This World is too Cruel to Men

It’s a matter of course, but younger children are more strongly influenced by their parents.

Therefore, Yun-Seo wholeheartedly believed what her dad had said.

That is… that Dokgun wanted to be friends with her.

‘With me…’

Does he really want to be friends?

Thinking to herself, Yun-Seo, as usual, glanced at Dokgun sitting alone in the corner.

And she thought.

What a strange kid.

Normally, if someone was alone like that, they would feel lonely, but Dokgun’s face showed no such emotion.

He looked at the other children playing together in groups, but he didn’t seem envious.

Rather than envy, it was closer to looking at them with an affectionate gaze.

So… Dokgun felt like an adult.

Adults often looked at her with that kind of gaze.

The fact that Dokgun wanted to be friends with her pleased her even more.

‘Well, if he wants to be my friend, he should be at least like that.’

Yun-Seo’s thoughts translated directly into actions… and it made Dokgun quite bewildered.

‘What’s up? Why does she keep looking at me?’

Yun-Seo firmly believed that Dokgun wouldn’t notice, but there was no way he could avoid the gaze of someone experiencing their second round of life with such naivete.

Dokgun had already noticed Yun-Seo’s gaze, and he was puzzled.

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

To be honest, it was Dokgun’s misunderstanding.

From Yun-Seo’s perspective, she was just looking.

However, the reason Dokgun felt like she was ‘glaring’ was because of Yun-Seo’s characteristically sharp eyes.

‘Did she get an upset stomach after going home?’

He even thought that, but he already knew it wasn’t likely.

Yun-Seo wasn’t the only one who ate the rice balls.

‘I ate them, and so did Mom. If there was something wrong with the rice balls, one of us would have gotten sick.’

Then what was it?

Why was she staring at him so intensely?

‘Anyone would think we had a huge fight…’

The funny thing was, when he glanced away feeling uncomfortable, she would quickly avert her gaze as if she hadn’t been staring at him at all.

After this happened several times, he naturally gave up.

‘Fine, stare all you want.’

It’s not like my face is going to melt.

‘Anyway, time is really dragging today.’

Yesterday, just watching the kids and Yun-Seo’s workshop made the time fly by.

‘It would be nice if they did that again today.’

Had everyone lost interest after just one day?

As he was thinking this, the teacher, who had given the children free time by briefly leaving the room, reappeared, carrying a load of things.

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

Normally?

There’s no way excited children would listen when told to sit down.

But not in this world.

At the teacher’s words, the children, who had been running around wildly just moments before, sat down as if mesmerized.

‘What is this, a hypnosis app or something…’

Since I was already sitting, I chuckled inwardly, watching the scene unfold in real time.

What more is there to say?

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

‘This is why this world is the way it is.’

It’s easy to understand why the term ‘talentocracy’ was coined, and why men who are not born with awakened ‘talent’ are discriminated against.

The power of something so intangible is so strong that it would be strange if it didn’t lead to discrimination.

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

If they were going to let me be reborn in this kind of world, they should have let me be reborn in a world where everyone has ‘talent.’

Why did it have to be a world where only women can awaken talent?

Unable to express my frustration outwardly, I clicked my tongue lightly.

The teacher carefully began to unpack the things she had brought.

Seeing drawing paper and crayons being distributed to the children, it seemed like today’s class was an art class.

I was thinking of just drawing something random and relaxing… but as if she had read my mind, the teacher’s words crushed my expectations.

“Alright! Today, we’re going to draw our partner’s face. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Yes!”

“But to draw your partner’s face, you first need a partner, right?”

No way.

Seriously, teacher?

“So, let’s pair up, shall we?”

As soon as I muttered those words, those fateful words came out of the teacher’s mouth.

‘Wow, this is a bit…’

The teacher’s attitude of respecting the children’s opinions was truly admirable, but… if they paired up like this, there would definitely be a child left awkwardly without a partner, wouldn’t there?

Well, from the children’s point of view, drawing the face of a friend would be more fun and engaging than drawing the face of someone they weren’t close to… but still, wasn’t this a bit much?

‘Don’t tell me…’

I wouldn’t end up hearing the teacher say, with a troubled expression, “Um… Dokgun, do you want to be partners with me?” would I?

Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

Ever since I regained my memories, I’d been avoiding interacting with the other children… so I hadn’t been very social lately.

It had only been two days, but at this age, a day feels like a month.

So, naturally, I was worried.

Until yesterday, the number of children had been an even number, but because one child was absent due to a cold, the number had become odd.

At this rate, one person would inevitably be left out.

As I was seriously contemplating how to actively find a partner, even at this late hour, while watching the children already pairing up, someone was watching me intently.

It was none other than Yun-Seo.

Seeing Dokgun’s clearly troubled expression, with a slight furrow in his brow, Yun-Seo became certain.

He must be troubled because he didn’t have a partner.

Technically, she didn’t have a suitable partner either, but that fact had long been erased from Yun-Seo’s mind.

That was because that wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was that Dokgun was in trouble.

And according to her mom, a true friend is someone who helps you when you’re in trouble.

So, if she helped Dokgun now?

He would definitely feel grateful to her.

She was about to step forward and suggest they partner up… but there was one thing Yun-Seo had overlooked: Dokgun’s position within the kindergarten.

Although he had reduced his interactions with his peers after regaining his memories, Dokgun had been an ordinary seven-year-old until then.

Meaning, he used to play well with other children.

Moreover, having inherited Yoon-jeong’s beauty, Dokgun had quite distinct features for a seven-year-old.

As a result, he was quite popular among the girls in kindergarten.

This had always been the case, but after regaining his memories, he’d suddenly become unusually calm for a child.

To the kindergarten girls, who were used to loud and boisterous boys, Dokgun’s sudden change made him seem like an ‘adult.’

The result was that he ranked first in the unofficial kindergarten girls’ rankings of boys they wanted to play house with as the dad, and boys they wanted as the manager in hero play.

Despite this, the reason why the children hadn’t readily approached Dokgun, who was holed up in the corner, was… because someone had already claimed him.

As with any group of three or more people, there was a hierarchy within Sunshine Kindergarten.

And at the top of that hierarchy was a girl named Bora… whose clutches were slowly reaching out towards Dokgun.

The person who noticed this faster than Dokgun himself was Yun-Seo, who had been observing him.

‘Who is that?’

Who was that confidently striding towards them?

Looking at Bora’s confident gait and expression, Yun-Seo couldn’t help but notice.

That… just like her, that girl was also targeting Dokgun.

‘Maybe…’

Were they friends?

Was she approaching Dokgun to be his partner?

An ominous thought suddenly crossed her mind, and it spurred Yun-Seo into action.

“Huh? What?”

Only after hearing Dokgun’s voice did Yun-Seo realize she was tightly clutching his clothes. Her face flushed red.

She couldn’t help it.

She was embarrassed.

She couldn’t explain why, but she was.

So, despite having prepared what to say in her mind, she couldn’t say anything and just mumbled—

“Ah, do you want to be on the same team?”

Just then, a voice that soothed her anxious and fidgety heart rang out.

And following that was—

“Should we? Let’s do it.”

A voice clearly filled with joy.

Hearing that natural and resonant voice amidst the noisy chatter of the other children, Yun-Seo became certain once again.

Seeing him so happy, it seemed her dad was right.

Dokgun definitely wanted to be friends with her.

There was no other reason for him to be so happy about something like this.

‘W-Well, it can’t be helped…’

Seeing him so happy, she had no choice but to grant his wish.

‘Friend…’

“Hee hee…”

She felt a little shy, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

She was fiddling with her lips… when Bora, who had just lost her target, watched Yun-Seo clutching Dokgun’s clothes and twitching her lips, her fists clenched and trembling.

‘…That girl?’

Bora’s eyes burned with fury as she watched Yun-Seo, who had just cut in and taken the spot next to Dokgun.

This was the beginning of a great upheaval in Sunshine Kindergarten.