[Don’t worry, Mom. I'll take good care of it.]
Eun-seo held her hand tightly and swore, but her mother eventually died without even closing her eyes.
The tree became Eun-seo’s responsibility as she was left alone. Eun-seo took care of it as her mother had done, and eventually she felt as if Eun-ho would return when the tree bear fruit.
But if the tree was supposed to bear fruit in three years at the earliest and five years at the latest, but no matter how much time passed, the tree did not bear fruit. The stems are thick and the leaves are lush, but no flowers have bloomed, let alone fruit.
Eun-seo waited and waited and waited. Three years ago, she took it to an arborist for a checkup. After examining the angle of the sunlight and the condition of the soil, the arborist's eyes lingered on the bags of fertilizer at the entrance of the yard.
(T/N: An arborist, tree surgeon, or (less commonly) arboriculturist, is a professional in the practice of arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants.)
[You provided too much fertilizer.]
The diagnosis results were disappointing.
[If the soil is too fertile, the tree will only grow tall and produce a lot of leaves, not flowers. And if it doesn't bloom, it won't bear fruit].
[Ah......!]
Eun-seo couldn't keep her mouth shut. The problem was that she kept fertilizing it because she thought the problem was it didn't have enough nutrients.
[You just have to starve for a few years and wait.]
Over the next two years, the thick tree finally bloomed for the first time this spring. She was ecstatic as the scent of apple blossoms wafted through the yard, but only the flowers bloomed and no fruit formed, so Eun-seo sought advice from an arborist again.
This time it was bees.
[It's a common occurrence in the metropolitan area: a tree doesn't bear fruit because there aren't enough bees to pollinate it.]
Except for this house, all the surrounding buildings were tall, so it was no surprise.
So, Eun-seo learned how to artificially pollinate with a brush in advance and was just waiting for next year to come.
But before spring came............
Eun-seo stroked the thick trunk of the apple tree as the leaves fell off one by one.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
Eun-seo is twenty-seven years old. But she has never been in a relationship, worn pretty clothes, or go to play anywhere.
While other children her age held their parents' hands and went to amusement parks, Eun-seo followed her mother to prayer houses and daycare centers all over the country.
After her mother died, she continued to search for his brother alone. When other people were in relationship, Eun-seo took any part-time job she could find, using the money to print flyers and make banners.
All the efforts of those many years were trampled on by Kwon Seung-ju in an instant. With a nonchalant expression, as if stepping on an ant to death.
[If he wanted to come back, he would have already returned.]
When Eun-seo remembered his cold tone, her eyes quickly became tearful.
Being alone allowed me to be more honest. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't excited while watching Kwon Seung-ju from afar.
It wasn't just because of his good looks.
When she first met him one night two years ago, he seemed to be in the same state as she was. Lonely like her, hurted like her.
It looked painful.
Even if it was an illusion, it's true that he was very disheveled that day. To think that she have ever seen the weak side of that shrewd man.
Eun-seo felt a little bit special.
Eun-seo can't believe that the person she thought she loved was actually such a cruel person.
[He's probably dead.]
The assertive tone of his voice stayed with me.
Even now, every weekend, Eun-seo would go out on the streets and hand out flyers looking for missing people. Some people avoided her, others threw them away as soon as they received them, but there were many who said, "You'll find him," and "Keep up the good work", and so on.
she said a quick hello and got off at the next floor, not knowing what to do.
When his name comes out of someone else's mouth, she finds herself embarrassed for no reason.
"...I feel stupid."
Leaning against the apple tree, which was now much taller than she was, Eun-seo cried a little.
*
"The meeting is over."
After Eun-seo left the office, Seung-ju sat blankly for a while.
"......"
A shadow of bitterness falls over his previously impassive face.
After a while, Seung-ju chuckled to himself, untied his tie and threw it in the trash. This was not something he usually did.
"President, why are you throwing away your new tie..."
The secretary who had just walked in asked in surprise at the sight. Without turning his head, Seung-ju replied.
"Take it and throw it away.”
Join my Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/N2h5ghF7Q7
Follow me on X (Twitter): https://x.com/harukitakashima?t=3i1oDzSJKPTSMILNN6aNWQ&s=09