The Great Rift, Part 1
Sometime later—
"Hah... ahh."
It was funny.
The way the sudden difference in our wealth had made him shrink back, all uneasy and apologetic. The way a little encouragement, a few words that he was needed, had been enough to make him square his shoulders and blurt out that he’d become a man who could buy me things like this.
It was absurd.
There was no way someone like him could actually do that.
And honestly, if he came back after barely scraping together a few hundred million won and bought something like that for me, did he really think I’d be delighted? No — I’d probably just think he was some idiot who’d thrown away all the money he’d worked so hard to save.
Honestly. What an idiot. A fool. Yeah, a complete fool.
Or maybe it was just this body...?
In the bathtub.
I’d taken a proper bath for the first time in ages instead of just showering, and that was what I was thinking about. After taking Kang Juhyuk home, I’d come back here.
When I’d first left, I’d even wondered if maybe I should eat with him before we parted ways. But no matter how I looked at it, I wasn’t some pervert who’d walk into a restaurant in a dress with no panties and no bra, my body still smeared with dried saliva and slick.
I’d even considered taking him somewhere expensive, a place where he could get used to me spending money — a fine dining restaurant, just like I’d said. But it felt strange to create an atmosphere like some company dinner when we hadn’t even done anything yet.
That would be better after we’d finished our first reconnaissance of the Great Rift.
Back home, feeling filthy, I’d run hot water and lain down in the tub, and while I stared up at the ceiling because my breasts kept floating annoyingly to the surface, Kang Juhyuk’s face had flashed through my mind.
Well... he was an idiot, sure. But if you were a man, I suppose you needed that much nerve. Hmm.
I didn’t know why my conclusion kept ending up there, but it was a lot better than sitting around moping because he’d gotten discouraged all on his own.
And then I remembered the clothes I’d tossed onto the laundry pile.
I’d thrown the easy stuff into the washing machine already, but... could you even wash a dress like that in a machine?
There was a dry cleaner nearby, so maybe I should leave it there.
Starting tomorrow... I could go to the Great Rift.
Starting tomorrow... I really would have to drag that Kang Juhyuk into a dangerous Great Rift.
A D-class... basically a civilian who didn’t even know how to fight. I’d put him in the best protective gear I could, but still... our destination was a place I didn’t even know.
Hmph. I’d protect him, then. It wasn’t as if I couldn’t do that much. I was S-class Hunter Choi Eunho. Officially, I was registered as A-class Chae Eunha now, but my ability wasn’t going anywhere.
If it was me, I could do it.
If it was me.
With a confident attitude, I sat up in the water.
I just had to take care of him. That was the feeling.
Let’s leave tomorrow morning. There was no reason to put it off.
Shower... then head out. Call him.
Tell him to eat properly, and to get ready.
Tell him to try on the new gear I’d bought him, but also tell him to sleep well.
Tell him not to be late tomorrow, and that even if we were going out to work, he couldn’t come looking like a damn hobo.
But that didn’t mean he needed to dress up like it was a date, either.
Once we went in, he wouldn’t be able to come back outside for a while, so he needed to be prepared...
No.
Wait.
That was basic stuff, wasn’t it?
Why would I even be the one reminding him? For hunters, that was basic. Just basic.
Still, if I didn’t tell him and he started doing something stupid, I’d be the one getting frustrated.
It was just... just preventative maintenance, that was all.
That kind of thing. Yeah.
Drip.
What was that?
Something had spilled.
What...?
"...Huh?"
W-what.
What was this pale, slightly whitish stuff...?
"W-why is this coming out...?"
My chest.
Right at the edge of my chest.
From the areola... and the nipple.
Little beads were forming one by one... droplets of a slightly yellowish-white liquid.
Wh...
Milk...?!
I nearly lost my mind.
For a second, I really thought I might be pregnant.
My heart dropped so fast I couldn’t breathe. My vision went dim, and terror surged through me.
Should I get an abortion? Should I go kill Kang Juhyuk right now?
If things went wrong, I could end up with two more “daughters.” Would an abortion kill them? When exactly would Kang Juhyuk turn into a “daughter”?
I felt like I was suffocating. My head went blank with panic.
The thought that I’d have to take two lives with my own hands made my skin crawl.
I only got myself back under control when I heard Chae Haeun’s laughter. How long had it been?
Dummy. If milk comes out because you’re pregnant, then it comes out after you give birth.
Damn it.
Being called stupid by Chae Haeun was, in itself, horrifying.
Like I’d know anything like that, you bitch! And how do you know?!
No, wait... had I heard something like this before? Maybe I had.
Come to think of it, one of the women I’d met used to produce milk.
I’d asked if she had a kid, and she’d told me she’d never been pregnant. She said she had a milk fetish and had learned how to induce lactation, so she stimulated her breasts every day to make milk.
I’d even tasted it... the milk that came out first was a little fishy. But after sucking on it for a while, the later milk got sweet.
She knew so much about breast milk that I’d listened to a whole bunch of stories about it. I’d forgotten most of them, though...
Right. You didn’t start producing milk just because you got pregnant. There wasn’t even a baby yet, so what was the point of milk coming out?
So this was...
Was it just coming out on its own like hers had...? No, I hadn’t done anything like lactation induction.
Obviously I hadn’t...!! If a little breast fondling during a titjob were enough to induce lactation, then milk would come out from sex alone.
That made no sense.
There was no way...
Hng.
Was something leaking?
Not from my chest.
Milk was still seeping out a little from my chest, yes.
But not that. Down below.
More precisely, from my pussy...
Because my chest was in the way, I brought my hand down.
Something sticky was flowing from my pussy. It wasn’t pee.
If it were, I would’ve felt it. This was just coming out on its own.
Like... when Kang Juhyuk had finished inside me. Like semen that hadn’t all been pushed back out, leaking from my cunt...
Something was just... coming out... completely independent of my will...
Was this... dead skin?
It kind of looked like tissue...?
Sticky, unpleasant... with a slight reddish tint. Almost pink.
What the hell was this...? What on earth...
"...Ah."
Oh, fuck.
This was my period.
"...So let me get this straight. You called me out of nowhere for this... and it was what, milk?"
"Keep your voice down... I’m already freaking out."
In the end, I’d had to call Ha Yujeong.
Honestly, this was the kind of thing you needed experience for. Well, not that she’d ever had milk come out of her breasts, either.
It was embarrassing as hell, but she’d said she’d help, so here we were.
"All right... I understand that it seems like you’re having your period."
"Yeah... something like a weird membrane was coming out from below."
"There wasn’t any blood?"
"...No. I’m a body that doesn’t bleed, remember?"
"I didn’t realize that applied here, too."
It wasn’t constant... it just came out occasionally.
Apparently, whatever uterine lining thing it was had started to peel away slowly.
So now I was wearing the winged pad Ha Yujeong had bought me, with panties on over it.
Since there was no blood, maybe I wouldn’t need to change the pad very often.
"There’s no pain, either... I didn’t even know I was on my period until it started leaking."
"...Must be nice."
"Fuck. What’s nice about it?"
"Yes, yes. It was my mistake to expect any consideration from Ms. Eunha in that regard."
My original body had been male.
Periods had never had anything to do with me.
If anything, this was just a hassle.
Anyway, enough about the period.
That wasn’t why I’d called Ha Yujeong over.
She’d already bought me winged pads and told me to keep them in my bag.
I’d expected it would start someday, and I’d prepared myself. Not that there was even much to prepare for.
Thanks to the Blessing, I hadn’t thought it would interfere with anything, so I’d just assumed it would happen eventually.
About two weeks after I’d become a woman... yeah, I guess it made sense.
"But that’s not the problem. The problem is... milk is coming out."
"...Since you’re not giving birth, I can’t tell what the cause is. At least... since it started at the same time as your period, maybe the period is the cause?"
"Probably... Why is this happening? Do you know anything about it?"
"H-how would I know? I-I’ve heard that it can happen with certain illnesses, but your body doesn’t get sick, does it?"
Right.
With the Blessing, there was no way I’d catch a disease.
That meant this was a normal physiological reaction.
So, absurd...
No way... shit.
The body forged by an Outer God... a body made for reproduction.
My period... at the point after ovulation.
Was my body acting on its own, like some response telling me to get ready to raise a child because I’d gotten pregnant?
Damn it... I told you not to come out since we didn’t do anything...!!
Milk... milk, motherhood.
Damn it... damn it.
The fact that Kang Juhyuk kept sticking in my mind, and that I somehow felt worried about him...
Could that be because of this stage of the cycle? When even milk was coming out.
This body was radiating maternity.
I knew I was responsible for a life, and yes, I really was worried about him, but still...
It was going too far for me to start thinking I should tell him to eat properly and sleep well.
This wasn’t me.
Neither Choi Eunho nor Chae Eunha would nag this much.
So this wasn’t a period making me sensitive — it was motherhood that was being born?
This body really was... an alien. Fucking hell.
"Anyway... what do I do about this?"
"Hmm..."
Ha Yujeong looked at my breasts, hidden beneath my T-shirt.
They were still leaking, and the ends of my shirt were already getting damp.
"There are two options."
"And?"
"First, you leave it alone. If you want to stop the milk, you have to let it keep overflowing at first so your body doesn’t make more. Normally you’d get engorgement, but... you’re not in pain, are you?"
"I mean... yeah. It’s leaking, but it doesn’t hurt."
"Still, the cause is your period, and that body is honestly hard to call human. If the milk is coming out because of your period, then maybe it’ll stop when the period ends, and maybe it won’t stop before then."
"Probably... that sounds right. Leaving it alone doesn’t really accomplish anything, then. What’s the other way?"
At that question, Ha Yujeong’s face colored slightly.
...What?
"Y-you squeeze it out."
"...Squeeze it out?"
"With your hand, or a breast pump... you express it. Put it in a container, and if you refrigerate it, you can drink it for about three days. If you freeze it, it’s fine for about three months. If there’s still too much, you can donate it to a milk bank..."
"You somehow know a lot about this."
"My youngest aunt is only a few years older than me... she gave birth recently. I went to help her out."
I figured I might need this someday, so I learned about it.
I didn’t think I’d end up using it right now.
Ha Yujeong added that with a sigh.
"In the end, it’s just that the storage space in your breasts is overflowing and leaking, so if you empty them completely, they won’t leak again until they refill. If you express it by hand, or if someone sucks on your nipple... the stored milk will come out, but..."
"...That’s fucking awful."
"There are milk pads, just like sanitary pads. If you attach those, they’ll keep your clothes from getting wet. So... should we try expressing them?"
"W-what...? E-express them!? Now?"
"You’re leaking even now... if you keep this up, you’ll really be soaked through. Even if it doesn’t hurt, don’t you feel the foreignness of it? Like something’s filled up inside..."
"...I guess that’s not nothing."
Th-this is insane.
I... I.
Me, expressing milk?
Like a cow...?!