Chapter 2

I cut two people out of my life.

Chae-yeon cried and begged, devastated that her easy life of playing and eating was suddenly cut off, but I refused to give in.

Gi-taek, who still had some conscience left, couldn't even meet my eyes as he held his daughter in his arms.

I didn't give Chae-yeon a single cent in compensation, and since the paternity of the girl was not confirmed, I had no obligation to pay child support.

I sold both the apartment and the supermarket.

Although I took a loss on the apartment due to the quick sale, the emotional pain of betrayal was deeper than any financial loss, so a quick clean-up was the answer.

Fortunately, the supermarket was in a good location with decent business, so it was taken over by someone who already ran a supermarket elsewhere, allowing me to break even.

Even now, when I think of Gi-taek and Chae-yeon, it feels like a burning lump in my stomach, but as they say, time heals all wounds, and I believed this too would fade with time.

I wanted to erase all memories associated with them from my life. I even let go of any lingering feelings for the girl I had doted on for three years.

*

My life was in shambles.

The pain of being betrayed by the people I trusted the most wouldn't heal easily, so I wandered around the country like a madman, aimlessly drifting from place to place.

Then, a thought struck me.

I might end up dying on the streets.

I was thirty, and I had a long life ahead of me.

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck.

I had cut ties with the betrayers early and wouldn't have to be a fool for the rest of my life.

I needed a place to settle down.

Wandering for too long could turn me into a recluse.

I made up my mind.

I needed a place to call home.

With the money from selling the apartment and the supermarket, I had more than enough.

I was sick of Seoul, so living in the countryside seemed appealing, but I didn't want to go too far into the countryside.

I bought a hill in the Gyeonggi area.

I wanted to live quietly, and when I heard that a secluded hill, a bit away from the village, was on the market for a quick sale, I bought it without hesitation.

It was the place I had been dreaming of.

There was a house with a front yard at the entrance of the hill, so there were no issues with living there. The surrounding area had a vegetable garden, which was great for growing vegetables. There were also several fruit trees along the edge of the garden, so I could pick fruit in the fall.

After securing a place to settle down, I put the remaining money in the bank after setting aside some for immediate expenses.

While making money through investments was good, it wasn't a priority right now.

Living alone, I could survive on the interest from my savings.

The house needed some repairs.

I decided to fix only the roof of the house.

I planned to remodel the interior.

Electricity was available, but there was no running water, so I used a motor to pump groundwater. There was a well in the front yard with good-tasting water that could be used for drinking.

I used LPG gas, which could be delivered by calling the distributor, so that wasn't a problem.

I stayed in a motel while the house was being repaired.

With nothing else to do, I often drove over to watch the repairs.

"Is it finally done?"

It took about a month to complete the house repairs.

The exterior changed significantly, with the roof being completely redone into a flat roof.

I placed a deck on the flat roof, similar to the front yard, which was great for stargazing at night.

I renovated the interior like an apartment.

I focused on the kitchen and bathroom, which were inconvenient.

Most importantly, the surrounding scenery was breathtaking.

The back was a lush hill, and the front was a spacious field. Although the field wasn't mine, it was a great place to sit and daydream.

"Hmm. Are you settled in?"

After finishing the final touches and arranging the essentials, I was sitting on the deck in the front yard when the village chief came to visit.

He was a middle-aged man with a tanned complexion and a kind face.

The previous owner of the house was an elderly person.

The chief was curious because he saw a young person moving in and vehicles coming and going for the repairs.

I showed him around the house.

He seemed to have visited the house often when the elderly person lived there, so he was amazed at how much the interior had changed.

After the tour, I offered him a cup of instant coffee.

"You're not a farmer, I assume."

While sipping the hot coffee, the chief asked various questions, seemingly out of curiosity. I gave vague answers.

I didn't mention the divorce and simply said I bought the place because I liked living alone.

The chief, who wasn't entirely clueless, seemed satisfied with his curiosity and exchanged phone numbers, saying to call if I needed anything.

After the chief left, I went out to the vegetable garden.

It was still early, so I wanted to explore the surroundings.

"The garden is bigger than I thought."

The garden was in front of the hill and was about 200 pyeong in size.

The previous owner had planted various crops, which were still in the ground.

"Is that a potato flower?"

It was the first time I had seen a potato flower.

The white flowers looked simple and pure.

The fact that potatoes were flowering meant something was growing well underground.

I considered digging but decided it wasn't the right time. I had heard that the leaves turn yellow when it's time to harvest potatoes.

"There are cherry tomatoes too?"

The small red fruits looked like precious gems.

I picked one and tasted it.

It was sweet and had a rich tomato flavor.

I picked about ten and then moved on to the fruit trees.

There were various types of fruit trees.

Small fruits were growing on each branch.

Apples, pears, jujubes, peaches, and more. They were a diverse mix.

There were a few strawberry plants under the fruit trees.

I picked a few strawberries and tasted them.

They were sweet and tangy, a delightful flavor.

"Is that a path leading up the hill?"

I decided to explore the hill.

A path ran between the fruit trees, leading up the hill.

"Is that the scent of acacia?"

The hill was covered with blooming acacia trees.

I climbed the hill, enjoying the fragrant flowers.

The hill was quite large.

There were many mixed trees, including pines, chestnuts, and oaks. It would be fun to collect chestnuts and acorns in the fall.

"Wow! There are ferns too?"

I saw ferns and bellflowers.

The colorful wildflowers were a delight to the eyes.

I picked some ferns as I climbed, planning to cook them for dinner.

The hill wasn't as steep as I thought.

It was like a neighborhood hill.

"Huff, huff!"

I reached the middle of the hill.

It was tougher than I expected.

I sat on the ground to catch my breath.

Then, I noticed my belly.

I had always been short and had a belly, even when I drank only water.

My hair started thinning in adulthood, making my already unattractive face even less appealing. My high school diploma also made me feel inferior, but my biggest inferiority complex was my appearance.

"Even if I could get plastic surgery, I can't change my height."

I was 162 cm tall, which was short for a grown man.

Thinking that my appearance might have contributed to being taken advantage of by Gi-taek and Chae-yeon made me feel self-loathing.

"Damn! What am I doing up here?"

I hated self-pity.

I wanted to be admired by others.

But what could I do?

My body was a mess.

"Stop thinking nonsense and get up."

I was about to dig into the earth's core, so I got up.

But I had forgotten the ferns I had picked, so I bent down to pick them up.

"What's that?"

I noticed something unusual.

A black, turtle-shaped rock was sitting a short distance away.

"I didn't see that before, did I?"

When I first came up, it looked like just a dense thicket.

It might have been a mistake, but it felt strange.

"Is that a living animal?"

It looked like a rock, but it was shaped like a turtle. Turtles in the mountains seemed out of place.

At first, I was scared it might be a living animal, but on closer inspection, it was clearly a rock.

It was covered in moss and the turtle's shell looked odd.

There was a round depression on the turtle's shell, and the water in it was milky white.

"Milky white water?"

The rock's shape and the water's color were suspicious in the middle of the forest.

But the water had a pleasant, refreshing scent, different from the sweet floral scents.

I felt uneasy but couldn't resist my curiosity.

"Is this something special?"

The old man who sold me the hill never mentioned anything like this.

Of course, he might have thought it was insignificant. For me, it was new and intriguing.

"What should I do?"

My instinct told me that if I ignored it, I would regret it.

In the past, when buying lottery tickets, I felt that not buying one would be a huge loss, so I bought one on a whim, and it turned out to be a winning ticket.

"If this is a stroke of luck..."

In novels, such encounters often led to a complete transformation.

Of course, the milky water was just water.

But what if drinking it could transform me?

"Of course, I'd take it!"

I didn't care about a handsome face.

I just wished I were taller.

I knew it was a ridiculous thought.

But what could I do?

"I need to test it."

I dipped my finger in the water.

It didn't seem toxic, as my finger felt fine.

"Should I smell it?"

I brought my finger to my nose and smelled it.

Surprisingly, it had a refreshing mint scent.

The mysterious fragrance from the water was even more intriguing.

Of course, it was a ridiculous thought, but maybe the water was a divine gift to help me.

"I have to try it, even if I die!"

If I left without trying, I would surely come back out of curiosity.

The most important thing was my current feeling.

If I left it, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

"If I have to, I'll spit it out if there's a strange reaction."

"Let's see. A leaf would be good."

I picked a leaf from a tree and folded it into a funnel.

I scooped up a small amount of water.

I was hesitant but decided to try it.

"Ugh! I don't know what to do."

I poured the water into my mouth.