Young Gun
by Harry Chung

Young Gun. Yeah. My real name. In Korean, Young means long or forever, and Gun means healthy.

In English, Young Gun means cowboy. Cowboy, I like that. It is rare or even impossible to get a cowboy name from parents.

I imagine being a cowboy, especially a desperado wearing a red bandana with a little bit of dirt on it and a neatly creased cowboy hat. A white one.

Sometimes my friends who have seen the movie Young Gun make fun of me by shooting me with their finger guns. I don’t feel bad because maybe they envy my name. It’s not common, not like John, Paul, or David.

When I was a child, I tried to change my name to Chulsoo, or Chul-e, which is a common name that appeared in 1970’s Korean textbooks. But now, I accept my name. Nobody’s going to answer if someone says Young Gun. Someday, I will recognize the importance of my name.