‘My first confession across both my past and present lives had to come from a five-year-old.’
Suppressing my gloomy mood, I finished introducing myself, then lay down with my legs stretched out in an empty corner seat so I wouldn’t be disturbed.
‘I should just sleep.’
But apparently, five-year-old children who had no sense of tact and thought only of themselves had no intention of leaving me alone.
Three or four of them surrounded me while I lay there and tormented me...
“Hi, what do you like? You’re really pretty. Let’s play together.”
The first was a child dressed like a princess.
“Let’s build blocks.”
The second was a child who abruptly suggested building blocks.
“Ah, come on, go out with meee.”
And the last was an ugly little brat who had been stubbornly asking me to go out with him since earlier.
‘I want to see Mom.’
There was no point dealing with these brats. They’d only find something to nitpick about.
Even though I deliberately closed my eyes and ignored them, the children apparently had no intention of giving up.
Like demons competing with one another, they kept sticking their heads in, shaking me, and talking at me while spraying spit all over my face.
One little brat shoved away the spit-spewing heads.
“Hey! Stop it, Dohee’s going to play with me.”
He was the rich kid who was the son of Mom’s friend—the one I’d seen last time.
‘Nice. Baekhwi, welcome.’
Of course, I wasn’t going to play with you either.
“Oh, right. I already promised to play with her, so go over there.”
The demons looked unconvinced, but when Baekhwi stubbornly pushed them away, they returned to their places.
Whew. If it weren’t for this rich kid, I might have been harassed all day.
“Good job, brat.”
“I’m not a brat.”
He grumbled at being called a brat, but who cared?
“Fine. Big brother’s going to sleep, so you keep watch over me.”
“Why are you my big brother? And we said we’d play.”
“Ah, then I’ll play dead.”
“What’s playing dead?”
“I’ll lie down like a corpse, and you’ll guard me. You can guard me well, right?”
“Okay.”
It was nice that he was so simple.
I should get along with this little brat.
He was easy to use, and besides, he was the son of Mom’s rich friend.
If any annoying kids showed up, I could use him to deal with them.
Once things around me grew quiet, I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep, worn out mentally.
By the time I woke up, free time was over, and apparently it was class time, because the teacher shook me awake.
“Dohee, it’s class time. You need to get up, okay?”
I had no idea why they were teaching classes to kindergarteners these days.
They were even giving English lessons to five-year-olds.
At five, they were still at an age when their Korean was barely passable.
Of course, it was nothing special.
“Now, everyone, can you name a word that starts with A?”
“Apple.”
The class consisted of simple English vocabulary and pronunciation corrections like that.
Surprisingly, though, the children around me were listening diligently.
‘Well, it can’t hurt to listen.’
From my perspective, the boring class finally ended, and it was time for lunch.
After receiving my food tray and sitting down, Baekhwi followed me and sat beside me.
Watching him tag along like a younger brother who liked his big sister, I found him rather cute.
I should think of him as a little brother and take care of him whenever I happened to see him.
After eating roughly half my lunch, I went back to the corner to take a nap, but Baekhwi followed me and looked at me like a pitiful puppy.
“I’m going to play dead. You do it too.”
“No, let’s do something else now.”
“Why? Playing dead is fun. Once you start, you can do it for hours.”
“Aw... Come on, let’s do something else.”
Sigh. Since I’d decided to be friendly with him, I supposed I could play with him for a little while.
“Fine. What do you want to do?”
“Let’s play house. You and I can be Mommy and Daddy.”
‘What the hell do you mean, Mommy and Daddy?’
Ah, I’d decided to speak like a gentleman, but vulgar words kept slipping out.
I needed to purify my thoughts first.
“Fine. I’ll be the father, and you be the mother.”
“I’m a boy, so why are you the father? I want to be the father.”
“Hey, I’m going to be the father, so you be the mother. Otherwise, I’m not playing.”
“Aw... Fine.”
“Okay. I’m the father coming home from work. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
I pretended to open a door and enter the house.
“Woman, I’m home.”
“Welcome home. You must be hungry.”
“I ate outside. Whew, I’m so tired I could die because of Manager Kim. I’m going to bed first.”
Then I pretended to lie down on a bed and simply lay down on the floor.
Once I lay down, Baekhwi shook me, asking what I was doing and telling me to get up, but there was no way I was getting up.
Ah, fathers were tired after working all day, okay?
When it was time for class again, I stopped playing father and got up. Baekhwi glared at me with moist eyes, as if he were sulking.
Not my problem.
This class was math.
But even math was taught in English.
If they used English every period, I supposed it would become familiar eventually.
I half-listened while pretending to pay attention and gazing elsewhere. By the time science class ended after math, it was already time to go home.
When I waited at the kindergarten entrance, Mom came running over.
She wasn’t a child, so why was she running around without an ounce of decorum? Good grief.
“Was my princess waiting for me?”
“I was waiting. But don’t run over. It’s undignified.”
“Why not? I ran because I missed my daughter so much. Sob, sob.”
“I don’t know. Let’s go home quickly. I’m exhausted.”
“Why? Wasn’t it fun?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
I quickly got into the car, and we set off for home.
“How was kindergarten?”
“It was kindergarten, but they spent the whole day in classes. I already knew everything, so there was no need for me to learn it.”
“Really? Did you make any friends?”
“What’s the point of making friends with little kids? Still, since he’s your friend’s son, I played with Baekhwi a little.”
“Hehe, did you? I’d still like it if my daughter made some friends.”
“I’ll make them naturally once I start school. I’m not going to kindergarten anymore.”
“Okay. Since that’s what you’ve decided, we’ll do that. I don’t want to make you go if you don’t enjoy it.”
“Yeah. Playing with you is a hundred times better.”
“Mommy likes playing with her princess too~ Let’s go home and play.”
“No. Once we get home, I’m going to practice piano and then study.”
“Aw... When do I get to play with you?”
“What does a grown adult need to play for?”
“Aw... You’re mean.”
“Bad women are attractive.”
“Mommy likes good daughters, though.”
“Have another little sibling soon. You and Dad have been getting along awfully well lately.”
Mom seemed to lose her words and remained silent all the way home.
After arriving, I practiced piano and studied until dinner, making up for what I hadn’t been able to do while I was trapped at kindergarten all morning.
Once you set a routine and repeat it, you felt stifled whenever you couldn’t follow it.
While we were eating dinner together after Dad got home from work, he asked about kindergarten.
“My princess, did you decide to keep going to kindergarten?”
“No, I’m going to stay home.”
“Really? Was kindergarten boring?”
“My mouth hurts just talking about it. Ask Mom if you’re curious.”
“My princess is always so prickly.”
Dad made that crying face again.
Even after making that face, if I didn’t answer him, he would hover around me for hours begging for affection, so it was easier to just answer.
“No. It’s just that they were teaching things I already knew, and the kids weren’t on my mental level. What’s the point of becoming friends with them? Instead, you and Mom should make a younger sibling. Mom says she wants a good daughter.”
Dad choked on his food in surprise.
What was wrong with making a younger sibling?
“Cough, ahem... You want us to make a younger sibling?”
“Yeah. You two seem to get along well every night.”
Dad looked at Mom with a flushed face, but Mom’s face had turned even redder, and she avoided his gaze.
“Daddy just plays with Mommy at night.”
“Who said otherwise? If you hold hands and sleep together, a baby will be born, right? Hurry up and get me a younger sibling.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. Uh... uh...”
“Oppa, hurry up and eat. Your food’s going to get cold.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s eat. Princess, you eat up too.”
From now on, if they kept asking me questions, I’d tell them to make me a younger sibling.
Maybe I’d have one before the year was over.
Would a younger sister be better, or a younger brother?
Whatever the gender, I hoped one would appear soon. That way, I’d be free.
After dinner, I went to my room and digested while watching YouTube, then followed my routine of studying, jumping rope, and stretching.
Once I established a routine, I definitely became more consistent.
I spent my remaining free time playing the piano.
After finishing a fairly fulfilling day, I washed up and lay in bed, when Dad suddenly came into my room.
“Daughter, let’s sleep together with Mommy and Daddy tonight.”
He’d been letting me sleep alone lately, so why was he suddenly acting like this?
Why was he bothering someone who’d been lying down so comfortably?
“No. I’m sleeping alone.”
“Why not? Daddy wants to sleep with Dohee.”
Then Dad picked me up and carried me off to his room.
When we entered the master bedroom, Mom reached out to welcome me.
“Daughter~ Come here. Let’s sleep together with Mommy and Daddy.”
Why were these two suddenly acting like this?
They’d been so lovey-dovey at night that they could hardly stand it.
I was forced to lie down between Mom and Dad.
Uncomfortable.
“Why are you kidnapping someone who was sleeping perfectly well?”
“Eee, Dohee, you don’t want to sleep with Mommy?”
“It’s not that I don’t.”
“You don’t hate sleeping with Daddy either, do you?”
“I do dislike that a little.”
Dad made another sorrowful face.
Who told him to kidnap me?
“Is this because I asked you to make me a younger sibling earlier?”
Mom answered, stammering as if flustered.
“N-no, it’s not.”
“If it’s not, then it’s not. Why are you stammering?”
I knew it. At a glance, they clearly wanted to show me that they were only sleeping while holding hands.
“Hurry up and hold hands so we can sleep. You have to hold hands if you want to make a younger sibling.”
“Uh...”
Mom and Dad fidgeted as they took my hands and held them with me between them.
Ugh, this was so uncomfortable I could die.
Perhaps because Mom felt awkward, she suddenly changed the subject.
“Ah, Oppa, when Dohee and I rode the elevator today, a woman told Dohee that she should try being a child actress.”
“Uh... really? Dohee, do you want to?”
“Well, it might be fun to try.”
Mom continued.
“You know how I uploaded tons of pictures of Dohee on social media? After seeing her pictures, people kept messaging me to offer her work as a child model.”
“That’s great. Since Dohee isn’t going to kindergarten anyway, she could model during that time.”
“Mommy didn’t say anything because she was worried it might be hard on you. Dohee, would you like to try?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. More importantly, let go of my hands now. This is so uncomfortable. Just how many children are you two planning to have?”
Only then did Mom and Dad let go of my hands and clear their throats.
“Ahem.”