A Productive Day
Everyone has at least one experience that makes their heart lurch just thinking about it.
I happened to go through mine on my very first day at this job.
And the human being largely responsible for gifting me that experience was standing right over there.
Through the doorway, I could see a familiar middle-aged man.
The principal, dressed in a tracksuit, was stretching his arm straight up toward the sprinkler mounted on the ceiling.
I crossed my arms and stared at the scene in silence.
"Goddamn sprinkler goes off every time you blink, what the hell!"
Riiiip. His hands tore at the rubber tape with brutal force.
Apparently the tape wouldn't cut cleanly by hand, because he resorted to using his teeth along with his fingers, wrestling with it from every angle.
"How the hell do you manage kids when you're smashing everything to pieces every other day?"
Oh-ho.
Not a pretty sight for Cheonji to witness. I nudged the wide-open door shut halfway with my foot.
"Gotta tape it ALL up! Sprinklers, alarms — every time the head office drags me in over one of these, it's a pain in the ass!"
So that was the whole reason.
I still remember it. The moment, amid the smoke and flames, when I saw a sprinkler that wouldn't go off.
I nearly spat out a curse right then.
Putting out the fire had been the priority, so my little sit-down with the man who had so lovingly sealed the sprinkler with rubber tape had been postponed indefinitely.
Though after the incident was resolved, I did go around asking who'd done it.
Everyone said they had no idea...
I'd assumed the chance for that conversation had simply evaporated.
Hm... but here it is. Look at that.
I turned the gears of my mind slowly. Setting aside the hell I'd been through because the sprinkler didn't work properly...
What kind of retribution was I going to deliver to this man?
Subjectively or objectively, he is disqualified from being a principal. Period.
Drinking on the job, dereliction of duty, constant profanity, pointless office politics, bribes, embezzlement — and look at that... sprinklers are legally required fire safety equipment, aren't they.
There's a fire code violation added to the list.
And since I was at it, I'd love to nail him on every single disqualifying offense above...
The problem was, I had no physical evidence that he was the one who did it.
I could scrape together the rest somehow, but...
With all the CCTVs burned to a crisp by Seora's flames on my first day, how exactly was I supposed to prove anything...
"...Yeah. I can do this."
I looked at the door standing open on the opposite side.
An empty office space.
And yet charming stationery, a corkboard, and a cute event schedule made from cut cardboard lent the room a cozy, welcoming atmosphere.
I approached that door, reached for one of the sun-warmed office desks, and snatched up what was sitting on it.
The digital camera Seora had entrusted to me that morning.
If it's this...
"That's Seora's camera, isn't it?"
"Yep. There are photos of Cheonji on here too?"
I shut the door quickly, camera in hand. I'd simply been lucky to find the passage connecting to the kindergarten — that option was a dud.
Same place, different time.
The escape instructions said to go through a door leading to 'reality.'
But that word 'reality' was awfully ambiguous, wasn't it?
If the location matched, did that make it reality? Hmm...
Anyway, an answer I'm not sure about is better left aside for now.
If it came to it, I could remember this door and come back to try it later.
I powered on the camera and crouched low. Then I nudged the half-closed door open just enough for the camera lens to fit through, and fixed it in place.
"Now, watch. You press this button and it takes a picture."
Hold the camera up, adjust the angle, and...
Oh. Nice.
Going with video.
Before pressing record, I glanced at Cheonji, whose eyes were shining at the camera.
After all, I couldn't exactly tell a child I was planning to film the principal's lunacy outright.
"There's... an animal in here."
"An animal at the kindergarten?"
Huh? Oh... he must've peeked inside earlier.
"Yep. A very naughty animal. But it's so sneaky and elusive that nobody's ever laid eyes on it."
"...Really? Nobody at all?"
"It's big, but surprisingly quick on its feet. This time, I'm definitely going to catch it on camera and warn everyone at the kindergarten."
"...Wow."
"And for that, I need our Baek Cheonji here to help me with something."
"Yes, sir...!"
Nod, nod.
Truly, the model student of my class.
Look at those determined eyes.
"Until I say 'that's the end,' you stay 'shh.' Got it? Think you can do that?"
"Leave it to me."
"Good. Shh."
I lowered my finger from my lips and turned back to the camera.
Thankfully, the principal seemed completely absorbed in taping up all four of the sprinklers.
I pressed record, and...
We held our breath like documentary directors filming wildlife deep in the Amazon.
"Why are there so many of these? Stop bolting the budget to this crap and give us more operating funds, for God's sake."
Zoom in.
The principal's expression and every movement were being recorded in crisp detail.
"I should quit this damn job soon anyway! Once I've made enough money, I'm out of here. The only reason I've stayed this long is the budget and the donations — otherwise I'd have been gone ages ago, eh? Eh?"
Thank you kindly. You've just casually confessed to the embezzlement too.
"And the only place I can sneak a drink without the wife finding out is this joint. What can you do."
Double dowry — the drinking confirmed as well.
"Argh!"
And so, after grumbling all that while, the principal finished slapping rubber tape over every last sprinkler — all captured beautifully on video.
I closed the door with a smile of deep satisfaction.
Juicy. Very juicy.
This one recording just saved me from needing a truckload of evidence.
I straightened my back, rose from my crouch, and called out to Cheonji, who still had both hands clamped firmly over his mouth.
"That's the end!"
"...Huuuaaah!"
I asked him to stay quiet, not to stop breathing.
Anyway — everything that needed doing was done, and now it was almost over.
Oh? Why almost?
Because there wasn't much left to go.
Until I found the real door.
Having opened dozens of doors on the way here, I'd discovered one thing.
Time inside the doors was beginning to move forward.
And the settings were becoming familiar too — tailored to whoever opened the door.
First my middle school home, then a university lecture hall I'd attended, then the kindergarten at a different hour...
It's going to appear soon.
And like magic, the very next door revealed it.
A child-sized washbasin came into view.
An analog clock hanging on the wall.
A dim corridor contrasting with the brightly lit bathroom.
This is the one.
The instant certainty struck—
behind me, with a grinding groan, the space began to warp.
I grabbed Cheonji's hand and dove through the door.
Watching the space behind us spiral away like water going down a drain through the still-open door, I—
slam.
—shut it.
I looked around.
The clock on the wall read 11:30 p.m.
Roughly the time Cheonji had gone to the bathroom and come back out.
I checked inside the restroom, but there was no sign of anyone. Without pausing, I set off at a brisk pace straight for the Dolphin Class room and opened the door.
There, exactly as we'd left them, everyone lay fast asleep.
"...Ha."
Only Cheonji's spot and mine were empty.
Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared at all.
I just told myself I needed to get the kid back to sleep — and besides, a brain barely awake from slumber registered the sense of danger more dully than usual...
With a sigh of relief, my shoulders, knotted with tension, finally sank.
Exhausted, I lay down on the blanket with Cheonji. I dragged my own blanket over and spread it across the boy's body, then started unceremoniously patting his back.
Pat, pat.
Just what on earth did I go through in the middle of the night?
"...Teacher, I'm not sleepy anymore."
"Yes you are. Our Cheonji is very sleepy."
"Teacher, can you show me the animal you filmed? Please?"
"Animal? Oh... the naughty one? I'll show you tomorrow~ For now, let's sleep."
Let's sleep. Please.
Your teacher would like to flee reality and take refuge in dreamland immediately.
"...But I really, really am not sleepy."
"Keep your eyes squeezed shut and sleep will come?"
Pat, pat.
"Or shall we count sheep with me? ...One sheep, two sheep, three sheep..."
Pat, pat.
Asleep yet? You need to be.
If you don't sleep now, your whole schedule tomorrow goes to pieces.
I pulled Cheonji close and patted him with a bit more force. The boy's warm body heat was making my own eyelids pleasantly heavy.
"...A productive day."
"...Hm?"
"Did I... have a productive day today?"
Holding the boy, I looked down at him. Strange as it was to hear out of nowhere... he'd overheard something.
Baek Cheonhyeong, you bastard.
I didn't want to attach the word 'bastard' to a child's guardian, but...
Even now, just recalling that dizzying conversation made my chest twist.
— ...Did you have a productive day?
— No.
— No?
So he'd been carrying those words with him all this time.
I nodded my head hard.
"Of course, of course you did. Your teacher guarantees that today, Cheonji had a more productive day than anyone."
I'd even be willing to put that guarantee in writing, gladly.
"...!"
Watching Cheonji bury himself against me, hiding his face in embarrassment, I felt a quiet wave of relief.
And then, like a lullaby, I offered my sincerity to the child who had endured so much today.
"Cheonji, honestly — was the corridor really, really scary? But you held your teacher's hand, and you saved me with the light. I survived because of you."
"..."
"Your teacher knows everything. I know how busy you are looking after your friends. How you work to keep Seora and Seoro from fighting, how you keep an eye on Taejae and Noah so they don't wear me out."
It wasn't just today. I'd been quietly watching for a while now.
Cheonji was quiet, but he stood out.
Cheonji, sighing over the twins. Cheonji, hawk-eyed and watchful over Noah and Taejae. And Cheonji, terrified out of his mind but trying to save me all the same.
People with a heart for others naturally draw the eye.
Even if every bit of it stemmed from an obsession with playing his assigned role...
The fact that he acted is what matters most.
I fell silent for a moment, then let the words out slowly.
"I'm always grateful to you, Cheonji."
Something caught in my throat and rose up, but I swallowed it down.
"..."
There was no reply, but I could tell.
He's listening.
After that, I closed my eyes too, listening as the boy's breathing gradually evened out.
The USB and camera are in my bag.
Back it up, organize it... oh right, I need to schedule a parent-teacher conference for Cheonji. I'll make sure Baek Cheonhyeong shows up no matter what...
Wait — what on earth has that man been saying to this kid that he spends an entire day dwelling on it? I swear, this human...
And then I fell asleep.
For the first time in ages, I slept deep and sound.
***
Everyone at the kindergarten had risen bright and early that morning.
However, exactly two people remained unconscious well past lunchtime.
Poke.
Park Edeun pressed his index finger into the cheek of the deeply sleeping Na Hwiyeon.
"Still not waking up, even after this."
"Hey...! What if he wakes up?"
"Isn't the real problem that he isn't waking?"
Mr. Paranoid-to-the-Bitter-End, Mr. Meticulous-to-a-Fault, oversleeping of all things...
"Doesn't that violate his character settings?"
"Please stop talking like an otaku."
"No, look at him. He looks so docile when he's asleep. I always thought he was catlike from watching what he does all day, but now that I look, he's totally a puppy. A dead ringer for that keyring he carries around everywhere."
At Park Edeun's words, the teachers seated in a circle around the sleeping Na Hwiyeon, admiring him like an exhibit, let out soft sighs of agreement.
"Ah, it really is true..."
"...I suppose so."
"A puppy? Can't say I see it. Stray dog, maybe."
For once, a stale assessment slipped out of Yoo Jinchae's mouth.
But Park Edeun paid her no mind, ruffling Na Hwiyeon's hair this way and that as he kept playing.
"See? With his bangs swept back like this he looks even more docile..."
"Teacher~! When is Cheonji waking up?"
Just then, Noah, who could bear his friend's absence no longer, pushed his face suddenly between the teachers.
In truth, it wasn't just Noah — the twins and Taejae had all wedged themselves between the grown-ups and were observing the two sleeping figures with great interest.
"Cheonji and Teacher sleep hugging each other?"
"They look so close! I want to sleep next to Teacher too!"
"But when do they wake up? Why is Teacher sleeping in? Is that allowed?"
Park Edeun scratched the back of his head.
The day after the overnight camp was a weekend — no special schedule, so the children who woke up in the morning went home, the teachers clocked out, and that was that.
The Seal Class and Shark Class kids had already gone home. All that remained was dismissing Dolphin Class...
"Except their homeroom teacher is busy sleeping like the dead."
So Dolphin Class could not be dismissed.
...Naturally, the teachers couldn't go home either.
"Let him sleep more."
"Yeah~ let him sleep."
"Yes, let him rest... He's been through a lot."
Somehow, though, none of the other teachers seemed eager to leave early at all.
Looking at Na Hwiyeon sleeping with such a peaceful face, and Cheonji smiling in his sleep with a certain proud satisfaction, even Park Edeun felt his longing for home dwindle.
Or rather — he simply found himself wanting to let the two of them sleep on, warm and undisturbed, just like this.
We're all feeling exactly the same thing, aren't we.
And so he could do nothing but tuck the blanket covering them a little more carefully around their shoulders.