Chapter 60 – Hatching Your First Pet

“Right…”

It was cramped.

Can’t breathe
The feeling that someone is blocking my breathing.
Pain.

– Bip bap.

“Turn off…”

No way… Someone trying to assassinate me in my sleep?

I had such an ominous feeling in my sleep.
I tried to get up somehow, but my tired body didn’t listen to me easily.

“Keuk… !”

Wake up, Kang Chang-jae!
After you’ve been harmed, the next step is for your mother to be in danger!

-Except!

“Puha!”

My body just woke up.
At the same time, something blocking my breathing also disappeared.

“Ha ha, ha, ha… ? What?”

I look around with sleepy eyes.

Mom next to me Seunghee on the other side.
Both of them were sleeping soundly.
Yesterday, you both worked too hard, so you won’t be able to get up early.

… By the way, the culprit who blocked my nose…

– Bip bap.

“Oh… Wow.”

It was crazy.
There was something totally out of the ordinary.

Yellow chick.
By my pillow, a chick I had never seen before was staring at me.

… What is this?

“Ah.”

Remembered Pet Egg.

One of the eggs with the fastest hatching time will have to wake up soon.
When I turned my head, one of the three incubators was gone.

“Ugh… Brother…”

Seunghee talks in her sleep and slurps.
I don’t think it’s going to happen yet.

“Are you Changjae? Why… ?”

Mom seems to have woken up.
He rubbed his eyes with a sleepy face and asked.
It was kind of naughty.

“Mom. A chick is born from an egg.”
“Chick… ?”

Mother muttering with a hazy face.
Instead of answering, I pointed at the chick with my hand.
The chick tilts its head.

“… Oh.”

The mother’s sleepy face gradually changes to a surprised one.

“Oh my gosh.”

– Beep beep.
Toward the startled mother, the chick flapped its wings as if to say hello.

“Oh my gosh, my God… !”

The mother seems to have woken up immediately after seeing the chick.

A mother cautiously stretching her finger towards her chick.
Then, as if the chick thought Ji was a puppy, she put her head in her mother’s hand and rubbed it.

“What should I do. So cute…”

I’m glad your mom likes it too.
I was at a loss because it was a chicken that was born from an egg.

The mother gathers both palms and holds them in front of the chick.
Then the chick jumped up onto the palm of my hand as if it knew the human mind.

– Beep beep.

“Oh my goodness. Look at him, Changjae.”
“Yes. I am watching.”
“How. Aren’t they so cute?”
“Yes. Cute.”

Considering the remaining time of the incubation period, this chick must have been born within a few hours at most.
Even so, the chick had a ‘chick-like’ appearance.

Usually, newborn animals are wet and dirty.
After all, all the creatures in this neighborhood are not normal.

“Ugh… Chick… ?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Seunghee. Are you awake?”

It seems that Seunghee is about to wake up as well.
He blinks his eyes with a smug face.

“Ugh… ?”

Seunghee’s eyes caught the chick in her mother’s hand.
The half-opened eyes get bigger and bigger.

“… Chick?”
“I was born from an incubator egg.”
“Ah!”

From what I said, it seems that Seunghee also remembered the existence of incubators and eggs.

– Beep beep.

Chick flaps her wings as if appealing to Seung-hee.

“Wow! Oh my god! Be cute!”
“Yes?”
“Unni, can I touch you too?”
“If you touch it gently, it will be fine.”

At her mother’s words, Seung-hee cautiously reached out her hand.
Then again, the chick rubbed Seunghee’s head in her hand.

“Ah~ What should I do?”
“I guess it feels good to be stroked by Seunghee.”

Mom and Seung-hee looked like they had completely fallen for chicks.

For some reason, I feel like I am alone outside the fence.
Come to think of it, it was that chick who stopped me from breathing when I was sleeping, right?
Will you catch it?

“If you’re going to keep it as a pet, you should give it a name, right? What should I build it with?”
“How about ‘fried chicken’?”
“Brother! What is that!”
“Okay. You shouldn’t name it as a joke.”
“I’m serious…”
“You’re trying to raise it again and eat it, right? Never!”
“Changjae, are you really going to eat me? Isn’t it?”

Seung-hee gets angry, and Mom looks at me a little sadly.
I haven’t said anything yet

It is unfair. I was treated as if I, a human being, would of course prey on chicks. Prejudice and discrimination were rampant in the hideout.

Of course, I didn’t think of that.
I was just thinking about it.

“… No. Catch it Such a cute kid.”
“Yes? I believe in Changjae.”
“I’ll light up my eyes and keep an eye on you.”
– Beep beep!

… I don’t think it’s going to be easy to catch them secretly.

If you’re not going to catch and eat it, what’s the point of raising it?
I wish I could get some eggs.

“What would be a good name?”
“Are you a chick? Or how about a beep?”
“Ari? Beep? Both are pretty, but I think Peep is better.”
“Anyway, after a while, you will become a chicken, but Peep is a bit…”
“Ah! Oppa, get out of here for a bit.”

In the end, the chick’s name was decided to be Peep.
I had no say.
It’s my pet…

“Pepper, come here!”

– Beep!

When Seunghee clapped and called from the other side, Peep waddled and walked towards Seunghee.

“Oddly enough, I understand people well.”
“Isn’t Peep a genius?”

As soon as Peep was born, he monopolized the popularity of the female crew.
He listens well, is cute, and is full of aegyo.
Thanks to you, my popularity… Under.

“Brother, please buy me some pet food.”
“You said you bought it and raised it.”
“Can I really buy it?”
“… Okay. Wait.”

Pet food is sold in stores.
Small ones are 10 coins, large ones are 90 coins.
Two more will be born soon, so it’s better to buy in bulk.

“Pepper, eat a lot.”
– Beep!

The shape of the pet food was no different from ordinary dog ​​food.
When Seung-hee puts the food in a small bowl, Peep eats it by dipping it one by one.
Even while her mother was preparing breakfast, Seung-hee watched without getting tired of it.

“You take care of Peep from now on, Seunghee. Rice, water, and when you poop, you clean up the poop too.”
“All right. Peep, do you only have to poop in the bathroom? Understand?”

– Beep!

“Right. Our Peep is smart!”

Are you really listening and responding?
No way… I think, but maybe I really understand. Because that’s not an ordinary creature.
Can it be considered a creature in the first place? Are you going to cut the data anyway?
Hmm.

“Changjae, Seunghee, eat.”
“Yes.”

When the rice was ready, I sat down at the table.
There was a pungent smell of stew.

“I tried making kimchi stew because there was still pork left over.”
“It must be delicious!”
“Didn’t the hideout smell much?”
“No? I didn’t even know you could make stew. Is it because the ventilation fan is good?”
“Then I’m glad…”
“That’s because you’re preoccupied with chicks.”
“Unni, Peep is really amazing. He understands everything I say.”
“I know. I think Peep is very smart.”

Even while eating, Seunghee only talked beeping the whole time.

“It is said that another pet will be born tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
“Whoops. What will come next?”
“I hope the chick will come out again.”

What a horrible thing to say
How much time and coins went into that.
If only chicks come out, the loss is not the only one.

“Don’t say anything ominous. What do you do with only three chicks?”
“Why? That’s cute.”
“Do you feed the cute crab?”
“You never know. When Peep grows up, he will hunt even wild boars.”
“What is hunting? It’s good if you don’t get hunted—”

… Wait.
Is there no law that says so?

Common sense does not work on this island.
There was no law telling a chick not to grow up to become something other than a chicken.

Didn’t chickens say they were descended from dinosaurs?
Maybe Peep will grow up to become a Tyrannosaurus.
It was an uncharacteristically sharp observation.

“Hmm… Indeed. Chick might be fine too.”
“… Oppa, did you have a strange thought again?”
“No. At all. And Seunghee, you eat another bowl. Because I need to gain weight.”

The kimchi stew was delicious.

*

– Beep beep! Beep!

“Hmm.”
“Brother. Peepy seems to want to go outside.”
“… I know.”

I felt the same while watching it.

Peepy was flapping around in front of the iron door of the hideout. Occasionally he would peck at iron doors with his beak.

Do you want to go outside I guess so. It must be quite stressful for animals to be confined in a narrow cave.

And the same goes for humans.

“… Brother. It must be dangerous outside, right?”

Seunghee asked cautiously.
I nodded without speaking.

“Ha…”

Seung-hee is disheartened by my reaction.
Seunghee probably wants to go out too.
Still, it was clear that he was patient enough not to be fooled.
Mom doesn’t say anything either, but she’s just as cramped.

I went out on patrol from time to time, but the two of them were always stuck in the hideout.
It may be a bit of a limit.

“Hmm.”

I pull out my phone and check the map.
The surroundings of the hideout were clean.
As I zoomed in a bit more, there were a few red dots that appeared to be wild animals.

On the first day, thanks to weeding out a lot with Seungpil, we secured our territory, but we couldn’t stop the occasional influx of new ones.

Still, the numbers aren’t that many, so I think you can catch them if you want to catch them by yourself.
Wouldn’t it be okay to catch only those nearby and then get some fresh air during the day?

Deciding that it was okay, I decided to put the plan into action right away.

“Mom. I’ll go out for a while.”
“Huh? Where?”
“It’s hunting.”