Recently in Korea, the number of covid-19 patients increased dramatically, well not so dramatic considering the numbers in other countries, and the regulations regarding masks became more and more strict.
The Korean government started to apply strict policies starting with wearing a mask when taking public transportation and advanced to wearing a mask inside stores.
However, as the curve was far from flattening, the government applied an even stronger policy of wearing a mask even in restaurants or cafés. This means that we can only take the masks off while we are eating and wear them again immediately after we are done eating.
Yesterday, I had a business meeting at a small local café and had to wear my masks the whole time. When I was thirsty during the conversation, I lowered my mask carefully like a Grace-Kelly-type of lady, sipping a bit of coffee with a straw, and then quickly put on the mask again.
We human beings can fight to give up our lives for our own freedom, but simultaneously we can also quickly comply with the rules and norms of the community for public interests.
I personally was one of those who refused to wear a mask even with the emergency notification by the government during the days of very bad fine dust situations.
I had thought that I would rather live a little less and gain my freedom to breathe freely. However, these days, I wear my mask. I even got a mystical ability to recognize that something is wrong just before my elevator arrives; that I am not wearing a mask.
There are many side effects of wearing masks. It feels stuffy, I have to smell my bad breath unwantedly, and it unintentionally brings a large scale of environmental problems with the world population consuming a mask every day.
Still, if I were to find an advantage of wearing one is that it disguises us to believe that there are many more handsome men than in reality.
Before this pandemic, I was able to find roughly five handsome men a month while passing by Gangnam Station. Now, I can find these seemingly hun-nam or handsome men more easily than before since they are all wearing masks.
With neatly trimmed hair, a fair body and proper clothes, anybody would look like a hun-nam. Of course, I also enjoy the illusion of looking 20% better when I am just exposing my eyes and covering up the rest of my face.
Yesterday, I was waiting for a man at Exit 10 at Gang-nam Station. I contacted this man through Karrot Market, a person to person secondhand trading online app.
The man with an ID 2cool4u, even his ID shouted he was handsome and cool, was also one of those hun-nam with a mask. He was tall enough to be attractive, had the most perfect dark eyebrows, and a high nose bridge hidden under his mask.
I never had a chance to meet those handsome buyers or sellers, but I finally got a chance after forty-five trading negotiations and a pretty high profile at Karrot Market. Of course, I want to show my gratitude to all my buyers.
2cool4u strode towards me with his long legs. He thanked me for the best deal (meaning half priced) I offered for an electronic toll collection.
He also apologized for changing the appointment time half an hour later and handed me a Starbucks Iced Americano saying that there was an urgent meeting right before getting off from work.
He was not only handsome, but also well-mannered; he was truly a full package. I couldn’t resist the corner of my mouth going up and I was glad I was wearing something to hide my so-obvious facial expression.
However, oh my… the moment we both lowered our masks to have a sip of cold americano to win over the damp and muggy summer air, I who was on cloud nine felt my interest in this man falling straight down to the ground.
2cool4u was just a heun-nam, an ordinary man, and not a hun-nam.
Yes, I couldn’t be that lucky.
So, without any more flirting, I politely said to him goodbye and rushed back home. I went straight to the bathroom to wash my hands and my eyebrows went up as I looked at myself through the mirror.
My lipstick had smudged all over my lips due to the mask I was wearing. Instantly, I blushed with embarrassment thinking 2cool4u would have seen my face. Dang it.
I removed my makeup with some cleansing water and resolved that I will never wear lipstick when wearing a mask. I opened up my Karrot Market app to post a review and thank my buyer.
I wrote “Thks. The coffee was…” but couldn’t finish my sentence. My phone started ringing with emergency notifications related to covid-19. We are facing a new normal of storm and stress.
** As for emergency notifications, the South Korean government sends them to cellphones to alert people about natural disasters like high levels of fine dust or emergency situations like fires or these days covid-19.
There are some countries showing concerns about violation of the misuse of personal information, but personal information is not revealed. What the government shows is the information about the movement of the patients before they went on quarantine.
So, if you live in or have passed by the neighborhood where covid-19 patients were, you will get this emergency notification. This is to prevent any further infection and to tell people in the region to go and get tested.