NTH 15

On a clear, cloudless autumn day, the College of Humanities held its annual sports festival. Wanting to cheer on the English department students, Jeha, along with his colleague Professor Min, bought a bunch of refreshing drinks and headed to the main athletic field.

While being greeted with ear-splitting enthusiasm by the students, Jeha caught sight of someone crouched in the back row of the stands and, once again, doubted his own eyes.

Wearing the same black T-shirt, jeans, and black baseball cap as always, Nana was hunched over, face practically buried in his knees, eating something ravenously. In his hand was a boxed lunch ordered in bulk by the student council, which he had likely slipped in among the students to grab.

Wondering how long it had been since Nana last ate, Jeha felt a lump rise in his throat.

“You’ll get indigestion eating like that,” Jeha said in a low voice, holding out a plastic bottle of water and a can of sports drink.

Nana glanced up at him, showing no surprise, and calmly took the drinks. “You’re here? I had a feeling you might be, so I came to your department on purpose, and look, I actually found you.”

Jeha took a seat beside Nana. The students sitting closely together on the tiered stands began glancing at them and whispering. By the time they left for home that day, they’d likely forget Nana’s face anyway.

“How did you know they’d be handing out boxed lunches on sports festival day?”

“You pick things up wandering around. Today was just a lucky coincidence, though.”

“…I see. What have you been up to in the meantime?”

Nana gulped down the sports drink and let out a light sigh, as if finally feeling alive. “I looked for part-time jobs.”

“Find anything worthwhile?”

“No. Since I can’t prove my identity, the only places that’ll take me are deep-sea fishing boats or spots that hire illegal immigrants.”

“…”

“Mr. Cheon said if I don’t find a decent job by the end of this month, he’ll make me work at his office. I really don’t want to go there. Seeing him occasionally is scary enough, but the thought of seeing him every day makes it hard to breathe.”

Nana forced a piece of katsu, too big for his mouth, and chewed it slowly. Jeha, staring at the sauce smudged on Nana’s lips, quietly handed him a napkin.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You didn’t end up selling Mr. Cheon’s watch, right? Those stolen goods dealers turned you over to him right away.”

“Yeah. The watch went right back to his wrist that same day.”

“So that means there’s no debt or obligation between you and Mr. Cheon, right? Then why do you have to steal for him or work for him if you can’t find a job?”

“He’s probably just messing with me. Thugs don’t usually need a logical reason to harass someone, do they? I got on Mr. Cheon’s radar because of that incident, and since he’s the kind of guy who remembers my face—unlike everyone else—it’s hard to just run away. Especially after seeing that guy with the severed fingers in his office.”

“So how long do you have to live like that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it. I’m so busy just surviving each day when I wake up that I don’t think about the future. And, strictly speaking, it’s not like I’m completely free of debt to Mr. Cheon.”

“What? Don’t tell me you took out a loan from him?”

“No way. With loan shark interest rates? I’d never be able to pay it back, even if they took all my organs.”

“Then what kind of debt?”

“Curious?”

“Well, a little.”

Having stuffed the last of the rice and side dishes into his mouth and savored them, Nana put on a dramatic expression. “Remember that parfait you bought me at the school café before?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“If you buy me one more, I’ll tell you everything you’re curious about.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit too shameless?”

“Think of it as helping a less fortunate neighbor. You’re a professor, so you’ve got to set an example for society, right?”

In all his thousand-plus years of life, Jeha had never once been played for a fool, so he was constantly left speechless by this scrawny, pale guy’s audacity. But since it was just a matter of a seven-thousand-won dessert, he decided to indulge him one more time.

*

At the café on the first floor of the student union building, Nana, now holding the same massive parfait as last time, wore an expression of pure bliss as he naturally headed toward Jeha’s office.

“I’ve got a great sense of direction. I could find your office on my own,” Nana boasted, taking a big bite of the ice cream atop the parfait.

The sight of white vanilla ice cream smeared on his red, sharply defined lips somehow caught Jeha’s attention. He forced himself to look away.

“You must like sweet things.”

“I’d eat them all the time if I could. Is there anyone who doesn’t like sweets?”

“I don’t go out of my way to eat them.”

“Then you like bitter stuff? Is that why you always add extra shots to your coffee?”

“Just with coffee. I like it strong.”

Nana, delighted to have scored the parfait, kept humming a tune. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this every single day.”

“…”

“It was the first time I ever ate something this delicious.”

Hearing that, Jeha suddenly thought of the signature afternoon tea set at a certain hotel lounge. If Nana was this obsessed with a cheap franchise café parfait, he wondered what kind of reaction he’d have to a proper dessert.

When they reached the office, Nana sprawled comfortably on the sofa as if it were his own home. Seeing him leisurely scoop up the parfait under the cool breeze of the ceiling air conditioner, a faint smile crept onto Jeha’s face.

“Before we get to the debt you owe Mr. Cheon, I’ve got one more question.”

Nana, sitting across from Jeha, squinted sleepily. “What?”

“You don’t have, like, alopecia or something, do you?”

“What? Out of nowhere?”

“If not, why do you wear that cap like your life depends on it? And don’t tell me that’s your only outfit. Every time I see you, you’re in the same clothes, so I’m wondering if it’s really just a coincidence.”

“Oh.”

Nana scooped a strawberry with the spoon attached to the straw, popped it into his mouth, and chewed slowly. Jeha had to watch him eat while waiting for an answer. There was something about the way Nana ate—Jeha had to admit it was oddly captivating in a way that made him impatient.

After leisurely sipping the juice through the straw, Nana finally spoke. “The cap’s because my face hurts if I’m in the sun too long.”

“Your face hurts?”

“Yeah. Other people get tanned and turn brown in the sun, right? But I don’t tan—I just turn red and burn. It’s been like that since I was a kid, especially bad in the summer.”

“I see.”

“When I burn like that, it’s like a real burn. The heat lingers, and it stings and hurts for a long time. I get dizzy too. So in seasons with strong sunlight, I always wear a cap.”

“What about indoors?”

“Indoors, it doesn’t matter. Why? Curious about what I look like without it?”

“Not exactly, it’s just that I’ve only ever seen you with it on.”

Jeha tried to sound nonchalant, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Nana grabbed the brim of his cap and muttered, “My hair’s probably all flattened.”

He whipped off the cap, set it down, and ruffled his bangs side to side with his fingers. Then, with a shameless grin, he said, “There. Don’t I look super handsome without the cap? If you fall for me, I’ll let it slide just for you.”

Jeha couldn’t tear his eyes away from Nana’s pale face. The faces of those from his past lives—people he couldn’t save, whose lives ended in misery and poverty—flashed across Nana’s bare face one by one.

Jeha’s heart raced. His blood boiled. A torrent of indescribable emotions churned in his gut, and without realizing it, he clenched his fists tightly.

“Hey, what’s with that look? I was just kidding. Are you, like, homophobic or something?” Nana said, his smile fading into embarrassment.

Jeha quickly shook his head, relaxing his tense expression. “No, it’s not that. I just thought… with a face like that, living in this harsh world, wearing a cap every day is probably a smart move.”

Nana’s face lit up. He placed both hands under his chin, spreading them like petals, and teased playfully, “Ooh, does that mean I’m that pretty?”

“Yeah.”

Nana, caught off guard by Jeha’s matter-of-fact response, quickly dropped his hands. “W-what?”

“I’m saying you’re right—you’re pretty.”

Nana immediately pouted at Jeha’s deadpan remark. “Man, you must be great at picking up girls. With that face and the way you talk, what girl wouldn’t fall for you? But if you ever feel like hitting on me, skip the cheesy lines and just buy me food. Or give me money.”