ALL NOVEL chapter 94
94: At the Izakaya
It is difficult to provide time that is more valuable than “time spent with children” to someone who has children.
Nevertheless, the reason I responded to Martin’s call, even at the cost of sacrificing my time with my child, is because I knew that there are cases where something that I currently don’t feel the value of can become valuable in the future.
“I’m thinking about getting married.”
The harsh winter wind blew, and it was already November, with the world bustling with preparations for the Holy Maiden’s Festival.
I was called by Martin to the izakaya where I used to go once or twice a week before I got married to Milim.
Coming here reminds me of the time when I was young before getting married. Yes, I no longer feel young. We were already approaching thirty years old.
Well, in reality, there are still about two years until we turn thirty, but considering that every day passes by at lightning speed since we had a child, it feels like we will reach thirty in about a week.
Let me tell you… Our daughter, Sarah, is about a year and a half old, and she is quite active. Moreover, it’s currently the cold season, so as parents, we want to dress her warmly. However, for some reason, she feels hot due to her high body temperature and wants to take off her clothes immediately after we put them on. It’s a never-ending cycle of undressing and dressing in our house… Oh, do you want to see a picture?
“I’ve seen it so many times! Seriously, all you talk about is your child!”
There is a logical reason why parents only talk about their children.
In the first place, “topics” are things that are picked up from daily life and shared. However, when you have an infant or a toddler, your days are consumed by taking care of them, and other “topics” are excluded from your daily life.
This is the true nature of the phenomenon where parents and non-parents in the world tend to drift apart.
In this world, humanity confirms a sense of camaraderie through “common topics.” Moreover, it has reached a point where they feel anxious if they don’t confirm it every day.
Therefore, the distance between parents and non-parents, who cannot have “common topics,” widens, becomes estranged, and eventually leads to a breakdown in their relationship.
Well, it’s not a complete estrangement due to a falling out, and there are times when the relationship is resumed without any particular reason.
“Why does Rex always sound like he’s saying ‘been there, done that’?”
Well, that’s because I have been there and done that… Let’s keep that to ourselves.
It’s fine to tell Martin that I have been reincarnated a million times, and I might have mentioned it in our daily conversations. But right now, the subject is not about me.
What is it… “Thinking about getting married”?
“Actually, I registered on a marriage hunting website.”
I see.
Be careful of traps.
“What do you mean by traps?”
Marriage hunting websites have “decoy actors.”
This is a story from a different world… There were beings called “sakura.”
They worked in the business of making customers who used marriage hunting websites feel a sense of accomplishment in order to make them continue paying the site usage fees.
In other words, they played the role of “a potential partner who came close.”
Moreover, the people who played these roles would claim to have a “high-income occupation,” be beautiful, or handsome.
In this way, the site users who felt the sense of accomplishment of “coming close” would pour money into the site and even advertise outside the site, saying, “I almost made it.”
What’s even more frightening is…
By accumulating experiences of “coming close to beautiful/handsome high-income individuals,” the users’ standards for a partner would rise.
Even if they meet an ideal partner, they would be trapped by the thought of “there might be an even better partner out there” and end up saying, “I came close, but I’ll quit.” This leads to the users themselves becoming decoy actors.
By the way, have you found a good person on the matchmaking site?
“The flow of the conversation! Even if I found someone, it’s hard to say!”
I might have had too many bad experiences.
Experiences shape a person. When you have only bad experiences, you become preoccupied with thoughts like “The next one will be bad anyway” or “This action will lead to bad results.”
Don’t worry about me; I want you to live your own life.
“You’ve had nothing but bad experiences? Really?”
There are things about me that Martin doesn’t know.
I chuckled cynically and tilted the glass with juice.
I can’t put alcohol in it because I have parenting duties when I go home.
By the way, Martin, is everything okay?
If you don’t quickly spill what you want to talk about… I’ll start talking about children.
I have plenty of stories about children.
“…I often hear that marriage is a graveyard of life at work. But… well, when I look at you, I can only think that it depends on the person.”
Well, everything in this world depends on the person… No matter what position you’re in, you can’t say anything is absolutely certain.
However, there is something you must absolutely do before getting married.
That is… household chores.
Although there is a way to have you sign a contract as a full-time housewife and take care of the household chores…
Those who have never done household chores tend to underestimate the effort it takes.
If someone like Martin were to be told by their employer, “Your job is easy. Why can’t you do it in your spare time?” they would probably feel a sense of murderous intent, right?
The moment you show any signs of underestimating the effort of being a full-time housewife, an assassin who has control over your security and savings will emerge…
So it’s better to know the hardships of household chores. At the very least, you should feel that child-rearing and household chores cannot be done together.
Also, it’s difficult for me to go clean your house anymore now that I’m in my thirties…
Why do I have to go clean my childhood friend’s house once every few months, even though I’m in my late twenties?
I have a wife and children, you know.
“If Rex were a girl, I’d marry her.”
Is that so… I wouldn’t want that…
You seem like the type who would unconsciously become a tyrant once you get married.
“…Well, anyway, your statements are sometimes infuriatingly logical, but what you’re saying seems correct, so it’s worth listening to. Tell me about marriage. Also, tell me about matchmaking.”
Well, I don’t know how useful stories from a different world will be…
While recalling memories of when I used to be a “sakura,” I decided to give Martin some advice.