NTH 10

“There are too many eyes here, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable.”

Nana looked directly at Jeha’s face and nodded as if in agreement.

“Well, if someone who looks like you was around, even I’d want to stare. Alright, hurry up and order. I’ll be nice and go to your office with you, even though it’s a hassle.”

As Jeha pulled out his credit card, he racked his brain, wondering if in his nearly thousand years of life he had ever met someone as brazen as this. No one came to mind.

When Jeha went to the pickup counter to get the food, he couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle.

The soup bowl was packaged and out of sight, but the “Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurt Parfait,” with a name almost too cumbersome to pronounce, looked like a miniature tower. The transparent, venti-sized plastic cup was meticulously layered with bananas, kiwi, mango, whipped cream, juice, and yogurt.

At the top, there was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a slice of cheesecake, and plump, glossy strawberries packed in tightly. Carrying it around would surely draw the attention of every passerby.

“You take this.”

Jeha handed the massive drink cup to Nana, who accepted it with both hands. Holding it, Nana’s small, pale face, brimming with joy, seemed even tinier.

Jeha led Nana out of the café. While Jeha, with his near-190cm height, sturdy build, and striking features, naturally drew attention wherever he went, Nana, despite holding such an eye-catching drink, went unnoticed by those passing by.

“Where’s your office?”

Nana asked, sipping the parfait’s juice through a thick straw. Jeha took a sip of his iced Americano.

“The faculty building. It’s that gray building up ahead.”

“Is it okay to just bring guests in like that? Don’t you share it with others?”

“It’s a private office, so I use it alone.”

“Really? You’re that important?”

Nana’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up at Jeha. Jeha replied seriously, without a smile.

“No. University professors are typically assigned their own offices. They’re small, though.”

“Really? That’s pretty luxurious treatment.”

Jeha wondered if Nana had even graduated high school but couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Upon arriving at the office, Jeha unlocked the door, turned on the light, and switched on the air conditioner. Even though it was September, the heat was still relentless.

The office had a large desk with a sizable swivel chair, a computer and printer, a wardrobe cabinet, built-in wooden bookshelves along the walls, a mini fridge, and an electric kettle for brewing tea. In the center, two three-seater sofas faced each other across a coffee table.

Nana looked around Jeha’s office with curiosity.

“You call this small?”

“Isn’t it? I’ve never thought of it as spacious.”

“It’s way bigger than my entire room and kitchen combined, doubled over! Wow, look at all these books. Are these just for decoration?”

“No way. I’ve read all but a few of them.”

“Seriously? That’s hard to believe.”

Nana pulled out a thick English book and flipped through it casually.

“What were you teaching earlier? I couldn’t understand a single word and ended up dozing off.”

“It was a lecture on the various ways English words are formed.”

“Does learning that make you better at English?”

“No. It’s an academic principle, so even native speakers wouldn’t know it without studying it specifically.”

“Why do you like that stuff? Why would a Korean person major in English and study something this complicated?”

Nana tilted his head, genuinely curious, as he slid the book back into place. Jeha gave a small smile and guided Nana to sit on the sofa in the center.

“Why don’t you eat what you got before the ice cream melts?”

Jeha unpacked the soup bowl, setting it neatly on the table for easy eating, and handed Nana a wet wipe. Nana, as usual, eagerly scooped up the soup and shoveled it into his mouth, his eyes widening.

“It’s delicious! Your university café even cooks well!”

“Eat slowly.”

Jeha sat across from Nana, sipping his Americano while watching him eat. The bruise on Nana’s face had faded slightly, but the yellowish tint mixed in still made it unmistakably the mark of an assault. Fortunately, the cut on his lip had healed cleanly, with the scab gone.

Nana, eating voraciously, suddenly looked up as if remembering something.

“Did you finish writing your paper with that external hard drive I returned to you?”

“I’m working on it. By the way, have you been applying the ointment properly?”

“Uh, yeah, well…”

“What’s with that response?”

“No, I applied it really well. Look, it’s all healed now, right?”

“Healed? Hardly. Be honest. Did you forget to apply it, or were you too lazy?”

Nana glanced at Jeha cautiously, then dipped a banana from the parfait into the whipped cream, shaping it into a round snowball-like blob before popping it into his mouth and chewing.

“I was going to apply it, but it got taken.”

“By who?”

“Some thugs I know.”

“‘Know’? Why would people you know take your ointment?”

Nana shrugged at Jeha’s puzzled question.

“That’s just how they are. They can’t even remember my face properly, but if they see something that looks remotely valuable, they take it. If I resist, they hit me. I shouldn’t have let them find it in the first place, but they rummaged through my backpack.”

“…”

“I’m sorry to you since you went out of your way to buy it.”

“I don’t care about that. But don’t you have any siblings?”

“Nope.”

“Then… what about your parents?”

Jeha asked hesitantly. Nana tore off a piece of the bread bowl, chewing it with a self-deprecating tone.

“If I had parents, do you think my name would be something like Nana?”

“…Sorry.”

“It’s fine, no big deal. You’ve bought me all this food, so ask whatever you’re curious about. My parents? I don’t remember their names or faces. I don’t even know how old I was when they abandoned me.”

“So where have you been living all this time, and how?”

“I just drifted around, got caught by some bad people, ran errands for them, and did some begging. But most people wouldn’t even look at me when I spoke to them, so I didn’t make much.”

“…”

“When I got older, I realized my presence is unusually faint, so I mostly turned to pickpocketing and stealing. I’d sneak into places like jjimjilbangs to sleep.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police or something? There’s got to be orphanages or child protection facilities.”

“I’m not registered in the family registry, so I figured places like that wouldn’t take me.”

“What?”

Jeha looked at him in shock, but Nana’s expression remained calm.

“No family registry. So, no official name either. Even if you killed me right here, you probably wouldn’t go to jail. There’s no trace of me existing anywhere.”

“Don’t say things like that…”

Jeha trailed off, and Nana gave a faint smile.

“Well, even if you killed me, there’d be nothing to gain. Maybe selling me to organ traffickers would make more money.”

“That’s not the point. So you’re saying you’ve been surviving by stealing?”

With an unclear identity, it would be tough to get a proper job like a part-time gig. Nana glanced at Jeha, hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

“I used to, but these days I only steal when Mr. Cheon tells me to.”

“Who’s Mr. Cheon?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? The first and only person who remembered my face. That’s Mr. Cheon.”

Someone who met Nana before Jeha did, the first to remember his face. And, for reasons unclear, someone currently making Nana steal.

Feeling an inexplicable irritation, Jeha said nothing and downed his coffee. Nana added, as if it just occurred to him, “Oh, but now you’re here too, so he’s not the only one anymore.”

“I see.”

“I’ve been thinking for days about what you and Mr. Cheon have in common that makes you two the only ones who remember me, but I couldn’t figure it out. If I had to pick something, maybe it’s that you’re both tall and really bulky?”

“Bulky?”

Nana nodded enthusiastically.

“How do you even get your chest that thick? You and Mr. Cheon, from the side, it’s like this much…”

Spreading his palms wide, Nana suddenly lit up as if remembering something.

“Oh, right. During class, some girl mentioned something about you studying physical education in the UK. Have you been to the UK?”

“Yeah.”

“When did you go? How long were you there?”

“I went when I was five and lived there for 25 years. I came back this January.”