episode_0008

I successfully defeated the siblings next door and woke up from a nap.

Dad was home from work and Mom was busy preparing dinner.

A meal where the whole family gathers.

“Jaehoon won against Minji next door in dictation and addition and subtraction! When did he study like that!?”

Dad is noisy even while eating, perhaps because he heard from his mother who doesn’t give a shit.

“I learned it from my mom.”

“Huh? Mom said she couldn’t do much because she was taking care of Ye-eun?”

“I learned it from my mom and did it on my own.”

“Hahaha. Jaehoon is a genius! Did you see the pencil sharpener in the book too?”

It seems like our mother, who is not good at selling things, knows how much detail we have discussed.

“I saw it on TV.”

“Studying math?! Wasn’t it hard?”

“I learned it from my mom. Finish your meal, dad.”

“Haha. Right. I have to eat it.”

While eating, my dad, who couldn’t control his mouth after getting hit with the equation, started talking nonsense.

“Will Jaehoon do well in kindergarten?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you know?”

“Kindergarten? Why should I go there?”

“He’s five now, should I go?”

“I don’t like it. I don’t want to go.”

“I heard that Minjun and Minji from next door are also registering there?”

“What does it matter if they go or I go?”

“Go make some friends and hang out with them!”

“I’m fine. If you want to send me to kindergarten so badly, go to the kindergarten with your dad and make some friends and play with them”

“Seo Jae-hoon!! You have to listen to your dad!”

The story of a mother who fed Ye-eun while just listening.

My mom, who knows that I am strong towards my dad and weak towards her, always takes my dad’s side in times like these.

“Jaehoon. My next door neighbor Minjun also goes there, so try going for a month first, and if you really don’t like it, I’ll tell you not to go next month. Okay? ”

“…..”

“Aren’t you going to answer when your mom speaks?”

“Okay.”

That’s how I ended up entering the cave.

***

The weekend has arrived.

I took the car to go shopping for clothes to prepare for the coming spring with my family.

Myeongdong Padopa Department Store is located 20 minutes away by car.

This is a place I only heard about when I was studying economics in my previous life, but it still seems to be going strong.

Despite the IMF, many people are walking around the streets, showing that the economy is gradually recovering.

My mom comes into the department store and starts choosing clothes for me.

“Jaehoon. How about this?”

“Okay. I’ll buy it for my mom because she thinks it looks pretty.”

“Okay~”

A father carrying Ye-eun and a mother who seem excited about their first shopping trip in a long time and looking around here and there.

In my previous life, when I was young, I was busy wearing only the tattered, old clothes that I inherited from my older brothers.

When I see this kind of sight, memories from my past life come to mind and I feel bitter.

To me, who knew what the future would be like, department stores, clothes, and everything else seemed like old-fashioned places, so I was busy following my mom around without much interest.

When I see my mom choosing clothes she likes, putting them on me, and if they fit, paying for them right away without even checking the price, it seems like my maternal grandparents are well off too.

Sometimes when I see my maternal grandfather, I think he must be doing well, but surely my maternal family isn’t a conglomerate?

“Honey. Should I buy Jaehoon a little suit? I see a pretty one over there.”

“Why would Jaehoon wear a suit! He’d just buy it and throw it away without wearing it! If he needs it, he can just buy it then. Don’t do anything stupid and come quickly.”

I followed along, laughing at the sight of my father, who was spouting nonsense without holding back, and my mother, who was criticizing him, blowing away my bitter feelings.

After shopping, Dad wins the contest of choosing a menu for a meal out with Mom and Dad.

When I see my father, who is just sitting there, whining like a kid about wanting to eat pork cutlet, I start to doubt whether that man is really the chairman who used to show off his mature charm.

Anyway, we arrived at the tonkatsu restaurant thanks to Dad’s victory.

My dad, who was singing the tonkatsu song, ordered the king tonkatsu, and my mom and I ordered the regular tonkatsu.

Since Ye-eun and I both eat small amounts when we’re young, we decided to share one.

An old-fashioned pork cutlet with a generous amount of sauce that I haven’t had in a long time.

Seeing Ye-eun munching on the pork cutlet that had been cut into thin strips like a hamster made me feel like I liked this kind of day.

***

Today is the kindergarten entrance ceremony.

Because of the entrance ceremony, her father went to work and decided to leave Ye-eun at her parents’ house for a while and pick her up when he got off work.

I came out of the room wearing the clothes my mom had prepared for me the night before. I wondered if it was because there were a lot of moms there.

This is a mother who looks like she has put more effort into her clothes than usual, has made up her face, and is even carrying a handbag.

“What do you think, Mom? Do you think it’s pretty?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty. But why did you care so much?”

“That’s the world of women, son.”

I tilted my head at the unknown sound and left the house with my mother to go to the kindergarten located in the apartment complex less than 5 minutes away from my house.

“Jaehoon. As Mom always says, I hope Jaehoon grows up happily, laughing and running like normal kids.”

“Are you still having fun?”

“Wouldn’t it be more fun if you had friends?”

“…..”

Countless rebuttals came to mind, but to do so would require revealing my mental age, so I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

As you get closer to kindergarten, there are more and more children and guardians around you.

My mother and I, who were the only children of the same age as the neighbors, entered the kindergarten while quietly looking around at the people around us.

As I followed the person in front of me who was walking without stopping, I saw chairs spread out in a place that looked like an auditorium, with children and their guardians sitting on the chairs, so my mother and I also sat in an empty seat.

As soon as the time came, the entrance ceremony began with greetings from the host.

The opening ceremony, national anthem, and introduction to kindergarten life were held, and finally, greetings and introductions from the kindergarten teachers and director. The entrance ceremony was over in less than an hour.

After the entrance ceremony, we moved to our assigned classes one by one.

“Hey! Jaehoon, hi.”

“Oh, okay. Bye, Minjun.”

I guess Minjun next door is in the same class as me. I hope he doesn’t bother me.

When you move to the designated class, the class name is Petal Class.

Yeah, that’s what they call the Hwamusipilhong. These kids will wither someday too.

I was absentmindedly wondering if I was becoming like my father, and before five minutes had passed, the story ended with a greeting from the teacher.

I don’t know why we have entrance ceremonies if it’s not going to be of any help.

Because of Minji, Minjun and his mother stayed at kindergarten and are now on their way home together.

“Mom. No matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand why we had an entrance ceremony if it was going to be like this.”

“Ahaha. Actually, Mom is like that too.”

It was an entrance ceremony that was just a waste of time and no meaning.

***

The next morning.

I headed to the kindergarten with my mom, who said she would take me there while Ye-eun was sleeping.

When I saw a child crying and throwing a tantrum in front of the kindergarten, saying he didn’t want to go, I felt like doing the same thing.

Just imagining myself crying, swearing, and throwing a tantrum like that in front of my mom made me feel disgusted, so I quickly gave up.

After saying goodbye to my mom and entering the kindergarten, my homeroom teacher, Petal Class, welcomed me.

I didn’t notice it yesterday because I was so absorbed in it, but it turned out that the teacher was a rare beauty who looked to be in her early to mid 20s.

“Hi! Are you Jaehoon? The teacher remembers you because you’re pretty.”

“Hello.”

“Okay, teacher, I’ll take you to the halfway point! ”

A beautiful teacher who holds my hand and walks me to class.

Maybe kindergarten would be okay?

The hand of a woman I was holding for the first time in my entire life, excluding my family, was warm.

“The teacher has to wait for the other kids. Are you greeting and playing with the kids who came first?”

“Yes.”

The teacher pats your head and disappears back the way he came.

When the bright eyes of more than ten children turned toward me, I immediately canceled my earlier thoughts.

I crouched down in a corner, trying to avoid the children’s gaze and making my presence as invisible as possible.

As soon as the drop-off time passed, the teacher came into the classroom and called the children to see if all the children had arrived.

“Hello kids~!

Today we will first have time for self-introductions.

Just come out one by one, state your name and hobby, and then go in.

Who wants to go first?”

A teacher looking around at children.

Even though I was hiding in a corner of the group, my eyes met his.

“Shall we go first, pretty Jaehoon?”

When the teacher smiled and spoke to me, all the children in the class turned their eyes to me.

“Jaehoon, please come forward~

Okay! Let’s say hello, tell us your name, and tell us your hobbies~?”

“Hello. My name is Seo Jae-hoon. My hobby is watching TV.”

“This is how you do it! Applause!!”

-Clap clap clap clap clap

Over the course of 15 minutes, twenty people finished introducing themselves.

Even at the age of five, popular kids are seen sticking together.

“Kids~ Snack time! Line up and get one each!”

I stood at the end of the line of children receiving snacks and saw that the jiao jiao was cut into bite-size pieces.

I, who never ate sweets in my past life, was debating whether I should eat them or not.

A small, plump girl standing in front of me, holding a bowl of jiao jiao that she had already eaten, and staring intently at my jiao jiao.

When I shake the zao zao in my hand from side to side, the head moves along with it.

“Want to eat?”

“I ate it? Can I eat it again?”

“I’ll give you the empty shell, and you eat this.”

“Thank you.”

When I see a girl who looks like she has been starving for days and eats deliciously, I feel proud and think that I did the right thing.

“Elleri, coleleri. The boy likes Yejin. Alleri, coleleri.”

A boy next to me was singing strangely. I looked up to see if he was talking about me.

“His name is Seo Jae-hoon.”

Minjun is the one who kindly tells me my name.

“Eolrelikkolreli Jaehoon likes Yejin Eolrelikkolreli~~~”

It was funny. My mentality wouldn’t budge even with that level of teasing. But it didn’t seem to be the case for the chubby girl named Yejin, who started to cry.

“Errellicoleleri Errellicoleleri.”

“Wowwowwow.”

The teacher, who had been watching from afar, finally came over to stop the children and calm down the child named Yejin.

“Eww.”

“Yejin, stop! That’s because the kids like Yejin so much.”

“Ugh. Really?”

“Graham~ Jaehoon also likes Yejin so he’s not saying anything~”

‘huh???’

Yejin blushes while looking at me.

I just gave her a Jiao Jiao that she didn’t eat.

I really don’t know why you are doing this to me.