Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mr Kang

Miss Ping 

*

“Miss Ping!” Kang said and motioned her to sit down beside Fred.

The mood became more serious and, oddly, from this point on, Kang stopped speaking English. Ping translated.

“Mr Kang wants to ask you a few questions. Is it okay?”

Fred shrugged nonchalantly and then Kang began firing away in a staccato burst.

“How old are you?”

“Are you married?” 

“Are you Christian?”

Fred had been grilled with these invasive, personal questions countless times in Chinju.

He always felt like people were trying to fit him into a box – which they were – so he did his best to squirm out.

“I’m not religious but I really enjoy going to Buddhist temples. I just went to one the other day with your friend Mr Go.”

“Ah, yeah…” Kang dismissed Miss Ping and waited for the sound of the door clicking shut behind her.

Fred felt it would have been nice if the meeting ended there but sensed there was more to come.

* What more is there to come? *

He eyed the clock up behind Kang’s desk – now down to 30 minutes – and still no sign of Thomas. Kang held out his cigarette pack.

“Cigarette?”

Fred could see it was his last one and waved him off politely. “Thanks very much for the offer. You are very kind, especially since it’s your last.”

Kang waved him off. “Kind? I don’t think so. Smoking is very bad for health. To offer you a cigarette is offering to kill you.”

Fred laughed and was impressed by Kang’s sense of humour. He reciprocated. “Actually, I do smoke occasionally Mr Kang – but only after…”

He hesitated and cleared his throat for effect. “Only after … loving.”

Kang laughed uproariously. “So, maybe you are a chain-smoker! Korea lady – very beautiful. And they like foreigners!”

Fred instantly felt comfortable. There was something very relaxed about Kang.

He did find it funny, though, that many Korean men assumed that foreign guys were getting lots of horizontal gymnastics with the local ladies in Korea.

Kang: “Do you mind?” He lit up that last cigarette and took a long drag, exhaled, and then sat there staring at Fred for a few agonizing seconds.

A different mood overcame the office – a somber seriousness. Fred found himself instinctively bracing.

* Why the new serious mood? *

*

Visiting Thomas   

“Where did you come from today?” Kang asked sternly.

“Chinju of course.”

“And what is the purpose of your visit?”

Fred instinctively kept his mouth shut about Thomas’ deportation. The worst thing right now would be to cause commotion with Kang.

“Oh,” Fred said flippantly, “since it was a holiday weekend, I just wanted to drop in on my buddy Thomas here, do some sightseeing, you know? Me – dumb tourist.”

Kang looked puzzled and waved him off. “Let’s not waste time on small talk. I know many things about you. I want to know why you came here.”

He leaned toward Fred. “Did she send you?”

Fred was surprised and recoiled slightly, suddenly feeling trapped. “Mr Kang I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, I will speak frankly. Are you a spy for Miss No?”

Fred chuckled nervously and spread both his hands in front of him in a stop gesture. “No way! Don’t worry Mr Kang.”

“I know there’s a battle going on inside this business but I don’t want to get involved, okay? I just work there. And no – I am not a spy!”

* Will Kang believe him? *

Kang gave him a cold stare.

“I just came here to see Thomas,” Fred said as if testifying.

Fred threw his arms up in a surrender gesture. Kang shook his head skeptically. Fred decided that he’d had enough and started to get up.

* Will Fred end up having to leave without warning Thomas?! *

*

Tomorrow: Fred learns some of Kang’s family history.