9 Hongdae Sunday

It's been two weeks since I started teaching here in Korea. I've been making a good impression on every class I teach so far. It's been great, really. I'm just glad everything's working well on my side.

Today's Sunday. I woke up at seven in the morning. I wanted to go back to sleep again, but I couldn't.

Yoonwoo and I went to a PC bang near the police substation yesterday and played Modern Warfare all day. A lot of funny moments happened and I still can't go over those.

I texted Yoonwoo to greet him. He told me he's going to check some of his students' papers and prepare for his upcoming lectures so he's not free today.

And now I'm bored.

*sigh*

Maybe I should try some games from the PC bang.

Okay! It's decided!

I go on to take a bath and wear a casual outfit. Gray long sleeves, denim jeans and a pair of white Stan Smith shoes. Spring is drawing near.

The PC bang is cross Apgujeong-ro and I will just have to cross it to reach the place.

But then at three o'clock, I see Minyoung, Chaeyoon and Yongjoon sitting at the bus stop. I decide to greet them with a hello.

I bet Yonjoon begs them to let him join just because his other friends are busy, probably studying or hanging out with their families.

I come near the bus and yell, "Ya!"

They stand up after hearing my voice and greet back with bows.

Chaeyoon asks, "Mr. Lee, what brings you here?"

I answer, "Nothing. I saw you here so I decided to say hello."

Yongjoon takes his turn to ask, "Do you live nearby, Mr. Lee?"

"Yes."

Now it's my turn to ask. "You must be waiting for the next bus. Are you gonna go sightseeing?"

Yongjoon replies, "Yes, but we're not actually waiting for the next bus yet. We're waiting for Yoona first."

"Oh, okay. You seem to be early today. Have fun!"

"By the way, Mr. Lee, are you going somewhere today," Chaeyoon asks.

Because I don't want to show off my gaming side too much (for now), I give Chaeyoon a different answer, "I'm bored so I'm taking a stroll around the neighborhood."

Yoona finally arrives as she gets off the bus. She's delighted to see her classmates and look forward to their sightseeing, her face says so.

"Ah! Good morning, Mr. Lee," Yoona immediately greets me as soon as she sees me.

"I'm surprised to see you here," she says.

"I just wanted to say hi to them. You have fun guys."

Suddenly, Chaeyoon says something surprising, "You should join us, Mr. Lee!"

I immediately decline, "No, no, no, no, I'm good."

Yoona stops Chaeyoon by telling her, "I think he has an appointment with someone."

Chaeyoon replies, "What are you talking about? He just told us he's bored so he's just taking a stoll."

I think Yoona is speaking like a business— Chaeyoon!

Yongjoon agrees, "You should join us, Mr. Lee. It's fun with you around."

Minyoung also agrees, "You're right, Yoonjoon. His class is where we have the most fun at school. What more if he goes sightseeing with us."

I speak, "Hey, even if you say that, don't you think it's weird to have your teacher with you?"

"No," Chaeyoon bluntly answers.

"It's not weird if it's you, Mr. Lee," Yongjoon supports her reply.

Chaeyoon begs, "Please, Mr. Lee..."

Now that I think about what they're saying, it would be a dick move to reject the offer just to take a stroll as the pretext.

I'm looking forward to trying those games from the PC bang, but I guess hanging out with my students isn't so bad.

"Seriously. okay, fine. I'm coming with you."

Chaeyoon yells joicefully while raising her hands, "Yey! Mr. Lee's coming!"

Minyoung and Yongjoon are happy about it. I'm left no choice but to smirk.

Yoona isn't bothered by it so that's nice.

"So, where are we going?"

"Hongdae, Mr. Lee," Minyoung replies.

The next bus arrives at the stop and we get in as we head to Hongdae.

.

.

.

We finally arrived at Hongdae after fifty minutes of sitting our butts.

Hongdae is one of the best places I've been here in Korea. It's known for upbeat student life and other pastimes. There is a lot to do in the place.

I had a lot of fun when Yoonwoo and I went here. I did not feel that the last time I went here because Mr. Yang and I talked about serious stuff.

"What should we do first," I ask.

Chaeyoon suggests, "We should take pictures at the murals. The lighting right now is perfect for the pictures."

We all agree to take pictures as the first thing to do.

"Whoa, the pictures are perfect," Chaeyoon compliments the shots I took as he looks at the gallery of her phone.

It's all thanks to my clear eyesight I get things done with precision when it comes to photography. Maybe I work part-time as a photographer.

I never thought I'd use my eyesight for such a thing. Before, I only used it for killing my targets.

Minyoung looks at Yoona's galley and can never feel more overwhelmed, "How are you this gorgeous!"

I gotta agree to that. She really is gorgeous. The combination of her beauty and her poses can be distracting.

After hearing her seatmate's reaction, Yoona shyly responds, "Really? Thank you."

Minyoung is the next one to suggest what to do next, and that is to go to the Trick Eye Museum Seoul. Everyone agrees.

What's amazing about this place is that it shows off 3D illusions from large wall paintings or installations.

Of course, my students are looking forward to pictures of them surfing on top of two sharks or getting pierced by a knight.

Yoona is astonished by all of the exhibited 'paintings' we've seen. I can tell it's her first time here.

After we're done at the museum, Yongjoon suggests lunch.

Everyone agrees because we are hungry.

Kyochon Chicken Hongdae is the restaurant we voted as the place to eat lunch. Who doesn't like eating chicken in the middle of the day?

The chicken is so tasty that I have to react with zest, "What the! So tasty!"

Minyoung laughs and speaks, "Even Mr. Lee can't handle the taste of the chicken."

After lunch, we head to Zzang Games where we showcase our skills in arcade games, darts, dance machines and claw machines.

"Woah! I didn't know you're this good in Tekken," Yongjoon compliments me.

I grew up playing arcade games; Super Mario, Pacman, Tetris, Contra, Tekken, a lot! We used to play such games after class. I was one of the best arcade players, but I kept improving my skills to the point I defeated the best arcade player in Portland when I was just ten.

I know I said I don't want to show off my gaming too much. It won't hurt showing off my arcade skills. I'm twenty-five and that's a given.

I tell Yongjoon, "I grew up playing arcade games so I'm pretty much good at it. Step your game up!"

Yongjoon reacts, "Aigoo!"

Meanwhile, the girls are busy dancing K-pop songs on dancing machines and playing car games while Yoona learns how they do them.

We spent a few hours until we finally got to do some shopping in Hongdae Shopping Street. I'm just gonna follow them since I'm not buying anything.

After an hour and a half, they got what they wanted to buy.

Yoona's stomach abruptly rumbles. She covers it with her arms so anyone won't notice. While others haven't noticed it, I have.

"Let's eat," I propose.

Minyoung concurs with my suggestion, "Yes. Street food?"

I snap my finger and respond, "I like it! Let's go!"

Chaeyoon and Yongjoon go along with the idea and they and Minyoung start to walk towards the food stalls as I watch them go.

Yoona looks at me and I let her know, "Let's go."

She comes to her senses and instinctively replies, "Oh, yes!"

She also starts to walk and I follow.

And so we eat street foods such as tteok-bokki, bungeo-ppang and tofu.

After eating street foods, the kids take a rest on the bench while I buy them ice cream. They are surprised by it and plan to pay me, but I insist.

While resting, male busker sings "Regulus" by Onewe. People are starting to surround the busker.

Minyoung stands up and says, "I'm going to listen to the busker."

The rest of us nod. Yoona also stands up and tells Minyoung, "Can I come with you?"

Minyoung replies, "Of course! Let's go!"

The two go on to approach the busker and listen.

Then I suddenly decide to join them and yell, "Wait up!"

"Daebak, his voice..." Minyoung reacts as she is impressed by the singer.

"You should sing too," I suggest.

Hearing what I said, she panics, "Wh-what are you talking about, Mr. Lee?! We're not in a noraebang."

"You said you want to be a singer, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Still being shy about it? Step up your game, Yoon Minyoung, otherwise you'll have stage fright forever."

"Mr. Lee..."

"I think you'll do great. After all, you did it in front of the class."

LEEctionary:

PC bang - a type of LAN gaming center in South Korea, where patrons can play multiplayer computer games for an hourly fee.

Daebak - Korean expression for 'amazing'.

noraebang - a singing venue in South Korea where private sound-proof rooms are available for rent, equipped for singing.