Page 6 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 1-4
“Do you need help?”
“Help?” The young man laughed and dabbed at his face with a bit of the napkin roll on the table. It looked like a toilet paper roll from the US, but in Seoul, it was table tissue. “You’ve already been a big help.”
“Who is that guy anyway?”
“My boss.” There was something dark and off about how the young man said the phrase. He was still speaking English, and he spoke it like an American. No accent at all now that Damian had a chance to hear him more clearly. He sounded suspiciously like he was about to either collapse or cry.
Damian held up one of the three bottles of cold water he’d ordered with his drink, broke the seal, then held it out. “Want?”
“Please.” The young man grabbed it with both hands and chugged. His hands trembled a little as he put it down, but he was visibly forcing himself to calm. Whoever he was, he had an impressive amount of self-control over his body, no matter what he was experiencing internally.
“I’m Damian, by the way.” Damian offered his hand. They were speaking English, so he’d stick to Western practices.
“I’m…Jack.” The young man shrugged, and the edge of his lip showing from under the hat twisted, acknowledging the blatant lie.
“Where’d you learn English so well?”
“The US. That’s where you’re from, right?”
“Chicago, yeah.”
Jack drank more water and eyed a second bottle. Damian pushed it toward him and raised his hand to order more. The service person came over and Jack went back to leaning on the table, hiding his face. Damian ordered several more bottles of water and snacks.
“What brings you to Seoul?” Jack asked. It seemed more like an attempt to reciprocate Damian’s hospitality than real interest.
“Business,” Damian shrugged and turned toward his companion. “I came here for a quiet final drink of the night. Didn’t recognize the club. Looked new. Got curious.”
“It is new. I guess you come here often if you noticed that.”
“Couple times a year. I used to live here.”
“So, you actually do speak Korean?”
“I do.”
Jack didn’t say anything to that. Damian let him have his silence.
“I don’t know this group,” Damian pulled out his phone to find out what band was playing over the speakers.
“5N,” Jack said, immediately. “I mean, technically, it’s PentaNow, but that’s how the name got shortened online and now everyone just calls them 5N.”
“I like their sound.”
Jack’s lips twisted with something like amusement. “Do you know much about K-pop? Or do you just like Korean music because you like Seoul?”
“I never said I liked Seoul. I like parts of it. And I like some K-pop. Not all of it.”
“So, what do you like? Girl bands, boy bands? BTS? BlackPink?”
Damian laughed out loud. “I feel like you’re about to fill out a report card. Like if I say yes to BTS, does that mean I get a stereotypical American grade or something?”
Jack actually giggled. “No, you’re allowed to like BTS. I stan them. They work really hard, and they make good music.”
“Oh, good. Then yes, I like BTS. I have a couple Stray Kids songs in my playlists too. And Forestella though I just know their covers, nothing about them.”
Jack shook his head. “What do you like outside of K-pop?”
Damian tapped his chin with his fist, thinking. “I like specific songs more than an artist usually. Nathan Wagner has had some music I enjoyed. There’s this French singer I liked for a while and still listen to when the mood hits, Maitre Gims.”
