Chapter 61: Not Bad

This morning, when Hamoyin took her to the river to bathe, he brought a lot of cooking supplies. However, the ingredients were roots he dug up nearby or fruits he picked, so it looked like a picnic, but it was actually because there wasn’t enough food stored at home. But Nagu still mentally defined it as a picnic; otherwise, the bright sunshine and clear river water would be wasted. She hadn’t eaten Hamoyin’s cooking for a long time. She held a small wooden bowl, continuously stuffing the soft, cooked roots into her mouth. The coarse but satisfying taste made Nagu extremely happy, especially with Hamoyin sitting beside her.

This long-lost feeling of relaxation and satisfaction… Nagu sighed after finishing her bowl, “Is there more? I’m still a bit hungry.”

Hamoyin lifted the large stone bowl used for cooking and poured the last bit of mush into Nagu’s bowl, “I’ll dig some more later; there should be more nearby.”

“No, it’s okay,” Nagu mumbled with a mouthful of food, “I should be full after this.”

“Okay.”

However, after finishing the last bowl, Nagu realized she had spoken too soon. This body had reached the peak of hunger, and no matter what she ate, it didn’t feel enough. If conditions allowed, she felt she could swallow a whole live animal: “Um, Hamoyin.”

“What’s wrong?” Hamoyin was carving the end of a stick with a knife. He turned to look at Nagu holding the empty bowl, “Still hungry?”

“…A bit.” Nagu felt she should be blushing, but fortunately, her current skin tone was light brown, so the blush shouldn’t be noticeable. “Are we going to eat here tonight before going back?”

“We’ll go back after I check the traps around here this afternoon.” Hamoyin stood up, holding several sharpened sticks, and walked towards the river, “I’ll catch some fish.”

Nagu quickly put down her bowl and followed behind Hamoyin, “I’ll help, too.”

“Okay.”

She was then given two slightly longer pointed sticks, “I’ll kick the water over there to drive the fish towards you. You wait downstream.” Saying this, Nagu walked towards the center of the river, but Hamoyin quickly pulled her back.

“It’s too deep there; you won’t be able to stand.”

“I can stand!”

Hamoyin thought for a moment and let her go. Soon, he saw the girl awkwardly wading back, “I forgot, I seem to have gotten shorter.”

“Yes.” Seeing the expression on Nagu’s face, Hamoyin couldn’t help but laugh. He brushed away a few strands of waterweed stuck to Nagu’s arm, “Wait here beside me. If you see any fish, try to catch them.”

“You’re laughing at me…” Although his smile was cute and handsome, it made her feel embarrassed. Nagu nervously fiddled with the stick in her hand, “I didn’t want to get shorter.”

Mentioning this, Nagu started touching her cheeks again. She always felt that Hamoyin would think she was someone else. Appearance was something that could be ignored… but sometimes it was really crucial.

Seeing the girl in front of him starting to care about her body again, Hamoyin silently held the hand she still had on her cheek, “Don’t worry about it.”

“?” Nagu looked at Hamoyin in confusion, then blankly at her hand being held, “I don’t want to worry about it, but… you must find this appearance very strange, and it’s not my original look.”

“As long as it’s you.” Hamoyin gently squeezed Nagu’s hand, looking seriously into her eyes, “Nothing else matters.”

Even though half her body was soaked in the cool river water, Nagu felt like she was about to be cooked. Those simple words felt like a torch had been thrust into her chest. If not for her remaining rationality, she would have screamed, “Re-really?”

“Yes.”

Nagu couldn’t help it anymore. Dizzy, she started to rub against Hamoyin’s chest, trying to get a hug. Naturally, she was smoothly embraced by the man: “I won’t care so much in the future, as long as you can recognize me.”

“Okay.” After holding her for a while, Hamoyin reluctantly let go of Nagu. She was so thin, all bones, that he needed to catch more food for her in the coming days. “Let’s catch some fish, you’re still hungry.”

“Then I’ll catch them here.” Nagu took a few steps back in the water, raising her stick. Since she wanted to eat, she had to catch at least one fish herself. “You go a bit further ahead?”

“Don’t go to the deep water.” Hamoyin advised her twice before starting to walk upstream, but he didn’t go far. He estimated a distance where he could quickly reach Nagu if needed, then began to watch the dense water plants at the bottom of the river.

Nagu had never caught fish like this before, so she was observing how Hamoyin did it. He just stood still, holding the stick and staring at the water. After a few minutes, Nagu saw Hamoyin’s wrist move.

The next second, his stick was thrown diagonally into the river with the speed and force of an arrow.

Nagu: “…”

The stick pierced the water and floated up a few seconds later, with a large struggling fish impaled on its sharp end.

Hamoyin took the fish off the stick, tied it with a dry grass rope, and hung it on his waist. Then he resumed his fishing stance, watching the water.

Could she throw the stick into the water like that? Probably not. Nagu looked at her pointed stick in silence, no wonder Hamoyin gave her a long one, probably just for poking…

Suddenly, Nagu noticed something stirring the water plants in her peripheral vision. Was it a fish escaping from Hamoyin’s commotion upstream?

Excited, she raised her stick and thrust it down: “…”

Nothing, except for splashing water on her face. Frustrated, Nagu stood up, adjusted her stance, and continued to observe. But even after Hamoyin caught five fish, she still had none.

Nagu walked back to the shore, dejected. Hamoyin was already there, cleaning the fish and stringing them on a stick.

“What’s wrong?” Hamoyin looked up at the disheartened Nagu. “I didn’t catch any…” This sense of failure was long forgotten. Back in the village, she didn’t need to do much, just cook simple meals and fetch water. They ate what others brought or traded at the market. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I caught them.” Hamoyin, unaware of Nagu’s worries, just showed her the five fish he caught. “They’re all yours.”

“That’s not what I meant…” Nagu felt even more embarrassed. “I wanted to help catch at least one because I wanted to eat, so I shouldn’t let you do all the work.”

Hamoyin thought about it. To him, providing food for Nagu was natural, so he didn’t understand why she felt troubled about not helping. He gave her the stick just to keep her from getting bored, letting her play in the water.

But Nagu seemed to care a lot about not being able to help. She had always been like this. Hamoyin silently considered how to respond. Finally, he chose between “I’ll catch for you” and “I’ll teach you to fish”: “Next time we come to the river, I’ll teach you to fish.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Nagu’s smile, Hamoyin knew he had chosen the right answer, and his mood improved: “Let’s eat the fish, let’s grill a few.”

“Three!”

In the end, Nagu ate all five fish. She leaned against Hamoyin’s shoulder, dazed: “I think I’m finally full.” She yawned right after saying that.

“Sleepy?” Since Nagu was leaning on him, Hamoyin stayed by the fire.

“Take a nap.”

“I’m not sleepy.” Nagu rubbed her belly and yawned again. “Besides, you need to check the traps later, I can’t sleep now.”

“It’s still early, we can check them after you wake up.”

“Really…” But eating and then sleeping felt too much like a pig. Nagu hesitated, looking at Hamoyin’s profile. Then she realized that sleeping now meant “sleeping on Hamoyin.”

“Then, I’ll sleep for a bit?” Nagu quickly changed her expression and clung to Hamoyin. “Will you hold me while I sleep?”

“Okay.” Hamoyin then held Nagu in his arms, letting her find a comfortable position against his chest. “Sleep.”

Nagu wasn’t very sleepy at first, but now, surrounded by Hamoyin’s slightly cool body temperature, she started to feel drowsy: “If I sleep too long, wake me up, okay?”

“Yes.”

Satisfied with the answer, she snuggled into Hamoyin’s arms and closed her eyes. She thought she would wake up after a short nap, but when she opened her eyes again, she was no longer by the sunny river but inside the treehouse with a fire burning.

Hamoyin was sitting by the fire, drying wet animal skins.

Nagu sat up abruptly, feeling disoriented from sleeping too long. It felt like everything by the river was just a dream: “How long did I sleep?”

Hamoyin turned his head at the sound: “Not long.”

Nagu looked silently at the dark rainforest outside the window. This was “not long”?