A few days later the renovations on Sihon's house were completed, and Stella came to see them. She pointed out that the place looked almost unrecognisable from the dump it had been, and mentioned that she had thought it would take at least a month to finish. Sihon told her there were still a few things to fix around the house, but that it should be done soon. Stella was simply glad that he finally had a house that did not look like a haunted ruin.
He then invited her to stay for a meal he had made using tomatoes from his garden. Stella accepted the offer without hesitation, because who could say no to fresh home-grown tomatoes. Before they could get started, though, Jong dropped by to ask for some lettuce from the garden. He explained that he had bought the exact same lettuce seeds Sihon had bought the other day, but for some reason his own lettuce did not taste as good.
According to Jong, Sihon's lettuce had a crunchy richness that others lacked. Without hesitation Sihon offered to harvest some for him and even planned to throw in some cabbage. What Jong did not know was that Sihon's plants were different because anything touched by a druid turns out exceptional in both flavour and nutrients. The plants were thriving because he gave them exactly what they needed.
Stella scolded Jong for trying to get Sihon's produce for free. Curious about why he was making such a fuss over lettuce, she decided to taste it herself. The moment she took a bite she understood his obsession, and to Jong's surprise she immediately asked whether she could have some as well. After filling her basket, Jong and Stella joined Sihon to prepare the meal.
While they were harvesting tomatoes, Sihon learned that Mateo sold soap made at the monastery. Stella mentioned that he usually brought some to the senior centre and that she had tried it before. Sihon was surprised, since he had assumed the monastery lived off donations. Jong explained that the monks there handled their own needs, because there was no real reason for believers to visit the monastery, so nobody made donations.
He also mentioned that they might have to give up making soap because of the scarce supply of bamboo, and that Mateo had been worrying about it, since it was their source of income. That worried Sihon, because Mateo seemed like a good man, and he made up his mind to find a way to help the monastery soon. A little later he served the elders the tomato salad he had prepared, and Stella noticed that he had added slices of cheese.
He explained that he had layered it with tomatoes and drizzled olive oil and lemon juice over it. Since they mostly ate perilla leaves every day, he had decided to give them something different to try. Jong and Stella were both pleased with the result. Jong in particular, who did not really care for Western food, admitted that the salad was wonderfully refreshing.
He wondered why Sihon's tomatoes were sweeter than the ordinary ones he had tried. Stella also loved the dish, and mentioned that she felt better after eating it. She had a weak stomach and had struggled with chronic gastritis for years, which left her with heartburn every time she ate, but Sihon's dish left a soothing feeling behind.
Jong then asked Sihon to add some tomatoes to his basket, and Stella scolded him for being greedy. Jong reminded her that she had asked for lettuce, so she had no right to pick on him. Stella complained that Sihon might run out of food if they kept taking his produce, and Jong let her know that he was not some wild man living strictly off the land.
As the two of them went on bickering, a satisfied smile spread across Sihon's face. To a druid, their reaction was the highest form of praise, and he did not mind giving them everything from his small farm. So he excused himself to go and harvest some tomatoes for them. Standing at the centre of the cycle of nature, bringing joy to people, he finally felt again the happiness he had known in his past life as a true druid.
At a beauty salon in the city, Jaesu was scrolling through the comment section on Sihon's channel while getting a haircut with Siu. He excitedly urged the hairdresser to subscribe to the channel and leave a nice comment. The woman agreed without hesitation, while Siu, wondering why Jaesu was promoting the channel so hard, reminded him that Sihon was his brother.
Jaesu explained that he was not promoting the channel but being a passionate fan, and added that they needed to help Sihon boost his follower count, because posting aimlessly would not do it. Using the nickname he had invented for Sihon, he revealed that he would probably starve without these regular vlogs to watch during meals. Confused by the odd name, Siu asked what it meant.
Jaesu explained that he had come up with it because of the gentle way Sihon called the deer Bangul, and insisted that it suited both the man and his channel perfectly, though Siu was not convinced. When the hairdresser realised the channel belonged to Siu's older brother, she remarked that Sihon must be just as handsome as he was. Siu explained that his brother had gained weight because of his illness, but that when they were younger everyone used to say Sihon was the better-looking of the two.
That only made Jaesu even more eager to see his idol in person. Determined to make it happen, he quickly came up with an idea. Since they were already planning to film some exclusive team content, he suggested shooting it at Sihon's house instead.
Back in the countryside it had begun to rain heavily, and it was announced that the monsoon season was expected to begin nationwide that week. Heavy rainstorms were forecast for certain regions, and Sihon's area was among them. Watching the news report, he was simply glad that the house renovation had finished early, or the storms would have caused him far more trouble. Now that he had a proper roof over his head, he did not have to worry about the downpour, and seeing how little it affected the new house, he had to admit that the remodelling work had been exceptional.
Lying around on the outdoor wooden floor, he had almost forgotten that he had originally had no intention of renovating the house at all. Rather than laze about, he decided to harvest some lettuce from the garden to take to the village meeting, where they were planning to eat the loot the thieves had almost made off with. He was looking forward to the gathering, because it would be his first time trying pine mushrooms.
As he harvested the lettuce, he found himself thinking about his subscriber count, which had suddenly skyrocketed out of nowhere. He was happy with the results, but the growth had also brought some bad eggs dropping mean comments on his videos. Every time a malicious comment appeared, though, it was immediately drowned out by supportive ones, and thanks to that his comment section had stayed relatively clean.
He could not understand why people would leave such malicious hate for a stranger online. At the same time, he did not entirely understand the mindset of those who supported him so wholeheartedly. Some anti-fans of his brother's band even attacked him for always humming Tracker songs in his videos, which they considered marketing. Despite the hate, he was very grateful to the people who had been supporting him and drowning it out.