The temperature in the house dropped instantly when Hyun arrived with pizza.
Just moments ago, the atmosphere had been warm and cozy like returning to a countryside home after a long time, but it suddenly turned as sharp as a congressional hearing.
Hyun, who had bought pizza for me, instantly became a major criminal for feeding fast food to his wife whose body was weakened after childbirth.
"Um..."
Perhaps his instincts honed through years of social life were sounding an alarm, because as soon as Hyun made eye contact with Grandmother, he quietly placed the pizza on the table, approached her, and knelt down.
I was about to immediately step in and defend Hyun, but when Grandmother's glaring eyes turned toward me, I knelt down beside him.
"...Haah."
Grandmother looked at the stacked pizza boxes as if she had a headache and let out a deep sigh.
Aren't grandmothers supposed to interpret "I'm hungry" from their grandchildren as "I'm on the verge of starvation"? With that much love, what would a grandmother think seeing her granddaughter eating nothing but fast food for every meal?
Especially when Grandmother already considered MSG and fast food as "unhealthy food." And what if her only granddaughter, who gave birth less than half a year ago, was eating like that?
"I don't suppose you bought all that to eat by yourself. You bought it to feed Sia, didn't you?"
"Yes, well... Sia said she wanted to eat it..."
"Just because she wants it, you feed her something that's not good for her body? And not just one or two, but that many pizzas?"
Though she wasn't raising her voice or getting angry, her calm questioning itself was terrifying.
Why am I scared too? Well, I'm sitting next to Hyun getting scolded, that's why.
"And you, no matter how delicious something is, you should eat healthy food, not just anything you want."
"I'm sorry..."
At times like this, it's better to apologize than make excuses.
Grandmother isn't scolding because she's really angry, but because she's concerned.
And when someone is scolding you to eat healthier, you can't exactly say, "I'll eat whatever I want!"
Sure enough, after we meekly admitted our fault and looked dejected, Grandmother sighed deeply and shook her head.
"Fine, get up. You'll hurt your knees staying like that."
At Grandmother's words, we carefully stood up, and she looked at me and sighed deeply again.
"Sigh... I'm sorry I haven't been taking good care of you."
It's true that I hadn't kept in touch with Grandmother much, what with everything from Harmageddon to pregnancy and childbirth keeping me busy.
But that was entirely my fault for forgetting, not Grandmother's fault at all.
Besides, hadn't the Harmageddon situation ended quite a while ago?
Wait, so it was purely my fault?
My conscience began to punch me with a smirk as I realized how late this revelation was.
Feeling the stinging guilt, I managed my upset stomach and hugged Grandmother.
"Not keeping in touch was my fault. How could it be your fault...?"
"I should have contacted you too. I'm sorry."
It seemed I wasn't the only one feeling guilty, as Hyun also stepped forward to comfort Grandmother.
Fortunately, our sincerity seemed to get through, and Grandmother quickly recovered to her usual self.
After confirming the atmosphere had lightened, I explained to Grandmother in great detail why I wanted—no, needed—to eat pizza.
My ignition organ is like a furnace, and to fuel it, I need firewood—that is, an enormous amount of calories—and if I tried to get all that from healthy food, we couldn't afford it. That's how it is.
To be honest, the calories I need to fuel my ignition organ for two full days is at least 30,000 calories. That's about the equivalent of eating four large pizzas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If I were to get this from what Grandmother calls "healthy food"—
Take samgyetang, the most representative food for when your body is weak, which is probably about 900 calories. I'd need to eat 32 bowls of it.
Twelve pizzas versus 32 bowls. That's almost a threefold difference.
Converting that to money... whew. It's only because Hyun has earned a lot of money that we can manage this. Otherwise, we would have filed for bankruptcy long ago. And just because of food expenses.
"You really do eat like a cow. No, even more than a cow. More than a cow."
"Hehe..."
Since I really do eat like a cow—no joke—I had nothing to say in my defense and could only laugh awkwardly. Grandmother patted Hyun's shoulder.
"You must have it tough."
"No, what hardship do I have? Sia has it much harder taking care of the baby every day."
"That's nice of you to say. But, can you manage the food expenses?"
Anyone could tell her words carried the implicit meaning of "Should I help out?" so Hyun immediately waved his hands in refusal.
"Sia does eat a lot, but it's still within what I can afford with my income. I was a former S-Class Hero, remember? You remember that, right?"
"Hmm... yes."
That's a relief. I almost became an unfilial daughter, making excuses about being busy, forgetting to keep in touch, and then taking money for food expenses.
That would have been nuclear fusion-level fire attribute filial impiety.
Nothing particularly special happened after that. If I had to mention something, it would be Grandmother's shock at watching me force down the pizza Hyun had bought to meet my calorie needs.
After eating four pizzas by myself, I moistened my throat with water.
Why water and not cola? Because Grandmother absolutely opposed cola as truly harmful with no benefits whatsoever, so I had no choice but to drink water.
It was a bit disappointing, but what could I do?
As I was thinking this while drinking water—
"Have you ever thought about doing one of those mukbangs?"
"Kuhup...!"
I choked on my water at the unexpected suggestion.
I almost sprayed it through my nose, so I sniffled and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
"My goodness, no one's going to take you away. Drink slowly."
I made a sour face as Grandmother wiped my mouth while saying that.
"Grandmother, you know about mukbangs?"
I never expected Grandmother of all people to suggest I try doing a mukbang.
I'm not underestimating her, but elderly people don't usually enjoy watching mukbangs and such things.
"Hehe... I was watching TV the other day and saw a young woman happily eating a table full of meat, and it reminded me of when I used to take you to barbecue restaurants. So I started watching them. They say you can earn a lot of money too."
"That's right. Why don't you give it a try now? If the computer is an issue, I can order one made with heat-resistant materials from a technician. Remember? There's furniture made specifically for Heroes. It's now available for civilian use—"
Seeing his chance, Hyun also started persuading me to try doing a mukbang, following Grandmother's lead.
Actually, this isn't the first time I've received such a suggestion. Besides Grandmother and Hyun, Ha-Young unnie and Ryu Hwa have also suggested I try mukbangs.
I refused back then because it was before I laid eggs, and after my body rhythm changed—with molting happening only once a year—I didn't eat that much... but now it's different.
*Should I really give it a try...?*
I still can't leave the house because I need to incubate the egg, but unlike before, I don't need to keep my ignition organ hot all day.
So, in that brief time, doing a mukbang while replenishing calories... might not be a bad idea.
No, considering the food expenses, it might actually be much better.
I'm not confident, but if it can ease Hyun's burden even a little, I should do it.
With that determination, I looked up.
"Well, should I give it a try?"
Eating happily. Eating deliciously. I don't really understand those concepts.
But eating a lot? That I can do. However...
"Yes, I don't know much about it, but let me know when you start doing mukbangs. I'll watch often. Oh, what are you thinking of eating first? When I watched before, they bought a lot of meat and ate it—"
"Then I'll need to ask a technician I know about various things. Let me make a call. Oh, we'll need cameras too if you're going to do mukbangs."
*This seems to be getting bigger than I thought...*
Grandmother smiled and told me about the mukbang videos she had watched, while Hyun, without giving me a chance to back out, immediately called and ordered everything from a streaming computer to cameras.
I can understand Grandmother being excited and talking about various things, but...
"Yes. Oh, so that camera you mentioned earlier is better? But at that price, wouldn't it be better to just buy a broadcast camera? Yeah. Ah, I see?"
...I didn't expect Hyun to be discussing equipment so seriously.
He must have been quite burdened by my food expenses, even though he pretended not to be.
*Well, of course he'd be burdened with how much I eat...*
My conscience pricked me, making my stomach churn, but I forced a smile and stroked Yong-Yong-Ie in my arms.
Come to think of it, when Yong-Yong-Ie hatches, it will probably eat as much as I do. Since it's growing, it might even eat more than me.
"And—"
This isn't the time to back out because it feels burdensome.
For our child, I needed to work harder.
"Since it's the first meal, how about something special? Something more extravagant, like a whole cow. My teeth are strong, so I can eat even tough meat."
To keep our Yong-Yong-Ie well-fed and full, I'll have to work harder.
As I thought this and actively stepped forward, Yong-Yong-Ie in my arms wiggled as if cheering me on.
Thank you, baby, Mommy will do her best...!