"Another friend? You mean girl." The European guy had finished making his shots. Jack tells Angel to wait one minute while he takes his shots. There is no way in hell he can concentrate at this point and he completely misses a very simple shot. "Look Angel, I never said that I wasn't dating anyone else." She replies, "But I am not, you are special to me." What is this girl thinking? They met in a bar on Hooker Hill at 6am on a Saturday morning. It wasn't the makings of a match made in Heaven...

 It was about two months ago, back in Seoul. Jack had been out all night long. He had struck out fairly miserably with numerous girls that night. Either he was coming on too strong, or not strong enough, or they just were plain not interested. The funny thing about the Korean women that hang out in Itaewon is that many of them are looking for a guy that is a foreigner. However, many of them have also learned that many foreigners think that Korean girls are very beautiful... so these girls learned that they can sometimes be pretty picky. Unfortunately for Jack, that night he had met all the picky ones. He was stumbling up the hill fending off advances from the annoying drinky girls. "Hey, you so handsome, come inside." He usually just waved his hand at them and looked the other way, as if he was too good for them. He knew how to handle these creatures though, and sometimes if he was feeling particularly evil, he had other ways to fuck with these animals. "I am so handsome huh? You want me to come inside?" The girl smiled, "Yes, you very handsome, come inside." Jack snapped back, "OK, how much? How much for a drink?" She chimed back with, "You come inside..." Jack almost enjoyed fucking around with these people, "no way... price up front... do I look stupid?" She started to close the door and had a pissed off look on her face, "OK never mind... you go away." Score one for Jack.

 He passed the "Space" club... they had a table, but he wasn't in the mood to play right now... he was on a mission, no time for games. "East and West" club... no... "Polly's Kettle House"... no. "Stompers," perfect. There weren't too many people left but there was still a crowd. He went up to the bar and ordered a Budweiser. There was some guy wearing a cowboy hat next to him. "Hey man, no luck tonight either huh?" The Cowboy replied, "I reckon I am going home alone tonight. I was just fixing to leave." Jack had always got a kick out of those Southern accents and phrases. That was when he spotted Angel. She was clearly pretty drunk, as was Jack, and she was dancing wildly not far from him. She was fairly cute and had a nice slender figure. She was obviously a very free spirited girl, which was probably the most attractive thing about her (that and the fact that Jack realized this was probably his last chance at scoring that night). It didn't take more than a few steps closer and they were dancing together. Not long after that they were grinding... shortly there after, kissing. Jack looked back and was about to yell to the Cowboy that he thinks he is good tonight. Apparently, so was the Cowboy, as he was also caught in a passionate embrace with another drunken woman.

 A Korean guy came up to Angel and tried talking to her while she was dancing with Jack. She stopped dancing and chatted with him for a bit. Jack was sure he was fucked... this was either her brother or boyfriend... either way, it wasn't going to last long. Fortunately, the guy was just another early morning zombie trying to hit on Angel. She was more interested in Jack though. "You want to get out of here?" Angel didn't hesitate much at all, "Sure, where are we going?" "I got a motel not far from here... we can walk it," Jack was hoping he could find it again. They made their way through the streets of Itaewon. It wasn't quite sunrise but it would be soon.
 Jack finally managed to find the Motel and once they got to the room, they engaged in various deeds of carnal pleasure both too drunk to notice the rank smell of cheap perfume mixed with the stench of cigarettes and alcohol. They had hung out a few times after that.

 This girl is crazy if she thinks that those circumstances are a good healthy basis for a long-term relationship. None the less, this is apparently what she either wants, or pretends to want. "Look Angel, you are special to me too, but regardless, I never said that we were exclusive. You knew I dated other girls." She is now looking pretty upset and Jack starts to feel bad, "look, I wanted to see you for dinner, I didn't know you would be so late. This girl I know is leaving for America soon and I won't get a chance to see her again. Her reply is even more direct, "Are you going to sleep with her?" Jack tries to be as polite as possible, "Angel, that's not your business... I don't ask you who else you are sleeping with." She comes back right away with, "I am not!" Jack somehow believes her, but he isn't so sure, nor does he really care, "I don't know that, how can I know that? You broke up with your ex just days before you first slept with me." She doesn't say much after that, "Fine... you are right, I guess I should go soon." The European guy had finished shooting again... Jack is up. He tells her to just hang on and he will be right back. She agrees. He is stressing too much to play now, his hands are shaking and he knows that he isn't in the zone. "Keep your cool man," he tells himself. He downs the rest of his wine. "Hey Mikey, more wine man." "No problem, Mr. Daniels..." He is going to have a hard time making an easy shot, and when he sees that the European guy has basically blocked him, he just knocks the cue ball off one of the rails and moves a few balls around. Back to Angel... "look Angel, I want to talk with you for a bit... but you should go in about 40 minutes or so." She still looks upset but agrees. They don't talk much and later she asks if he will be busy tomorrow. Jack agrees to see her the next day and then shortly thereafter she leaves. The European dude manages to barely beat Jack. Jack is pissed at himself, "dammit dude, keep your cool next time."

So-Young

 It was months ago... one of Jack's friends, Tom, this other English teacher from Taejon had been going out with this Korean girl, Misty. She was a sweet girl, but was constantly complaining, more than once she had burst into tears over something she thought Tom had done wrong, whether or not it was her fault or his. Jack, Misty, and Tom had all become pretty good friends and hung out often. One night after consuming massive amounts of kalbi and soju in a restaurant in Taejon, Jack had started getting thoroughly trashed and had begun going on about how he would like to meet a nice Korean girl. More than likely, it was the alcohol talking, but since Misty was even more fucked up, she couldn't tell the difference. She liked Jack, she knew he was something of a slimeball, and probably not the type of guy a girl would want to introduce to her friends, unless of course, one of her friends was looking to fulfill her wanton desires, rather than form an actual relationship. However, she knew that despite his flaws, Jack was a decent guy to his friends, and in his own twisted way, a pretty honest guy. She also knew Jack was also completely unashamed of the fact that he was, in the eyes of some people, a very bad guy. Misty figured that So-Young would be able to figure that out quicker than Jack could convince her to let him get into her pants. Then she thought, "Maybe, just maybe, this time he is serious." Misty mentioned that one of her best friends, So-Young, is really sweet and a total knockout. Jack's eyes lit up as she had caught his attention. "Go on..." She continued, "well, she is really sweet, and beautiful, but also... be careful, she has many guys that like her." "Well... she hasn't met me," Jack boasted. Tom inquired, "Hey are you talking about the So-Young I know?" Jack directed his attention to Tom, "Oh... so my good friend, Mr. Collins... you know this exquisite example of a woman?"

 "Yah man, I met her once," replied Tom. "Remember that Saturday night about a month ago when all three of us were going to hang out and go sing at a nore bang?" Jack answered, "No." Tom responded, "Yah no shit you don't you alcoholic motherfucker... you started drinking wine at noon right after your sorry ass rolled out of bed... still hung over I might add." Jack had just kept staring, "and so?" Tom was getting frustrated, "well... then after I came over at 4pm... we did a few shots of whiskey... by 8pm you were totally fucking passed out." It all had become clear to Jack now, "Oh yah... right... that sucked." Tom continued, "Yah, anyways, after me and Misty went out, So-Young called and wanted to meet up." Jack replied, "Oh shit yah... you told me she was totally fine... FUCK! I felt so stupid over that shit." Tom continued to describe in detail the exact dimensions of So-Young's body and during that time, Misty had thrown him the occasional slap on the shoulder or leg which Tom had countered with, "Oh, I'm sorry baby, anyway..." "She seems like your type, man." Jack had managed to barely avoid knocking over a bottle of soju and said, "What do you mean dude?" "Well... she's fun, a bit wild, arrogant and cocky... you guys would make a good couple." Misty slapped Tom again, he recoiled, "Damn girl, that one hurt..." She rubbed his arm where she had struck him. Jack thought to himself, "Smartass motherfucker." Jack took another shot of soju, wiped his mouth dry and asked, "All right so when can I meet her?"

 Misty set Jack and So-Young up for a date the next weekend. They had planned to meet at prearranged location in Taejon... outside some HOF. Jack stood outside about 15 minutes late waiting for some Korean girl to notice he was the only foreigner standing out in front of a HOF next to a busy street. He lit a cigarette and figured if no one approached him after he was done with his smoke... he was leaving. No one approached him. "Ahh fuck it, he thought," but then decided he would try calling. Jack pulled out his cellphone and dialed So-Young's number. "Yoboseiyo?" Jack had spoken up, "Hello? This is Jack." "Ohh, Jack... hi, where you now? Oh, OK, I'm see you." Shortly after that, a beautiful girl with long black hair down to her ass approached him. Jack could barely contain himself... she was a knockout, this girl belonged in a movie somewhere. Jack was glad he hadn't left.

 They had gone inside the HOF. They had got a seat together and at that time Jack tried to impress her with his limited Hangul, "Chogi-yo!" The waitress approached them. Jack continued, "Doo-gay mekju ju-sei-yo." He was trying his best to pronounce it correctly. So-Young chimed in and repeated what he said, obviously much clearer. The waitress hurried off to get the beer. "Well at least I tried," Jack proudly stated. So-Young had found it hard to control herself and giggled a bit. Jack had felt kind of stupid and sunk into his chair. So-Young noticed this and chimed in, "Babo!" They had a great time together, just chatted about many different things. Jack could tell she was a keeper. Tom was right though, she was cocky... more than once he had added some little snippet about how this guy liked her and that guy took her out to an expensive dinner but all the while to be sure and let Jack know that she isn't involved romantically with anyone. Jack wasn't going to let himself get serious with a girl like this... he was going to have the upper hand here.

 They had gotten fairly buzzed when Jack finally decided he was going to try and find out just how far this girl would go. "You want another drink?" She had just finished her beer and said, "Well... I don't know... maybe one more." Jack was going for the kill, "Well, have another, after all I am trying to get you drunk so that you will sleep with me." She looked a bit shocked then smiled and laughed. Jack smiled back and continued, "No, really... I think you are gorgeous and I would consider myself extremely lucky if you went home with me." She laughed out loud and had said, "OK one more beer."

 They had a few more beers but both stayed relatively sober. After laughing together and generally really having enjoyed one another's company, Jack finally figured it was time to go. "Are you ready to go now?" She answered, "Go where?" "My apartment", Jack responded. She was thrown a bit off, "For what?" Jack thought for a minute, "I think you know... when was the last time you made love?" It was getting interesting. She thought for a minute, "Hmm... a few months ago... how about you?" Jack came clean, "Last weekend." He was braced for the rejection. She thought about it for a bit... she figured he was obviously some kind of slimeball, but he was honest about it. Further, she knew he wasn't going to be a possessive asshole like her last three boyfriends. Who knows... he was kind of cute, and she was interested, she may have even been curious about a lustful one-night stand... maybe it wasn't such a bad idea under the circumstances?
 They had taken a cab back to Jack's apartment. Jack was in ecstasy. She was nearly perfect and extremely passionate. They barely slept that night and made love numerous times. She was everything but reserved and Jack had used every once of energy he had while making love to this perfect woman. They saw one another quite a few times after that. However, probably due to their collective egos, neither Jack nor So-Young was willing to let the relationship become anything more than a light-hearted love affair. It was just last week when she mentioned for sure that she was leaving to America.

 Misty was going with her to America. The two of them were inseparable. Tom had about had enough of Misty, "man... this crazy bitch keeps going psycho on me. She is constantly calling me trying to find out where I am and what I am doing!" Jack was trying to be as neutral as possible, he considered them both friends, and more than once he had to endure Misty's sobs on the phone while she begged Jack to help her solve her and Tom's problems with their relationship. Jack didn't want to get in the middle, "Look man... then why don't you guys stop seeing one another, you are both my friends and honestly dude, I am sick of hearing this BS from you guys." Tom had just gave an approving nod, "Yah... there are only twenty million more where that one came from." Jack couldn't argue with this logic.

Winning Streak

 A few more glasses of wine and Jack figures he can get back into his game. He thinks to himself, "Where is So-Young?" He guzzles down some more of the wine and lights a cigarette. He yanks his cellphone out of his pocket and dials So-Young's number. "Yoboseiyo?" "So-Young? It's me sweetheart, where are you?" She replies, "I almost there, Gecko's right?" He answers, "Yah, you know, we came here once before." She knew what he was doing, he loved shooting pool, "You are over by the pool table right?" "You are so clever baby." Her phone is breaking up, "OK, OK, see you soon. *click*" "More wine, Mikey!" The bartender, Mikey perks up and thinks, "Man... nice guy, but damn he needs to lay off the booze... ahh fuck it, most of these losers are drunks anyway, probably why they can't make it in their own country and come here to pollute mine." Mikey replies, "Sure thing Mr. Daniels!" Jack can't hear him whisper under his breath, "You fucking drunk."

TO BE CONTINUED...

DISCLAIMER: The bartender at the "Gecko's" in Seoul is not named Mikey, is a very cool guy, and does not seem to have anything at all against foreigners. Further, I never heard him call anyone Mr. Anything, strictly first names as far as I know.