This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 8

“Oh dear…”

Looks like our puffer fish is once again in full puff mode.

It seems our puffer fish’s competitive spirit goes beyond just playing to win; it seems he absolutely despises losing.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any reason for him to look so glum.

But isn’t human psychology interesting? The little rascal, who always acts so cocky whenever we meet, is now wearing a face as gloomy as the sky before a storm. I couldn’t help but keep sneaking glances at him.

I thought maybe if I gifted him a drawing I made, it would lighten his mood a bit. So I put in my best effort during the time I had and presented it to him, but it was clearly not enough to bring our puffer fish back to his cheerful self.

“Geez, this is annoying…”

Is it because he lives right next door?

That started making me glance at him every now and then until we got home after kindergarten.

“Dogun? You should greet Yoonseo!”

“Uh… Hi, see you tomorrow at kindergarten.”

There was no reply.

Which made me even more anxious.

As I scratched my head, pondering Yoonseo’s slight nod and then tugging at my mom’s hand to make her stop and turn back home, it felt like if we parted like this, I wouldn’t sleep well tonight.

“Hey! Oh Yoonseo!”

So I quickly turned around to call the little one who had managed to walk quite a distance. Sure enough, she stopped in her tracks, holding her father’s hand, looking just as miserable as ever.

“Thanks for drawing a beautiful picture today! I’ll treasure it!”

I wondered if that would be enough.

Her slumped shoulders lifted just a bit, so maybe it worked…?

“Then see you tomorrow!”

I greeted her again, uncertain, tilting my head, and grabbed my mom’s hand to dash away.

My anxiety made me act on impulse, but I still felt embarrassment and shame over it.

Especially with my mom’s gasps of admiration like “Oh my…” and “Wow…” echoing in my ears, they only heightened my feelings.

I couldn’t see Dogun, who had slipped into his house as if drawn in, but his last shout definitely reached Yoonseo, reviving her spirits that had sunk so low just moments before.

Yoonseo’s dad, blissfully unaware of the shenanigans going on at kindergarten, could only wonder why his daughter, who seemed so sad as if she had been in a fight, suddenly perked up.

“Did our daughter draw a picture for Dogun?”

“That was the teacher’s assignment…”

“Oh, I see you had a drawing session in kindergarten today.”

“Uh… yeah.”

Just as Yoonseo nodded slowly, shaking her slightly tousled brown hair, her face suddenly turned anxious as she remembered something in her bag.

“Y-Yoonseo?”

Her dad’s surprise was evident as she started unzipping her backpack.

Without another thought, Yoonseo fished out Dogun’s drawing, and her expression slumped even deeper.

It made sense because, in her glum mood, she hadn’t taken care of it properly when stuffing it in her bag, resulting in the drawing being crumpled at the edges.

She felt upset.

At the same time, worry began to creep in.

What if Dogun noticed his gift was crumpled and got upset?

“Oh wow… Did Dogun really draw this? He’s quite the artist!”

Yoonseo’s dad was oblivious to the turmoil bubbling inside her and simply marveled at the artwork, which seemed too good for a seven-year-old.

But that only made Yoonseo feel worse.

If even grown-ups admired the drawing, it must have been really well done, but she had ruined it.

At this rate, she had finally found a friend she wanted, and now she might end up being disliked instead.

If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to visit Dogun’s house or get invited to his birthday party either.

If adults had known what was troubling Yoonseo, they would have told her to just make new friends and let it go. But after the sudden move that forced her to leave her old friends behind, Yoonseo felt like her world was crumbling down.

“Sigh…”

“Uh, why is our daughter acting like this all of a sudden?”

“It’s because Dogun worked hard on it… but I messed it up…”

Her dad, clueless as ever, could only assume his daughter had a big crush on the boy named Dogun.

“It’s okay! Dad will fix it right up!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s barely crumpled. I can easily make it look good as new.”

So that day, Yoonseo found a newly framed and neatly coated drawing waiting on her desk.

.

.

.

If I were to describe a kindergarten student’s day from the second round… it would be something like, ‘Thrilling! Every day is new! Playing is the best!’

Me?

Oh, I definitely relate to that second statement.

It’s not a joke; every single day truly felt brand new.

‘So, how will the battles unfold today…?’

Just as I thought that, up popped Bora, flaunting a bracelet encrusted with sparkly gems that shimmered brightly.

“Dogun! What are you doing?”

Even without hearing her full sentence, I already knew where this was going.

“Want to play hero with me? I’ll make you my sidekick!”

Standing firm against Bora’s challenge was Yoonseo, claiming her turf. In her hands was a box marked “House Play.”

“If we’re playing hero, you can play alone. Dogun promised to play house with me!”

When exactly did I make that promise? Maybe I dreamed it?

Could be.

“Hmph! House play is boring compared to hero play!”

It was probably true; I couldn’t deny that part.

For just a moment, I wore an expression of ‘ugh…!’ but Yoonseo wasn’t about to lose either.

“Uh, but Dogun likes house play more than hero play, right, Dogun?”

Even if I shot her my best ‘Why aren’t you nodding?’ look… well, to be honest, I preferred house play over hero play.

How could I not?

Hero play involved jumping around and was totally exhausting, both physically and mentally, while house play just meant sitting quietly and chatting away.

Between the two, I’d rather be mentally tired than physically drained.

But if I chose one side, I knew the other would blow up at me.

“Great, now they’re fighting again…”

“I know that! My dad said it’s a total battlefield! Oh my gosh!”

Nope, what on earth does my dad even show me?

As I could tell from the whispers around me, this wasn’t the first time these two kiddos were squabbling with me stuck in the middle.

At this point, our little trio’s reputation had long spread beyond kindergarten.

‘What a hassle…’

How can they keep this up every day?

Aren’t they bored yet?

Or maybe… what if all this was just an act, and they were secretly collaborating to poke fun at me, enjoying the sight of me flustered?

But even if kids these days are clever, could it really be that two seven-year-olds have the cunning to pull off a scheme like that? If that were true, I’d be genuinely terrified.

So what to do today?

How should I navigate this situation to get through wisely and have my victory speech afterward?

I honestly wanted to learn some ninja technique just to split into two versions of myself.

If only I could be two, I could satisfy both demands at once.

But that’s just impossible.

So here goes—

“How about… this?”

Let’s go for a compromise.

House play? Hero play?

Why not just do both at the same time?

Thanks to that, I ended up being assigned the role of Yoonseo’s husband and Bora’s agent, which already made my head swim just thinking about it.

But what else could I do?

For now, at least, this was the best choice.

By the way, being a husband and manager?

Why does this make me feel like a love-struck fool living two lives?

Either way, I was caught in between these two little rascals, living out my brand-new daily adventures.

You never know what might happen in life; someone once said that, didn’t they?

And it’s absolutely true.

That day, just like any other, I boarded the kindergarten bus while waving goodbye to my mom and arrived at kindergarten only to find the atmosphere there felt different than usual.

It had a strangely subdued vibe, unlike the lively days before.

So I scanned the room to figure out what was going on, and bam! The first thing I saw was Bora’s gloomy face, which usually, under regular circumstances, would be rushing toward me.

Had she thrown a tantrum over breakfast and gotten scolded by her parents or something?

But her expression seemed way too dark for that.

It was as if she was carrying the weight of all the world’s woes on her little shoulders.

The sudden change in her demeanor surely caught Yoonseo’s attention, too, who usually couldn’t care less.

Rather than going to check on her friend, she simply sat a bit away and kept sneaking peeks at Bora, which only made it more concerning.

What in the world happened?

Is she transferring to another kindergarten or something?

To cut to the chase… my suspicions were indeed right.

“Okay, everyone listen up!”

With just one sentence, the teacher grabbed everyone’s attention and waved at Bora.

Bora, wearing one of the gloomiest faces ever, trudged over to the teacher.

“I know this is sudden, but Bora will be transferring to another kindergarten.”

At that moment, I was honestly taken aback.

My murmured words had become reality, and not just that, but it all felt way too sudden.

‘Even if she was running away in the night, it wouldn’t have been this abrupt…’

If she was truly planning to escape, she wouldn’t have come to kindergarten in the first place.

So what could possibly be going on?

Did something happen at Bora’s home?

But I couldn’t seem to predict anything.

“I understand you’re surprised, but it’s for something to congratulate her on, so let’s applaud Bora for her achievements!”

Applaud? Seriously?

Where on Earth is that miserable face deserving of a congratulatory applause?

“Bora has decided to utilize her ‘Talent’ and is now off to become an amazing artist!”

Regardless, as I felt the incessant pressure to applaud from our teacher, I also noticed the sound of clapping beginning to ring out amongst the students, making me suddenly realize something.

This world is truly unfair and a terrible place.