A Friend's Request

My head felt refreshingly clear. My body was still heavy, but it moved well enough — no real discomfort to speak of. At the very least, it felt like I'd finally entered the recovery stage…. ……Wait, why? Why do I feel good? The last thing I knew, I was working at the kindergarten. So how on earth could I be feeling like this?

I bolted upright in bed and looked around. I got up out of bed? Me?

Under a fluorescent light so bright it stabbed at my eyes, I caught the familiar smell of a hospital. Sure enough, the surroundings were familiar too. "This place…. It's the emergency center." Curtains hung around the bed, but I could tell exactly where I was. And no wonder — this was a place I'd been hauled into against my will more times than I could count. I even had a record of being wheeled in here once on a stretcher.

Still, I was too preoccupied to be surprised, because the blanket wrapped around me was warm and cozy. And the silhouette drawn across the top of that blanket was…. a p-person? I lifted the blanket a peek — and there really were people under it. Five of them, no less. Good grief.

They were my kids. Why are you all sleeping here?

Five children, curled up in a tangled heap beneath the covers. I stared blankly at the sight of them sleeping, drooling without a care in the world, then lifted my head. Slowly, carefully, I lowered the blanket back down and pressed a hand to my forehead. "What on earth…. is going on here."

My last memory, let's see…. I remembered Seora running toward me, asking me to tie her hair up. And after that — nothing. ….Don't tell me I fainted right then?

"Ah…. you're awake?" At the familiar voice, I turned my head to see someone slipping through the curtain. "…Teacher Haeseong." "You collapsed, sir. They said it was exhaustion — your body just gave out from overwork." "I see…. So you're the one who brought me here, then?" "No, actually…."

Kwon Haeseong began explaining the situation, casting an awkward glance toward my blanket. My jaw hit the floor somewhere around the middle of his story. "The kids carried me here?!" "……Yes. I couldn't believe it either when I got the call."

From what I heard, the emergency center had been floored twice over — first by the sheer fact that five tiny children had walked in through the front doors on their own two feet, and then by the news that they'd brought a sick teacher with them. …And apparently the way they'd carried me made it look like they were transporting a corpse, which threw the whole place into chaos.

"They wrapped you up in the blanket like a burrito, and then…. it seems they carried you here together." Should I call this impressive? Thinking about the process that got me hauled all the way here made me dizzy enough that I'd rather not imagine it…. but that aside, I couldn't help feeling a swell of pride.

And just look at this, anyway. I lifted the edge of the blanket once more. The sight of the kids ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clinging to me on both sides, pressed close and fast asleep…. left my mind completely empty. I was simply grateful, with a faint tickle of warmth in my chest. A laugh slipped out of me. This is why I teach.

When he checked my expression, Kwon Haeseong was wearing a quiet smile of his own. These past few days had worn my body and mind down to the point of collapse, but today, it felt like every bit of it had been repaid. Turns out there are perks to fainting.

The day after I collapsed at the kindergarten and was carted off to the emergency center, I was slapped with a mandatory suspension ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from work. Teacher Hwiyeon, please take the whole day off and rest up! By the director's firm insistence, I was forced into an involuntary vacation. Thanks to her, I ended up with a full three days off, weekend included…. 'So what do I do now?'

I'd already recovered. A whole day on an IV drip, followed by a long, deep sleep in an emergency center bed, and I was good as new. That was only possible because Kwon Haeseong had seen all my kids home as well. 'I should buy him a coffee or something when I get back to work.'

Anyway, with a bonus holiday dropped in my lap out of nowhere, I had to spend today at home. And I already knew exactly how to spend it. "Nabi. Today, we're going to have the best day ever."

Today was Butter-Up-Nabi Day. I'd been so stretched thin lately that I'd neglected the little guy, and his mood had turned absolutely rotten. Funny thing, though…. the Status Window.

When I'd first met Nabi, his favorability sat at 4%.

'Going from 4% to 33% is basically a miracle.'

And with that, the message had changed too.

From social relationships to friendship.

'So does that mean no more threatening me with eternal rest the second I put a foot wrong?'

Too early to relax, though — which is why I was fully prepared to grovel for his good graces today as well.

First, I hauled a mountain of snacks out of the kitchen cabinet and piled them on the coffee table. Then, with practiced ease, I settled the plush doll neatly beside me on the sofa and turned on the TV. My channel of choice…. A children's anime. Every other day I'd dutifully lowered the dopamine threshold with nothing but educational programming, but today, just this once, he earned an actual cartoon. And the results spoke for themselves…. "Nabi, you're about to get sucked into the TV." [Stop telling me what to do!] He was watching with absolute, religious fervor.

With the sound of Nabi crunching through snacks as my background music, I watched videos on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my phone. And so the two of us marinated in dopamine together for a good long while. It wasn't until early evening crept around that we finally pried ourselves away from our screens and washed up. Oh, right — as a bonus, Nabi got a bath too. The doll had gotten way too grimy.

I filled the sink with hot water and plopped him in, and a whistle of pure contentment drifted up from the water. 'Huh. He actually likes baths.' Slosh, slosh — he even pulled his little paws out once in a while to flick water around and play. 'I should do this for him more often.'

Afterward, I blow-dried the doll thoroughly, then brushed his fur out along the grain — and in no time at all, he was back to the exact luxurious appearance he'd had when Cheonji first handed him over. "Phew…." I sank onto my bed with a smile of deep satisfaction. Refreshed body, clear mind. Somehow, this was the best I'd felt since joining the kindergarten. …When had it happened? I'd already been teaching at Bada Kindergarten for over two months. 'A lot has happened in that time, hasn't it.' Honestly, I couldn't even tell you how the days were flowing by anymore. All I've done is live each day as hard as I can. So why do trials and tribulations keep slamming into me? Is the problem actually just me? ……Enough. Wrestling my spiraling thoughts back under control, I burrowed under the covers — and then.

[Going to sleep?] "No, not yet. Why?" [Can I ask you a favor? Will you hear me out?] Oh-ho. Now we're asking favors? The Status Window I'd seen that afternoon flashed through my mind. If we were moving past mere acquaintance into true friendship…. then a friend's favor or two was something you granted, no questions asked. The truth was, I could barely remember what Nabi had been like when we first met. Back then, I'd apparently been desperate to shake this thing off…. but now? I couldn't say. 'He's actually helpful sometimes, and he chatters nonstop from morning to night, so there's never a lonely moment.' Honestly, a lot of it had been good times. Maybe that was complacent thinking, but the dread I'd felt at Nabi's very existence — that maddening, suffocating terror from the beginning — was gone now. So a favor or two? Sure, I could swing that. 'Who knows how long we'll be together anyway.' "Alright, let's hear it."

At that, the Status Window floated up into the empty air.

The favor…. was to find his right leg?

"Where…. and how am I supposed to find it?" Fine. If he asked me to find it, I could look. But finding his right eye at that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cult building had been pure, dumb luck — was tracking down body parts with zero information this time really feasible? [It's over there!] A black hand burst out of the plush doll and pointed at the bag sitting on the floor. I hurriedly stretched out my arm and rummaged through the bag — and realized something unusual was inside. "This is…. the flyer I got on my way home yesterday."

A promotional flyer someone had pressed into my hands last night, outside the BOND building, as I was leaving with the IV drip still fresh in my arm.

-BOND employee, right? Take one of these. It's free! Totally free!

He'd shoved the flyer at me, and refusing felt rude, so I'd taken it — then stuffed it in my bag and completely forgotten about it.

And would you look at the timing. It's tomorrow?

I deliberated for a moment, then nodded without hesitation. "Okay. I've got the time, after all." 'At least the location's concrete this time…. yeah, why not. Nothing stopping me.' And so, the next day, at Seoul Peace Dungeon Park, I would run into a pair of very unexpected acquaintances. "……." "……." Standing there were Lee Seoro, one of my own kindergarteners, and Kang Sagwa, the Shark Class teacher. "……." What on earth kind of duo was this?