Chapter 162
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 162
Dokyun sat on the sofa, covering his eyes with his hand as he blankly tried to compose himself.
This is killing me.
He felt sick to his stomach. It was because Eun-chae's drawings were all the kind that could trigger trypophobia, making them difficult to look at for long.
She knew so many types of fish—from crucian carp and common carp to tropical fish, croakers, and even deep-sea fish.
…Right.
Dokyun knew the reason, of course. All the fish Eun-chae was drawing were ones she had seen at the aquarium.
Even now, Eun-chae was still drawing the fish from the aquarium, looking utterly thrilled.
It was nice to see her looking so innocent and carefree, but…
…Aren't we straying from the original goal?
Weren’t they deviating a bit from the original intention of resolving the lingering regrets of the "devoured" personalities? The question arose naturally.
Dokyun's gaze returned to the sketchbook. Thankfully, this time she was drawing a dolphin. Seeing the creature's smooth, bare body, Dokyun felt a sense of peace wash over him.
“A dolphin this time?”
“Yeah, dolphins are pretty.”
As she replied, Eun-chae took out a gray colored pencil and began shading the dolphin's body. A smile returned to Dokyun's lips as he watched her.
Well, as long as she's happy.
With that thought, Dokyun watched her for a long moment before walking over, ruffling her hair, and speaking.
“Want me to make you a snack?”
“Huh?”
“You couldn’t eat much earlier because you felt sick, right?”
A few hours ago, during their meal, Eun-chae had barely touched her meat porridge, leaving most of it behind. Her hangover must have been a bad one.
Remembering that, he’d asked in case she was hungry.
“Sandwich. Lots of meat.”
That was the order she returned.
Dokyun let out a small laugh at her sparkling eyes and nodded.
“Alright, I'll go make it. Just wait here a minute.”
“Okay.”
After replying, Eun-chae's gaze returned to her sketchbook. Her hands moved busily, finishing the coloring on the dolphin.
The way she immediately became absorbed in it again was a picture of pure passion.
Dokyun watched her for another moment before turning and heading to the kitchen.
*
Eun-chae was in the middle of drawing when a sound from the kitchen made her look up.
Beyond the shelves, she could see Dokyun's back as he moved about, busy with his cooking.
Eun-chae watched him, focusing on the sounds.
Thump. Thump. The sound of a knife on the cutting board. Then, Tsssss, the sound of something sizzling in a pan.
The smell of meat wafted over, so he was probably grilling some.
As her heart thumped with excitement at the smell of the meat, she felt a sense of peace watching Dokyun's back as he cooked.
Naturally, her thoughts turned to Dokyun.
Honeybee, who makes me happy and thinks of me even when I'm not here.
Honeybee, who makes me feel warm and tingly inside when he hugs me tight.
Honeybee, who always tells me I'm a good girl, even though I might be a bad girl.
And Honeybee, who made me a happy girl.
A bright smile bloomed on Eun-chae's face as the thoughts surfaced.
Eun-chae rarely smiled, but whenever she had these thoughts, a smile would always appear.
Of course, Dokyun didn't know this.
Because Eun-chae was too shy to show her smiling face, the Eun-chae that Dokyun knew was still a quirky, dazed child.
She watched Dokyun's back for a long, long time before finally looking away and down at her sketchbook.
A blank, white page. Something she wanted to fill it with had appeared.
An urge to create was welling up inside her.
Amidst the fluttering in her heart, she felt another flutter, one that was slightly different from her own.
Eun-chae knew at once. This was the child she had to apologize to.
Feeling the flutter, Eun-chae closed her eyes and spoke to the child in her mind.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry for hurting you, for making you sad, for making it so you couldn't do anything.
Now I finally know how sad it is to be in pain, and how good it is to be happy. I know how wrong it was to take that chance at happiness away from you. I'm sorry this apology is so late.
As Eun-chae finished her thoughts, the child let out a small laugh.
It was a clear, bright laugh.
What followed were the child's words, tinged with laughter.
I want to capture something truly precious in a drawing.
Hearing the voice, Eun-chae asked the child a question.
Okay. What's most precious to you?
Eun-chae listened again for the child's words. And the child answered.
The thing that's most precious to you is the most precious thing to me, too.
After the child finished speaking, Eun-chae continued her thoughts.
The most precious thing.
Eun-chae liked fish. They looked so peaceful swimming back and forth that she could watch them all day and never get tired. And she liked that when she watched them, Honeybee would come over and stroke her hair.
Eun-chae liked meat, too. She liked the juices that came out when she chewed, the full feeling in her tummy after she gulped it down, and the way Honeybee would smile as he watched her.
She liked naps, too. She liked how languid and nice she felt after a nap. And she liked that Honeybee always hugged her tight then.
Eun-chae's head turned toward Dokyun again.
The most precious thing.
The thing I like the most.
If someone were to ask her that, to ask what she liked most of all, Eun-chae could answer without hesitation.
I like Honeybee the best.
Eun-chae's most precious treasure was Honeybee, the one who had made her happy.
Inside Eun-chae, the child smiled.
Then draw that for me.
Eun-chae nodded at the words and picked up her colored pencils.
A black colored pencil raced across the blank white sketchbook.
She drew a round face and long, lanky limbs. Lots of hair, and a smiling face.
She drew a soft, long-sleeved shirt. Eun-chae liked the soft feeling when Dokyun hugged her while wearing long sleeves.
Looking at the finished sketch of Honeybee, she nodded deeply with satisfaction, then her hand started moving again.
Next to Honeybee, she drew herself.
Her hair was tied in a single ponytail, just like Honeybee always did it, and she wore a comfy t-shirt and shorts.
Their hands had to be held tightly together.
Eun-chae drew the Eun-chae in the picture with a wide, beaming smile.
Because she was with Honeybee, the Eun-chae in the picture was happy, too.
Next, Eun-chae took out a green and a blue colored pencil and drew the background.
In a corner of the garden, she drew a round pond and colored the surroundings green. Then, with a red pencil, she drew a carp in the pond.
A pretty carp.
And a delicious-looking carp.
Honeybee had said that pretty fish don't taste good, but Eun-chae still couldn't shake the thought that the carp looked very tasty.
Shhh, shhh. The colored pencil made a comforting sound as it met the sketchbook.
Eun-chae felt her heart thumping as she colored in the picture.
Vibrant colors covered the entire sketchbook.
In the blue sky, she drew a yellow sun. There were white clouds, too.
Behind the pond was a wall. The gray wall was a good place to hide from the hot sun.
In the middle of her drawing, Eun-chae decided the sun was too hot and Honeybee might get warm, so she drew a hat on his head.
And just like that, after drawing so diligently, the sketchbook page was completely full.
All done.
Eun-chae felt a sense of pride welling up inside her.
The picture she had worked so hard on was, even to her own eyes, amazing.
In front of the garden pond, she and Honeybee, holding hands tightly, looked so happy that she felt she could look at it all day and never get tired.
Awe. That was the feeling that filled her.
Just then.
“Eun-chae, it's ready. Come and eat.”
Dokyun's voice rang out.
At his words, Eun-chae looked up toward the kitchen. Dokyun was there, placing sandwiches on a plate.
Her gaze returned to the sketchbook.
In her mind, the child was laughing.
It's pretty.
She heard the words.
The child spoke those words, whispered one more thing to Eun-chae, and then vanished from within her.
Thank you.
Words of gratitude. Eun-chae gave a small nod, got up, and went to the table.
At the table, Honeybee was looking at her with a bright smile.
“Lots of meat. Right?”
“Yeah, meat.”
“Here. Don't eat too much, though. We have to eat dinner later.”
“Okay.”
Eun-chae grabbed a piece of sandwich from the plate and took a big bite.
As she chewed, that happy feeling returned.
“It's yummy.”
“I'm glad.”
Hee hee. Hearing Honeybee's laugh, Eun-chae felt the corners of her mouth twitch again and forced them down.
The thought of smiling felt too embarrassing.
*
Dokyun chuckled as he watched Eun-chae lie down on the sofa and fall asleep right after eating her sandwich. Remembering how intently she had been drawing before coming to the table, he picked up the sketchbook lying in a corner of the living room.
Inside the sketchbook was…
…Is that me?
It was a… very abstract-looking picture.
Dokyun's eyes narrowed.
There were two things that looked like people, and above them was blue, then green, and then some more blue somewhere in there.
Dokyun stared at the drawing for a long time before he finally realized it was him and Eun-chae standing by the pond in the garden.
His gaze shifted to Eun-chae.
Her face was completely relaxed as she breathed softly, radiating an aura of pure contentment.
A small laugh escaped his lips. He looked from the sketchbook to Eun-chae and back again, then had a pretty good idea.
She worked so hard on it. I should hang it up somewhere people can see it.
Dokyun put the sketchbook down and turned, heading for the utility room they were using for storage.
I think there was a picture frame in here…
I wonder if Eun-chae will like it?
*
Eun-chae woke up about an hour later.
She rubbed her eyes, sat up on the sofa, and looked around blankly.
Honeybee.
She whipped her head around and saw Honeybee in the kitchen, making something again.
Feeling a small sense of relief at the sight of him, Eun-chae turned to grab her sketchbook, only to freeze.
On the wall with the fish tank, something new was hanging there.
…The drawing.
Her drawing. It was displayed in a frame, right above the fish tank.
Eun-chae stared at the picture, her mouth falling open in a soft "Heh," then looked over at Dokyun.
She couldn't have done it while she was asleep.
Honeybee did it.
Honeybee must have made it look so nice.
Eun-chae felt her heart start to pound again as she gazed at Dokyun's back.
…Yeah.
Yep. Honeybee was the best.