Stranger Encounters

The Subway Platform
So, I'm waiting on the train at Yeokgok station to go to Erin's house late one evening. There aren't many people around. I sit on one of the many empty benches to wait for the last train of the night. Then I hear this shuffling sound and I look over to see this very old Korean man slowly making his way toward me. I mean, very slowly. He's shuffling his feet and taking very small baby steps to advance. He finally stops right in front of where I'm sitting. He tries to mumble some Korean words to me and he looks like he's foaming at the mouth with spit. I was so afraid he would accidentally spit or drool on me I immediately got up and told him that I don't speak Korean (hanguk mal motayo) and motioned for him to sit down at my bench. He tried to baby step close to me and I backed away and just said "I don't speak Korean!" one more time before I hauled ass to the other side of the platform where there were some other people. I stand over near a bench with a couple sitting on it and then I hear that foot shuffling sound again. The little old man is pushing his feet in my direction! I start getting annoyed and wonder if any of the other people think it's strange that I am circling around these benches and he's slowly following me. Finally, I walk down around this vending machine, and when I hear him get to the side of it to go around behind it, I take off to way down the other end of the platform just as the announcement for the next train fills the air. I lost him. There's no way he could catch up with me before the train leaves. It's like a really cheesy horror movie, I feel like any second while I'm sitting on the train, I'll hear that shuffling sound and the scary old rabies man will come to get me...

The Crying Boy
This time I'm on my way to Itaewon to play pool on my pool league. I decide to get off at Yongsan station and take a cab from there to save time, not thinking about the potential traffic jam caused by the Korean Thanksgiving(Chuseok) weekend travelers. Yongsan is a pretty big subway station with a huge electronics mall attached to it. I'm not too familiar with this station, though, I thought I was when I decided to get off at that stop. So I get lost trying to find my way out and I start walking around the outside perimeter of the 3rd floor looking for a way down and head towards a parking garage. I get the feeling I'm being followed by this Korean boy behind me. It seems like he's trying to make it obvious because when I stopped to look down and see what's below me, he stopped and did the same in a mimicking way. After walking toward an obvious dead-end for pedestrians, I decide to turn around away from the parking garage and head back to the crowd inside. The boy turns around and does the same. So I stop, turn back and call him out.

"Are you following me?"

"Oh, I, uhhh, I just thought you were so beautiful I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

Not knowing what to do from that point, and trying to assess the situation and possibility of fighting with a potential cereal killer, I decide to ask him to show me to the taxi stand while picking up a rapid pace back inside. He asks me if I'm a tourist. I say no. Am I a student? No. But he is. So I turn the questioning towards him. What are you studying? What school are you going to? What are you doing hanging around the subway station stalking pretty girls on a Wednesday night?

He seems really nervous. He tells me how black my hair is, and other obvious comments. He thinks I'm half Korean. But I'm not. We walk down the crowded stairs and toward the taxi area while more small talk ensues. He assumes I have a boyfriend; I comply. I ask him his name.

"I, uh, um...I don't know."

"You don't know your own name!"

"I, I, can't remember it...I think I'm going to cry."

And with that, tears start rolling down his face. I didn't know what to do. He wasn't sobbing, but he obviously had issues. I try to ignore the crying to not make him feel more embarrassed. I say that I should cross the street and catch a cab on the other side. He walks with me, wipes his tears away, and he says, "What's your name?"

"Jessica."

"That means wealthy."

"How do you know that?"

"I know a half Korean girl named Jessica."

"Interesting. Well thanks for your help. I'm gonna catch this cab."

He tells the cab driver where I'm going, in Korean, and then he remembers his name. I've forgotten it. Something that sounds like thank you, but not thank you.

"Nice to meet you and thanks for your help."

And that was that. Stalker averted.