Chapter 161: Company Daycare (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: Company Daycare (1)
“Today, you will be acting as one-day teachers for the Flower Class.”
“Us?”
To our bewildered faces, we were handed bright yellow aprons and tulip-shaped name tags. This was a disaster. Our boys were all 'cool tones.'
And the 'Flower Class,' of all things.
With an average age of 19.3 and an average height in the low 180s, we were a group of men that felt entirely out of place in such a classroom.
“Does anyone actually remember being in daycare?”
“Does anyone usually remember that?”
“You don’t? We had an English play recital back then. I played ‘Prospero.’”
“What’s that?”
“A nobleman from The Tempest.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon explained kindly, but not a hint of interest appeared on Choi Je-ho’s face.
I wasn't much different. I just thought, ‘He’s been extra since he was a kid...’
“Do any of you have younger siblings?”
the daycare teacher asked a simple question. Choi Je-ho, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and Jeong Seong-bin raised their hands.
“You three, what’s the age gap with your siblings?”
“Four years.”
“Two years for us!”
“We’re twins, so we’re the same.”
The three answered in turn. Unfortunately, none of them had siblings who were currently infants or toddlers.
The one with the four-year gap might have had a better chance of being familiar with children, but that person was Choi Je-ho. I gave up on expecting anything.
After receiving a few brief precautions, the children’s names, and the daily schedule, it was time for the kids to arrive.
Hysterical wailing began to echo from beyond the front door.
“Oh no... They must hate saying goodbye to their parents...”
Park Ju-woo looked like he was on the verge of tears himself.
Hold it in, man. If you start crying too, this daycare is going to need a full renovation for water damage.
Still, the children were brave and spirited. After seeing off their mothers, who were rushing to work, they took off their coats and marched into the hallway with firm steps.
Then, the moment they saw our faces, they burst into tears again.
“Waaaaah!”
“Hey, everyone, take three steps back.”
I could tell just by the sound. That wasn't a cry of sorrow.
It was a cry of total rejection.
“Shouldn't we have brought rabbit masks or something?”
“You want to wear those all day?”
“Better than making the kids cry all day.”
Kang Gi-yeon muttered seriously.
“Seong-bin Hyung, you go.”
“Me?!”
“You’re the only one we can trust.”
With Lee Cheong-hyeon’s infinite trust backing him, Jeong Seong-bin cautiously approached the first student.
“H-hello...?”
“Waaaaah! Mommy!”
He failed spectacularly.
I had momentarily forgotten. Jeong Seong-bin was only a 'gentle handsome man' within our group.
In the cold reality of society, no one looked at Jeong Seong-bin and saw a 'warm' guy.
While the arriving children wailed and clung to the actual teachers, someone among us strode boldly toward the kids.
It was Choi Je-ho.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
“Hyung, come back, quick...!”
Despite Park Ju-woo’s and my frantic whispering, he didn't care.
Sure enough, one little friend began to sob.
I should have made him wear glasses.
That might have acted as a barrier.
As I stood there regretting, Choi Je-ho knelt down in the hallway.
“You already know how to take off your jacket by yourself?”
At the random question, all of our eyes widened. The crying child was the same.
“I was watching, and the teachers had to help the other kids. But you hung your clothes up all by yourself.”
“That’s... 'cause I’m a big brother...”
“How old are you?”
“Five...”
“Five? You really are a big brother.”
Perhaps happy to be acknowledged by Choi Je-ho—who looked like a literal mob boss—the five-year-old 'big brother' stopped crying.
“Teacher is new here, so I don't know much. Where is your classroom?”
“What class are you the teacher for?”
“The Flower Class.”
“I’ll show you. Follow me.”
The child stood up bravely. Then, he grabbed Choi Je-ho’s hand and led the way toward the sign that said 'Flower Class.'
If you knew how to talk to people that nicely, why didn't you ever do it with us?
The words climbed up to my throat, but I held them back. At least he was being kind to the kids.
Choi Je-ho’s triumphant expression, as if asking if we’d seen that, was rather annoying.
After many twists and turns, all the Flower Class friends successfully made it into the room.
We even had a brief self-introduction time. They could say 'Gi-yeon' or 'Je-ho' Teacher just fine, but they couldn't pronounce 'I-wol' Teacher properly. I couldn't exactly change my name again.
Should I have them call me Teacher Kim instead? But then it would feel less like a daycare and more like a day in the faculty office.
Fortunately, Spark didn't end up filming a 'One-Day Elementary School Challenge.'
Mainly because no one came near me.
The children would start toward me, only to scurry away in a hurry.
Forget having my name called; I wondered if I’d even be able to make eye contact.
“Just sit down for a bit. Stop standing there like a telephone pole.”
Choi Je-ho said, with a child draped over each of his shoulders. Does gold flow from that guy’s shoulders or something...?
As I sat down awkwardly, I heard Kang Gi-yeon’s clear, bright voice behind me.
It was truly a 'bright' voice. It was a tone I had never heard from him in my life, but it was real.
“Did they release a Sweet-pang doll too? It’s really well-made.”
“Teacher, you know Sweet-pang?”
“Of course. Teacher loves the Mini-pang series.”
“I know over a hundred Mini-pangs!”
Kang Gi-yeon was diving into conversations with the kids using the 'big data' he had accumulated.
The reaction was explosive. Children with all sorts of ribbon character hair ties flocked to him.
Pointing to a character plastered across a child’s wristwatch, Kang Gi-yeon asked.
“Which Pang is this friend? It’s my first time seeing them.”
Whenever Kang Gi-yeon 'discovered' a character he didn't know, the scene grew even more heated.
“It’s Salty-pang. Teacher, you don't know?”
“Was there a friend like this? Is it new?”
“They first appeared in the fifth story of Mini-pang.”
“Mini-pang is already on its fifth story? Teacher only saw up to the third.”
The sight reminded me of something.
I mean, I’d seen this before...
≫ ??? My timeline is so backed up, did something drop for Gi-yeon?
└ Gi-yeon’s concept photos are out~
└ What, why was it released without me??
≫ When is this photo of Gi-yeon from??
└ It’s from the Mini 2nd Album special stage~ The audio is total sh*t, so I recommend muting it and just watching the performance~
└ If you like this kind of outfit, why not try out Gi-yeon from the Music Grand Festival...? It was a revolution for burgundy eyeshadow.
└ Leaving a link to Hwarang Gi-yeon made by Gi-yeon’s fansite master... scurries away
I remembered. It was exactly like veteran fans trying to 'onboard' a newbie.
Park Ju-woo was also wildly popular. It seemed his flashy sky-blue hair reminded them of characters from transformation cartoons.
He looked lost when asked, “Teacher, did you dye your hair the color of Bitter-pang?” but he struggled through an answer, which was pitiful to watch.
If only it had stopped there, but one by one, ribbon hairpins began to be clipped into Park Ju-woo’s hair.
“Teacher, look here! Oh, so pretty!”
“With this, Teacher can be the Fairy King too. I’m specially lending it to you!”
Beyond pigtails, Park Ju-woo’s hair, now tied into thirteen little sprouts, was a tragic sight.
Despite that, Park Ju-woo himself looked peaceful.
“My Noona used to do this to me a lot...”
He said it was thanks to the early education from his older cousin. No wonder the items he picked during the mock fan sign were so high-level.
Heart-shaped jewel earrings dangled from both of Park Ju-woo’s ears. He was the very model of an idol.
Because of this, the only ones left out were the 'E's (Extroverts).
Jeong Seong-bin tried to herd the kids like a flock of sheep, telling them they had to wash their hands first, and ended up making two of them cry. As for me, no one dared to approach me.
Lee Cheong-hyeon was the only hope for the 'E's, but even that wasn't easy.
“Teacher, can you play the piano?”
“I can play everything. What should I play for you?”
“Play ‘A Single Flower’!”
“I’ve never heard that one... How about ‘Trout’ instead?”
Schubert’s Trout flowed through the Flower Class. However, it failed to satisfy the young audience.
“Can’t you just play it by ear? Cheong-hyeon, you have perfect pitch.”
“Everyone is singing a different note, so I can't piece it together...”
And so, Lee Cheong-hyeon failed to recreate ‘A Single Flower.’
I think that MBTI thing is wrong. At least here, Jeong Seong-bin, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and I had become the ultimate outsiders.
During lunch, we did a high-level group activity: making sandwiches together.
While Choi Je-ho, Park Ju-woo, and Kang Gi-yeon watched the kids, Jeong Seong-bin, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and I were in the kitchen, working ourselves to the bone prepping ingredients. My heart nearly burst from the stress of trying to finish on time.
“Watching kids is really no joke.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon said with a look of respect. His hair, which had been neatly styled at the shop, was a total wreck.
“Still, compared to Ju-woo, your hair is in good shape.”
“That’s true.”
We turned our heads to look at Park Ju-woo in the playroom. An untouchable level of flamboyance overwhelmed us. It looked like Park Ju-woo might be invited to the Fairy Kingdom any moment now.
“I figured Kang Gyeon would be on their level of conversation, but what’s with Je-ho Hyung?”
“He’s on their eye level.”
“Aha.”
We talked a bit of smack about our teammates in between. If we didn't, the ingredient prep team wouldn't have any footage for the broadcast.
“Cheong-hyeon, didn't you say you played with your younger brother a lot?”
Jeong Seong-bin asked. Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was closing a bag of bread, hesitated.
“Not exactly ‘a lot,’ just like any other brothers.”
“Is your brother’s personality similar to yours?”
At my question, Lee Cheong-hyeon shook his head.
“He’s completely prickly. The total opposite of me. If you saw him, Hyung, you’d think, ‘Ah, Cheong-hyeon was actually a really nice guy!’”
“That much?”
It was hard to imagine. Probably because the Lee Cheong-hyeon in my head was such a 'friendly big dog' type.
“Then what about your older brother?”
Jeong Seong-bin, who knew the members' family relations well, asked again, but this time too, Lee Cheong-hyeon looked disgusted.
“He’s even worse. Seong-bin Hyung, not all older brothers in the world are like you.”
“I don't think I’m a particularly good brother to Jeong Seong-jun either, but...”
“I’m telling you, it’s on a different level.”
The two then went on a passionate rant while frying eggs and blanching sliced ham about 'how someone’s younger brother has no manners' and 'how someone’s older brother glares like he’s holding an axe.'
“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard about I-wol Hyung’s siblings.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon tossed the comment out casually. My hand, which was opening a jar of strawberry jam, slipped.
Seeing as he didn't use the term 'family relations,' it seemed he was being considerate of the parents' side in his own way.
“What about you, Hyung? Are you an only child?”
The two of them turned their gaze toward me. Beads of sweat formed on my hand as I tried to pop the lid.