| Episode 162. Company Daycare (2)
“I….”
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything easily.
I couldn’t pretend that the older sister who had put my life back on track didn’t exist just because I didn’t want to receive a penalty.
And with such a long road ahead of me, I couldn’t say I had a sister, only to start bleeding from the nose again and end up getting an MRI for real this time.
Besides, even when I tried to say that I had a sister, no voice came out.
It seemed to be the system’s enforcement of the confidentiality clause.
While I flapped my mouth like a goldfish, the two of them studied my complexion.
Perhaps they thought they had touched upon something serious, because they soon changed the subject. Luckily, they were quick-witted.
‘My sister was… a good person.’
My sister and I had grown up without ever getting into a physical fight. We both had easygoing personalities, and since there was a considerable age gap between us, I remembered that my sister had given me a lot of leeway.
Though, judging by Choe Jeho’s family, I suppose there were places where a large age gap didn’t make much difference.
My sister had always tried hard to do right by our family. Even with a family like that, she had tried to fulfill her human obligations.
She had nagged me endlessly not to get involved with the adults, yet she herself continued to look after our family.
‘Can’t you just live without worrying about them? They don’t care about us either.’
‘It’s hard for firstborns to do that.’
The sight of my sister speaking self-deprecatingly remained vivid in my mind.
Jeong Seongbin pulled me back to reality.
“Hyung, should we unwrap the cheese in advance too?”
“Let’s just tear it open a little. I heard using your hands a lot is good for developing fine motor skills.”
“Teachers, are you done preparing the ingredients?”
Gang Giyeon, who had been enthusiastically talking about Ttabot from a distance this time, called out to us.
His face was absolutely radiant. It was rare to see him looking so full of life. I guess he really liked having a cartoon friend.
“Yes, we’ll be there in a moment!”
Without thinking, I answered in the tone I had used back when I worked as a serving part-timer.
I had adapted this much already, and yet not even half a day had passed. It was hard to believe.
* * *
Objectively speaking, the members of Spark were all in good physical condition.
Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon, who danced as part of their everyday lives, were in another class entirely, while Jeong Seongbin and Yi Cheonghyeon, excluding Bak Juu, also had quite a bit of muscle thanks to their practice sessions and workouts.
‘If it weren’t for my injury, I’d still be in first place.’
Although I had temporarily fallen away from the rankings, I believed I would soon reclaim my spot. I had devoted myself to exercising with even the accumulated-fatigue function turned off, so I thought I would be able to return in perfect condition before long.
Yet, astonishingly, there was a new species of human who could effortlessly surpass young men who danced, sang, and exercised every single day.
The owners of an inexhaustible supply of energy, children.
“Teacher, I can’t do this~.”
“Why do we have to put cucumbers in? I don’t like cucumbers.”
“Teacher, I dropped it on the floor!”
“My clothes are wet~. I want to put on different clothes~.”
Children had endless stamina. Everyone put all their effort into stacking their sandwiches eight layers high. Breadcrumbs scattered like snowflakes.
Some of them even used children’s knives to cut their bread into little pieces because they wanted to make star-shaped sandwiches.
As a result, Bak Juu, the kitchen assistant(?), also had to do his best to cut the cheese and ham into star shapes.
“Gim Iwol, pass me some of those bananas.”
“I’ll give you some, but what’s that jam doing on your face?”
“…? When did that get there?”
One of the children vigorously scrubbed Choe Jeho’s face with a dishcloth. His cleanliness level rose slightly.
For the members, who were surrounded by a whole crowd of children, I busily supplied ingredients.
I was making my third bowl of egg salad when someone approached me.
It was a child wearing a gray shirt who rarely spoke to the other teachers or children.
“…Where’s the bread for you, Teacher?”
“Mine?”
I looked around. By now, everyone was holding at least one sandwich.
The Spark members were also sharing homemade sandwiches with the children. Choe Jeho was actually eating one in each hand.
Since feeding the children came first, they didn’t seem to have managed more than a few bites themselves, but at least each of them had one sandwich of their own. From the looks of it, they had also made one for each of the cameramen nearby.
I checked once more to make sure no one was empty-handed, then answered.
“I’m going to make mine now!”
The child wearing a name tag that read “Jaeyun” sank into deep thought.
Before long, he firmly picked up one slice of white bread in each hand.
Jaeyun made a sandwich all by himself, deftly and without hesitation.
There were no vegetables in it at all, while the ham and cheese had been doubled, making it a thick sandwich.
He had added so much egg salad and strawberry jam that Jaeyun’s plastic gloves were stained yellow and red.
With the sandwich practically bursting apart from the sheer amount of affection he had put into it, Jaeyun held it out to me.
“Here.”
“You’re giving this to me?”
“Yes.”
I accepted the bread in a daze. Only after seeing me take a few bites did Jaeyun begin eating his own sandwich.
* * *
Because of Spark’s appearance, there were some changes to the daycare’s schedule.
Instead of the regularly scheduled reading of English storybooks—which Yi Cheonghyeon probably could have taught even if they had gone through with it—the children were given free-play time.
Now that they were legally allowed to play, the children ran wild as if their reins had been cut loose.
“Teacher! Push me up the slide too!”
“You can climb up perfectly well on your own.”
“My legs don’t reach!”
“I’ll support you, so give it a try.”
Choe Jeho had changed careers into an attraction safety attendant.
“Minipang is stronger, right, Teacher? If he uses Majesty Power, no one can beat him, right?”
“If Ttabot evolves to the fifteenth stage, Minipang loses in one hit. Evolving to the fifteenth stage means combining fifteen Ttabots, you know?”
“Hmm… This seems to require some serious consideration.”
Gang Giyeon had become the Supreme Court justice tasked with deciding whether Minipang or Ttabot was stronger.
“Teacher, obviously the rampaging Bitterpang is the strongest, right?”
“Well, Teacher doesn’t really….”
“Teacher, look here. I’ll put a sticker on you.”
And Bak Juu had almost… become something like Miniminipangpang, the ultimate form of Minipang from the Land of Minipang.
The countless hairpins stuck into his hair, the gauzy shawl draped over his shoulders, and the magic wand in his hand conveyed the full extent of his authority. Still, he desperately blocked them whenever they tried to put stickers on his face.
Fortunately, Jeong Seongbin’s characteristic gentleness succeeded in winning over the children.
Jeong Seongbin took on the role of intermediary, miraculously identifying the melodies of the children’s nursery rhymes and relaying them to Yi Cheonghyeon.
Thanks to him, piano accompaniment finally began to flow through the Flower Class.
And I was still left all alone.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been rejected by humanity like this.”
The writers stifled their laughter at my muttering.
It would have looked good on camera to approach the children actively, but I didn’t want to make them uneasy just for the sake of improving the quality of the footage.
Instead of joining the group, I changed course toward the scattered toys. Then I began picking up the toys strewn across the floor one by one.
I had been putting blocks into a basket for some time when, from the opposite side, blocks began to be placed inside one at a time.
Jaeyun was helping me gather them with his little, fern-like hands.
“Jaeyun?”
Despite my surprised call, Jaeyun calmly continued tidying the toys.
What a good boy. But when you were young, playing should have been enough. He was admirable and endearing, yet my heart couldn’t help aching at the sight.
Jaeyun stayed beside me and helped organize the blocks to the very end. Cleaning up afterward didn’t feel lonely.
* * *
“All right, everyone, it’s time to get ready for your nap!”
“No!”
“No, you’re going to take a nap now!”
The children protested loudly. But the teacher was firm.
We cowardly hid behind the teacher and silently cheered. Dark circles were spreading beneath the handsome faces of the Spark members like curtains.
“Three and three. Three of us clear the floor, and three of us lay out the blankets.”
“Okay….”
Bak Juu nodded. The jeweled earrings dangling from his ears swung along with him.
“I don’t want to sleep.”
“Really? Teacher’s going to sleep because he wants to grow taller.”
“Sleeping makes you taller?”
“Of course. Look at those teachers over there.”
Choe Jeho, talking to the child who was whining, pointed toward us. The child looked at the five lanky men and obediently lay down beneath a blanket.
“How long do I have to sleep to grow as tall as Teacher?”
“You have to sleep whenever your mom tells you to.”
“Then can I grow as tall as the ceiling?”
“Sure. But if you stay up secretly playing games instead of sleeping, the skin under your eyes will get as dark as that teacher’s.”
As he said this, Choe Jeho pointed at me this time. The child promptly placed both hands over either eye. He was teasing me for being a panda, wasn’t he?
Even before the blankets had been laid out, Gang Giyeon received all sorts of offers of affection. Everyone dragged their blankets over to sit beside him. The children seemed to have found his passionate tales of Minipang and Ttabot’s adventures rather entertaining.
Once Jeong Seongbin and I lowered the blinds and turned off the lights, the room fell silent in an instant.
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“You just need to watch the children while they sleep!”
The teacher quietly explained the daycare’s next schedule. We needed people to keep watch because anything could happen even while the children were sleeping, and we also had to prepare the afternoon snacks, among other things.
Watching the children sleeping in neat rows of two, I kept chuckling to myself.
There was no need to look far. Right beside me, one of the grown-ups was already nodding off.
“Juu, are you sleepy? Do you want to go lie down for a bit?”
“No, I’m fine….”
“Go sleep on the slide or something. Choe Jeho’s already asleep, after all.”
Choe Jeho was already sleeping peacefully at the end of the row. I had no idea why he slept like that.
After putting Bak Juu to sleep on top of the slide and Jeong Seongbin and Gang Giyeon to sleep in the ball pit, I finally had a chance to catch my breath.
“Cheonghyeon, don’t you need to sleep?”
“I have to memorize the music book.”
The nursery-rhyme scores the teacher had handed him trembled in Yi Cheonghyeon’s fingertips. He seemed a little offended that there were songs he didn’t know.
‘What am I supposed to do now…?’
As I walked around, quieting my footsteps, I spotted several children who had kicked off their blankets.
They said children had high body temperatures. Was that why they had done it?
I carefully crouched down by the children’s feet.
After lightly brushing my hand across their foreheads to see if they were sweating, I covered them neatly with their blankets once more. It was a peaceful afternoon.