Chapter 29:

It was Lee Gyu-baek, a 7-year-old boy, who had just entered elementary school.

“Now I can tell the difference between a large twenty-eight-spotted ladybug and an ordinary twenty-eight-spotted ladybug by myself. This summer I will catch the Chinese star-fat fly and study it.”

As always, Gyu-baek rambled on about his knowledge rather than a ‘hello’. The child took a seat, took out a book on insects and started reading.

There were two good news. One, first tournament criteria for the Hwaidome Project was revealed. Second, the insect doctor had finally visited the hospital after a long time.

Lee-yeon waved at the child and turned back to hercomputer. A total of 50 companies participated in an open screening. Among them, the first opponent of Spruce Hospital was Green Tree Hospital, which she knew a lot about.

The hospital was considered stable in many ways, including skills, reputation, and career. Judging from the objective management indicators, Spruce Hospital has a long way to go to be compared with Green Tree Hospital.

“So, what’s the first tournament about?” asked Choo-ja, walkingup to her.

“Pruning.”

“They’ve been makingsuch a fuss about this contest that I thought the first challenge would be a difficult one. But… pruning? Really? That’s a piece of cake! Do you want me to clean the scissors for you?”

“I know. But the thing is….”

“What?”

“The tree is 30 meters tall.”

Chho-ja and Lee-yeon looked at each other and fell silent. The problem was that the tree was as high as a ten-storey building. It seemed that the city of Hwayang had saved the complicated cases just for this public contests.

Lee-yeon looked intently at the picture attached to the email. A deformed, narrowly bent branch of the tree was stretching out to the road.If it broke, it would be a disaster. It could fall on the cars driving below and cause a terrible accident.

“Wait, what does this mean?” Choo-ja frowned, reading the email. “You can’t use a ladder-truck?”

By making the situation complicated, the organizers had made their intention clear. “Looks like we will have to climb the tree by ourselves.”

The test seemed to be focused on the stamina of the tree doctors. The tree doctor’s job was physically demanding and they often had to climb trees to perform surgeries. The test was targeted to see if the tree doctors were dedicated and unafraid to do just that.

“But even if you can climbthat tree, the branches might not withstand the weight of a person!” said Choo-ja. She was right. Climbing such a tall tree and pruning it wasn’t going to be easy. Lee-yeon glanced at Gyu-baek, who had walked up to the door to Lee-yeon’s room.

“Wait!” said Lee-yeon, “You can’t go in there!”

Lee-yeon ran to stop him but the child was faster. He turned the door-knob and entered her room. Silence fell. A man was lying on Lee-yeon’s bed. The curtains to her room was closed. His pale skin and eyelashes looked as though frozen.

“Never seen an insect like this before.” Gyu-baek widened his eyes and mumbled. The child’s eyes twinkled at the unexpected sight. Then, he carefully pulled down the blanket covering the man.

“This male insect consists of a head, torso, and legs, and boasts a perfect body with his two arms and two legs.” Gyu-Baek spoke as if he was writing down an entry in anencyclopedia. It was Gyu-baek’s own way of making sense of strangers.

“It is characterized by its length longer than the bed, large hands and feet, and a sharp nose.” Gyu-baek said, touching his nose bridge. “The male genitalia—”

“Stop, stop!” Lee-yeon pulled the child out of the room and closed the door. Gyu-baek looked up at Lee-yeon with bright eyes filled with curiosity.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Male enters the female’s nest to spend estrus with her or guard their eggs. Animal Encyclopedia, page one hundred and ninety-three.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lee-yeon coughed and scratched the back of her neck. “I told you it’s not like that.”

“You caught the male and stuffed him.”

“What?!”

“That male… he is a rare species.”

Confused, Lee-yeon looked at Gyu-baek without a word. “I like the shape of the male. He looks cool. With his strength and body, he’ll be a good hunter. His teeth are hard. His legs are strong.”

Gyu-Baek’s eyes twinkled with excitement. Lee-yeon let out a long, weary sigh. “Gyu-baek, he’s not rare but dangerous.”

“Strong males are inherently dangerous.”

Not knowing what to say, Lee-yeon rubbed her forehead. Gyu-baek didn’t stop his annoying chatter. “The male doesn’t wake up. He sleeps even during the day. You only like plants. Therefore, you probably caught him by using poison.”

Lee-yeon shook her head. She opened the living room curtains to ventilate the overheated room. A scream escaped her mouth. Hwang Jo-yoon was at the window, climbing it like an insect and trying to look inside. He cheeks were pressed against the window glass. She gathered herself from the shock and opened the window.

“What in hell are you doing here?”

“Lee-yeon.” Hwang Jo-yoon looked at Lee-yeon sadly. “I saw a kid going into your house.”

“So?”

Hwang Jo-yoon glanced over Lee-yeon’s shoulder. Gyu-baek looked at him and started writing down in his encyclopedia again.

“This male, which consists of a head, belly, and legs, has a very strange shape. He doesn’t look good,” muttered Gyu-baek.

“Gyu-baek.” Lee-yeon tried to stop him.

“With two arms and two legs, he barely has the assortment, but his appearance outside the window looks very weird. He seems out of his mind.”