"This is my husband" - Kim

Friday evening at the gym.
Feeling - Bleh.

I'd wanted to go out, but also wanted to work out. I opted for the latter. I'd just started on the treadmill when Kim called asking what I was doing that evening. She wanted to meet me. Did I feel like getting dressed up again and riding a stuffy bus on a Friday evening in traffic? No! But I figured that I'd better pull myself out of the slumpy feeling and meet her in Bucheon.

After all, Kim and I hadn't seen each other in about a month and we had loads to catch up on - ie: her new boyfriend and the proposal!

"Is it OK if I bring my boyfriend?" she asked.

In all honesty, I wanted to meet Kim first (alone) before meeting her new beau. But she suggested, "How about making another appointment for another day - just you and me?"

Well, when you're in love - I guess you really do want to shout it out from the rooftops. So, of course I said, "Yeah, that's OK!" We planned to meet at 7pm in front of Dunkin Donuts at Bucheon Station.

Dunkin Donuts is the general meeting spot for when I meet friends at Bucheon Station and I've had some pretty interesting encounters and experiences while waiting at a specific pillar right outside the coffee and donut shop. On this particular Friday evening, I had two girls walk past me, look at me, look at each other and back track to where I was. The older girl started talking to me in Korean as if she knew me. I asked her if she knew me (in Korean). She said she did, but my Korean isn't that good to understand what she said after that.

Kim finally arrived at 7:20pm.

Before me, stood a man in a black overcoat, dark hair and a nice open smile.
Kim held out her hands to him and said, "This is my husband!"

Say what?

Did she get married within 2 hours of our phone conversation when I was at the gym?

On the phone she asked if it would be OK if she brought her 'boyfriend'. And now, he's her 'husband?'

I looked at her with a confused look.
"When did this happen?" I asked.
All she said was, "This week."

He doesn't speak much English, and I tried making most of the conversation and questions directed at him as simple as possible. But he had to double-check my every question with Kim so that he answered me correctly (usually just a "Yes" or a "No!")

Anyway, we finally chose a place to go to, "Wara-Wara" - A Korean/Japanese bar.

The two of them sat across from me. Kim was positively glowing. And they do make quite a nice couple.

"Can you believe it?!" she asked me in her very dramatic manner.
"No, I actually can't!" I said honestly.

When he excused himself for a quick smoke break, she told me how her family were hesitant about the relationship at first. Also because, he's a few years younger than her.

"They told me he's going to hurt me," Kim said ...talking about her family. But they seem to have cooled off now.

I can't say too much about Kim's new beau because I couldn't really get to know him thanks to the infamous language barrier. But, my first impression was overall good. And the most important thing is that Kim is happy.

Sitting across from the newly-weds, I couldn't help, but think back to all the dinners Kim and I had talking about our pasts, our hopes and desires...our futures. We'd been co-workers for just a few months, but became very close at the beginning of 2008.

During one of our male-bashing convo's, she'd said "Men are beasts". This wasn't said light-heartedly. Kim's been hurt and betrayed more than once. But in the next breath, she'd said to me, "I really hope to meet a good man, and someone to be a father for my sons."

...and she has!

And of course, she said to me: "Now I really hope you can meet a good man, because you deserve it."