I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Side Story 10

Side Story 4. Meeting and Change (1)

“It’s a healthy omega princess. She has all ten fingers and toes. She’s showing clear responses to stimuli, and as you can see, there are no visible wounds…”

Seung-hyun’s delivery was done through surgery. Unlike omegas, for those born as male betas or alphas, natural birth was difficult, so it was safer to deliver the baby through surgery.

The surgery was scheduled accordingly, but it took longer than expected. Jae-young asked with a slightly anxious face.

“How’s the mother?”

“Some indicators dropped slightly in the middle… but he’s fine now. He’s receiving a blood transfusion, and will need to be hospitalized, but he’ll recover naturally. Right now he’s in a state of exhaustion…”

Fortunately, the baby was born safely without any major incidents. Jae-young was only able to see the baby after confirming that the exhausted Seung-hyun had been moved to the ward.

“…She looks like him.”

The baby was a daughter who looked just like Seung-hyun. Although her face was wrinkled, having just been born, there were enough resemblances that anyone could tell she was Seung-hyun’s child.

Seung-hyun might be a bit disappointed, but to Jae-young, she looked like the most beautiful baby in the world.

“…She’s so tiny. How can she have hands and feet when she’s so small…”

“You’re already losing it. You’re really going to be a complete daughter-fool.”

Mrs. Ju clicked her tongue and said. Despite her words, she too couldn’t take her eyes off the baby.

Although the baby resembled Seung-hyun, she could also see some resemblance to Jae-young. She thought she should look for Jae-young’s newborn photos and said,

“Since he’ll be hospitalized, you’ll need to take more care of her, but are you really okay by yourself? I said I’d send an aunt to help.”

“No. I should get used to doing it myself from the start, it’ll be easier later. Don’t worry.”

“If you can’t manage, don’t be stubborn and call right away. You taking care of a baby, the world sure is full of surprises.”

It was a bit annoying that she was saying this as if only Jae-young was making a fuss, even though she herself had taken a day off and been at the hospital since morning, but he understood why she was worried. Jae-young nodded and said,

“I’ll call if I really can’t manage. I’m not saying I’ll take care of her alone if it means hurting her or myself.”

“It should be fine since the baby will be here for two weeks… but you having to take care of her alone, really…”

“How many times are you going to ask? I said it’s really okay. Don’t worry too much. I’m a dad now too. I need to act responsibly.”

Jae-young said, unable to take his eyes off the baby behind the glass. Seung-hyun had been diagnosed as needing about a month of hospitalization to recover and observe his progress. His wound was healing slowly, and his body was so weakened that even walking was difficult.

However, perhaps because they had anticipated several worst-case scenarios, they felt relieved even when told he needed to be hospitalized. It might even be fortunate.

‘Rather than struggling right away… it’s better to let him rest as much as possible. It might be fortunate that there’s a reason for him to rest.’

Although he said he was fine, there was no way it wouldn’t be hard to take care of a baby without much rest. If he was sick, at least he would rest. Since they were told he would recover with proper care, his health would gradually improve.

“Don’t worry. I’ve studied hard and I’m prepared, so it’ll be fine.”

Just looking at her made him feel like a lifetime of fatigue was melting away, so even the difficulties should be considered happiness. Jae-young told Mrs. Ju many times that it would be okay.

The two weeks in the hospital passed quickly, and the day came for the baby to go home. Unlike thinking everything would be fine, it was chaos from the moment they tried to put her in the car.

“Won’t the car vibrations feel too strong? What if we have to brake suddenly?”

“It’s not even 20 minutes, that much should be fine.”

“Still…”

They had decided to use Mrs. Ju’s car and driver to go home, but when it came time to leave, Jae-young was scared to get in the car holding the baby. Is it okay to put this tiny baby in a car? What if he drops her while holding her?

Despite all the studying and preparation, he felt nervous. In the end, Mrs. Ju held the baby and got in the car.

“Really. What’s fine about this?”

“…She’s so small. Hold her carefully.”

“I’ve held more babies than you, so don’t try to teach me and stay quiet.”

“Ugh…”

“Oh no, she woke up. Our Raon, are you hungry?”

Mrs. Ju, who had been speaking as if Jae-young was pathetic, suddenly changed her voice to soothe the baby when she heard her whimper. The car started slowly, and Mrs. Ju skillfully fed the baby formula while comforting her.

“Seung-hyun will have a hard time for two weeks. Not being able to see the baby for two weeks.”

“Raon is difficult to move, and Seung-hyun can’t move either… there’s no choice.”

“Two weeks for a newborn, even two days make a huge difference. How much he’ll miss seeing those changes.”

Jae-young recalled Seung-hyun’s face he saw in the hospital room before getting in the car. With a face full of regret, he had asked the doctor several times if he could be discharged.

‘You can’t. You can’t even walk well by yourself without support yet. You need to recover at least enough to hold the baby.’

However, when he heard that due to the slow recovery, there wasn’t even certainty that he could be discharged after two weeks in this state, he lowered his head, deflated.

‘Just focus on getting better quickly. I’ll take good care of Raon.’

Even until he left after reassuring Seung-hyun like that, he thought it would be fine since he had prepared hard, but it seemed he had overestimated himself.

“…I need to do well…”

“Tsk tsk. Did you think reading about it would be the same as reality? If you’re unsure about anything, contact me right away. I’ll be at the company so I can’t help, but your father is there and… Anyway, there are many people more expert than you.”

Mrs. Ju, who had to return to the company, handed Raon over to Jae-young with a face full of regret. The baby, who had fallen back asleep during the car ride, was breathing softly.

Jae-young carefully held the baby and entered the house. As he carefully put the baby down on the bed in the room prepared for her, he felt strange.

It wasn’t even a particularly large bed, but perhaps because the baby was so small, the bed felt big. Jae-young stood there for a long time, losing track of time as he watched the baby sleep.

“Uuu…”

After some time, the baby woke up, smacked her lips, and started crying. Jae-young started moving, holding and comforting the baby.

“The diaper is fine, you must be hungry. Wait just a bit. Daddy will prepare it right away.”

“Waaah, waaaah…”

Feed her, burp her, and put her to sleep, then she should stop crying. Thinking this, he tried to give her the bottle, but she wouldn’t even take it, let alone eat, and kept crying. A flustered Jae-young checked her diaper again.

“Ah, you peed just now. I’ll change it. Just a moment…”

Even after changing the diaper, she still didn’t stop crying. If it’s not food or diaper, what’s the problem?

“Haah…”

Thinking he should at least stop her crying for now, he held her and comforted her for a while until she finally stopped. He still couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

“…Well, I guess this happens sometimes. Because she’s a baby.”

At least she stopped crying, so it should be fine. Jae-young gave Raon the bottle and burped her. The baby, who had become quiet again as if she had never cried, stayed awake for a while.

“Au, auu…”

“What made you so upset that you cried like that? If only you could talk. Then I could do everything you want.”

“Uuu…”

It was the first time seeing her awake for so long, so Jae-young excitedly babbled in front of the baby for a while. Just her blinking was adorable, and when she occasionally made “uu” sounds, it felt like he was hearing a response, making him happy.

“Ah, it feels like all the difficulties are disappearing. You’re so pretty. Our Raon.”

When he gently poked her tiny cheek, the bewilderment he felt earlier melted away like snow. Jae-young said, looking at the baby,

“Taking care of a baby, it might not be hard at all.”

Thinking that the happiness might outweigh the difficulties, he felt regretful that Seung-hyun couldn’t see this. After video calling to show the baby’s appearance and telling Seung-hyun not to feel too disappointed because he would call often, Jae-young put the baby back to sleep and lay down on the temporary bed next to the baby’s crib.

“Sleep well. Our baby.”

And so ended the first day at home. Or so he thought.

“Waaah!”

“Ugh… What time is it now.”

Jae-young still didn’t know anything. He didn’t know how difficult taking care of a newborn could be, and that sometimes there are things impossible to do with willpower alone.

Not knowing how challenging the next two weeks would be, Jae-young picked up Raon with a face still half-asleep.