Chapter 8
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8
Bubble, bubble.
The pot was boiling. She was making porridge with white rice and water. He must have been starving all day, so she figured food that was easy on the stomach would be best. She felt a sense of satisfaction, thinking how considerate she was.
“Hehe…”
She’d had a nightmare and woken up in a foul mood, but the moment she remembered that the first thing she saw was his smile, all the unpleasant feelings seemed to melt away.
Finally, her life was filled with happiness. From now on, she would live a life overflowing with joy, like the endless sea. No matter how sad or desperate the dreams she thrashed in were, when she returned to reality, he would be there, smiling as he welcomed her.
“Huuuh~”
A hum escaped her lips. When she woke up, the warmth of the man protecting her would be there. If she poked his cheek, he would wake up, look at her with sleepy eyes, and smile.
They would laze about, basking in each other’s warmth, and have a late breakfast when they finally felt hungry. Then they would sit on the sofa, leaning against each other to digest their meal. Once the sun was fully up, a cup of coffee with dessert would clear their minds.
When she wrote with that clear mind, he would read it and give her a happy smile. He would tell her which parts he liked, which parts were sad, and he would recognize how hard she had worked, stroking her hair and praising her.
Praise…
A shiver ran down her spine. She recalled the warm, passionate confessions he had written for her in the past.
[Deep Sea Honeybee: This is so good!! Keep up the great work!!]
[Deep Sea Honeybee: Heueung… Hera-nunna…]
[Deep Sea Honeybee: Is Goni a god? Is Goni a god? Is Goni a god? Is Goni a god?]
[Deep Sea Honeybee: I love you, Goni. I love you, Goni. I love you, Goni. I love you, Goni. I love you, Goni.]
[Deep Sea Honeybee: Hah… Author-nim, you’re infuriating. Where’s the next chapter? Where is it?]
[Deep Sea Honeybee: Sigh… I want to tie you up and force you to write… If you’re going to make me wait like this, at least don’t make it so good!!!]
“Uhehe…”
Looking back on those times, a giddy laugh escaped her lips. Now, she didn’t have to wait for him to leave comments. He would stay by her side, his heart full of the words that would fulfill her.
After reading her manuscript, he would hug her and gaze into her eyes. His touch would be delicate as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a ticklish warmth spreading through her heart. And then, their faces would draw closer and closer.
A ki… a kii…
Whoosh-!
All at once, her face flushed beet-red. Her head, hot with feverish thoughts, began to throb.
“Th-the pot is so hot~”
Embarrassed, she muttered nonsense to herself.
I-I’m not the bad one…
The pot was the bad one. It was spewing heat at her face, making her body flush.
Bad pot.
She glared at the furiously boiling pot. Aiming the ladle in her hand at it, she issued a warning.
“I-if you do this again… I-I’m going to punish you…!”
The pot had surely gotten the message. She was an adult who stated her opinions clearly, so this was a piece of cake.
Huh?
“B-but… that porridge is hot…”
She let out a small groan as she pondered the problem. Soon, she found a perfectly acceptable solution.
“I-I’m an adult who can e-eat hot porridge…!”
A much more amazing person. At that thought, a sense of pride swelled deep in her chest.
“Hmph~”
She hummed again. As she stirred with a joyful heart, the cooking was finished before she knew it. She ladled a moderate amount of porridge into a bowl, placed it on a tray with a few salty side dishes to cut the blandness, and started walking.
“Q-quickly… he must be hungry…”
Making someone wait for a long time was what a bad person would do. The thought made her steps quicken.
*
Click.
Eun-ah opened the door and came in. Dokyun’s head turned toward the sound, outside his field of vision. He was squirming and grunting when she finally entered his line of sight. She looked at him and spoke.
“S-sorry for making you wait…”
“It’s okay. I didn’t wait long.”
Dokyun looked at the tray Eun-ah was carrying. Since he was lying on the bed looking up at her, he could only see the bottom of the tray.
That’s… edible for a human, right?
Her behavior so far had made him wonder, ‘Is a woman like that even capable of normal cooking?’
He recalled the sounds he’d heard from outside. Logically, there couldn’t be anyone else in this space, yet he had heard her muttering something. It had sounded like the cackling of a witch stirring a poison, filling him with dread.
Please… as long as it’s not something like mealworm soup!
Did his desperate plea reach the heavens? On the tray resting on Eun-ah’s lap as she sat on the edge of the bed, he saw what looked like perfectly normal porridge. As Dokyun breathed an internal sigh of relief, Eun-ah spoke.
“Um… you haven’t eaten anything t-today, so… p-porridge…”
“Ah, I’ll eat well. Thank you.”
Dokyun put on his kindest-looking smile and thanked her. Of course, his inner thoughts were screaming the exact opposite.
Because you fucking starved me!
With the tray still on her lap, Eun-ah leaned over, untied the rope around Dokyun’s waist, and helped him sit up. Dokyun, who had let her move him without resistance, swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and continued speaking with a smile fixed on his face.
“Um… Eun-ah-ssi?”
“Yeees…”
Seeing her bright, innocent smile made his stomach churn, but Dokyun repeated his mantra internally and continued in a gentle tone.
“I need to eat now… so don’t you think you could untie my hands…”
“N-no, I can’t…”
A firm refusal. But for Dokyun, increasing his physical freedom was the most critical issue to be resolved in this situation. He had no choice but to risk it and ask one more time.
“Th-then how am I supposed to eat…”
Contrary to his resolve, his voice trailed off. He didn’t want to get hit again. In response to his question, Eun-ah slowly lowered her gaze, her face reddening as she answered.
“I… I’ll f-feed you…”
“Don’t you need to eat too, Eun-ah-ssi?”
“J-just looking at you makes me full…”
Fuck…
That damp, dark ego of hers was about to start something again. The image of her glistening eyes as she’d overpowered him flashed in his mind, making goosebumps rise on his skin. He tried his best not to show it as he replied.
“That’s, well, that seems like too much of an imposition. I can just…”
“N-no!”
“Pardon?”
“I-I’m doing it because I want to…”
“Ah… I see…”
Her bashful, blushing face was infuriating. He gritted his teeth, but her stance was so firm that he had no choice but to comply.
Please, just keep that creepy ego in check.
It was genuinely giving him the creeps.
Dokyun sighed internally and forced the corners of his twitching mouth into a smile.
“Haha, well then, I’ll be in your care.”
“O-okay…”
Clink.
The sound of utensils clashing echoed in the room. Eun-ah scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on the steaming food to cool it, and brought it to Dokyun’s lips.
“Say ah~”
“Ah, ahh~”
Following her lead, Dokyun opened his mouth.
This is so fucked…
He imagined this must be what generals in historical dramas felt like when they were forced to drink poison. Shame, misery, and sorrow intertwined to weave a grim tapestry in his mind. But he couldn’t let it show, so he tried to ignore the surging emotions by focusing on swallowing the porridge that entered his mouth.
Gulp.
“H-how is it…?”
Her question was thick with nervousness. Dokyun maintained his smile as he answered.
“It’s delicious. You’re a really good cook.”
“Hah…”
Eun-ah’s body trembled slightly as she let out a soft moan.
In truth, it just tasted like bland porridge. The one saving grace was that the food she gave him was at least within the realm of normalcy.
At least I won’t starve to death.
He decided to think positively. It was true that his time among the living had been extended. Continuing that line of thought, Dokyun did his best to push away the negative feelings and focus on receiving the food she gave him.
One bite with kimchi, one bite with braised beef. The seasoning was surprisingly decent, which made it easier to focus on eating. To her intermittent questions of ‘How is it?’ or ‘Is it good?’, he mechanically replied with ‘Delicious,’ ‘Excellent,’ or ‘You’re a great cook.’ By the time he’d finished, the bottom of the bowl was visible.
As his stomach began to fill, it finally started to work, screaming for more food—a rebound from having been starved all day. He had hoped to sate his hunger, but porridge was easy to digest and not very filling. It was nowhere near enough to satisfy the stomach of a big eater like Dokyun.
Tsk…
Seeing the empty bowl, he finally felt a pang of disappointment. Dokyun looked up at Eun-ah. Her eyes were fixed on him, a sticky, intense gaze. Meeting it was agonizing, but with the thought that he had to survive, Dokyun opened his mouth.
“Could I have another bowl?”
“What…? Ah! Yes!”
Spring-!
At his words, a smile stretched from ear to ear on Eun-ah’s face. She grabbed the tray, stood up, and headed out of the room.
A moment later, she returned, took the same position as before, and began feeding Dokyun spoonfuls of porridge once again.
Hooo-, hooo-.
Like a mother bird feeding her chick, she carefully blew on each spoonful before placing it in his mouth. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the situation.
Fucking bitch. Goddamn bitch. The kind of bitch you could grind into a pulp and still not feel satisfied.
All sorts of curses erupted in his mind. It had only been a day since he’d been captured by her, but the way she treated him filled him with a sense of utter humiliation.
“O-okay… say ah~ again…”
“Ah-.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to think anymore. He tried to console himself with the thought that he was simply performing an act for nutritional intake. Having something else to focus on was a good excuse to ignore his current reality, and Dokyun was just grateful to use it.
After some time, he began to feel full. Feeling sated, Dokyun put on a smile and spoke to Eun-ah.
“Thank you. I ate more than I thought I would.”
“Mhm… b-because you enjoyed it so much…”
Eun-ah’s cheeks were flushed as she mumbled her reply. Her face still glowing, she looked up at Dokyun and continued.
“O-okay… I’ll go get things r-ready to brush your teeth…!”
“…What?”
What the fuck is she talking about now?
Dokyun stared at her as if he’d been hit over the head. Eun-ah, her face full of smiles, replied to his unspoken question.
“I-it’s natural to brush your teeth after eating…”
If you’re so full of common sense, why the hell did you kidnap me?
Feeling a wave of nausea, Dokyun forced his trembling lips into a smile and spoke to her.
“Um… I think I’m fine without brushing. I only had porridge.”
“Nooo… y-you’ll get cavities…”
“Really, it’s fine.”
He refused again. In his desperation to avoid any more stress, he had momentarily failed to notice the change in her expression.
“B-but you can’t…”
A chilling mutter. The expression was draining from Eun-ah’s face. Too late, Dokyun looked at her, a look of utter dismay spreading across his own face.
I’m fucked.
The corners of Eun-ah’s mouth, which had been lifted in a smile, dropped. She delivered her verdict like a death sentence.
“Honeybee… you’re a bad boy…”
It looked as if a red glint was flickering in her eyes.
“Y-you need to be punished…”
Her glistening eyes reflected Dokyun’s own pale, terrified face.