BL Library - Child-Rearing / Childcare

Manga Review | Let’s Be a Family!! by Tomo Kurahashi

Title: Let's Be a Family!!

Chiaki and Kazuma have been friends with their mutual friend Tomoe since childhood. Tomoe is a photographer who travels around the world, often in warzones and dangerous locations, documenting happenings around the globe. That causes their trio to often be broken apart, though Chiaki and Kazuma, as a romantic couple, don't mind waiting for her to return. They're just trying to determine the next step in their relationship when Tomoe announces she'll return to Japan. The two, excited to see their friend, go out to meet her. But what they find isn't the Tomoe they said goodbye to before.

Tomoe is pregnant. She's very pregnant.

Chiaki and Kazuma never expected their rambunctious friend to settle down with someone, much less have a child. As they pepper her with questions, she admits that she doesn't know who her child's father is, but she fully intends to raise her all the same. Chiaki and Kazuma are stunned but more than willing to support their friend on this new journey in life. The day comes when Tomoe gives birth to a little girl named Ayumi. To Chiaki and Kazuma's relief, Tomoe settles well into motherhood, and the trio of friends are all happy with how their lives are going.

That is until Tomoe comes to them crying, begging that the couple take her one-year-old daughter and raise her so she can go back out into the field. Chiaki and Kazuma are once again surprised, but seeing their dear friend Tomoe and her young daughter, they can't possibly say no. So begins a complete surprise for Chiaki and Kazuma. Not just as a couple but as fathers. Navigating a relationship is hard enough with two people, but what happens when you add a third?

Title: The Origin of Species

Author(s): Harusari, TanSeom

Artist(s): AshK

Youngjin is a faulty omega. Though he's part of the extraordinary species, due to being born from an ordinary species and an extraordinary species pairing, he's effectively infertile. Not to mention, he's missing the superhuman strength, speed, and other superior qualities found in full-blooded extraordinary species. That wouldn't be so terrible if not for the lonely and dangerous life he's forced to lead. After his grandfather passed, Youngjin was left entirely alone on the island he grew up on, everyone else having moved to the mainland. It isn't until Youngjin is taken in by “sir” that he is given a new purpose. Sir steadily grooms Youngjin, tying him to him with immense debt and helping him become an unstoppable hacker, but oppressing all other aspects of his life.

During an intense mission where Youngjin must hack into a safe at an auction to steal a mysterious, encrypted item, he and his teammates are captured. Youngjin is tied up and presented to an alpha, the item's buyer. He is Seo Seunghyun, president of a large company and a man who has every intention of getting what he wants, no matter what it takes. He has the item, but it's encrypted, and his team just isn't well-equipped to break into it. Having seen Youngjin's skills firsthand, he's sure Youngjin is just what he needs. Youngjin is willing to work with Seunghyun only under a few conditions.

The first is to free his teammates.

Easy enough, but then there's the second condition:

Make a sex tape with Youngjin.

Seunghyun is shocked but even more intrigued, and after a night with Youngjin in bed, he finds himself intensely drawn to the strange omega. If Seunghyun wants Youngjin, he'll get him, and he's willing to do anything to win Youngjin over.

Title: My Sweet, Husky Daddy

Author(s): Lyla Katagiri

Artist(s): Lyla Katagiri

Seichi is looking for a life partner. He's pretty popular at the matchmaking events he's signed up for, but when he starts talking about his favorite thing in the world, he loses all momentum and ends up alone. What is this favorite thing? None other than his son. Seichi's entire life revolves around his sixteen-year-old son Ayato, a bright and talented kid whom Seichi raised entirely on his own at the age of eighteen before his son was one.

Seichi is perfectly content spending his life parenting Ayato, but as Ayato gets older, he pushes his loving father to find someone to keep him company when Ayato inevitably leaves the house. Seichi can't imagine life without his son in his house, but it's a reality he has to face, so he's willing to try and find a partner with the intention of eventually marrying them. Unlike Seichi, at his latest matchmaking mixer, there's another young man there who seems perfectly capable of working the room. But to his surprise, they both walk away with no matches at the end of it all.

Not wanting to waste the night, Seichi decides to go out to drink with the young man, Inukai, and bemoan their bad luck at these events. What he doesn't anticipate is getting drunk and winding up in a hotel bed with Inukai that same night. Maybe he shouldn't have been looking for a wife but a husband instead.

Title: One Night Only

Author(s): seowoo

Artist(s): seowoo

Cha Sia is an alpha heiress. With so much prestige and power to her name comes high expectations from her mother. As the face of her company, she's expected to find and marry a highly compatible omega, bond with them, and then eventually produce heirs of her own. All of this is easier said than done, as Sia has a unique disposition. She was once engaged and bonded to an omega she was raised with since childhood. Unfortunately, they broke up, though under amicable circumstances. While that meant her childhood friend could marry the alpha of his dreams, Sia was left instead with a chronic aversion to any and all omegas.

As a result, Sia has been forced into near solitude, having to go to work hours before she has to be there, leaving hours after she should, and holing herself up at home just to avoid encountering the sickening scent of omega pheromones. This numbing but safe routine can't go on forever, especially when she is expected to attend various public events as the face of her company. At one such public event, after escaping the crowd to hide in her hotel room, someone knocks on her door. Assuming it's her personal doctor or secretary, she answers the door, only to find a young man she doesn't know.

He is Ju Heeyoun, a famous actor and an omega, but for some reason, she isn't repulsed by his pheromones. Things only get more confusing when he propositions her for one night together so he can have a child. Entranced by this odd omega, Sia has no intention of letting him go after just one night. He could just be her cure.

Title: Butler

Author(s): Nabit

Artist(s): Nabit

Seo Yian is a butler at a prestigious hotel where the elite of the elite frequent due to their unmatched service, but more importantly, for their all beta staff. Yian is just another one of those betas, serving as a personal butler for VIP client Yoo Jekwon. Yoo Jekwon is an alpha and a CEO of his own company. He is on a whole other level to most people, but especially to Yian, who feels lucky just to be in his presence every day. Jekwon is mysterious, pretty much living at the hotel. But Yian isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and instead takes full advantage of Jekwon's odd living situation.

To take their working relationship to the next level, Yian offers some “special services” to Jekwon. Though Jekwon is initially surprised, he happily accepts, and the two spend many steamy evenings together under the guise of a master-and-servant relationship. Unfortunately, after spending Jekwon's rut in his bed, Yian takes in a lot of alpha pheromones. This has the unfortunate side effect of forcing Yian into a transformation, causing him to manifest into an omega. While this would give Yian the chance to be with an alpha like Jekwon, it means he can no longer work as a butler, a job he adores. Jekwon is more than happy to take responsibility, but with Yian's pheromones being unstable, their relationship status undefined, and the threat of Yian's identity being exposed to his job, Jekwon has his work cut out for him.

All of this is only made worse as Jekwon's stepfather is determined to find any weakness Jekwon might have and exploit it to force his stepson to work in his company.

Title: One-Week Family

Author(s): yatsuhashi

Artist(s): yatsuhashi

Ren Fujimaru is an up-and-coming actor. He's desperate for his next great role so he isn't forever pigeonholed in his previous big job, but the next role works directly alongside a child actor, and Ren hates children. Ren wants to nail this job, and he's willing to do anything to do it. His manager suggests living with the child actor and his manager for a week to grow more comfortable with each other. Ren isn't excited about the opportunity, but again, if this is what it takes to kill the gig, he will do it.

Not long after agreeing, he is introduced to his costar, Yuu Kusaka. Yuu is the child of the current CEO, and it's clear by his quiet and composed demeanor, which Ren would usually be thankful for, that he has been trained for this industry. But Ren is more disturbed than anything, especially as Yuu opens up and reveals how much he craves attention and interaction. While this relationship was set up for Ren's benefit, Ren quickly changes the purpose of this setup to make Yuu's life a bit more enjoyable overall.

All the while Ren is working with Yuu and getting to know him, he is growing closer and closer to Yuu's manager Kei Haruo, which makes all of this effort worth it on its own. As it turns out, Kei is Ren's whole reason and purpose for acting. When Ren was a child, he saw Kei receiving an award as a prolific child actor, and from that moment on, Ren desperately wanted to be an actor and join Kei in his success. But Kei left just as Ren was getting a foothold in the industry. Now that Ren has this opportunity, he wants to find out all he can about his acting idol Kei and tear down the wall he's put up around himself.

Title: Surge Towards You

Author(s): Cheongyeon

Artist(s): Cheongyeon

Cheong-ho is a prolific athlete. He's an Olympic-grade swimmer, but his position is constantly questioned with his diminishing records. His condition would be better as an alpha if he would have sex with an omega, but his fear and repulsion toward omega pheromones make it impossible. Due to a traumatic event in his childhood, Cheong-ho can't stand being around omegas, which is part of why he loves to swim because they can't trigger him in the water. With suppressants, he can achieve his goal of being a professional swimmer, but with them being banned as performance enhancers and considered doping, Cheong-ho's future in the sport is bleak.

At the end of his rope, he tries exposure therapy to overcome his repulsion. While in a park, he encounters someone hanging out on a bridge. The person looks unwell, which leads to them passing out and falling into the water below. Without hesitation, Cheong-ho jumps in to rescue them, but upon pulling them out of the water, he discovers that it is an omega in heat. Strangely enough, he isn't put off by them, but the reason is even stranger still: they're odorless. The person he rescued is Olympic figure skater Yi-rim, a “defective” omega with odorless pheromones.

Yi-rim has never been able to attract an alpha since no one can smell his scent, and, as such, he assumed his life would be lonely until he met Cheong-ho. Cheong-ho needs Yi-rim, and Yi-rim will give anything to be with Cheong-ho, even at the risk of his heart.

Title: DEAR. DOOR

Author(s): Pluto

Artist(s): Pluto

Kyungjoon is struggling. He's doing everything he can to keep it together while out on the beat as a police officer, but the moment he gets back to his empty apartment, he's forced to remember that his girlfriend and fiance have died. He spends evenings mourning her death while recreating moments of their life together and tending to the plants she left behind. Kyungjoon is stuck, with no sign of moving forward, not that he even wants to, to begin with. Thankfully, the rising threat of a cult keeps him busy, but the nights are still lonely.

He's at home alone, as always, when something comes flying in from the balcony, breaking into his apartment. Rather than fearing for his safety, he's more worried about the plants that have been destroyed. He can't focus on this new loss for long, though, as a strange, humanoid, demonic creature appears before him alongside another demon. They're discussing all kinds of things like “doors,” “mana,” and “war,” but none of it makes any sense to Kyungjoon. Then, before he can even begin to wrap his head around this chaotic scenario, Kyungjoon feels immense pain, so strong he feels that he's ripped apart from the inside out.

As it turns out, he has become the door for the king of the western faction of hell, Cain. What does it mean to be a door? He is the way the demon king can go to hell and back to the earthly realm. Cain can open the door with a spell, which is the terrible pain Kyungjoon was subjected to. Or, he can use much more… pleasurable methods. Will Kyungjoon be able to maintain his dignity and sanity amid this civil war in hell, or will he meet the fate of every cultist that has been a door thus far and die?

Title: I Found A Cute Earthling So I Asked Him To Mate With Me

Author(s): Takashi Takahashi

Artist(s): Takashi Takahashi

Sora is a college student. He desperately wants to get a job involving astronomy, but he finds that no one takes astronomy as seriously as he does, isolating him from his peers on campus. He's lonely but not lonely enough to align himself with people who aren't as serious as he is. He's bemoaning his solitary life away from family and with no friends in a park when an odd man suddenly approaches him. He's not just odd, but he's also completely nude. He introduces himself as Regulus, an alien prince, and he has come to Earth with the intention of mating with Sora.

Sora is flabbergasted and just looking for any way to escape. But, unfortunately, he doesn't get the chance. As soon as he goes to make a run for it, some questionably located tentacles shoot out from Regulus and capture Sora. From there, Sora is mercilessly fondled and assaulted until he passes out from pleasure. The next time he wakes up, Sora finds himself back at home with a now-clothed Regulus having moved himself in. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Regulus intends to give up, and Sora, a virgin, isn't sure how he feels about all of Regulus's poking and prodding.

While he's sure now that Regulus isn't from Earth, that doesn't make Sora any more willing to carry a child for him. Can Regulus change Sora's mind? Or will his perceived romance remain among the stars?

Title: Offering My Neck To You

Author(s): Yun Zhong

Artist(s): Yun Zhong

Yanchen has been living an odd life for the last decade. It's already strange enough that he is a vampire, but he's also raising a child that he never should have. After killing a werewolf, he discovered the werewolf he killed had a half-werewolf child. Feeling immense guilt for his actions, he takes in the child named Luoan. Werewolves and vampires are natural enemies, and having a half-werewolf around is even more dangerous since their blood has unique properties that empower vampires. Regardless, Yanchen does everything he can to raise Luoan to be an upstanding and strong young man.

Things are a bit complicated. Because Yanchen is immortal, his appearance never changes. To protect his family, they have to move every three to four years to avoid suspicion, but as Luoan gets older and older, it's harder and harder for Yanchen to be able to play his guardian. Things come to a head when the new school Luoan moves to happens to also have other werewolves attending, and they recognize Luoan as one of their own immediately. While Luoan wants to learn more about himself and where he came from, he doesn't want to be separated from Yanchen.

But Yanchen, seeing Luoan among his kind, wonders if it wouldn't be better for the half-werewolf to be with them. While Yanchen and Luoan struggle to come to terms with their family foundation weakening, a deadly threat lurks in the darkness. Half-werewolves are ideal for vampires, and with more eyes on Luoan, it's only a matter of time before the other vampires come out to get a taste of that power. Can Yanchen protect Luoan? Or will he have to give up Luoan to ensure his safety, even if it means living life alone once more?

Child-Rearing / Childcare

Manga Review | Let’s Be a Family!! by Tomo Kurahashi

Manga Review | My Sweet, Husky Daddy by Lyla Katagiri

Manhwa Review | One Night Only by seowoo

Manga Review | One-Week Family by yatsuhashi

Manhwa Review | Surge Towards You by Cheongyeon

Manhua Review | Offering My Neck To You by Yun Zhong

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