Original subtitles

(electronic music)

(bell dinging)

(knocking on door)

- What up?

- I'm Kevin.

- Gino.

Surprised?

- Just that I'm getting laid.

It happens less often than I'd like to admit.

- [Gino] You're cuter than your pictures.

- Thanks.

- So you wanna do this?

- Sure.

I wanna kiss you.

- You'll get to kiss me.

- It's so fucking hot.

(moaning)

- Suck it so good.

(moaning)

I'm coming.

Shit.

- Did it get messy?

- No, the condom broke.

- While you were inside of me?

- You have nothing to worry about.

I'm clean.

The Cedars-Sinai emergency room has PEP.

I'll call you an Uber.

- [Kevin] Great.

- Car's here.

- Thanks.

- [Gino] Do you want company?

- No, you've done enough.

- [Gino] I'm really sorry.

- Mm-hmm.

- Great.

(phone ringing)

- [Kevin] You've reached Kevin Kuo.

- Hey Kevin, it's Gino.

You left your keys at the hotel.

I'm here until 6:00 a.m. if you wanna swing by.

After that, I'm on a flight.

I'll text you.

("Too Late" by ohmy featuring JakkCity)

♪ But is it too late ♪

♪ Walls that I create ♪

♪ Will you save me again someday ♪

♪ The nights are long but I don't feel awake ♪

♪ Take me to your wonderland again ♪

♪ Or is it too late ♪

- Hey.

- Thanks for meeting me here.

- Yeah, sure.

- How'd it go?

- The doctors put me on a regimen.

- Good.

How do you feel?

- Like shit, but I'll get over it.

Do you have my keys?

- Hey, do you wanna stay for a drink?

- I should go.

- My treat.

It's the least I can do.

I've been in your situation before.

The last thing you wanna do is be alone,

especially with your thoughts right now.

- Okay.

- Feel better?

- You know, even though I know

intellectually that everything's gonna be okay,

there's this side of me that's,

it's racing, and anxious,

and imagining all the awful things

that could have gone wrong.

Like telling my parents that I have contracted HIV.

And they'd be heartbroken, for sure.

But then they'd also think I'm a hoe.

- Then they'll know the truth.

- Gino.

The party's in there.

- I'll go over when I'm ready.

- Bring your friend, too.

Hi, I'm Lisa.

- Kevin.

I actually should get going.

- Come on.

You could use a distraction.

We can always.

- No, we can't.

Come on.

(singing in foreign language)

(cheering) - Yeah.

Go Lisa.

So, you know any Korean songs?

- No.

My parents are from Taiwan.

Is everyone here Korean?

- Yeah, this is my Korean adoptees support group.

- Really?

- We're all a part of this massive Facebook group,

and the Angelenos, we meet here in K Town every month.

- That's really cool.

So you're adopted.

- Yeah, and I'm actually going to Seoul in six hours

to find my birth parents.

- That's great.

- Yeah, nerve racking.

I mean, I feel like my whole life

has led up to this point.

- Shots motherfuckers!

- Yeah.

- To Gino, and the journey ahead.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Let's take a picture.

- Okay, I can go ahead and take it.

- No, I've got it.

- [Kevin] Okay.

(speaking in foreign language)

(upbeat electronic music)

- It's weird.

I'm not used to hanging out with so many Asians.

I mean, I went to a Chinese baptist church

when I was a kid and all that.

But as an adult, I'm just not used to it.

- You didn't think I was gonna be Asian?

- Well, that's what happens when

you refuse to send a face pic.

- Gino, your song's up.

(upbeat piano music)

- Did you pick this one?

- Just change it to the next one.

- No, you have to sing.

♪ Watching clouds drifting by ♪

♪ My schemes are just like all my dreams ♪

♪ Ending in the sky ♪

♪ Some fellows look and find the sunshine ♪

♪ I always look and find the rain ♪

♪ Some fellows make a winning sometime ♪

♪ I never even make a gain ♪

♪ Believe me ♪

- That was fun.

It was all the Asians.

- You say the most offensive things,

but I don't know if you're joking.

- Okay, I don't avoid Asian company.

I just don't actively seek it out.

Okay, so I grew up in a neighborhood that was all white.

At school, the kids would call me Ching Chong,

or Chinese boy, karate kid.

So if I wanted to have any friends,

I had to be white.

Hanging out with white people became my comfort zone.

- Do you connect to your heritage at all?

- I do.

I speak Mandarin.

And I visit Taiwan every few years with my parents.

- That sounds nice.

I've never had that.

It didn't bother me at first,

but then it started turning in to this

aching pit.

Just wouldn't go away.

It started affecting my entire life.

It's like, you know that movie Skyfall?

- Adele sang the theme song, so yes.

- There's this part with Judi Dench,

she says that orphans make the greatest agents.

And it's true, 'cause we're constantly

overachieving, looking to fill that hole.

- I'll say.

- You're so goofy.

- You know you love it.

- Do I?

- Uh huh.

So, how did you reclaim your heritage?

- Well, my first Asian boyfriend was Japanese.

He told me to just go to Koreatown and eat.

So that's what I did.

First, I learned the food.

Then the language.

'Cause you gotta know how to order.

Then I started hanging out with Koreans,

'cause we all love the same food.

Being in Koreatown, it's just,

centered me.

There's a magic in this place.

- That's like me in the SGV.

When I'm there, it's like,

I'm eating the food that I was born to eat.

And the Asians who grew up there.

- They're a different race.

- Yes.

They're self confident, well adjusted, and they break dance.

It's like, where's the neuroses and low self esteem?

- You have a quip for everything.

- Well, only when I'm trying to impress someone.

- How are you feeling?

- Like everything's gonna be okay.

I think it's you.

- Aw, shucks.

- You know, I've always fantasized

that one day, when I go on these hookups,

it'll just turn into this fantastic date

that'll last all night.

Granted, we got off to a pretty traumatic start,

but now I'm having a great time.

And I think it's you.

There's just something about you

that makes me feel safe.

Are you married?

I mean, 'cause if it's to a woman, that's kinda hot.

- Not that.

I'm going away for a few weeks.

- That's fine by me.

I'll still be single when you come back.

- Kevin.

I think you're a great guy.

And this in no way reflects on you.

I just don't wanna be in a relationship.

- I never asked to be in a relationship.

- I know.

- Is this 'cause of that pit you're trying to fill?

- Maybe.

I just like to have sex.

No commitments, no attachments.

I've tried open relationships.

They just don't work for me.

I need my freedom.

It's not you.

- Oh, I understand that.

Is this why you wouldn't kiss me?

- No, I don't kiss as a rule.

It's just, it's too intimate.

- You know, some might say that

sticking your penis in someone's ass in intimate, too.

- Yeah, I can't explain that.

But for me, it's different.

- Yeah, well your definition of intimacy is ridiculous.

- It is.

- You've had relationships before.

- Yeah.

I've cheated on all of them.

- Even the Japanese guy that

put you in touch with your heritage?

- Yeah.

- Are you hanging with me out of pity?

- No.

I'm having a great time with you.

I just, I wanted to get that out there.

I wanted to manage your expectations.

- It's 3:00 a.m.

I should get some rest in.

You've got a plane to catch.

- Are you sure?

- Thanks for everything.

I hope you find your parents.

I really do.

- I'll let you know.

- Bye.

Hey Gino.

You hungry?

(upbeat music)

- Do you know the story of Sundae wichtaga?

It's a dish that was actually invented

right here in Koreatown, by a mother of three, in the 1990s.

The dish became so popular

that the Korean tourists actually took it back

to South Korea, and that's what cemented

Sundae wichtaga to get in the pantothenic Korean cuisine.

- So it's the perfect blend of East and West.

Like, Kogi tacos,

and corn cheese.

- And me.

- Well, I was gonna say,

but too bad you're not available.

- You're gonna find someone great, I'm sure of it.

- I don't know.

I've been in LA for three years,

and nothing.

Which is disappointing 'cause I heard

that the gays here actually date Asians.

Turns out, LA gays, not that different.

The other day my coworker said that

Daniel Dae Kim was attractive, for an Asian guy.

- That's fucked up.

- I know.

And then I said that he's attractive for a human being.

And then he backpedaled with,

oh you know what I meant.

I let it go 'cause we were at work,

but now I'm thinking I shouldn't have.

Anyway, I'm preaching to the choir.

You're acutely aware of racism.

That's the real reason why you didn't send a face pic.

Not for privacy.

- They see I'm Asian when they meet me.

- By then, they've already driven 45 minutes to meet you,

so might as well.

There's one thing that beats gay-cism.

It's our contempt for driving across town.

- Is that why you slept with me?

'Cause, might as well?

- It doesn't matter.

We're not on a date.

- Then answer the question.

- You've been bringing me from place to place

to make me feel better.

But in fact, it's to make yourself feel better.

You flirt and you tease,

with no one to do this going any further.

- I'm forming a friendship.

- That's not what this is.

You think it feels good to be sitting across

the table from a man who just fucked you

but doesn't wanna date you.

- Okay, I call bullshit.

You rejected me as soon as you saw my Korean face.

But I get it.

You're a self-loathing Taiwanese American

that isn't attracted to other Asians.

You bitch about other people

not being attracted to Asians,

but you're not attracted to Asians yourself.

- We just had hot sex,

and you're an Asian.

- But the point is, that would've never happened

if you saw my face pic, right?

I used to be like you.

All my boyfriends and girlfriends were white.

Until I met my Japanese boyfriend Chris.

He changed my life.

There's this metamorphosis that happens

when you're having sex, looking into

someone's eyes that look like your own.

Being with him, I knew that

if I could love someone that looked like me,

I could love myself.

- Well, now you know why I wanted to kiss you.

- I have to go soon.

- I know.

- I wish we met under different circumstances.

Like, five years into the future

when I'm ready to settle.

- So, besides finding your parents,

anything else on the agenda in Seoul?

- I wanna check out the gay scene.

For some reason, south Koreans

don't believe that gays exist.

They think it's an exclusively American phenomenon.

But I think it's 'cause they've never

met the north Koreans.

have an identical twin.

Like in the documentary, Twinsters.

And then you have this real life

altered timeline version of yourself

who grew up Korean.

- I don't think I could handle that.

- Just introduce him to me.

I'll take care of the rest.

- Okay.

- Good luck finding your.

(upbeat electronic music)