CATALYST

TRAVIS

"The bartender gave me a sympathetic look. "Seoul traffic can be awful. Have you called him?" She handed my passport back to me, and I tucked it inside my coat pocket.

      "I can't. My phone is dead. And I forgot to pack my charger." I gave her a smile intended to charm. I wasn't into women and never intentionally led them on, but I won't lie, sometimes being attractive to them was helpful. "Do you think anyone has one here I could use?"

      It worked—or she was just nice, because she smiled back warmly. "I can check. Let me get you that beer—sounds like you need it. What kind would you like?"

      "Anything, please."

      She nodded, and a moment later, she set it in front of me. "This one's on me. I'll put your food order in. You're probably super hungry after that long trip."

      "Yes. Thank you."

      After a long drink from the bottle, I pulled my notebook from my bag again, and a school photo of my eight-year-old sister Ari fell out from the front pages. She'd given it to me right before I left, and on the back she'd written, "To Travis, Don't forget about me. Love, Ara". I set it on the bar as a woman slid onto the empty seat next to me. "Hi there."

      She was about my age and dressed professionally, like maybe she worked in an office, but she was the kind of Korean athletic woman I pictured more like a lifeguard on TV or a dancer in a beach movie. Her grin was confident and flirty. Modern Korean women are more assertive nowadays compared to Japanese ones, not that all women in Japan are reserve but at least most of the ones in my circle are.

"Hello," I said.

      She glanced at the photo of Ara and gasped. "Oh my God, she's so beautiful! And she looks just like you. Is that your...daughter?" she asked tentatively, wrinkling her nose like she hoped that was not the case.

      "No, that's my little sister. But we do look alike." Although we had quite a number of years apart, Ara and I both had our mother's unique sharp eyes, black straight hair, and dimpled chin.

      She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Winter."

      I shook it. "Travis."

      "Travis." She repeated my name as I'd said it, complete with the accent. After giving my palm a suggestive squeeze and holding onto it way too long, she swiveled to face me, crossing her legs in a way that put them on display. "I've never seen you here before."

      "I've never been here before."

      "I like your accent. Where are you from?" She leaned a little closer to me, so close I could smell her flowery perfume.

      "Japan."

      "I was going to guess that!" She looked pleased with herself and slapped me lightly on the leg. "What brings you to South Korea?"

      "Just visiting."

      "Traveling alone?" She widened her eyes and batted her lashes. It was strange to me the way this woman asked such personal questions. I'd have to get used to it. "Yes, but..."

      "Yes, but what? You don't like Korean girls?" she teased.

      Evasive words were on the tip of my tongue when a voice spoke up in my head. There's no reason to hide here.

      "Yes, but I'm gay," I told her, meeting her eyes directly. It was the first time I'd said the words out loud to anyone. I wasn't ashamed or anything, but growing up where I had, sexuality simply wasn't talked about, whether you were gay or straight. Clearly, the boundaries here were different.

      Winter sighed, centering herself on her chair, her body slouched. "Figures. I knew you were too good looking to be straight." She picked up her wine glass and took a long, long drink. "Sorry if I bothered you."

      I smiled. "You didn't. It's okay."

      "Somehow I always pick out the gay ones. It's like a curse."

      I wasn't sure what to say. "Um. I'm sorry?"

      She sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, welcome to Seoul. Cheers." She held up her wine glass. "Hey, how do you say cheers in Japanese?"

      "Kanpai ."

     She blinked. "Kanpai!." She clinked her glass against my bottle, and we both drank as Sowon appeared with a plate heaped with food—a thick, juicy hamburger and French fries."

My mouth watered. "That looks delicious."

"It is," she said confidently. "And I wasn't able to find a charger yet, but I'm still looking."

I picked up the notebook, sticking the photo of Ara back inside the pages, so she could set the plate down in front of me. "Thank you so much. I can't believe I—"

I stopped speaking and looked down by my feet, where I was reaching around for my bag but felt nothing.

It was gone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Again, I'm so sorry. Nothing like this has ever happened here before." Sowon leaned over the bar and touched my arm. She was the bar owner and felt personally responsible for the theft—she'd apologized a thousand times, even breaking down in tears. "I feel sick about it."

"It's not your fault," I told her. "It was very crowded. Even I didn't see it happen, and it was right at my feet."

The police officer who'd responded to her frantic call had asked everyone in the bar if they'd seen anyone leave with the bag, or anything suspicious at all, but no one had. He'd been nice, but hadn't seemed too hopeful that my bag would be found.

At least I still had my passport. Thankfully, I'd stuck it in my coat pocket rather than back in my bag after showing it to Sowon. Replacing it in Korea would have been a nightmare. My biggest problem was that my wallet had been in my bag, so my cash and my bank card were gone. Now buying a hotel room for tonight wasn't even an option. Neither was paying for my food and drink, not that I'd gotten to eat anything. And I was starving. But what could I do?

"God, you're so nice. I feel like any other guy would be freaking out."

"Wouldn't do me much good."

"But what will you do tonight?" Her brown eyes were wide and sad. "Where will you go?"

I shrugged. "I'll find somewhere."

Ellen threw her hands in the air, her voice rising in anguish. "How? You don't even know anyone here! And someone took your wallet, so you have no money!"

"I'll be okay. Really. I just have to charge my phone so I can find my friend." I tried to sound more confident than I felt.

A determined look replaced Sowon's tortured expression. "You know what? I'm going to help you. I believe in fate, and there must be a reason why you came in here tonight and all this happened."

"I shook my head. "I believe in fate too, but this was probably just random bad luck."

She flattened both palms on the bar. "Nope. Nothing is random. Now it's getting late, and I can see how exhausted you are, so I'm going to find you a place to stay and charge your phone tonight. And then tomorrow, I'll help you find your friend."

"That's not necessary," I protested, stifling a yawn.

"Travis. Look at you. You're about to fall over, you're so tired. And my mind is made up." Sowon nodded once, and her tone told me she wouldn't be argued with. "I'll be right back, I just have to make a phone call. You wait here." She brought me another bottle of beer before disappearing through the kitchen door, leaving me to wonder who on earth she was going to call."

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