Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mrs Won

Mr Kim – Mrs Won’s husband

*

Holiday Weekend        

Fred headed home to relax since he’d be getting up early. Yet the mood around the apartment was distinctly different when he got back.

Mrs Won was almost always in the kitchen but this evening her bedroom door was closed.

* What could be going on? *

Fred assessed the situation and then went into the kitchen to make green tea. Then Won came out of her room and greeted him quietly.

As Fred returned the greeting he inadvertently peered over her shoulder into the bedroom.

He caught a side glance of an obese man sitting cross-legged on the queen-size bed in his shorts and undershirt, smoking and watching TV. 

Won announced: “My husband Mr Kim is here. Fred, just a minute…” She returned to the room to summon him, closing the door behind her.

Fred resumed making his tea and could hear mumbled consultations behind the door.

Finally, Won slipped back out of the room quietly, leaving the door slightly ajar.

“My husband is waiting for an important phone call but you can go in and talk to him for a few minutes. He would really like to meet you. He really likes foreigners.”

Fred nodded, impressed again how Koreans will go out of their way to squeeze in a bit of socializing even when it’s not convenient.

“Oh Fred …” Won lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “One thing you should know: There is some problem with my husband and his boss.”

“But don’t worry about it and please do not mention this to anyone. In Korea, family matters are very private.”

* Is Mr Kim’s work problem serious? *

Fred’s kettle was boiling. Won gestured that he go in the room and that she’d bring him his tea. He bowed to indicate thanks and then knocked gently on the door.

“Yeah,” came a welcoming but subdued voice from within.

Fred entered feeling at ease, yet immediately sensed that Mr Kim was very pre-occupied with the other matter.

While they exchanged an introductory greeting, Kim shifted several times on the bed and there was a noticeable squeak in the bedsprings.

When it happened again, Fred’s memory was tweaked –

Cleaning Lady’s story about the time Mrs Won and the foreigner Thomas had presumably been doing horizontal gymnastics, presumably on this very same bed.

A grin broke out on Fred’s face and Mr Kim noticed it.

“Why?” He shifted again, causing another squeak.

“Sounds like you need a new bed Mr Kim.”

“Oh yeah,” and he swayed his hips slightly from his sitting position to make the bed screech and creak in a pattern. “It is like a musical instrument.”

They both laughed.

“This bed is very noisy,” Kim added. “Maybe my wife and I cannot move much on this bed – it would wake our daughter and she would not do well in school.”

Fred laughed again.

“Actually,” Kim said, “marriage in Korea is really for our children so a married couple does not have much movement. Maybe in your country – lots of movement?”

Fred nodded but was getting the sense that Koreans had a misconception of marriage in the West.

“Maybe for a short period but our marriages don’t seem to last as long as yours.”

Kim reflected. “When my daughter was a child she used to jump on this bed like a trampoline.”

“I think she must have been doing it again lately because I noticed that one of the bed posts has been cracked.”

Fred chuckled again.

“Mr Fred,” Kim said, “Can you come with us this weekend? We will go to the mountain.”

It was an immediate dilemma for Fred. What could he say?

If he went on the trip with Mr Kim and family, he’d move more inside their closed family circle.

Yes, that was the right, loyal thing to do.

* What about his loyalty as a friend to Mr Go though? *

If he refused, any potential relationship with Mr Kim might fade away. However he’d already committed to his meeting with Go.

It was a heavy moment: He saw himself at a crossroads in his life in Korea.

The only solution lay in relying on pure instinct and he paused briefly to choose the most careful wording.

Before he could utter anything though, a phone on Mr Kim’s bedside table rang.

“Oh, excuse me Mr Fred…”

* What will Fred decide? *

*

Tomorrow: Fred leaves for Jiri Mountain.