NTH 9

Jeha, as a university professor, was unusually bombarded with gifts from students. Various chocolates, coffee, caramels, macarons, jellies, candies, vitamin drinks, energy tonics, royal milk tea, Ceylon tea, grain tea, and even a beverage with a pine tree illustration that made it impossible to guess its flavor. Every class, his desk was packed full with an abundance of such snacks.

Since it was prohibited for a professor to accept even a single can of coffee from students, Jeha politely asked them to take their gifts back. However, no matter how much time passed, the situation remained unchanged. To make matters worse, students even started leaving gifts at the department office.

Among them, there were some items Jeha could accept—things with no monetary value. These ranged from a Post-it note with beautiful handwriting that read “Professor Kwon Jeha, fighting!♥” to a one-page letter, a two-page letter, and even a five-page letter, covering quite a broad spectrum.

It seemed too harsh to reject the letters that students had put so much effort into writing, so Jeha reluctantly gathered them up. But by the next class, the number of letters had doubled.

“As soon as I was appointed as a professor, I thoroughly read all 209 pages of the ‘Act on the Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Graft,’ looking up every difficult legal term one by one,” Jeha said.

At his words, the students chuckled lightly.

“I will continue to accept only your heartfelt intentions, as I have done so far. As for letters, I can accept them if you absolutely insist on giving them, but it’s difficult for me to write replies. So, it’s probably better if you don’t write them.”

Disappointment flickered across the faces of the female students who heard this.

“If you want my attention, just focus on attending classes well and studying hard. Solve the quiz assignments diligently too.”

“Professor! Can I ask just one question?” a student called out.

Amid the murmurs of the class, Jeha responded with an expressionless face.

“It’s a baseless rumor. My major is English linguistics, and both my master’s and doctoral degrees are in phonology. I’ve never majored in physical education.”

“But your shoulders, your physique—your overall physical presence is just so different from an ordinary person’s!”

“That’s right! You’re way cooler than the guys in the physical education department, oppa!”

Feeling embarrassed by the pointless banter with the students, Jeha instinctively glanced in Nana’s direction. Nana was watching him with an intrigued expression, as if observing a theatrical performance. It seemed this situation was quite entertaining for her.

“I’m sorry, but please refrain from talking about things unrelated to the class from now on. We will continue with Lecture 3 on morphology, following from the last session.”

After handing out the class materials, Jeha gave the students time to work on them and slowly walked around the lecture hall. Seeing Nana, who had reluctantly accepted the materials and was staring at the worksheet with a pout, Jeha gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

Returning to the podium, Jeha began explaining the answers.

“…For question 3, ‘typewrite’ comes from the noun ‘typewriter,’ which was then back-formed into a verb, so the answer is back formation. For question 4, ‘empty’ originally had only an adjective meaning but came to be used as a verb, so the answer is conversion. For question 5, ‘sub’ is…”

While explaining further, Jeha glanced toward the window and noticed Nana dozing off, nodding her head. The intense early autumn sunlight streaming through the window fell on Nana’s pale face, making her look fragile, as if she might disappear at any moment.

For reasons he couldn’t quite understand, Jeha felt uneasy and anxious seeing her like that.

*

Once the class ended, the students flooded out of the room.

After the few students who stayed behind to ask questions had left, Jeha packed his textbooks and materials into his briefcase and looked toward Nana’s seat. Nana was fast asleep, sprawled across the desk. Jeha briefly considered leaving her there but ultimately shook her shoulder gently.

“Hey, time to get up.”

“Mm…?”

Nana groggily opened her eyes, rubbed her face with her palms, and looked around. When her eyes met Jeha’s, she gave an awkward smile.

“Oh, right. This is a university.”

“What are you even doing here? And how did you know I was teaching here?”

“Curious? Then buy me a coffee or something. I came all this way to see you—don’t tell me you’re going to be so cold as to just tell me to leave.”

Jeha realized he had momentarily forgotten that this was just how Nana was. Compared to the time she stole the coffee he was drinking, this request was actually rather polite.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Jeha led Nana out of the humanities building and across to the student union building. Nana, looking around the campus with curiosity, accidentally bumped shoulders hard with a male student running from the opposite direction.

“Ouch!”

As Nana staggered, nearly falling backward, Jeha quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. The male student who bumped into her looked confused for a moment but then hurriedly ran off without so much as an apology.

Jeha frowned.

“Seriously, if you bump into someone, you should at least apologize…”

Nana rubbed her shoulder with her palm.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“Used to what?”

“Stuff like this. I told you, my presence is kind of faint. Even when I’m right in front of people, it’s like they don’t really notice me.”

“Hmph.”

“That’s why I wanted to see you just one more time.”

“…”

“I know I’m not exactly in a position to say that.”

Nana gave an embarrassed chuckle. Jeha, in a slightly softer tone, asked, “Is that because I remembered your face?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“When we first met, you said you saw me eating chicken at a pub, right?”

“Yeah.”

“While I was eating, I overheard the kids next to me talking about the English department. If the English department had reserved that place that night, I figured you, being there, must be an English professor. You also said you teach English. And since that pub was near the back gate of K University, I assumed it’d be K University.”

“You came all the way here based on that kind of guesswork?”

“It was an ‘if I’m wrong, oh well’ kind of thing. I’ve got nothing but time anyway.”

“How did you know my lecture schedule and classroom?”

“I saw it on a bulletin board outside the English department office. I was shocked when I saw ‘Kwon Jeha’ written there for real.”

“What, did you think I gave you a fake name?”

“It’s possible. Maybe you didn’t want to tell me your real name, or maybe your actual name is something super old-fashioned like ‘Kwon Deuk-chul,’ so you used a different one.”

“As if anything could beat ‘Nana’?”

“That’s true, but still, that’s the only name I’ve got.”

Jeha carefully scanned for anyone else running toward them and led Nana into the café on the first floor of the student union building. As they entered, the café fell momentarily silent, and all eyes turned to Jeha.

“What do you want to drink?”

At Jeha’s question, Nana’s eyes sparkled as she stared intently at the photos of drinks on the menu. It was such a stark contrast to how she had looked at the worksheet in class that Jeha couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

“Can I pick anything?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? Even the most expensive thing here?”

It was a budget-friendly franchise café catering to cash-strapped students, so even the most extravagant menu item was only about six thousand won. Jeha nodded nonchalantly, and Nana, as if reciting a spell, said, “If you were me, would you get the ‘Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurt Parfait’ or the ‘Happy Day Mushroom Potato Panne Soup Bowl’?”

“I’ve never thought about wanting to eat either of those, but if it were me, I’d get both.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like choosing, and I have the money. Why, do you want both?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t tell me you’re starving again today.”

“I am. But I did eat dinner last night.”

“Why are you starving? Did you go to a buffet and ‘stock up’ or something?”

“Yesterday, I just stole a triangle kimbap from a convenience store.”

Jeha’s face twisted in shock, and Nana, avoiding his gaze, tried to explain. “I mean, it was one they were going to throw out anyway. It was basically trash.”

“Is your stomach a garbage can? Why would you put that in your body?”

“What else am I supposed to do when there’s nothing to eat? I’m hungry, so hurry up and order. Both of them.”

As they talked, more and more eyes were on Jeha, and some students even approached to greet him. Whether he liked it or not, he was a celebrity.

In a low, scolding tone, Jeha said, “Fine. But there’s a condition.”

“What?”

“We’re getting it to go. I’ll take you to my office, and you can eat there.”

“Why?”