Before unnecessary misunderstandings escalate, I’ll spit out a feeble excuse.
“Household ledger?”
“Oh, it’s my mom’s.”
Now, my imaginary parents are selling me out without even blinking an eye.
If a middle or high school student tried hiding a comic book under their textbook and said this, it would clearly go unnoticed.
However, I’m currently an elementary school student, and even if I lie, I can’t do it convincingly.
The mismatch of the casual lie and the concept of a household ledger is so absurd it makes me think, ‘Did I really bring the wrong one belonging to my real mom?’
“Right, you should only open your textbooks during class. Put it in your bag.”
“Yes.”
*Phew.*
I exhale a big sigh of relief inwardly while slipping the ledger into my bag.
With calculations anyone can do, I’ll clearly be exposed if I try to draw attention during a time like this.
I’m already lowering my pride, intentionally getting the obvious answer wrong to adjust my correctness rate.
Even if I’m hailed as a genius or a prodigy from the natural knowledge of my past life, it’s merely a misunderstanding stemming from the gap between my age and my memories.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
Using the gaps in the textbook, I stretched my spending plan for the month by writing down a few numbers here and there.
On a rainy morning during third period, gym class.
The rain knocking on the window continues to fall steadily.
Without needing to get my gym clothes from the locker, I just sit still and yawn.
Nothing seems quite as pointless as the theory class we have during gym time.
It merely provides free time under the guise of indoor gym class.
An hour that starts passing while students engage in various activities freely in the classroom.
The gym teacher, who was chasing after a giant hornet during the field trip, is now indulging in the pleasure of wasting time, peering at his smartphone from the teacher’s desk.
“Hey, Kim Mari! What are you doing!”
“Quit nagging and go away, Panda.”
A boy invading my peaceful private time while I’m focused on my ledger.
“Ueebbebebe.”
Even though he clearly said he’d go, he ends up squishing my ledger like he was crumpling it with his palm.
With a swift move, I kicked his shins with my feet extending out from under the desk.
“Ow!”
A skilled shin kick that could easily be replicated in slippers as well.
After kicking, before anyone noticed, I quickly returned my leg to its original position, still speaking with a clumsy pronunciation that slipped out.
“I said I’d go.”
“Teacher! Mari just kicked me!”
“When did I? It bumped against the desk, didn’t it?”
“Don’t lie!”
Brazenly countering with a lie to justify myself.
Like typical kids, the boy was incensed, feeling he was wholly in the right.
Unable to withstand the chaos, even the gym teacher slowly approached from where he had been looking at his smartphone.
“What’s going on?”
“He bumped into the desk leg, and then I kicked him.”
“Don’t lie!”
It seemed like a plausible excuse, even to me.
In a typical back-and-forth dispute like this, the calmer and less angry party tends to hold more credibility.
A boy who always causes trouble yelling at me that I shouldn’t lie.
A girl who normally stays out of trouble, calmly spinning a convincing false narrative.
If you were the teacher, whose side would you take?
The gym teacher’s mediation was far from the truth.
“Su-hyun was in the wrong. Hurry and apologize to Mari.”
“Ah, but… it’s true…! U, u, uaaah-!”
They say trusting a loyal axe can lead to trouble.
Ultimately, Su-hyun, the boy, burst into tears at the truth that wouldn’t even pass to the teacher.
Children’s tears only come out when they genuinely feel wronged.
Thus, the truth was defeated, and the lie triumphed.
I learned about the distrust of adults and the bitter reality of the world at an early age.
The noisy gym class passed, leading into lunchtime, the only meaningful time at school.
“Oh, galbi jjim.”
Meals that remain fixed as delivery foods offer a rare palette of colors for me and Siyeon.
Tender chunks of meat marinated in sweet galbi sauce to be the main dish alongside chewy rice cakes.
In addition, there’s rice, egg drop soup, and some radish kimchi or spinach that kids can actually eat, plus a yogurt for dessert.
After scraping my tray clean, I rubbed my strangely satisfied stomach.
Now I’m only left worrying about how I’ll spend the last hour.
Finally waiting for the end of school! But…
“Seriously, it’s cleaning duty?”
Of all things, I got stuck with cleaning duty.
Unless it’s not a day to hang out with friends, Siyeon is waiting in front of our class.
“You go ahead, I’ll… go alone.”
“Okay!”
A confident answer to the question of whether I can go alone.
Unlike Gomteng, Siyeon usually stays close by, so even being alone, I can still send her off with some peace of mind.
When it seems genuinely dangerous, I told her to transform whether she likes it or not.
Today’s cleaning duty, composed of calm girls, finished without any hitches unlike when boys were around.
Even though we were only there for the cleaning time, the school’s scenery was empty.
Yawning lazily, I clutched my slippers Bag with one hand, opening my umbrella with the other while heading home.
Crossing the alley from school to home, the children I walked with earlier had disappeared.
A winding alley that drivers really don’t need to go through.
Occasionally someone might pass by, but it’s the kind of alley where you’d at least know each other’s faces.
…It should’ve been that way.
“Excuse me, student.”
“Yes?”
A voice coming from behind where no one was clearly heard.
As I turned around, a figure in a black cap and mask looked as though they were saying, ‘I’m not a trustworthy person.’
Wearing a gray hoodie and ragged sweatpants.
As soon as our eyes met, they dropped their pants.
Naturally, it was in a position where that’s not something I have anymore.
Even that couldn’t be seen properly due to the heavy rain.
“….”
‘Not even worth exposing myself like that…’
A flasher straight out of a legend.
Leaving behind the brief impression of the thing that flashed before my eyes, I turned around with a blank expression and slowly walked home.
“Whoa?!”
Upon arriving home, I heard Siyeon’s bright voice.
The damp smell of rain had invaded the inside of the house, wafting from the laundry basket.
“But I’m about to go out.”
So today’s schedule, unexpected as it was, turned into a journey to catch a crazy pervert instead of a monster.
Not only did I sully my eyes, but it would also be bad for Siyeon’s feelings.
With that thought, I left my slightly damp bag and slippers near the entrance, taking my umbrella and heading outside.
Transforming at an appropriate spot, I carefully flew into the sky so my umbrella wouldn’t tear.
Even in a transformed state, I hated my body getting soaked.
‘There they are.’
From the sky, I spotted eight black umbrellas.
Aside from a few going their way, one umbrella seemed to be stationed suspiciously.
It was even foolishly near the alley I just passed.
It looked like another girl wouldn’t be passing alone, targeting who was in the alley.
I moved slowly toward the black umbrella, feeling like a predator crossing the distance to its target.
“Baby shark, doo doo doo-♪”
The splashing sound as I stepped in puddles was cheerful.
The torrential rain that could be gross for housewives might be part of the joy for an innocent child.
The black umbrella slowly approached the child, threatening to ruin their day.
“Hey, little one….”
Using the same method from my past, that dark voice approached slowly…
“Yah?!”
The sudden rise in voice couldn’t reach the child.
“Yes?”
The child turned back at what sounded like their name, but only the abandoned black umbrella rolled in the wind.
And directly above that umbrella…
Sun held on tightly to her hoodie lining as she caught the pervert at the place where the clouds touched.
The height made the building look like a tiny bean.
The pervert, who had just worn a smile, was now gripping his shirt tightly as if it were a lifeline, with a terrified expression.
“Ugh, uhhhhh!”
“Don’t struggle or I’ll drop you.”
The surprisingly subdued pervert was caught with one hand as we arrived at a nearby police station.
Without hands because of the rain, I angled the umbrella and gently knocked on the glass door.
A few police officers who had been idly sitting during the rain hurried out as they recognized the familiar figure outside.
Through the glass, I could hear the sound reaching my ears.
“What? Isn’t that Sun?”
“Wow, seeing the real thing without a mask for the first time.”
Beyond the creaking open glass door.
An officer who looked quite aged greeted us, fiddling with the brim of his cap.
“Welcome. How can we help you?”
“What should we do about a guy who intentionally exposes himself to elementary school students?”
“That, uhm, he’s not just targeting elementary students…”
As I detailed the guy’s offenses in my hand, the pervert, who had nothing to say in this situation, was just spouting nonsense.
With that guy in hand, I kicked his belly with my foot instead of using my empty hands.
“Khak!”
“That’s just bragging, you bastard.”
My high-level shin-kicking skills were surprisingly useful.
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