Side Story Chapter 22 – The Start of Parenting.
There are many expressions for parenting.
A war with only victims.
A workplace with no breaks.
Every moment is golden time.
Another expression is child farming.
Generally, farming is extremely difficult and labor-intensive.
It’s a 24-hour job with no designated downtime.
Until the seeds bear fruit and the time comes to harvest them.
Similarly, raising children is likened to farming.
[Isn’t the term farming subtly dirty?]
‘Where’s the dirtiness?’
This shows just how tough parenting is.
[Planting seeds when they’re young and harvesting them when they grow, that’s clearly a control freak thing.]
‘Are you starting with nonsense right from the get-go, you bitch?’
But, above all words.
For me, parenting was.
Simply hell on earth.
To be honest, I underestimated parenting at first.
With six of us combined, while there are only two babies.
Comparatively, we had quite an advantageous situation.
…….That thought didn’t last long.
“Uwaaaang!”
“……Awake again…I’m seriously dying…”
“Shinwoo, I’ll go soothe them…”
“Sis, you take a break… I’ll go.”
The baby Hyeji gave birth to was really loud at all times.
Even though we let them sleep enough, they would wake up just as we were about to sleep.
Each time, we had to change the diaper or feed them, soothing them just enough for them to barely sleep.
Of course, even so, they would wake up and cry again shortly after.
By the way, Hyeji was adamant about breastfeeding.
Even though her chest hadn’t grown at all during the pregnancy.
Ironically, she constantly poured out tons of breast milk.
It was an unbelievable miracle of motherhood.
So fascinating that many researchers lined up to see it.
“Hyeji! Genetic test! Or at least let us do a component analysis!”
“We need your cooperation! It’s a great step towards a new humanity!”
“Please help us just this once! I want to use it for my thesis!”
“The wall of breast milk could be designated a world heritage site!”
“If you don’t wanna die, get lost, you f*ckers!!!”
Naturally, Hyeji ran away from all those fools trying to gather breast milk.
Yet, if it were the old days, she would’ve turned them all into half-idiots without a second thought.
Just getting angry, it seems she’s grown as a mother, which made me feel proud.
A little disappointing not having grown breasts, but isn’t this enough?
Anyway, Hyeji’s baby was quite the picky one.
Crying loudly as soon as there was even a tiny gap and demanding this and that.
Each time, we had to coax, calm, and put the baby to sleep.
Struggling to piece together our fragmented minds from lack of sleep.
[Oh, crying again.]
“Ah, really? I didn’t hear that time… Thanks…”
I even started to hear things, so do I even need to explain more?
[That’s a lie.]
“F*cking bitch.”
But compared to Ayeon’s baby, it could hardly be called troublesome.
Ayeon’s baby was literally calm.
Not whimpering or crying, just really quiet.
Not the common behavior of an ordinary baby.
If I describe it like this, what’s so troublesome about them, right?
“……Ayeon, when did you feed the baby?”
“Ah, f*ck.”
“……But where the heck did the baby go…?”
“Find it quickly!!!”
It really was a problem because they were so quiet.
No matter how hungry they got, they never cried.
It was a good thing if they crawled over shaking their whole body.
At times, they’d suddenly collapse from exhaustion.
And that too, in a place that wasn’t even visible.
Every time, my heart would genuinely drop.
Thanks to that, it was impossible to take my eyes off the baby for a different reason.
I had to wake them up forcibly to feed them.
I had to check their diapers and also their breathing regularly.
And sometimes I was in a panic looking for the baby.
It didn’t express anything at all.
I’d rather have them cry; it would be much easier on my mind.
Moreover, unlike me, the heroines were still working as hunters.
So they would occasionally leave the house, not every day but often.
Due to minimal requests to maintain the guild, or calls from the association.
In the end, I, a jobless bum, ended up solely taking care of the two babies.
It’s weird saying it now, but I am currently retired from being a hunter.
But my will had nothing to do with it.
Nor did the heroines make me quit.
If I must argue about it, it would be more accurate to say I was forced into retirement.
Simply due to external factors.
Do you remember my funeral that happened unexpectedly before?
Usually, government work proceeds slowly, but.
At that time, it was like an exception applied.
Because of that, I was processed as dead in the records.
Later, I realized this and hurried to fix it.
But once someone is marked as dead, they can never be a hunter again.
Honestly, I felt wronged, but there were unavoidable reasons.
In the past, hunters reported fake deaths to claim compensation.
This incident repeated so often that it was ultimately banned by law.
Of course, the compensation for dead hunters disappeared as well.
“And my dear, how do you feel about being a househusband now?”
“Working seems like it would be easier…for real…”
Anyway, parenting was really tough for us.
Raising a child properly is obviously challenging, but.
Experiencing it firsthand made me feel that difficulty deeply.
How on earth did our parents raise us?
Naturally, like me, the heroines openly expressed their troubles.
Hyeji and Ayeon had to restrict their diets due to breastfeeding.
The rest of us were exhausted and worn out from lack of energy.
Thus everyone was in a state of utter despair.
It got to the point where they were the ones to first suggest not having any more children for a while.
“……Dear husband, let’s have the younger sibling later… I feel like I’m going to die right now…”
“Cat-beasts tend to have lots of babies at once… How do they handle it…?”
[……Seriously, why is it so hard…?]
Still, it was somewhat comforting to have quite a few helping hands with our parenting.
Our parents came to give various pieces of advice.
Whenever needed, they would take over childcare to lessen our burden.
There were even succubi who suddenly showed up, saying they would help even on their day off.
Of course, most were inexperienced, so they weren’t much help.
One could almost say it was a waste of time.
But at least due to their sincerity, we had a good impression of them.
“This person is now the actual power, so you should show your best side.”
“That washed-up can only feed milk.”
“Not washed-up. Just a baby rice cooker that gave up on being human.”
“Looks well done; cooking seems to have finished early.”
“Make sure those dog bastards send cooking help when off duty.”
Only Ayeon didn’t form a good impression, which was a slight downside.
Friends also visited and brought us various necessities.
Oddly enough, unicorns sometimes barged in for reasons that seemed ridiculous.
Yelling about a pilgrimage that doesn’t even sound real.
How did those f*ckers know to come without me even telling them?
As a result, I first exchanged remarks with Ayeon’s brothers.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ayeon’s older brother.”
“Hello. I didn’t get a chance to greet you earlier.”
“Not at all. By the way, you must be having a hard time because of our Ayeon?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
First impressions weren’t great, but surprisingly he was polite and somewhat thoughtful, which surprised me a bit.
“But bro, what should I call you? Brother-in-law?”
“A pitiful and unfortunate person.”
“Ah.”
“…….”
He really was deep in another sense.
Meanwhile, Uncle Ryu Kang-hyuk also often visited our house.
Maybe it was because he was a life veteran who had a baby first.
I felt grateful for him looking after us in various ways.
Isn’t it better to have close neighbors than distant relatives?
“Why are you here, Uncle?”
“Oh, I made too many side dishes…”
“Thank you for bringing all this.”
Uncle Kang-hyuk was the perfect example of a good neighbor.
“Can I get some rice?”
“You dog bastard.”
Not right now.
Anyway, maybe it was thanks to the support of so many people.
Our parenting was still eventful, but somehow we managed to survive the tough times.
Well, it wasn’t always filled with pain.
Crying, sleeping like the dead, feeding them was a pain.
Changing diapers was hard too.
But at some point, the babies started smiling at us.
Two tiny smiles that looked like they could break any moment.
A smile that would vanish in an instant.
Compared to all the pain we endured, it was nothing but a flash.
But that alone filled me with renewed strength.
The feeling when I first saw it was almost indescribable in words.
Why do people raise children? I could feel that again.
Despite the process being tremendously painful and hard, that cannot be denied.
Yet, they were our babies, so lovable.
“Shinwoo, it was worth having them, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know it would be this happy.”
“I’m really happy too.”
Having borne all this so far was actually very fulfilling.
“Sis! Help me! I feel like my ear is going to get ripped off! I’m losing my concept!”
“……Did you get your tail pulled off, you f*cking cat…?”
[……That’s…where you pee…it’s not where you hit…]
Of course, it was still hard, but.
“Peace, are you okay?”
[The uterine punch…is more painful than I thought…]
“Seems fine, you dog bastard…”
Anyway, parenting isn’t just about the bad sides.
