Chapter 71
It was barely a few hours after the Principal had walked into the Dolphin Class with coffee in hand that the children decided to start playing pretend.
What set this round apart from their usual games, however, was that the setting was somewhat extreme.
Because really, who hasn't played that kind of pretend game at least once as a kid? Surviving a fire pit where molten lava streamed across the floor, surviving a cave in the depths of a brutal winter mountain, or making it out alive in the heart of the Amazon jungle…
You know, the survival-type roleplay where you endure a hostile, extreme environment.
……The only difference this time was that the five of them were siblings sharing a single drop of blood, fighting to survive in a mountain cabin in the dead of winter.
I draped thin blankets over the big toys and tables to build them a ramshackle cabin, and the children dove straight into their roles inside it.
But I have to say…
They're getting better at this.
Somehow, their acting seemed to improve every single time we played house or put on one of these scenarios.
Just then, Noah barged into the cabin with both fists crammed full of colored pencils and hollered,
"I found firewood! Let's light a fire and cook some food!"
"Wow! Kim Noah is the best! So that means we get meat today, right?"
"Lee Seora, do you really want meat that badly?"
"Isn't it obvious? We've been eating nothing but grass for so long I could die for a piece of meat!"
Seora, you had spinach at lunch. That's a stretch.
Leaving the grumbling twins behind, Taejae pressed Noah's colored pencils to the floor and began rubbing them between his palms—the picture of primitive fire-making.
Hehe! Beside him, Cheonji huffed and puffed, diligently miming fanning the flames.
"The fire… is lit."
The moment those words left Taejae's mouth, cheers and deafening war whoops erupted from every corner of the cabin. Rather than straining my eyes to see the transparent flame visible only to preschoolers aged seven and under, I simply laughed at the absurdity of it all.
"Waaah!! Fire! Now nothing can scare us!"
"They say wild animals are afraid of fire. Thank goodness we got it going."
"We need to build up the embers before it dies out. We can wrap the potatoes in foil and roast them too."
……So apparently potatoes exist in this scenario.
The roleplay rolled on, and just as everyone announced that night had fallen and was about to drift to sleep—
"Wait… isn't that a bear?"
Cheonji sprang up, pointing at a completely empty corner of the room.
A brief silence hung over the cabin under a grim, ominous mood… and then, in an instant, all hell broke loose.
Wait, hold on. Aren't we safe as long as we stay inside the cabin?
"We have to fight back!"
"Noah, you go out there and fight the bear."
"Me? Okay! Nam Taejae! I'll fight it!"
"……Can't we just, you know, not go outside?"
"Seora, this is a golden opportunity to eat bear meat."
Wow. Cheonji has a genuinely frightening side, doesn't she.
Seora let out a quiet sigh, stretched out her hand, and lifted a blanket off the floor with her power. The blanket, crudely shaped into the form of a bear, began shuffling toward them under her telekinesis, contorting in bizarre, jerky movements.
Why is the production quality needlessly high all of a sudden?
At the moment of life or death—as the blanket bear closed in, apparently about to lunge—a cautious Cheonji rolled across the floor in a sudden burst, snatched up a toy spatula, and swung it wildly at the bear.
And with that, every single one of the children threw themselves at the blanket bear.
The result, naturally, was a victory for the blood-sworn siblings.
With triumphant bravado, they hauled their catch back like war spoils and roasted it over the fire they'd built.
……I stood there in a mild daze, quietly admiring their incredible survival log, until I suddenly snapped back to my senses.
Oh right. Snack time.
Unfortunately, the children, still deep in character, showed zero interest in eating snacks.
In that case…
"Knock knock! Hello there! I'm your neighbor from the village down the road! I brought some snacks—would you care to share them with me?"
Well, if I can't beat them, I might as well join the roleplay.
A short while later, Taejae opened the cabin door, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Mr. Na. How did you know to come here?"
So they know my name, but not where I live. Interesting setup.
"Mr. Kwon, the hunter, told me. I made way too many snacks, and it's always nice to share with neighbors, you know."
I quickly pushed five trays through the doorway. On white plastic trays sat freeze-dried fruit, boiled corn, and apple juice.
Taejae's eyes flicked to the trays, then to the siblings behind me watching with wide, sparkling eyes… and with a resigned little nod, he conceded.
"Thank you, Mr. Na. Goodbye now."
He even mimed closing the door on me at the end.
Taejae, buddy, I just handed you snacks. Isn't that a little cold?
Still, relieved that the snack delivery had gone through without a hitch, I was just getting up from my seat when the Principal walked in, coffee in hand, knocking on the doorframe first.
If I had to sum up Kang Beomseok's feelings in a single sentence, it would be this:
Tears blurred my vision.
Hidden behind the blankets, he couldn't see the snack trays clearly and had no choice but to piece the situation together from the conversation alone.
"That's all we get for snacks today?"
"Seora, that's more than we usually have. We can all share a little and make it last."
"I'll share mine too!! Sharing when times are hard—that's what friendship means!"
"Noah, sit still. If you move around, you'll burn energy and get hungry."
"I'm hungry too, but I'll hold it in!!"
He never imagined for a second that these were just lines from children swept up in a game of pretend.
And so, Kang Beomseok's misunderstanding deepened by the minute.
Watching Na Hwiyeon approach with a wistful smile, as if such conversations were perfectly familiar, the man felt a lump rise in his throat.
What a heartbreaking situation this is!
Just how much of the budget had former Managing Director Gwak pocketed…?
"Please, have some coffee…"
"Oh, thank you."
An indescribable emotion surged up inside him.
Could I really leave this place behind—leave these people behind? If I go… someone else will come to take over as Principal. But would that person be a good one?
Even starting now, it felt like it wouldn't be enough—squeezing every last won of budget out of headquarters to renovate the facilities and fill in everything the children needed…
Just as his worries deepened along with the growing weight of responsibility, a child waved from inside the distant blanket pile and called out.
"Principal! Come over here!"
At the words of that mischievous-looking boy with cheeks flushed bright red, Kang Beomseok found his feet carrying him over before he knew it.
Huh? Me? Really, me?
He half-crouched into the cramped blanket fort, just barely big enough for his face and shoulders… when suddenly, a freshly roasted ear of corn appeared before his eyes.
"You're our new family, Principal, so you get a special share."
The moment he saw the warm corn resting on that small, chubby hand, he picked it up as though in a trance.
"Hold out your hands! Like this, cupped in a circle. I like strawberries, but you get a special share, Principal!"
When he cupped his hands open at the girl's words, freeze-dried strawberries came showering down over the corn.
After that, the children began offering him their snacks one by one, each in turn.
Before he knew it, his two great palms had filled up like an acorn warehouse, packed to the brim with provisions.
"You have to make it last! Snacks are precious!!"
"You need to eat your fill if you want to survive this harsh world."
"Principal, it's windy and cold out there, so eat everything here before you go."
"We're not hungry because we ate the bear! Right, Lee Seoro?"
"That one's tasty. Seora, you can have my strawberry."
…He couldn't make heads or tails of half of it, but the deeply moved Kang Beomseok was already sobbing on the inside.
When he saw Cheonji, at the very end, offering up her one and only apple juice, his mind was made up beyond any possibility of return.
I must… I must protect this kindergarten!
I will, without fail, show these teachers and children the taste of proper capital!
And when the Principal suddenly reappeared before him wearing that resolute expression, Na Hwiyeon simply stayed quiet—and quietly achieved his goal.
"…I'll do better going forward."
"I'm sorry?… Ah. Yes. I look forward to working with you as well."
Well, what do you know.
He had done absolutely nothing himself, and yet the Principal had just handed him a promise about the kindergarten's future.
Only a little while ago, before the man went into that blanket cabin, his complexion had been so pale that I'd actually been worried about him.
I glanced once at the door the Principal had vanished through, then back at the blanket fort shrouded like a veil.
Remarkable.
What on earth did he see in there—what did he feel—that would make him act like that all of a sudden?
For a split second, I considered playing innocent and sneaking in myself, but I beat a swift retreat from the idea.
Good for him, good for me. Whatever.
I sipped my coffee with a clear conscience. Then, out of nowhere, a thought I'd completely forgotten surfaced again.
Come to think of it… I'd been meaning to check the kids' Status Windows.
I'd been so tied up resolving everything that came crashing down around Cheonji at the overnight camp that it had slipped my mind entirely.
I hesitated for a long moment… then finally, quietly, murmured to myself.
'Status Window.'