Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Why Raise a Puppy? Just Raise a Person Instead.
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“Our Yunhwa~ bouncy bouncy~.”
“...Hmph.”
“Bouncy, bouncy bouncy~.”
“......Hmph!”
“Ugh...!”
It was so childish that a sigh escaped me on its own.
The third counseling session.
And once again, during Yunhwa's 'role-play therapy.'
The foundation of counseling is conversation, but today communication had been impossible from the start.
Even as I held her in a princess carry with both arms and bounced her gently, she turned her head away like a truly sulky child, repeating nothing but 'hmph!'
She wouldn't even meet my eyes.
Her mental state had fully regressed to infancy, yet her body was that of a fully mature 30-year-old woman.
And the cause of this sulk? None other than the fact that I'd done role-play therapy with another patient besides her. What a pickle.
Even so, I didn't stop bouncing her.
Even if she were wearing a diaper and sucking on a pacifier in full regression mode, she was still my patient.
And her current state was all to alleviate the chronic stress—the root cause of all mental illnesses.
So, playing along was my duty as her psychiatrist.
What people call 'professionalism.'
The problem was... even my ultimate move, the bouncy bounce, had zero effect.
After a moment's thought, I laid her down on the custom-made adult-sized baby crib and opted for a stimulus that would force even a baby to giggle uncontrollably.
Her flat stomach was too clean to call it exposure, but it carried a strangely sexual tension.
I leaned my head toward her navel at the center.
“Eek?! P-Papa...?”
Pffftbbbbt!
“Pfft! T-Tickles! Tickles, Papa!”
'Belly fart.'
It might look childish, but the strong vibrating stimulus through the abdomen stimulates the vagus nerve, easing tension and inducing laughter.
Especially in an infantilized state, this simple tactile stimulation is excellent for emotional stabilization.
“If our baby keeps sulking like that, Papa's gonna do another belly fart~ Take this~!”
Pffftbbbbt!
“Haha! Stop it~! Stop it!”
A face flooded with both laughter and shame.
Her pupils dilated slightly as her cheeks flushed tomato-red.
She flailed about but didn't actually push me away.
On the contrary, she burst into giggles and, in a surge of immense strength, pulled me into an embrace... or rather, shoved my head right between her ample breasts—Yunhwa did.
Of course, it was just a baby's 'attachment behavior' toward a parent.
Yeah, that's all it was.
As I watched her seem relaxed, if only for a moment, relief washed over me.
Then—
“Ooooh... oink oink...!”
“...?”
That laugh... it wasn't like a baby's. More like a pig squealing. Must be my imagination.
Anyway, seeing the 'middle-aged baby' with her bright smile restored, I shook a rattle for her.
“Papa... Yunhwa has a question... can I ask?”
“Sure, of course~. What’s our baby curious about?”
What could Korea's top S-Rank Hunter possibly want to ask me?
At most, she'd just ask something she already knew, tailored to her 'baby persona' for no real reason.
Thinking that, I gently stroked her belly as usual.
And then—
“Papa... does Papa like puppies?”
“Uh, yeah?”
Was she still not fully over the Narae thing?
This time, it wasn't sulky anger like before. Her voice carried the anxiety of a child whimpering, thinking she'd lost her parents.
Her golden eyes sparkled up at me.
An older woman, with a fully developed figure, even wearing a diaper, making such a babyish face.
It was a kind of 'gap moe,' wasn't it?
Or maybe... unbecoming dramatics for her age.
Anyway, gazing at that subtle, oddly alluring coexistence, I nearly stroked 'below' instead of up top without thinking.
Thankfully, my medical ethics held me back.
“Of course our baby is way better.”
“...!”
To reiterate, my specialty is psychiatry.
And the patients I treat are women whose bodies are healthy but whose minds are broken in some way—poor souls.
Normally, comparing patients is taboo.
But Yunhwa's eyes right now... they held a childlike threat, like she'd flood the entire building with tears if I didn't give the answer she wanted.
This was 'emergency treatment.'
Besides, who knew when these two patients might meet again.
So, for now, siding with our baby was the right call.
“Papa just wants our Yunhwa to grow up big and strong! Where else is there a baby as cute and smart as Yunhwa?”
“Hehe... really? How much? 3000 much?”
“Yep! 3000 much!”
Emboldened by that answer, I scooped Yunhwa back into my arms.
I kept up the bouncy bounce, hoping this good mood would last a little longer.
Baby-mode Yunhwa had a habit of expressing 'the best' with the biggest number she knew.
Her eyes sparkling as she asked, and me smiling as I answered.
It seemed like today's session would end smoothly.
...That's what I thought.
“Hehe... right? Babies are way cuter than those 'dog bastards,' aren't they?”
“...?”
Something felt off.
Just moments ago, her eyes had been playfully mischievous, but a strange darkness flickered in those golden pupils.
The expression of the girl looking up at me from my arms slowly... very slowly... began to change.
The smile stayed, but underneath lurked an unknowable chill and heavy darkness.
There was definitely Yunhwa in my arms.
Yet it felt like some black mass had borrowed her form and was sitting there instead.
A obsession beyond what any human could endure in a lifetime crept in, mingled with all sorts of hunger and madness.
In a voice unbecoming—no, utterly impossible for a baby, slowly uttering vulgar words, her hand rose to my collar.
And softly, but surely, began to tighten.
“Papa, y'know... I was thinking today... You see them sometimes on the street, right? Those 'aunties' pushing 'dog bastards'—not even real human babies—in 'strollers.'”
“Uh, yeah...”
“Looking at them... those fucking... In their youth, they didn't marry or anything, just played around alone till they got old as dirt, then hit menopause and can't have kids, so to fill that void, they drag around animal spawn. It's disgusting. Like some kid playing with a doll, old hag style. Makes me wanna puke.”
Ah... well, yeah.
Everyone has their own values.
Our Yunhwa—no, baby Yunhwa.
She could think that way... probably.
But it was crystal clear this wasn't a perspective a 'baby' would have.
Pointing it out now, though, might mean I'd be the one facing regression backlash. Bad vibes.
Her golden eyes burned even more intensely.
As if to prove 'human babies are superior to beasts.'
“Fuck, how can a dog replace a person? Right, Papa?”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Do dog bastards join companies and save the economy? Or enlist in the army to bolster national defense? Fuck, all they know how to do is wag their tails to please their owners. Right, Papa?”
Y-Yunhwa... that's super controversial.
So please, just stop here...
But contrary to my hopes, the suffocating pressure only intensified.
When I came to, Yunhwa had gripped my collar even harder.
The next instant, she shoved me down hard onto the adult baby bed and straddled me.
'As expected...'
She still had a long way to go before full recovery.
Even if she'd recovered enough for Hunter activities, the deep wounds related to family were still alive.
This reaction was like a seizure—a violent outburst triggered by those wounds.
But who am I?
A guy who graduated from a top Seoul psychiatry residency.
In psych wards, these situations are inevitable.
Patients going 'berserk' and attacking their therapists instead.
Psychiatry training covers it beyond standard treatments: handling sudden outbursts.
Especially for patients who momentarily lose reason due to trauma.
From controversial physical restraints in modern society to gentle psychological reorientation—various methods.
But before me now was Yunhwa in 'middle-aged baby' rage mode.
Korea's one and only S-Rank Hunter.
Physical suppression? Even most active Hunter Association members couldn't handle her.
So I'd prepared.
My special 'restraint method' just for this patient—Counselor Kim Seungbin's exclusive!
Called...
“Yunhwa, bad!!!”
“Eek?!”
A stern but loving Papa's scolding for a naughty baby who wouldn't listen and threw a tantrum.
And the guardian's reprimand that followed.
“Dog bastard? Where'd you learn such naughty words?”
“P-Papa...!”
“Yunhwa bad! Naughty words bad!”
“Sob... sniff...! S-Sorry... I was wrong, Papa...!”
In that moment, her expression changed.
The madness gleaming in her golden eyes gradually cooled, clearing like oil slick lifted from water.
Soon, her lips trembled and twisted weakly, filling with a baby's whimpering.
The grip on my clothes loosened, and Yunhwa clung limply.
Truly like a baby, sobs and hiccups mingling in her cries.
But I couldn't just 'forgive' her with that.
Sure, ending the session here would prevent any meltdown over the Narae issue.
But that'd be the lazy guardian's way—blocking tantrums superficially and leaving it at that.
I was her 'real' guardian.
Her psychiatrist and Papa in the role-play.
The one who wanted our baby Yunhwa to grow into a true adult someday.
With no lewd thoughts whatsoever—purely for her future—I pulled the unguarded Yunhwa onto my lap.
Positioning her belly-down across my thighs, her still-clean diaper came into view.
Slowly, the quiet rip of the diaper tapes echoed in the room.
Shrrk.
As the soft fabric peeled away, supple skin appeared close enough to feel my breath.
Warm body heat and a faint scent wafted from her plump cheeks, sending a subtly unpleasant current from my fingertips up my arm.
Smack!
“Eek?! P-Papa...?”
“Yunhwa, this is punishment. One naughty word means ten spanks on the butt. Count them. Got it?”
“E-Eh...?”
It was agonizing for my lower half too, but this was a necessary measure as her doctor.
To prevent the next outburst, overlaying 'corrected memories' over bad habits—a psychological intervention.
Smack smack!
“Yunhwa, were you bad? Or not?”
“Sniff...! I was bad. Yunhwa was bad...!”
Smack smack smack smack!
“Yunhwa said naughty words even though she's a baby... I was bad...!”
Smack smack smack smack smack smack!
With each sharp slap, the white flesh rippled like waves, the sound vibrating through to my thighs.
Then, suddenly, she raised her voice.
“Ohoook?! Yunhwa's... bad even as a female first and foremost! Sorry! Sorry for being a female who wants to be a baby at this age!”