Trash Can Guide by Daldare

17

note: not my best translation and quite a short chapter (not my fault tho - its the book). I apologize, enjoy

17. negation (note: "the contradiction or denial of something", "the absence or opposite of something actual or positive" – 'evil is not merely the negation of goodness')

Nabin was standing on a cloud. It didn't make sense, but it was true. The fluffy space beneath his bare feet resembled fresh, white, puffy cotton.

"....Where am I?"

He looked around with a strange feeling, but all he could see was an endless expanse of pure white clouds. Everything else was a blue, like the sky on a clear autumn day.

He knew it wasn't real, but strangely enough, he didn't feel scared. Maybe it was because it was so bright, no darkness surrounded him, that made him feel calm.

No amount of walking would change the scenery he was standing in. It was an odd feeling of certainty. Nabin crouched down on the floor and buried his head in his lap, killing time.

'......Nabin.'

He pressed his fingers into the ground, knowing that this being a dream, he would wake up soon. He heard the voice of someone he missed and hoped to see again, even in death.

"...Dad?"

Nabin slowly turned his head towards the direction the voice had come from. Sure enough, there he was. Lying in the space where only moments ago there had been nothing but vast clouds.

He looked the same as he had in Nabin's childhood memories. After his death, his mother had gotten rid of all his photographs, not being able to bear to look at him.

As time went on, the image of his father blurred in his memory, and sometimes he worried he couldn't recognise his face. But when Nabin saw him, he knew him instantly.

He had pulled Nabin into his arms and stayed with him in the moment of his death. He was dressed in the same clothes he had worn the day of the tragedy.

"Dad!

Nabin ran towards him. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, but his legs felt more alive than ever, as he ran, his toes pounding against the soft ground.

After his father's death, Nabin had met him in a dream.

He had just been rescued by the Centre after being lured by Kim Min-soo into an illegal guiding business.

Nabin had reverted to his childhood self, running towards his father. It was as if he had been sucked back into the time when the tragedy happened, as if he was still there.

But now, even as the distance between him and his dad grew smaller and smaller, he remained the same as a young adult.

"....My son, you've grown up a lot."

Nabin's dad hugged him tightly in his arms as he ran towards him. Even though he was all grown up, he was still a child in his eyes. He hadn't been around to see his child grow up, after all.

Holding Nabin in his arms the day he came into the world was one of the happiest memories he could remember. He felt like touching the most precious creature in the world, with red, shrivelled skin and eyes that couldn't even open properly.

He remembered holding him in his arms and panicking that he was so light, he could barely feel his weight and worried that he would break if he exerted any force.

He remembered him moving its tiny mouth to babble, and embarrassingly tearing up. He had pressed his lips to his suffering wife's forehead, cradled Nabin in his arms, and sobbed.