Gentle Forest

Chapter 45

2 months later

I woke up to untimely nagging. I was on bench where the brisk autumn breeze gently blew. Squinting under the sunlight, I straightened my body. Minhyuk, who appeared at that moment, looked down at me with a teacher-like posture, covered with the scent of toothpaste.

"Do you know Uncle has noticed you're skipping lunch?"

"No. Obviously, he wouldn't know."

"Do you want to turn into a skeleton? Your cheeks have sunken in!"

Just the thought of rice made my stomach churn for the past few days. It wasn't unusual for my appetite to wane with changing seasons. However, the act of throwing up what I ate was too painful, so I tended to skip lunch whenever possible.

"It's better than throwing up."

"What's wrong with your stomach? Is it queasy like motion sickness?"

The sports field was dusty, so I sought the wooded backyard with plenty of trees and grass. Minhyuk treated me like a juvenile delinquent while trying to catch me. Even if he said there was nowhere else to go, he still came here bustlingly. Why did he come complaining so inconveniently about finding fault? Skipping one lunch wouldn't kill me.

"No, it's not that. Ah, my stomach just feels twisted. Like my insides are flipping."

"Then go to the hospital!"

"I can't stand the hospital smell, you know."

"How about Medicine?"

"I hate that too..."

As the pungent scent of sanitizer and various colored pills came to mind, nausea overwhelmed me. I covered my hands over the white mask and bent my waist like a wilted flower.

"Ugh... don't bring up medicine. That's unpleasant too."

"All these complaints, and you're still collapsing."

Minhyuk, who delivered a cold remark, pressed my forehead, urging me to straighten up. While I struggled to catch my breath, he brought the back of his hand to my cheek, checking my temperature. It turned out Minhyuk was the one experiencing distress, not me.

"You seem to have a fever. Anyway, you're acting really strange."

"Why, afraid I caught some deadly disease?"

"Stop making dirty words sound pretty."

"It's fine. It's not the first or second time this has happened."

I pushed away Minhyuk's hand and lay back on the bench. An uncomfortable gaze lingered on me for a few seconds. Minhyuk quickly changed his attitude and asked if he should buy some bread.

"It's okay. I'm fine."

Coming to the backyard was partly to avoid the smell of food, but in reality, I had a different motive. Rather than facing criticism about my health, I preferred to secretly enjoy rendezvous with Aiden. Our long-distance relationship, touchable or untouchable, was precious in these brief moments, and I didn't want any interruptions.

"Aren't you going?"

"I'll go."

Minhyuk made a pouty face as he looked at me waving my hand in protest. To reassure him, I added a plausible excuse.

"I'd rather starve now than not be able to eat in front of my dad."

"It's not like I'm asking you to eat an extra meal. Is that so hard?"

"Eating lunch makes my stomach feel worse, and then I really can't eat dinner."

Perhaps my excuse seemed reasonable because Minhyuk finally nodded, his sharp gaze still present, but his body turning to leave suggested he was genuinely convinced.