Peninsula: I run a bed and breakfast on Jeju Island

"Stop daydreaming, it's time to eat."

"Okay." She snapped out of her reverie, glanced down at the orange-yellow pumpkin porridge in the bowl, and picked up the spoon.

She gently blew on the steam and scooped up a mouthful.

The porridge was a little hot, so she pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth and slowly swallowed it.

"Do doves also perch there at night?" she suddenly asked.

"I guess so?" Li Ran took a bite of the steamed bun. "After all, they're incubating eggs."

"Then it shouldn't be cold, right?"

"It chose this spot itself; it certainly wouldn't choose a place that would make it uncomfortable." He took a sip of his porridge. "Besides, it has feathers; it should be quite resistant to the cold, right?"

Choi Jin-ri thought about it and realized it made sense, so she lowered her head and continued drinking her porridge.

The sea breeze outside the window made the wind chimes in the yard ring a few times, then quickly stopped.

After finishing the two bowls of porridge, Li Ran cleared away the dishes and chopsticks, then took out a tissue to wipe her hands.

"Alright, it's time to give Xiao Hei a bath."

Xiao Hei poked its head out from under the table, heard the word "bath," and slowly shrank back inside.

It lowered its head, pretending it didn't exist.

When Li Ran came out of the storage room carrying a large basin, she saw it at a glance.

"Alright, stop pretending. *sucks*"

Xiao Hei twitched its ears, but still didn't get up.

Choi Jin-ri squatted down, clapped her hands, and said, "Little Black, come here."

It raised its head, looked at her, then at Li Ran who was approaching with the basin. It seemed to feel that it had nowhere to escape, and finally stood up dejectedly, looking resigned to its fate.

"Hey! You bastard! You're such a heartless scoundrel! I've been calling you for ages, why didn't you come over?" Li Ran glanced at it.

"Hehe." Choi Jin-ri chuckled and patted its ear. "Come on, Little Black, let's go over there."

Little Black was slowly pushed into the basin.

There was some warm water in the basin beforehand. It stepped in and stomped its paws on the bottom of the basin a couple of times.

Li Ran squatted down, picked up the showerhead, tested the water temperature on the back of her hand first, and then poured it on her body.

Xiao Hei shrank its neck and looked up at them.

"Do you usually wash it yourself?" Choi Jin-ri squatted down next to him and handed him a bottle of shower gel.

"right."

He squeezed some onto his hand and started rubbing the fur on its back. "I usually wash it. Sometimes it's very obedient and does whatever you ask. Other times it's incredibly fussy."

"It was the easiest to take care of when it was a puppy." He gently tapped its head with his index finger.

Choi Jin-ri bent down to help him hold the little black dog, so it wouldn't kick around.

The foam dripped down the dog's fur and got all over her hand.

After scrubbing it once, Li Ran used the showerhead to rinse off the foam.

Its soaked fur clung to its body, and Little Black looked thinner and a bit disheveled.

"Okay." He turned off the tap and put the showerhead back.

Li Ran was about to grab a towel when Xiao Hei jumped out of the basin and then suddenly swung its body.

"Damn it!"

Li Ran covered her eyes with her palms to prevent water from splashing in.

Choi Jin-ri, who was standing next to her, was not spared either.

The two looked at each other, glanced at the water stains on each other's clothes, and smiled helplessly.

Li Ran squatted down, grabbed Xiao Hei's head with both hands, and shook it, "I'll teach you to shake it like that, I'll teach you to shake it like that..."

Little Black stuck out its tongue and rolled its eyes.

Choi Jin-ri handed him a disposable towel. "Hurry up and dry yourself off. Don't catch a cold later."

Disposable towels are placed next to the washbasin in the guesthouse. They are replenished after each use.

Li Ran nodded and took the towel.

He wrapped the little black cat in a towel and rubbed it for a long time until its fur stood on end before letting go and letting it run away.

Then he looked up and saw Choi Jin-ri rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand.

The water that Xiao Hei had just splashed onto her face was wet, and a few strands of her bangs were wet and clung softly to her skin. Even the sleeves of her clothes were a little wet.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, Hamida!" He stood up.

Choi Jin-ri smiled and waved her hand, "It's not that serious. Why did you use the strongest words right off the bat?"

"If you really want to apologize to me, just say 'Mianhee'." She still didn't forget her persona as Lee Ran's Korean language teacher.

He quickly grabbed a new disposable towel from the shelf.

"When I saw you hand me the towel, I thought you had already dried yourself."

"You could have dried it yourself first and then handed it to me!" He said, somewhat amused and exasperated, as he handed her the towel.

Choi Jin-ri pouted. "Then I should have said this towel was meant for you to use, why did you just use it on Xiao Hei?"

Li Ran scratched her eyebrows, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Choi Jin-ri dried her hair, and seeing his embarrassed state, she couldn't help but smile. "Alright, you should dry your hair too, or you'll catch a cold."

He nodded and turned his gaze to the sink.

The result was even more embarrassing.

He realized that the disposable towel he had just handed to Choi Jin-ri was the last one on the sink shelf.

Choi Jin-ri followed his gaze and noticed the situation. Seeing his face turn bright red, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Hahaha……"

Li Ran looked at her with a hint of resentment.

Generally speaking, a qualified guesthouse will definitely have enough disposable towels next to the washbasin.

Who would have thought such a coincidence would happen? The extra disposable towels are still piled up in the storage room.

It was as if an invisible hand was manipulating everything.

By this time, Choi Jin-ri had already dried her hair and face.

She glanced at the towel in her hand, then handed it to him, saying, "If you don't mind, you can use mine."

"Of course, if you prefer to use the towel that Xiao Hei left over, then never mind."

Li Ran would never use the towel Xiao Hei left behind! What if there were fleas or something...

He still took the towel from Choi Jin-ri's hand.

Choi Jin-ri was watching from the side, and he felt a little uncomfortable wiping it.

The towel was warm, still carrying the warmth of her use.

It still smells familiar.

It was the same scent he smelled on Choi Jin-ri when she leaned in to teach him Korean in the evening.

Li Ran felt she couldn't think about it any further. Otherwise, she'd look like a pervert.

Just then, Xiao Hei, who had just run away, came running back and circled around Cui Zhenli's feet twice.

It rubbed its nose against Choi Jin-ri's ankle and wagged its tail in a fawning manner.

Choi Jin-ri glanced down at it, her eyes curving into crescents.

Li Ran curled her lip beside her, "That ungrateful little thing, I've raised you for nothing."

Xiao Hei showed no reaction to his accusations and continued to rub against Choi Jin-ri's ankle, refusing to leave.

Choi Jin-ri bent down and picked it up. It didn't struggle; it slumped softly against her arm and nuzzled her neck with its nose.

"Oh." She instinctively shrank her neck.

Li Ran draped the used towel aside. "Put it down. Don't spoil it later."

Choi Jin-ri put Xiao Hei back on the ground. It bounced a couple of times, rolled over on the floor, got up, and continued running.

The two cleaned up the basin and watering can, and threw the wet towels into the laundry basket.

"Alright, that's all for tonight."

He glanced at the time; it was already past eleven o'clock at night.

"Go to sleep first." Li Ran put the basin back in the storage room.

"Goodnight." Choi Jin-ri rubbed her eyes and walked down the corridor.

"Good night."