Chapter 3: Sprouting

Crunch.

The leek leaves made a cheerful sound as they were cut more easily than expected. The texture was also good.

Whoosh.

As soon as Sejun bit into the leek, a sharp, spicy taste spread throughout his mouth. His body heated up from the spiciness, his pores opened, and sweat poured down like rain.

Munch, munch.

Sejun wiped away the sweat and continued to chew the leek. However, the sweetness he had hoped for did not come through.

'I thought the sweetness would be stronger because the spiciness was so intense...'

The taste seemed to be overwhelmingly spicy.

Swallow.

After swallowing the leek, the spiciness disappeared cleanly. Fortunately, his stomach didn't feel upset.

'I guess I should eat leeks when I crave something spicy.'

Crunch.

Sejun continued to eat the leeks, which were only spicy. He needed to satisfy his hunger first.

In this way, Sejun ate what seemed to be a foot of leeks, sweating profusely. For some reason, the more he sweated, the lighter his body felt.

Crunch, crunch.

Sejun, who had filled his stomach with leeks, mercilessly broke the leeks that were shading his spot. It wasn't because he was angry that they didn't taste sweet.

'Hmm... Let's say it wasn't absolutely sweet. I did have some expectations.'

He laid the broken leeks in a place where the sun could reach them. Although he started his work a bit late thanks to the leeks today, it didn't matter. His work was...

Trickle, trickle.

Watering the crops for a moment and

"......"

Staring blankly at the hole in the ceiling.

At least he had something to alleviate his boredom a little.

While staring blankly at the ceiling, he noticed that the leeks had grown significantly.

"Do leeks usually grow this fast?"

To make sure it wasn't just his imagination, he even checked the time on his smartphone. The leeks grew about 10 cm per hour. It was an astonishing growth rate. Even though Sejun had no farming experience, he thought this was impossible.

"Is it because I'm growing them in the tower?"

There was nothing else to doubt. The leeks he bought from the supermarket. If the seeds were originally leeks that grew 10 cm per hour, there would be no such thing as "golden leeks" or "leek tech."

"But there's no news from the others."

Sejun looked at the spots where he had planted the cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes on either side of the leeks. If the soil was fertile, the others should grow well too.

However, there was no change in the soil.

"Is this soil only good for leeks?"

Out of curiosity, he looked more closely.

"Hey?!"

Upon closer inspection, the soil where the cherry tomatoes were planted seemed slightly bulging. Sejun lay on the ground and stared at the bulging soil.

"Wow!"

There it was!

(...i...)

A green stem with a shiny blue head shyly emerged from the soil.

"One, two, three..."

A total of 52 sprouts had appeared. Sejun stared at the cherry tomato sprouts for a long time.

"Hehe. So cute."

Plants he had grown from seeds. Just looking at them made him feel proud and secure.

***

Beep, beep.

[May 15, 6:00 AM]

Sejun welcomed his sixth day. Yesterday, he spent the whole day watching the cherry tomato sprouts. Although they didn't grow as fast as the leeks, the gradual growth made him feel full even without eating.

"Ah!"

Sejun got up lightly. Recently, his body had been feeling lighter day by day. At first, he thought it was because the fatigue from overwork was gone, but now he wondered if that might not be the case.

"Let's see. Have our sprouts grown much?"

As soon as he got up, Sejun went to check the cherry tomato sprouts, putting washing and eating aside. He was very curious about how much they had grown while he was sleeping.

"Wow!"

(..."...")

The tips of the sprouts, with their blue heads, were slightly split. However, a dark shadow was blocking the sprouts. The leeks had grown to Sejun's height and were blocking the light the sprouts needed.

Crunch, crunch.

Sejun mercilessly broke the leek leaves.

"Phew."

After breaking all the leeks, Sejun hurried to the pond.

Splash! Splash!

He quickly washed his face and

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

Filled a water bottle and a plastic container with water to moisten the soil around the cherry tomato sprouts and the leek and sweet potato fields.

"I don't hate you, you know."

He gave the leeks more water, especially.

After watering, his stomach growled, demanding payment for the unpaid labor.

"I need to eat breakfast."

Sejun put a leek he had just broken into his mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

From yesterday's experience of eating only leek leaves instead of sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes, he thought the leeks were sufficient to satisfy his hunger.

His stomach didn't feel empty or weak, and he even felt as if carbohydrates were being absorbed.

Most importantly, there was a lot. Growing about 180 cm a day, there was so much that he didn't know what to do with it.

'I should dry some and store them.'

Given the current situation, the leeks wouldn't suddenly stop growing, but he decided to prepare just in case.

You never know what will happen. Who would have thought he would end up stranded in an unknown place?

He decided to plant the remaining cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes to have more food in the future.

Thud, thud.

Sejun dug the soil and planted the cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

And

Trickle, trickle.

"Grow well."

He gave them plenty of water with good wishes and sat on a flat rock where the sun shone well, his designated spot. Feeling proud after doing productive work.

"The sky is nice today."

The blue sky was high and clear. People's hearts are fickle. He thought it was stuffy yesterday, but today it looked good.

Come to think of it, he had been staring at the sky for days.

"When I was working, I didn't even look at the sky for days... What a luxury."

But that feeling was fleeting.

"But something feels missing. If only there was coffee here..."

He really wanted a shot of espresso in an iced Americano. He missed civilized life.

While Sejun was looking at the sky and thinking about city life,

Beep, beep.

An alert popped up on his smartphone, indicating that the battery was below 20%. He had set it to low-power mode and only checked the screen when necessary, but he couldn't completely stop the battery from draining.

"Let's charge it for now."

Sejun opened his laptop and pressed the power button. The smartphone was more useful for telling him when to wake up and go to bed, even though it consumed less power than the laptop.

Ding.

The laptop screen turned on, and the Excel window he had been working on appeared. It was a quotation he had been working on at the office and planned to finish at home.

Click.

Sejun coolly closed the Excel window. He didn't even save it. Although it was a quotation he had worked on for days, he didn't feel any regret. It was probably too late anyway.

"Someone else will do it for me."

He felt a bit sorry for the person who would have to do it, but it wasn't a situation he could handle.

Sejun connected his smartphone to the laptop and charged it. He also turned on the low-power mode on the laptop to reduce power consumption.

While the smartphone was charging, he watched the cherry tomato sprouts.

Watching them made him feel good.

While he was watching the sprouts,

Drip, drip, drip.

Water fell from above.

"What? Is it raining?"

Sejun knew it wasn't. The tower was always clear except for a few floors.

'Could it be a monster?'

The thought of a monster drooling while looking down at him made him shudder. Sejun looked up urgently.

But

"Huh?!"

A small white rabbit was looking down through the hole in the ceiling, drooling.

'Is that a monster too?'

While Sejun was wondering if the rabbit in front of him was a vicious monster,

Squeak!

The rabbit made a cute sound and jumped down through the hole when it made eye contact with Sejun.

Hop.

"Hey?!"

Danger!

Sejun, confused, instinctively reached out to catch the rabbit, not knowing if it was a monster.

But the rabbit used its long ears to control its fall, avoided Sejun's hand, and safely landed on the ground after stepping on his shoulder with its hind legs.

"......"

It was very embarrassing to have his hand extended into the air.

Then

Squeak.

The rabbit approached cautiously on its hind legs and pointed at the leeks with a trembling finger. The fact that it was walking on its hind legs suggested it wasn't just a rabbit.

"Are you asking if you can eat it?"

Squeak!

The rabbit nodded vigorously, its eyes full of desperate hope.

"Here."

Crunch.

Sejun broke off a leek leaf and gave it to the rabbit.

Squeak!

The rabbit started eating the leek Sejun gave it frantically.

Crunch, crunch.

While the rabbit was eating, Sejun broke more leek leaves. He decided to break them all while he was at it.

Sejun planned to cut the leeks once in the morning at 6:00 AM and once in the afternoon at 2:00 PM so the cherry tomato sprouts could get sunlight.

Crunch, crunch.

The rabbit was still eating the leeks enthusiastically. It had only eaten about two finger lengths.

Sejun watched the rabbit and then looked back at the cherry tomatoes.

"Hey?!"

(...' '...)

The tips of the cherry tomato sprouts were gradually spreading. It looked like leaves would soon appear.

How much time had passed?

Snore.

The rabbit's sleeping sound came from the side. It seemed to be sleepy after eating. It was quite cute, sleeping soundly.

Then

Squeak?

The rabbit woke up, sensing Sejun's gaze.

Shake.

The rabbit shook its head to clear the sleep.

And

Squeak!

It made a strong cry and jumped.

Thump.

The rabbit, holding a leek in one hand, easily climbed back up through the hole.

Squeak.

Before leaving, the rabbit bowed to Sejun in gratitude.

'Just eating and running away, huh.'

Although it was ungrateful, Sejun waved goodbye. It was nice to have company, even if it was brief.

While Sejun was waving, the rabbit left.

"......"

They say you don't know where you'll end up, but you do know where you've been. Even though it was brief, he felt a bit empty.

Sejun put the emptiness aside and looked back at the cherry tomato sprouts.

In the meantime, the sprouts had grown more leaves.

"Keep it up, guys."

A little later,

(...Y...)

As if they knew Sejun was waiting, the cherry tomato sprouts started to unfurl two small green leaves. The delicate but full-of-life leaves were quite a sight.

Beep, beep.

[May 15, 10:00 PM]

The alarm signaling bedtime rang.

But he didn't want to sleep today. He wanted to keep watching the sprouts grow.

"...!"

Slap, slap.

Sejun woke up to the feeling of something lightly slapping his cheek.

"Huh? What is it?"

When he opened his eyes, the rabbit that had run away yesterday was waking him up by slapping his cheek with its hand.

"Ugh. What time is it?"

Sejun checked the time.

[May 16, 5:00 AM]

An hour earlier than his usual wake-up time.

"But what's with that outfit?"

The rabbit was wearing a straw hat with holes for its ears and holding a watering can in its hand.

Then

Squeak.

Another rabbit's cry was heard.

"Huh?"

Sejun looked in the direction of the sound and saw another slender rabbit wearing an apron.

And

Bow.

The rabbit that made eye contact with Sejun bowed politely.

"What's going on here?"

Day 7 of being stranded. He woke up a bit early, and a rabbit couple had joined him in the cave.