points at self) Teacher. (Points at Jinie) Job?
Translation: I don't know DHTML, ASP, or VB Script, so I decided to teach English. Well, baby-sit is more accurate a term. So, what do you do?

Jinie: (points at self) Fashion model.
Translation: Well, I've been modeling since I was young, it pays well and I only have to work two hours each day. I'm quite beautiful, don't you think?

Jiyan: (nods head appreciatively) Oh. Model what?
Translation: You're a model? Well, that certainly seems to make sense? What kind of modeling do you do?

Jinie: Lingerie model. Home shopping.
Translation: Well, I'm a lingerie model on the home shopping network actually. I walk around in my underwear while people videotape me.

Jiyan: Oh baby.
Translation: Oh baby.

I was so entranced by the conversation with Jinie that I did not realize we had been driving on the highway for about thirty minutes. When I finally looked out the window, I was disturbed to see that we were no longer in the city. We had arrived in some strange café in the middle of nowhere.

Thankfully, my companions did not morph into vampires and kill me in a blood-soaked orgy of gore. Instead, we had a few drinks in the café and then headed back to the city.

After dropping of the male stranger, we headed towards Chongshinde to drop me off. It was at this point that I found out that Jinie lived in a distant region in the far Northeast section of Seoul and wanted to know if her and her friend could stay at my house for the evening. Being the pinnacle of chivalry that I am, I politely explained to them that they were more than welcome to accompany me back to my house, and that I would even sleep on the floor and allow them the privilege of sharing my single bed.

This news seemed to please them and we headed towards my apartment.

We arrived and they gingerly followed me through my building into my apartment. We entered and they scrutinized my environment, probably to make sure that I didn't have any whips or chains in the corner of my room. As I quietly looked on, they exchanged a few words in Korean, and then Jinie's friend turned towards me and shyly asked, "It is okay if she sleeps here?"

I tried my best to contain the diabolical grin that was struggling its way onto my face and responded, "Sure, no problem."

My response seemed to satisfy her and she said her farewell and left the room, leaving Jinie and myself completely alone for the first time that night. Playing the role of the gentleman, I offered her some pajamas and we began to prepare ourselves for bed.

Like two children, we sat next to each other and attempted to communicate through drawings on a notepad until morning.

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