The Rom-Commers

by Katherine Center

But it was just an illustrated image of a backyard. “What is this?” I asked. “It’s a video game,” Charlie said, “where you power-wash things.” Then he pressed some keys, and a jet of water started spraying in first-person point of view, as if he were holding a power hose. Charlie turned the hose onto a dreary gray sidewalk, and as the water moved along, it left a bright clean section behind. The hose also made a deep, brown-noise shushing sound, and once all the dirt was gone, the game made a very satisfying ding sound and gave him some points. “This is what you were doing when I walked in?” “Yep.” “You were playing a video game where you virtually power-wash a sidewalk?” “Not just a sidewalk,” Charlie said, starting on the patio beside it. “The entire yard.”

Hes really just playing powerwash simulator LMAOOO

THE INSTRUCTOR TURNED out to be a six-foot cowboy. When Charlie saw him on the tiny stage at the back of the bar—in Wranglers and boots with an actual straw Stetson hat—I heard him say, out loud, “Oh, god. He’s a hillbilly.”

Im crying omfg

Then, for a grand finale, I made him do a close read with me of Ji Chang Wook executing a perfect Korean drama cool-guy kiss—slowing

yES