1 – Elementary school students
As I left the house through the door Jina opened… I heard a voice calling my name from afar.
So when I went there, my brothers were waiting for me. To be honest, I thought the hyungs would just leave me behind, so how do I get home?
I was worried about that thought, but when I saw that the hyungs were waiting for me like this, I got a little… A little bit fond of the hyungs.
Hyungs, how did I get the ball…? I didn’t ask about that.
Suddenly… It’s time to go home, and if the director sees this, he’ll be very scolded.
It seems that he is worried about that, so he is trying to get into the facility as soon as possible before talking about it.
By the time we got back to the facility, the sun had just set over the ridge and the sky was dark.
In my whole life, I’ve never been out at such a late hour… So this is the night scene…?
I also looked around. Of course, whenever.
“Hey, I don’t have time for that. I have to go quickly.”
I had no choice but to hurry as the hyungs tugged at me.
“…The director is really disappointed with you guys.”
Of course, just walking fast didn’t luckily solve this situation. At the main entrance of the facility, the director was waiting for us with arms crossed with an angry expression.
Um… If the King of Yeomra that I saw in a fairy tale book really appeared… Would it look like this..? To the extent that I thought, the director brought me and all the hyungs.
After making him fall to his knees, he roared with anger.
“…What happened to you, you didn’t study for what you were told to do, and you’re already out and about…! Does it even make sense to harass your younger brother who didn’t even go to elementary school…!
You should feel ashamed..! I can’t stand to see you guys not taking care of your younger siblings, but rather harassing them…!
And Yoo Seon..! If something like this happened to you, you should have let the teacher know..! Just because the hyungs are about to go outside, you shouldn’t run out the same way..!
If I had to go outside unconditionally, I would have told you to hold the teacher’s hand and go…?!”
Nagging like a storm. Drops of saliva are splashing here and there like a shotgun, and my legs are numb because I’ve been kneeling since earlier… And seeing the director get so angry.
Tears came out spontaneously without my knowledge. Some of the hyungs burst into tears like girls…
“…Standing against the wall..!”
After
, I couldn’t even watch the cartoon theater that day, and ended the day by looking at the wall and raising my hand.
After running around the alley all day, getting scolded by the director, not being able to rest properly and even raising my hands, I was really tired, so that day I fell asleep right away as soon as my head hit the pillow.
2)
“Hey Yuseon Kang, the director is looking for you”
I made the bed and took a toothbrush to brush my teeth, but when the director said he was looking for me, I stopped what I was doing and went into the director’s office.
“Today we have to go to many places, so let’s hurry more than usual…”
I held the director’s hand, got into a white car- and started running somewhere.
“…Where are you going..?”
“I’m going to go to elementary school in a little while, so I need to buy the necessary things.”
…Come to think of it, in a little while I will be entering elementary school. What are the things you need?
The market arrived by car. People were crowded, so I entered a store holding the director’s hand tightly.
Looking at the many mannequins, it seems to be a clothing store- Looking around, looking at the clothes hanging on the hangers. The director even tried one of them on my body.
“…You like this. Do you like this too..?”
“Are you buying me?”
“There are no clothes that fit the hyungs’ clothes, and among the donated clothes, there aren’t many clothes that Yoo Seon can wear.
You can’t go around wearing clothes with holes in the new semester, can you?”
An unexpected windfall.
I inherited my clothes because I was the youngest – so I was a little dissatisfied with that.
There are a lot of strange stains, and the size doesn’t fit, so the shoulders are flowing down, the waist is not right, and the pants are flowing down. I only have clothes like that, so it looks like the director buys them separately..!
“I… Then I want to wear this too…! I want to wear that too…!”
I was so excited that I was able to buy a t-shirt with a popular character on it while pointing at the mannequin, and in addition to the t-shirt, I was able to buy shoes and pants.
There was an envelope full of clothes hanging from the director’s arm like fruit from a tree, and that was all- I was very happy to think that he had bought it for me.
“…Then… Let’s see, I need to buy a bag… Also, a notice board, and a notebook… A writing instrument. There are many of those in the facility… Then just buy a bag and go home.”
“-Yes!”
A bag… What should I buy for a bag?
Should I buy a bag featuring cartoon garden characters? Or should I buy a bag with a top cartoon character drawn on it..? It was very regrettable that I could only wear one bag because I had one body.
I woke up in the morning and just watched TV, and… While watching the rabbits at the back of the facility and the flowers in the flower beds.
The hyungs went to school with stunned faces, and I thought, “Isn’t school just a place you don’t want to go to…?”
So I didn’t like the fact that I had to go to school.
Today, the director bought me clothes and a bag just because it was a ‘new semester’, so the antipathy in my heart melted a little.
3)
“Be careful – Be careful with people you don’t know, look left and right when crossing a railroad crossing, and again – don’t pick up and eat food abandoned on the street..!”
“…Okay..! Then I’ll be back..!”
I already know the way to school. I thought that either the director or the teacher would go with me, but this is- what are the high school students thinking..?
I did something very serious, and to make up for it- I said I didn’t care.
So, I had no choice but to go to school by myself – I had no complaints about the matter.
I was able to get a lot of pocket money instead of going alone, and also- because it’s not that strange to go out wearing new clothes and do things alone…
“…Mom, I’ll be back..!”
“Son~ You can do well..?! You have to listen carefully to what your son teacher says…?”
“Goodbye father..!”
But… When I see something like that, tears come out naturally. Still… No matter how busy you are, I wish at least one person would have come with me…
As if a bucket of water had been spilled on the painting, the front side kept smearing, so I roughly wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
“-Did you lose your parents…?!”
“…It’s not like that..! I can go alone… Alone..!”
Just then, an old lady looked at me, and she said something, and she just rushed out of there.
The director told me that the classroom for first graders in elementary school is on the first floor, and the place where I should be is in class 1-
I told you to go into the classroom at the far end. Because I can see numbers and read Hangul…
Yes, I can do it alone.
I’m different from those idiots who dare to walk in holding hands with their mother and father…! Because, I can go to class like this by myself…!
At the entrance of the classroom, there were many other children’s parents and many future classmates- one of them caught my eye.
This is the kid I saw the other day when I went to pick up the ball that had fallen over the fence. The name… Well, I didn’t. Anyway, anyway. It is a familiar friend.
Brown hair and eyes. His eyes were slightly swollen, and he was holding a small piece of paper in his hand. I feel like I’m trying to check whether I’m in this class by constantly looking around.. Or not…
Didn’t you come with your parents…?
I thought maybe if I had enough money to live in such a big house, I might have come alone because I have to work that much.
“…Hey..Hey..! Can I help you with something..?”
“…Yeah..So, I don’t know where this place is..!”
Did you think you were lucky to meet someone you knew? As soon as he saw my face, the child who kept looking around anxiously, his restless expression loosened up a lot… And started asking me about this and that.
“You..? You’re in the same class as me..! Then follow me..!”
I brought the child into the classroom.
Hmm… There were a pair of desks next to each other, and I liked the window seat, so I took a seat by the window.
The child sat next to me.
“…That”
“Why are you doing that…?”
Won’t other kids make fun of me if I sit with a girl? I was worried, but actually… I didn’t know anyone at this school except this kid.
I just sat next to her. And as I sat and waited for the teacher…
“Hi guys, nice to meet you today…!”
Then a teacher with short bobbed hair came and handed out animal-shaped name tags to each of the students in my class.
“It’s a new semester, so I want to quickly memorize your names..! So, write your name on the stomach of our cute animal friend. If you give it to the teacher… I’ll make you a cool necklace..!”
There were raccoons, lions, tigers, bears, and such, but cool animals like eagles and tigers were taken by the other kids first, so I had no choice but to write their names on the turtle shell.
‘Kang Yoo-seon’
From noble mtl dot com
I think it was written neatly and nicely- The friend sitting next to me… Was writing on the belly of the fox.
-Lee Jin-ah.
Crookedly, it was hard to recognize because the writing was crooked, but it was written that way.
Yes, this girl’s name was Lee Jin-ah. It’s just that, no matter how much I say it, I couldn’t perfectly remember the name of the kid I saw that day.
I felt fortunate to know the name naturally without having to ask.
The class started after making the name tag, and it was more fun than I thought, and it was nice that it ended quickly.
Looking at the clock on the wall, it was 12 o’clock, all classes were over, and it was time to go home- to be honest, I didn’t want to go back to the facility then.
Because, when I go back to the facility now, the director and teachers are busy with work, and my older brothers usually return from school around 3 o’clock, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
I don’t want to watch TV, watch flower pots, or watch rabbits in the kennel – I just want to run around, but there’s no one to play with.
It’s fun in the school playground. There are slides, seesaws and swings…
“Hey, if it’s okay, would you like to play with me..?”
After tidying up my school bag, I try talking to my partner, Jin-ah, who was about to go home.
…It’s embarrassing, but still… He’s the only friend I know…!
“I can buy you something delicious…!”
I have pocket money, so play with me..! I don’t want to go straight to the facility today…!!!
Did you even hear the cry in my heart…?
The big brown eyes blinked once… And nodded her head quietly.
“Okay, then what shall we play?”