Cold Hands
He had not expected a situation like this.
“This is Eun-ha! He’s my partner.”
“I heard priests basically work in pairs of two… and you’ve already got yourself a partner.”
“From now on, me and Eun-ha are a team!”
Watching Cha I-sol proudly show off his partner to his family, Ji-oh blinked behind the shadow of his hood.
Seeing him like this, the resemblance is unmistakable.
Even though being dragged over so suddenly should have left him flustered, the boy was already smiling with practiced ease. The skill itself was worlds apart, yet that blue hair shot through with a strange teal shimmer stirred Giovanni’s memories.
Iser’s name meant “Milky Way,” didn’t it…?
Because dreams were only dreams, he had forgotten a great deal after waking. Still, the long blue hair alone was enough to call up the mermaid Iser from that dream.
“…….”
“Um… these people are…?”
Perhaps because of Ji-oh’s gaze, Eun-ha spoke up with a look that clearly hoped Cha I-sol would introduce them.
Cha I-sol’s face flashed with an oh, right expression before he beamed and explained.
“You can tell my brother and sister just by looking, right? And even though he’s not family, this is the Ji-oh hyung I told you about last time!”
Cha I-sol pressed for a reaction.
“He’s super handsome, right?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah…”
The sheer boldness left Ji-oh just as awkward. How was anyone supposed to tell whether he was handsome when the hood covered half his face?
That kid doesn’t have some kind of X-ray skill, does he…?
Openly complimented on his looks by a child, Ji-oh could not endure the awkwardness any longer and offered a greeting.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Seo Ji-oh.”
“…I’m Eun-ha.”
Wearing a strangely mature smile that felt out of place, the boy named Eun-ha added shortly,
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you.”
Hmm.
Ji-oh thought absently,
So it was just my imagination after all.
It might have been a hasty judgment, but the Iser Giovanni remembered had been a student who tried hard to be polite and proper, yet still had a certain blank, teasing quality that made him fun to mess with.
He was clumsy in all sorts of ways, so even his speech was much stiffer.
In short, he had been a far cry from anything “mature” or “seasoned.” Compared to that fresh, sunlit young student, the child before him carried a faintly cold air.
Meeting a child who resembles Iser this much so soon after I started synchronizing with Giovanni… you could call that quite a connection.
Besides, the last image of Iser he recalled had been that of someone in their late teens or early twenties, which only made it feel less likely they were the same person.
“Since fate has brought us all together like this, how about we share a meal?”
At Ji-oh’s suggestion, Yu Seong-un nodded.
“Oh, that sounds good. Eun-ha might be one thing, but the Cha family isn’t going to start acting shy around us now. Right?”
“W-well, but that would be imposing too much…”
“I-sol’s going into the dorms soon and won’t be able to come out for a while, right? Better to have a lively table than just me and Ji-oh—two dark-haired guys—sitting around all cozy by ourselves. The atmosphere will be much better.”
As expected of the senior.
I really ought to learn that kind of polish.
The way he naturally drew people into exactly the arrangement he wanted without ever being rude was truly admirable. A textbook example of an adult who knew how to navigate society.
Of course, if Yu Seong-un had known what Ji-oh was thinking, he would have been disgusted enough to die on the spot.
“Eun-ha, is there anything you can’t eat?”
“I don’t really eat meat.”
“Ah, a vegetarian? Come to think of it, there are a lot of vegans among the priests.”
“As long as it’s not red meat, it’s fine.”
“So you’re not the super-strict type, then. Seafood it is.”
Even as he spoke, Yu Seong-un casually studied the boy called Eun-ha.
…Why do I get a weird sense of dissonance?
Behind his easy expression, Yu Seong-un hid a faint suspicion.
As someone who dealt with Children of the Source often, he was unusually sensitive to the presence of things that were not human. If he was feeling that same alien quality now, it was safe to treat it as a problem.
Doesn’t feel like a Child of the Source… so closer to a monster. Probably dangerous after all.
Then again, as a priest candidate, the boy might simply be carrying a god’s alien aura that Yu Seong-un was misreading.
…It’s not unheard of. Especially if someone is heavily favored by a god’s gaze or love, they can radiate dissonance even when there’s nothing wrong with them personally.
The boy’s young appearance also made him extra cautious, so Yu Seong-un decided to swallow his wariness for now. He might simply be suspecting an innocent child.
If things go south, I just need to be able to grab Ji-oh and get out. This piece still has no clear behavioral patterns or rules… I’d rather not give it any major stimuli if I can help it.
As long as it didn’t harm the work he was responsible for, he could ignore whether the boy in front of him was a monster or anything else. In this world, monsters killing humans and humans killing humans were everyday occurrences.
Here, humans were just props. The deaths of a mere thirty people wouldn’t even make the news.
Still, I hope nothing happens. If things get noisy, it’ll just mean more overtime for me.
As if he had never been thinking anything else, Yu Seong-un continued in the same mild tone.
“Anyone here who doesn’t like seafood?”
“…I’ve never tried it, so I don’t really know…”
“Then you can try it this time.”
Cha Ah-ra looked dubious, but Yu Seong-un had expected that and let it slide lightly. It wasn’t inferiority or jealousy—just a pure “how the hell would I know, why even ask?” reaction.
“I know a good hairtail place.”
“Huh? A hairtail restaurant?”
“Even with this many people, the rooms are big enough to take us. How about we head there? I guarantee the food.”
“That’s not the issue… I mean, a hairtail place? Isn’t that insanely expensive…?”
When Cha Ah-ra grew oddly uneasy, her older brother Cha Eun-hyeok showed a similar reaction.
“Is it really all right for third-class citizens like us to go to a place like that?”
“……?”
Ji-oh, who had been listening without much thought, quietly panicked.
…What did I just hear?
Third-class citizens aren’t allowed to eat hairtail?
Even if the class system came back, discriminating against people over what they eat is just… how is that not terrifying?
As someone serious about food, Ji-oh was deeply saddened. The corruption of his homeland left a bitter taste.
If I hadn’t become a portrait, I would’ve been a Gangwon-do citizen—third-class. If I’d been paying rent on Earth, I never would’ve gotten a single piece of hairtail.
Used to a democratic society, Ji-oh was inwardly shocked, but in this era a city hairtail restaurant was a place of considerable status. Exactly the sort of location where third-class citizens, who already faced subtle discrimination in the city, would draw dirty looks.
“I get what you’re worried about…”
Sensing their feelings, Yu Seong-un shrugged.
“It’s all private rooms, and at this hour there won’t be many people. If it bothers you that much we can look elsewhere, but as long as we’re spending money, we might as well all eat something delicious together.”
Yu Seong-un turned to Eun-ha.
“Eun-ha, you okay with hairtail?”
“I’m grateful for anything you treat me to.”
“Appreciate you saying that.”
With even Eun-ha—who was presumed to be a Carnation Eye—agreeing, Cha Ah-ra and Cha Eun-hyeok ended up going along in a daze.
“Is this really okay…?”
“A hairtail restaurant…”
Looking oddly as if they had been scammed, the Cha family followed after Yu Seong-un.
As Ji-oh moved to join the affectionate siblings, he noticed Eun-ha standing a little apart.
“…….”
“…….”
When someone acted like that, it was hard not to notice.
“Eun-ha.”
Quite apart from the resemblance to his old student Iser, as a former teacher Ji-oh disliked the sight of a child keeping his distance as if he had no place here.
Fortunately, the dry-faced Eun-ha brightened at Ji-oh’s call and answered. He also seemed a little flustered.
“Ah, yes.”
“Shall we go together?”
When Giovanni held out one hand, Eun-ha hesitated for a moment before taking it.
…Colder than I expected.
That small hand was remarkably cool for a child whose body was supposed to run hot just from breathing.
“Your body temperature is low.”
“It must be because of my anemia.”
The child smiled with practiced ease—a soft, benevolent smile that naturally came to mind when one thought of the word “priest.”
It might have felt a little strange to use the word “benevolent” for a child like this, yet for some reason Ji-oh found the smile familiar.
It doesn’t suit this student.
Where had he seen this smile before?
While Ji-oh quietly traced his memories, the child—apparently uneasy about the lack of answer—spoke up while pretending to be nonchalant.
“Does my cold hand bother you?”
If it sounded like a question that expected something, that would be a strange thought. Ji-oh answered without much consideration.
“It’s nice and cool.”
“You’re saying that even though it’s winter.”
“I’m someone who runs hot.”
“…….”
After a brief silence for some reason, Eun-ha said,
“Your hand is cold too, Ji-oh-ssi.”
“Ah. Right.”
“Why…?”
“I forgot for a moment.”
“Forgot what?”
“I forgot the fact that I’ve become cold.”
Lately he had been having continuous dreams of “Giovanni’s Life Theater,” so his mind had been too chaotic; he had honestly, completely forgotten.
Even his own body temperature.
When I was Giovanni, I ran hot because I was a priest of the sun…
Neither Seo Ji-oh nor the portrait had particularly high body heat.
I must have sounded weird.
Maybe because his synchronization rate had risen so sharply lately, his words were coming out wrong.
Wondering how to continue the conversation, he looked at the child…
“…….”
“……?”
He saw the small face stiffen.
“Eun-ha?”
“I was just… cold for a second. I was thinking about something else.”
“Would you like to let go of my hand, then?”
“No.”
Eun-ha murmured,
“…If I keep holding it, maybe it’ll warm up.”
“That’s true as well.”
“…….”
“I’m glad you don’t mind.”
For some reason the atmosphere felt chilly, yet as far as Ji-oh could tell, the child’s nature itself was kind and gentle.
Kids like this need to be fed until they’re nice and plump.
Having inherited the firm creed of his grandmother, who had been the village’s big-handed feeder, Seo Ji-oh thought,
Become a pig… zap.
Seo Ji-oh was the type whose life satisfaction only rose when he fattened up every skinny man, woman, and child he met.
They had had a conversation like that once.
“Iser, your hands are cold.”
“It’s probably… because I’m a mermaid.”
“Different races naturally have different body temperatures.”
“Does my cold hand bother you?”
Humans scorned a mermaid’s cold hands as belonging to monsters of the water.
Giovanni was human, and Iser was a mermaid. More than that, Giovanni—always warm under the sun’s protection—might have felt aversion toward Iser’s damp, cool hands.
But Giovanni only laughed as if the idea were absurd. He casually dismissed Iser’s worry.
“I rather like how cool they are.”
“…It’s winter right now.”
“I run hot, so it doesn’t matter.”
“…….”
“Yes. It’s nice.”
Even someone who ran hot still disliked the cold of winter. What human wouldn’t?
No matter how he thought about it, it had to be a lie told out of consideration for the young mermaid, and yet…
“…Teacher’s hands are warm.”
He would end up taking that hand full of warmth for no particular reason.
“Is even a high body temperature like this because of the Sun God’s blessing?”
“It could be. I was born on a summer day when the sun’s blessing was at its fullest.”
“I mustn’t make Teacher’s hands cold because of me.”
He would greedily hold on, yet always felt sorry, as if he were stealing that warmth away.
“…I…”
Sometimes Iser was seized by the feeling that he was taking things that belonged to Giovanni.
If he, a mermaid, had not insisted on their bond, Giovanni would never have had to treat people with such anxiety, nor would someone of his splendid skill have been trapped in a tiny village like this.
“…….”
And so, whenever even a single scrap of that warmth felt too much to take, Ji-oh would say,
“I will always have more than enough warmth to share with you, Iser.”
“…Isn’t that too harsh a thing to say to a creature of the sun like you?”
“I only meant you don’t need to feel sorry just for holding hands. Iser, you sometimes act far too timid. You can be more confident.”
“But I am a mermaid, Teacher. The more I learn, the more I doubt whether humans and mermaids can ever become one.”
“And yet here we are, talking together in the same place just like this, aren’t we?”
He had always been warm.
“As long as I have not become a corpse, you may always take my hand.”
“…Is it not allowed to hold a corpse’s hand?”
“The dead must be sent off. That is how I, too, go to the sun’s side.”
“…….”
“That is nature, and that is the proper order of things.”
The foolish mermaid did not know it then, but those warm words of yours had been wrong.
Even those hands so full of warmth grew that cold once they drowned in seawater. You must never have returned to the sun’s side even after death.
Otherwise they could never have been so cold. Your corpse could never have been that cold.
“…I already feel sad…”
And yet.
In the end, that was exactly what happened.
…Why does he make me think of that person so much?
Iser looked at the black cloak seated beside him and thought.
And for someone like that, why is the sun’s aura so strong?
Seeing him up close only made it clearer.
This was not merely a strong human; he carried the divinity of the sun itself—the vast qualification that only a god could hold.
He seems to understand humans well, so he might have inherited divinity while still human.
If that were the case, Iser would hate this black-cloaked man.
“…….”
“Have you lost your appetite?”
Bearing that beloved name, Ji-oh, and the same warmth as his teacher… and of all things, a god of the sun.
Is this some scheme of the Sun God?
Through the long, wretched years, Iser too had learned a great deal about humans, gods, and the world.
Perhaps Earth’s Sun God, wary of mermaids and the deep sea, orchestrated this.
Committing the outrage of bestowing the sun’s power upon a human who resembled that person so terribly.
…Still disgusting.
Gods and humans alike, the sun’s lot had always made him want to vomit.
“…It’s just… this is my first time in a restaurant like this…”
“I see.”
“…….”
“Take your time.”
The black cloak’s voice was calm and kind.
How strange.
At times it was as low as a quiet corpse, yet whenever he looked at Iser he poured kindness into a gentle cadence.
I want to know his exact nature.
Whether god or human, his manner was unlike those cruel races.
“…Thank you.”
Even as he offered the courtesy, Iser felt a hypocritical unease—a tiny anxiety that faintly tickled the tips of his toes.
Soon Unni will call the sea.
Even that blazing sun loses its vitality once it sinks into the sea. Iser had confirmed it many times already; this one would be no exception.
Could these hands grow even colder than they were now?
“…….”
That… would be a little sad.
It was an emotion he had not felt in quite a long time.
When they returned to the temple, the blue-haired Eun-ha caught hold of Ji-oh.
“Ji-oh-ssi.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“…….”
The hesitant child asked,
“…Do you like the sea?”
“I like water well enough.”
“Are you a good swimmer?”
“Actually, I’m rather bad at it.”
“…….”
As if recalling something, or sunk in thought, the child was silent for a while before finally speaking.
“I hope it doesn’t get too cold.”
“People have been saying this winter is especially harsh, yes.”
“…….”
“Thank you for worrying.”
Ji-oh realized that what the child was worrying about was not him, but the child himself. Rather than worrying about Ji-oh as a person, he seemed anxious that some situation he hated might arise.
He was a child whose thoughts ran too deep, twisted in places.
Living like that must make life exhausting. Being mature isn’t always a good thing after all.
For Ji-oh, who could wipe away a whole month’s worries with a single roasted sweet potato, it was an unimaginable form of self-torture.
“It looks like the main ceremony is about to begin.”
“…You’re right. I should go now.”
The child added, as if saying goodbye,
“I had fun.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Ji-oh could tell it was a lie.
…Truly, Hell Joseon…
Even the children were no pushovers.
In a world like this, a half-baked guy like me who only knows how to enjoy a good meal doesn’t stand a chance of surviving.
Today, once again, the haunted portrait was diligently shrinking into himself.
(To be continued)