"Hello", said Taecyeon in the most polite voice he could muster through clenched teeth. He had a throbbing pain in his right temple and didn't have an ounce of patience left to give to anyone. He could tell that the clerk was ignoring him. He watched her stare at a damn cross word puzzle.

       "Hello!" Taecyeon voice was showing his irritation. He wasn't used to anyone not acknowledging his presence. "Can you hear me?" The older woman was already getting on his nerves. Her eyebrows,created with a dark pencil,gave her a constant expression of surprise. He smacked his hands down on the counter to add a little bit of noise,maybe force the old bat of her coma.
 

      "My name is Cindy, for your information, and I'm not about to be shoved around by some young city boy. Where I come from, elders are to be treated with respect. My time is very valuable. I'm trying to come up with a five letter word on this puzzle, and unless you have the answer, you'll have to wait a blasted minute," she said while loudly snapping her gum.
 

        Her accent was doing nothing for Taecyeon's mood. If he could get away with it he would choke her.

        "I'm here to find out which room I'm in,though I doubt I'll be here for very long".

         "What's your name?"

         "Tae....Donghee Kim."

         "You ain't from these town city boy? There's such thing as Yeongam hospitality, and you ain't got it!"

         "What room am I in?"The last thing he wanted was to have a conversation with this rude woman.

         "Number four. Here's your key. Don't lose it or it's gonna cost you 10,000 won!" Cindy handed the key over.

          He hastily grabbed it, and walked down the number four. The stench hit Teacyeon instantly when he opened the door. The smell of mildew, stale smoke, and something fried made him want to hurl. The dim light revealed a small kitchen table with two metal chairs,which were covered by yellow-flowered vinyl. The top of the small table was yellow,chipped, and had some burned places from someone's carelessness with a cigarette. But according to the smell of the place he'd have to add another thousand people and cigarettes to the cause of the problem. Taecyeon didn't smoke and the smell was  overwhelming him. The vinyl on both cheap metal chairs had splits on the seats. He was sure the visible foam wasn't always black. On the tabletop was a plastic pink flower arrangement and a collection of dead bugs.

       The bedroom, if you want to call it that, was off the kitchen and in the same area. The bathroom was something Taecyeon definitely never planned on using. The dirt and rust was disgusting, and bugs had collected everywhere. There was no way he was going to touch this room.
       

        He sat his suitcase on a small twin bed with a heavily sagging mattress. There was a black plaid loveseat that had areas worn down to the stuffing. Burn holes covered the armrest, seat cushions. He'd get out of this hellhole one way or another. I can't believe this! There was no television, no dishes or silverware. He spotted an old space heater in the corner, but no sign of an air conditioner. The cupboards and refrigerator were bare,except for exploded soda can and more bugs.
       

         Taecyeon needed a drink.....or ten.
     

        Digging out his mobile phone, he was ready to call his father.Instead, he placed it back in his pocket, not wanting the Great Timothy to know his misery. I can do this. He won't beat me.This'll be easy..
       

        Climbing inside of the battered pickup, Taecyeon drove 5 kilometer back into town.There was a small grocery store,feed store, a barber shop, and few deserted buildings. He heard loud music and spotted the bar at the end of the town. 
 

          The music was blaring. There were men and women of all ages standing out front,smoking and tipping bears. They were as loud as the music, but Taecyeon didn't care. It was nothing that several drinks wouldn't fix. As he stepped through the door, a man the size of a bulldozer ran right into him.
 

         "Pardon me", said the obviously drunk farmer. Taecyeon instantly smelled the foul odor and made sure to give him plenty of room to go by.
 

         He couldn't help but laugh at all the hicks. The music was making his headache worse, and he desperately wanted a drink to make the taste of this nightmare go away. Taecyeon found a small empty table in the corner. He let his eyes roam the place. He heard the definite sounds of a man and woman arguing.
 

           "You're fired!" yelled a plump, man in his early fifties.

            "Good!"

            The woman in tight jeans, a small apron,and white t-shirt getting yelled at, caught his attention more than anything else. She didn't seem to be intimidated at all by the loud, plump man. She lifted a heavy tray and delivered the soju and makgeolli bottles to a nearby table. Afterward, she approached Taecyeon's table.
         

             "What would you like?" she asked with a scowl on her face.
              

               "You don't seem very happy."

            "Look, do you want something or not? You can't just sit here and not order anything. House Rules, they're posted." She pointed to the sign by the end of the bar.
 

               "Okay, I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry if it seemed that way."
 

               "I've never seen you before. You new to these town?"
 

             "Yes, you could say that". Taecyeon became very self-conscious of his attire. He loved to impress women, and this outfit wasn't going to cut it.
 

                 "Name's Shin Hye. Don't call me anything than my name, it'll piss me off. What would you like to drink?"
 

                 "I'll take a nice dry martini."
 

                 "Seriously,what do you want? I don't have all night."
             

             Taecyeon looked around and reminded himself of where he was.
 

                  "What's your name?"
 

                  "Tae....uh Donghee Kim."
 

                  "Welcome, Duh Donghee Kim. Spit your order out."
 

                  "I'll take Makgeolli please (is a milky, sweet alcoholic beverage made from rice)."

                   "Be right back,"she yelled over the music.
 

            As she walked to get his order, Taecyeon saw a man pat her behind. Shin Hye spun around and punched the guy square in the chin. The man went to grab her wrist, and before he knew it, Taecyeon was running full speed at the man. He grabbed him, spun him around, and punched him in the mouth. He thought for sure the man would go out stone cold, but he'd only seen fighting in movies and hadn't ever hit anyone before. The man smiled with his bloody lip and hit Taecyeon one time.

*******

            The sound of glass clanking woke him up. He was aware of his surroundings after a couple of minutes. Thankfully the music was off, because his head was pounding.
 

            "Mr.Kim, are you doing okay?"
 

       Taecyeon took a moment to let his vision clear. He looked at the waitress, who now had her apron off and her hair down. Long dark curls hung in her face as she bent closer to him.
 

             "Yeah, I'm okay. I think my eye is swollen."
              "You'll have a pretty good shiner out of that one."
              "I guess I shouldn't have hit him."
             "Well, it was my fault. I don't like men grabbing me, and my lazy uncle wouldn't have done anything quick enough. Thank you for sticking up for me like that."
              "I did a pretty lousy job. Did he leave?"
              "Yeah he left. A few guys threw him out of here." Shin Hye put a cold rag on Taecyeon's eye, causing him to wince.
              "Where are you from?" she asked,trying to keep her voice soft.
              "Gangnam"
              "Wow, you're a long way from home. Are you staying around here?"
              "Up the road a bit." Yes, I live in a gross shack. Just follow the smell and bugs and you'll find it... 
            "Can I get you anything? This makgeolli  is on the house." Shin Hye smiled, and that was all it took. Her brown eyes, curvy little body...Knock it off Taecyeon. You don't even have a place that's suitable to bring her.
              "Thank you, Shin Hye. But didn't you get fired?"
              "He fires me every day. Even though he's a hard on the outside, he's a pretty good person on the inside."
              "You don't have accent. You must not be from around here either." Taecyeon held the cold cloth against his eye.
              "I lived up in Jeju island, but my u