Ch.298298. A Dawn That Calls for a Drink

“……Hmm.”

My chest feels strangely heavy. It’s like someone is lying on top of me, holding me tight.

Half-awake, I looked down. Hwa Nabi, wearing a bathrobe, was sound asleep with her face buried in my chest.

“When did she fall asleep…”

I exhaled, clearing my foggy mind. So that’s why my chest felt heavy. I tried to tap Hwa Nabi to wake her up, but she looked so peaceful that I stopped.

“……Phew.”

She’s even snoring softly, so she must have been really tired. Well, of course she would be. Both of us were so excited that we went all out without thinking about the aftermath.

Apart from Hwa Nabi pressing against my chest, all my muscles feel sore. The reason my body is screaming in pain is, well, obvious enough.

I turned to my right to lay Hwa Nabi on the pillow. Gently holding her waist, I moved very carefully, but…

“Mmm……”

Feeling the movement, Hwa Nabi slowly opened her eyes. I thought I was being gentle, but I must have accidentally woken her up.

She stared at me with sleepy eyes, then yawned lazily and nuzzled her cheek against me. I carefully embraced her and gently stroked her back.

I always think this, but she’s so cute when she’s relaxed. She claims she’s never let her guard down in front of me, but from what I see, she’s relaxed every moment. Otherwise, she wouldn’t show such defenseless moments like this.

“Nabi, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah… how about you, husband?”

“I slept a bit and woke up. Are you tired? Want to sleep more?”

“Mmm, I want to get up. We came here to have fun, so it would be a waste to spend the whole day sleeping…”

She says she wants to get up, but her body isn’t moving. Instead of getting up, she uses my body as a pillow, rubbing her cheek against me, then sniffs, taking in my scent.

“Wow… husband, you smell really sweaty.”

“…That’s because I went to sleep without washing.”

“Ah… wait. Don’t move. Let me smell a bit more.”

“Didn’t you say I smell sweaty…?”

“I never said I disliked the smell, did I?”

So she wants to keep smelling my sweat? I’ve known for a while that Hwa Nabi likes my body odor, and personal preferences should be respected, but… letting her smell my sweat-soaked body is too embarrassing.

I patted her bottom, and she suddenly lifted her head from my chest. Her eyes sharpened—she seemed upset that I interrupted her smelling.

“There you go again, husband, with your bad habit.”

“What? What did I do?”

“You just patted my butt. Husband, I think you’re getting more shameless by the day.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the only person in this world I’m shameless with.”

“…Wow, that’s truly the worst confession ever. Can I go wash my ears?”

“No, if you’re going to wash, you have to go in with me.”

“So you can secretly touch my butt again?”

She’s like a mind reader, figuring me out before I even say anything. How did she know? Having my plan exposed, I considered my options. Should I be more brazen, or pretend I don’t know what she’s talking about while patting her bottom?

As I grinned, enjoying this little dilemma, Hwa Nabi shook her head and got up. I was reluctant to let her go, but I released her willingly, afraid she might see through my intentions if I held on.

“Nabi, where are you going?”

“Just going to wash my face quickly. You’re not really going to follow me, are you?”

She added jokingly as she gently stroked my abdomen. Her smooth fingertips tickled me. I lightly grabbed her wrist to remove her hand and tickled her gently.

“I’ll be right back, so wait a moment. Can you behave yourself?”

“I’m not a child. Hurry back.”

I patted her bottom to send her off since she was worrying unnecessarily. Perhaps as revenge, Hwa Nabi poked my abs with her finger before leaving the room.

It didn’t hurt since there was no force behind it, but it was a bit ticklish. Left alone in the room, I rubbed the spot where her finger had touched and looked outside. It’s getting dark. What time is it now? The 31st must have passed already, so it’s probably early morning on January 1st.

“Where did I put my phone…?”

I looked around but couldn’t see it. Did it fall to the floor while we were rolling around in bed? As I tried to recall, searching around, I suddenly heard bustling noises from outside the bedroom.

Creaking, clattering. The sound of something opening and closing, footsteps moving around. A strangely familiar humming and the clinking of glasses. Even without seeing, I could tell. Hwa Nabi must be preparing something again.

“What is it…?”

Just as I was trying to guess, the bedroom door swung open. Hwa Nabi entered, carrying something in her arms. I got up and approached her. Looking closely at what she brought, I saw several snacks and two cans of beer.

She didn’t bring them just to show me, so she must want us to eat and drink. I took what she brought and placed it on the table.

“Ah, thank you.”

“Yeah, but what’s all this?”

“Come on, you know exactly what this is.”

Hwa Nabi gently caressed my shoulder, then brushed past me to sit at the table.

“Husband? Come sit here.”

She gestured to the seat beside her while opening the snacks. She wants me to come sit with her.

Well… come to think of it, it has been a while since we drank together. During pregnancy, alcohol was obviously forbidden, and after giving birth, she couldn’t drink because of postpartum recovery and breastfeeding.

With Hwa Nabi in that situation, I also abstained. So we haven’t had a drop of alcohol for over 10 months. Neither of us particularly enjoys drinking, but when you can’t have even a sip for nearly a year, you naturally start craving it.

“Here, ahhh.”

“…Mmm.”

As I chewed the dried squid she fed me, I wondered to myself. I sat down because she asked me to, but is it really okay for her to drink beer while breastfeeding?

Feeling uneasy, I looked at Hwa Nabi, who nodded as if she knew what I was thinking.

“I asked the doctor when we went to the hospital the day before yesterday. He said it’s fine to drink one can of beer and then breastfeed three or four hours later.”

“Oh, then it’s not a problem.”

“Yes. And just in case, I’ve already pumped and stored some milk, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

She had thoroughly prepared for this. Well, Hwa Nabi may not be perfect at everything, but she’s excellent at household matters, so I can trust her in this regard.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Huh? What?”

“That look that says you don’t trust me.”

“What are you talking about…”

She was completely off the mark, but she glared at me. I stared back confidently since I had nothing to feel guilty about, and she leaned her upper body toward me.

“The doctor said that if you’re really worried, you can just pump and discard the milk after drinking.”

“It’s okay to discard it?”

“Yes. Since it replenishes quickly anyway, you can just pump it out with a breast pump or by hand and toss it in the trash.”

“Really? That seems like a waste…”

I muttered without thinking, then startled myself. What did I just say? Why would discarding breast milk be a waste? You crazy fool.

My eyes widened in shock at my own words. If I don’t explain quickly, there could be a strange misunderstanding. I hurriedly turned to face Hwa Nabi. I expected her to be as surprised as I was, but she seemed surprisingly calm.

No, not calm—she thought she’d caught me red-handed. With that smile spreading across her face, I couldn’t find the words to speak. As I was opening and closing my mouth, Hwa Nabi crossed her arms and lifted her breasts.

“Hmm, is that so? I see. So husband thinks it’s a waste for me to discard my breast milk?”

“No, wait. Nabi, that’s not what I meant…”

“Then, would you like to suck it so nothing goes to waste? You seemed to enjoy it earlier, I thought you were another baby I was raising… mmph.”

“…Enough.”

As her comments were getting increasingly inappropriate, I quickly took out a piece of cream cheese and pushed it into her mouth. This should make it sticky enough that she can’t speak even if she wants to.

“Mmm… gulp. Ah, the milk husband gives me is still the best.”

“What milk? There’s no milk here.”

“Cheese is made from milk, so broadly speaking, isn’t cheese also milk?”

“Stop saying weird things and please just drink your beer…”

“Heh, should I? Well then, cheers. Cheers.”

“…Cheers.”

It feels like my mental strength is already being drained, even though we’ve barely exchanged a few words. And the main event hasn’t even started yet.

I lightly clinked my beer can against hers, shook it gently, and smelled it. Maybe because it’s imported, the aroma is different. Compared to domestic beers that taste like raw alcohol, this is on another level…

“Oh, right. Husband, I have a question.”

“Oh, yeah. What is it?”

“When should we leave to see the sunrise? When I came in just now, I saw it was 5:20 AM.”

“Hmm, we should leave at least two hours early, right? We need time to get to the spot, and we need to secure a place…”

According to news and internet sources, the first sunrise of the year is supposed to start around 7:40 AM, but you never know with these things, so if we arrive exactly on time, we might be late. So we should be there at least thirty minutes early, which means we need to leave by 5:30 AM, giving us a generous two-hour buffer.

And the current time is 5:20 AM.

“…Huh?”