Chapter 13
Gloomy dawn.
I lay alone in the studio. This was my only space. I couldn’t possibly feel attached to this creepy and bizarre house. Doesn’t it resemble a dollhouse made by Kang Yeol-jin?
So I stayed here day and night. The studio, which was thoroughly cleaned, was just as I remembered. Being here somehow made me feel at ease.
Kurururung, the foghorn sounded.
I tightly grasped my belly with my hand. My slightly swollen stomach felt strangely like someone else’s. It was like an empty flour bread.
“…Ha.”
It’s truly ridiculous. Just two days ago, I had splashed into the lake over there, trying to die. And now I want to eat something. I want to cram food into this belly.
Is it revealing a desire for life?
The child inside my belly…
I looked down at my belly with an utterly expressionless face. My gently swollen stomach wobbled.
“Please, just try to eat this. If you keep starving like this, you’ll collapse again, darling…”
Kang Yeol-jin pleaded with me, holding the rice bowl, asking me just once—please, just once—to eat.
Of course, I didn’t even glance at it. He must have poisoned it. I didn’t want to eat any kind of poison he offered.
In fact, I felt like I wanted to starve to death instead.
Gurgle.
Having eaten nothing at all, my head felt hazy. It felt like my head had turned into a hard rock, completely stiff.
As my head hardened, my body naturally followed its instincts. I needed to fill my belly.
So I cautiously pulled back the blanket and got up. I carefully climbed into the wheelchair and started to roll the wheels.
Creeeak, I gently opened the door. I pressed my eyes into the small gap. Holding my breath, I stopped everything. I rolled my eyes around.
“…….”
Only the cold moonlight poured into the hallway. No matter how much I strained my ears, there was no sign of life anywhere.
I confirmed that there were no wandering servants and then slipped out. Only my shadow lingered ominously on the large marble floor. As I pushed the wheels, the wheelchair glided smoothly.
“…….”
The place I cautiously crawled into was none other than the kitchen. I carefully opened the refrigerator door.
The first thing I saw was yokan (a sweet bean jelly). I unwrapped a package, put it in my mouth, and chewed. The nutty sweetness spread on my tongue, so I quickly unwrapped another and swallowed it whole.
I grabbed the next one, then the one after that, and stuffed them into my mouth indiscriminately.
There were expensive-tasting sausages, beautifully sliced fruits, and undercooked mushrooms.
“……Wow.”
Then, I picked up a container of side dishes and gulped. It was sour kimchi. The thought of hot, spicy ramen suddenly came to mind. Although I usually didn’t enjoy it much, a sudden craving surged up.
I barely managed to open a drawer and take out a pot. I placed the pot on the stove and found a red ramen package in the pantry.
As I watched the ramen bubbling away… I couldn’t help but swallow.
If only I had an egg…
It would be perfect if I just had a simple, delicious egg.
I opened the refrigerator door and reached up, but it was difficult to do so while sitting in the wheelchair.
Normally, I would have given up easily, but today, I felt an overwhelming longing for that one egg. As I stretched my fingers and poked around, that’s when it happened.
I was startled by a sudden presence behind me and turned around. An egg fell from above, landing right on my chest with a thud. The sticky yolk oozed down. It was an utterly ridiculous sight. My face immediately flushed with shame.
Why is it that, of all things, I get caught in such a ridiculous situation?
“Hee-Jae.”
He calls my name. I feel like I’m dirty from the tips of my toes.
“Did you want ramen?”
With a tone that feels affectionate, he takes off his pajamas. He slowly removes my pajamas, now soiled with egg, and puts his on me.
I watch for a moment as the sleeves droop and cover my hands. He gently rubs the egg off my forehead.
“What are you doing, you sexy thing?”
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