Epilogue: Please Line Up
Ever since Yu Daon started having morning sickness—well, nausea, to be precise—all hell had broken loose.
"First, you need to rest."
This was our fourth family meeting.
Unlike the pointless arguments last time, the atmosphere for this meeting was quite... no, scratch that. It was incredibly serious.
"First, the... um."
What should I even say?
My feelings were a bit strange.
No. Very strange.
A baby?
A baby?
How is that even possible?
How could there be a baby?
And what's more... a baby between me and Yu Daon?
As I was lost in these thoughts and stammering, the Branch Chief's voice echoed.
"First, submit your parental leave request, Daon."
"Uh, pa-parental leave?"
"Well, no, um. Even if it's not exactly 'parental' leave, you can still submit a leave request."
"Leave..."
Yu Daon looked at me, then at the Branch Chief.
I was seeing Yu Daon with such a flustered expression for the very first time.
"Yes, you just need to submit the leave request... but then what do we do now?"
"What do you mean, 'what do we do'?"
Song A-rin, arms crossed, let out a deep sigh, and Jang Chae-yeon nodded.
"You need to rest."
"Right."
"Especially you, Black-Haired. If you push yourself around like you used to, it'll be a real disaster, you know?"
"That... that's right."
Yu Daon slowly nodded at Song A-rin's words.
"For the time being, no intimate relations, and above all, everyone, please refrain from saying anything that would cause Yu Daon stress. Especially you, A-rin."
"What, me? I wouldn't say anything that stressful."
At the Branch Chief's words, Song A-rin flared up and frowned.
"Um, so, what else is there to do?"
Yu Daon tilted her head, and we all exchanged glances.
"We should... look it up online?"
"We should."
"...I don't know much about this sort of thing either."
Manual let out a slight cough, as if embarrassed.
"Well, it's a first for all of us here."
Muttering 'Hmm...', the others buried their heads in their phone screens.
"Let's see. First, what..."
"Be careful with your body."
"There's less than I thought."
People mumbled to themselves, heads buried in their screens.
After some more miscellaneous and rather pointless chatter, the meeting concluded.
And then, Yu Daon and I were left facing each other.
"Um, well. Daon."
What should I say?
'You've been through a lot?' Or 'You have a tough road ahead?'
Words swirled in my head, but I didn't know what to actually say.
So, after a moment of silence, I spoke very slowly.
"Thank you."
"..."
"I'm sorry. It seems I'm not very good at saying the right things in situations like this..."
"No. It's fine."
Yu Daon slowly shook her head.
"Jae-heon. That's enough."
She smiled softly at me.
"I, um. Well, you see."
She trailed off, as if unsure what to say.
"Honestly, should I call it a joy I never even imagined? Um. Truly."
She gave a gentle laugh.
"To be honest, I'm happy, but I'm also incredibly scared."
"..."
"Ah, it's not so much a fear of the baby..."
Yu Daon stared blankly into the distance.
"It's just... amazing, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"I was actually very worried."
Lowering her eyes and stroking her own stomach, Yu Daon continued.
"As you know. I, um. My body returns to its original state, right?"
"That's right."
"So I think I thought a lot. 'Is this really okay?' kind of thoughts."
Still not taking her eyes off her stomach, Yu Daon smiled.
"You know. Like, what if, even by a one-in-a-million chance, something goes wrong and the baby returns to its original state? That kind of thought."
"..."
"I think I'm still worried now."
Yu Daon lifted her head and looked at me.
She was smiling, but her hands and feet were deathly pale, and her expression held both a smile and a grimace at the same time.
"So, um. What if I, no. Um. What if even now, I wake up and everything turns out to have never happened?"
"..."
"With so many people worrying like this, it makes it even more... um."
I watched Yu Daon ramble on, her words twisting and turning.
I could fully understand the nature of her worry.
She was probably worried that she... that all of this would disappear.
And I felt the same.
Would it have been different if Yu Daon had been a bit later? If she had gotten pregnant a little later?
Maybe she would have received some education by watching others.
No. Probably not.
Perhaps she was even more afraid inside.
If so, there was only one thing for me to do.
I slowly knelt down and met Yu Daon's eyes.
"It's okay, Daon."
"..."
"Nothing bad will happen."
Yu Daon met my gaze and let out a soft chuckle.
"Jae-heon, you really can't lie. Seriously."
"I wasn't lying just now."
"That's why I'm saying it."
Yu Daon slowly approached me and pressed her forehead against mine.
"Because you sincerely believe nothing will happen, Jae-heon, I think I can start to believe it too."
"..."
"..."
Our eyes met, and Yu Daon stayed still for a moment, then gave me a soft kiss with a peck sound and smiled.
"Of course, make sure you treat the others well too, so they don't get jealous."
"Do you think I can't manage that?"
"Honestly, I'm not worried about that part."
At my words, Yu Daon gave a wry smile.
"Jae-heon is very thorough and fair about that sort of thing."
"..."
"Anyway. I'll be careful too."
Saying that, Yu Daon kissed me again.
"Now you should go talk to the others!"
Then she gently pinched my cheek and smiled.
"Yes. I understand."
I nodded too, left Yu Daon behind, and went to where the others were.
Let me think this through as much as I can.
*
Fortunately, or perhaps inevitably, everyone tried their best not to cause Yu Daon any stress.
Partly because of what I'd said to them, but more than that, it seemed each of them had their own thoughts on the matter.
Yu Daon also seemed to be trying her best to be careful.
In fact, she was being so careful it was noticeable.
The day after my talk with Yu Daon, when we saw her walking on tiptoe, everyone had something to say.
But contrary to that, everyone was considerate of her.
"Don't you dare exercise from now on."
"Ah, I won't."
"Don't even come into the kitchen."
"Huh?"
"What if you accidentally cut your finger or something?"
At Jang Chae-yeon's words, Yu Daon fell silent.
We all knew what Jang Chae-yeon meant.
If her hand got injured, it would undoubtedly regenerate immediately. And since no one knew what effect that might have on the baby, everyone was being considerate of her in their own way.
"That's right. For the time being, stop all housework, or anything else that might cause injury."
The Branch Chief stared at Yu Daon with stern eyes.
"I'm also, through the Director-General, trying to find someone who knows about these situations... um, how people with rather unique physical conditions should behave when they become pregnant."
"There's such a person?"
"Well, there have been cases of people pregnant with Isolation Objects."
Is that even possible?
Anyway. Thanks to everyone's consideration, Yu Daon was able to act a little more comfortably.
Of course, in contrast, my nights seemed to have gotten a bit tougher.
Should I say people were tormenting me more than before?
It felt like they wouldn't let me go until I was completely drained.
Especially the Branch Chief.
After nearly killing me half to death, she'd tell me to use vacation days the next day and wouldn't let me sleep.
If I said I had no vacation days, I'd witness the miracle of my vacation balance increasing overnight.
Why is that?
And the person to consult about such worries was always the same.
"...Hmm."
Manual closed her eyes after hearing my question.
"Well, I guess you're not a complete fool."
"I told you I'm perceptive."
"Just don't say anything truly infuriating. Everyone is taking care of Yu Daon in their own way, just as you thought."
"That's..."
"We all know her body is unusual, don't we?"
Manual said calmly.
"So we all agreed it's only natural to be considerate of Yu Daon."
"Was there anyone opposed?"
If there was, I'd have to scold them.
"No. Everyone agreed. Especially since Jang Chae-yeon and Song A-rin even made schedules while trying to take care of Yu Daon."
Those two?
I couldn't quite imagine it, but it seemed everyone was getting along well.
I was a little touched.
"In exchange, we decided to torment you a bit."
"Yeah. I feel like I'm going to die lately. Why are you doing this?"
"Are you asking because you don't know?"
Covering herself with the blanket, Manual made a face that said 'how ridiculous.'
"Anyway, Yu Daon is number one."
"Number one?"
"...For getting pregnant."
Manual sighed as if the ground had given way.
"...Are you competing over that?"
"Don't you know people used to kill each other over that in the old days? Haven't you read any history books?"
"..."
She was right.
The color instantly drained from my face.
Surely not—
"Hey. Don't start thinking weird thoughts again."
Manual thumped me on the back.
"There's no monarchy here, do you think we'd fight over that?"
"One can never know."
"What do you mean, 'one can never know'? Are you trying to be truly disappointing? Do we look like that kind of people to you?"
"...Sorry."
"Good. As long as you know."
After my words, Manual took a deep breath and continued.
"Anyway, so, we're handling it well. Don't worry too much."
"Okay. So, the reason the others are acting like that..."
"Yeah. It's probably less about disliking Yu Daon and more about not wanting to lose."
Manual replied in a calm voice.
"So everyone is squeezing you dry."
"Couldn't you phrase that a little more nicely?"
"I was going to use a harsher expression but held back."
"Okay. Thanks."
Let's just drop it.
Thinking that, I looked at Manual.
"Anyway."
Saying that, Manual lowered her body again.
"What are you doing?"
"Let's do it one more time."
"No..."
"What? Hurry up."
"..."
In the end, I had no choice but to do it again.
And so, about a month later.
"...Ugh..."
Jang Chae-yeon was vomiting.
"...Hehe... Hehehe... Ugh... Hehe..."
Her appearance, laughing ominously, became a little frightening.