Chapter 118: Happy Birthday to You (4)

Memories of the past resurfaced.

It was my 10th birthday, the day when all my family had died due to the dimensional gate, and I was wandering the streets alone.

'It's my birthday, but there's no cake...'

If it had been a normal day, I would have been making a wish with my family, sticking candles in a cake.

But due to the rapidly changing world, I could no longer enjoy such peaceful daily life.

'I wonder if there's even a chocolate pie somewhere...'

I was hungry, and to celebrate my birthday alone, I wandered the streets looking for food that looked like cake.

The result was, of course, a bust. There was no way there'd be cake on the streets. So, I went into a small supermarket and stole a chocolate pie.

'You little thief! How dare you steal precious food!'

I was beaten almost to death, but it didn't matter because I had obtained a cake that could remind me of better days in the past.

With my face swollen, I picked up cigarette butts discarded by passersby. There was still enough ember left to serve as candles.

'I have cake and candles... It's complete...! It's my birthday...!'

My face was a mess, but I grinned in a dark alley. And closing my eyes, I blew out the 'candle', put my hands together, and made a wish.

'...'

I don't remember what wish I made back then. The one thing I remember is that I desperately wanted something.

It was the first birthday I spent alone in my young days.

***

An unfamiliar ceiling.

In a dazed state, I searched through my memories.

'I met the Dragon Slayer... came home and gave them the birthday cake... Did I faint after that...?'

Looking around, I realized I was in a hospital. Judging by how my body ached, someone must have brought me to the hospital.

"Wait, how much time has passed?"

I hope not too much time has passed.

I touched my hair to check the passage of time. And I couldn't help but be shocked.

"...M-My hair is long!!"

There was a thick bunch of hair in my hand.

How much time could have passed?

Anxiously, I messed up my long-grown hair with my hands.

"Aaargh!! How much time has passed!!"

"Whine... Whine..."

"Huh?"

Mangmung's pitiful whine right by my ear. I turned my head to check the source of the sound.

Mangmung, who had just woken up, was looking at me with drowsy eyes, lying next to my head.

"What, it wasn't my hair but Mangmung's fur."

"Whine..."

"I thought years had passed."

Phew, what a relief.

I stroked the fluffy Mangmung and sighed in relief. As if responding to my touch, Mangmung licked my face all over.

"Woof- Woof-"

"Hey, you're getting drool all over me."

As I was playing with Mangmung like this.

Did they sense I was awake?

"Mmm..."

Hwaryeon, who had been sleeping next to the bed, stirred. Looking closely, all my daughters were sprawled around the bed, sleeping. 

Among them, Hwaryeon, who woke up first, came to her senses.

"Hwaryeon."

"Mmm... D...ad...?"

"Good morning."

Seeing my face as she came to her senses.

"D-Dad woke up! You stupid Dad! Who on earth beat you up! Getting hurt like that!"

"I'm sorry for worrying-"

"Raaah! Dad, you idiot!"

Hwaryeon immediately body-slammed me. Unlike usual, it was more like a gentle hug.

"Ouch, it still hurts!"

"You said you were invincible! That you wouldn't die! You're a complete idiot!"

She must have worried a lot while I was lying in the hospital bed. I patted Hwaryeon's head as she buried her face in my chest, hiding her expression.

"Dad, you idiot!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"You weak human! Coming back hurt! If you're going to lose fights, don't go out anymore!"

Hwaryeon poured out words to me as if venting her frustrations. She must have held back a lot seeing me lying down.

As I was responding to Hwaryeon's words and patting her head,

"...Dad? Are you awake?"

"Yes, Suryeon. Good morning."

"...It's not morning."

Suryeon, who had been sleeping leaning against the wall, opened her eyes. She stood next to me with dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't had enough sleep.

She kept mumbling as if trying to say something. Then, glancing at Hwaryeon next to her,

"...Just get better quickly. Stupid Dad."

She said briefly and sat on the bed. It seemed she had something she wanted to say to me, but her pride was hurt with others watching.

Still, I think I knew what Suryeon wanted to say.

"Suryeon."

"...What."

"Thank you, and happy birthday."

"...The birthday's already passed. We made our wishes. They've already come true."

How grumpy.

I chuckled at Suryeon's cat-like response.

Amidst the bustling noise, Choryeon, whose eyes were swollen from crying too much yesterday, raised her head. And seeing me conscious, she opened her eyes wide and said.

"F-Father...?"

"Good morning to you too, Choryeon."

"I-Is this not a dream...? Father really regained consciousness...?"

Having just woken up, she seemed to lack a sense of reality. I smiled at Choryeon and said.

"Yes, I really regained consciousness, Choryeon."

At that, Choryeon's eyes filled with tears.

"F-Father!!"

She ran to me and hugged me, crying.

'Oof!'

It hurt as she pressed on my wounds, but I endured it as much as I could and indulged Choryeon's clinginess.

I had given my young daughters the experience of their father losing consciousness and having to care for him.

'This much pain is nothing compared to what my daughters went through.'

As a father, this level of pain was something I could overlook.

"By the way, how long have I been in the hospital?"

"Three days!"

"..."

I was unconscious longer than I thought.

***

Apparently, I was unconscious for three whole days. They say I had broken bones and organ damage, so I underwent quite a dangerous surgery.

Even dragon regeneration abilities didn't work, leaving deep scars on my body.

'The Dragon Slayer. He was someone I couldn't handle.'

Even the Yellow Dragon couldn't settle the fight and barely chased him away, so he must be quite skilled.

If he tries to hunt my daughters, I won't be able to stop him.

"I have another reason to become stronger."

To protect my children, their father needs to become stronger.

As I lay in the hospital bed, I made a new resolution-

"...Dad, I came to take care of you. I'll wash you."

"Suddenly?"

"Dragon water cannon, fire."

Splash-

Suryeon fired a water cannon at my face as I lay there. Then, with an expressionless face, she wiped my face with a towel as if nothing had happened.

"..."

"Hmm, you're clean now."

Anyway. In this way, I received some nursing care from my daughter.

Among them, the most terrifying care was mealtime.

"Dad, I'll feed you!"

"No, I'll feed him."

"I'll feed you, Father!"

They held out spoons, saying they would feed me.

Three spoons filled with porridge. Sometimes Hwaryeon even puts my porridge in her own mouth.

'What is this, a royal tasting?'

Maybe because they're making a fuss about whose spoon I should eat from.

"Eat my porridge, Dad! If you don't eat the porridge, you'll die by my hand!"

"...Eat my porridge, quickly."

"I blew on it to cool it, Father! Eat my porridge!"

"...Kids, can't you just take turns feeding me without fighting?"

After mealtime care, my face was always covered in porridge. I wonder if it's just my imagination that their care feels more uncomfortable.

As I received care from my daughters like this,

"Dad! I got candy!"

"Who gave it to you?"

"The nurse auntie gave it to me! She told me to call her big sister when she gave me candy!"

"And then?"

"An auntie is an auntie! I decided to just call her auntie!"

Hwaryeon boasted proudly.

During the time they were taking care of me, the kids had become the hospital's idols. They were so popular that everyone knew our family.

'...There were pretty nurses too. I couldn't even ask for their numbers.'

This part was a bit disappointing. And around the time I was discharged, an unexpected person came to visit me.

It was a colleague of Yellow Dragon Yunari, whom I had met before.

After finishing Yunari's funeral, they came to me with gloomy faces and asked.

"Yunari... that friend wasn't good at work, but... she was a good kid... We didn't expect her to go so suddenly..."

"She was always angry about being lower-class, if we had known she'd leave before we could praise her... We would have said nicer things..."

"She was so young... How was Yunari at the end...?"

They were genuinely sad about Yunari's death. They seemed to have grown quite attached to her.

I felt bad about deceiving them, but I had to lie for their future.

"She did her job until the very end. From what I saw, there was nothing problematic about her behavior. She was perfect."

"What's the use of being perfect only at the end... This lower-class..."

And so, Yunari's team members left the hospital with gloomy faces. It seemed like it would take more time for them to get over their grief.

'A dragon's amusement...'

The Yellow Dragon is alive, but seeing people genuinely grieving made me feel complicated.

***

They say all the criminal organizations in District 09 have been eliminated.

Most criminals were either imprisoned or expelled from Seoul, and even the ant cave that had troubled Suryeon was being demolished.

Because of this, children who couldn't easily go to the playground before were now walking around the streets, and vitality began to return to the slums.

'I suppose that's somewhat fortunate.'

Although dangerous people still live there, brutal crimes have decreased unlike before, and lower-ranked heroes have started patrolling.

At the same time, the notorious reputation of District 09 as an uninhabitable place is naturally diminishing.

This is the change that occurred over about two years after the elimination of criminal organizations. Before leaving District 09, I called Gu Bong-gu.

"Gu Bong-gu, I sent the money. Check it."

Gu Bong-gu chuckled over the phone and answered.

-You finally paid it all back, Lee Ha-jun. I never thought you'd actually repay it all.

"I told you I would pay it back. Why don't you trust people?"

-If it were you, would you trust the you from back then?

"No, trusting that guy would make you a sucker."

If someone lent money to me back then, it would be the same as throwing money away.

"But I paid it all back somehow, didn't I? That's what matters."

-It took a bit too long, but alright. So, are you leaving today?

"Yeah, I'm going to District 04 today. I heard the school district there is pretty good."

-There's no better place to raise kids normally. Raise them well. Don't get hurt unnecessarily.

Maybe because it's the last time, Gu Bong-gu unusually spoke warm words to me.

I felt a surge of emotion that was hard to explain, but I answered calmly.

"Yeah, you take care too. Run the kindergarten well, and take good care of Grandma's house. I used it cleanly. Thanks for everything until now."

-...Call me if you need money.

Beep-

Gu Bong-gu hung up with those words.

'Call if I need money, huh. I don't need to do that anymore.'

In the past, I couldn't get loans because of bad credit. Now? I have a solid job as a hero.

The funds I used to move to District 04 this time were all borrowed.

'Back to being in debt again.'

But still.

If I'm with my family and not alone, we should be able to pay it back quickly. 

I've done it once. There's no way I'll fail the second time.

Thinking this, I got into the rental car I borrowed with Weakling's help.

"Kids. Let's go."

"Okay!"

"I'm coming."

"Yes, Father!"

"Woof-!"

The children looking at our nest one last time. Even after getting in the car, they couldn't take their eyes off our nest.

Having been born and raised here, they seemed to feel mixed emotions about leaving. I put my hands on the steering wheel and asked the kids reflected in the rearview mirror.

"Do you feel that bad about leaving home?"

"Of course! That's my home! Why do we have to leave it behind!"

"I don't like having to give my home to others."

"Me too! Father!"

Is it because dragons value their territory so much? Even though we're moving to a better house, their reactions weren't very positive.

I spoke to the kids who were clearly feeling regretful.

"You're supposed to move nests until you grow up. You find a better location for your nest depending on the situation. You'll like the new house once we move."

Even though it's a bit old-fashioned, it's an apartment. A very good old-fashioned apartment aiming for redevelopment profits.

I stepped on the accelerator towards the dragon kids' new nest. Hwaryeon and the children opened the windows and waved at the receding nest.

"Thank you! Grandma! It was a good nest! We'll come back later!"

"Bye bye."

"Goodbye, Grandma. And neighbors! We'll do well! Take care!"

"Woof-!!"

The children each held their precious items as we left for our new nest. 

A Dinosaur doll. An A-pad. Mangmung and a potted plant.

Passing by the stationery store that no longer deals in guns and is now overflowing with children, heading towards District 04 where the elementary academy that the little dragon rascals will attend is located, our family moved forward towards a happy future.

'...Dragon Slayer.'

While hiding the pain of unhealed wounds, towards an even safer nest.