Chapter 4
From the early dawn of Valentine's Day, Gilgamesh shook Enkidu awake and eventually just carried them like a sack over his shoulder and put them in the car. Just as Enkidu was about to fall into a deeper sleep in the familiar scent and comfortable back seat of Sanla's sedan, Gilgamesh took them out again and carried them into Farnborough Airport. Like transporting a crate, Gilgamesh moved Enkidu through the terminal, lounge, and runway, finally settling them into a reclining seat on a business jet, while Enkidu remained sound asleep, deliberately not waking up.
About three or four hours after takeoff, sunlight from beyond the clouds shone into the cabin through the window. When Enkidu, who had been lying quietly and breathing steadily, opened their eyes slightly between their light green eyelashes, the faded sand color of the Sahara Desert was already vaguely visible. Turning their head with a languid sigh, they found Gilgamesh looking down at them from the adjacent seat.
"Gil? I specifically asked for something that wasn't ostentatious,"
"Ah-ah~ Don't worry until you see what it actually is."
Enkidu looked at Gilgamesh's face, which was filled with a smug smile. In their heart, curiosity, expectation, and a slight concern about what strange thing he might have done all mingled and gently swayed, while Gilgamesh simply leaned with his hand on Enkidu's seat, grinning broadly without saying anything more. Whatever happens, happens—Enkidu closed their eyes again.
The low, steady engine noise, the blurred boundary between desert and sky, and the quiet cabin environment all combined to create a moment of peace.
Unfortunately, after the jet flight ended, a helicopter ride followed. The postcard-like tranquility shattered with the sound of rotor blades tearing through the air. Beyond the loud propeller noise that continued for quite some time was a vast, magnificent green forest. Below the aircraft, air mixed with leaves, dust, heat, moisture, and exotic scents seemed to push through beyond the window.
The helicopter stopped at a certain point and began to slowly descend while circling.
Enkidu looked out the window, slowly tilting their head.
"What's this?"
"Ah, we've arrived. Look, my friend!"
Gilgamesh leaned toward Enkidu as if he had been waiting for this moment, laughing heartily, and dramatically extended his arm out toward the window.
"What you're looking at is—not just a simple cocoa plantation. This is a garden of chocolate designed by the King of Heroes himself, irrigating the desert! And I've named this farm after the one and only friend of my lifetime!"
"Are you in your right mind?"
"You don't seriously consider the means of production ostentatious, do you?"
So stunned that they could only laugh in amazement, Enkidu turned back to look at the cocoa farm, while Gilgamesh proudly continued his explanation.
"A farm, naturally, must be managed skillfully with strict quality and quantity control. If it generates profits exceeding the investment costs, there can be no more economical resource! In other words, this gift is the exact opposite of extravagance! Haha, HAHAHAHAHA. Don't hold back your praise for my brilliance."
As Gilgamesh explained at length about how the left forest line was of the Trinitario variety, how the greenhouse was for raising seedlings, and how the warehouse was equipped with a high-purity fermentation system, Enkidu gazed down at the farm. The light and dark shades of green, the gloss of leaves, order and life, branches already beginning to bear small fruits, the scent of the earth.
"Hey, Gil. Have you heard the news that it's becoming harder to grow cocoa in this climate?"
"Ah? I don't concern myself with such trivial limitations. If there are obstacles, we'll find solutions. For me, who initiated the dawn of human civilization, such mundane earthly circumstances don't even qualify as challenges!"
The helicopter continued its slow, low-altitude flight. Below, the newly born green farm exhaled the breath of the earth—uncertain yet peaceful and vivid. A moist breeze, completely different from the winds that whirled between skyscrapers in the city, surrounded the farm.
"You do as you please, then charm your way out of it..."
"Well, don't be so standoffish. Remember that I've named it after you, which means this farm is also yours from now on."
Enkidu watched the large and minute streams of water flowing between and beneath the farm. From the flow of irrigated groundwater to the very delicate movements along the branches of young seedlings. The sun was high, illuminating and reflecting off those water streams. The sunlight would either warmly embrace those trees or harshly burn the vividly aligned lives. Very dark colors are hard to distinguish when they're burnt.
Long ago, born in the wilderness and brought to civilization, they had arrived at an ancient city near a river in a fertile region. The garden they first saw there was a miracle—humans drawing water to fill it with life. The Euphrates River embracing the city, and along its streams, flowers, fruits, and grains growing brilliantly.
Enkidu glanced sideways at Gilgamesh, smiled warmly as they always had, then quietly looked down again at the swirling streams.
Having finished his lengthy presentation with satisfaction, Gilgamesh once again habitually wrapped his arm around Enkidu’s waist, then nuzzled in Enkidu's nape and deeply inhaled the scent of the green hair.
And when he writhed from the wasabi smell, nearly falling out of the helicopter, Enkidu barely managed to catch him with chains.