Chapter 388

Chapter 388

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 388: Sansuyu Tree (5)

A warm, homey atmosphere filled the house.

Though not wearing an apron, Lee Shiheon, in his everyday clothes, deftly wraps things up.

“This is edible, right?”

Without even a household electric rice cooker, he had painstakingly made porridge using a pressure cooker.

He considered making thin rice gruel, but prepared it this way to offer some texture to chew.

Having been bedridden for so long, how hungry she must be for food.

-Clatter.

A bowl of porridge was placed before Sansuyu.

Warm porridge, cooled beforehand so it wasn’t hot.

Vegetables that might be divisive were completely excluded.

Even the finely chopped abalone could be swallowed without difficulty; it was food that clearly showed consideration for the eater just by looking at it.

Sansuyu stared intently at the porridge bowl.

Food piled high in a metal basin, somehow evoking old memories.

Past recollections unfolded within Sansuyu’s hazy eyes.

The memory of her mother, secretly cooking porridge in the kitchen late at dawn, away from her father’s eyes.

Whenever she was sick, her mother would always make her porridge.

-Suyu, isn’t Mom an amazing cook? I learned it all from my own mother back in the day, you know?

Sansuyu’s mother, acting innocently while hiding the bandage on her left hand.

The girl, fiddling with her fingers, glanced sideways at Lee Shiheon.

“What’s wrong? Like a puppy needing to poop.”

“……Shiheon, that is…”

“Don’t feel burdened.”

She looked too hesitant.

She seemed to have many questions and also looked hungry.

Lee Shiheon put on the kindest face possible and personally picked up the spoon, offering it to her.

“Is it still hard to move your arm?”

At first, he didn’t even know if she could eat.

He offered a small spoonful with only a few grains of rice.

“…Ahhh~”

Sansuyu, with a complex expression, slowly parted her lips.

“That’s it.”

The porridge entered her mouth.

Subtly salty. She accepted the mushy texture.

Sansuyu’s mouth moved tentatively. The porridge was quite delicious. It seemed he had cooked it quite often.

However, perhaps because her body hadn’t adapted yet.

-Urge.

“…Cough! Cough!”

The porridge going down her throat came back out.

It splattered onto the clothes on her chest. Rice grains scattered on the table, even reaching Shiheon.

“Ah… Shiheon… Sorr-”

“It’s okay.”

Lee Shiheon, casually brushing himself off, scooped up more porridge.

“Usually, when you eat after being sick, your body tenses up, making it hard to swallow. Here, ah.”

“……Mm. Ahhh~”

The spoon filled with porridge entered Sansuyu’s mouth.

A slightly faded crimson tongue came out to meet it, and Lee Shiheon wiped away the white broth that dripped from it with a tissue.

Sansuyu’s right eyelid twitched.

Her half-opened eye trembled, and she clenched her fingers tightly.

She struggled desperately not to vomit.

After carefully rolling the porridge in her mouth and chewing until the substance had completely dissolved into liquid, she swallowed.

Swallowing the porridge with effort, it felt like her sense of taste had returned slightly.

-Rumble, rumble.

Pain flared up again in her organs.

Sansuyu’s complexion turned cold, and she hastily raised both arms.

“…Hold me.”

Lee Shiheon, who had closely observed Sansuyu’s behavior for two weeks, silently embraced her.

“Ugh… Ahht.”

When held in his arms, the pain gradually subsided.

As if by magic, Sansuyu felt reassured during this process.

Because whenever someone was in her arms, it felt as if her body floated lightly, like ascending to the heavens. Sansuyu tightly gripped his hands, which lacked strength, and wrapped her arms around Lee Shiheon’s back.

The man’s back felt slightly cumbersome when hugged with both arms.

Perhaps her large chest was also definitely a factor.

Sansuyu’s thigh moved upwards.

Sometimes, when the pain was severe, her leg would buckle, or her foot would point in an unintended direction.

Lee Shiheon soothed Sansuyu, who grimaced from the pain of her buckling knee.

“It’s okay, calm down. Deep breaths.”

The scent of a person so much like her mother.

Lee Shiheon pressed down firmly on Sansuyu’s thigh, preventing it from rising further.

The skin buried under his fingers trembled violently before stopping shortly after.

“…Haa, haa.”

“Sss… haa.”

Their breaths mingled like spiderwebs.

Dripping sweat clung, and the white t-shirt stuck to her skin, revealing a peach hue.

Sansuyu finally pulled her head away. She glanced askance at Lee Shiheon’s face again.

It was still a gentle face.

“Your body must be surprised because you ate.”

He smiled as if making a joke and picked up the spoon again. Seeing this, Sansuyu could only bow her head in guilt.

Why… was he doing this much for her?

The voice lingering in her mouth ultimately didn’t come out. If she engaged in conversation wrongly and Lee Shiheon were to turn away, she would die.

Sansuyu instinctively understood.

She would have died without Lee Shiheon, and she would die without him in the future as well.

A life she had thought was okay to end.

Truthfully, even now, she didn’t have much lingering attachment.

A life of numbly observing like a doll, as sorrow and depression reached their peak…

Lee Shiheon was always by her side in such times.

Just like her own secretary, who had already died.

“Can you eat the rest?”

Lee Shiheon’s inscrutable attitude was something Sansuyu couldn’t possibly read.

“Yes…”

And yet, the fact that he cared for her.

Somehow, it didn’t feel so bad.

On the day that marked a month.

Around the time the academy entered its second semester. Naturally, Sansuyu and Lee Shiheon did not attend school.

Being treated as heretics, expulsion was likely certain. The academy teachers, presumably, would be badmouthing Shiheon and Sansuyu behind their backs, saying things like the school’s reputation fell because of this incident, or that they admitted the wrong students.

Lee Shiheon’s attitude hadn’t changed.

Sansuyu always lay in bed, spending her nights waiting for Lee Shiheon to return.

He sometimes came back very badly injured.

Yet, the next day, his body would heal, and he would move again. When he said he was going grocery shopping but came back covered in blood, even the emotionless Sansuyu couldn’t help but be shocked.

She got scared.

Scared of losing Lee Shiheon.

Had she ever felt such an emotion in her life?

Sansuyu’s world had always been monochromatic.

Mostly gray. Occasionally black and white.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t see colors.

It was just that the world she saw only conveyed such feelings to her.

She could distinguish them even now.

The blanket was white, the shelf was brown. The porridge she ate daily was a fine white color. Sometimes, black porridge made with sesame seeds appeared.

Since she couldn’t feel emotions. She just perceived everything blandly.

The outside breeze was refreshing. Someone died, so it was very sad. The puppy caught in the rain was pitiful.

Sansuyu had only ever felt such emotions very faintly.

But lately, it seemed like the color was slowly returning.

Funnily enough, the god who looked down on Sansuyu.

Only after her world had shrunk to a single room of about six pyeong, did he begin to gift her with color, little by little.

Nevertheless, no color could be seen outside the window.

Sometimes, she could hear the chattering of middle-aged women outside.

Kyarareu, kyarareu.

What could be so enjoyable? They chatted, ate food, and laughed as if the world was ending.

At such times, Sansuyu would simply wrap her arms around her knees, bury her face there, and wait for Lee Shiheon to come.

“Why… didn’t you just let me die?”

It was something she had said to Lee Shiheon once.

The answer that came back was nothing special.

“Well.”

He avoided the answer.

Sansuyu didn’t have the ability to read his inner thoughts from that.

However, judging from his usual demeanor, she felt like she understood his intentions, just a little bit.

“Now that you’re free from your family, you should live comfortably.”

Words he had said while brushing her hair.

“How does it taste? You used to say this wasn’t good either.”

“…it’s a little-”

“That won’t do.”

He worried and urged her, but his face was full of smiles.

Sansuyu knew that he was looking out for her convenience.

Whether it was financial or health-related, he always took the initiative himself.

Sansuyu knew something else too.

Every dawn, sometimes when their sleeping times overlapped. The sound of sobbing coming from right next to her.

“Sieon?”

Worried, she would get up and pat his chest, and Lee Shiheon would get up as if he had never cried, and start grooming himself.

“Huh? Why? Are you hungry? Shall I make you a meal?”

Nothing was wrong. He asked with a perfectly normal face.

As if he was wearing a mask.

Sansuyu couldn’t forget.

The way he would tremble, saying he didn’t want to kill people or that he was in pain, or as if he was having a seizure, sometimes clutching his chest or stomach as he cried.

For some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Shiheon must be going through a lot.

But, what could she do for him?

Lost in thought, Sansuyu finally realized that there was nothing left for her to do.

She could only wait for Lee Shiheon like this, with her hands clasped together, clenching and unclenching them repeatedly.

Every time Lee Shiheon showed signs of pain, Sansuyu’s questions grew deeper.

Something that had always been there, never ceasing.

But something she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Why, why did he go this far?

-deureureuk.

Sansuyu pressed her lips tightly.

Thankfully, it seemed he wasn’t hurt today.

In Lee Shiheon’s hands, which entered without a single cut, was a shopping basket full of ingredients.

“I’m home.”

“…Sieon.”

“What do you want to eat today?”

Sansuyu opened her arms towards Lee Shiheon, who roughly shook off the sand piled up in his shoes.

Lee Shiheon sat down casually and held Sansuyu in his arms.

His large chest softened as she nestled against him.

“No one came to the house, right?”

“…Yeah. I waited.”

She waited.

Because Sansuyu couldn’t even leave the house.

Even so, Lee Shiheon, who was hearing these words for the first time, widened his eyes.

Sansuyu slowly unbuttoned her clothes as if ticklish. It was because she had asked him for something this morning.

As she unbuttoned and lowered her shirt, her breathtaking chest heaved and popped out.

Since it was difficult for her to even wash herself, he had no choice but to do it himself.

In fact, this process was very familiar to Lee Shiheon.

He had even dealt with her urination before.

“Turn your head.”

He wiped the sweaty shoulder blades and armpits with a wet towel.

If he didn’t do this, her body would feel unpleasant and she would get annoyed.

Since she couldn’t put much strength in her legs, it was hard for her to even stand. There was no way she could shower.

Sansuyu’s skin trembled at Lee Shiheon’s touch, which suppressed any arousal.

After the light act was over, they would eat and then spend time on hobbies.

Actually, there weren’t any real hobbies.

It was just Lee Shiheon talking to Sansuyu, who was lying in bed, or discussing whatever topic came up.

Sansuyu waited for that short time of less than three hours every day.

Just like students eagerly waiting for the end-of-day bell to ring.

“I brought this today.”

Sitting on the bed with a pillow between his waist and the wall, Lee Shiheon brought a low table to the bed.

What he took out was a small laptop.

Sansuyu, who had used the internet a lot, quickly showed interest, and Lee Shiheon sat Sansuyu on his lap.

“Internet…”

Sansuyu’s eyes sparkled for the first time since she came to this room.

Lee Shiheon gently hugged Sansuyu’s stomach, who was wearing pajamas, and moved the mouse.

Sansuyu, who was on top of him, was also looking at the laptop screen.

“Since I’ll be away often, I got you a laptop to use. Shall we watch a drama?”

“Drama?”

Using a different name to log into a website and play a video, a drama of about an hour started playing before long.

Lawyer Mok Yeongmok, a tree.

It was said to be a recent trend where trees directly do the jobs that the Tree People do.

-Don’t talk about trees.

-Hmm… what if it’s a situation where talking about trees is absolutely necessary?

-Do you work at an arboretum? When would a situation where talking about trees be absolutely necessary?

The lines that came out. Sansuyu wasn’t very immersed.

Still, she watched it, forcing herself to pass the time somehow, when she heard a snoring sound from behind her.

“Keueung…”

Lee Shiheon, who had been holding Sansuyu’s soft stomach like clay, closed his eyes and was fast asleep.

Unlike his usual frowning face, today he was sleeping with a very clear expression.

Sansuyu stopped watching the drama and examined his face closely.

A familiar scent. As if to imprint it on herself, Sansuyu hugged him.

-Human hearts are truly difficult.

Like a dog getting on top of a person to sleep.

Using the sound of the drama as a music box, Sansuyu closed her eyes in Lee Shiheon’s embrace.

No one had a nightmare today.