C 5
My eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion.
In the past, and even now, I hardly remember playing with friends my age.
The fact that I entered a young body doesn't mean my mind has become that of a child, but my heart was filled with joy.
"Can I?"
"Of course..."
The face of the boy his age, who was smiling innocently, instantly turned into that of a demon.
"No, you can't!"
He gave me a slight push on the shoulder.
As I was sitting on a chair, my body swayed a bit. It didn't hurt much, but it felt awful.
"Hey, there's something my mom always tells me, you know? Don't play with parentless kids. But you don't have parents, do you?"
"..."
"Hi, Kairon. What are you doing?"
"He begged me if he could play with us."
When did I say that?
He was the one who said I could play with them. I felt sad and unjust.
"Who's she?"
"The girl who cried during the meeting."
"Ah, her."
The approaching children surrounded me, making it impossible for me to move.
"Hey, leave her alone. Isn't she renting a house here because she doesn't have one? How am I supposed to play with a girl who's homeless? Mom and dad tell me not to play with homeless kids because they're beneath us."
"..."
Then, the boy who had pushed me looked at me with a smile.
"You have no parents, no home, no last name, not even friends? So, what the hell do you have?"
Those were precisely the words that pricked at my trauma. My fists trembled at the openly sarcastic remarks.
"I have to hold back."
I clenched my fists and endured, but someone hit me on the head.
"But what's the point of holding back?"
With that sudden thought, I moved my body.
I was about to punch that unpleasant face and pull his hair, but the boy backed away and maliciously laughed.
"If you hit me, you'll have to pay, you know? My mom said you have to give comparison money after hitting someone!"
In response to those words, my hand stopped. Every word this little brat uttered irritated me.
He was full of malice.
Crack, I heard the sound of reason breaking.
For reference, I wasn't the type to grit my teeth and endure malice.
I didn't like looking weak. So, I always smiled...
I preferred biting like a dog.
"Hey, poor thing."
"..."
"What?"
I ran to a nearby rock about the size of my face and picked it up with clenched teeth.
"What?!!!"
Holding that, I staggered, ran, and threw it.
Bang!
There was a heavy sound.
Of course, the small rock the size of my face couldn't fly very far and landed right in front of my nose.
Even when a five-year-old child picked up a stone and threw it, it didn't come close to them.
But the kids must have had enough of it! And they stepped back with a strange noise.
"Even if they have parents, if they have the same personality, it's much better not to have parents like you, stupid idiots!"
"Hey! I'll tell my mom about this!"
"I-I will too...!"
"Hey, let's just go. It's pitiful."
It was a tearful comment.
"My brother said you never know what kids living with nothing will do because they only have their own lives."
At those words, the kids who had gathered around me and surrounded me fled as if avoiding germs.
I clenched my fists in exasperation as I watched the kids walk away.
"And it's called comparison money, you idiots!"
My hands were red. Probably from gripping the rock too hard. It looks like blisters will form soon.
"Isn't it that I've been through this for a day or two?"
Ugh.
I rubbed my hot eyes with the back of my hand as if I had a fever, then sat back in the chair and pursed my lips with a sense of injustice.
"It's okay."
I gently slapped my thighs.
"It's okay, I'm used to this."
I muttered to myself, trying to calm the bitter feeling.
"Even in my previous life, I endured a lot of hardships like bullying."
It wasn't just once or twice that this happened.
In my previous life, I was born as the eldest daughter of a wealthy family with golden hands, and because of that, I was quite hated.
Even worse, my mother gave birth to two younger brothers behind me.
After giving birth to me first, my mother, who received cold looks from my grandmother and grandfather, was recognized as a suitable daughter-in-law after giving birth to my two younger brothers and received an apartment in Gangnam.
["Hey, aren't you ashamed? Wearing this kind of clothes in a school like this?"]
["It's freaking indecent! It's really embarrassing to have a sister like you."]
["XX I told you to stay out of my sight!"]
There was no reason to have an ugly duckling at home.
It simply happens when someone with power ignores and despises someone without power.
Loose-fitting clothing clearly for males, a school uniform that was about to burst, and furthermore, unlike my younger brothers, I only had a small amount of pocket money.
Of course, my house was in Gangnam, so I went to a good school in a good school district and became an odd one out among my two brothers.
At first, there were only small differences.
All the parts that were good to eat were theirs, and the relatively less tasty parts were mine.
When they bought new clothes, none of them were mine. All the expensive and good things were for my brothers, and they would give me the clothes they were tired of.
With my father ignoring me and my mother neglecting me, my younger brothers realized that I was "something they could ignore."
Kids who learned about such a hierarchical relationship were terrifying.
There were times they took my coat and left me outside in the middle of winter, and there were also times when they threw my school backpack in the mud and filmed my suffering and shared it on the school group chat.
I rebelled against that too.
["Y-You... Did you hit me just now? Mom!! Mom, my sister hit me!"]
["What? Let me see. Oh my God, the wound... We're going to grandma's house next week. What should we do? Let's go to the hospital right away. Cha Miso! Go to your room right now, kneel down, and raise your hands! I'll deal with you when I get back."]
But every time, how much did my family protect me...?
"Uh, let's not think about that."
I shook my head as I felt increasingly dejected.
—That's right, the candy!
I took out the candy that Mayla had secretly given me to eat later as a snack and put it in my mouth.
I felt better when something sweet filled my mouth.
While I was sitting, a white cat jumped from somewhere and sat on the bench.
I couldn't contain the laughter that slipped out, and I laughed.
"Hello, kitty."
Meow-
As if responding to my call, the white cat meowed for a long time and closed its eyes after curling up.
I scooted a little closer to the cat. I could feel the warmth of its soft fur and skin.
"Kitty, would you like to be my friend...?"
I've loved animals for a long time.
Animals always treat me the same whether I have more or less. They give back what I give them.
"It's not that I really want a friend... We can sit and talk like this once in a while. Do you come here often?"
Meow
The cat meowed again.
It seemed to really enjoy my caresses.
"What if those brats from earlier tell their mothers?"
If they really asked for compensation for the damage, it could reach the ears of Duke Miriel.
"What if he tells me to pay all the money and leave...?"
I pretended to be strong, but when I thought about the real problem, a sigh escaped me.
I felt bad for lamenting my situation with a cat.
The cat purred every time I petted it. It seemed to like it.
I want to raise a cat.
They say it's nice to have an animal by your side when you're alone.
Since the annex is very large, wouldn't it be nice to raise at least one cat?
"Hey, do you want to live with me?"
I jumped off the bench and tried to pick up the cat in my arms.
Meooow
But the cat avoided me as if I were annoying and jumped into the bush.
Meowww –
Meooow!
Meooowww!
Then, from the bushes, kittens peeked out their faces.
The white cat stood up and looked at me incomprehensibly.
"Although I really don't think it can understand me."
It was as if it were really listening. Maybe it's a coincidence.
"Ah, is this your family?"
Then you can't.
I sat back on the bench, smiled cheerfully, and waved.
The white cat groomed the kittens several times before disappearing into the bushes with her kittens.
"I'm not a child."
I shook my head. It seems that thinking about the heavy stuff got me down.
"I have to go to Mayla."
I thought that if I acted cute and had some pudding, this feeling would quickly disappear.
I jumped off the bench and turned back to return to the annex.
I didn't even expect that there would be someone watching all these scenes.
