The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 26

Warm sunlight naturally opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a child’s picture-perfect, dark eyes.

“Oh? Teacher!”

Hearing the child’s clear voice felt like it was clearing my heavy head. Small hands tightly gripped the hand with the IV.

“Teacher, get well soon and play with me.”

A weak chuckle escaped my dry lips.

I wanted to say I would get well soon, but no sound came out, so I slowly nodded to the child.

The child beamed. It was such a beautiful smile that I forgot to even blink, just gazing at it.

But I couldn’t overcome the drowsiness that weighed down my eyelids. Even as they slowly closed, I captured the child’s smile in my eyes.

“Madam Lee, it looks like the teacher is falling asleep again.”

“Our young lady comes every day, so anxious to see the teacher’s face.”

From the soft voices, I could tell that Ieum had been visiting every day.

Perhaps because I had been sick for several days, my mind was clearer than usual today, but the medicine that Madam Lee diligently made me take made me drowsy.

In my cozy state, the child’s voice sounded like a lullaby.

“You have to cover yourself well when you sleep, but it looks like the teacher kicked off all the blankets.”

Madam Lee laughed out loud at the child’s whimsical words.

“Where did our young lady learn such things?”

“Daddy said so. He said you have to cover yourself well when you sleep, so you don’t catch a cold.”

“Our young lady is so smart. We’ve seen the teacher’s face, so let’s go quickly. The Executive Director will scold us if he finds out.”

The sound of the door closing and the voices faded away.

That day, I didn’t have the nightmares that had been tormenting me for days. I was able to sleep comfortably for the first time in a while.

The next day, I woke up feeling surprisingly light.

I got out of bed for the first time in a while and ate all the porridge that Madam Lee had prepared at the table.

“Your face has color today; it looks like you’ve recovered.”

“Yes, thank you for taking care of me.”

“Thank you… I just thought I got a very expensive ice cream.”

“Ah… you saw?”

“Did I just see? I ate it very deliciously. Thank you.”

I gave an awkward smile.

I bought it because I was grateful to Madam Lee for always taking care of me, but I ended up being indebted to her again.

“I’ll buy you another one next time.”

“Just don’t get sick.”

“……Yes.”

After taking the medicine that Madam Lee gave me, the front door burst open.

“Teacher!”

The child rushed over and stood in front of me, face flushed.

“Oh… hello.”

“Teacher, are you not sick anymore?”

“Yeah, I’m all better.”

I didn’t know how to talk to children, so I answered concisely.

Remembering what I had heard in my sleep yesterday, I looked into the clear eyes and asked.

“Aren’t you getting scolded for coming here?”

“It’s okay because the teacher is all better.”

Madam Lee added an explanation while I was wondering how to respond.

“She was worried that you might get sick again since you haven’t been discharged for long, so she came and went secretly every day, even though I told her not to.”

I felt burdened by the child’s attention, coming to see someone she had just met every day. It was a connection that was difficult to accept without ulterior motives.

“There were only me and Chief Jang in this desolate house, so how happy would she be that a pretty teacher came?”

“Yes…”

Hearing Madam Lee’s words, I understood the child’s actions. She must have been waiting for me to shake it off and get up quickly.

“I’ll be going now.”

“You just came… already?”

“Daddy said not to bother the teacher until she’s completely recovered.”

Even in this situation, the child was worried about the adults. It seemed like she grew up without lacking anything, so why did I feel so sorry for her?

“Did you eat?”

I stopped the child who was about to leave with unnecessary words.

“Yes. I had to eat everything to come here, so I didn’t leave anything.”

She seemed like a child who was starved for people.

If she had been sick since she was young, she wouldn’t have been able to attend kindergarten properly.

“I sweated a lot, so I’m a mess right now.”

“You’re pretty…”

The child’s reaction kept loosening the firmly locked gates of my heart. In the end, I surrendered.

It wasn’t the child’s fault.

“I’ll take a shower and go to the main house.”

“Teacher Kang, are you sure you’re okay? How about resting until today?”

The eyes that had been sparkling with anticipation quickly darkened.

“I’m okay. I think it’s good to move around moderately from today. My back hurts from lying down too much.”

“Really, are you okay?”

“I ate all the porridge without leaving any. I’ve recovered because my appetite is back.”

While Madam Lee and I were talking, the child was watching the adults carefully.

“Let’s meet in an hour.”

“Really… are you promising?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

I remembered when Ieum had offered her pinky finger first when we met at the hospital last time.

Come to think of it, the promise we made then was not to be sick, but we both failed to keep it.

This time, I offered my pinky finger first.

“Sorry, I couldn’t keep the promise last time. But I think I can keep today’s promise.”

The child smiled brightly and hooked her pinky finger on mine.

“I was a little sick too. Let’s definitely meet in an hour.”

Not only did she hook fingers and make a promise, but she also checked several more times before the child went over to the main house.

“Are you really okay?”

Madam Lee asked again, worried.

“Yes, the child is coming and going so often, I have to shake it off and get up quickly.”

“She’s starved for people. People’s warmth. Even though she seems so reckless… she has an old soul inside. She doesn’t even say she’s sick.”

She had been sick for a long time, so I felt sorry for the child, who seemed to have matured early.

I took a hot shower. My heart and mind were still complicated, but I decided to only think about what was immediately visible.

Washing away the mess from the cold sweat made me feel much lighter. I carefully dried my wet hair because Madam Lee would worry.

It took longer than usual to choose clothes, but I wore the most comfortable clothes I could find. And I headed to the main house to keep my promise with the child.

Neither Ieum nor I were in a condition to do physical exercise.

Sitting on the living room sofa, I wondered what to do with the child, and I thought of something we could do on a day like today.

“Let’s have an orientation today.”

“Orientation?”

“It’s something you usually do when you go somewhere for the first time… It’s a time for Ieum and me to get to know each other. We can also talk about what we should do in the future.”

“Yes, that’s good.”

The two of us sat side by side in the living room of the main house and chatted.

In Korean age, she was eight years old, the age when all the other children would have entered elementary school.

She had spent almost all of last summer in the hospital, so Ieum was homeschooled.

Judging by the fact that a learning instructor came separately, my only job was exercise.

What else to do would have to be decided after consulting with the parents, like the other teachers.

Parent-teacher conference with my ex-boyfriend.

Not long ago, I had gone beyond deep skinship and even had sex with that man.

I sighed subtly at the absurd development.

“Then, will the teacher live with us in our house every day?”

“Well… that’s right.”

“Yay.”

I was glad she didn’t dislike it.

The child approached me without any reservations, and I still had a low wall built up.

I thought there wouldn’t be much to say even if it was an orientation, but that was a miscalculation.

The question box of a child who was full of curiosity was like a never-ending spring. Like water overflowing even when you scoop and scoop, Ieum asked and asked again.

“How old is the teacher?”

“A little young. Twenty-seven.”

“That’s the same age as my dad!”

Just as all of Madam Lee’s conversations were about the young lady, all of Ieum’s words ended with her dad.

When I was with Madam Lee, I felt like I was with the young lady and the three of us, but now that I was alone with that young lady, I felt like I was with Yoonjae and the three of us.

“If you’re the same age, are the teacher and my dad friends?”

“Well…”

I never knew it would be so hard to answer the child’s question.

Moreover, because she was Yoonjae’s daughter, I was very careful with each and every answer.

“Aren’t you friends?”

I was increasingly at a loss for words.

How could I explain that just because you’re the same age doesn’t mean you’re necessarily friends?

Moreover, we were once in a relationship where I dreamed of carrying that man’s child and building a happy family, but time had passed, and we could never be friends.

There were so many things I couldn’t tell the child in detail.

After much deliberation, I came up with an answer.

“Even though I’m the same age as your dad… because it’s an employer-employee relationship… we’re not friends.”

“Huh? Employment?”

“Ah…”

I felt like I was running into a wall more and more as I explained.

“To put it simply… you can think of me as your dad’s company employee.”

“Like Secretary Kim?”

“Yeah, that. But what I have to do is…”

“Teacher.”

“Yeah, that.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I had barely overcome one hurdle.

“Secretary Kim is friends with my dad, too?”

There were still hurdles left. This time, I took a long breath in a different sense.

“Oh, Secretary Kim and your dad are friends?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t know that Secretary Kim was Yoonjae’s friend.

I used to curse that the cold gaze and overbearing attitude were subtly similar, so like boss, like secretary, but friends are alike, so they were real friends.

“The teacher should be friends with my dad, too.”

Beyond the hurdle, another new hurdle was blocking the way.

I was at a loss for what to answer this time, but Madam Lee came out to the living room like a savior.

“Our young lady, what are you so curious about?”

Madam Lee smiled slightly, knowing the meaning in my desperate eyes.

“She said the teacher and her dad are the same age. So, they’re friends.”

“Why? Do you want to make friends for your dad?”

“Yes, not Secretary Kim.”

Even in the child’s eyes, she didn’t like that a rigid person with no flexibility like Secretary Kim was her dad’s friend.

“The more friends, the better. It would be nice if Dad, Secretary Kim, and the teacher played together.”

“!”

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