**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city...
"OK. Let's go through it again. Ireumi mwoyeyo[1]?"
"Nae ireumeun William imnida[2]."
I circled my hand in the air to get him to carry on.
"California e sarayo[3]."
"That's awesome!"
Will was a natural. We'd already done greetings and numbers, and his pronunciation was great. He just needed to perfect that classic pissed-off whine to truly sound Korean.
"How about: I enjoy surfing?"
"Oh, that one's easy. Naneun chocolate baereul ieda[4]."
"Did you say Chocolate baereul ieda? As in chocolate?"
"Yeah, something to do with the shape of the surfboard being like a Hershey's bar." My face twitched.
Courage, Zeph.
"What about: Korean is a beautiful language?"
"Na Hangugeo ssaem irang neomu hagosipeo[5]." I tried so fucking hard to hold in my laugh that my ribs felt like they were about to explode.
"Na Hangugeo...ssaem...Wait a second. I'm gonna have to write that one down." Will diligently wrote the sentence on the back of a sheet of staff paper, next to the Hangul characters that he'd insisted on practicing too. "OK, so how about: Do you like jazz music?"
He was so earnest about learning Korean that it made me feel like a total dick for doing it to him. I still did it, though.
"The informal way of saying it is: Jaji bbarado doe[6]?"
Will looked me right in the eyes and said it, painfully slowly, eyebrows wriggling, like his life depended on it. "Jun-su, jaji bbarado doe?"
My insides rolled. My stomach lurched. My laughter was like the noxious gases building up inside an erupting volcano. I couldn't keep it in any longer.
A howl of laughter burst out of me. I fell off the piano stool, clutching my stomach as I rolled on the floor, laughter from pouring out of me like a drain.
Will stood up, palms over his face, shaking his head and desperately trying to cover his grin. "What have you just taught me?"
"Let's just say that Korean guys are gonna love you, man," I managed to bite out in between bursts of laughter, tears pouring down my cheeks.
I tried to control myself, but every time I looked at Will a guffaw rose out of my body. It was a shitty thing to do and I totally deserved a dollyo chagi[7] to the kidneys, but Will just kept shaking his head at me with his zen little smile, like a hairy Buddha.
"I'm buying online Korean lessons," he chuckled, tearing up the staff paper dramatically, complete with his meticulously-scrawled Hangul. "You can't teach me anymore."
It was in jest, but I felt a scintilla of hurt somewhere deep under my laughter. "I'm really sorry. You were just taking it so seriously." Giggles overtook me again. "I promise I'll teach you properly. But you gotta let me teach you some fun stuff too."
"You can teach me anything you want, as long as it doesn't land me in a Korean prison."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
