A Modern Nemo 32

Shoji Kawamura sat in the sauna. It was a long time since he last took a bath this way. But this time, it was also rather awkward; after the birth of Saya Shoji went along with Konstantiniadis, listening to the businessman's rants, with the North Korean following them. Now, the three of them ended up in a sauna. The businessman had invited them to come along and Shoji, eager to listen to more of his ideas, accepted his invitation; the North Korean followed automatically.

So now he was in a room, wearing only a towel. The steam was rising and Konstantiniadis was talking endlessly about building an artificial nation that moved across the sea, protecting the ocean's environment and controlling seaborne commerce.

He sat on a wooden bench, only a few feet away from Konstantiniadis, who was sitting on another bench. The North Korean sat far from them on another bench near the door. As he sat and listened, he became curious about one thing: Konstantiniadis wasn't talking about the people he met or relationships he had.

"Mr. Konstantiniadis," he began, mustering enough courage to bring the topic forth, "have you ever had any relationships outside business?"

Konstantiniadis paused. He toned down somewhat. It was silent in the room. "You know Shoji," he said, moving a little closer to the latter, "I've been blessed with a lot of success. I'm practically married to my job."

"But isn't that lonely?"

Konstantiniadis put an arm on Shoji's shoulder. "I'll be honest with you," he said, "I know you're an honest person so I can trust you. I've never had a girlfriend."

That was a shocking revelation.

"Why?" Shoji asked. "You're one of the richest men in the world. You have the money, the resources" -he glanced at the businessman's large, muscular, frame- "you have the assets. What girl wouldn't fall for you?"

"You see, that's the problem," mumbled Konstantiniadis in a rather embarrassed tone.. "The only thing girls see in me is my money. Never met a great girl in my life. Never had any lasting relationships. Had to turn to hookers because no normal woman would take me for what I am."

"Hookers? Why?"

"Because they're the only ones who can say the right thing at the right time and make you feel like you're on top of the world, even if it's just for a short time."

"You never had any lasting relationships?" Shoji became more intrigued.

Konstnantiniadis nodded. "If you can't please your girl, she'll leave you," he said.

Shoji looked at Konstantinidis from head to foot. What was wrong with a strong, good-looking, man with a herculean build? He wondered.

"But you're better than I am," he said to Konstantiniadis. "You have the wealth, the looks-"

"Wealth, looks, yeah," said Konstantiniadis as he leaned back and put his hands on his lap. "But when you go down there" -he nodded to indicate his lower regions- "that's when you see that nothing's alright."

"What?" exclaimed Shoji, bewildered.

Konstantiniadis looked at Shoji. "What kind of woman would fall for this?" he asked, standing up. He removed his towel to reveal what was underneath.

That was very tiny.

Shoji gaped.

Konstantiniadis put his towel back on and sat down. "Well, I bet you give Chidori the time of her life whenever the two of you feel like it."

"Well," murmured Shoji, "I-"

"Don't just sit there, show me what you got." said Konstantiniadis, gesturing at him.

Shoji sighed, rolled his eyes and stood up. He undid his towel.

"Damn!" Konstantiniadis swore, "that's even bigger than mine!"

Shoji quickly put his towel back on and sat down.

"That's huge!" Konstantiniadis continued.

"Huge?" repeated Shoji. He had been to bathhouses before back in Japan. There wasn't anything unusual about seeing other men naked. "It's normal," he said.

"Normal?" said Konstantiniadis. He began wondering if Shoji was just trying to be modest. He looked around and saw the North Korean gaping at the two of them in shock.

Konstantiniadis was already feeling very insecure. But when he saw the North Korean, some thoughts came to his mind. It was hard living there with famine a common occurrence. The result was too many unhealthy people in very bad shape.

"How about you?" he asked, pointing at the North Korean. "Is that thing you have under there normal?"

Kim Nam-ha swallowed nervously. He stood up and removed his towel.

The next scene comes as we see the three of them outside the sauna. What was revealed was truly frightening.

"Gad, that was huge," said Konstantiniadis in a low voice.

"Yeah," agreed Shoji, "huge."

Kim Nam-ha stood behind them, looking at them nervously.