Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 008

 

 

After that brief but intense first encounter with the two children, it was finally time for proper playtime.

 

Since it’s the first day today, let’s go with something light.

 

“Today we’re going to draw something we like and share stories about it with our friends.”

 

Drawing – with just crayons, pens, and drawing paper, two hours would fly by in no time.

 

It didn’t require much physical energy, and best of all, I could understand the children’s hidden thoughts and emotions through their drawings.

 

There was nothing better for starting conversations either.

 

The children each picked up colored pencils and crayons and began drawing.

 

I watched them carefully from the side, faithfully playing my supporting role, while Kwon Hae-seong…

 

Was scribbling something enthusiastically in his notebook.

 

I thought about asking what he was doing, but seeing his strangely excited expression, my mouth closed on its own.

 

‘Maybe he’s drawing along with the kids.’

 

“…”

 

He seemed focused, so I decided to leave him be.

 

Instead, I decided to pay attention to our new friend, our little one from Cheonghak-dong.

 

“What’s this? Wow, is it a potato?”

 

“Yes, it’s a potato.”

 

“Tae-jae likes potatoes.”

 

“Yes, I like them. Potatoes are one of the relief crops. Rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes – these four are called food crops. They’re rich in vitamin C, so they’re healthy and delicious. I saw on the Imagination Information Network that potatoes also…”

 

…Our Tae-jae is a potato enthusiast.

 

The way he talks without breathing reminds me of someone in my family.

 

At the end, when he was about to sneakily promote potatoes, I quickly escaped by turning to talk to Noah.

 

Scary… I almost ended up buying 10kg of potatoes from Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province.

 

“Ta-da, our Noah needs a red colored pencil right now, doesn’t he?”

 

“Huh! Yes! That’s right. Teacher, how did you know? I was just thinking ‘Come out, red color!’ How did you know? Are you also a Mental Awakener?”

 

Mental Awakener? Hmm, he must mean a Mental-type Awakener.

 

I remember hearing that occasionally, among Mental-type Awakeners, there are people who can read others’ thoughts.

 

Though I heard it’s extremely rare.

 

“Unfortunately, Teacher isn’t a Mental-type Awakener~”

 

“Wow! Then how did you know?”

 

“This is a secret, but Teacher is actually an alien. So sometimes Noah’s thoughts reach into Teacher’s head.”

 

“…Alien? Teacher is an alien?”

 

“Yes. But only Noah should know this fact. If other people find out, Teacher will have to return to my hometown in space.”

 

“…Wow.”

 

I didn’t forget to make a serious expression as if I had just revealed an incredible secret.

 

Glancing at Noah’s drawing paper, I saw large and small UFOs with skinny green aliens flying around.

 

“You can keep our secret just between us two, right?”

 

“Of course! Just trust me!!”

 

Noah spoke solemnly while patting his chest.

 

Indeed, nothing beats shared interests when it comes to building trust and opening up conversation.

 

‘Of course, it becomes a problem if the joke goes too far.’

 

This much should be fine. I could read the near future in Noah’s face as he glanced at Tae-jae with a subtle expression.

 

‘Look at him already fidgeting because he wants to tell.’

 

The secret that gradually spreads will soon be judged as truth or lie among the friends.

 

And that day will be when Noah scolds me.

 

‘To become close, I have to accept that much.’

 

After Tae-jae’s 5-minute potato trivia and my inspired acting theater for Noah, I moved toward the twins to catch my breath.

 

Both of them had their lips pursed in concentration, looking exactly like twins.

 

Since we had overcome a major crisis together and become quite comfortable in a short time, I started talking with a relatively light heart.

 

“Let’s see, what’s this?”

 

…And my complacent thoughts soon changed to something more serious.

 

I think I really need to have a parent consultation about this.

 

***

 

Usually, parent consultations at kindergartens are conducted regularly.

 

However, there are also cases where they’re conducted as needed when teachers observe unusual circumstances in a child.

 

Generally, issues like peer relationships, emotional changes, or developmental delays are the main concerns, but….

 

‘In this case, emotional state would be the main focus.’

 

I wonder if the guardian is aware of this.

 

It didn’t take very long to reach this conclusion.

 

If I rewind time a little, it all started when I began sharing my impressions after looking at Seo-ro’s drawing.

 

“Let’s see, Seo-ro. What are these pointy things? They look so scary. It seems like these pointy things are flying toward you, and Seo-ro blocked them? Our Seo-ro is so brave.”

 

My rough interpretation of the drawing Seo-ro made was as follows:

 

A giant chunk of ice flying toward a small human, and that small human blocking it. Most likely, this small human was Seo-ro himself.

 

“That’s right. I’m a hunter here, and this is Blue Light shot by a villain.”

 

“Oh~ I see. I asked you to draw something you like, so what is it that Seo-ro likes here?”

 

Blue Light? Or himself as a hunter?

 

Or surprisingly, the villain?

 

…Whatever it is, please don’t let it be the villain.

 

“These two here.”

 

The hand holding the colored pencils pointed to an unexpected spot.

 

‘Hm?’

 

Behind the small human were two even smaller humans.

 

One was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, and the other had a ribbon in their hair.

 

The child quietly continued his explanation.

 

“It’s my older brother and Seo-ra. My dream is to become a hunter later. So instead of my brother, I want to work so that Seo-ra and my brother can just stay home.”

 

“…!”

 

I wanted to say something in my surprise, but I remained silent as it didn’t seem like a good choice.

 

Children sometimes surprise people with unexpected words.

 

Just a few hours ago, the ability he used in anger had now become an ability to protect his family.

 

He’s still young and gets swept up by emotions, but this means he normally lives with these kinds of thoughts.

 

“…Why is that your dream?”

 

I’m curious about the reason.

 

Why does this small child have such touching and admirable thoughts?

 

“Because my brother comes home injured every day.”

 

While I was waiting for Seo-ro’s answer, Seo-ra, who had been quietly drawing beside us, answered instead.

 

I could see Seo-ra’s colorful drawing between her hands covered in crayons.

 

A drawing of a large human happily smiling with lots of food piled on a round table.

 

Next to the human, crooked letters spelling [Beloved Brother] were written.

 

“I like my brother and food the most. Of course, I like Lee Seo-ro too. But the paper was too small, so I couldn’t draw you and me….”

 

I couldn’t find an appropriate response and quietly patted both children’s heads.

 

It might be over-interpretation, but sometimes you can see the essence in fragmentary things.

 

Usually, like Tae-jae or Noah, they transparently draw their favorite foods or robots….

 

Perhaps there’s a separate reason why the twins think more maturely than their peers.

 

I could easily think of several situations I could guess at.

 

But…. let’s set that aside for now.

 

Anyway, there’s plenty of time.

 

I could look into it slowly.

 

And separately from that.

 

Hearing that the man with the still youthful face I met on my way to work gets injured every day made me feel strange. Uneasy, perhaps.

 

‘He looked like he was in his early twenties at most, so what kind of work would make him get injured every day?’

 

…I don’t usually meddle in others’ affairs since it doesn’t suit my nature, but I do it sometimes.

 

‘Let me just check.’

 

Thinking that my condition had flared up again, I eventually opened my phone’s ‘memo’ app and entered an additional schedule.

 

Push for a parent consultation with Lee Seo-hyeok (twins’ guardian). While at it, let’s also push for a career change consultation.

 

***

 

“Did something fun happen today? Why are you so excited?”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok was puzzled by the twins running excitedly into the house.

 

They were like this when leaving Kindergarten too, and they still look to be in a good mood.

 

“Yeah! Big brother! Big brother! I really like the new teacher!”

 

“I like him too.”

 

“…Huh? The new teacher?”

 

“Yeah yeah. He speaks quietly and softly, and he plays house with me too.”

 

“Yeah, and he told me I was brave too.”

 

“…Ah. Could it be?”

 

At these unexpected words, Lee Seo-hyeok recalled a young man he had met on his way to work this morning.

 

He looked more like a college student his age rather than a kindergarten teacher. Unlike the people around him, his simple everyday clothes made him stand out even more.

 

And one forgotten fact flashed through his mind.

 

The Dolphin Class homeroom teacher who kept changing frequently.

 

He wasn’t unaware that his younger siblings played a part in causing this.

 

…That person was the twins’ new homeroom teacher!

 

“You’re talking about the teacher who walked with you to Kindergarten this morning, right?”

 

“Yeah yeah, that’s right! Big brother, big brother, can I eat chocolate snacks?”

 

“Didn’t you eat chocolate at Kindergarten today?”

 

“Lee Seo-ra ate chocolate snacks today. She ate two of them.”

 

“Hey! We made up!”

 

Seeing the two puffing up their bodies again, ready to fight, Lee Seo-hyeok familiarly headed to the kitchen.

 

Then he silently opened the ceiling and took something out to start making something.

 

Powdered strawberry stick.

 

It was a powdered stick that magically turned into strawberry milk when mixed with milk.

 

It was one of the drinks the twins went crazy for.

 

“Are you going to keep fighting like that? Your big brother made strawberry milk.”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok held up two cups with fish patterns and grinned.

 

“We’ll fight after eating!”

 

“Not eating, drinking.”

 

“Hey! Don’t you drink it.”

 

“Why not? Big brother is giving it to me.”

 

The twins frantically gulped down the milk, leaving white milk traces around their mouths.

 

Even while drinking, they continued exchanging fierce glances.

 

It was then, while watching them fondly, that he felt something strange.

 

Something… is different? From when I saw them this morning…

 

“Did you have outdoor activities today? Why did you change clothes?”

 

Looking at them, their clothes were different from when he sent them to Kindergarten this morning.

 

Usually when clothes get dirty, they change into spare clothes, so it’s not particularly strange but…

 

Then the clothes they wore this morning should be in their bags, right?

 

“What? The clothes aren’t there…”

 

The reason the changed clothes were missing was because after that fire and water incident, the children’s care had temporarily fallen entirely under the medical team’s jurisdiction.

 

After changing them into hospital gowns for a simple external injury check, their original clothes disappeared as they passed through several people’s hands.

 

How could the already busy medical staff have time to take care of the children’s clothes?

 

After the examination ended, the twins returned to Kindergarten in hospital gowns, and then Na Hwi-yeon changed them into change of clothes – that was the whole story.

 

Of course, Lee Seo-hyeok was out at the field site at this time, so he had no way of knowing these facts.

 

Lee Seo-hyeok was able to accidentally find the right answer in the twins’ faces as he casually looked at them.

 

Rolling around. Their eyes were darting about.

 

I’m way too familiar with this expression.

 

“Tell me honestly.”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok said, ignoring the goosebumps rising on his back.

 

“Lee Seo-ro, you tell me.”

 

“…Lee Seo-ra, at times like this we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know.”

 

Look at these kids? Now they even know how to make excuses.

 

But not a chance.

 

“Oh my. Not talking, huh?”

 

What kind of trouble did they cause this time? I can’t even guess.

 

Every time they caused a major incident, their clothes would become rags, so the spare clothes I’d sent must already number in the dozens.

 

‘I let my guard down because there hadn’t been any calls lately.’

 

Lee Seo-hyeok slowly crossed his arms and stared intently at the two children.

 

Under his persistently clinging gaze, the twins grabbed their already empty cups and pretended to drink.

 

“If you tell me now, I won’t scold you. But if you lie or pretend not to know, then I will scold you.”

 

…Finally, Seo-ra, frightened by the sharp warning, opened her mouth.

 

“The two of us got into a fight…”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I got angry and used my ability…”

 

“…Just Seo-ra?”

 

I… expected this much. One of the two often caused this kind of trouble.

 

Just up to here.

 

“No. I used mine too. Because I was angry.”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok grabbed his head.

 

Both. Not just one, but both of them caused trouble??

 

‘I thought it was their teacher’s first day!’

 

What if she quits because she’s shocked!

 

Of all days, today after the field mission ended, meetings and report writing piled up additionally, making him late getting off work.

 

In his urgency, he had asked Senior Ho-won to pick up the kids…

 

‘Even if I wanted to inform them about today’s work, the message probably didn’t get through.’

 

…Knowing senior’s personality, he would have snatched up the twins and disappeared before the teacher could even say a word.

 

Gulp.

 

I feel this every time, but I’m scared to ask.

 

 

His eyes squeezed shut. Dozens of phone calls and texts he’d received while working flashed by in sequence.

 

“Can you tell me in detail how you fought?”

 

I need to roughly know the scale of damage to determine the angle at which I need to bow my back.

 

’90 degrees, 120 degrees, or do I need to plant my head in the ground.’

 

It was the moment he was holding his breath waiting for the twins’ answer.

 

-Ding

 

-Field Team (Na) Leader [Moon Chae-yeong]

: [Photo] , [Photo], [Photo]

 

Along with the phone notification, a familiar person’s name appeared on the screen.

 

What’s with this person contacting me after work hours.

 

“Just a moment.”

 

It might be photos from the field site, so he hurriedly turned around to check.

 

-Hey, Seo Hyuk hahahaha

-Your kids caused quite the incident, didn’t they?

-I got the report on my way home from work, and it was no joke? You know the kindergarten building is company property too, right?

-Thanks to that, I think I’ll be able to sleep with my legs stretched out tonight.

-The kids aren’t hurt, right? That’s a relief. They’re kids with bright futures, so don’t scold them too harshly hahaha

-Oh right. And tomorrow we got an emergency government mission, but it seems like another director upstairs is throwing a fit and passed it down to us. Let’s just go there, pretend we did something, and come back.

-Still, it’s suspicious, so eat a hearty meal before going.

-Today the twins fulfilled an office worker’s dream. We should blow that much money for it to match the cost-benefit ratio of what we’ve earned.

 

“Oh, please….”

 

The photos sent showed the kindergarten building 3rd floor on fire and half-burned furniture messily scattered in the courtyard.

 

Behind that, I could also see a man drenched in sweat with something dark smeared on his face.

 

…This isn’t just the level of causing a big accident.

 

Lee Seo-hyeok couldn’t manage his expression at all.

 

Right now, am I angry, do I want to cry, or do I want to hide in some mouse hole?

 

Scraping together what little composure remained at rock bottom, he looked at the twins again.

 

They were drooping down, knowing they had done wrong, and seeing that sight…. his strength drained away.

 

Right…. They wouldn’t have done it on purpose.

 

If they just apologize properly, it can somehow be resolved.

 

“You did say sorry to the teacher, right?”

 

“….”

 

Strange. Why do they look guilty?

 

“…Huh? Don’t tell me, you didn’t say anything?”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok’s face turned deathly pale beyond just white.

 

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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