Martoons

Cast of characters

Mr Go

Miss No

*

With the soju coursing through his veins, Go’s eyes locked on a huge curved sign flashing…

KISS VIP ROOM     KISS VIP ROOM     KISS VIP ROOM

…in red with a huge set of lips pulsating below it.

He stared at the lips hypnotically.

Wait a minute.

Did the lips just pucker up?

He strained his neck and did a double take.

The lips were saying something!

* Was Go imagining things? *

“You’d like Chinju a lot better if you had some play money!” Go laughed.

That was awesome!

“Mmm baby, I love you!”

Moments later the soju wore off, Go got up to take a leak, went home and crashed.

Next night while neon gazing and waiting patiently for the lips to talk to him again, he half-consciously heard a woman’s heels click down the hall and into his office, followed by a dull thunk on his desk.

Then the heels receded.

It was just the secretary bringing him the daily pile of paperwork needing to be reviewed and signed off.

Go didn’t bother acknowledging her at such instances.

This brief late-night time was exclusively his and he didn’t want to be disturbed.

What sat on the desk though wasn’t just an inert pile of paper.

He happened to turn back and see the wad of Korean Won.

He got on the intercom.

“You’re new here, right?” he asked the secretary.

She was.

Her name was Miss No.

* This is how Go met Miss No? *

“Why did you leave this cash on my desk? It’s supposed to be deposited. Bills have to be paid.”

“I’ve already been to the bank sir.”

“Huh?”

“Congratulations! Today for the first time all the bills are paid and that heap on your desk is surplus cash. Just thought you might want to look at it and count it perhaps? It’s quite lovely, isn’t it? Profit.”

Go was befuddled but before he could utter anything, she cooed, “Since you’ve got a little extra cash tonight, maybe you could … invite me out for dinner or something? I’d like to talk to you about my career goals … and my life dreams.”

Admittedly, Go was interested in Miss No.

There was something about her, different from the other one-dimensional dolts that usually rode the reception desk and never seemed to stay longer than a few weeks.

No seemed to have some brains and certainly a lot of drive.

(Which direction she was driving in, he wasn’t sure yet.)

However, with her being new and other Korean staff still milling about the institute, he didn’t want to ignite any jealousies.

“Dinner? Sure,” he said politely, “but how about next time? It’s not a good time right now.”

Actually, dinner was the last thing on his mind.

He was mesmerized by that strange stack of cash on his desk.

He got a funny feeling that his life was about to change; for the better or worse he didn’t know.

Just change.

As if the neat, tightly packed little stack had magical powers, he quickly stashed it in the large, lower lockable drawer, and also snuck a quick swig from the soju tucked away there.

He slammed the drawer shut decisively, and felt a lot better with that wad of cash out of sight.

Trying to put all that funny money out his mind, he went back to lip watching, waiting for the next words of wisdom from the KISS VIP ROOM sign.

Next night, another pile of cash appeared.

And the next.

It had been a rough few start-up months but the new situation finally sank in.

I’m actually making money now.

So, what am I supposed to do?

The thought had never occurred to him.

He’d never actually expected success in such a short time.

When he got up to gaze down upon the flickering blue, green and red neon signs, they too – like those red lips – were all speaking to him.

Beckoning.

Calling.

Hey

Hey

Hey

They flashed and called out.

You

You

You

Come

Come

On

The voices were relentless, pounding, seductive.

Go tried to ignore them, rotating his chair back into the desk.

* Was Go able to resist? *

But then he found his hand took on a mind of its own and unlocked that lockable drawer.

He fished his hand through the wads of cash in the drawer and clutched his soju headache relief.

It was the second or third time tonight and there was only a trickle left.

“Ayeesh…”

Nevertheless, he tilted the bottle back and drained every drop.

Another bottle for later had been stashed in there too but after fishing around for it and coming up empty-handed he laughed.

“That was the bottle for later!”

So no bottle but lots of cash.

Yet the bills of currency seemed inert.

Useless.

Belonging to the future.

Reclining back in his chair, he swung back around to face the window.

The signs again, now yelling at him in flashes:

Seize the moment.

Live a little.

You deserve it.

Come on out – just for one.

So he did.

*

Tomorrow: Go’s descent into nightlife debauchery begins.