FINDING YOUR WORK COLLEAGUES ON GRINDR… WITH MIN-HYEOK

Before Elska began, or shall we say in the term of pregnancy, I was working as a flight attendant. On layovers I would be out shooting while the rest of the crew were napping or down the nearest Irish or English pub (there’s always one anywhere in the world). Often when I’d arrive in a hotel somewhere, the first thing I’d do is turn on Grindr, and then I’d send a few messages asking if anyone wanted to meet up and let me do some photos of them in their city. Then I’d rip my uniform off, jump in the shower, and emerge to check if I’d had any responses.

Usually I did, as was the case with Min-Hyeok, a local university student I’d met on a layover in Korea. But along with the messages from locals, sometimes there would be one from another crew member, a colleague from the airline.

Perhaps it’s a bit rash, but I’d usually block the profiles of colleagues when they came up. If their profile looked very friendship-orientated then I wouldn’t, but usually they were headless torso pics or proud poses stood next to aircrafts with text underneath reading “Bottom for Top, Hung Only”. If the profile, friendship-based or sex-based, belonged to a superior, then it was instantly blocked. Just. Too. Awkward.

Sometimes while I’m in the shower though, a message pops through before I can block. One time I emerged from the bathroom to find a message from a crew member, the second-in-command flight attendant. He asked me if I wanted to come to his room to unwind with some porn. In order to make it somehow less creepy, he explained: “all the porn sites are blocked in Korea but I have some ready-downloaded blue movies on my laptop… and you are welcome to join me.”

Honestly, it’s not the worst invitation after a twelve-hour flight when all I want to do is release and sleep, be it from my boss or not… but my layovers were like a job to me. I already made plans with Hong Jik to get my camera out and shoot [photos]. So my colleague was left to wank alone.

Elska Boy: Min-Hyeok L

Photographer: Liam Campbell

Location: Seoul, Korea

Elska Magazine: N/A

#SeoulKorea