It was Friday afternoon and Jess was wrapping things up at work. That night she was going out with the girls she met at a brunch three weeks ago. She had been looking forward to this night. Jess had been enjoying her life in Seoul. She liked the rhythm, the people, the new experiences and even the fact that she had no free time. She loved the rush of busy life in big city. But every once in a while she had to admit to herself that apart from Mark she had nobody she could call a friend here. And even with Mark, it was not the same anymore. Ever since that night out with their colleagues, Jess felt things were awkward between them. They never mentioned it, Mark never attempted to follow through with what he started, so everything just stayed in this weird state of limbo.

So Jess was excited about meeting other girls who were in a similar situation like herself. Most of them moved to Seoul with their husbands or boyfriends and did not have any circle here. All of them had been as hungry for female companionship: a few gossips, a few giggles and some good wine as Jess.

When the phone rang, Jess considered not picking up. It was 6pm, early evening at work by South Korean standard, but Jess’s mind was already set on leaving all work-related stuff till hopefully Monday. The phone persisted though, so in a silent debate with herself Jess reluctantly agreed to make it her last call of the week.

When she picked up the phone, unfamiliar female voice asked if she was talking to Jessica Wiley of Commandor. The woman sounded authoritative, she spoke good English with a slight Korean accent and Jess couldn’t help noticing that the woman sounded irritated. Jess switched from her lazy Friday afternoon tone to her business-lady-like “I-am-nice-but-tough” tone.

‘This is her. How can I help you?’

‘Hello, Ms. Wiley. My name is Lee Jae-eun, I am the Chief Finance Officer of the Seoul Fashion Week Organizer Committee. I would like to meet with you to discuss your company’s participation in this year’s event. Would next Monday work for you?’

When Jess heard the name she lost her business-like confidence in a heartbeat. Oh, she knew who Lee Jae-eun was. Mark and Jess had met with all of Ms. Lee’s assistants and deputy directors, but had never been able to get the appointment with the very mysterious and very important lady of SFW. Yet it was always Ms. Lee herself who was consistently returning all of their proposals for Commandor’s participation in SFW with a polite but firm “request for more information” which was “no, thank you” Korean style.

While the woman was talking, Jess regained her control. So when it was time for her to answer, she tried her best to sound calm.

‘I am very happy to hear from you, CFO Lee,’ Jess used polite designation that was customary in Korea. ‘I will make time on Monday. Please let me know what time you would like to meet?’

‘Would 2pm suit you?’

‘Yes, that works.’

‘Ok, I will see you then!’

Jess thought that she heard the voice on the other end soften a bit towards the end of their call. When she hang up, she ran into Mark’s office.

‘Mark, you wouldn’t believe it! She called herself! Lee Jae-eun called herself!’

Mark was sitting in his office with Dan. They were looking at some slides together, when Jess ran into his office and surprised them with her screams.

‘Which Lee Jae...’ Mark started, he though quickly understood who Jess was talking about. ‘No… You are joking? She called you herself?’ Mark stood up and started walking towards Jess. ‘Oh my God, what did she say?’ his voice almost squeaked at the question.

Dan was the only one who still looked unimpressed and puzzled. He had not been involved in the SFW hunt as much as Jess and Mark had been, so he didn't recognize the name.

‘What’s going on? Who is Lee Jae-eun?’

‘It’s SFW!’ Mark turned to Dan. ‘It is their boss lady who has been kicking us around the bush rejecting our offers. She called Jess!’

‘She wants to meet me on Monday to discuss our participation,’ Jess finished for Mark.

‘Wow! Congrats, guys! That is amazing!’ Dan stood up and came up to Jess and Mark for a hug.

‘I can’t believe she called you! I was the one leaving my cards and my name was all over those papers. Why did she call you?’ Mark sounded reproachful.

The answer hit them both at the same time. Excited about the call, Jess hadn’t even processed why that woman called her. Mark was the one to say it.

‘Your guy has done his magic! I gotta give it to him, he pulled a big one for you!’

Before Dan could start again asking questions, Jess quickly made eyes at Mark and answered.

‘Don’t be so humble, Mark. I am sure your last plan of conquer finally blew them away.’

Dan understood that he should not press that line and they moved on to discuss their next plan of actions. Jess wanted to stay with them, but she was already late for her meeting with girls.

While sitting in taxi on her way to the restaurant she thought of calling Jiyong and thanking him, but then decided against it. The call required some prework, she had to come up with the words and prepare herself to not sound awkward. Jess had just started getting over what happened earlier that week. She stopped beating herself up for overreacting and stopped fantasizing of what it would have been like if she had gone on a third date with him. So she was in a too fragile state to hear his voice at that moment. She put her cell phone back into her purse and decided to call him the following morning.

When Jess reached the restaurant, everyone else was there. She was forty minutes late, so the girls had ordered food and some of them had eaten already. There were five girls: Liz and Emma from the States, Nina from Italy, Pat from Britain and Hanna from Australia. Out of all five, Jess particularly liked Hanna who was the most easy going, quirky and cheerful out of them all. Besides, Hanna was the only other single in the group, which made Jess feel a special bond between them.

After the restaurant they went to a new cocktail bar which supposedly served best cocktails in Asia. The girls were a nice bunch. There was no awkwardness, no self-consciousness or pretentiousness among them. Everybody was natural and it felt like they had known each other for ages. They talked about their lives back home, about their lives in Seoul, about what they loved and hated here, and of course about men.

Pat, Liz and Nina were married and had little kids. Emma came to Seoul with her boyfriend of five years. Hanna who had recently broken up with her boyfriend, with whom she had come to South Korea, was set on finding herself a Korean boyfriend convinced that they were more considerate, caring and gallant than westerners. This almost led to a heated debate, but Hanna confidently dismissed all arguments against Korean men saying that the others just didn't have enough data to support their statements. Finally, the married part of the group who were mainly the ones in support of western men gave up on it. Jess also learned that Hanna was a big fan of the band that Jiyong was part of and that she was infatuated by one of the members, who according to her was the handsomest man alive. Hanna used his pictures to make her point about the Korean men’s swag.

‘What about you?’ Hanna turned to Jess. ‘Met anyone interesting?’

‘Well...’ Jess hesitated caught slightly off guard. ‘There is this one guy at work. Nothing is really happening. We just had one awkward moment and now we are really tense around each other.’

‘Oh, workplace romance! Those are the best! Well, after high school romance obviously!’ Hanna looked delighted.

‘What about college romance?’ Emma asked.

‘Njaaah! In college there is no romance! College is the time when all limits are suddenly off and you are left alone to experience the world. There can be no romance when there are no moral limits! But!’ Hanna raised her finger, ‘But when you start working, you want everyone to think you are a good girl again. So that’s when moral limits kick back in and when romance replaces just and promiscuity.’

‘Wow! Which college did you go to?!’ Liz exclaimed bursting with laughter. ‘I am not sending my kids there!’

‘She has a point, though,’ Pat was laughing. ‘I love workplace romances too. It is super exciting!’

‘And you know what is even more exciting?!’ Hanna was on fire, ‘Workplace romance in Korea!’ She convincingly nodded with a mischievous smile. She turned to Jess. ‘You...single... in Korea... Well, let me tell ya, girl. That might be the best thing that has ever happened to you! Now you have all men of Korea at your feet.,’ She demonstratively stretched her arm out showing the place around them. ‘You know what they say. There is no better place to be single, than Seoul.’

‘Do they say that?’ Pat raised her eyebrows.

‘Yea! Well, I say it.’ Hanna’s face remained completely straight. Girls laughed and went on with their chatter till it was time for Pat, Liz and Nina to go home to their kids. The other three decided to venture into Seoul’s night life and were contemplating which club to go to when Jess heard someone call her name.

She turned in the direction she thought the voice came from, doubting that anyone there could know her. She saw Mark walking between the tables in her direction.

‘Hey! I didn't know you were going to this place! How long have you guys been here?’ Mark asked giving Jess a light hug.

‘Oh, we have been here a while. We are actually just about to take off to some night club. Hey! You should be very familiar with Seoul night life. Could you recommend anything?’

‘I could do better. Me and my friends can take you there, if you and your ladies don’t mind a company of four good looking men. One of our friends is playing at a club in Gangnam, so we are heading there right now.’

‘That sounds awesome. Hanna, Emma, what do you think?’ Jess asked turning to girls.

‘We’ll have to see if his friends are in fact good looking,’ Emma answered.

‘Emma!’ Hanna exclaimed playfully pretending to be shocked. ‘She is right though,’ she added turning to Jess and Mark.

Mark once again delivered on his promise. His friends were good looking. Two of them were Korean American which seemed to have pleased Hanna immensely and one was from Germany. Club was busting loud sounds at low beats and lights were hypnotizing. They went straight to dance floor. They danced, drank and had a lot of fun. Jess thought a few times that she heard Jiyong’s band’s songs, and that made her drink some more. It was too late, when she realized she was too drunk. She was standing in the queue to bathroom fighting the urge to throw up, when Mark was passing by.

‘Hey, I was looking for you. You disappeared like half an hour ago.’

Jess bend over hugging her stomach and trying to balance herself.

‘I think I had one glass too many.’

‘I think whole bottle was one too many.’ Mark laughed but his voice sounded soft.

‘Mark,’ Jess tried to strengthen up but lost her balance. Mark caught her and she slumped on his shoulder. ‘Take me home, please.’

‘Okay, I got you, girl.’

They got into taxi. While Mark was sending a message to his friends to tell that he and Jess took off from the club, Jess dozed off on the back seat. When Mark woke her up, they were in front of her compound. Mark helped her out of the taxi and wrapped his right arm around her waist carrying her purse in his left hand. Jess was still unsteady on her feet, but the fresh air was doing her good.

‘Hold on,’ Jess stopped in front of her porch. ‘Can we stay a little bit outside? I think it might help.’

‘Sure,’ Mark stopped and moved his hand from her waist to support her elbow. They stood in silence for some time. It was a warm night, but there was slight breeze which brought the freshness of autumn. Jess felt like this breeze was undoing all the alcohol she drank that night, a sip at a time.

‘How are you feeling?’ Mark asked and Jess realized then that he was looking at her the whole time.

‘I dont know. I am still so dizzy. I dont think I have ever been this drunk.’ Jess complained.

‘Yea, you were really going at it tonight,’ Mark said quietly.

‘Hey, by the way, I was thinking of you today,’ Jess lightly hit Mark’s chest with her open palm. Mark had to catch and steady her, as she almost fell from recoil force pushing her back.

‘Really? What were you thinking?’ Mark sounded surprised.

‘How come you never asked me out? You were all: “We’d be great together!”, Jess grimaced trying to imitate Mark, ‘and then nothing! Uh?’

Mark smiled but averted his gaze avoiding Jess’s drunken smiling eyes.

‘Well, you were so much into Korean es, that I thought you would not appreciate a good old Caucasian .’

‘Aaaah, Mark, were you jealous?’ Jess giggled taken away by how cute Mark looked when he was grumpy.

‘Maybe I was,’ Marked replied smiling.

‘Okay,’ Jess stuck out her pinkie finger. ‘Promise me you will ask me out tomorrow when I am sober.’

‘Are you even going to remember this conversation tomorrow?’ Mark said doubtfully.

‘I most certainly am! I have an elephant memory. I promise! Ah! See how it is all working out! I promise you I will remember, you promise me you will ask me out! Pinkie swear!’ Jess wrapped her pinkie finger around Mark’s and shook it.

‘All right, I will ask you out tomorrow,’ Mark said giving up on it.

‘Yes!’ Jess raised her fist in the air celebrating her victory and her heels walking away to her door.

‘Good night!’ Mark shouted behind her.

‘Nightie night!’ Jess gave him an air kiss and stumbled into her building.