The Boy with the Sharpie Tattoo

I’m no stranger to bizarre things happening in bars.  Working as a bartender throughout college I witnessed many odd behaviors, outbursts and an enumerable amount of embarrassing moments.  Nearly every shift we’d dub someone Patron of the Night.  This title would most often go to the drunk girl crying in the corner, or the person grinding on a pole while simultaneously using it as a brace to keep upright, but sometimes someone really special would come along and change the game completely.  There was one evening in particular where a young techno loving gentlemen came in with a group of lady friends and proceeded to fight with inanimate objects and shoot fake arrows at my co-worker and I.  You had to see it to really appreciate the beauty and creativity of this lad’s dance moves, but let me just say, it made an impression and i’m reminded of him every time I see a bow and arrow (not as if that’s often). I don’t know if anyone will ever top that individual, but last weekend while a group of us were out in Itaewon, someone came close. Very close.

Upon arrival at The Wolfhound, everyone hustled to the bar to snag pints of specially priced Red Rock, I however, having drank a considerable amount of soju on the cab ride over, opted to wait it out for a bit.  Once situated I naturally took a look around the bar to survey the patrons and almost immediately I was struck by the vibe a young Korean man was putting off from the bar.  Dressed in all black with his back  towards the bartender, both elbows overconfidently placed atop the bar ledge, beanie pulled down, eyes focused outward.  It was easy to see that he was trying to channel some sort of Korean James Dean, badass and mysterious, but it just came off looking awkward, forced and intense.  Strange vibe and all, I didn’t think much of it and went on conversing with my co-teachers.

After some time had passed I grew thirsty and decided to go get a beer.  I headed to the bar and quickly walked to the first opening I saw.  As I stood waiting for the bartender to acknowledge me, I looked to my right and noticed that there standing next to me was the Korean wannabe Brad Pitt from Fight Club.  After a few seconds he introduced himself.
“Hello.  I am Jin.  Where from?”
“Hi. Lydia. From America.”
“You teacher?”
“Yeah I am.  I teach......” And that’s when something odd caught my eye.  On both his arms, which were now place in front of him on the bar, were markings, at first glance they looked like sleeve tattoos, but as I looked closer, cocking my head to the side to get a better look, I realized that the markings were not made from tattoo ink, but from sharpie ink.  At this point Jin realized that I wasn’t concentrating on our conversation, because I was curiously and confusedly staring at his arms, then a creepy smile took over his already slightly creepy face, as if to say “yeah you like those?”

As everything fell into place, my confusion turned into giggles then quickly turned into booming laughter when I started to make out some of the things he’d written on his arms.  There were math equations, elementary drawings of animals, words like “strength” and “honor” and i’m 99% sure he had e=mc2 written on his wrist.  I’m still kicking myself for not getting a photo to document the greatness of this kid’s attempt at awesomeness, because describing it really doesn’t do it justice.  I’m talking full on, hand to shirt, writing, drawing and scrawl.  Use your imagination--then double it.

What I did next was beyond mean, and I feel bad about it, but like a giddy child with no sense of personal space or right and wrong, I licked my thumb and attempted to rub off one of his “tats”, completely forgetting that he was a real human being with boundaries.  When he realized what I was doing and snapped his arm back I came back to reality, said, “oh my god i’m so sorry”, grabbed my beer and took off.

I was still in shock when I arrived back at our table, partly because of his tattoos, but mostly because of my behavior.  And now looking back I can’t help but wonder what is more strange, a dude who sharpies on tattoos in an attempt to look badass in a bar, or a girl who, after a few drinks, develops turrets, licks her thumb and attempts to rub marker off a complete stranger.  Jury is still out, but I hope Jin found whatever he was looking for.