Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Yoon Munjoong opened his eyes before the alarm clock even sounded . He looked at the digital clock after slowly waking up . 05:59:57 . Munjoong started his day by gently pressing on the button on the beeping clock .

Munjoong had started to wake up before the alarm clock rang when he hit the age of 60 . He felt that the saying, ‘You sleep less as you grow older’ should instead be, ‘You get a clock built inside you as you grow older’ . It is only natural that a body thrown into the flow of time for a long time will remember that flow .

Munjoong relaxed his slightly cold waist as he came out to the kitchen and yawned while boiling some egg soup . Putting water in a pot and cracking in two eggs around the time the water boils completed half the steps to making the soup . He took out the side dishes that were sent by his children and prepared a table for a simple meal .

It was a table for four, but he always sat alone . His eyes unconsciously swept the empty seats next to him and then went towards a frame hung next to the dining table .

The smiling face of his wife could be seen under an origami flower . She was probably around 50 years old then .

“Are you eating breakfast there?”

Munjoong muttered a few idle words before picking up the utensils . His wife, who had promised to grow old together with him, must have had no more regrets, because she passed away after seeing their two daughters get married . It was due to heart disease but she left indifferently without giving him time to attempt anything . Even when she was alive, she was usually so impatient that she didn’t even say her goodbyes as she left . On the day of the funeral, Munjoong tilted a glass of alcohol to himself while staring at the portrait of his smiling wife . He’d repeatedly muttered that she had no affection .

Munjoong went to the living room and turned on the TV after finishing a plain meal with egg soup and pickled vegetables . It was the TV that his first daughter gifted him, a bulging 30 inch CRT TV . An acquaintance had once offered to buy him a 40 inch LCD TV, but he had refused, saying that he had a better one at home .

He changed the channel to the morning news and picked up the newspaper . The empty house was turned into a somewhat lively place as Dalgu came over panting and turned over in front of the sofa .

Munjoong patted Dalgu’s head . Dalgu had been gifted to him by Junmin and was the child of a Shiba Inu . Munjoong especially favored it because of how loving and joyful it was . Dalgu’s mother passed away three years ago .

“Recently, a woman in her 30s was arrested for fraud against a nursery school . Detailed news will…”

After briefly reading the newspaper, the hour hand on the clock pointed towards 9 . It was a day like any other . Munjoong attached a leash to Dalgu’s neck and went outside .

A chilly breeze hit his face . Munjoong adjusted his collars and slowly left on a walk to a street where only churchgoers could occasionally be seen . Munjoong liked this street because it was filled with a tranquil atmosphere .

“Good morning . ” Mr . Park from the convenience store greeted him . It’d been 10 years since he had set foot in this neighborhood . There were people who he could start calling neighbors and Mr . Park was one of them .

“Hope you sell a lot today, too!”

“Yes . I should sell a lot . ”

Mr . Park had good manners . At some point, Munjoong became able to tell the difference between heartfelt laughter and feigned laughter . His own eyes had been trained with false laughter, which perhaps made it natural that he could distinguish between the two .

He started to swing his arms while walking with the panting Dalgu . Munjoong let out a pleased laugh as he looked at the unchanged streets . Changes become increasingly frightening as one ages and the same applied to the environment . Munjoong knew how to appreciate the things that were supposed to be there, being there .

Munjoong walked past a busy elementary school and began climbing a hill . He didn’t skip out on exercising since youth, so he was physically fit . He had a slightly herniated disc, but the chilling sensation disappeared after he worked out . His primary physician had told him that daily exercise was more important than physical therapy as well .

“Let’s go, Dalgu . “

Dalgu was excited as it ran up the incline . Munjoong mustered up a bit of energy and ran after it towards a poor hillside village some distance off the pretty residential district and apartment complex . Munjoong walked past a shack that was undergoing demolition . This place will also be turned into a box of matches soon .

After a gradual descent with Dalgu, Munjoong arrived at today’s destination - the Dalgureum Nursery Center . Dalgu started to run around wagging its tail upon seeing the nursery building .

“Are you happy, little fellow?”

He took Dalgu and went inside . The director came out to greet him in a slightly high pitched voice . “Teacher!”

“You’re here . ”

Munjoong nodded with a smile on his face . The director went inside to call the other teachers right away . Munjoong took Dalgu to the living room where the children were . The children were moving about carrying their own bowls after having finished breakfast .

“Ah! It’s Dalgu!”

“Dalgu!”

The children who found Dalgu ran over in packs . Munjoong unfastened the leash and released Dalgu in between the children . It’d been 3 years since they started playing together like this . It was Dalgu’s mother who visited before, and after her death, it was now Dalgu who became the friend of these children .

“Hello, grandpa . ”

“Hello!”

The children bowed, led by their eldest brother who was now in 2nd year of high school . Munjoong made a satisfied smile and nodded .

“Teacher, you like ginger tea right?”

“I’ll drink it if it’s given to me . ”

Munjoong went inside the director’s office after leaving Dalgu to play with the children .

“The children like it whenever you visit . ”

“They like Dalgu more than me . ”

He drank a sip of the tea that was giving off a sweet fragrance . 16 years had passed unknowingly since his relationship with this place began .

“I’m really grateful for the money you sent to us for the children’s tuition . ”

“Let me know if there’s anything you need . ”

“How could there be anything when you’re taking such good care of us?”

A substantial amount of money was flowing into this nursery . However, Munjoong never once thought of it as being wasteful . It was the money he earned with the attention given by the public . Munjoong thought it was logical to give the money back to the public .

Right as he was talking about this and that with the director, “Ah right . ” The director excused himself and stood up from his seat . Munjoong asked what was going on .

“A person that I’m grateful towards will be coming today . She started volunteering for us since last time, but, ah . Now that I think about it, she’s never met with you before . ”

“Volunteer?”

“Yes . She does puppet plays and the children like it . On top of that she’s good with her hands so she personally makes pretty dolls and gives it to the children as gifts . ”

“So there’s a person like that . ”

“She’s a young lady . She has a nice heart and a pretty face . If I had a son who didn’t marry yet I would immediately introduce him to her . ”

If the meticulous director was saying such good things about her, the person who scheduled to come today definitely had to be a great person .

It felt lonely being in the room by himself, so he snuck out . A red sedan could be seen coming towards this direction from far away . She must be riding in that .

The car parked in front of the building . The driver and the passenger both opened the door at the same time and a tall lady along with a boy of similar height appeared . The lady looked as if she was in her late twenties, and the boy looked like he was a high school student but gave off the feeling of being older than he appeared .

Munjoong observed the two while the director smiled and invited them inside .

“This person here is our nursery’s largest shareholder, Yoon Munjoong . ”

The director laughed out loud giving the introduction . Munjoong was unaffected by it as it was an introduction that the director frequently made towards customers .

“Hello, I’m Kang Soojin . ”

“I’m Han Maru . ”

They might’ve been flustered at first, but the lady smiled right away and introduced herself with the calm boy . Maru . It may have been due to the unusual name, but the boy was quickly ingrained in Munjoong’s mind .

“Nice to meet you . The director said that you do entertaining puppet plays, would it be okay if this old man spectates from the side?”

“Of course . “

Munjoong nodded and turned his body . The sound of the director chatting could be heard from behind .

“Ms . Soojin, you don’t recognize that person?”

“Hrm?”

“Ah, what should we do with our Teacher . I suppose the current generation doesn’t know too much about him . ”

Munjoong chuckled at the director, who was speaking as if it was too bad . When he was young and naive, he felt inferior when people didn’t recognize him, but nowadays he was rather grateful when it happened . It just meant that there were that many more outstanding actors who came out to take the spotlight from the retired old man .

“Director . Stop with the ridiculing and come in . ”

“Yes yes, Teacher . ”

The director who said that he’d come in kept going on for a short while after . He heard with his ears that stayed sharp despite his age, “He was an amazing actor . ” Like everybody, he couldn’t help but be pleased when he heard his praises . He went to the director’s office to grab the ginger tea that the director had brewed for him and went back to the living room . The children who were playing with Dalgu shifted their attention to Soojin and Maru upon seeing them . Thanks to that, Dalgu became lonely .

“Tsk tsk, this kid . ”

Munjoong did a hand gesture to call Dalgu over . Popularity has always been something that’s short-lived, my child . He waited a bit, touching Dalgu’s cheeks . They felt like steamed bun cakes .

Soojin came back holding gifts and costumes after making a few roundtrips to the car . An exquisite costume and dolls that were worthy of deserving the director’s praises were soon settled in the living room . Toys for little boys could be seen as well . It must have been quite expensive . Munjoong looked at Soojin and Maru with a warm gaze .

“There aren’t many people like that lady these days . ”

“It appears to be so . ”

The director left to answer a phone call and the puppet play started once all preparations were complete . It didn’t have much structure, but Munjoong thought it was an amazing play that brought joy to the children .

“Can you give me a hand?”

The children wore puppets on their hands when Soojin requested for help and began to play together . Munjoong had a comfortable feeling as he looked at the children . He was grateful that a young lady was willing to come to a place like this to play with the children .

I should properly greet her . When he was waiting for the play to end with a satisfied expression, Munjoong’s eyes twitched . He wondered if he mistook it and looked at Soojin once more .

‘……’

Her laughter was dull . It was clear that the laughter was coming from her heart, but it looked like she herself wasn’t enjoying it . Munjoong let out a weak grunt as he carefully observed her . Soojin’s laughter was something that could only be made by people making excuses .

‘Have I gotten old?’

There was no way a person doing praiseworthy work like this would have different intentions . However, even after checking multiple times, it was a smile that bothered him . There were no problems when she was doing the puppet show, but her smile seemed very uncomfortable when she made eye contact with the children . Although it seemed like a normal smile filled with benevolence, the subtle differences were caught by Munjoong .

She probably didn’t approach us with impure intentions, right? .

He was reminded of the news that he watched in the morning about a nursery fraud . The scary thing about black-hearted animals is that they take apart and eat from the people who have nothing . He felt bad for judging people who came to look after the children, but he decided to keep watch just in case .

Soojin and Maru spent around 30 minutes playing together with the children . Other than the ambiguous smile that she showed every once a while, it was perfect . Come to think of it, they probably would be dealing with the director rather than the children if their aim was to commit fraud . It seemed like they were more than close enough already .

“Here, a present . ”

Soojin shared the presents amongst the children and stood up . Munjoong approached the two who were cleaning up their areas .

“You’re already leaving?”

“Ah, yes . We have more places to go to . ”

“It looks like you’ve been doing this type of work for a while . ”

“Yes . It’s been around 10 years . ”

“Huh, 10 years . ”

It really appeared that there was a misunderstanding . Then, what could be the reason for that uncomfortable smile? The director finished his phone call just in time and came inside .

“You’re leaving now?”

“Yes . ”

“You should have a meal before leaving . ”

“We have other appointments . ”

“You’re so busy that you can’t eat?”

Soojin considered for a short moment before replying . “I’ll eat before leaving . ”

“You’ll be eating with us, right Teacher?”

“Let’s do that, will it be fine for me to join?”

He asked looking at Soojin and she nodded without hesitation .

“Of course . ”

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