This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 6

It’s a given that the younger you are, the more you are influenced by your parents.

That’s why Yoonseo believed everything her dad said without a doubt.

For instance… that Dogun wanted to be friends with her.

‘Does he really… want to be friends with me?’

While pondering this in her mind, Yoonseo once again took a quick glance at Dogun, who was sitting alone in the corner.

She thought to herself that he was a really strange kid.

Usually, when someone isolates themselves like that, you would expect them to look lonely, but there was no trace of that feeling on Dogun’s face.

He looked at the kids playing together, but it was almost as if he didn’t envy them.

Rather than being envious, it felt more like he found them cute.

So he felt… quite grown-up to Yoonseo.

He often had that same expression adults have when they look at her.

That made Yoonseo like the idea that Dogun wanted to be friends with her even more.

Of course, if he wanted to be friends, he should at least be like that.

Yoonseo’s thoughts reflected in her actions… which left Dogun feeling quite bewildered.

‘What’s going on? Why does she keep staring at me?’

Yoonseo believed Dogun wouldn’t notice her glances, but with such naive thinking, avoiding his second glance was impossible.

Thanks to that, Dogun had already noticed her gaze and was puzzled by it.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why she would be staring at him over there.

In truth, it was also a misunderstanding on Dogun’s part.

From Yoonseo’s perspective, she was simply looking.

Yet, the reason Dogun felt like she was ‘staring’ was because of Yoonseo’s uniquely intimidating eyes.

‘Did I eat something that upset my stomach when I got home?’

Thanks to that, he even had that thought, but he already knew it couldn’t be true.

Yoonseo wasn’t the only one who had eaten the rice balls.

So had I and Mom, so if there was something wrong with the rice balls, at least one of us would have been affected.

Then what was it?

What on earth was the reason she was so intensely staring this way?

‘No, if someone saw this, they’d think we had a huge fight…’

The funny thing was that every time he glanced away out of frustration, it was as if Yoonseo instinctively diverted her gaze, pretending she hadn’t been staring at all.

As that happened over and over, it was only natural that he felt a sense of resignation.

‘If you’re going to look, just look.’

Would staring at my face make it disappear?

By the way, time just wasn’t passing today.

Just yesterday, even watching the kids and Yoonseo in their art workshop made time fly by so quickly.

I wish they’d do that today too.

Had everyone lost interest in just one day?

While I was stuck in those thoughts, our teacher, who had left for a moment to give the kids some free time, returned with various supplies.

“Alright, everyone, let’s take our seats!”

Normally, would excited kids listen to someone telling them to sit down?

But in this world, that wasn’t the case.

At the teacher’s one command, the kids who had been running around sat down as if hypnotized, having completely forgotten their play.

‘What is this, some kind of hypnotic app…’

I, who was already seated, could only stifle a chuckle at the scene unfolding live before me.

What could I say?

This was the power of ‘talent,’ which underpins this world.

‘No wonder the world is like this.’

You could naturally understand why the term ‘talent-centric’ was created and why men who couldn’t awaken ‘talent’ faced discrimination just by thinking about it.

If something so vague was this powerful, it would be odd if there weren’t some discrimination arising from it.

‘The more I think about it, the more infuriating it gets…’

If they were going to let me be reborn into a world like this, wouldn’t it be better to let everyone have a chance to possess ‘talent,’ rather than making it a world where only women can awaken it?

I couldn’t say it out loud, so I clicked my tongue softly and while immersed in those thoughts, the teacher began to carefully unpack the things she had brought with her.

As she distributed drawing paper and crayons to the kids, it seemed today’s class was an art class.

I had planned to doodle something and take a break, but maybe she sensed my intention, and the teacher said something that stomped on my expectations.

“Alright! Today we’re going to draw our partner’s face. It’s going to be fun, right?”

“Yes!”

“But first, to draw our partner’s face, we need partners, right?”

No way.

You can’t be serious, teacher!

“And now, let’s pair up!”

Before I could finish that thought, the teacher’s declaration hit me like a lightning bolt.

‘Wow, this is a bit…’

While I could appreciate the teacher’s attitude of wanting to respect the kids’ preferences, doing it this way would certainly lead to someone being left out awkwardly.

Well, from the kids’ perspective, it’d be more fun and engaging to draw the face of a friend rather than someone they weren’t close to…

But still, this didn’t seem quite right, did it?

‘No way…’

Please don’t let me hear, “Um… will Dogun pair with me?” from a teacher looking all awkward.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Ever since I regained my memories, I hadn’t been very social with the kids, so naturally, I was anxious.

Even though it was just two days in, a day at this age feels like a month.

So, it made sense to worry.

Just yesterday, the exact number of kids that perfectly matched was disrupted by one child being absent due to a cold, making it odd.

If it went on like this, someone would undoubtedly be left out.

While I was briefly contemplating how to actively find a partner, I noticed someone watching Dogun closely.

That someone was no other than Yoonseo.

Seeing Dogun’s expression, which had a hint of a frown, it was clear he was feeling quite awkward.

Yoonseo was convinced he had no friend to pair with and was feeling uncomfortable.

By thinking this way, she also realized she had no suitable partner, but this fact had long since faded from her mind.

It was natural because what mattered now wasn’t that.

What mattered now was that Dogun seemed to be in trouble.

And according to her mom, the friends who help you when you’re in trouble are true friends.

So, helping Dogun here would surely make him grateful to her.

Yoonseo had thought of stepping up to say they should pair up, but one thing she overlooked was Dogun’s position in this kindergarten.

Since regaining her memories, she had reduced her interactions with kids her age, but before that, Dogun was just an ordinary seven-year-old.

That meant he had played well with the other kids.

On top of that, Dogun had inherited the beautiful traits of his mom, Yoonjeong, and for a seven-year-old, he had quite distinctive features.

Because of that, Dogun was surprisingly popular among the kindergarten girls.

He was always like that, but after regaining his memories, he suddenly appeared to exude an unchildlike calmness, which made the girls, who lived amidst the usual loud and chaotic boy kids, view Dogun’s sudden shift as if he had transformed into an ‘adult.’

The outcome was that he secured the top spot in the unofficial rankings of girls wanting to have him play the role of daddy during their games and those wanting him to play the manager during hero play.

Still, the reason the girls weren’t quickly approaching Dogun, who was tucked away in the corner, was that… someone had already claimed him.

What more can I say?

In any group of three or more people, a hierarchy exists, and similarly, in the children’s world of Sunshine Kindergarten, there was indeed a hierarchy present.

And at the very top of that hierarchy was Bora, who was slowly extending her reach towards Dogun.

The first person to notice that before even Dogun himself was none other than Yoonseo, who had been closely observing him.

‘Who is she?’

Who is this bold girl approaching this way?

With her confident stride and expression, it was clear she exuded so much self-assurance that Yoonseo couldn’t help but take note of her.

In other words… that girl was targeting Dogun as well.

‘Could it be…’

Are they friends?

Is that why she’s coming over to pair up with Dogun?

A dreadfully ominous thought suddenly lurched in her mind, prompting Yoonseo into action.

“Huh? What?”

Only after hearing Dogun’s voice ringing in her ear did Yoonseo realize she had tightly grasped Dogun’s collar.

Her face turned bright red.

It was inevitable.

She was that embarrassed.

Though she couldn’t explain what she was embarrassed about, she certainly was.

Even though she had mentally prepared beforehand for what to say, she could only stutter and say nothing—until…

“Oh, are you asking to be on the same team?”

At that very moment, a voice that cleared her anxious mind rang out in her ear.

And following that was—

“Shall we? Then?”

A voice that clearly conveyed joy fell into her ears even amidst the noisy chatter of the other kids.

Hearing that voice, Yoonseo felt a renewed sense of certainty.

With how happy he was, what her dad said was indeed true.

Dogun undoubtedly wanted to be her friend.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so joyful over such a trivial thing.

‘Ugh, what can I do…’

If he’s this happy, I have no choice but to go along with it.

‘Friend…’

“Hehe…”

Though she felt somewhat bashful, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

As she was deliciously chewing on the words, there was someone watching her closely, hands tightly clenched in a fist, trembling with displeasure, and that was none other than Bora, who had just lost her target right in front of her.

‘…What the…?’

In an instant, the flames of jealousy ignited in Bora’s eyes as she glared at Yoonseo, who had just swooped in and claimed Dogun’s side.

Thus, the great battle of Sunshine Kindergarten began.