Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: All Parents Are Different
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All parents are different.
[Wife] - [Honey, wrap things up early today, pick up Haneul from school, and come straight home.]
That single short text message drew a groan from my lips without me even trying.
"Fuuuck..."
Even when I'd crawl into bed at 3 a.m. reeking of booze, cigs, pussy, cum, and girl juice after pounding room salons with the local bosses in a post-apocalyptic bender, my wife would brush it off with a simple "Good work." That was her.
So when she tells me to come home early, I couldn't think of a single good excuse to push back.
It's just picking up my daughter... sure, it's fun, but...
The real reason my wife wants me home early is obvious.
Go Yuna.
That overly mature girl who looks just like me, whether she's my little sister or whatever.
Damn wife anyway.
A hollow laugh escaped me at her tactic of cutting off my 4 a.m. excuse before it even started.
Fuck, shit...
I cursed under my breath and shoved away Ri Soohee's face, which was rubbing against my dick with the soft, melting expression of a tame "female" instead of her usual "beast."
"Enough."
At my one word, Ri Soohee pulled her lips away with a regretful look and lifted her head.
I stood up and started getting ready to head out.
Pulled on some underwear over my unsatisfied crotch, then pants.
Grabbed the fabric deodorizer from the corner of the closet and sprayed away the stench of pussy clinging to my whole body.
Psst, psst. Finally, snatched my car keys.
A high-performance sports car caught my eye, but today, I wasn't riding one of those flashy beasts.
My steps stopped in front of a minivan with work monitors jammed into the driver and passenger seats.
A clunky, uncool, stereotypical "dad car."
Or "mom car"—a plain white one.
I squeezed into the driver's seat and turned the ignition.
No roar, just a quiet engine hum filling the cabin.
I hit the accelerator, and the car smoothly pulled out of the parking lot.
In the rearview, Ri Soohee's black sedan followed at a steady distance, silent as ever.
Now I was perfectly the image of an ordinary "dad."
With that, I was ready to pick up my daughter.
I timed it for the elementary school's early dismissal and arrived at the front gate. The road was already jammed.
Yellow academy vans and cars from parents picking up kids tangled everywhere.
Didn't feel like just sitting, so I got out. Off in the distance, Ri Soohee watched me intently.
'Is all this really necessary?'
Back when I got tangled with Park Sojin, I'd pulled in a beast like Ri Soohee out of fear of trouble,
but now? What was the point?
A bodyguard in a country where state power cracks down hard? Pointless as fuck.
Thinking back now, honestly...
I just wanted to look cool with a bodyguard squad. Not like the pay hurts...
But looking at it now, my reckless ass feels kinda pathetic.
'Should think things through more deeply...'
I didn't realize it when Haneul was my only kid.
I'm not playing favorites or anything, but since the baby came along, I've been feeling like I need to think twice as a parent these days.
Lost in complicated thoughts, I itched for a smoke and rummaged in my pocket, then suddenly looked up.
The elementary school building right there, and other parents waiting for their kids on either side.
I quietly stopped my hand from pulling out the cig and shoved it back in my pocket.
At least here,
in front of my daughter's school, I just had to be "Haneul's dad."
Soon, the end-of-school bell rang, and kids poured out of the gate in a swarm.
Amid the horde, I spotted my daughter instantly.
Across the playground, chattering and laughing with kids her age.
For some reason, like back in my own childhood, what if some punk messes with her?
With that shitty thought, I glared at the boys around her like a hawk.
But against my worries, my adorable kid was the brightest, laughing at the center like the Pied Piper.
Eight years old.
Playroom to kindergarten, now first grade.
A few months, and she'll be in second.
Even without me watching, she was growing fast, building her own little world.
Suddenly much taller Haneul finally spotted me, lit up like she'd won the world, yelled "Wheeee—" and came running, only to trip and tumble forward.
"Haneul!"
My heart dropped, but relief came quick.
Thanks to past-me laying that premium grass on the playground, I dashed over. Haneul stood up without a tear, dusted her knees like a champ.
Then grinned wide and ran back, jumping high to cling to my waist.
"Daaaad~~~~~"
I hoisted her up.
From her: sunshine, earth, sweet sweat.
To protect that smell, I'd do anything.
From her: sunshine, earth, sweet sweat. To protect that smell, I'd do anything.
Then, safe in my arms, Haneul dropped a bomb with her innocent face.
"Dad, did you get fired?!"
"......Huh? Where's that come from?"
"Yeongbeom's dad got fired from his company, so he picks up Yeongbeom every day."
At Haneul's booming voice, a guy in his mid-30s holding a boy's hand as they passed by jumped and looked awkward.
I awkwardly bowed to the presumed "Yeongbeom's dad" in apology, cleared my throat, then puffed out my chest proudly to my kid.
"Dad's the boss, so he can't get fired."
Haneul pouted like she didn't like the answer.
"Poo, I wish Dad would get fired though..."
"........."
That one line short-circuited my brain.
The urge to burn down the No. 9 conglomerate Taesung Group, the arrogance of treating my billions-in-salary underlings like dogs—powerless against her pure words.
I just held my daughter, speechless.
Just... to break the awkward silence, I changed the subject.
"Haneul, wanna get some tteokbokki with Dad before heading home?"
She seemed to think it over, then whispered worriedly.
"Mom'll spank my butt if she finds out?"
"Ah..."
'We can eat it on the sly' nearly slipped out, but I swallowed it.
Suddenly, a horrific image flashed: starting with little lies, ending up a fuckup like me.
Thinking about it was nightmare fuel.
I set Haneul down and knelt to meet her eyes.
Then, in a "good dad" voice I'd never used before,
"...You're right, Haneul. Let's ask Mom first. It'll taste better that way."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Dad'll talk to her nice."
I took her tiny hand and headed to our "dad car."
Inside me, some new emotional circuit I didn't know existed was starting to connect, bit by bit.
Before heading to that house with the super awkward "little sis," we detoured to a tteokbokki joint first.
Of course, calling the wife for permission was mandatory.
The car turned into a warzone instantly.
"Dad! So Yeongbeom borrowed my eraser and then...!"
[Honey, just get a little tteokbokki, make sure she washes her hands before eating, and when you get home, right away...!]
Daughter's chatter about school bombarded one ear, wife's nonstop nagging assaulted the other through the phone.
Zoned out from the two women's onslaught, I soullessly gripped the wheel, somehow got the tteokbokki mission done, and finally made it home.
"Whew..."
Parked, killed the engine, and escaped the hellish noise at last.
I closed my eyes a moment, steeling for the bigger war ahead.
Passenger door opened, Haneul folded at 90 degrees like origami and bellowed greetings to the guards at the gate.
"I'm home from school!!!"
They bowed to her in unison.
My polite girl.
Haneul "dodo-do" dashed inside, and I got out.
What entered my view:
In the lawn, that mongrel bastard chewing up one of my designer shoes today too.
Crunch!
A vein bulged on my forehead.
Even if Haneul cried and scraped on the ground, should've stuck with a purebred...
Why's that mutt so obsessed with my shoes?
Fucking dog-ass mutt.
Etching "endure" three times in my mind, my gaze hit the scene in the yard's center.
Autumn day, blue sky, white clouds: under a white parasol, my elegant wife enjoying tea time, and in front of her, the self-proclaimed "little sis" flitting her eyes every which way, clueless.
Haneul bolted across the grassy yard into Chaewon's arms.
Chaewon hugged her and pointed at Go Yuna like she'd been waiting.
"Haneul, come say hi. She's your aunt, auntie."
"Auntie?"
"Yeah, Daddy's little sister."
Before I could bitch about this family-tree bullshit,
my wife's nailing her as "auntie" to Haneul drew a sigh from me.
My wife, more obsessed with a harmonious "family" than me, probably had "sister-in-law" on her bucket list.
With the sudden "sister-in-law," Chaewon—imagining our perfect family—was all smiles.
Tsk...
A woman whose dream is "in-law life"? Probably the only one in the world.
I stared at the surreal scene and slowly walked toward them.