Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Hello, Mangmong (2)
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Chorun, who had been passionately advocating for environmental protection, had now started showing interest in animal rights as well.
Chorun locked the bathroom door and shouted strongly in protest.
“Dad! Mangmong has rights too! It has the right to choose its own owner!”
“Mangmang-!”
Chorun put up a strong fight against the door as if it were a wall.
Seeing that, I clutched my growling stomach and thought.
‘…My stomach hurts so bad. Of all times, the protest timing had to overlap.’
If this kept going, something big was going to happen.
My dad's authority was about to shatter.
I carefully knocked on the door and decided to try negotiating.
Knock knock-
“Chorun. Can you hear Dad?”
“Yes! Say it!”
“I don’t think it’s good to talk while hiding in the bathroom like this. How about we come face-to-face and negotiate?”
First, get her out of the bathroom.
With that goal in mind, I carefully asked.
However, Chorun’s response was cold.
“No way! If I open the door, you’ll take Mangmong away! I’m against it!”
“Mangmang-!”
This isn’t easy.
I broke out in a cold sweat at Chorun’s fortress-like attitude.
“…Okay. Let’s talk like this.”
“Yes!”
“Then, Chorun. You know we only agreed to keep Mangmong until it got an owner, right?”
“…Lying is bad, so I don’t do it! Of course I remember!”
As expected of the good Chorun.
With that, I calmly began laying out my logic.
“But the time to find Mangmong’s owner has gotten really long. No suitable person who wants to be its owner has shown up.”
“M-Mangmong can hear you! Be careful!”
“…”
This isn’t easy.
I gently rubbed my stomach and squeezed out my voice with maximum patience.
“Anyway. We’ve kept Mangmong for a long time now. You became friends with it during that time… but a new owner has appeared. I think we need to let Mangmong go.”
“You’re right, Dad…! But Mangmong doesn’t think that way! Mangmong wants to stay with me!”
“Even though the new owner is super rich? Even though it can eat meat whenever it wants?”
“…!!”
Was my words effective this time?
A strange reaction came from inside the bathroom.
“M-Mangmong! Don’t drool! Don’t fall for that!”
“Mangmang…”
“Ahem, anyway, Mangmong says it wants to stay with me!”
I quickly seized the opening from the internal conflict.
“But Mangmong seems to think differently.”
“N-No, it doesn’t!”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I can understand Mangmong’s feelings! Study if you don’t know!!”
Damn.
The conversation looped back to square one.
My stomach hurt even more, like I was dying.
At that moment, Hwaryun, who had been quietly watching from behind, came up to me and said.
“Dad, just let’s keep Mangmong! Why give it to some other human?! I’m against it too!”
“You’ve been corrupted by Chorun’s ideology too, huh, Hwaryun…”
“That’s not true!! Don’t lump me in with her!!”
Sizzle sizzle-
Hwaryun flared up like fire when I treated her the same.
“I just want to play with Mangmong! It’s fun to bully it when I’m bored! And I can eat it later if I get hungry!”
“…Mangmong is emergency rations?”
“Something like that!”
Hwaryun declared proudly.
“And I don’t want to give Mangmong to some other human! It pisses me off!”
“…”
I thought it was just Chorun.
But Hwaryun had grown attached to Mangmong in her own way too.
‘This is why you shouldn’t casually bring home a dog.’
You end up getting attached without realizing it.
And maybe Suryun was the same.
Suryun wiped my cold sweat and said.
“I don’t want to give Mangmong to some other human either. It’s better if we raise it.”
“…You’re on that side too, Suryun.”
“I’m different from them. I’m confident I can raise it well.”
Suryun showed me her Tamagotchi screen as proof.
Mold No. 3 looked different from before.
“This is…”
“It evolved successfully. I raised Mold No. 3. Raising one Mangmong would be super easy.”
Shrug-
Suryun’s shoulders puffed up proudly.
Her self-esteem had risen a lot after raising Mold No. 3.
“Anyway, I want to keep raising Mangmong, Dad. There’s no need to give it to some other human.”
“…Everyone except Dad thinks the same.”
“I’m not happy to be on the same side as Chorun, but that’s how it is.”
Did Suryun’s words reach the bathroom?
Chorun shouted loudly from inside.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Suryun unnie! That’s too much!”
“Don’t talk to me, you Chorun. I’m not like you.”
Suryun said that, pressed her Tamagotchi button, and walked back to her spot.
With that, I placed a hand on my stomach and pondered.
I was nearing my limit.
‘I didn’t plan to raise it from the start. Is this why my parents kicked out any dogs or cats I brought home when I was a kid?’
Dogs and cats make you attached too quickly.
You start caring where they are without realizing it, and freak out if they’re not around.
That’s probably why my parents immediately chased out the scruffy cat I picked up as a child.
“There was a reason for everything.”
No helping it, huh.
I gently rubbed my stomach, which had reached its limit, and knocked on the door.
Knock knock-
“Chorun.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Let’s keep Mangmong at our house.”
With those words, the door carefully creaked open.
Chorun and Mangmong poked their faces through the gap and looked at me.
“You mean it? We’re keeping Mangmong for good?”
“Mangmang-?”
Two pairs of clear eyes looked at me pitifully.
I chuckled and answered.
“Yeah, let’s raise it at our house. The place is a bit small. But it should be fine until Mangmong grows up.”
“You really mean it!? Dad! I love you!”
“Mangmang-!!”
Whoosh-!!
Chorun and Mangmong burst out of the bathroom and charged at me.
I fell backward, embracing them.
‘Wait, my stomach hurts right now…’
The kids didn’t know that.
Chorun rubbed her face on my chest, and Mangmong eagerly licked my face.
“Thank you, Dad! Thank you for listening to me! You’re the best dad! I love you!!”
“Mangmang-!!”
Rub rub-
Chorun rubbed her face on me vigorously to show her gratitude.
I stroked their heads and said slowly.
“Yeah, be grateful. Dad finally made up his mind.”
More importantly.
“My stomach hurts, so can you move aside now…?”
I need to go to the bathroom.
The kids ignored my words and kept doing what they wanted.
“I love you, Dad! Really!!”
“Mangmang-!”
…When would I finally get to the bathroom?
I couldn’t move until Suryun came and pried Chorun off me.
Still, my dad authority didn’t crumble, and we got to keep Mangmong, so I’d call this negotiation pretty successful.
‘Even three is a handful. Now there’s one more.’
Still.
The one-room felt more lively than before.
Maybe because I was sitting on the toilet, but I felt pretty good.
***
With Mangmong joining as a new family member.
We decided to have meat for dinner after a long time.
Pork neck that Hwaryun grilled enthusiastically over direct heat.
I put the neck meat on a plate and set it on the table.
“Everyone, eat up.”
“I’ll eat well even without you saying it!”
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Thank you for the food!”
Hwaryun ate the meat.
Suryun mixed in some side dishes moderately.
Chorun used tofu and kimchi to eat her rice.
The kids each had dinner in their preferred way.
“At this rate, I might become a chef. This is course meal level.”
I wonder if the kids know how hard I work.
They might not now, but they’ll know very well later.
I chuckled thinking of their future.
Then, I put the saved meat on a plate and looked down.
“Mangmang-!!”
“You’ve been waiting, huh, Mangmong. Sorry to make you wait so long.”
I set the plate of meat on the floor.
Mangmong approached the plate, spinning its tail like a propeller.
I picked up one piece of meat and held it out to Mangmong.
“Hello, Mangmong. Welcome to the family.”
“Mang-!”
Mangmong placed its paw on my outstretched hand.
As expected, it was a smart one.
I handed it the pork as praise.
Mangmong took the meat and started its dinner.
“It eats well, just like its owners.”
“Mangmang-!”
A family is formed by eating together at the same time and place.
We’re family eating under one roof.
Even if I hadn’t admitted it, Mangmong was already family, wasn’t it?
I was the only one who didn’t know.
‘From a child’s pure heart, they might have already seen it as family.’
Tsk-
Raising kids has made me sentimental over nothing.
I thought that and turned my gaze to the table.
“Hey, Hwaryun! Leave some meat for Dad!”
“I’m eating it all! Gwahhh!”
“Not Red Dragon, but Red Pig.”
“Eating just meat like that isn’t good for you, Hwaryun unnie!”
The dinner table grew even more chaotic.
Still, I didn’t mind.
The lively atmosphere was even better.
“Everyone, quiet down and just eat!”
A smile bloomed on my lips as I said that.