Scarlet Ink
8:00 PM.
Before I knew it, the sky had gone pitch black.
In contrast, the streets of Hongdae grew livelier as the night deepened. The sky was dark, but at ground level it was bright as midday. Maybe because it was the weekend, the crowds just kept swelling.
I found a decent cafe with Han Saebyeok and we stepped inside. Standing at the counter, Han Saebyeok asked—
"What do you want to drink?"
"Ah, I'll pay. You bought me clothes the other day too...."
Something I'd found out after the fact. I'd assumed Bam Nuna had paid for everything, but apparently Saebyeok... Nuna had covered a few pieces herself.
At my words, Saebyeok Nuna furrowed her brow.
"You heard that from Bam?"
"Yeah."
"Tch. Forget it, just tell me what you want. I'm the one who dragged you out here."
"Then I'll have an iced Americano. Decaf."
"Same here, then. Two iced decaf Americanos. Want any dessert?"
"I'm good. I'm on a diet."
I was far from fat now, but I definitely didn't have a six-pack yet. I still had to drop over 10kg to hit my goal.
At that, Nuna snickered.
"You're working hard. Well, clothes do hang better on the lean side."
Being in Fashion Design, I guess her first concern is always how clothes drape. I stared curiously at Han Saebyeok's back as she walked toward an empty table.
'So she can hold a long conversation after all. I mean, it's only natural, but....'
She was normally a person of so few words that this side of her felt unfamiliar. The conversations we'd had over the past three days probably outnumbered every exchange we'd ever had since I joined the club.
Once we sat down, Saebyeok Nuna spoke.
"I'll ask again. Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?"
"......."
I looked at Nuna with an awkward expression, then shook my head.
"No, never thought about it. I'm kind of put off by them...."
"You're worried it'll hurt? It does hurt a bit, but...."
"No. It's not that. It's just... tattoos have a kind of negative connotation for me."
She seemed to have misunderstood me. I needed to be clear.
"Sorry to say this to you, Nuna, but... they carry a certain image, you know? Honestly, I've always thought of tattoos as something thugs or gangsters get. Ah, I'm not saying Nuna is like that, of course."
Having to say this right in front of a tattoo artist made me weirdly self-conscious. But I couldn't help my prejudice against tattoos. I know it's an outdated way of thinking, but if I'm being honest, I don't understand the psychology of etching an indelible image onto your own body.
But Saebyeok Nuna seemed to take issue with something else entirely. She spoke with a frown.
"There's a lot I want to say... but first, could you call it a tattoo instead of munshin?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
Aren't munshin and tattoo the same thing? Just a difference of Hanja versus English, wasn't it?
As if guessing my thoughts, Nuna added in a firm tone.
"The nuance is different."
"Nuance?"
"Munshin has that feel of organized crime thugs or criminals branding themselves out of a sense of belonging. A tattoo's purpose is art, fashion, or a medical procedure."
"Yeah...."
Honestly, it didn't really click for me, but since she said so, I gave a half-hearted nod. Art and fashion, fine—but calling tattooing a medical procedure was a first.
Just then, the buzzer vibrated.
Before I could even stand, Saebyeok Nuna grabbed it.
"I'll go get it."
And with that, she strode off to get the coffee.
I scratched my head, feeling awkward. She was so different today. The strangely attentive kindness, and holding a long conversation like this.
Anyway, no matter how much I thought about it, I didn't think I'd ever feel like getting a munshin—no, a tattoo. How was I going to get out of this?
*
Saebyeok Nuna returned, and a brief silence followed.
I just gulped down my coffee in the awkward atmosphere.
Soon, Nuna let out a sigh and spoke.
"I'm not good at beating around the bush. So I'll be direct."
"?"
I gave a small nod.
Saebyeok Nuna raised a finger, pointed at my neck, and said—
"You've got a scar there, right? Under the cover sheet."
I flinched.
Reflexively, I covered the nape of my neck. Then, after a very brief hesitation, I nodded.
"...Yeah."
"Just as I thought. That thing must be a hassle to wear—thanks for being honest."
"Well... it'd be a bit hard to deny it now."
I replied with an awkward laugh.
It did make me uncomfortable being asked about it, but I'd already shown it in comic form during the club meeting. Of course, I never said the comic was about my past, and I hadn't drawn that scene in detail—but it was enough for people to guess. All the club members probably knew.
The questions kept coming.
"Not even surgery could erase it?"
"...I didn't have surgery. Missed the window. When I looked into it, they said even surgery wouldn't fully erase it."
"Hmm. Sounds worse than I thought. How far does the scar go? Just a little on your neck?"
Saebyeok Nuna was neither surprised nor sympathetic. She just asked in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.
Paradoxically, that casual attitude calmed me down. When she acted like it was no big deal, I stopped overreacting too.
"It runs long—from the base of my neck down past my collarbone."
"...That's a pretty large area. Is it multiple scars?"
I furrowed my brow slightly. Not overreacting didn't mean it was a topic I wanted to drag out.
"But why are you suddenly asking? Does this have to do with the tattoo thing?"
Had my tone come out a bit irritated?
Saebyeok Nuna looked at my expression and nodded.
"That's right. Sorry if I upset you."
"Ah, no. It's not that—I was just curious."
"Glad to hear it, then."
With that, Nuna stopped asking and started explaining in earnest.
"Truth is, it's been on my mind since the first time I saw you. Since you walk around with a cover sheet on."
"...Since the first time? You mean when I joined the club?"
"No. When you came to pick up Areum."
"It was pitch dark then, and you noticed that?"
She's got sharp eyes. It was an alley with barely any light.
"Anyway, if you go to the trouble of covering it, that means you're self-conscious about it too. Must be a hassle to put on every time."
"Well, yeah...."
No point complaining about it. Putting it on and taking it off every single time was a massive pain. On top of that, whenever I was intimate with a woman, I was always anxious—would she ask about the cover sheet? And if she did, what the hell would I say?
Of course, I'd told Areum and Hana directly... but even so, the truth was I was still reluctant to show it openly.
Saebyeok Nuna took a sip of her coffee and spoke carefully.
"That's exactly why I was asking if you'd ever thought about getting a tattoo. I thought a cover-up might work."
"A cover-up?"
"Tattooing over an existing tattoo or scar is called a cover-up."
"Ah......."
That was the moment I understood what she'd said earlier—about medical procedure being one of a tattoo's purposes.
'My aversion was so strong I never even thought of it. So a tattoo could actually cover it up.......'
Covering a wound with a tattoo. Such a simple idea, but my revulsion toward munshin had been so deep I hadn't even considered it.
"Wanna see this?"
Suddenly, Saebyeok Nuna pulled her top to the side. Her pale collarbone and part of her shoulder were exposed.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"This—it's a cover-up."
"...Huh?"
"I have a scar too. Probably... worse than yours. I covered it up with a tattoo."
My eyes went wide. That thorn vine tattoo was a cover-up over a scar? I'd had no idea there was a scar underneath.
I stared openly at Saebyeok Nuna's shoulder before snapping back to my senses. It wasn't just me—a few other people in the cafe were looking at her too.
"Ah, I get it. You can cover up now."
"What's the big deal about showing a shoulder? I was walking around in a one-shoulder top the other day."
"The vibe is different."
"...Seriously."
For some reason, Nuna looked at me like I was the ridiculous one. Why was she the one who was baffled?
*
My plan to head home early was completely ruined. After leaving the cafe, I was now following Saebyeok Nuna.
"How far are we going?"
"Just a bit further."
Our current destination was the tattoo studio where Saebyeok Nuna worked. Not to get a tattoo on my body, of course, but to observe.
'They specialize in scar cover-ups, she said......?'
I'd always thought of a munshin as something done purely for style or showing off. But according to Saebyeok Nuna, the place she worked specialized in cover-ups—tattoos for concealing scars.
The tattoo studio was in a relatively secluded spot. These days you see them all over main streets, so why had they set up shop in a place like this? It was eerily out of the way.
[Tattoo Studio -Scarlet Ink-]
A sign written in crimson letters came into view.
"Scarlet Ink?"
Red lettering, true to its name, I supposed.
I was about to let it pass at that when Saebyeok Nuna smiled—a gentle smile I'd never once seen before—and said—
"It means to let go of your scars. The color red also signifies vitality and rebirth."
"Oh... it's got a lot of meaning. Fitting that they specialize in scar cover-ups, too."
"Right?"
I was seeing so many unexpected sides of her today. Who knew this Nuna was capable of smiling so softly.