A pure white blouse made with bishop sleeves touched the skin gently. The tops and pants that Elohim had prepared fit the body surprisingly well.
“El.”
As soon as I dressed up, Elohim opened the door and entered as if he knew everything. He smiled softly at me.
“Is it not uncomfortable?”
“Yes. It’s good.”
Elohim came closer to me and gently stroked my shoulder and made eye contact with me.
“The temperature is always constant here, so it won’t be too cold or too hot with just this amount of clothes.”
With those words, I turned my head to the large window along the wall. Outside, where the warm sun shone, it certainly looked warm and peaceful like spring weather.
“The room?”
Inside the light beige room, there were large windows, a bed, and basic furnishings. The pure white flowers in the vase placed on the table caught my eye.
“The room is fine, too.”
“It’s a place you will be staying in the future, so if you need anything, feel free to tell me anytime.”
A place to stay in the future. At that, I rubbed the nape of my neck and smiled awkwardly. Elohim, who raised the corner of his mouth slightly as if he understood me, changed the topic.
“Ha Tae-heon. The child is right next door to you. I think he went to see the sea now. If you’re curious, you should go, too.”
“The sea? Is there sea here?”
“Yeah.”
Elohim, who dragged me into the living room in the centre of the house, pointed to the wooden door in the corner.
“If you go out the back door, there is an apple tree. If you walk a little further beyond that apple tree, you will see the sea.”
There was also that kind of thing. I nodded my head and opened the door, but Elohim grabbed my hand before him.
“I ask you to do it just in case, Se-hyun child.”
“Yes?”
“Be careful of the apple tree.”
I didn’t know what it meant. Elohim continued to speak to me as I narrowed the corners of my eyes, unable to answer.
“It’s okay to get close or just look around. But you must not touch the fruit.”
“Do you mean the apple?”
“No. Fruit.”
“……”
What the hell were you talking about. If it was the fruit of an apple tree, wasn’t that an apple?
“Of course, it is forbidden to pick or eat arbitrarily. Do you understand?”
“Yeees…”
Even without warning, I had no intention of touching someone else’s tree. As I calmly nodded, Elohim released my hand with a satisfied expression.
“Go and have fun. Let’s eat together when you get back.”
I followed out the door and walked away, leaving Elohim, who was waving his hands.
‘Apple tree. An apple tree.’
Recalling what Elohim had said, and walking as far as I could, a tree large enough to be seen even though it was quite a distance appeared.
“Ho.”
It was only then that I realized why Elohim was so desperate to tell me that. Golden apples were hanging from a tree so huge that ten adult men couldn’t fill it even with their open arms.
I approached it as if possessed and took a close look at the golden fruit. In appearance, it resembled an apple, but it shone brilliantly and gave off a strange scent.
As I was about to reach out my hand involuntarily, I hurriedly came to my senses. I almost touched it.
‘Crazy, there’s a reason why it’s prohibited.’
Once I was alerted, the golden apple, which had shone beautifully enough to be coveted until just now, felt very strange. I hurriedly stepped away from the tree and sighed.
It was a beautiful and prosperous place, but it was so heterogeneous and unusual. From a butterfly that put SS-rank people to sleep at once, whose physical ability was more than criminals, to a fox with four ears flying in the sky, and a tree with the golden apple.
Elohim was also a prophet who could simply see the future, so there were many oddities. Scratching my forehead in uncomfortable, I passed the tree.
As I was told in advance, I moved behind the tree then the sandy beach and the sea spread out widely under the cliff. I raised my ability and went down the cliff with the wind.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
Fortunately, I found Ha Tae-heon looking at the sea not far away. He was wearing a white shirt that was more square and stiffer than a blouse and dark auburn cotton trousers probably because it was new clothes.
I could see black eyes looking at me through his hair fluttering in the sea breeze.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not bad.”
He answered my questions straight away. I smiled awkwardly, thinking I might understand why.
“I guess you don’t like the Prophet.”
“Those who don’t know what they’re thinking are dangerous if you keep them close.”
…I didn’t think it was just aimed at Elohim.
“If you don’t like this place, you can go first…”
“Let’s walk.”
Ha Tae-heon took a step forward as he cut off the suggestion I was sneaking out. I opened my mouth as I walked along the sandy beach, shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, did you see it as well? The apple tree.”
“Yeah. I didn’t get close to it because the energy was unusual.”
Oh. As expected, the SS-rank was different. I was surprised and lowered my voice slightly.
“There were a lot of golden apples hanging on it. Besides that, there are a lot of strange things… It doesn’t seem like a peaceful place.”
“I think so, too. First of all, the owner here is not normal.”
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
As I gently grabbed his shirt sleeve and called, he stopped and looked me in the eye.
“The Prophet has told me. The room right next to me is Ha Tae-heon-ssi’s room.”
“I see.”
“I won’t lock the door, so if anything happens, come to me right away. Even late at night is fine.”
“What?”
“Do you understand?”
I was uneasy about everything around me to stay comfortably. It was a proposal with the intention of not slowing down his vigilance, but somehow Ha Tae-heon’s gaze became more subtle.
Did I hurt his pride? I, who was only an A-rank, said that. I added hastily with the intention not to be misunderstood.
“Of course, if anything happens, I will go to Ha Tae-heon-ssi’s room.”
“Ho…”
Ha Tae-heon, who frowned as if in pain, grabbed my wrist that was holding his sleeve.
“You better lock the door. You mean you keep it open knowing what’s going to happen?”
“Ey, you know my ability. I’m confident in running away. Rather than locking the door and Ha Tae-heon-ssi not coming in…”
“If you’re that worried, we’d better just sleep together.”
“Uh.”
Is that so? As I was nodding my head involuntarily to a plausible plan, I came up with a problem.
“But there’s only one bed?”
“Do you care about it now? We’ve already slept in the same bed twice.”
That’s true, too.
“That… Ha Tae-heon-ssi’s bed is big. This is for one person.”
“I can sleep while hugging you.”
…with man, that was a little bit. It was inconvenient to use the same bed, but wasn’t it too much to sleep while hugging? Ha Tae-heon, noticing my shivering reaction, raised one eyebrow.
“I slept hugging you anyway twice, what’s the problem?”
“That…”
That’s true, too.
Somehow, the more we talked, the more I lacked in answers. Licking my dry lips, I said sullenly after much thought.
“I will think about it.”
Ha Tae-heon, who raised one corner of his mouth and laughed at me, moved again. So I walked along the sandy beach with Ha Tae-heon and watched the sea.
* * *
The dish was neatly placed on a wooden table with a white tablecloth. Elohim smiled as he placed the fresh salmon salad in front of Ha Tae-heon.
“I prepared it with my favourite food, so I hope you like it.”
“Yes?”
I carefully looked at the prepared dishes on the table. Various salads, fruits, soups, and cakes were in front of me.
“Is mine a cake?”
“Don’t you like sweet dishes?”
“I like it, but…”
That was when I ate it for dessert. I wanted to eat a little more normal food.
However, Elohim tilted his head as if he didn’t understand what I meant.
In a situation where I couldn’t say this and that, I was just going to eat it but Ha Tae-heon sighed and pushed the soup in front of me.
“You can’t fill your stomach with cake, no matter how much you like it.”
At those words, Elohim made a face saying that he was too late. Surprisingly, he was clumsy.
I almost put the cake on an empty stomach, but I gave Ha Tae-heon a thank-you look and picked up the spoon.
“I would like to briefly describe this house and its surroundings.”
Elohim opened his mouth as he poured hot tea into the cup.
“There are often things to be careful about, like the apple tree in the back door.”
Things I needed to be careful about? I exchanged glances with Ha Tae-heon, who sat across from Elohim.
“Listen comfortably while eating.”
Elohim, standing in front of the stairs going upstairs past the dining table, exposed his white ankles and feet under his cotton pants. Walking barefoot seemed extremely natural to him.
“This house, where the space control item is operating, has a total of four floors. The first floor has a living room, kitchen, and bedroom; the second floor is a study; and the third floor is a rest area with a glass ceiling. Try to go up once at night. You can see the beautiful Milky Way.”
Elohim, who continued to explain with his finger pointing upward, this time in the opposite direction, pointed downward.
“There is a simple training room in the basement. There are several exercise equipment, so if you want to warm up, go down and use it comfortably.”
“Um, is there anything in the house I should be careful about?”
“For now, there is none.”
Ha Tae-heon frowned slightly in response to the unfriendly answer. I thought as I ate the soup.
‘For now, he said. Does it mean I get to know later?’
Whatever it was, I thought it was better to pass it first. I didn’t show any discomfort and raised another question.
“How about outside?”
“You have to be more careful outside than at home. Still, not many. The first is the apple tree in the back door.”
I took a sip of the same tea that Elohim was holding and moistened my throat.
“The second is the space-transport wall that you passed through when you entered. Measures have been taken to prevent strangers from coming, so don’t rush and tell me if you need to leave.”
I met Ha Tae-heon’s eyes once again. Did it mean that we were trapped here now? He asked me to think about it for seven days, was this really the case?
I should have somehow sent off Ha Tae-heon who said he would stay by my side. I felt sorry for him for being trapped here because of me.
“The last is the third one. If you stay here, you will see a variety of animals, and although they appear to be gentle on the outside, they are quite strong, so don’t treat them rudely and be careful. Still, they are nice, so if you don’t be mean, there won’t be any problems.”
“……”
After finishing the explanation with a bright voice, Elohim looked at me and Ha Tae-heon with a flower-like smile.
“Do you have any questions?”
“…nope.”
I knew that so many things to be careful about. I swallowed a sigh and shook my head.
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