It's sometime before dawn.  I was happily dreaming about laughing 
monkeys and some abnormally tall midgets when the sound of my cell phone 
ringing triggers a pavlovian response and pin-pops my hazy balloon mind. 

     I'm fumbling around in the blackness of my room; Seung-Moon's sleeping 
next to me and I accidentally tackle and wake her in my scramble to kill the 
plastic phone-baby's cry. 

     Now she's pissed; probably thinks I'm trying to catch a drowzy-nut; 
she's trying to push me away with her flatened palm on my face; still 
haven't found the infernal phone; which is on it's ninth or tenth ring.

     My sleep head finally starts to clear and I spy the eerie green glow of 
the handphone unit peering through the spread eagle pages of a spine-fucked 
Philip K. Dick novel that's jammed between the head-board and the wall.

     I curse, palm the phone, click it open and hold it to my ear:

     " Hello", I say.
     " Max, it's me.", a familiar voice moans.
     "Chico, duuude ... it's too early ... you know I gotta teach soon ... 
what the fuck are ya' tryin' to do to me?!"
     "I ... uh ... ".
     "Dude, I just tackled Seung-Moon; woke her up; pissed her off ... I 
gotta go ... I'll call you tomorrow ... ".
     " No, Max ... wait!", he says, " Don't go ... just talk to me now.".
     "Chic, man ... I just told you that yr fuckin' me up.  I'm not in the 
mood to be the shoulder for yr drunk-ass-I'm-lonely-crying-jag.  Call 
someone else.  Wake someone else up.  Ruin someone else's life.".
     "No, Max, just listen to me ... uhhhh ... it ain't like that this 
time.".
     " Alright,", I say with an annoyed sigh, " what's up?  Where are you?  
Shark Bar?  Soju tent?  House party at Leon's?".
     "Naw man, I'm fuckin' dying out here ... ", he says.
     " Look, Chico, you're gonna have to get used to this shit; It just 
ain't like everybody says ... you aren't going to go home with a girl every 
night".
     " Naw man, you don't understand ... uhhhh ... I'm really dying out 
here.".
     " ... what're you trying to tell me?".
     " gulp ... I ... uhhh ... I'm really cold right now ... ".
     " What're you talking about, man?  It's summer.  It's 85 degrees out 
there and wetter than a ...".
     " Max, this is for real; can't waste the time ... I'm not at a bar, I'm 
not drunk.  I'm laying here ... somewhere ... I don't know where ... side of 
the road. I was ... uhhh ... out, just cruisin' on the scooter ... a joyride 
on the outskirts of town ... dark empty roads ... nothing ... maybe a few 
houses with no lights on.  A big-ass diesel truck came up fast from behind 
and smacked me off the road ... it was all I could do to use this arm enough 
to find my phone and hit the memory button to dial yours.   I'm just layin' 
here dying, man.".
     " Oh, oh, oh ... Chico, this ain't funny, are you for real?".
     " Yeah.".
     " Okay, hold on.  I'm gonna hang up; get Seun-Moon to dial the 
emergency number and translate for me ... tell 'em to go and pick you up ... 
then I'll call right back.".
     " No, uhhhh ... Max, don't ... just stay here with me ... just talk to 
me a little longer.".
     "Chico, shut-the-fuck-up ... fuck that toughguy bullshit ... just chill 
out while I call in the emergency boys.".
     " Max, I'm fucked up, but I'm not stupid.  Christ, think about it ... I 
would'a done that already if I thought it mattered ... my hanguel-mal is 
good enough ... but I just don't know where the hell I am ... miles out of 
town ... darkness ... a maze of nameless roads ... I'm too disoriented to 
get any bearings ... can't get up to look for help ... laying in a ditch, in 
a bunch of tall grass ... ain't nobody found me yet ... by time you managed 
to get anybody out here ... or come out lookin' yrself, I'm gonna be long 
gone.".
     "What's yr body like?".
     "It's pretty bad, man; that truck just wiped me off the road ... the 
scooter and my legs got caught underneath a wheel ... can't feel much of 
anything ... don't even know what's left ... I know something's gone ... 
uhhh ... covered in my own fuckin' blood ... everywhere ... my left arm's 
twisted too ... from the landing ... I was out for a while ... don't even 
know if the truck stopped ... if he did, he must've figured I was gone ... 
figured the best thing to do was to have a few bottles of soju with 
breakfast and try to forget about it ... don't really blame him ... uhhh ... 
".
     " You hurtin' pretty bad?".
     " Uhhh ... not really that bad ... less than I ever would'a thought ... 
just really numb and really cold all over ... figure I'm in shock ... ".
     " Yeah.  Look, Chic, your mind sounds great; you don't sound like a 
dying man to me.  I think we should try to do somthing ... maybe it ain't as 
bad as you think.".
     " Max, I wanna live ... but ... uhhh ... I must be head down on some 
sort of incline, 'cause the blood's running down towards the side of my face 
... collecting in the dirt around my cheek ... in my ear ... got some in my 
left eye ... got the phone laid across the upside of my head.  Like I said, 
I'm amazed I even managed to make this call.".
     "Yeah, so let's take an inventory of what ya' got left ... the right 
hand's working, 'cause ya' used it to wake me up ... ".
     " Yeah, sorry about that ... yeah ... uhhh ... right hand ... arm ... I 
can move 'em ... the goddamned phone is okay ... pulled it out of my right 
pocket ... it's all stickey with blood and stuff ... ".
     " Heh, 'guess they're buildin' them to last.".
     " Heh ... koff ... uhhh ... yeah ... ".
     " So, what else?".
     " Uhhh ... not much ... my right eye's alright ... things are a bit 
blurry ... dialed you on the keypad from memory with my fingers ... I was 
afraid I'd drop it and wouldn't be able to get it back if I put it in front 
of my face ... ".
     " Yeah ..., ".
     " Hey ... I ain't feelin' so good ... might go soon ... just so you 
know if I suddenly stop talking ... ".
     " C'mon man, talk to me a little longer ... I'm gonna miss you.".
     " ... heh ... koff ... uhhh, yeah ... y'know this is really sort of 
funny ... ".
     " Fuck off with that ... this ain't funny.".
     " Well, I mean, I'm getting what I deserve.  I knew what I was getting 
into whan I started riding the stupid thing ...
     " Yeah, but let's not waste the time with that stupid shit.".
     " Okay ... uhhh ..., ".
     " What're you lookin' at?".
     " Oh ... not much, some grass, dirt, rocks .. I can see the scooter's 
back wheel ... totally twisted ... one of my shoes maybe? ... grass ... dirt 
... a bug's crawling on my dead left hand ... ".
     " What kind of bug is it?".
     " ... uhhh ... an ant maybe ... I can't really tell ... I think he's in 
trouble ... gonna get caught in the blood when it dries and drown ... run 
little bug-man ... get away ... try and get away ... ".
     " Shit. ".
     " Uhhh ... yeah ... koff ... uhhh ...,".
     " So, what were you doin' tonight ... before this happened? Drinkin'?".
     " No, swear I wasn't .... not even one ... really.  Got off work and 
just wanted to drive a little ways out of the city ... wanted to feel free 
of it all for a little while ... and I did too ... sort of still do ..., ".
     " Yeah?.".
     " Guess I had a date with old grim ... show's how much I know ...".
     " Shut up man ... no, don't shut up ... but think about somthin' else 
...".
     " S'pose I should.".
     " F'real Chic, I've never heard you be so serious ... 's scaring me.".
     " Heh, yeah ... uhhh ... I'm ... uhhh ... sorry to lay this one on you 
... I know it'll be a heavy for ya ...".
     " I wouldn't have it any other ...".
     " I know ... that's why I called you instead of my mom ...".
     " So, if this goes down, what'a you want me to do about her?".
     " Oh fuuuck man, uhhh ... my poor fuckin' mom ... the tear duct on my 
right eye is workin' I think ... uhhh, my mom ... snifff ... well, don't 
tell her about this ... she won't understand ... you understand ... just ... 
uhhh ... let my school handle it ... wait awhile ... the director'll call 
her ... or they'll send some sort of form letter ... then ... maybe in a few 
months or a year ... write her a long letter ... a real one ... make it 
fuckin' good man ... make it beautiful for her ..., ".
     " I will.".
     " Don't tell her about this ... just ... uhhh ... just do some 
beautiful remaniscing about good times ...,".
     " Yeah?".
     " Yeah ... give her some perfect mental snapshots ... you know ... like 
ideal and shit ... take your time on it ... make it beautiful for her ... I 
know you can.".
     " ... I can ... I will ...".
     " Uhhhhh ... it's coming ... I can feel it coming ..., ".
     " This won't mean much, but it ain't gonna get any worse ... I feel 
confident saying that ...".
     " Yeah?  Yeah. ".
     " I mean, the only pain that's left is gonna be for us; you know, like 
all the folks on Earth who fuckin' love you ...,".
     " Yeah ... thanks man.".
     " Sheeeit, what're you seein' now?".
     " You know, there's a bunch of cash stashed in my place and noone in my 
family back in the states really needs it ...,".
     " Fuck off man ... don't waste yr time talking 'bout money.".
     " Yeah.".
     " So, what're you seein' now?".
     " Oh ... koff ... not much ... just blur ... shades ... think a car 
just passed up there on the road.".
     " Maybe it's stopping?  Scream!".
     " No, can't get a scream out, already before I called.  Think I heard 
it go by ... patches  of light and motion ... ".
     " Sort of like a disco?".
     " Yeah ... uhhh ... death's fuckin' disco ... heh ...".
     " ... Don't worry man, there ain't gonna be no disco in heaven ... I 
heard it's all Jazz, Blues and Rock'n'Roll up there ... all they play is 
shit that sounds good while yr gettin' stoned on God's own personal stash 
...,".
     " Heh ... yeah ... god smokes ... heaven ... sheeeit ... been thinkin' 
'bout that place ...".
     " Go figure.".
     " Heh, Max ... motherfuckin' wiseass ... uhhh ... not really about 
heaven ... just dyin' and like ... that death is the one great equalizer ... 
the only true commonality and all inclu ... sive community between people 
... the only fairness and justice ... for all the people on this planet.".
     " Yeah?".
     " 'Cause, like, everybody does it.".
     " Yeah, they do.".
     " Like the time when I ended up in the yogwan room of those three 
Russian prostitutes ..., ".
     " Heh, I remember that one ...".
     " Yeah, and I thought we were going to have 4-way sex ... had my cock 
out, and hard and everything ... they were rubbing it and we were all 
kissing ... and then all of a sudden ... the older, ugliest one ... the 
witch who spoke the best English levels her eyes on mine and gets all 
serious ... starts saying ' Walter, look at me ... look at me ... listen to 
me ... Walter, listen to me ... listen ... I am old ... I see life big ... 
you are so young ... you see life so small ... look at us three ... we've 
had very hard lives .... in our country, many big problem ... you, from 
America ... have small problem ..., ".  And then of course, my dick just 
died from all the guilt and shame I felt for the lucky hand I was dealt at 
birth ... felt so fuckin' bad for who I'd turned out to be.".
     " Yeah.  You still fuck 'em?".
     " heh ... naw man ... listen to what I'm sayin'!".
     " I am.".
     " I know you are ... uhhh ... so here I am, dying on the side of the 
road like an old dog who wasn't fast enough ... like any other roadkill 
who's eyes got caught up in the high beams, and ended up giving the asphalt 
a redwash ...,".
     "Christ, Chick, yr makin' me sick.".
     " I'm dying a brutal fuckin' death, just like those poor folks who's 
blood drenched the gutters and ditches in Germany, Cambodia ... and every 
other fuckin' inch of 'civilized' Earth.".
     " I don't know man, sound's like yr hangin' in there to me ... maybe it 
ain't as bad as you'd thought?.  I could still try to rustle up a rescue.".
     " Just stay with me ... I'm feelin' really fuckin' cold.".
     " Okay ...,".
     " I just feel ... uhhh ... lucky ... blessed by luck or fate or chance 
... the gods of thunder ... geothermic magnetism ... or whatever it was that 
gave me this time to wind it down at the end of the game ... fuckin' lucky 
to have this stupid phone and lucky to have you on the other end ... for my 
last min ... uhhh ... ".
     " Yeah.".
     " I'd wish it for everybody who dies ... maybe even Hitler ...,".
     " Christ, Chico".
     " Even Christ.".
     " Now yr just gettin' weird on me ... what're you seein'?".
     " Uhhh ... I'm really really cold ... seein' more colors ... brightness 
... ".
     " Yeah, you've made it to dawn ... the sun's coming up ... maybe 
someone will see you now ... maybe they'll see the scooter ... call for some 
help ...".
     " Yeah, maybe ... but the sun ... uhhh ... I can feel the warmth ... 
but I'm still cold ... I think it's sucking me up ... into it ...,".
     " Oh Jesus, man.".
     " I'm ... uhhh ... I'm seeing the blood ... uhhh ... not the shit I'm 
covered in ... like a river ... the cells ... from the inside ... uhhh ... I 
... feel like I've got billions of brothers and sisters around me ... 
feeling very small ... it feels alright ... really ... uhhh ...,".
     " Yeah?".
     " There's a breeze ... and it's blowing us along with it ... it's okay 
... to somewhere ...,".
     " Yeah?".
     " Yeah ... uhhh ... mmmm ... Max ... you know ... thanks ...... uhhh 
... tell Seung-Moon I'm sorry for the wake-up call ...,".
     " C'mon man ...".
     " Yeah ... Max ... I think ... uhhh ... mmmm ... I think I gotta go now 
...,".
     " No, let's talk some more ... don't go!".
     " I ... uhhh ...".
     " C'mon man ... tell me somthin' else ... c'mon.".
     " ..., ".
     "Hey Chico?".
     " ..., ".
     " Hey Chico, yr just passing out from shock ... I'm gonna get 
Seung-Moon on the phone to the meds ... we'll get a helicopter to come and 
find you now that it's light ... take you back to the hospital and fix you 
up ..., ".
     " ..., ".