Women Can't Hold It
It was hard for a woman to hold it.
"Since it's just the two of us, why didn't you take the chance to spend a little more quality time together?"
"Haa…. Please don't mess with the kid. They're shaken up enough as it is."
"Messing with? That stings a little."
Every year, on Christmas Eve, I went out alone with Min under the pretext of celebrating their birthday.
Mom would even take a former boyfriend as a daughter-in-law, you know? Want me to track down an artifact?
If not that, at least date someone! Mom wants to gossip with a daughter-in-law already! I've got two kids and still…
Knowing how relentlessly my mother had always hounded me, I had expected she would react somehow to Min's transformation.
But the way she actually behaved upon meeting them was far more over-the-top than I had braced for.
"I'm the one who should feel stung. If I'd known it would go like this, I would have just sent them home."
"Jihoo. Mom is being serious."
She pushed her lower lip out a fraction and turned her head with a deliberate air of wounded pride.
"In your eyes, do I look like the kind of person who would be hunting for a daughter-in-law under these circumstances?"
She set down her coffee cup and fixed me with a look of utmost gravity.
"Yes."
"You know your mother well."
Of course I did.
Last year she had been so envious of a friend's daughter-in-law overseas who had given birth to twins that she had talked about nothing else for weeks. Even so, she and Min had known each other for years. Dropping that kind of line on someone already reeling felt a little much.
Maybe the kinder move really would have been to send Min straight home.
"Son. I'm also someone who weighs the situation."
"…."
"That's exactly why I came running and settled things with the Association President, isn't it?"
She must have read the thought on my face. Lounging back against the sofa, she crossed her arms and regarded me with a languid stare.
"You thought I was only making an excessive joke, didn't you."
"…Wasn't it?"
"Do you honestly believe it would have gone differently if anyone other than your mother had shown up here?"
I had no answer for that.
"Anyone who brings their own son along is already one of the decent ones. There are people who would try to bind themselves to Min directly."
"There's no way…."
"You're so naive, my son. Some of those old men would settle for making Min a concubine if they had to."
She let the horns she had been concealing with magic appear, a bitter smile touching her lips as she went on.
"For the sake of a pair of horns and a tail like these—right next door they're already doing far worse. Do you truly still think there's no way?"
I could not bring myself to say no.
In Japan they had even resorted to endogamy to keep the Dragon Beastman bloodline going. That was precisely why I had called my mother the moment I saw what Min had become that morning.
"Well. Still, telling me right away was the right call. Thanks to that, we managed to bury the fact that Min is a Half-Dragon with nothing more than a modest donation."
"Then that's settled. Why bring up something as bizarre as marriage…."
"Seventeen million six hundred thousand won."
"Excuse me?"
Out of nowhere, Mother named a sum that made no sense. Far too low for Association hush money, yet too high to dismiss as pocket change—an awkward middle ground.
"That is the most recent sale price for fifty milliliters of Dragon Beastman blood."
"…!"
"Son. Don't look away just because the household feels unstable."
Her voice was cool enough to raise goosebumps. The woman sitting across from me was no longer a mother chatting with her son, nor a mom who had come to see her child's old friend for the first time in a while.
"Dragons mean money. That applies not only to the Dragons and lesser dragons that come out of Gates—it applies to Dragon Beastmen as well."
This was the woman who sat at the head of a world-famous magic-engineering conglomerate.
"And if even a half-measure of dragon becomes known while lacking the strength to protect itself—what do you think happens then?"
I knew better than anyone that the scenario she described was no idle fantasy.
"Locked in an iron cage underground, bled every day, horns sawed off, the hide of the tail stripped the moment it grows back. And if it's a fem—"
"Stop! I get the idea. That's enough."
I cut her off in a rush, afraid that hearing any more would plant the words like a curse. The chill in her expression eased at once.
"I don't want Min to suffer either. And the surest method is to keep them protected inside our fence."
She lifted the coffee cup she had set down and took a sip; I followed suit and drained what remained of mine.
"Money and status have always been the surest things."
"Even so."
"I know it will weigh on Min. But this is still the most reliable path."
In other words: by any means necessary, make Min someone officially under our protection. And the simplest means of all had been marriage.
"Well then. Since you seem to understand the gist…."
The moment she confirmed I had grasped it, a mischievous smile curved her mouth.
"Daughter-in-law!"
My head hurt.
At the sound of my name from outside, I dragged myself up and opened the bathroom door.
Just as before I had fled in here, Auntie was smiling and waving, while Jihoo looked distinctly sour about something.
Still a little awkward from the earlier teasing, I sat back down.
"Min. I'm sorry for the over-the-top joke. It must have rattled you, right? Jihoo has been scolding me nonstop over it."
"No, it's fine. My mom pulls the same kind of pranks."
"Is that so? Hoho. Of course I wasn't entirely serious either. It was a joke—at least to a degree."
I could only offer a sheepish smile in answer to Auntie's wicked little jest.
Well, Jihoo never showed the slightest interest in women, so of course she would get restless enough to crack jokes like that. Knowing that, the real villain was the guy who had slipped off alone and left me hanging. If he had just dated someone once in a while, none of this would have happened.
Even if she had only been half-serious, it would still have been enough to make anyone's heart drop.
"About one percent serious?"
"…Percent?"
…So the remaining ninety-nine percent was genuine?
"More important than that, though, there's a smaller matter I need to mention."
"Huh?"
"Since your appearance has reversed, you were told to submit a new identity at the Association, correct? I have a few things to say about that."
Auntie.
No matter how I looked at it, that was the far more important topic.
"You've known us long enough to have a rough idea of where Dragon Beastmen stand, right?"
"Yes. More or less."
Born with an innate command of magic, most of them sat in the upper strata of society. Young Dragon Beastmen had been growing rare in recent years. Hybrids between Dragon Beastmen and other races did appear from time to time, but I had never actually seen a Half-Dragon.
"If word got out that you had suddenly become a Half-Dragon, I imagined it would make your life rather uncomfortable in all sorts of ways."
"Y-yeah, it would."
I couldn't even picture how loudly the world would erupt if a Half-Dragon appeared overnight. People would probably start frothing about some chaebol family's illegitimate child—and it wouldn't even sound strange.
"Fortunately, the Association President reached out first and offered a certain amount of convenience."
"Really? That's a relief."
"Even so, keeping the identity itself completely intact will be difficult."
Auntie's explanation was simple. Since the fact that someone named Park Min had awakened as a Half-Dragon could not be buried, they would register that truth as-is and then create a separate new identity to register under.
"If you prefer, you can simply keep your original identity."
"I'll talk it over with Mom…."
It wasn't as though Park Min would simply vanish. The method left a proper record. Still, having to begin again as someone other than the person I had been until now snagged a little in my chest.
In the end it was only a name and a few lines on an ID card that would change, and everyone around me would still know me as Park Min—but I couldn't help hesitating all the same.
"Of course. Take your time thinking it over. There's no rush to decide."
"Yes. Thank you for looking out for me."
"Nonsense. We're family, aren't we?"
In a warm voice, Auntie gave the back of my hand a light, comforting pat.
The heat of it traveled up through my skin, and something tight and sudden rose in my throat.
"Y-yes…. Still, I really am grateful. Auntie."
"Mo.ther."
"That's… a bit much."
Grateful was grateful, but calling her Mother still felt like a step too far. The atmosphere was already so charged that if I said it even once, I half-expected to be hauled off to a formal meeting of the families on the spot.
"We'll work on the form of address gradually. Later on, let's go shopping together."
"W-well. That much I can…."
"That's a promise, then?"
"Yes. It's a promise. I'll go with you later."
A quiet smile lingered at the corners of Auntie's mouth as she clasped my hand firmly once more.
I had tagged along on shopping trips a few times already. How hard could it be?
"Haa…."
Meanwhile that guy had been staring a hole through me with a deadly serious face for a while now, as if something about the entire exchange offended him personally.
"What. Got something to say?"
"No."
He answered shortly and turned his head, but the way he propped his chin on his hand still looked thoroughly discontented.
"Be more careful with your promises."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You never know. Just be careful."
Having said his piece, Jihoo turned away again. No explanation, just a foul mood—it was thoroughly annoying. Irritated for no good reason, I finished the coffee in front of me and then crunched through every last piece of ice left in the cup.
"Min. Let us drive you."
"No, really, I'm fine. Walking only takes a minute."
It barely took any time on foot, and having that whole convoy of cars pull up at our place felt like an imposition. Besides, I wasn't eager to demonstrate the awkward way I currently had to climb into a vehicle.
"Then I'll be in touch later."
"Yes. Get home safe, Auntie."
"See you."
I raised a hand in silent reply to Jihoo's farewell, turned, and started walking toward home.
"Ugh…. It's getting a little chilly."
The winter cold slid across my skin. I hunched my shoulders and tugged my collar closed. Because of the tail, the back of my outer layer rode up just enough for a constant draft to slip through; fastening the collar did nothing. Worse, the cold was settling into my stomach bit by bit, and a fine tremor began working through me.
"M-maybe I should hurry a little."
I steadied my shaking body and quickened my pace.
With every step, a sensation both familiar and utterly foreign bloomed in my lower belly. The short wait for the elevator felt absurdly long; my feet fidgeted of their own accord. Even my tail lashed left and right as if it, too, couldn't sit still.
"Damn…."
Right. I just needed to go. Badly.
Was it the iced americano from the café? Until a moment ago I had felt nothing, so why all of a sudden…. If I had noticed even a little earlier, I could have used the restroom at the café.
"C-come on…. Move."
I half-ran to the common entrance and jabbed the elevator call button in a panic.
Why did the elevator feel slower than usual today? And why was simply holding it in this agonizing? So the saying was true—women really did have a harder time than men. I had never wanted to learn that firsthand.
I was clenching so hard that my legs had begun to tremble, and cold sweat beaded across my forehead.
Ding.
The moment the doors opened I shoved myself inside. No matter how frantically I mashed the button, the doors refused to close any faster—but if I didn't keep pressing it I felt like I would die of pure anxiety.
"Hnn…. Seriously…."
When the doors finally sealed and the car began its sluggish climb, I rested my forehead against the wall and dragged in ragged breaths.
Calm down. My body is different now. I can't just stand and go the way I used to.
Ding.
The cheerful chime announced my floor. I squeezed out through doors that opened with maddening leisure and, with one hand, fumbled the door-lock code while the other desperately worked the hook on my pants free.
The house was dark—Mom must have gone out. Still wearing my shoes, I bolted inside.
The instant I reached the bathroom I yanked down the waistband I had already loosened.
Thank god.
I really thought I was going to wet myself.
Flooded with relief that I had not, at my age, made that particular mistake, I started to sit properly on the toilet—
Thud.
"Ah…?"
My tail caught on the bathroom wall. I could not sit down.
My mind went white. Shock ripped through my entire body.
There had to be another way—the same way I had managed at the dining table—I told myself, desperately holding on. But my efforts counted for nothing.
"Ah. Aaaah…!"
My body, which had already let go of its tension once, simply decided on its own. Something warm and scalding began to escape.
I clenched with everything I had to stop it, but it was useless. The liquid already running down my thighs soaked into the half-lowered pants and my shoes. The moment the last of my forced control gave out, it poured free in a rush, spattering wildly across the toilet and the floor.
"Seriously…."
Sick with self-loathing, I sank down onto the filthy floor and scrubbed at my eyes for a long time.
At least Mom wasn't home. I clung to that small mercy as I roughly rinsed the ruined clothes and stuffed them into the washing machine.