Chapter 76
The children stuck to the window watched their dad leave until he disappeared from sight.
"He's gone."
"He left."
"He's gone, indeed."
After Dad disappeared from view, the children kept their gaze fixed outside the window for a long time. They had a hope that he might come back. But even as time passed, Dad didn't reappear.
"Well, he'll come back while we're playing!"
Hmph-
Hwaryeon said simply and turned away from the window. Then, she discovered her subordinates hiding at the classroom door.
"Oh right, I had my subordinates! I can have fun until Dad comes back."
Hehehe-
Hwaryeon smiled devilishly and beckoned to her subordinates.
"Hey, you guys! Come here before I count to three!"
Hwaryeon called her subordinates as she had learned from Dad. At that call, Hwaryeon's subordinates hurriedly ran over and bowed their heads.
"You've arrived, Boss."
"Yes, your boss is here! Nothing happened while I was gone?"
"No, nothing happened! Loyalty!"
The four subordinates saluted Hwaryeon. Seeing this, Hwaryeon smiled awkwardly and replied.
"Ahem, I don't know what that is! But it looks cool, so keep doing it from now on!"
"Loyalty!"
"More importantly, why is that guy still standing outside the door?"
Gu Mingu was walking forward and retreating.
Gu Mingu, who had lost his position as leader to Hwaryeon, was shooting eye lasers from behind. Not at Hwaryeon, but at Suryeon.
"D-Damn... You locked me in the room and ran away last time...?"
Thud, thud-
Gu Mingu approached Suryeon, glared at her, and said.
"Hey, don't you have anything to say to me?"
"...?"
Suryeon frowned and said.
"Who are you?"
"Damn it, we met last time! Why do you people always forget others?"
"I guess you weren't impressive enough to be remembered. So, who are you?"
"I'm Gu Mingu! The leader of this kindergarten, Gu Mingu!"
Burst-!
Mingu shouted, bursting with frustration. Suryeon responded indifferently.
"Hmm, I see."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"What more should I do for you?"
Clench-!
Mingu clenched his fist at Suryeon's response.
'I want to hit her! Her attitude is so rude! Why are all their family members like this? Skinny, pale-skinned, looks like their bones would break if hit, not pretty, if it weren't for that red one next to her. I would've fought right now.'
Mingu decided to hold back his fist after looking at Suryeon's appearance.
"I'm not a bad person who hits weak people. I should endure."
Sigh-
Mingu exhaled, trying to calm himself down. However, Suryeon had no intention of giving him even that chance.
"No, you are a bad human."
"What?"
"All humans are bad. All humans do bad things and make others miserable. Only dead humans are good humans. Of course, Dad is excluded from that."
"..."
Ice Age. The classroom interior froze at Suryeon's words. Gu Mingu and Hwaryeon's subordinates thought to themselves as they watched Suryeon softly chuckling "Hehe...".
'A difficult kid has come to kindergarten. We're screwed.'
Emergency! The kindergarten is in danger!
Alarm bells started ringing in the children's heads.
'What should we do about this family?'
***
Suryeon's Ice Age continued until Gu Bong-gu arrived.
"What's up with you guys? You're usually so noisy. Why so quiet today?"
"Teacher Bong-gu... They're a bit strange-"
"Are you being shy unlike usual? Everyone go sit in your seats."
Including the 6 children who arrived by school bus with parents, a total of 14 kindergarteners sat in the classroom chairs. Gu Bong-gu looked at the dragon family and said to the children.
"We have new friends joining our kindergarten today. Everyone, welcome them with applause. They're triplets. Lee Hwaryeon, Lee Suryeon, and Lee Choryeon!"
"Wooow-!!"
Clap, clap, clap-
Only the clueless children applauded for the dragon family.
"Mm-hmm, that's right! I'm Lee Hwaryeon!"
"...This is burdensome."
"Hello everyone! Nice to meet you!"
After giving proper welcome greetings and showing their faces, Gu Bong-gu spoke to the children with a scary face.
"Since it's their first day, everyone get along and don't fight. If I hear about any fighting, you're dead to me."
At those words, one child boldly raised his hand and stood up.
"Teacher Bong-gu! I have a question!"
"Okay, speak."
That boy looked at Mingu's group with a slight smirk and said.
"Do they have parents? I'm curious if they do or not!"
Snicker-
The children Gu Bong-gu brought by bus laughed like little mice at that question. It was clearly meant to tease Mingu's group.
"...Bastards."
"...You’re just lucky, that's all."
Grind-
Mingu's group could only grind their teeth in frustration. They couldn't say anything in that atmosphere.
"Jang Hyun-soo, you little-"
Gu Bong-gu's face turned red as he tried to approach Hyun-soo to scold him. However, there was someone who wanted to scold Hyun-soo before him.
"You! How dare you tease my subordinates!? You're making my subordinates feel down!"
Pitter-patter-!
Hwaryeon stood up from her seat and ran towards Hyun-soo. Then, she launched her body and kicked towards the surprised Hyun-soo's face.
"Masked Ranger Drop Kick!"
"Argh-!"
Crash-!
Hyun-soo sprawled on the floor and immediately burst into tears.
"Waa-waaah! M-Mom! Dad! She hit me!"
Hwaryeon looked down at Hyun-soo crying on the floor and shouted.
"You don't even have the strength to protect yourself! Don't act tough just because you trust your mom and dad! And!"
Hwaryeon glared at Hyun-soo's group and said.
"If you tease my subordinates again, I won't let you off! If you have a problem, come at me! Got it?!"
On the first day of kindergarten, Hwaryeon left a strong impression with her self-introduction. As a result, opinions about Hwaryeon were divided into two.
'As expected of our boss!'
'She only has a dad too. I don't like her.'
Although opinions were split, the orphans were no longer teased for not having parents.
***
From the first day of kindergarten, Hwaryeon caused a violent incident. Of course, she couldn't escape punishment for violence.
"Lee Hwaryeon. You have something in common with Ha-jun. Do you know what it is?"
"What is it!"
"You're both thoughtless, just like him. Sigh, you inherited a bad trait. For now, stand outside the classroom with your hands up."
"I don't listen to humans weaker than me!"
Proudly, Hwaryeon stood in the hallway with her arms crossed defiantly. Seeing this, Gu Bong-gu slapped his bald forehead and sighed.
"Hah, Ha-jun. How on earth is that bastard raising his kids?"
"Don't insult my dad!"
"Alright, alright. Just don't come into the classroom as per the rules, do whatever you want."
Gu Bong-gu waved his hand dismissively and left. Hwaryeon smiled contentedly at this.
'Heh, I won!'
Hwaryeon savored her victory alone. While all the other kindergarteners except Hwaryeon attended class, studying basic math and Korean, Time passed and lunch time approached.
"Alright, everyone eat lunch."
The dragon family, who didn't have lunchboxes, frowned at the food trays they received.
"What's this! There's no meat!"
"The vegetables are wilted..."
Hwaryeon poked at a block-like object with her fork.
"Hmm... What kind of food is this...?"
Hwaryeon stared intently at the food, then boldly put it in her mouth and bit down.
Chomp-
After chewing twice,
"Ptooey-! What is this! It tastes awful! Why do humans eat this stuff!"
She immediately spat it out. Seeing this bizarre scene, Mingu, who was eating nearby, quietly approached and said.
"That's processed meat."
"What's processed meat?!"
"Insect meat."
"Ugh, no wonder it tastes bad! I'm not eating this! Even if I'm hungry, I absolutely won't eat it!"
Because food became scarce after dimensional gates appeared, it was insect meat often eaten by lower classes, but Hwaryeon, who always ate delicious food, couldn't eat it. And it was the same for Choryeon.
"Wilted... The vegetables are so wilted... They don't even respond when I talk to them..."
Plop-
Choryeon also refused to eat, just like Hwaryeon. Suryeon had already dumped all the contents of her tray in the food waste bin.
Seeing this, Mingu frowned and asked.
"Why are you throwing away that precious food?"
"That's not food. It's garbage."
"...If you're not going to eat it next time, give it to me."
"Seems you have a hobby of eating trash. Alright. I'll give it to you."
"..."
Mingu felt somewhat offended.
Anyway, only after skipping a meal did the dragon family painfully realize they needed lunchboxes. As mealtime was coming to an end,
"I'll be right back from the bathroom!"
Pitter-patter-!
Choryeon left the classroom to go to the bathroom.
'Whew, even using perception inhibition magic is tiring. The horns are one thing, but I have to move carefully so my tail doesn't get stepped on.'
Feeling slightly fatigued, she entered the bathroom to wash her hands lightly.
"Oh, it's the new friend?"
"Yes, hello everyone."
Bow-
Choryeon encountered friends chatting there. She bowed her head lightly and while washing her hands, and the little friends surrounded Choryeon and asked.
"You said your name was Lee Choryeon, right? It's a pretty name."
"Yes, my father gave it to me. It's very pretty, isn't it?"
"Your dad named you. Then what about your mom?"
"I don't have one."
"Oh, you don't have one?"
"No, I don't have one."
"You had one before?"
"No, I never had one from the beginning. Why do you keep asking about this?"
Glare-
Choryeon glared at the children probing her.
'...I thought she was kind and easy-going.'
The children were slightly surprised. They thought she was quiet, but she had quite a temper. However, they decided to continue with the initiation they were talking about.
"Then, your dad brought you here, right?"
"Yes, Father brought me. Why?"
"Hmm, then he said he'd come pick you up, right?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Tsk, this is definitely abandonment!"
Hahaha-!
The children burst into laughter to control the atmosphere. At this, Choryeon's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Don't you know? There's Mingu over there. His dad said he'd leave him at kindergarten and come pick him up. But a day passed, a week passed, a month passed, a year passed, and he never came back."
"What? Why are you telling me this...?"
"Just, it seems kind of the same, doesn't it? Maybe your dad won't come back either? We're just worried about you."
The children looked at Choryeon with pity. At those words, Choryeon fell into deep thought.
'...Father won't come back? That can't be... He said he'd definitely come back...'
She believes he'll come back. But after hearing someone else's experience, Choryeon's heart began to waver.
'Surely, Father didn't leave us at kindergarten to abandon us... did he...?'
Once the seed of doubt is planted, unless it's uprooted, it's bound to bloom someday.
'That can't be... right...? Surely... Father...'
Choryeon suddenly started feeling anxious while at kindergarten. She couldn't think of anything but wanting to see her father as soon as possible. Before the seed of doubt in her heart could bloom, as quickly as possible.
'Father, right? You're not trying to abandon us, are you?'
Due to another child's malice, it was the moment when a pure heart was about to turn dark.