ROASTED POTATOES AND PERSIMMON JAM
Corpse of birds in the snow. Red moon bright and eerie up in the sky. A young woman discovered dead in her apartment and people (including the mayor) mysteriously missing. A sane person might be terrified in their electricity-less home, shivering underneath the blankets in fear of the unknown.
Fortunately, Guan Yiming was not particularly sane. While he did not like the darkness, he was forced to get used to and even now finding comfort in it.
He found a nice place to start a small, contained fire and set out to roast potatoes. Some he would salt and pepper, while others he would top with sweet persimmon jam. Yiming brought two different kinds of persimmon jam for this occasion, one he had purchased from a vendor during the Festival of Wishes, and the other he made himself from as few ingredients as possible.
Li, his cat, took a liking to the one he made himself and was eagerly licking a drop from his hand.
“I like you so much,” he admitted with a soft smile, because nobody else was around to hear this secret. This cat reminded him of himself, in a way. Curious but loyal. It followed him everywhere, refusing to stray even when he was out here in the cold.
Li’s ears twitched. He heard the woman approaching even before Yiming did and leaped from where he sat on the blanket to greet her with a sniff.
“Hey,” he called out a greeting to the one he had gone on one date with, dear Sieun. “What are you doing out here?” Shouldn’t normal people be hiding indoors? Perhaps she too, was touched by madness. “Potato?” He offered the one that he had just finished roasting and dug out from where it was buried beneath the hot coals. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, it was likely the best one he had made so far and a worthy gift to a friend.
@gswsieun
