Gio continued resting for quite some time afterward.
“What on earth do you do inside your Portrait?”
“I eat meals.”
“What else?”
“I sleep.”
“What else…?”
“I paint.”
“Oh.”
Yoo Seongwoon, who had come because he was worried about the Portrait, asked,
“What are you painting?”
“I paint many things, but most of them are food.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
Just how much more was he planning to eat in there?
“Don’t you already have enough crops inside your Portrait? Juhyeon and I have obtained most ordinary ingredients for you. But you’re telling me there are still more things to eat—enough that you’re even painting them into existence….”
“While looking into it, I learned that chickpeas had gone extinct on Earth.”
“So you’re personally painting an extinct ingredient into existence just so you can eat it? Am I understanding this correctly?”
“You understand very well.”
“What—what in the world…?”
Yoo Seongwoon hesitated.
“…Can I come take a look?”
“Your visits are always welcome.”
Extinct plants from Earth, restored by the Source. Even Yoo Seongwoon, who earned a salary as a Curator and dutifully paid his taxes, could not help but be tempted. In the end, Yoo Seongwoon visited the Portrait and then emerged again.
In his hand was a bag of freshly harvested chickpeas.
“I don’t think chickpeas are ordinarily supposed to be anywhere near…