Kindergarten

"Oh my, she's just too adorable!! Does she take after her mother? Chae-won must be so popular~"

"Ohohoho. You think so? You're too kind~"

Those two were getting along like a house on fire.

While they chatted away, I sat in the director's office chair and dangled my feet in the air.

*Boring.*

Honestly, Mom, I'm a little disappointed you're falling for the flattery.

I was on edge the whole time, terrified she'd get charmed into signing up for the afternoon English play class too.

I'd already spotted it on the schedule on the way in.

"Mom."

I tugged at the hem of her skirt, hoping she'd snap out of it.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Oh my, I think Chae-won feels a little out of place and just wants to stay close to her mommy."

"That's not it…."

"Saying 'that's not it' to a teacher is informal, you know."

"That's not it, ma'am."

For the record, this was absolutely not me being clingy. This was me protecting our household finances.

*Such a waste. What's she even going to do with English at this age.*

Fortunately, drawing attention to myself seemed to work — the English play class never came up.

I think it's fair to say I was the unsung hero of our family budget today.

"Okay, Mom's going now. No crying, alright?"

"Why would I cry. Just go already."

"My, what a brave little girl! Have fun~"

Hmph. Treating me like a baby.

"Hurry up and go."

"You'll have to let go of Mom's skirt first, sweetheart."

"Huh — wait. My hand just — on its own—"

"Oh, you little thing."

I let go of her skirt, flustered, and Mom stood up to be seen out.

"Bye-bye~"

Oh. She's actually leaving.

The emptiness that settled in after Mom disappeared through the door was something else entirely.

This is the first time in six years I've been without my parents nearby….

That hit me out of nowhere.

Pfft. Whatever.

People are fundamentally alone, right?

I didn't even have family in my past life.

It's just a few hours. I can handle a few hours.

…Ah, what's this.

Why are my eyes stinging.

"Chae-won, shall we go say hello to your new friends?"

"…Yes."

If the teacher hadn't spoken up right then, I might have actually let a tear slip.

I squeezed my eyes tight and held it together, not about to give anyone the satisfaction.

*It must be because I'm a girl now — I've gotten so much more emotional. Getting misty-eyed over something like this.*

"Everyone here is really sweet, so I'm sure you'll make friends in no time."

"Okay."

"I almost worry they'll like our Chae-won too much — that might be the real problem~ Goodness, how can anyone be this pretty."

Led along by the teacher's hand, I shuffled down the hall until we stopped in front of a door that read: Sunshine Class.

Slide—

"Everyone, we have a new friend joining us today~"

At those words, every pair of eyes scattered around the room snapped to me all at once.

I flinched.

*Ugh, that's a lot of pressure.*

It felt exactly like being shoved forward with a "Hey everyone, Chae-won has something to say—!"

"Want to give a little introduction?"

In all my years — both lives combined — had I ever been stared at this hard?

Well. They're just a bunch of runny-nosed kids.

I opened my mouth with confidence.

"Hic—! M-m, my name is Lee Chae-won… it is."

"Alright, everyone give her a round of applause~~"

Clap, clap, clap.

*Ugh… of all the times to stutter.*

My ears went red all the way to the tips.

.

.

.

……It was just a momentary slip, born of unfamiliarity.

I recovered my composure in the blink of an eye.

"Chae-won, do you wanna do coloring with me?"

"That sounds boring…."

"Oh, r-really…? Sorry…."

"…Go get it. We'll do it together."

When such a tiny face drooped like that, I just couldn't turn her away.

*Sigh*, see, Mom? I knew this would happen.

Now I have to entertain the kids.

"Hehe. I'm Kim Si-yeon."

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

So I just scribble inside the lines, right?

I took the picture book and a tin of colored pencils and looked over the outline first.

The lines were thick and dark — clearly drawn that way so little kids could color inside them easily.

*So I just fill in the spaces.*

Apple — red.

Banana — yellow.

Cloud — blue, but mix in a bit of white.

Hmm, tomato overlaps with the apple, so a lighter reddish-orange instead.

*Don't go outside the lines, careful, careful…… wait. What am I doing.*

When I came back to myself, I had my tongue sticking out and my nose practically pressed against the paper.

I set down the pencil and glanced over at Si-yeon's coloring beside me.

"If you color chocolate black, that's just charcoal. Use brown."

"Char? What's charcoal?"

"Charcoal. You don't know what charcoal is?"

"Nope."

"…."

Right. She's an actual little kid.

*What am I doing. Why am I putting my whole heart into this.*

I looked around and realized I'd already blazed through a good twenty pages of the picture book.

…Okay, it was a *little* fun. Just a little. Not that much.

"I'm losing interest…."

All the enthusiasm just drained out of me.

"Finish the rest of yours… I'm going to check it."

"Huh…? Are you giving me homework?"

"Yep."

I got up and wandered off to a corner by myself.

*Ugh, no computer here….*

At home I could at least pass the time playing with Mom and Dad.

Being left to entertain myself like this is just not cutting it….

I tried to enjoy the solitude in peace, but more and more kids kept drifting over and hovering around me.

"Oh, hi Chae-won?"

"Uh, hi."

"Your hair is pretty."

"Thanks."

They were all girls.

Every one of them looked gentle and a little timid — just like the teacher said, a perfectly well-behaved bunch.

*What did I used to play when I was little?*

Back then. When I was a boy.

The memories are hazy, but I think I used to run around outside making a racket.

It was an orphanage with barely any toys, so we probably just swung sticks around and called it a day.

*Come to think of it, what do the boys here play?*

I hadn't noticed when I first walked in, but the girls and boys were clustered on opposite sides of the room like someone had drawn an invisible line between them.

So that group huddled together on the far side — those must be the boys.

They'd been sneaking glances at me ever since I walked in, so it didn't seem like they were avoiding me out of dislike.

*Is it a rule or something?*

Curious, I asked the kid next to me what they were up to over there.

"Dunno. Don't care."

"Don't bother. They're bad news."

"Chae-won, don't look at them, you'll catch their stupidity."

I'd only asked one person, but the responses came pouring in from all directions.

*Ah. So they don't get along.*

"They all look pretty well-behaved to me."

"That's only because the head monkey isn't here today."

"Head monkey?"

"Yeah! There's this kid, Ha Jin-su. He was always picking on Si-yeon."

"Right, right. He's the worst!"

There's always one, wherever you go.

The kid who swaggers around like he owns the place.

But setting that aside.

*I'm bored.*

The boys probably play more interesting games than the girls.

Sword fights, maybe. Something like that.

"Oh — where are you going, Chae-won?"

Despite Si-yeon's protests — picture book still in hand — I headed straight for where the boys were gathered.

She's scared of them, so why is she following me?

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

"Huh?!"

"Wh-what do you want."

The boys jumped when a newcomer suddenly broke the unspoken rule and walked right in.

*Wow, they really startled.*

Ignoring their flustered reactions, I leaned in to see what they were huddled around.

Cards? Were those cards?

*…Wait?!*

I looked closer, and my eyes went wide.

Could those be—!

Pocket Mob!!! Duel King!!!

"Wh-where did you guys get these?!"

"Huh? The, the stationery store…?"

"My dad bought them for me."

"Do you have any idea how rare these are?! And you're just tossing them around like they're nothing!"

So this was when card games were all the rage!

These flimsy little scraps of paper would multiply in value several times over with age!

I didn't know exactly which cards they were, but I clearly remembered some guy who used to trade in-game bragging about it.

I'd thought he was exaggerating, so I'd actually gone and looked it up online to check.

"Do you like Duel King too?"

"Pfft, girls only like dolls. She doesn't care."

I care a lot, actually.

Specifically about what those cards are *worth*.

"I love it."

"Oh wow, really?"

"Liar! Name one character then."

"I know the, um… the dragon."

"Psh, you don't even know what it's called."

These naive little kids.

Those aren't just toys, you know.

*These are my stocks. My real estate.*

"Hey, you're getting on my nerves. Scram."

"Ugh. What kind of girl… waaah…."

I shoved aside the one picking a fight for no reason and stepped into the middle of the group.

A dazzling spread of cards in every color.

*Oh, my radiant future assets.*

From now on, I'm asking Dad for nothing but Duel King and Pocket Mob cards as gifts.

Trust me, Mom! Dad! Your daughter's going to make us rich!

First things first — I needed to figure out what was what.

"Hey, green shirt. Which one of these is the most expensive — I mean, the best card?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Who else. The one in the green clothes."

"…That white dragon over there. It has the highest attack."

I got the card owner's permission and turned it over, examining it from every angle.

*This one practically smells like money. I need to remember the name.*

"Ch-Chae-won. I'll give you a different picture book… let's go back…."

"It's fine. I'm having more fun with the cards right now."

"Waaah…."

Kim Si-yeon had dragged herself all the way over here and was fidgeting like she might bolt at any second — yet she stayed planted right beside me.

After a long stretch of observation, I arrived at a conclusion.

*These kids don't even know how to duel.*

They couldn't do the math, so all they did was bicker over "this card looks prettier" and "that card looks stronger." That was the whole game.

*Hmm. Maybe these cards don't mean much to them?*

I rested my chin in my hand and thought it over, then slipped off the beaded bracelet I was wearing.

"First come, first served! Bring me a card I like and I'll give you this bracelet!"

"What's first come first served?"

"Sounds like a name…."

"So if we give you a card, you give us the bracelet?"

I'd used a word that was too complicated — I caught myself — but luckily the meaning got through well enough.

"I made this myself. It's one of my favorites!"

While the actual card owners hesitated, of all people, Kim Si-yeon came sprinting over first.

"Me! Me me! Chae-won, give it to me!"

"Do you even have cards? I'm only taking Duel King or Pocket Mob."

"Oh, I don't have any… I'll bring some tomorrow!"

"Come back tomorrow, then."

"Waaah."

I'd noticed it during the coloring earlier too.

This kid had a truly spectacular talent for looking absolutely pitiful.

Murmur, murmur—

"That bracelet…."

"It must be really valuable."

"I mean, Si-yeon's going crazy over it…."

"I'll give you mine! Trade with me!"

Once Si-yeon's passionate performance (?) broke the ice, everyone started shouting for me to take their cards.

*Hehehe.*

I handed the bracelet over to the kid who brought me the one I liked best.

This is what trading feels like!

It's taking me right back to selling items in-game.

And the bracelet? I can just make another one from the bead set Dad bought me.

"Yay, thank you—!"

I was grinning at my unexpected haul when—

"I-I'll just give you mine for free…!"

"Chae-won, do you want mine too?"

Some kids were just handing over their cards with nothing in return.

*What's going on?*

"Thank you!"

"It's nothing!"

"Yeah yeah, we have tons of cards."

Hehehehe.

I'm rich!!

***

Chae-won's father, Lee Jeong-hwan, and her mother, Park Eun-jeong, had been beside themselves with worry over their daughter.

"I'm nervous. Do you think our Chae-won will adjust okay?"

"She'll be fine. Look who her parents are."

People around them had advised against it, but the two of them had once given in to their daughter's protests about not wanting to go to daycare.

Honestly, part of it was that they wanted to keep her close a little longer — and she was such a bright child that they'd wondered if it was even necessary.

But then, by chance, they caught a child development expert on TV.

—Daycare and kindergarten are a child's first small society — a place where, stepping outside the shelter of home, they encounter peers and adults who aren't their parents, and begin to learn social skills like sharing and following rules, as well as independence for the very first time.

In the end, they'd scrambled to enroll her in kindergarten — but.

"Chae-won is a good kid, but… will she follow the rules?"

"Hmm, well…."

Even the ever-optimistic Jeong-hwan trailed off awkwardly.

*Hmph. Don't wanna.*

The image of his daughter pouting stubbornly floated through his mind.

She was a child with a very clear sense of what she wanted.

She never threw tantrums, which her parents found endearing — but.

*Kids don't really have a sense of right and wrong between them.*

Once it turned into an emotional clash, there was no reasoning with anyone.

"Still, she's a smart girl. Nothing will go wrong."

"Right."

They walked into the kindergarten carrying a mountain of worry —

"Welcome back!"

"Hello, was Chae-won alright today?"

"Of course! Chae-won, your mom and dad are here~"

Before the words were even out, their pretty little daughter came popping out from somewhere across the room.

"Mommy—"

"Did our girl have a good day?"

"Yes! I worked really hard!"

"Work…?"

"I'm going to make our family rich."

"Sure, sure, our little girl. Let's go home now."

Whatever game she'd been playing, she seemed to have had a good time — and that was enough to put their minds at ease.

.

.

.

…And then the next day.

[I'm sorry to bother you. Ma'am… Chae-won got into a fight with one of the boys. I thought you should know, so I wanted to reach out.]

"Wh-WHAT?! Is, is our Chae-won okay?! Wh-what happened, how could—"

[No no, ma'am, please calm down….]

"How am I supposed to calm down?! You're telling me my child got hit on her second day of kindergarten?!"

[What? Oh… I think there may be a slight misunderstanding, ma'am….]

The flustered director added one careful word.

[Chae-won was… the one who hit the boy.]

"EXCUSE ME?!"