Stranded with Beauties: Chronicles of Temptation

Chapter 008: This method is really bad

Not long after, I heard Su Ya mumble in a daze, "I... need... water..."

I let go of my hands as if struck by lightning. Seeing she was still somewhat disoriented, I decided to get her consent. If I put everything back the way it was, I could pretend nothing happened. I'm a genius!

This time, I didn't hesitate. I had a feeling of reckless abandon.

I rolled Su Ya onto her back, placing her back on the beach. Squatting in front of her as she remained dazed, I whistled, trying to mask my inner turmoil, pretending I hadn't noticed anything. Then, I gently patted Su Ya's smooth cheek and said loudly, "Su Ya! Wake up! Time to eat!"

"Ah! Time to eat?" Su Ya's eyes snapped open.

Seeing her instantly awake, I had a sudden realization. Why hadn't I thought of saying that before? But then again, if I had, none of what just happened would have happened.

"Um, Su Ya, can I talk to you about something?" I asked, taking a step back from the dazed Su Ya. Her face was still pale. I needed to address the water situation first, or I worried she'd faint again, perhaps for good this time.

"What is it? Can't it wait until after we eat?" Su Ya asked curiously, noticing my strange behavior.

"Eating can wait. I can find crabs at the edge of the beach anytime, but aren't you thirsty?" I asked tentatively, afraid she was still disoriented.

"Thirsty!" Su Ya licked her lips, and her face actually began to regain some color.

I hoped it wasn't a final burst of energy before collapse. Alarmed, I quickly said, "Lend me your cotton clothes. I can use them to make some drinkable distilled water."

"Really? You're not tricking me?" Su Ya looked at me suspiciously, though she seemed to believe me.

"Really. Why would I lie about something like this? If we don't get some water, we'll both die of thirst!" I said with a pained expression.

"Okay, turn around." Su Ya, probably driven by thirst, agreed. "Hurry," she added, her voice shy and hurried.

I quickly turned around, not wanting to waste any time. The longer we waited, the more dangerous the situation became.

Only a few seconds seemed to pass before I heard Su Ya's mosquito-like voice shyly say, "Done." I turned around to see Su Ya's flushed face; she held her cotton clothes in her hands.

As I was about to walk over and take the clothes, Su Ya looked at me cautiously and said, "How are you going to do it? Can't I do it myself?" She had a point. Now that she was awake, she should do it herself. I doubted she would want to watch me handle her clothes. That explained why she had agreed so readily.

"Alright," I conceded. Though I couldn't do it myself, we needed water.

I took out the milk powder can I had found the previous night, dumped the remaining powder into the ocean, and filled the can with seawater. Carefully, I carried the seawater-filled can to yesterday's fire pit. As expected, the fire had gone out, but the charcoal still radiated a faint warmth. I gathered some dry leaves and fluff from the forest and piled them onto the charcoal. Then, taking a deep breath, I blew forcefully onto the pile. Thankfully, the flames quickly reignited.

I rebuilt the stone support I had used to roast the crabs yesterday, placing it carefully over the fire. I was meticulous, afraid the stones would be unstable and topple the can of seawater. I placed the can on the stones and shifted it slightly to ensure it was secure. Then, I added more wood and branches to the fire, building it up until it roared. Soon, bubbles began to rise in the seawater. I quickly turned to Su Ya, who had been watching me with a puzzled expression, handed her a long, straight branch, and said, "Here. Hold your clothes over the branch, close to the steam."

As Su Ya carefully draped the clothes over the branch, holding them above the white steam rising from the boiling seawater, I continued, "When the clothes are saturated with steam and water droplets start to form, quickly take them down and wring them out into this bottle." I removed the n****e from a baby bottle and handed her the bottle itself. Then, I went to the beach to search for food.

Time passed. I returned with a few more crabs and even some large shells, which made me wonder if they contained pearls. However, I could only watch Su Ya distill water, as she had commandeered my stone support.

The water level in the milk powder can slowly decreased. Each time Su Ya removed the damp clothes from the branch and wrung them out with her small, white hands, I watched intently. Su Ya noticed my intense gaze, but she was too focused on carefully squeezing the water into the narrow opening of the baby bottle to pay me much attention.

As I was watching, captivated, Su Ya suddenly tilted her head back, brought the baby bottle, now filled with several rounds of distilled water, to her parched lips, and slowly tipped it up. I watched as the water flowed down, approaching her upper lip. I stared intently. I was thirsty too! Leave some for me!

As the water touched her lips, she didn't open her mouth but kept them tightly pressed together.

Still, the water flowed past her small lips and into her mouth. After just this small amount, Su Ya's dull lips regained their color, and her pale face revived. She seemed so entranced that she forgot my presence, finishing the water in the bottle in one go. Still seemingly unsatisfied, she opened her delicate mouth and continued tilting the empty bottle.