By Zephyria Yohan, returning from the queen ant’s chamber, informed Yoon Seung-ryong about the existence of the food storage. As soon as he heard the words, Yoon Seung-ryong rushed over and brought back an armful of seeds from amidst the remnants of all sorts of nauseating byproducts. As Yohan purified them one by one, Joo Ho-young, clutching something, let out a scream.
“This, no way!”
“What is it, Ho-young! What is it?!”
“Co… Coffee!”
Coffee?! Yohan’s eyes widened at the name of a fruit he hadn’t expected at all. Coffee! He hadn’t even thought of coffee, even while desperately craving garlic and chili powder. It made sense, though; life in the Abyss had been too harsh to indulge in luxurious foodstuffs like beverages.
But as he looked with anticipation, the bunch of fruits Joo Ho-young held up looked like plump, red… cherries with thorns. Yohan asked doubtfully,
“Isn’t that… a cherry?”
“It’s not! I swear on my barista license. Even though it has thorns, this is definitely a coffee cherry!”
Yohan didn’t know what a coffee cherry was, but since the one with a barista license vouched for it, Yohan also began to harbor a sliver of hope. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but in the Abyss, anything was good.
Joo Ho-young began preparing the coffee cherries with incredibly swift hands, and over several days, after peeling, drying, and removing the pulp, they surprisingly ended up with the shape of coffee beans that Yohan recognized. Even Lee Hyun-muk, who usually enjoyed any food with a similar attitude and without discrimination, showed rare interest. As Yohan watched Joo Ho-young meticulously grind the beans, he asked Lee Hyun-muk,
“Do you like coffee?”
“I liked it enough to drink it every day.”
Lee Hyun-muk, waking up in the morning and leisurely drinking coffee… It would have been an incredibly fitting image. Come to think of it, hadn’t he even filmed a coffee commercial once? At that moment, a shockingly strong coffee aroma hit them. As everyone waited with bated breath, Joo Ho-young poured a cup of coffee for each of them and asked,
“Iced?”
With enthusiastic agreement, Joo Ho-young added ice cubes to the cups. Everyone drank their coffee in silence. The aroma and taste were so moving that tears welled up in their eyes. It was even richer and more fragrant than the coffee they drank in Korea.
“Chili peppers and coffee, this alone makes the trip here worthwhile,” Yoon Seung-ryong muttered, and everyone agreed. After happily enjoying their coffee time, they left the ant nest that had served as their temporary shelter. Then, passing through areas where red light was sporadically visible, they headed deeper.
“It’s really humid here, unlike up there…” Yohan murmured, looking up at the reeds towering far above. Apart from the light he cast, there was no other light, making it eerie, and the reeds prevented moisture from escaping, so the humidity was extremely high. It felt like being deep underwater. Fortunately, thanks to Joo Ho-young’s ability, there was no problem with drinking water supply.
“You’re right. My hair is all wet.” Lee Hyun-muk gently brushed back the damp hair at Yohan’s forehead. For some reason, that small gesture made Yohan instantly feel a little happier. Trying not to grin too much with others present, he continued walking.
“Halt.”
As Lee Hyun-muk spoke softly, everyone stopped. He gestured upwards, and Yoon Seung-ryong, walking at the forefront, swung his spear to cut through the reeds. After a few more swings, a sound like a heavy downpour of rain erupted, and something fell from the sky far above. Lee Hyun-muk quickly stood in front of Yohan, blocking the splashing debris with his body.
Coo-woong…* What fell with a heavy sound was none other than a bundle of reeds. The reeds, rotted and softened over time, had become entangled and clumped together, suspended in the air, and when Yoon Seung-ryong cut them, they fell down. Even as a bundle of reeds, it was so heavy and massive that it would have been enough to kill an ordinary person if they were crushed. Yohan raised his gaze towards where the reed bundle had fallen, and saw a dark red sky.
Even after removing the dangerous falling object, they didn’t let their guard down. As expected, long, thick, and menacing creatures sprang out from between the reed bundles. They were giant monster snakes, charging with their scales bristling. However, upon closer inspection, they had legs, suggesting they were not snakes but lizards or crocodiles.
Joo Ho-young instantly fired ice arrows he had prepared. The rock-hard arrows struck the monsters’ soft mouths and eyeballs. Some died instantly, while others wailed in agony before being cut in half by Yoon Seung-ryong’s spear.
“Can’t believe you’re making us work this hard, old man,” Yoon Seung-ryong grumbled, but he diligently collected the dead lizards. They were destined to be today’s daily sustenance. Nothing was wasted, and the tightly packed reed clump became their temporary shelter for the day. The grilled lizard skewers eaten crouched in front of the temporary shelter had a special taste. It tasted like chicken.
“They’re as hard as if they’re decades old,” Yohan said, tapping the reed walls with his fist in wonder. Lee Hyun-muk split a reed thinly with a sharp sound, skewered a few pieces of well-grilled, oily lizard meat onto a makeshift stick, and offered it to Yohan, saying,
“It’s probably because they’re corrupted reeds, so their properties have changed.”
As Lee Hyun-muk said, the reeds here were as hard and straight as bamboo. As Yohan ate the meat, he noticed pieces of pineapple interspersed. While he was eating deliciously, Yoon Seung-ryong, who was preparing and grilling the meat, suddenly looked around.
“Huh? Where did the pineapple I put here go?”
“…Gasp.”
Yohan, flustered, swallowed the piece of well-grilled pineapple he was chewing. Yoon Seung-ryong saw this and raised his eyebrows. Then, grumbling, he waved his hand through the empty air and pulled out a pineapple.
“Team leader, I have a mouth too.”
“There’s some left here…” Yohan sheepishly offered his skewer, but Yoon Seung-ryong shook his head.
“No, Yohan. Eat up. I was going to eat it together as dessert anyway.”
“You heard him? Eat without worry.”
“No…” Yohan, glancing nervously, chewed on a piece of pineapple that Lee Hyun-muk was feeding him. Since Yohan had confessed his feelings last time, Lee Hyun-muk often reached out and touched him without hesitation. Each time, Yohan would glance at Yoon Seung-ryong and Joo Ho-young, but since they showed no reaction and didn’t seem to notice, he had become more comfortable accepting it lately.
“Ho-young, are you eating well?” Yohan, feeling awkward, unnecessarily checked on Ho-young. Ho-young, who was managing to eat while engrossed in his game, nodded.
“Yeah, I’m eating well. I’m fine, so you should take care of yourself, Yohan Hyung. Using your abilities consumes quite a lot of calories.”
It was strange. Ho-young was clearly his younger brother, but why did Yohan always feel like he was the one being taken care of? Even though Joo Ho-young was the youngest, Yohan often couldn’t shake the feeling that he was the youngest by a long shot…
After finishing their meal, Yohan lay down to sleep. Even as an Awakened, walking and walking through the dark reeds for over ten hours was exhausting. It was a bit of a sorry thing to say to his companions, but he was truly grateful that he had been excluded from watch duty lately, under the pretext that recovering his depleted purification power was the priority.
Yohan lay on the mattress Yoon Seung-ryong had provided, tossing and turning, repeatedly flexing and extending his sore feet. Lee Hyun-muk slightly lifted the edge of the sleeping bag and asked,
“Shall I give you a massage?”
Yohan quickly replied, “Yes,” and then, glancing at the other two, added. He figured Joo Ho-young was engrossed in his game by the campfire, but he was concerned about Yoon Seung-ryong, who was busy organizing the food supplies.
“…My legs are a bit stiff.”
“Right. You’ll have to walk a lot tomorrow too.” Lee Hyun-muk gave Yohan’s words a valid reason and sat down. As soon as Yohan lay down on his stomach, a firm grip clasped his calf. Then, a massage began with just the right amount of pressure. A groan of pleasure escaped him.
“Ugh, this feels good.”
Regardless of Yohan’s hidden desires, Lee Hyun-muk’s massage was perfect. It was like a living low-frequency massager, softening his stiff muscles. His eyelids naturally began to droop. However, despite feeling good, a sense of longing arose.
Yohan, lying on his stomach, turned his head to look at Lee Hyun-muk. Their eyes met, and Lee Hyun-muk’s eyes curved into a gentle arc. After confirming that Yoon Seung-ryong and Joo Ho-young weren’t looking their way, Yohan parted his lips.
‘I want to kiss you.’
Then, he giggled shyly. Always sticking together with the three of them, even a single kiss felt like it required permission. They hadn’t kissed even once since leaving the white ant tower, which said it all. However, Lee Hyun-muk was bolder than Yohan.
Pretending to massage his back muscles, Lee Hyun-muk leaned down. Then, he gently kissed Yohan’s cheek and neck. His lips pressed firmly, then lingered sensually, and then pecked playfully like a bird. A blush crept up Yohan’s ears. Unable to hold back, he suppressed a laugh and whispered,
“It tickles.”
“Sorry, I’ll be more careful.” Lee Hyun-muk apologized with a serious expression. And just as Yohan was about to fall asleep, he tickled him again in a tender manner.