EPTMei: Maybe one day he'll get it.
Jon: Maybe one day I'll get it.
Carol: I won't ever really get it.
Persephone: Hahaha... they still don't get it.
Jon sits next to me, swings one leg over the stained white couch leather. His sole leaves a print on a red Merlot stain; he's wearing Vans. I can smell the stale cologne, the alcohol, the smoke, the residue of too many parties. Before he talks, he starts fiddling with the cross under his fingers.
Jon: She just picked up and left, you know? I woke up and the ipod was still playing, playing the Winter Sonata OST. I must've been really drunk. Didn't hear a thing. The bed was still warm on her side.
Mei (whispers): Yeah, he was really drunk.
Jon: I drank three shots of whiskey, and... oh yea, a martini. The table was a mess. Anyhow, soon as I stepped out of bed I smeared my own puke all over the hardwood parquet. My laptop was sideways on the ground. Bad night.
He coughs.
Jon: It wasn't fair, seriously. I got drunk, and then she's on a flight to Narita International? I mean, what the fuck? We were together for three months for godssakes.
Mei is standing across the table from me, arms folded across a white, ribbed turtleneck. Her jeans are faded, but the face is still strong, fresh. She places her glasses on the table and takes a seat, indian-legged, on the carpet.
Mei: Carol.
Jon (with an aw-fuck tone): Carol.
Mei: Her name was Carol. I wouldn't have remembered it any other way.
She sighs.
Mei: He had alcohol coming out of his clothes. I didn't want to talk to him in that state. If you think he's bad when he's sober, he's ten times worse when he's not thinking straight.
Carol (puzzled): John?
Jon: I told her that my name was spelled without an H. First thing I said to her, I swear.
Carol: Jon. I remember now. Dolphins cap, eight inches.
Carol has red hair that runs halfway to her waist. Her smile is innocent enough, three dots on her cheeks only serve to highlight the inherent paleness of her skin, so pale it is almost transparent. She stands there with a tragic air about her, as if she is the type of girl your mom never warned you about, but you'll warn your buddies about.
Carol: We got wasted on Jose Cuervo. He took me back and told me he wanted to play some piano for me. I told him that I didn't really want to, but it was okay anyhow. He ignored me. He said he wanted to. So we went ahead anyway.
Jon: I think I remember now. I left Carol's room around three in the morning. But how did Mei know? I mean, she was asleep with a headache before I got to her place. And I had her keys.
Mei: He forgot to take it off when he went to sleep.
Jon: When I woke up, I realized I was still wearing one. So I knew she and I had been together that night. Did I say something wrong?
Mei: He also called me Carol fifteen times that--
She is interrupted by loud coughing from the doorway. An olive-skinned girl with curled ringlets steps into the room, wearing a business suit with a nametag. Persephone is too long to fit on it. So she's left it blank. With an expertly practiced motion, she takes off and throws her heels across the floor. They clatter and leave a small dent on the wall.
Persephone: I think you're forgetting the most important actor here. I was the matchmaker.
Mei: When I dated Jon, I knew he was popular. So I always wondered why he had been single for six months. And no. Not just single. Chaste. Half a year.
Persephone: There was no way in hell I was going to let that bitch take Jon away from me. No way.
Mei: Some of my friends later told me, that apparently, Jon's had a psycho ex.
Persephone (with obvious glee): I got the yohimmbine from my uncle. He's a horse breeder.
Jon: She would follow any girl that I was cool with, and... well, let's just say that life was unpleasant for them.
Persephone: Just because I was out for three months on rotation doesn't mean that I'll ever forget you, baby.
Mei: I guess I was really lucky that when I met Jon, she'd just left to work in London a quarter.
Carol: Persephone got us drinks. I thought that was wierd, but then again, she knew that I was just going to have Jon for one night, so I didn't expect her to try any crazy stuff.
Jon: I actually really liked Mei. The day before she had left, she told me she was thinking about the title of the opening track on the OST.
Mei: I thought he was my Prince Charming.
Persephone: But he's my frog. And I'll have him forever.
![[image loading]](http://www.fieldrecords.co.kr/upfile/cover(2671).jpg)
