Fun and Games

Ddakji

After breakfast and some more casual conversation Sang-Woo and Opal bid each other adieu. Not giving the other much thought after they've said goodbye. Of course, they did what people always do; exchanged phone numbers and talked about getting together again, but neither had any intention to reach out first. After breakfast Opal went back out on the hunt for a job, going into any and every place that has a 'Hiring' or 'Help Wanted' sign on the front door. But no matter where she goes, she never seems to be quite what the business is looking for. By the time she gets to the train station it is late and she has to wait for the next train. So she takes a seat in the station and lays her head back against the wall.

She opens her eyes ever so slightly when she hears someone walking up to her. To her surprise the person sits next to her. But she chooses not to acknowledge them, hoping that if she ignores them they will simply go away. But instead the person speaks to her, "hello, ma'am." She takes a deep breath, hoping the man will get the hint and leave her alone. "Can I talk to you?"

With a sigh she opens her eyes, looking over to the man as she licks her lips, rather annoyed, "seems like you already are."

"Listen, I wanna let you in on a great opportunity to..."

"Look, this is your job, I get it. But I'm not buying anything and I have no interest in finding Jesus. Thank you."

"Ma'am, would you like to play a game with me?"

Opal gives the man a strange look and lifts an eyebrow, "that's a new way to hit on someone."

"No, no," the man shakes his head, opening his briefcase, showing Opal the money inside, along with the blue and red folded squares. The man picks up a blue and red square, "I'm sure you've played ddakji before, right? Play a couple rounds with me and each time you win, I'll pay you a hundred thousand won."

Opal chuckles, "and what if I lose?"

"You'll give me the exact same amount."

Opal clicks her tongue, "unfortunately, that's I bit too rich for my blood."

"You can be the first to play."

Opal chuckles and stands up, "see in America, we have a very similar game, but we call it Pogs, it was extremely popular in the 90s, and," she turns to the man, "I happen to be a champ at it," she smirks holding out her hand. As she does the man hands her the red square.

The man stands and places the blue title on the floor and backs away before gesturing at the square, "ladies first."

Opal take as deep breath and throws her title down toward the corner of the blue title as hard as she can, successfully flipping the title over. Laughing once she does and turns back to the man. The man nods and picks up his blue title and does the same thing, flipping Opal's red title. Opal sigh with a scoff, "well, seems we're tied."

"That it does."

"That's fine, I couldn't afford to pay you if I lost anyway."

The man shrugs, "you could always use your body to pay."

Opal is taken back a bit, "excuse me?" The man reaches up to slap her, but she grabs his wrist, "what do you think you're doing?"

"I'll take a hundred grand off per slap."

"That implies I owe you, last I checked, we're tied. I knew Asian Business men could be into some weird stuff, but paying me a hundred grand to slap me seems a bit excessive."

"What do you have to lose?"

Opal stops and thinks for a moment. While it sounds humiliating, if she can beat him even at a couple rounds she gets a couple hundred grand, but if she loses even once she gets slapped. In the end the reward outweighs any possible consequences of playing this game, so she decides to play. Thankfully, Opal wins or they tie more often then not and she only gets slapped once or twice before they decide to call it quits. As the man hands her her winnings she chuckles, "you know, playing ddakji in the middle of the train station, isn't how I normally like to be slapped around." She looks over to the man with a grin, "but it's been a pleasure."

"You know, there are other games like this where you can make even more."

"And I could always make more as a hooker, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna take up that career path."

"Come on, it must sound tempting."

"The games or being a hooker? I may be desperate enough to play your little game, but I'm not that desperate."

The man stands up and placing his hands in front of himself, "Ms. Walton." Opal looks up a bit shocked that the man knows her name. "Your name, Opal Walton, twenty eight years old. You attended The Bronx High School of Science. You moved to Seoul three years ago and have not been able to find steady work during that time. You've had ten jobs in the last three years, the longest line of employment lasting six months. You are currently unemployed and single. Two million won owed to loan sharks and three more to the bank."

Opal stands up and try to stand as tall as she can can against the man, but since she's shorter than him it's rather difficult, "who are you?"

The man takes out a business card and hands it to her, "spots are filling up fast. Just think about it." He smiles before grabbing his brief case and walking away. She looks at the card and there is a number on the back of it. When she looks up to the man he is on the train and he blows a kiss to her as the doors close. She don't know if she should be flattered or offended by this gesture.