Financial Therapy

After confirming that Seora was okay, I left the emergency center. *Still, I should probably recover there for a bit and then head home today.* Yoo Jinchae and Kwon Haeseong were following behind me at a quick pace. *They were a huge help.* Those two had made it possible for me to focus entirely on Seora. Jinchae had handled contacting Lee Seohyeok, while Haeseong had briefed the medical staff and therapists. Beyond that, they'd been shuttling back and forth between the emergency center and the kindergarten until Seora woke up, handling all the cleanup. *What a relief to have them.* Just as soon as I shook off this drowned-rat look, I planned to thank them properly. But the moment I stepped into the company lobby connected to the emergency center, Lee Seohyeok's shout rang out behind me. "Teacher!!" I stopped and turned around. Lee Seohyeok was holding out a neatly folded towel with both hands. "Your towel... please take it." "Oh... thank you." Thanks. Really, thanks, but... When such an urgent shout pierced the quiet lobby, it was inevitable that every eye in the room swung our way. "I truly can't thank you enough for today... I will repay you, no matter what." "That really isn't necessary—" I was keeping a wary eye on the crown of Lee Seohyeok's head, which he insisted on driving toward the floor as he toweled off my hair for me, when an unbelievable chance encounter unfolded before us. Baek Cheonhyeong and his secretary, walking toward the main entrance after stepping off the elevator. And Field Team Na filing into the lobby, fresh off their mission, along with Lee Gyeon, Team Leader of Team Ga, as if they'd just returned as well. ...A thoroughly unwelcome reunion had materialized in the very center of the company lobby. "What a remarkable situation this is," Baek Cheonhyeong remarked, glancing around at the crowd with apparent interest. To be precise, he was looking at me, soaked to the bone, with Jinchae and Haeseong standing at attention like bodyguards. ...Or maybe he was talking about Lee Seohyeok, currently prostrating his head beside me. My head ached, but I'd just come out of the water. I was practically out of stamina. *I didn't even want to open my mouth.* "Teacher, it's been a while." At Moon Chaeyoung's greeting, I had no choice but to nod. "Yes, it has." "I was planning to contact you soon about that interview... I never expected to run into you like this today." "...Neither did I." Why? Why is everyone looking at me and Moon Chaeyoung talking like we're some kind of miracle? Then a man who'd been discreetly waving from beside Moon Chaeyoung addressed me. A man with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠striking red mullet and a boisterous face. "How do you do? I'm Kang Howon, a teammate of Seohyeok over there, who's bowing so low his head's about to hit the ground. It is an absolute honor to finally meet the famous Teacher." "And I'm Choi Unseong, another member of Seohyeok's team — the one back there who looks just about ready to drop to his knees. Please take good care of our hopeless Seohyeok." This one had impressively long braided silver hair. But why are you entrusting Seohyeok to *me*? "...Yes, likewise." Amid the daze of these abrupt introductions, Lee Gyeon, half-buried among the Field Team Na members, cautiously attempted to join the conversation. "Teacher, back then in those mountains, you and I definitely crossed—" "Huh? Teacher, why are you soaking wet? Don't tell me you went on a water slide by yourself? Oh, I love water slides too, by the way." Kang Howon, was it? He'd cut off Lee Gyeon with spectacular timing. *Thank you just now.* "Seohyeok rushed back because of Seora's Secondary Awakening, so we know the situation. That senior of ours just enjoys spouting nonsense like that, so don't mind him." ...Thank you for the explanation. By the way, aren't Baek Cheonhyeong and Lee Gyeon glaring over here from behind you people? *Do they just never watch out for their superiors around here?* "Wait, look who it is! The bear cub who quit, and the former leader of Team Ra—" Kang Howon shouted, apparently only now noticing Jinchae and Haeseong behind me. "..." "..." "...Or not. My mistake. Completely my mistake." "Whoa, senior, are your eyes going already? That's obviously two perfectly normal... kindergarten teachers! Haha!" Someone definitely just clicked their tongue. I didn't turn around, so I couldn't see Haeseong's and Jinchae's expressions, but I could easily imagine them. A thumb drawn across the throat, or standing there with grim, blank faces. *Haeseong and Jinchae probably think I don't know about their pasts. They certainly didn't seem eager to share.* Anyway, I was so drained I could have fainted on the spot. But this maddening conversation was turning into an even bigger circus as several previously silent figures joined in. "You have quite a talent for gathering people, I see." That CEO — I should have known. Look at him. He says that even at a chance encounter like this; imagine what he'd say if I ran into him at that cult den of his. *Good thing I ran that day.* "I'm sure I don't know what you mean." "Teacher, surely you ran into me in that taxi back then?" What is it about that taxi that has this Lee Gyeon person so obsessed? I mean, was having his cab stolen on the highway really *that* upsetting? "I have no idea what you're talking about." Once they'd clustered all around me, the footsteps of people passing through the lobby came to a complete stop, everyone facing our way. *Ah, here it comes. Here it comes. That day's PTSD.* The scene from the day I emerged from the underground dungeon came back to life as vividly as if it were yesterday. *It was exactly like this back then, too.* I swept my soaked bangs aside with a hand and scanned my surroundings. The employees' gazes were furtive, and their fingers were frighteningly fast on their phones. Maybe... the company intranet looked something like this right now.

...Even the employees standing right in front of me were exchanging looks between their phones and me with alarming intensity. *If you're going to rescue me, kindly do it faster.* Having given up on everything, I simply stood there. *This is exhausting as hell. How long has it been since I joined, again?* Let's see... barely over a month? I looked down at my bloodless palm and let out a quiet sigh. *I might be getting a little worn down...* Just then, Kwon Haeseong, standing behind me, handed back my phone — the one I'd practically thrown at him right before diving into the water. *Ding.* As if on cue, the screen lit up the moment it touched my hand, and a notification chime rang out. I pressed my face nearly against the phone screen. "...!!" My paycheck had arrived. "..." Bonus included, seven million won in total. I closed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my eyes tight and opened them again, overwhelmed by an emotion beyond words. It was a sum that could make me look back fondly on all the misery and emotional labor I'd endured. The weariness and fatigue I'd felt mere moments before melted away like snow, and in their place settled a serene magnanimity, as if I could now watch all my troubles from a distance, like someone else's affairs. I ran a hand through my roughly dried hair and turned to Kwon Haeseong and Yoo Jinchae. *You two got paid too, right?* Yes... yes. Now life was worth living again. Financial therapy. Could there be a faster, more effective treatment for the mind? Struggling to force down the corners of my mouth as they crept upward, I spoke. "Well then, back to work, everyone. We've still got a long way to go before quitting time, don't we?" At that, a visibly relieved Kwon Haeseong hurried ahead to clear the way. I left behind Field Team Na — who looked busy enough chatting amongst themselves — along with Baek Cheonhyeong and Lee Gyeon, and simply walked away. *I'm sure they'll finish their conversation and disperse on their own.* But the intranet reaction afterward was flowing in a direction I hadn't predicted. After work, I went into my room and turned on the news. *What a eventful day. Again.* In the end, the annex's audiovisual room had been flooded and closed off for the time being. But the fact that all the children and instructors inside had evacuated quickly, with no casualties, was the greatest mercy of all. *Thankfully, the cleanup was already finished.* After a quick wash in the kindergarten bathroom, all I had to do was send over the schedule as originally planned. Oh, and this time I didn't get scolded by the director. Apparently Baek Cheonhyeong had stopped by the kindergarten on his way to some meeting and said something to her — because when she saw me, she merely passed by with the face of a woman swallowing everything she wanted to say. *Whatever.* It's not like it mattered. I'd received my paycheck today; my financial therapy was in perfect working order. *Today I could have smiled and nodded along no matter what anyone said to me.* And thanks to that, I got to enjoy the nine o'clock news with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fresh, dry face and body. Once again, my good friend beer was by my side. The news was reporting that the criminal case of the devil-worshiping cult that had caused such an uproar was roughly wrapping up. The anchor's clean, measured voice flowed from the TV. "Wow... good thing we burned it." Nabi, having apparently filled his dopamine quota by tormenting the G-Group bastards to his heart's content that day, had been quiet ever since. And besides... "I can show you what my eye looks like?" He'd said he got an eye, too. His right eye, to be exact. Out of curiosity, I asked, looking at the white puppy plush doll sitting beside my pillow. Then the doll's back seam split open, and a black hand poked out. The voice was hazy, like fog. Drawn by that chilly sensation I hadn't felt in a while, I dumbly lifted the doll and brought my eye to the split seam along its back. Huh? I can't see anything. "There's nothing..." A vivid yellow iris, split down the middle by a vertical black pupil. That catlike eye in the darkness was staring straight through me. The moment our eyes met, I felt an insatiable desire welling up from somewhere deep inside me. A desire to spew out every fact, memory, and piece of information I knew... "...Huh." The split seam crackled back shut. I watched it quietly for a moment, then nodded. *Yeah... looking too long definitely could have caused something.* I quickly shook off the afterimage of that pupil inside the doll. That's right. Tonight I needed to fall asleep fast, without a single thought in my head. Tomorrow, at last, I would get to see the fruits of a full week of overtime. Overnight camp. A two-day, one-night kindergarten event to celebrate May 5th, Children's Day, was waiting for us.