Eat The World Tree

I must excel.

If I didn’t , it simply wouldn’t suffice.

What kind of person did that make me?

“…as the disciple of my master.”

The top disciple of Cheondo, the Young Demon.

Did she realize?

That the Cheonma I referred to was not an elderly man, but her. To me, Cheondo had always been the sole Cheonma.

The younger master probably wouldn’t fully grasp what I was saying.

But that’s irrelevant.

Cheondo, while maintaining the embrace, shared her candid thoughts.

Yet, for some reason, she drew even closer.

Cheondo buried her face in my clothes and tightened her arms around me further.

With shoulders trembling like the legs of a newborn deer, I silently patted her back.

Tap tap - with each pat on the back, a dizzying breath escaped from Cheondo’s nose.

The scent of peach blossoms filled my nostrils.

“Still, thank you.”

Not long after, Cheondo, having stepped out of my embrace, looked directly at me and smiled.

“Really.”

Despite her youthful appearance, her face was beautifully sculpted.

Initially, I intended to say that I had no intention of becoming Cheonma here.

But seeing her smiling face, it seemed unnecessary.

No matter her age, Cheondo was still Cheondo. Her way of dismissing and overcoming emotions appeared too beautiful in my eyes.

When I inadvertently reached out to stroke her head, Cheondo lightly pushed my hand away.

“You were trying to touch me again.”

Hearing that made me feel like I had become a pervert.

Since she mentioned it, I might as well touch her.

Grabbing the hand that pushed mine away with one hand, I roughly stroked her head.

“Ouch.”

Resistance was futile.

As soon as my hand touched her head, her bewildered expression was adorable.

I shouldn’t look at my teacher with such eyes.

If this were the real Cheondo, she would have scolded me.

But it’s impossible not to be fond of her.

I had no intention of denying my feelings.

After all, she had disappeared once in the future and managed to elude me.

Even if I can’t alter the future, I wanted to share deeper emotions with her until that time comes.

“…Brother.”

“Hm?”

“Your face looks scary.”

It seems my expression had changed while I was lost in thought.

Lately, I had found it difficult to discern what my expression looked like.

Sometimes, I didn’t appear to be smiling even when I was.

And there were times when I believed I was expressionless but was actually smiling.

Ever since I glimpsed the future with the aid of the World Tree of Time, I had felt somewhat disjointed.

“Ah… don’t hold me. I’m not a doll…”

I embraced Cheondo again and closed my eyes.

When I pulled the hesitant Cheondo towards me, she yielded easily.

The warmth felt in my arms conjured an image of my expression in my mind.

I was smiling.

“Why did you come into the room again?”

I found myself greeting Cheondo in her room, having not parted ways on my way home from work.

“It’s always been like this.”

“Didn’t I tell you there’s no need to come? Brother Dowon.”

“If brother wants to, I have to let him in, right?”

Cheondo sighed as she removed her outer garment.

“…At least let me change my clothes. I just came back from training; don’t I smell like sweat?”

Sweat smell.

Sometimes women claimed their sweat smelled like flowers, but from experience, that’s entirely untrue.

Of course, that applied to humans, not to tree people.

The scent of each tree person varied greatly, but not all were unpleasant.

Unless it’s a chestnut tree.

Where would the scent of peach blossoms be unpleasant?

Even in death, the scent of peach blossoms was coveted.

“Not at all? I actually like it.”

“Brother, that’s kind of disgusting.”

Cheondo stuck out her tongue, her voice dripping with sincerity.

“Anyway, get out! I’m going to change.”

“I’ll turn my back.”

“Really, brother… Sigh. Just turn around quickly.”

As I turned around, the sound of a belt being loosened filled the air.

“Brother Dowon.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t take today’s words to heart too much.”

“What words?”

-The sound of damp underwear being pulled down.

“You asked what you know about me, remember? It wasn’t true. I didn’t mean it.”

“I don’t think it was wrong.”

It’s been a little over a month since we met here.

Then, it’s natural for such words to come out.

I was friendly to the current Cheondo because I know her, but she didn’t know that.

“Even so, you shouldn’t speak to your brother like that.”

“If I say it’s okay, then it is.”

“It’s stubbornness. If you think everything is okay, one day you might really cross the line. Like today did.”

Such a tender heart.

The current Cheondo tended not to express her thoughts or feelings.

Suddenly, my heart felt ticklish, and I let out a laugh.

My eyes, looking towards the bed, caught sight of an object.

An earpick on the nightstand.

Without thinking, I reached out and brought it to my eye.

“…Shall I do it for you?”

Cheondo, already changed into her clothes, said, looking at the earpick in my hand.

“Will you?”

“If you want. It feels nice to have someone else do it.”

I didn’t remember ever receiving it from someone else.

My father was not the type to do such a thing, and my mother wasn’t very expressive with affection either.

“If you’re offering, I’ll accept.”

I nodded.

Cheondo took the earpick from my hand, then stretched out comfortably on the bed and patted her thigh.

I laid my head down on the outside of it.

“Stay still. Brother.”

Her soft, delicate hand enveloped my cheek.

The shadow of little Cheondo’s head loomed over mine.

The ticklish sensation entering my ear.

It was both ticklish and refreshing.

“If it hurts, let me know. I often did it for Baekdo and Hwangdo… but it’s my first time with a man. It might be different.”

A sound near my ear, kuk, kuk.

My whole body twitched whenever a sensitive spot was touched.

“Did the three of you often play together in the past?”

“Of course. We’re sisters. The master was very kind back then.”

A kind old man. That fierce face was kind?

That Cheonma, with a face marred by scars, smiling fondly at his daughters.

It’s almost scary enough to suspect ulterior motives.

I couldn’t imagine it at all.

“That’s unbelievable.”

Cheondo giggled honestly at my words.

“He was only strict during training. That’s why we hated training. The master would get angry only during training. But before that… he always smiled.”

“He smiled?”

“When the peach blossoms bloomed in April, he would always make necklaces and hand them over. Then the master would smile and thank us, patting our heads. Now that I think about it, it’s around this time that the peach blossoms bloom.”

The more I heard about Cheondo’s past, the less I understood her father.

The Cheonma of the past.

If he was truly kind, why was he like that now?

Because he knew he’s going to die soon? That would make sense.

Seeing how that old man, who didn’t show any expression to Cheondo, sometimes laughed at me asking if I was crazy, it seemed plausible.

Since he’s going to die soon anyway, maybe he’s preparing for it.

Like an old woman teaching her husband how to cook.

“Does it feel cool?”

“It’s nice. It’s my first time receiving this.”

Scratching inside the ear felt good. And the blowing of the wind was quite pleasant too.

“Then the other side. Turn around quickly.”

As I turned over, I saw Cheondo’s belly.

It really felt good.

I should do this for Shiba later.

-Swish, swish.

“Ah, it’s Wang Geon. Pfft.”

Cheondo’s careless laughter.

Hearing it, I snorted without realizing it.

Her hand was still warm, and her thigh had a similar warmth.

“Oh right. Do you want to go out somewhere later? With Baekdo and Hwangdo.”

When I asked something I had been thinking about for a while, Cheondo’s moving hand suddenly stopped.

“Out? Won’t it take a lot of time?”

“Forgot about my ability?”

“That sudden appearance thing? If it’s that, it might be okay.”

“We might just eat and come back. Pork ribs.”

“Just hearing the name makes it sound delicious.”

Cheondo’s hand started moving again.

The earpick scratching coolly inside my ear.

Her hand, wrapped around my cheek softly, moved down to my chin.

“Did you think of me?”

“Thought Baekdo and Hwangdo would like it too.”

“It’s been so long since I talked to them. Wouldn’t it be awkward?”

“If it’s the three of you, there won’t be any awkwardness.”

“…Really?”

Of course. They would end up liking each other as if they were one body.

Cheondo then took the earpick out of my ear and lightly tapped my cheek.

It seemed like a signal to get up, so I lifted my head.

Then Cheondo stared at the earpick she was holding and glanced at me.

“Brother Dowon.”

“Hm?”

“My ears feel a bit itchy too.”

Chuckle.

It seemed that it was time to return the favor.

Taking the earpick and sitting cross-legged, Cheondo gently laid her head on my thigh.

“…It’s not your first time, right?”

“I’ve done it a few times.”

I had never received it, but I had done it for my younger cousins.

Sometimes they would cry out loud if I touched the wrong spot. I had to be careful not to hurt them.

Cheondo didn’t extend her ear yet. Lying on my thigh, she looked up at me.

“Can I trust you?”

“Try it. You won’t be satisfied with anyone else’s hand in your lifetime.”

“Hmm, then let’s try.”

As ordered.

I carefully started scratching the inside of Cheondo’s ear with the earpick.

Holding her shoulder or cheek slowly. Gently, so as not to hurt her.

Thinking about the old days made my shoulders tense.

At first, Cheondo was a bit tense, but as time passed, she started to smile faintly, feeling good.

“Brother, it feels good.”

“Right?”

Doing it for the cousin kids was really annoying.

But now, Cheondo was enjoying having her ears cleaned while lying on my legs.

Such a boring experience has come back around.

-Tingling.

Suddenly, my leg tingled.

It felt like hair being pulled out!

Surprised, I saw Cheondo playing around, her gaze fixed on my leg.

“…Did I scare you? Kukuku.”

“You really startled me.”

Cheondo’s pranks didn’t stop there.

She tickled my feet, circled her fingers around my shinbone, and poked the top of my foot with her fingernails.

I couldn’t bear the childish pranks any longer and smacked her forehead.

-Smack!

“…Ouch! Hahaha.”

Even after being hit, she continued to laugh.

Her pranks were annoying, but her smile was so cute that I unwittingly forgave her, despite her being a dangerous person.

Cheondo, lying comfortably, muttered as if it was truly strange.

“It’s fascinating. Being next to you, I feel at ease.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s like… we’ve known each other for a long time.”

Though it hadn’t even been a year.

Of course, the depth of human relationships couldn’t be measured by time alone.

Especially with Cheondo, I felt we had shared deeper experiences than I had with anyone else.

Since the time we both risked our lives entering the dungeon, the duration of our acquaintance ceased to matter.

She’s the only one who knew everything about my past.

“Brother.”

Cheondo initiated the conversation.

“You know, that thing you said before. About what you know about me.”

“Still on about that?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Tap tap. Cheondo tapped my thigh.

I removed the earpick, and Cheondo turned to face me fully.

“That… to not hear that again from you. Maybe we should start getting to know each other better. For a long time…”

Her cheeks slowly turned red.

At first, I was puzzled but then roughly understood her intentions and chuckled in response.

“How long?”

“The longer, the better.”

“What do you mean?”

Caught off guard by the question, Cheondo’s eyes widened.

Wanting to know each other for a long time can have different implications depending on the listener.

“…!!”

Realizing what it might sound like, Cheondo, her ears red, hit my chest.

“It’s not in a weird way! Really, brother. Wow… Did you think that?”

“Kukuku.”

“Don’t laugh. Don’t smirk like that, really.”

“I’m glad you’re being honest, sis.”

“Sis? As if. You’re so silly.”

Rolling.

Cheondo rolled off my thigh onto the bed and immediately threw a pillow at me.

Her flushed face was quite a sight.

Cheondo, as if denying her thoughts, pounced on me.

Just what I wanted. As we started a pillow fight, time flew by quickly, and the moon waned.

Even as Cheondo attacked with vigor, right at 9 o’clock, as if a switch had been flipped, she showed a sleepy expression and slowly closed her eyes in my arms.

A well-behaved child at bedtime.

Cheondo fell asleep like a child, completely wrapping her arms and legs around my upper body.

‘Should I sing a lullaby for the island baby?’

The baby falls asleep, soundly~

Next to the sleeping Cheondo, I just covered us with a blanket.

Afraid to move lest she wakes up,

I gently patted Cheondo’s back, smiling contentedly.

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