An Escape to a New Self

The Stranger

As of right now, I am sitting in a taxi with a stranger. I would like to add that I was in the cab first when he just yanked open the door, sitting quickly before slamming it. In a quick, almost angry tone, he shouted something I could not comprehend to the driver. Granted, my Korean is nothing to write home about, but my little understanding told me this person seated next to me meant business. I am unsure what business, though. His attire is not exactly telling me he is working in the corporate world. His distressed jeans are paired with what looks to be a Gucci shirt. A pair of Ray-Bans cover his eyes along with a black face mask covering the lower half of his face. Even his neatly bleached blonde hair is stuffed underneath a black baseball cap.

The driver pulls away, eyeing his rude passenger from the rearview mirror. I try to catch the driver’s eyes, but he is staring too intently at the other passenger to even notice my gaze. After a few moments, he returns his eyes to the road. The passenger takes no notice but sits with his arms crossed, staring at the seat in front of him. I am not sure, though, because of the glasses.

After a couple of minutes of silence, I could not take the rudeness. This person did not apologize or acknowledge me; he just sat right in the taxi as if he were the only person in the world!

“Excuse me,” I said, turning towards him. “But where I am from, it is extremely rude just to try to weasel in and steal someone’s cab.”

He turns toward me with a serious look on his face. Even with the sunglasses on, I could see his dark brown eyes widen. Maybe he did not know that there was another person in the cab. I wait patiently for him to make some recognition of my presence, but he just looks at me. I am sure the shock turned into fear when he realized someone else sat in the same cab.

“Do you understand what I am saying?” I started to make hand gestures along with shaking my head. “It is not right to steal my taxi. My taxi, not yours.” I gestured at myself and then at him.

He heaved a heavy sigh. “I understand you perfectly,” he stated, taking off his sunglasses. He placed them neatly on his lap. His dark eyes stared at me.

Now I am the one to stare at the seat in front of me. I did not mean to come off as being a rude, loud American. This is why people think Americans are ignorant. You pretty much did the American thing by acting as if he did not understand you at all. And you used hand gestures like a stupid American, I thought.

“I am sorry,” I muttered. “I just thought maybe you did not realize I was in this taxi with you.” I turned my gaze to the window now as a way to shield my reddening face.

“I should be apologizing to you. I am the one who barged into the taxi and started barking orders to the driver. You did nothing wrong.” He sounded sincere with a hint of exhaustion. He relaxed a bit in the seat.

“Well, umm, it is OK. I was surprised.” His eyes widened with the word "surprise”. An expression of shock or fear filled his eyes. He fumbled with his sunglasses that fell out of his lap onto the floor.

“No one has hopped into a cab with me. I thought that kind of stuff just happened in the movies.”

“Movies?” He questioned and turned to me.

I laughed. “This stuff usually doesn’t happen to people in real life, only in books or movies. Or if it does, it does not happen in my life.”

“Oh.” He turns back to face the seat again. I am unsure if he is trying to get relax or concentrate, but his stature is almost motionless. I, on the other hand, keep moving around in awkward silence. I look out the window at the scenery and the traffic. Then I turn to the front of me and stare at the seat, but my eyes begin to blur. From time to time, I steal a glance at the stranger, who looks at his phone or the window. His slim face creates an angelic look. His soft lips part slightly, giving him the expression that he is thinking deeply.

“So, the name is Catherine.” I turned to the other passenger, extending my hand. We sat in silence for a while before I said this. “But my friends and family at home call me Cat.”

“Cat?” he asked, shaking my hand. “Just like the animal?”

“No, no. It is just a nickname. I prefer that then my real name.”

He pursed his lips together. “Why is that?

I sighed loudly that even the driver looked up from the road. I never really explained to anyone why I went by a nickname. It just sounded natural. “It sounds old. My mother dived into the English monarchy before I was born. Somehow, Catherine is the name she came up with. I decided as soon as I was in school that I would have a nickname, so that is the name I chose.”

“I see.”

“What about you? Do you have a name?” I paused.

Of course, he has a name, you i***t! I scream in my head. This person must think that there is something wrong with you.

“Seo Jae,” he replied. “You can just call me Jae.”

“OK, that is easy enough to remember.” I nestled back into my seat.

We both sat quietly for a few minutes. I gazed out the window at Seoul. Just being here for a month, I still felt the awe and newness of the city. There are so many places I needed to explore. I enjoyed walking and taking everything in. Here, I felt free and able to live my life. Back at home, I trapped myself in dark memories, unable to let go of the past. In a sense, I ran away from my problems. Some go for alcohol. Some go and reinvent themselves into better people. I just run away to another country and leave everything behind. Some sacrifices are needed to keep your sanity.

Jae started talking to the driver once again. The conversation lasted only a few moments, but he spoke calmly.

“I asked the driver to drop you off first.” Jae turned back towards me. “You were in here first, so it is only fair.”

“You did not have to do that,” I protested. “If you live closer, it is silly for you to have to come back this way.”

“I find trips like this to be relaxing, so it is not a bother.” Jae flashed a smile. “Also, it is not like I have anything planned for the rest of the day.” He leaned back in the seat and put his sunglasses back on.

I texted Han Na to let her know that I was on my way home. Eyes closed or not, I found it hard to tell. The only time the silence broke came from Han Na’s text back.

Ding!

Did you have fun on your little adventure? It read. She knew that I had ventured to Gangnam. I only went to post on my social media pages and make some random reference to Psy’s song. I knew most of my friends would laugh. It would also be an indication that I still existed. I did not post many things. In a little way, my posting randomly on social media created this sense that I created a new life. Also, it showed that I was still alive and kicking. Pictures of the Han River, a random park I stumbled across, or smiling pictures of Han Na and me spanned my timeline.

I guess so, I texted back.

But something strange happened. I will tell you when I get home.

“What are you doing?” Jae looked over at me holding my phone. His eyes darted from my face to the phone in my hand.

“I am texting my friend that I am heading back home,” I replied. He stared at the phone in my hand. In one swift motion, he yanked the phone from my hand and gazed at the screen.

“Hey! Are you some sort of thief? Give me back my phone!” I instinctively reached across to retrieve it, but his free hand grabbed my wrist,

“So, what are you going to tell your friend when you get home?” he questioned. His sunglasses were off again. His dark eyes searched my face fiercely.

“I think that is pretty obvious. A strange guy just barged into my taxi and then proceeded to steal my phone from me.” I tried to wrestle my wrist free to grab the phone back,

“Is that all?”

The confusion started to take over. “Umm, yeah. Are you paranoid or something? Do you have some sort of mental illness like being a kleptomaniac with paranoia tendencies?” I began to relax my wrist. With his powerful grip, I was unable to shake it loose.

“No, I just wanted to make sure you were not going to say anything…” He stopped in mid-sentence.

“Say anything about what?”

He handed my phone back. “Curious about what you were going to say about me.”

I took my phone back and jammed it into my handbag. I did not want to give Jae another reason to try to take it. It seemed odd for someone to just grab another’s phone. Amongst friends, it was something that might be done in a funny gesture or a slight annoyance, but a stranger taking a phone made everything seem off. It made me question who this person could really be. I studied him for a few moments.

Maybe he is in some sort of criminal ring, and you just got yourself involved. I thought. Overactive imagination came naturally to me. I knew that my mind would creep into the strangest, most off-the-wall explanation for a situation. I created this sense of panic when I did things like this, but in the long run, I would laugh about it later. The most harmless situations would be turned into these outlandish stories in my head, not coming true at all.

“I guess I will tell my roommate about some guy who jumped into my taxi. He graciously let me go home first.” I smiled. I wanted this small little gesture as an understanding that I would not say anything malicious about the situation.

“He talked to me, which made this ride not seem so long and boring,” I added.

“I am glad. I honestly did not see you at first.” He sort of laughed. “I guess my rushing to get out led me to this predicament.”

“What were you rushing from?”

Before he answered, the taxi pulled over by a smaller street. The apartment is just up the small road. Cement stairs traveled up to the tiny apartments located on either side. Located on a smaller, quiet street, it would be easy to not notice them if it was not for the brightly painted red doors to each apartment. White, gauzy curtains could be seen from the apartment Han Na and I shared. Seeing those curtains gave me a sense of relief from the odd encounter, which caused a smile to spread across my face.

“Thank you,” I said, turning to Jae one last time before placing my hand to retrieve my wallet. “How much for the ride?”

He waved his hand in the air. “No, no money, but I would like to ask you a favor.”

I paused for a moment. “What kind of a favor?”

“Let me see your phone for one moment.” He reached his hand out.

I retrieved my phone from the handbag. I thought about resisting putting my phone back into his outstretched hand, but all I wanted to do was to be curled up on the couch explaining this messed-up situation to Han Na. She would surely laugh about it.

“There.” He handed my phone back to me. “I sent a text to my phone so I could keep your number.”

“But why?” I opened the door and proceeded to exit.

“I find you interesting. I wanted a way to keep in touch with you if the opportunity strikes for me to sit down and have a conversation. It’s not every day that you meet a cat.” He flashed a genuine smile.

I laughed at him. “I hate to break this to you, but I am the least interesting person on this planet. I am sure you could walk up to anyone else and they would be far more interesting than me.”

“I am sure you have a story.” He paused. “Everyone has a story, even me.”