Martoons

Today: Mr. Go’s conflicted mind shows.

Cast of characters

Damion Lee 

Mr Go

Thomas

Scene: Mr Go’s office at Central Institute

*

Down in the street, the foreigner Damion Lee quickly caught another bus.

It was the tail end of rush hour and this one was packed to the rafters with no hope of a seat.

Standing scrunched up in the public transit vehicle made it possible to play fun activities like trying to hang on to the overhead bar when the driver came to a screaming halt.

Not a single seat came open during the 30 minute trip.

While innocently sneaking a peak at the legs of office girls in skirts, Dame pragmatically debriefed himself: He’d shaken Miss No up; one step closer to dethroning the Golden God.

Dame walked into Go’s office uninvited and sat on the couch.

Go looked shaken, but Dame didn’t pay particular attention.  

“Cigarette!” he commanded, as a symbolic gesture that he now had the upper hand.

Go obliged – slowly and reluctantly it seemed – but he obliged.

“I called Miss No,” he said sullenly. “I fired Thomas.”

* Did he really? *

Dame squinted skeptically as he did a double-take of Go’s face.

He looked pale and his lips were bluish.

Dame lit up the smoke, inhaled and exhaled. “I saw something about Thomas in a vision…”

There was a thick cloud of smoke between he and Go and he couldn’t see the boss’s face.

“Last night I drank soju with the university seniors and had gloomy visions for several hours. I kept seeing an object …”

He held his hand up like a prophet.

“I kept seeing … a box…”

He inhaled and exhaled again, then got up and walked over to Go’s desk to tap off the ash. “

On the way home the vision recurred.”

* Is Dame being serious? *

He wasn’t completely lying.

A new shoe store had just opened in the row of shops nearby and he’d seen some boxes in the garbage outside.

Go was attentive yet looked skeptical.

Dame glared straight ahead and spoke as if he was reading a fortune: “Yes, yes, a box … and … black figures dancing around. Agents of the devil?”

He shook his head as if to clear out cobwebs.

He moved his hand around in front of his face as if focusing something.

“Yes I see them clearly now – police officers. They want The Box. It contains something of interest. Maybe an illicit substance?”

He jarred himself out of the dramatized hypnotic state.

“I really don’t know, Mr Go. All I know is I feel it’s close – real close. This box. Maybe … here … tomorrow.”

He suddenly got up from the couch and threw his arms up to add schmaltz to the act.

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s nothing to this. What an idiot I am!”

He departed – suddenly, coldly.

* What is with Dame’s story about this ‘Box’? *

Go knew Dame was up to something but it had been a long day and he was tired of head games.

He liked foreigners – most of the time – because they seemed to be honest and generally avoided such games, even if they did tend to be a bit blunt and direct at times.

Yet while the foreigner had been blathering about his box, Go had been privately agonizing over his phone call to No.

I’ve gone completely crazy by firing Thomas.

He summoned Thomas to his office.

He wanted to do something kind before shipping him out.

Last impressions were very important in Korea.

Thomas instantly appeared.

“The secretary told me you wanted to see me boss? I don’t have much time – just going to make a batch of noodles.”

Go lowered his voice and leaned forward on his desk.

“Thomas I understand your situation: You no have money. Maybe it is possible I can help you…”

He carefully and quietly slid open his top desk drawer and cautiously pulled out a letter-sized tuition envelope, about a quarter inch thick with cash.

Using formal Korean etiquette, he stood up and gave over the envelope with both hands.

Thomas smiled ear-to-ear and his eyes lit up.

He not only took the cash with both hands but stepped around the desk and proffered for a handshake.

However, as the boss reached out reciprocally, Thomas went one step further – he extended both arms out and hugged the boss.

Thomas’ shaking body against Go’s made the boss feel regret.

*

Tomorrow: Solid food is good for the brain and the soul.