Peninsula: I run a bed and breakfast on Jeju Island

Choi Jin-ri blinked. "So they haven't hatched yet?"

"I'm not quite sure either. I haven't checked for several days," Li Ran said somewhat awkwardly.

"When the doves hatch, remember to take a picture for me. I haven't really seen any newly hatched doves yet."

"No problem." He nodded.

Choi Jin-ri blinked and waved at Lee Ran, "Shall I hang up now?"

"Okay." He nodded again.

After hanging up the phone, Li Ran turned off her phone screen and walked outside.

He really needs to go and check on the situation of the turtledoves.

Don't look back, or one day everything will slip away without him even knowing.

After all, Choi Jin-ri had previously said that they have high requirements for environmental safety, and the fact that they can build their nests here means that they feel safe and fortunate here.

He went into the tomato greenhouse and took a look.

The area around the barrier was quiet; two doves huddled in their nest, rubbing against each other.

Li Ran walked a little closer and glanced into the bird's nest.

There were originally two bird eggs, but one had been moved and was now trapped under the body of a large spotted dove.

The other one disappeared.

Instead, a fledgling bird was introduced.

The baby dove's feathers hadn't grown in yet; its skin was wrinkled, and its beak was yellowish.

Its head was disproportionately large to its body, and it was huddled in the withered grass, its eyes still closed.

Has a baby dove already hatched?

Li Ran blinked.

Then the other egg will probably hatch soon.

He took out his phone, turned the screen brightness to the lowest setting, moved closer, and took a picture of the bird's nest.

After taking the photo, he took two steps back and looked at it.

It's a bit blurry, probably because of the distance and the lighting wasn't good enough.

He glanced at the bird's nest and put his phone back in his pocket.

He left the tomato shed.

They're incubating their eggs there, and he's just standing there watching, which is disruptive.

Back inside, he opened Kaoktalk and sent the photo he had just taken to Choi Jin-ri.

About a minute later, Choi Jin-ri sent a voice message.

"These...they've hatched?! Is that wrinkled baby dove? Why aren't its eyes open yet? What about the other one? Has it not hatched yet?"

Her voice message was only about twenty seconds long, but she asked several questions.

Li Ran replied in voice message: "I don't know exactly when it hatched. After you mentioned it, I went to the tomato greenhouse and saw it."

"The other baby dove should be coming soon too. Speaking of which, newly hatched doves are really ugly. They're all wrinkled and not pretty at all."

"That's how they look right after birth! No one is born beautiful!"

Upon hearing Choi Jin-ri's voice message, Lee Ran smiled and said, "That's true. But I suddenly remembered the babies I've seen in TV dramas before; they were all so fair and clean."

"That's because it's inconvenient to film newborns. We usually use slightly older babies. Otherwise, if something happens, no one can bear the responsibility."

Li Ran nodded, it seemed so.

He glanced at the time and realized it was already 4:09.

Sleepiness suddenly washed over him, and he yawned.

Time for lunch break.

Although it was already afternoon, he didn't have to go to work, so afternoon was still afternoon.

I'm a little sleepy, I'm going to bed.

[good.]

Li Ran put her phone on the bedside table, drew the curtains, and flopped onto the bed.

The bedroom curtains were double-layered, but Li Ran only drew one layer.

Orange light streamed in, falling on the floor tiles and casting a long shadow.

He closed his eyes, but his mind was still on the little dove.

It was all wrinkled, its eyes were closed, and its head was ridiculously big.

I don't know how it crawled out of the egg.

He drifted off into thought for a moment, then his mind drifted from the turtledove to the vase that Choi Jin-ri had given him.

That vase was made by her own hands.

Why send it over? Wouldn't it be better to just keep it at home?

Is it simply because the guesthouse's living room felt empty?

I wonder what the flowers she sent looked like.

As he pondered, drowsiness returned, and his consciousness gradually blurred.

Li Ran has a unique way of sleeping.

He has some difficulty falling asleep; any noise he hears will distract him, making it difficult for him to fall asleep.

But once he falls asleep, he sleeps very soundly and deeply.

He won't be woken up unless firecrackers are set off right next to his ear.

So whenever he needs to set an alarm, he turns the alarm up to the maximum volume and places it next to his pillow.

"Ding-dong~"

As Li Ran fell asleep, his phone, which was charging, lit up and displayed a message.

[I might be going home a little late today. The director has new filming schedules. I'm not sure what time I'll be back, so why don't you cook for yourself first? I'll show off my skills next time.]

It was sent by Lee Ji-eun.

Li Ran, unaware of the situation, remained fast asleep.

……

When Li Ran woke up, the room was already quite dark.

He stared at the ceiling for a while, still a little dazed.

He turned to the side, picked up his phone, and glanced at the time; it was already 7:23.

At the same time, he also saw Lee Ji-eun's message.

He slept for about three hours.

Li Ran sat up and tidied her slightly messy hair.

He sat on the edge of the bed for a while before his mind slowly started to work.

Time to cook.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face and wake himself up, then went to the kitchen.

There's some leftover tofu from yesterday in the fridge. I'll fry an egg and add it to the leftover rice from breakfast to make fried rice. It'll be just right.

He was squatting down and rummaging through the refrigerator when he heard a noise coming from the yard gate.

Then came the sound of Little Black running around.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

Lee Ji-eun is back.

Little Black eagerly circled around her.

He took out the tofu and eggs, then casually closed the refrigerator door.

The footsteps grew closer and then stopped at the kitchen doorway.

"You haven't eaten yet?"

Lee Ji-eun stood at the door, looking at him with some surprise.

She sent the message at 4:30, and it's already past 7:20 now.

In other words, he waited for almost three hours?

When this thought popped into her head, Lee Ji-eun herself felt a little strange.

After acting for a long time and reading many scripts, her first thought was that idol dramas would always end with a line like "I'm afraid you'll go hungry."

But reality is not an idol drama.

Her relationship with Li Ran doesn't seem to have progressed to that point.

But he didn't reply to that message, and the refrigerator remained closed, untouched...

Before the complex emotions she was feeling could settle, she heard him speak.

"Hmm. What about you? Didn't the crew provide meals?"

"I don't care, it's the same as not eating at all." She paused for a moment, "I messaged you and told you to eat first."

"I saw it."

"..."

Lee Ji-eun didn't say anything. She came in, put her bag on the back of the chair, and went to the sink to wash her hands.

"How long did you wait?"

Li Ran paused for a moment while cutting the tofu.

"I fell asleep. I just woke up."

"what?"

She turned around and glanced at him.

"So you weren't waiting for me, you just happened to get up to cook, and then I just happened to come back?"

"right."

Lee Ji-eun was silent for two seconds.

I don't know what it feels like. Maybe it's a sense of relief, or something else, I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Okay then."