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The intersection where cars coming down from the park famous for its monkeys, cars coming up from Central’s main road via Ice House Street, and cars that had passed through Soho along Hollywood Road all met was overflowing with people.
After leaving the restaurant and drinking tequila at a bar for about an hour, we had mixed in with the crowd and were wandering the streets of Soho, looking for a suitable pub for a second round.
In the time it took for me to drink three or four shots of tequila and for the other three to drink about twice that, the crowd had grown frighteningly large, and no matter where we went, there wasn’t a single empty four-person table for us.
But I didn’t find it boring at all, enjoying the fun of watching the exotic scenery and the diverse people.
It goes without saying, but the signs hanging out toward the street in a different language and style than in Seoul, the distinct buildings that, though cramped and shabby, each seemed to hold their own history and stories, the luxury cars lining the streets that were far too narrow for the area’s prosperity due to modernization that had taken place long ago, and, in contrast, the retro, boxy red taxis that played a significant role in creating Hong Kong’s unique scenery. Even the people standing on the street drinking beer and chatting with their companions, or dancing in the middle of the road to the music spilling out from pubs and clubs…
Everywhere my eyes landed was filled with unfamiliarity and vitality.
Perhaps because I’d had three or four shots of tequila at a place that was more of a club than a bar, the rhythm of my heart was different from usual. I felt giddy, and I kept laughing for no reason, so I’d just giggle whenever I made eye contact with Hyung or Noona.
It wasn’t just us; everyone passing by was the same. There wasn’t a single serious or gloomy face to be seen. If you were to peel back just one layer, you’d find their respective worries and the weight of their daily lives, but in this time and space, it was as if everyone had promised to numb their awareness of their problems.
To be honest, a flashy street like this, full of people and noise, didn’t suit me. If I were told to live my life frequenting a place like this every day, I wouldn’t have the confidence for it at all. But here, I was an observer, not a resident. I was someone who would get a brief taste of an unfamiliar culture and then return to my original place.
My identity as a foreigner, the fact that my real life was separate and in another place, was paradoxically the emotional basis that allowed me to blend into this space without feeling uncomfortable. Perhaps that was what people called the charm of travel, or the pleasure of deviation.
The usual me would have tried to process the shock after leaving Suki Kim’s studio by quietly holing up in my hotel room, mulling over our conversation and my impressions. But the current me was putting that on hold and following my impulses.
I wanted to be where he was.
I wanted to talk to him about ‘Isolation’, but even if I couldn’t, I just wanted to be with him. And I moved for the sole reason that I wanted to. I don’t know how it was for others, but for me, that process itself was already a deviation from my path.
Wherever I ended up, I felt it would at least be better than the me who had been afraid of choices and movement.
It had been like that from the beginning.
When I was with him, my peace was disturbed, my emotions twisted and bent, and my prickly sides would suddenly jut out. Now… I wanted to expose myself more to that stimulation. I now wanted change, and he was someone who drew out unexpected sides of me.
On our third time passing by a pub next to a hamburger joint, our timing matched with a group that was just about to get up, and we were finally able to claim a table.
It was the outermost seat facing the street, and thanks to the folding doors being wide open, it was a spot where we could enjoy the atmosphere of the street as it was. We were lucky.
“What’s with you, Seo Yeehyeon. Are you really drunk?”
Noona bent over laughing at me as I fumbled, unable to get onto the high stool in one go. Watching her, I burst out laughing too. We were all a little strange right now. Hmm… except for one person.
“Be careful. The chair is high, so you’ll get badly hurt if you fall. I’ve seen plenty of people break their noses drinking in places like this.”
He, who had already taken his seat, grabbed my left arm firmly as if to support me. Leaning on his arm to some extent, I was able to settle onto the stool.
Even though he had drunk much more than I had, he was perfectly fine. He played along with Noona and Hyung’s energy to a certain degree, but I couldn’t sense any sign of intoxication in his face or voice. I’d wanted to see him a little drunk, but as long as he and I started drinking together, it seemed impossible for me to see him get drunk before I did.
Noona and Hyung were already lost in a dance frenzy next to the table without even sitting down. Holding a beer bottle each, they were already mingling with the people who had been dancing in the main space. The foreigners around them all burst out laughing and pointed their phone cameras at Juhan-hyung’s comical gestures mixed in with his dancing. It was the same at the previous bar, but for someone like me, it was a social skill that could only be described as amazing.
Leaving the two, who seemed to have no intention of sitting down, to their own devices, he ordered drinks and recommended a beer from Brooklyn, saying it would suit me well.
“You seem to know everything, CEO.”
He turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow with an expression that suddenly asked what I meant by that.
At the high, narrow, round table, he and I were sitting side by side, with the seats where Noona and Hyung had tossed their bags across from us. In truth, there was almost no gap between him and me. It was difficult to even shift my posture slightly without our knees and upper arms brushing.
I thought it was a random thing to say to myself, and a small laugh escaped me. “It’s nothing.” I shook my head and leaned my elbows on the table.
You seem to know everything. It was the kind of thing a five or six-year-old kid would say while looking at a middle schooler. I had no desire to be seen as a little kid by him. Why did I say that?
The beer, served in clear plastic cups, arrived at the table right away, and seeing the beer, Noona and Hyung returned to the table. We made another toast, for the umpteenth time today, and drank our beers. The beer he had chosen for me had a slight sweetness along with its bitterness, making it smooth and easy to drink.
Perhaps because they had worked up a sweat dancing, Noona and Hyung nearly emptied their glasses in an instant. Due to the high alcohol content of the tequila, I was also in a somewhat giddy state, but an impulse to get even more drunk made me bring the beer glass to my lips often.
“You guys are the gallery staff from Seoul, right?”
A group of people passing in front of our table raised their voices with happy expressions, acknowledging us. They seemed to be staff from another gallery participating in the art fair.
Yuni-noona and Juhan-hyung, who were sitting with their backs to the street, exchanged loud high-fives with them as if they had run into old friends.
“We remember you because your staff’s style is so unique. You look totally cool even on your day off!”
“Ah… thanks for the compliment, but don’t you remember us because of our boss’s looks?”
Juhan-hyung asked playfully, pointing at him.
“Can’t say you’re wrong.”
Laughter erupted from both sides.
“Ah, what was it… Gallery… Ghost?”
The man with the most cheerful impression among them said, scratching his beard with his index finger.
“It’s Phantom. Gallery Phantom.”
“Ah, Phantom! Sorry. I remembered it meant something similar.”
“That’s close enough.”
Yuni-noona patted the bearded man’s back as if to encourage him.
They seemed excited about the fair’s results, talking with a bit of a brag about how they had brought about twenty pieces to the fair for the first time as an experiment and had luckily already sold out. The three friends, who had each majored in different genres of art and were co-running a small gallery in Amsterdam, especially hit it off with Yuni-noona.
At someone’s suggestion to take a commemorative photo, they all took a selfie together on one of their phones, and then another one with his camera. He got up from his seat and even moved out to the street to capture the three of us and their group of three in the frame.
After the photo session, while Noona and Hyung were exchanging social media accounts with them, he was leaning against the railing between the sidewalk and the road, smoking a cigarette and looking our way. Letting their boisterous conversation flow past me, I was stealing glances at him between their arms and shoulders.
“Excuse me.”
I flinched and leaned my upper body back slightly at the face that had suddenly entered my field of vision. The cheerful man with the beard pulled his colleague over and wrapped an arm around his neck. He was a cute-looking man with impressive freckles. About my age, maybe?
“Actually, this guy fell for you at first sight at the venue. He’s the one who spotted you just now as we were passing by! If you have a social media account, would you mind sharing it?”
The man with the freckles seemed shy, but he didn’t try to stop his colleague or deny what he was saying.
Caught off guard, my expression hardened slightly as I chose my words.
In the mostly Beta world I had belonged to until now, most people were squeamish not only about same-sex relationships between Betas but also about the very existence of Alphas and Omegas, so this was an unfamiliar situation for me.
I didn’t know if it was a characteristic of the city of Hong Kong or a common feature of societies with a high ratio of Alphas and Omegas, but both the man at the VIP preview and this man now were expressing their interest in me, another man, in a perfectly casual manner. To the point where reacting awkwardly to this situation would feel like the more conspicuous behavior.
“Ah… sorry. I don’t use social media….”
It was a fact, not an excuse.
“Well, that’s okay. I kind of figured you wouldn’t.”
The bearded man, instead of the freckled one, shrugged and backed off easily.
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