episode_0004

Come to think of it, Alice’s birthday is coming up soon. The orphanage plans to hold a group party for children with birthdays around the same time.

She came to the orphanage without any background, so it was reasonable to assume that no one knew her birthday.

“Still, I managed to find out about Alice’s birthday.”

Given Alice’s cold demeanor, one might expect her to have been born in winter, but surprisingly, her birthday fell in the warm spring. This was information that had been mentioned several times in the original work.

[Recently, dry spring weather continues. The influence of a high-pressure system originating from the Yangtze River in eastern China has strengthened, so please be careful of forest fires….]

As the news voice flowed in from the TV, I headed towards the director’s office, listening with one ear. The director knew that I was closest to Alice and had decided to plan the birthday party with me.

Upon arriving at the director’s office, I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Through the crack, I could hear voices from inside.

“Recent crimes….”

“…Cooperation is difficult.”

It seemed like the director and the head nurse were having a serious conversation. Perhaps it was such a grave matter that they forgot to close the door.

Knock, knock.

“It’s Kim Maru.”

“Oh, come in.”

After receiving permission from the director, I stepped into the room. The director was seated across from the head nurse.

Even with the news of the children’s upcoming birthdays, their expressions remained somber. Could it be because of the conversation they just had?

“I’ll go ahead then, Director. Even if indirectly, I’ll continue to try to cooperate.”

“Yes.”

Having finished speaking, the director passed by me and went out the door. I closed the door and sat across from the head nurse. She made an effort to put on a cheerful expression upon my arrival.

“You’re here early. Maru, you’re close to Alice, right? That’s why I called you to plan the birthday party together, you know?”

“Yes, when will it be held?”

“In two days. Today we’ll make the plans, and tomorrow we’ll start preparing in earnest.”

The head nurse showed me the list of birthday party attendees. It included the names of the children whose birthdays fell in this month, including Alice.

“However, I can’t give you as good a present as last year…. Sorry. Maru is the only reason I can say this with dignity. If I said this to anyone else, they’d definitely throw a fit.”

“Just feeding and putting me to bed is enough to be grateful for.”

“Why are you talking like you’ve lived a whole life?”

It seems that my mental age makes me look like an old kid in the eyes of adults. But I have no intention of acting like a child. Besides, my embarrassment would pierce the sky if I did.

“You can get balloons and fireworks at the nearby hole-in-the-wall store, and we’ll get the cake from the bakery downtown.”

The director will buy the cake, and I decided to go to the hole-in-the-wall store. It’s only a 5-minute walk, but I wanted to ease the director’s burden even just a little.

“Um… Maru.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t go alone, go with a few others.”

“Do I have to? I can carry everything by myself.”

“Just, it’s more fun when everyone goes together, isn’t it?”

“Okay.”

Nodding vaguely, I greeted them and left the room.

As soon as I came out, my sight was filled with her fair skin and blue eyes. I gasped in surprise and felt my face flush for no reason.

“Ugh, I told you not to do that.”

“……”

“I almost had a heart attack.”

Alice was waiting for me right in front of the door.

Since my recent visit to the director’s office, she’s been sticking to me more. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but it’s probably related to the adoption story.

I wanted to ask her first, but since it’s a sensitive topic for her, I couldn’t open my mouth.

“I’m going to a nearby store for a bit.”

As I moved towards the entrance of the orphanage, Alice followed along. The birthday party person going to buy party supplies… how ironic.

“But the director also said to go with others, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Anyway, Alice already knows that her birthday party is coming up. And since it’s not a surprise party, it should be fine.

“Are you going too?”

She nodded.

“I’m going to buy balloons and fireworks for the birthday party in two days.”

Alice and I left the daycare center and headed to a nearby stationery store. The cozy weather made just walking feel lethargic.

Feeling lethargic, I slouched, while Alice eagerly took in the surroundings, as if she had never been here before.

“Come to think of it, is this your first time coming here?”

Since Alice had been confined to the daycare center on sunny days, it was understandable that she found the outside scenery fascinating.

Once outside, her golden hair and fair skin seemed even more radiant. It felt like something out of a webtoon. Back then, I didn’t really appreciate it since it was a male character, but seeing it now with the gender reversed, it definitely felt different.

“In terms of looks, she’s on par with the protagonist Kim Noeul.”

Kim Noeul. The leader of Haneulgo and the protagonist who stands against Alice. In the setting of the webtoon, Kim Noeul and Alex are considered the top two “hot guys” at school. They were quite popular among female readers.

Suddenly, I became curious about the principle of this world’s reversal. I wondered if Kim Noeul’s name had also changed like Alice’s. I wondered if Kim Noeul’s appearance had become pretty like Alice’s.

Lost in thought, we arrived at the stationery store. I picked out a few plastic bags of balloons and a small fireworks set. As someone who remembered the prices from my past life, they felt incredibly cheap to me.

Meanwhile, Alice was seated in front of the expired food section, admiring those items.

“Do you want to eat them?”

At my words, she glanced at me. That was a sign of affirmation.

“If we keep it a secret from the headmaster, maybe we can buy one.”

“….”

Alice grabbed a bag with drawings of worms in a rainbow pattern. It was a snack called “King Worm.”

She brought them to the counter. The shop owner raised his magnifying glasses and looked at us.

“Huh? Aren’t you kids from the daycare center over there?”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh, these teachers these days are so neglectful, leaving the kids by themselves.”

“I came here voluntarily, so why call it neglectful?”

When I asked, the owner pretended to cough and ignored me as he calculated the bill. It seems he didn’t want to explain why it was neglectful. Perhaps he didn’t want to worry us.

“If you don’t have anything else to buy, go straight back to the daycare center instead of wandering around.”

The owner, with a curt reply, re-entered the room. I led Alice outside the store.

“‘Something ominous?’ Was there such an event in the webtoon?”

As I’ve mentioned before, Alice’s past remains undisclosed even in the webtoon. Therefore, despite being a reincarnate, I can’t utilize the benefits of reincarnation at all.

“It’s frustrating. We should prepare if we knew in advance.”

Moreover, even if a boy who hasn’t attended school were to tell the orphanage teachers, “Please keep a close eye on the surroundings of the orphanage as it seems ominous recently,” it wouldn’t have much effect.

Walking down the narrow alley with Alice, she suddenly stopped. I, holding her hand, also came to a halt.

Even when I tried to pull her hand, she remained motionless.

“Alice?”

“……”

She was gazing towards the corner we had turned earlier, as if something was there.

“Why? Is there something over there?”

After staring at the corner for a while, she slightly furrowed her brows and shook her head.

“Did a cat or something pass by?”

After finishing her sentence, we hastened our steps.

…After a while, a woman with her face covered by a hood appeared from the corner Alice had been looking at.

She glanced in the direction of the orphanage where the two children had turned and then concealed herself.

*

*

*

Birthday party D-1.

Finally, the birthday party begins tomorrow. Since it wasn’t a secret, the kids stayed up late, making a ruckus.

“Hey~! You guys need to sleep early for tomorrow to come quickly!”

“Teacher! What’s my present this year?”

“If you don’t go to bed right now, there won’t be a present tomorrow!”

Upon the teacher’s scolding, the kids promptly went into their bedrooms. Alice and I, with thick heads, were already in the bedroom. Alice wanted to sleep next to me, so I had no choice but to share the same blanket.

Some of the kids found it curious that a boy and a girl were sleeping together, but they didn’t say anything. They soon fell asleep too, probably because they were tired.

Everyone fell asleep, and the room grew dark.

“Alice, is there really nothing you want as a present?”

I whispered in a small voice.

It was dark, but I could feel Alice’s gaze. She stared at me without a response. Her breath tickled my ear.

“Alright, expecting an answer from you was foolish.”

As I finished speaking, I leaned into the approaching somberness. Though mature in mind, my body was young, and I often felt sleepy.

“……”

Alice confirmed that Kim Maru had fallen asleep and recalled what he had just said.

“Alice, is there really nothing you want as a gift?”

She slowly reached out and lightly poked Kim Maru’s cheek with her finger.

“…Maru.”

Alice murmured softly and slowly closed her eyes.

*

*

*

On this ambitious night when the children had fallen asleep, smoke began to fill the building, and outside the window, a red light started to flicker.