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# It started out with a night on the town.

I haven't seen these guys for years because of covid restrictions. For the first time we could really hang out and do the things we used to do. It has been five years and we have all grown a little bit older, but we still love **sushi**.

We went to this restaurant in front of the university clubbing area with fish tanks that you can choose your own fish before eating the sushi. I ate the sushi with a Korean treat called Bundaegi which means "silk worms". These were high in protein and tasty baked silkworms. I dipped my sushi in dwenjang which is fermented soybean paste and wrapped it in lettuce. 

After we finished off two large plates of sushi we ordered something called Mae-un-ttang. This is a spicy dish of peppers with a live fish in it and boiled up in front of us. After that we went out for a late night coffee. 

It was kind of cruel to eat fish like that, but it was even more cruel what that fish was doing to my stomach all night. I felt like the fish and the peppers were moving together as a team to ravage the inside of my intestines.


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mineopoly/23zRnZnCU8pteHrdYFkzgbsT2UUBxY6BW4RjYTFv2RWgdS4jUrefVmAnWndPn5nnjeztD.png)


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mineopoly/23xL2eWvv4J6R7eMFgJQDEXeK25rqssrZinWRpad9bThgmjamwy3PJidKKFgGQM7VveT2.png)
 

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mineopoly/23w2qYmxKm29dNu9SSRiSf4bN4aNFwwGVW77TZ7oBZVuF968ksMhE2yiHaRVVGJ9zFo1y.png)

# The next day

In the morning I ate my son's left over banana oatmeal and I gulped down another cup of coffee and milk. I had to rush downtown to run some errands and do some shopping at the guitar store. I knew that if I got the 8:07 bus in front of our house then I would get downtown before 9am. What I did not take in account for was the road construction. 

They put up a new traffic light where the bus turns into the train station, and I had to wait there another 15 minutes. By the time I got onto the train, it was already crowded with the morning rush. I was beginning to think this was way too much to go through to pick up one new "E" string. Maybe I can just make chords with five strings on the guitar.

On the way I picked up some flowers for my wife and a nice hat. 

Even before I got to the guitar store I was looking snazzy. 

As soon as I walked into the door the owner recognized me and offered me a cup of coffee. We talked for a while about the kids and laughed as he played some licks on an old Les Paul. 

I felt relaxed, but when he stopped playing I heard a grumbling sound in my stomach. I tried to hold in a fart but I looked kind of uncomfortable. The owner asked me what I came for and then rang up a purchase on the E string. 

I was back on the train in no time. Luckily the morning rush had died down and there weren't so many people on the train. I was able to find a seat, and the subway train in Seoul has some pretty good seats if you can find one. They are heated seats and I was feeling better. In front of me was a high school student in a uniform and on my left was an old man. Across from him was a young man with his girlfriend. 




Everyone was minding their own business when it happened again. This time I could not hold the fart in. I felt relieved and lucky this fart didn't make any noise. 

Then I realized the sticky situation I was in. There was a cold wet sensation in my pants. The high school girl looked up from her cell phone.

 I took the cue and started to look side to side slowly and then my eyes rested on the man to my left. Her eyes followed as she and the couple next to her took aghast. As they were looking to my left I took this opportunity to exit the train to the door on my right at the next stop. 

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mineopoly/EoEqXafrAbDUzF4Ynj65xfwjr45tzKorWYcSTU6VpvYuNYPuYjstXpkEWzkpPdi1VZa.png)

Then I realized the sticky situation I was in. There was a cold wet sensation in my pants. The high school girl looked up from her cell phone.

 I took the cue and started to look side to side slowly and then my eyes rested on the man to my left. Her eyes followed as she and the couple next to her took aghast. 

As they were looking to my left I took this opportunity to exit the train to the door on my right at the next stop. 


# On the way to the restroom

I thought I could get to the bathroom and clean things up, until the most embarrassing thing happened. 

As soon as I got out the subway door I felt something cold drop out of the bottom of my pants leg. What I am supposed to do? Should I bend down and clean it up? I don't have any tissues or toilet paper. If I just act nonchalantly I may be able to avoid any attention to myself. 

Still I can't imagine putting the subway cleaning service people in any more stress than they need to be. I chose a compromise. I walked out nonchalantly with the plan to clean it up later with some papers I had from school after the train left the platform. The problem was that this was a very busy platform. 

When I turned back to the place I got off the train, I realized my error. It had already gotten stampeded with the crowd. There was not much I could do now except head for the subway bathroom on the second floor. I was determined to get on the escalator before the people from the next train get off. 

This was that one minute of relative uncrowdedness the station gets between trains. But as soon as I got on the escalator, a little girl wearing Abercrombie and her Gucci wearing mother appeared behind me out of nowhere. I wasn't sure if I should start walking up the escalator or if I should just freeze. Just then the little girl said to her mother in Korean:

> ***"Mom. Why does it always smell like shit in these subway stations?"***

# I decided to just stand still like I knew nothing. 

The problem was the hot pepper paste and fermented soybean paste I had eaten the night before. Somehow the combination of these fermented pastes and the silkworms and raw fish were not doing well in my stomach. I was getting close to the end of the escalator but I couldn't hold my fart. 

This time some noise came out with it. I just quietly walked to the side and made my way to the public restroom. There was a time some years ago when public restrooms in Korea had no toilet paper. Lucky for me the times they are a changing. I put my flowers, guitar string and my nice hat on the hook on the door of the stall while I tried to do my best with the clean up job.

I managed to get it cleaned up pretty good before I came home. I gave my wife the flowers and then went directly into the shower. She had no idea what these flowers had through to get to her.

How was your weekend?

This is what was left of my weekend:


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mineopoly/23x1DJCtxN4osYhGnzxaS4nuFhwbuaFzrPBhz19hAtS1LfDJNweStXVDzYkrHfDK8fYQ8.png)

Thank God for a forgiving wife.

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This fiction story is a response to @galenkp's prompt in the weekend Experiences [community](https://peakd.com/hive-168869/@galenkp/week-145-weekend-engagement-writing-suggestions). This fictional story counts as a weekend experience. Although this is meant to be a fiction story, you can decide which parts were actual events.

Please laugh a lot and listen to this song:

https://youtu.be/p4E6KtQg_z0