Chapter 77

77. Younger Brother

While driving to the hospital, Siwoo kept blowing mana into his mother.

Although there were healing spells that could completely eliminate the pain, since it was pain from childbirth, if he were to heal it, the baby wouldn't be able to come out.

Siwoo's job was to infuse energy to replenish the strength of both his mother and the baby.

The baby also had to put in a lot of effort to come into the world, and naturally, it needed strength.

“Mommy… Mommy, does it hurt a lot? Hang in there….”

Siwoo held his mother's hand tightly with both of his hands and tried hard to send mana.

“Mommy is… fine… our Siwoo… do you know how much… mommy loves you?”

“Yes, I know!”

“Mommy will give birth to the baby well… don’t worry… it’s okay….”

“Okay.”

After parking the car, Dojin supported Hyunju and headed for the elevator.

Siwoo, holding his mother's hand, followed his parents with quick steps.

After completing the simple procedures, Hyunju entered the delivery room.

“Only one guardian can go in from here. The son can’t go in….”

In front of the delivery room elevator, a double door was installed to prevent infection of the mother and baby.

After entering the first door, thorough disinfection was required, and one had to wear a mask and cap like the doctors in medical dramas before entering the second door and the delivery room.

Dojin sat on a chair in the hallway, placed Siwoo on his lap, and waited for Hyunju's mother.

A moment later, the elevator door in front of the delivery room opened, and Hyunju's mother, wearing a pajama and a long padded jacket, arrived.

“Is Hyunju in? Did she go in?”

“Yes, she’s in the delivery room now.”

“I should have at least seen her face before she went in….”

Although it was Hyunju's mother's wish, she knew it was practically impossible in such a hurry.

“I’ll take good care of Siwoo today, so please go to Hyunju quickly.”

“Yes, I’ll ask you to take care of him. I always appreciate it.”

“No problem. It’s my duty. Please call me later.”

Dojin, kneeling on one knee, spoke to Siwoo.

“Siwoo, Dad needs to be with Mommy.”

“Yeah. I know. I’ll stay with Jiho. Dad, hold Mommy’s hand tightly!”

“Got it.”

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Dad… hang in there.”

“Sure. Dad will hang in there and protect Mommy.”

Dojin said goodbye to Siwoo and Hyunju's mother and entered the delivery room to find his wife, who was lying alone and enduring the contractions.

Hyunju's mother took Siwoo's hand and got into the elevator.

“Siwoo, are you worried about Mommy?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry. Just like Mommy gave birth to you healthy, she will give birth to the baby healthy. When the baby is born, let’s go see her with Auntie.”

Siwoo nodded up and down.

Hyunju's mother gently hugged Siwoo's small body and asked,

“What do you want to play with the baby when it’s born?”

“Hmm~ soccer?”

“You want to play soccer? Siwoo should teach the baby soccer and taekwondo to make the baby strong.”

“And… fly drones together~ play catch~ go to the baseball field~”

“So many things you want to do~ Siyun will love having an older brother like Siwoo.”

“Hee~”

After Siwoo left with Hyunju's mother, a few hours passed.

Hyunju, who arrived at the hospital before dawn, continued to suffer from the pain of childbirth until the sun was high in the sky.

Dojin, by her side, held her hand tightly and repeated, “It’s okay. It’s okay. It will be okay,” endlessly.

Hyunju, who had been enduring with the energy Siwoo had given her, was now gradually losing strength.

“Brother….”

“Yeah, Hyunju. What is it?”

“I’m scared… if something happens… save the baby, not me… and Brother, you have to protect Siwoo and Siyun… do you understand?”

“No, don’t say that. If something happens to you, I’ll follow you. If you’re worried about the kids, you need to hang in there. They said it’s almost over.”

Dojin, tears streaming down his face, stroked Hyunju’s sweat-soaked forehead.

“Mrs.! You’re losing strength, don’t talk, focus! Breathe! Breathe!”

“Hoo… Hoo….”

“The baby is also trying hard! You need to try hard too!”

No scream came out.

Hyunju, holding her husband’s hand, poured all her strength into her body.

If the mother rests, the baby is in danger.

No matter how painful and exhausted, she had to give it her all.

A moment later—

“Cry~ Cry~ Cry~”

Siwoo’s younger brother, Siyun, was born.

Siyun, as if trying to let his parents hear, cried loudly.

Though the cry was small due to exhaustion, it sounded louder to Dojin and Hyunju than any other cry.

Hyunju, lying there with all her energy drained, confirmed the baby was born safely through the cry and shed tears of relief.

“Take a look at the baby’s face and hold him.”

The nurse carefully placed Siyun, wrapped in a blanket, on Dojin’s arms.

Dojin, with a trembling heart, called out his second child’s name.

“Siyun… it’s Dad… do you remember Dad’s voice? You heard it a lot in the womb, right?”

Siyun, perhaps because the outside world was too bright, had his eyes tightly shut and was smacking his lips.

“Let’s be happy and get along well with Dad, Mom, and your older brother… our baby.”

* * *

As the month changed and February was coming to an end.

Siwoo was talking to his kindergarten friends on his kid’s phone.

Since Jiho called Siwoo “Shushu” at kindergarten, many other children also called him “Shushu.”

“No, we can’t go to the sledding hill because we have a baby at home.”

“Sigh~ If we go to the sledding hill, the baby will get cold. If the baby catches a cold, it will be a big problem!”

In fact, even if Siyun caught a cold, it could be solved with his healing magic, but his mother didn’t know that.

And the sledding hill was visited too often every year, so it wasn’t particularly appealing.

While Siwoo was listening to his kindergarten friend’s story about a new toy, he heard a cry from the baby’s crib in the bedroom.

“I have to end the call. My brother woke up.”

“Tell Mom and Dad. Bye~”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Siwoo went from his room to the living room.

Hyunju, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen, called out to Siwoo.

“Siwoo~ I’ll finish the dishes soon. Siyun woke up, so please look at his face for a moment!”

“Okay~!”

Siwoo, answering loudly, ran into the bedroom.

He didn’t forget to run on tiptoe to avoid making noise downstairs.

To prevent the baby from waking up due to the sound of dishes, Siwoo went to the baby’s crib, which Hyunju had temporarily placed in the bedroom, and said,

“Come down.”

With a stern and scary voice.

The baby, who had been sleeping, woke up because…

Nero had climbed onto the bedroom bed and was standing on the crib’s railing, looking down at the baby and crying.

– Meow~

“Come down.”

– Meow, meow~

“You can see when you wake up~ come down, right now.”

Nero lightly jumped to the floor.

Bokshil, who was angry at Nero for waking the baby despite being told not to, barked.

– Bark, bark, bark!

“Ahh~!”

The baby, startled by Bokshil’s barking, cried even louder.

To prevent his mother from worrying, Siwoo cast a spell at the bedroom entrance to prevent the sound from leaking out and peeked through the slightly open spaces in the crib’s bumper to see his brother’s face.

“Siyun, it’s your big brother~ don’t cry. Toot~!”

“Ahh~ Ah… sniff… sniff….”

Inside, a small and cute baby, just over 100 days old, was lying there, wiggling his fingers.

A lovely baby with small, cute eyes, nose, and mouth, and a rosy cheek.

“Bokshil and Nero aren’t scary. They just want to play with you. Siyun, I’ll show you something fun~”

To comfort his startled brother, Siwoo moved his hand.

The small stuffed animals on the TV stand in the bedroom floated in the air at Siwoo’s gesture.

“Here, it’s a mobile.”

Several animal stuffed animals began to slowly spin in the air.

Siyun, who had stopped sobbing, opened his mouth wide and watched the mobile his big brother made with a curious face.

“Do you want some music too?”

Siwoo wound up the music box in the shape of a piano on the bedside table and played it.

Ding~ Dong~ Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

Siyun, who had just turned 100 days old and could now distinguish colors, felt happy with the mobile spinning above him and the gentle music from the music box.

Click~ Click~ Siwoo smiled at the sight of his laughing brother.

“Cute kid. I’ll play with you, so now… show the 100-day miracle. You can do it.”

The 100-day miracle refers to a baby sleeping through the night without waking up.

Of course, it varies from child to child, but it often happens around 100 days, so it is commonly called the 100-day miracle.

“If you were a year old, I could put you to sleep with magic.”

– Bark~

Bokshil barked.

Bokshil, an expert in surveillance, barked, so Siwoo put the stuffed animals back in place and removed the spell from the door.

“Why is it so quiet? It’s making me nervous. Siwoo, is everything okay?”

Hyunju, who had quickly finished the dishes, entered the bedroom.

Despite not getting enough sleep and the difficult parenting, Hyunju looked healthy.

This was thanks to Siwoo, who had used strong healing magic after childbirth to recover to the point where postpartum care was unnecessary, and had been taking good care of her since then.

Hyunju pulled the baby’s crib into the living room.

Siyun, who had been laughing while looking at his big brother in the crib, soon began to grunt and turn his body to the side.

“Mom! Siyun is rolling over!”

“What!?”

Hyunju, who was heading to the laundry room, turned around.

Siyun, sucking his thumb, had one hand stretched out toward Siwoo.

He seemed to want to go to his big brother.

Wriggle, wriggle—

With big, cute eyes, Siyun moved his legs back and forth in the air.

Siyun’s body was gradually turning over.

“Phone!”

Hyunju ran to find her phone to record Siyun’s first roll-over.

Siwoo, with his face pressed against the open spaces in the bumper, cheered his brother on.

“Hang in there~!”

Wriggle, wriggle!

But Siyun, who had been trying hard, rolled halfway over and then flopped back to his original position.

“Ooh~ Oooh~”

Siwoo, seeing his brother making a round mouth and babbling at him, said,

It was too early for Siyun to understand, but the general meaning was conveyed.

Siwoo laughed.

“Was it hard? I get it. Try again next time.”

“A~”

Siyun, opening and closing his mouth, looked at Siwoo and laughed again.

At that moment,

The sound of his mother’s phone ringing came from behind.

“Siwoo, Siyun rolled over!?”

“No~ he was tired, so he’ll try again next time.”

“Really?”

“Mom, the phone is ringing~”

“Yeah, yeah. Mom will take the call for a moment. Our Siwoo is a manager.”

“Mr. Tae-woo?”

“Probably about Siwoo’s next movie.”

Discussions about specific upcoming projects in the film industry were ongoing.

So, the manager had been calling frequently lately.

“Yes, Manager.”

“I’m doing well, thank you.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“A drama? Didn’t the company decide on a movie?”

“No.”

Tae-woo mentioned a few titles.

“Yes, I understand.”

After hanging up, Siwoo asked Hyunju.

“Mom~ am I doing a drama?”

“No, they said to look at the script first. Siwoo, see if it’s interesting.”

“Yes! I hope it’s interesting.”

Siwoo, who was about to meet a new character to follow Dukgu and Yomra, was excited.