Day One on the Job
"How do you cause a disaster on your very first day of work?"
"……I'm very sorry."
"I've seen people run out on their first day, but I've never seen anyone cause damage on this scale before."
"You burned down the entire classroom, shattered the windows — no, wait, why is every last piece of furniture in that state??"
"……."
The principal, unable to contain his fury, was muttering curses under his breath.
"Say something. Say something!! This…. Son of a—"
What exactly is the point of demanding I keep talking when you won't even give me the time to speak?
If I actually tried to explain myself here, I'd only get chewed out even harder.
And judging by my personal big-data archive of life experience, situations like this one tend to devolve into a lose-lose affair — speak and get reamed, stay silent and get reamed.
Besides, I wasn't the one who caused the accident. To be precise, what I did was clean it up.
……Not that that would matter to him, of course.
"And you did this in full view of all the headquarters staff! How many times has it been now?!"
"I'm very sorry."
For the record, this was my first time.
"……Teacher Hwiyeon, it's his first day today."
Kwon Haeseong tried to point that out with a total lack of tact, and only Park Edeun's elbow jabbing into his ribs stopped him just in time.
……My eyes met Park Edeun's.
Well done. This is exactly the kind of moment where discretion wins.
"We're very sorry."
Four teachers bowed their heads again and again. What a gloriously ironic reality this was.
The teachers who had risked life and limb to contain the disaster were the ones getting scolded, while the principal — who'd shown up after everything was already over — got to play the angry authority figure.
Whether it's a part-time gig or a full-time job, the treatment of employees is equally garbage everywhere.
"I hired you because you said you studied early childhood education, but how are you any different from the other teachers? What an absolute headache…."
Hey, old man.
Just as I was beginning to admire his flair for double-dipping on the insults, the principal's face suddenly flushed crimson over something new.
"And the rest of you! How could you?! Evacuating without me!! What if I'd died down there without even knowing what happened?!"
Ah, so that was his grievance.
Strange, though — during all that chaos, he hadn't come up a single time, and hadn't even tried to flee.
"…I forgot…."
"Forgot?! You've got plenty of things you should be remembering! I'm so hurt. I truly cherished all of you teachers like my own sons and daughters, and this is how you abandon me?"
Even by Kwon Haeseong's standards, that was a poor choice of words — I could tell just by thinking it through.
Was there, in this situation, any excuse worse than "I forgot"?
Sure enough, Park Edeun's eyes glazed over as he stared blankly into space.
He couldn't stop him this time.
"You said you hadn't forgotten anyone."
Kang Sagwa, standing beside me, murmured it just loud enough to miss the principal's ears and no louder.
"……I hadn't. There was no need to look after the principal…."
Oh. Well, that tracks.
Kwon Haeseong timidly protested his innocence, as if genuinely wronged.
"He's right. He should've crawled out on his own."
"Wow, and I didn't give the principal a single thought either."
Yoo Jinchae and Park Edeun chimed in one after another, apparently in agreement with Kwon Haeseong.
"Let me guess — you were sprawled out napping somewhere again, and only popped out once the alarm went off~"
"……Haha, ah, right, Teacher Na Hwiyeon is here with us."
Park Edeun belatedly elbowed everyone into watchfulness, but the damage was done.
Too late to hide it now — I'd heard everything.
Yoo Jinchae, on the other hand, made no effort whatsoever to conceal her opinions and struck up conversation with me directly.
"You've got to know these things, Teacher. You'll see what I mean — our principal is pretty hilarious."
"……Is he, now."
Hard to say. Honestly, when he was reeling off that nonsense about us being like his own children, it was a little funny.
……I'm assuming that was sarcasm, of course.
"Yep~ that's what I'm telling you. Give it another week or so. You'll be snickering every time you see his face."
I deeply suspected the laughter would be the unhinged kind — the sort that escapes you against your will — but I didn't ask.
Instead, in the name of workplace harmony, I nodded along enthusiastically.
Oh, for the record: the principal heard none of our four-way conversation. He was too busy stomping back and forth across the yard in a fit of self-pitying rage.
……Not that he'd have caught much anyway, what with us all mumbling with our heads bowed.
"What a waste. You really should have just slept right through it."
And so Kang Sagwa's icy remark, too, never reached the principal's ears.
"Haha! Seems our Teacher Sagwa also finds the principal pretty funny…… haha."
"Really…. Is that so?"
Behind Park Edeun, desperately playing defense, Kwon Haeseong's dubious question was the crowning touch.
"You want to find out?"
"……No. I'd rather never know."
I shook my head right along with him.
I could probably guess — and I wanted to stay ignorant until the very end.
"Teacher Na Hwiyeon."
While the principal's lecture showed no sign of ending, someone tapped me lightly on the shoulder.
I turned my head — and found an unexpected person looking at me.
Teacher Kang Sagwa?
"Yes?"
"Go see the medical team. Quick. It looks like you hurt your side."
She flicked a glance at my flank as she said it.
Ah. Right.
I'd thought I was standing there perfectly inconspicuously, but apparently the pain had been pulling my posture to one side.
"Is it okay for me to go now?"
"Don't worry. We've got two absolute experts at drawing eyes away from things right here."
Before I could even answer, Kwon Haeseong planted his massive frame squarely in front of me, blocking me from view.
Kang Sagwa flapped her hand in a brisk go, go gesture.
Puzzled by the mysteriously changed attitudes of the two of them, I still beat a nimble retreat before the principal could snag me again.
However it worked out — thank you.
I took a quick backstep, spun on my heel, and speed-walked away like I was sounding the alarm myself, heading straight for the medical team's vehicle parked outside the kindergarten's main gate.
That was when the phone tucked into my apron buzzed.
I stopped mid-stride and pulled out my work phone to check it.
The work phone came pre-loaded with the contact information of registered guardians and all other emergency networks.
……Baek Cheonhyeong — as in the current CEO of BOND, and guardian of Baek Cheonji in Dolphin Class.
Cheonji wasn't attending today thanks to a family trip, so this text was less the concern of a guardian and more the inquiry of an employer.
I thought for a moment, then packed my answer into the most measured wording I could manage and sent it.
Whatever the circumstances, it was my side of the fence that had suffered the property damage, so I was treading very carefully here.
……I thought the security team was handling the site investigation?
Is he asking because he wants to know beforehand?
But here's the thing.
How exactly am I supposed to explain this?
So much had happened that condensing it all into a summary felt impossible.
And frankly, I was worried I'd come across as a lunatic.
In the end, I pieced together a message from conveniently ambiguous phrasing and hit send.
Hmm…. I'd really rather not go into more detail.
Our Dongaksan Brawlers, once the fire was out, had departed with magnificent flair — as if to say their work here was done.
Each one had glanced back in my direction, seemingly trying to muster something resembling a smile, though I couldn't quite tell.
The sight of them bounding away, boing-boing, would have held its own against the hero of any blockbuster film.
Had Baek Cheonhyeong seen it, he'd have shed tears of gratitude and invented a bonus that didn't exist just for them.
Chipmunks…. How nice, being too insignificant to matter.
"Insignificant," he says. Says the man who forgot to mention any of us.
I caught myself holding onto that grudge and let a little of it seep into my reply.
And here I thought I wasn't a petty person.
……Day one on the job, and exhausted beyond reason, I had just bared my teeth at my own employer. Bold of me.
Once the medical team and restoration team had both packed up and gone, the kindergarten regained its peace.
I'd been prescribed a D-rank recovery potion and a fat bandage wrapped around my side.
They said D-rank potions could handle light bruises and burns — and it was true.
I couldn't call myself good as new, but even to the naked eye, the injury was already visibly on the mend.
And when I thought about the market price of the D-rank recovery potion they'd just dosed me with, I could physically feel the shiver run down my spine.
It really earns every penny.
Thanks to it, I was able to carry on with my afternoon shift.
"Ah, I just got a message. I'll step out to pick up the kids."
With Dolphin Class in complete shambles, the restoration team had taken the room over entirely. Told it would take at least two days to restore everything, I'd relocated next door to Seal Class in the meantime.
"Sure…… go ahead."
Leaving Kwon Haeseong flat on the floor, helpless prey to the children's playtime, I hurried outside.
In the distance, I spotted two small children and one adult.
The two kids scheduled to arrive in the afternoon.
Kim Noah and Nam Taejae.
"Hello, ma'am."
I gave a slight bow and put on my friendliest face.
"Oh my, Teacher! Hello there!"
A woman with long, straight hair smiled and returned my greeting.
"I'm Na Hwiyeon, the new head teacher of Dolphin Class as of today. I look forward to working with you."
Whose mother was she, exactly? Word was that the only siblings in Dolphin Class were the twins, Seoro and Seora.
As the distance closed, one of the boys — a mischievous-looking little guy — turned out to be the spitting image of the woman.
Practically stamped from the same mold.
Trading my brief greeting, I cautiously studied the other child. This one had a considerably calmer air about him.
"Oh no, the pleasure's mine. Our Noah is quite the little troublemaker, so…. it might be a bit of a challenge for you."
"Kids are all like that, really. It's a good thing when they play with all their might."
"Ah, haha, you're right. You're absolutely right…! This is Taejae. Nam Taejae. We live in the same apartment, same building even, so I drive him to school. Except today, Noah overslept and—"
"Auntie, I don't mind. I got to sleep in, so it worked out nicely."
……Hmm?
My eyes widened of their own accord at eloquence I could scarcely believe from a seven-year-old.
The calm-faced boy closed the remaining distance without a hint of hesitation and slid naturally into the conversation.
"Noah's bed is warm, so it's a good thing."
The masked child carried himself with remarkable poise.
"Hey, Nam Taejae! Let's play with my bomb potion today! I finished an E-rank potion yesterday!"
"Good heavens, Kim Noah! You actually made that? Mom said you were only allowed to play with the wind potion! You are seriously going to drive me insane. Absolutely insane."
"What? Wind potions are boring!"
"Because they're dangerous, obviously!"
I focused on keeping my expression neutral. Even wind potions seemed like an odd toy choice for children….
Seizing the lull in the back-and-forth between mother and son, Taejae approached me slowly.
Then he folded himself into a deep ninety-degree bow. His yellow backpack slid down toward the floor along the angle of his bent waist.
Undeterred, he held the pose with his head nearly touching the ground. And then, in a voice of perfect composure, he greeted me.
"Hello, Teacher. My name is Nam Taejae."
"……Hello there, Taejae."
"I look forward to your guidance."
As I returned his bow, I quietly filed away my intel on the two boys.
Noah: handle with caution.
Taejae: a tiny old-school gentleman from Cheonghak-dong.
Right on the heels of the twins, it seemed Dolphin Class had another pair of children who were anything but manageable.