One man, two ladies

I lay to the left. I lay to the right for fear of pain in my left shoulder. I lay face down for fear of pain in my left hipbone hurt. I lay straight back in fear of wrinkling on my crumpled face under a pillow. I was wide-awake.

I stopped by the bathroom and drank a glass of water and lay down. I can't sleep because of my husband's snoring. I turned my husband's head to the wall and covered his blanket over his face. The ticking clock sounded heard as high heels ringing sound in Myeong-dong. And the sounds were soaking in old thoughts as if it was submerged.

It was just after graduating from college. A friend called to say, "I broke up with a man I've been dating for a long time." I was getting ready to go out because I had a date, I felt sorry for my friend so I asked him to come with me.

A sophisticated and lively friend soon became close to my boyfriend. The three enjoyed dinner and went to a hotel nightclub in Myeong-dong to console my friend. When she drank, my friend cried, thinking about the man she broke up with. We danced with my friend to change her mood. But at Blues time, there was one man, two women so my boyfriend was busy dancing in turn.

The two of them who went out dancing didn't come back even though it was my turn. I sat alone blankly scratching the tablecloth with my fingers. The curfew was getting closer and uneasy. I asked them to go home. But the two drank, danced and drank without thinking of going. I was getting sober.

‘Shall I just leave them alone?’ But I can’t leave the drunken friend behind. Moreover, I waited because they might think about I was jealous of the two. Finally, the three of us sat silent in the living room of the hotel room. The man went into the room saying he was tired. My girlfriend also went after him. I sat idle looking around and scratched the tablecloth again.

I was thinking about shouldn't I just disappear on my own? I came out of the room. I ran into a hotel employee. I hesitated where to begin to explain.  An employee who had been wondering since the three of us came in looked at me, as if expressing, "Why did you follow them to a hotel when a man and a woman are dating?"

He took me to a room to stay until the curfew was lifted. There were five or six young women in the room. One of the women looked up and down at me and asked, "Are you new?" I embarrassed that I didn't know what she was talking about. She didn’t talk me anymore.

If the call came in, the ladies walked in and out of the room. I caught my breath and watched them. I was scared. I squatted in a corner and rushed out of the hotel as soon as the curfew was lifted.

The chilly early morning air refreshed me. My high-heeled sounds honked on the streets of Myeong-dong. I walked without hesitation, sending bus No. 78 home. There was a mature woman walking down Chungmu-ro, different from yesterday