So-Young came striding into the "Gecko's" club in all her glory. Long black leather jacket, black leather boots, tight jeans, skin tight white shirt that left little to the imagination, and long black hair flowing as she walked. Numerous heads turn and it almost seems as if all activity in the bar stops for a brief moment and all eyes are focused on So-Young. She loves the attention; she basks in the attention. She came strolling up to Jack and gave him a big kiss and hug. Jack tells her, "I missed you so much, baby." She smiles and replies, "I'm too." They sit down together and Jack orders some drinks for both of them. It will probably be a little while before it is Jack's chance at the table again.
   
 They catch up on things and chat about nothing in particular. Both of them are awfully enthralled with one another... unfortunately they are both scared of one another as well. They both know that either one of them is so easily replaceable and they aren't afraid of reminding one another of that fact when either one steps out of line. However, they also can't get enough of one another and are both pretty upset to have to leave one another.
   
 Jack has more or less laid down all these things to her in the past. He has also told her how he feels... and has been very careful not to use the "L" word... although, he once let it slip out one night in bed together. She either didn't hear him or pretended not to hear him because she had replied with, "what did you say?" Jack had then just said, "I said, I like you, I like you a lot." She had made a similar mistake once in the past after getting drunk and bearing all. However, they both pretended neither event ever happened. It's not going to matter now for quite some time. She is going to be studying English in the States for at least a year. Jack will still be in Korea at this time... and they promise to meet again when she comes back. She asks him to come visit her in LA; he would like to... but doesn't have the time, money, or interest right now. Besides, going home would mean he would have to deal with his deranged family. He misses them dearly and though you could not classify them as "dysfunctional," his mom, dad, brothers and cousins are best left at arms distance... or in this case, ocean's distance. As a child he had always joked with his parents that he was going to "move to China or something so that I won't have to deal with you guys!" Well, Korea was not China... but he was at least in the same continent and region of the world. Hell... Shanghai is right around the corner. 
      
 "Jack! It's your turn, dude!" It is the GI, apparently he had managed to win and now it is his table. He is back in full force and ready for action this time. He had stripped off his leather jacket, rolled up his sleeves, put his baseball cap on backwards, was now drinking gin and tonic, AND he had equipped himself with a brand new, standard issue, super-sexy, club tramp. She is clinging onto his arm; she has way too much makeup on and is wearing some outfit that Jack bets has less material than some swimwear. He gets this big shit-eating, "I'll bet my girl gives better head than yours," grin on his face and said, "You ready, Jack?"
    
 Jack is not one to be trifled with now though. Jack strips off HIS leather jacket. He rolls up HIS sleeves. He combs his hair back. He orders some rum and coke. Further, Jack has his own sexy sidekick and she is a much better catch than the walking pietre dish of venereal disease that the GI is fooling around with. Jack takes a drag of his Dunhill, smiles, and says, "Let's play."
 The GI didn't have a chance; Jack is in the zone now. Despite all the encouragement from his attractive barroom ornament, Jack mercilessly humbled the GI. So-Young rushes to his side and gives him a big hug after the victory. "Good shot Evil!" She nicknamed him "Evil" or "Cute Evil." Jack kind of likes it. "Cute Evil." It is kind of funny being likened to a mischievous little Devil, Imp, or Gremlin of some kind. Well... regardless, it is fairly accurate. If Jack does anything well it is "misbehaving" and being a naughty little boy. Shame on him.
   
 One of the big hits by the "Venga Boys" starts playing. Jack loves all kinds of techno, if he had to pick a favorite kind, he might choose trance... however, he LOVES the Venga Boys. So what if you can classify them as just another one of those pre-packaged bands made by the We Make Gay Boy and Girl Bands So Enimen Has Someone To Make Fun Of, Inc. company. They are still upbeat, have catchy tunes, you can dance to them, and the one black girl in the band is way cute.
 Jack shouts, "Who's next?" He is getting drunk and even more cocky then usual. Fortunately for him, he plays best when he is cocky and slightly drunk. Now with the encouragement from So-Young AND the "Venga Boys," Jack is unstoppable.
   
 Hans steps up to the challenge... he also falls to Jack's mighty cue-stick wielding power. The GI's walking extension of his ego took a try, she was crushed. Jack even made the eight ball off the bank even though he had an easy shot elsewhere. So-Young had made a new friend. An old gentlemen had sat down at the bar next to her and was making conversation. "OK," Jack thought, "time to go mark out my territory." He went over to So-Young and gave her a little kiss. She exclaims, "He is a diplomat!" Jack responds, "oh, good for him... I am a teacher. Shit... see that scumbag over there?" Jack was pointing at the GI, "they make movies about guys like him, what's your point?" Jack looks past So-Young to the older guy, "Hey, what's up man?" The guy just nodded. So-Young explains that he doesn't speak English, he is French... but he can speak Korean. Jack wasn't going to fuck around with trying to communicate in French, not that he really could either. The French diplomat began talking some more with So-Young in Korean, Jack smiles and says, "I'll be playing pool." Jack is a bit jealous... but he figures, "fuck it." He decides it is her choice and he doesn't have any right to tell her otherwise... but she is going to hear about this from him later. He doesn't flirt with other girls in front of her face. Jack thought some more about it and decided to give So-Young the benefit of the doubt, she might not even realize she is being hit on, who knows. He continues to play some more pool and then later returns to So-Young's side. She seems pretty happy and is getting fairly drunk. When Jack comes by she asks if the game is going well and gives him a big passionate kiss. That throws Mr. French Diplomat a bit off, and he leaves shortly thereafter. Jack doesn't have anything against the guy, So-Young is a serious catch, and the French guy didn't know that Jack and So-Young were "together." Further, Jack doesn't know what So-Young told him either... regardless Jack decides to not say anything.
    
 Jack's winning streak continues, as does the various techno beats and upbeat pop and club hits. Orbital, Daft Punk, "Music" by Madonna, and a few others. A very well endowed Korean girl wearing an extremely thin shirt and no bra steps up to the table. Various men's jaws go slack and a few eyes pop out. She goes over to rack up the balls, quite a few people lean out of their seats or their necks turn to rubber. Jack turns to another guy standing next to him and says, "Nice rack huh?" The guy says, "Yup, the way she set up the balls in a triangle looks pretty good too." They both smiled and then started to laugh. "Hey, I'm Jack Daniels, nice to meet ya dude... what's your name?" The guy looks at him and says, "Quit bullshitting me, man... for real, what is your name?" Jack replies, "No... I am serious dude... for real. I know it's kind of funny, I don't know what my Mom and Dad were thinking." The guy gets a big smile on his face and starts laughing, "HAHAHA don't worry man, I totally understand, my name is Johnny Walker." 

     Jack and Johnny continue to have a good time ogling the girl whose nipples threaten to poke through her shirt. So-Young had now befriended some extremely drunk, aging barflies. Jack imagines that in 10 years the GI's pride and joy for this evening probably will look like these two characters. So-Young is chatting with. Jack goes to check on So-Young, she is fine, the two she is talking to start to chat with Jack, and they seem pretty cool. They apologize if they are interrupting Jack and So-Young and said that if he wants to talk to her alone they will go. Jack said it was fine because he had met Johnny and they can have fun because Jack wanted to play more pool. Jack returned to the pool table and passed the girl that wasn't wearing a bra, he said, "Nice shirt." She shot him a dirty look. "What a bitch, " he thought, "why in God's name would she dress like that if she didn't want that kind of attention?"
 
    It is getting later and Jack has been on the table for about 8 or 9 games now. He has managed to attract quite a crowd, but he is getting sick of playing. People start to filter out of the bar as it is approaching closing time. Jack and Johnny had been getting fairly trashed together, as was So-Young and the barflies. Eventually, the bar flies left and another guy approached So-Young and she began talking with him. Jack left it alone this time. After some time, So-Young came over to check on Jack. She is pretty drunk. Jack asks, "How are you baby?" She answers, "I am fine, little drunk." Jack thinks to himself, "yah, just a 'little'." Jack figures he is going to find out what the hell she thinks she is doing, "So who is your new friend?" "Oh, he is nice guy... he my type, not like you." That did it. Jack was now officially pissed off. That is fine though... he can play stupid games like this too.
 
   "Oh? So you like him better? Why don't you go home with him and forget about me?" Jack is pretty confident that that statement will sober her up and make her realize that she is hurting him. But, he also thinks... "well, she must be a bit upset that I was paying more attention to the pool game then her." He started to feel guilty as well. She looks at him and Jack can see that she now understands that her statement wasn't taken as a joke and this time, she had reminded him a bit too much that he is replaceable. She hugs him and says, "I'm sorry Evil... I am just chatting." Jack replied, "It's OK, after this game, lets go."

Epilogue

 They left and head back to the Engineer's place. He is already sleeping and they come in quietly, close the door and lock it. They made love through the night and she stayed until sometime past lunch, they say goodbye and Jack knows he won't see her again for a long time. Jack had one more night of partying in Seoul till he had to go back home, it was Saturday. He promised Angel that he would see her and he met up with her around 10pm. They hung out for awhile in the "Gecko's" and later went back to where they first met, "Stompers" on Hooker Hill. The Engineer was with them along with his date from last night. Afterwards, the four of them went back to the Engineer's house. Angel is a sexy girl. Jack figured he could bury his thoughts about So-Young in Angel's arms. It almost worked. They enjoy having fun together and they fuck a couple of times before passing out.
  
 Jack's cell phone goes off around 1:30pm on Sunday afternoon. "Jack?" It is the Engineer, "are you up man? I had to go out, get up man, you got a train to catch at 3pm." Jack realizes he better get moving but he still has some time. "Thanks man, later," Jack then hangs up. He and Angel fool around some more but eventually Jack pulls himself together, showers, packs up, and gets ready to go. Jack says goodbye to Angel and she leaves. He gets everything together and goes outside and flags a taxi. "Seoul-yuk gap-shi-da." The cabbie replies, "ya-ahhhh."
 Jack stumbles onto the train and walks down the aisle looking for his seat. He finds it, an aisle seat... he wanted the window. His whole body feels tired, not so much hungover, but he feels completely mentally and physically spent. He figures he can sleep the whole way back to Taejon.
 Jack puts the seat all the back and tries to relax. He starts thinking about the past few days. He had an excellent time. Candy was pretty wild and he really liked being with her that night. Poor Angel though... he doesn't want to hurt her, he likes her, but doesn't want to get serious with her. Jack thinks to himself, "If she wants someone for a real relationship, she should stop hanging out and getting drunk at 6am in Itaewon (on Hooker Hill of all places) looking for him." Jack starts to think about So-Young and sighs. She had been monopolizing his thoughts lately. He can't get her out of his head. He doesn't believe in destiny and hates that saying, "If it is meant to be..." Jack prefers to think that if two people want it badly enough, it will happen. He thinks that maybe he should have told her how he felt when he had the chance. Maybe he is scared, maybe he isn't sure, he doesn't know. He opens up his wallet and takes a long look at the picture of So-Young he had stashed away. Jack doesn't even keep pictures of his family in his wallet. "See you next year sweetheart, maybe we can get it right next time."
   
 Jack hopes that some cute girl will sit down next to him. Unfortunately, it turns out to be an old, hunchbacked ajumma. She nods in the direction of the window seat. Jack stands for her to be able to get in and tries to say "I'm sorry and excuse me" in Korean. She smiles revealing a row of gold teeth and moves to sit down smiling and nodding. Jack sits back down and wonders what the older generation of this country has been through? Was this woman a young girl who saw friends and family slaughtered by the North Korean soldiers? Did she go hungry for many days because of the famine and suffering war brings? Jack had never had to deal with anything like that. He remembers once his dad lost his job and they had to eat soup for about 3 weeks. Also, he had heard of friends of friends being killed in a gang war, or some brawl. Jack himself had been in a couple of brawls and what not... but never anything that was a life and death situation. He thought about the GI... that guy was obviously too young to have fought in any war... but what if he did sometime in the future? Jack couldn't imagine seeing the cue-stick wielding, happy-go-lucky, playboy, scumbag, killing someone. But, obviously that was his job. Jack thought the world is crazy. Everyone should just fuck one another so our children all look the same, we should give up on organized religion, and politicians should be hung, drawn, and quartered on CNN in front of a worldwide audience for lying. "Oh fuck it," he thought... they should just put me in charge. "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Jack Daniels the first, ruler of the known world, protector of the innocent, super-stud extraordinare." He likes that...