Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mr E

Max

*

From Japan

By the time the rest of them made it up to street level a minute later, Thomas and Coffee Lady had already flagged down a taxi and were gone.

As Max, Fred and E waited at the cab stand, the two Koreans fired up cigarettes. Fred felt chilled but tried not to visibly shake.

“What about you Mr E?” he asked, to take his mind off freezing. “Do you have to go and meet your girlfriend?”

He waved him off. “Miss No is already at home. She has a curfew. Her mother is very strict.”

“Aren’t you going to call her to say goodnight?”

Max cut in.

“When I go out with him – which isn’t often these days since he started meeting her – he call her – or she call him – maybe every five minute.”

* Someone seems a little bitter… *

“Ayeesh,” E said dryly with another wave-off, “I haven’t called her at all tonight – only that one time at the pub to tell her I was…”

He flicked rabbit ears and grinned. “… at the hospital.”

Fred chuckled. “Then you better call her again to let her know you’ve been discharged – or she’ll be worried.”

A third wave off. “Not at all. She will know I was making an excuse for not meeting her and that I am out on the town somewhere.

It’s Korean style.

* Is Miss No going to reprimand him for that later? *

“However, Mr Fred you are right. If I was a gentleman, maybe I would call her to say goodnight, but … (shaking his head) … I am not a gentleman.”

Max turned to Fred and said in a low voice, “Mr E doesn’t get many chances to go out at night these days.

He used to be a fun guy but now he’s very dull, spending almost all his time with that woman.

“She… (he searched for words) …she has made his shape small.”

Fred smiled at the unintended play on words. “I thought that she was supposed to make it larger!”

The joke went over the Koreans’ heads and overall Fred was sorry he’d raised the topic of E’s relationship.

What had started out as casual conversation had been used by Max to jump all over his best friend.

Fred realized he wasn’t alone in disapproving of E and No coupling up.

However, whereas Fred was prepared to remain silent and let the topic die, Max seemed more overtly jealous and critical.

E noticed Fred’s shivering. “Taxi!” He turned to the waygook. “Mr Fred – you cold? Do you want my jacket?”

“If we just get walking I’ll be okay. Instead of waiting for a cab, why don’t we all walk to a restaurant? There should be one close by.

“That’s one thing foreigners can’t believe when we come to Korea – how many restaurants you guys have. There’s one on every block.”

“It’s catch up,” E said. “Long time ago – when I was a kid – sometimes we didn’t get three squares a day. Maybe two, sometimes one.”

“That was right up until the 1980s. Korea was very poor until recently.”

“Fred, What do you think of Korean food?” Max asked.

* What does Fred think of it? *

“I get asked that all the time. I like the food and I like eatin’ it with Koreans. You don’t feel guilty about just sitting down and eating until you explode.”

Fred started walking. “Come on, let’s go for a walk and get moving.” 

As if they were a synchronized team, E and Max tossed their half-smoked cigarettes on the ground and mashed them out with the soles of their black boots.

They simultaneously snugged the tops of their jackets closed and strode along beside Fred.

They soon passed by a restaurant, which was actually part of someone’s house.

“How about here?” E asked. “This restaurant is famous in Chinju. Many people come here after drinking. The best dish is hangover soup.”

Fred chuckled. “We don’t have the hangovers yet, but sure – let’s go in.”

*

Tomorrow: The trio enters the restaurant and Max gets an unwanted call.