How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

“Kyungyu, come here.”

“Yeah!”

Kang Yu seemed to like the name so much that he started following me even more.

The director didn’t seem to have any intention of properly taking care of us, so I started gathering what I had and began educating the children in my own way.

Even if it was called education, it was just me sharing what I knew.

“Thus, Cinderella sued her stepmother and stepsisters.”

Wow-! Win!

After the lively storytime session ended, I taught the children the games I knew. Then the children, saying they would try as they were taught, rushed off to play.

Except for one person.

The half-dog, half-human child turned their back to me and sat down. And,

“Name… aren’t you going to give me a name?” Ah, the name. It would be really nice if you could give it a name.

Something… something started to demand passively.

What is it? I became confused.

The child, as if having said everything they wanted to, suddenly turned to me and then dashed off towards the other kids. The fox, who had seen the whole scene, was laughing with its belly held over there.

“Don’t laugh.”

“Because it’s funny, I laugh.”

I spoke in a sharp, pointed tone.

“Do you know why he’s acting like that?”

The fox, who glanced at me, smirked and said.

“If you promise to give me the soup tonight, I’ll tell you.”

“Is the menu the same as yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll give it to you.”

“Great.”

The fox then came closer and whispered in my ear.

“Beast-human hybrids generally have good hearing. They can wake up easily to even the slightest sounds.”

Ah.

“And that kid who just left, the yellow dog, really yearns for a name.”

I tapped my head in realization. Then I gave the fox a light smack on the back after seeing him laughing at the situation.

***

That evening, the fox sat next to us and finished all of Gangyu’s soup.

The headmaster came over to us only when dinner was nearly over, praising Gangyu for working hard. What a fool.

During the free time before bed, I made sure all the children were gathered and clapped my hands to get their attention.

“Okay, welcome to the Kang Nahyun Naming Agency! We’re open for business starting today!”

“What does ‘open for business’ mean? What’s a naming agency?”

“It means we’ve started working. A naming agency is… a place that gives names!”

I smiled as I looked at the dog-human hybrid child.

Then that child quickly dashed over to me.

“How about… Kang Hoon for your name?”

I patted the child, Kang Hoon.

Seeing this, the other children gradually gathered in front of me, glancing around.

“Don’t include me!”

“Add ‘Pretty’ to mine!”

“Okay, okay! I got it!”

Thus, the naming agency was bustling with activity.

The children, each having received their own unique names, excitedly chatted about them until they finally grew tired and fell asleep.

Soon, only the fox and I were awake.

I playfully asked the fox, “Are you going to get a name too?”

The fox responded in a playful tone, “Well, I don’t think your naming skills are that great.”

“Do you want another hit?”

“Please spare me.”

We exchanged trivial conversations and lay down to sleep.

I looked up at the old ceiling, thinking about the time I spent with the children today. A warm feeling welled up inside me.

Without realizing it, I smiled.

The upward curve of my lips felt strange. As I fiddled with my mouth, I realized I hadn’t smiled in quite a while.

Ironically, this place, the most impoverished environment I had ever lived in since coming to this world, felt the most comforting.

“Najun, I’ll be going to the lab for a bit.”

I recalled the days I waited for my mother, who had left me alone for days at the lab.

Every time, I told myself I wasn’t a child. Because, in reality, I wasn’t a child.

“Sorry, I’m busy. It’s for the legacy of your mother. Do you understand?”

So, I understood Choi Garam’s words.

That filter is my mother’s keepsake.

I knew that Choi Garam, who adored my mother and focused his career and life on that filter, would once again pour his efforts into that item that was like a memento of her.

But still. Perhaps.

I might have been weary of being alone.

Today, too, I tightly hugged Gangyu, who had come close and jumped into my arms. It was warm. Here, I was always surrounded by the warmth of people.

So even though I had been kidnapped and brought here, and even though I knew Choi Garam would be looking for me, I wanted to stay here.

That felt quite strange.

Thus, my days at the orphanage continued.

***

The change came suddenly.

On a peaceful day, a loud commotion echoed through the hallway.

I had a sense that something was amiss, so I went out into the corridor.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Right then, I witnessed the headmaster slap Nahoon across the face. At that moment, it felt like some button in my head had been pressed.

“What are you doing?!”

I stood in front of Nahoon. The headmaster scoffed and raised his fist as if to threaten me.

“What, are you going to take the hit for him again?”

Now, the headmaster didn’t even bother to hide his true nature.

He had always neglected the children, occasionally visiting the orphanage to yell at them.

Fortunately, he rarely encountered the kids, so he hadn’t beaten any of them up. But today was different; he had made a mistake right in front of me.

“Playing the good guy!”

The headmaster’s fist came toward me.

Just as I instinctively closed my eyes, sensing the impending pain,

“Ahhh!”

The scream filled with pain came from the headmaster’s mouth instead.

“Don’t bother my sister!”

“Don’t hit her!”

When I opened my eyes, I saw numerous children clinging to the headmaster.

I watched in bewilderment as the situation unfolded.

As they bit and pinched him, the headmaster thrashed around, struggling to throw them off. He yelled loudly, trying to hit the kids.

“Stop it!”

I gritted my teeth and charged at the headmaster. Other bewildered children began to rush in as well.

The headmaster, who had been throwing the kids off endlessly, seemed to tire first, panting as he shouted.

“You damn trash! Once I get out of this place, I’ll never see you again!”

With that, he stomped out of the orphanage.

The children, forgetting their pain, cheered joyfully.

“We won!”

“Victory! Today, I’m Cinderella!”

With that, they came rushing toward me and Nahoon.

I almost scolded them for coming out recklessly, but I realized I wasn’t in a position to say anything. Instead, I checked to see if anyone was seriously hurt. Fortunately, everyone seemed fine.

The fox glanced toward the door and said, “He’ll crawl back in later.”

“I wish he’d just stay gone.”

“But then we wouldn’t get our citizenship cards.”

That was true. I shut my mouth.

After the uproar, the day thankfully passed without any major incidents.

***

“Isn’t it getting harder to put them to sleep?”

“I don’t know….”

The fox and I sat side by side, tired and worn out after putting the kids to bed.

Before I knew it, it was late at night. I stared blankly at the broken glass of the front clock and realized I was thirsty.

“I’m going to get some water.”

“Oh, I’ll go with you.”

The fox and I crept quietly out into the darkness. As we carefully made our way, I noticed light coming from the headmaster’s office.

“He must be back.”

The headmaster was talking on the phone, sounding angry about something.

The fox and I exchanged silent glances. At that moment, our thoughts were in sync.

Let’s eavesdrop.

We crouched down and quietly approached the office door, pressing our ears to it.

“Oh, so those mixed breeds! Uh, yeah!”

The headmaster was venting about what had happened earlier.

I could feel my expression souring at his choice of words. If he hated hybrid creatures so much, why did he have so many of them?

Then I heard something shocking.

“We should hurry up and sell them off.”

I held my breath quietly. Sell them off?

No, more importantly, what about the government project they were supposedly running?

“Uh? We’ll get results from the project, don’t worry. We just need to send a few humans, right? We happened to get a human in too.”

The headmaster’s words set my mind racing.

It seemed like the research project the government was conducting was indeed real, and the headmaster had a responsibility to complete it and deliver results.

“I thought it would be fine to send that one off and sell the rest. You know there are people who like rare things.”

Just humans, huh?