Chapter 2: Different from the cotyledon

It’s a quiet morning. Sundays are monotonous at the orphanage.

Except for having to come to the dining hall at set mealtimes, the rest of the time is free.

Children can choose to go out to the yard and play ball, or read books in the study room.

I’m reading a novel in the study room.

It’s hot today, so I don’t want to sweat.

I thought about studying for my future, but the most complex workbook in the orphanage was a middle school math workbook.

It was so easy that I quickly lost interest.

‘In the end, I have nothing to do but read novels.’

I heard that reading a lot of books from a young age is important for the Korean language section of the college entrance exam, so I’m thinking of working hard from now on, since I’ve been reincarnated.

Just as I was about to focus, I heard someone plop down next to me.

The blonde hair, sparkling in the sunlight coming through the window, dazzled my eyes.

The girl who sat next to me and quietly opened a book was Alice.

We sat so close that our forearms gently brushed against each other.

“Aren’t you going to go outside and play?”

I asked Alice, looking at the girls playing ball outside the window. She glanced at me and shook her head.

“You’re an indoor type too.”

“……”

It’s been a week since I became her helper.

She still hasn’t opened her mouth.

Even I, who is closest to her, have never heard her voice, so the other children probably don’t know Alice’s voice either.

Alice looked at the cover of the novel I was reading. Four numbers were simply written on the cover of the book.

“It’s 1984. It was on the middle school book shelf.”

I may be a kid who hasn’t even started school yet, but my mental age is over twenty, so I can’t read children’s books like ‘Dog Poop and Cow Poop’.

Moreover, this “1984” was almost a complete translation of the original, not an adaptation, which made it even more interesting.

Alice stared at me meaningfully, as if it was strange to see me reading a novel that was not appropriate for my age. I also looked at the book she was holding.

“It’s a calculation workbook.”

Alice was looking at a four-arithmetic-operation workbook.

But the strange thing is that she hasn’t moved her pen since a while ago, and she’s just looking at it with her eyes.

“Don’t you know where the writing tools are? I told you a few days ago.”

Shake, shake.

She shakes her head.

I briefly interpreted her intentions and came to a conclusion.

“You don’t need writing tools?”

Nod.

She simply nodded once to answer.

‘…I’m speechless.’

Even if it’s elementary school calculations, it involves three-digit multiplication and division, and extends to the range of rational numbers, so even high school students find it difficult to do mental calculations.

No matter how extraordinary the original Alex was…

‘I don’t think there was any mention of him being good at mental arithmetic.’

To confirm, I brought a writing tool and took the calculation workbook from her. She was easily deprived.

I calculated 439*364, which would be difficult to do mentally, on a piece of paper so that she couldn’t see it.

‘The answer is 159,796.’

I hid the paper with the answer behind my back and held the problem up to her face.

“Calculate this.”

Alice blinked her blue eyes and stared blankly at the problem.

Honestly, on the surface, it just looks like she’s spacing out.

“…Did you calculate it?”

Nod.

She took the writing tool from me and wrote a six-digit number in the margin of the workbook. The number was as follows.

159796.

“No…”

I was so surprised that my voice came out involuntarily.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there was a human calculator in front of me, so it was natural to be surprised.

Just in case, I asked her to calculate fractions, and she did it perfectly.

She looked at me as if she had some intention.

“…You’re good. Honestly, you’re like a genius.”

Not like a genius, she is a genius. She was a perfect child, according to the setting. An all-around daughter in this world. And it’s ironic to call her that name since she is a orphan.

Only after hearing my praise did Alice turn her gaze back to the calculation workbook.

She seemed to be immersed in the calculation, so I decided not to disturb her.

How much time has passed?
Having read through to the translator’s afterword of the novel, I stretched and got up from my seat.

The sunlight from the window was shining quite deep into the room. It was lunchtime.

[It’s lunchtime. Friends, please come to the dining hall for your meals.]

The familiar voice of the vice-principal was heard from the speaker on the ceiling.

I hear the sound of girls running into the orphanage from outside.

“What’s for lunch today!”

One of the girls, covered in dirt, shouted, and a teacher gave her a warning.

“At least wash your hands first. The same goes for the others. If you come into the dining hall like that, you’ll be harming the other children.”

“Yes~”

Listening to their conversation, I also headed to the dining hall.

I hear Alice’s footsteps following right behind me.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Alice talk to any of the other kids.’

She just hangs around me and I’ve never seen her interact with other children.

When I study, she studies next to me, when I brush my teeth, she brushes her teeth, and when I eat, she only eats next to me.

“Do you have any friends you’ve made?”

I asked Alice while eating the chicken porridge that was on the lunch menu.

She closed her mouth, which she had opened to eat the porridge, and shook her head.

“…Don’t just stick by your helper, do something on your own. You don’t have to follow me.”

Shake, shake, shake.

A clear expression of negation!

She shook her head a whopping three times. Her emotions were revealed without filter, which was unlike her.

‘Does she hate it that much…?’

I have a reasonable suspicion that Alice’s MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)is I(Introversion).

But in the webtoon, her, no, his social relationships were perfect on the surface. Maybe it was all an act.

Getting to know Alice’s bare face that I didn’t know… I honestly enjoy it. Just as Alice observes me, I’ve also started to observe Alice a lot.

When she can’t see me, she bites her nails, and when she eats steamed potatoes, the corners of her mouth slightly rise…

“Wow, she’s eating with a guy again!”

Just as I was lost in pleasant thoughts, a mood-breaking sound was heard.

I turned my head towards the sound and saw three energetic-looking girls looking at us.

“Yeah! Do you think the madam is funny?”

“Girls should play ball.”

Kids these days, no, girls these days form gangs by calling older girls, madam.
I wonder if the future of those kids is okay.

Despite their ridicule, Alice quietly ate her porridge.
The girl who was called madam by the gang turned to me this time.

“Alice, are you not coming out because of Kim Maru? What’s a girl doing playing with a guy!”

This is news to me. Alice was invited to play soccer.

The children were trying to accept Alice in their own way.

In the first place, she was someone who was bound to attract people wherever she went.

Because even though she was a villain, many students were inspired by her overwhelming performance and charisma.

“Kim Maru, I’m going to eat one of your sausages.”

The madam girl stole my sausage.

‘Damn it, I was saving it for last.’

But for me, whose mental age is 20, it just seemed like a childish tantrum.

I tried to get along with Alice, but it failed, and I was blamed for it.

It was a typical behavior for that age group.

Anyway, I was going to let it go, but the girl next to me couldn’t.

Alice, who had been silently eating when she was being ridiculed, suddenly stopped eating and stared intently at the madam girl when the target changed to me.

“Wh, what.”

The madam girl stuttered, perhaps flustered by Alice’s unprecedented behavior. The girls next to her also swallowed dryly.

“……”

Alice stared at them without blinking. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Alice, it’s okay. Just eat.”

My mind is too mature to get angry with Alice here.

But if I remain silent, this uncomfortable air will continue.

In the end, my choice was to stop Alice.

‘Ah, but the sausage is a bit of a waste.’

Only after hearing my words did Alice lower her head again and eat.

“…They’re weird. Let’s go.”

The madam girl led her gang out of the dining hall.
They’ll probably play ball again until lunchtime is over.

After lunch, I went back to the library and picked up a book.

I was planning to focus on reading until dinner time.

Alice went to the bathroom a while ago, so she won’t be back soon.

I turned my gaze to the book and was about to take in the letters when I saw the madam gang coming in from the entrance.

‘Why are they here?’

Unless they were forced to read a book during reading time, they never came here.

They took a seat in the corner and started talking loudly about anime.

“……”

I don’t know why they’re doing that in the library, but I didn’t want to cause any friction, so I focused on the text.

But the very fact that I was thinking this meant that my concentration was broken. Their voices started to grate on my nerves.

I couldn’t take it anymore and said something.

“Be quiet.”

“Wow, the gangster husband is angry.”

“…What?”

Not a gangster wife?

‘Ah, gender reversal…’

I’m surprised to be the subject of this long-standing tradition. The long-standing tradition of boys teasing violent girls by calling them gangster wives flashed through my mind.

‘They came to pick a fight with me.’

I sighed and looked towards the entrance, and Alice was there.

She quietly approached me, sat down, and opened a book.

Then, the gang miraculously shut their mouths and left the library.

‘This is going to be a bit annoying…’

It’s not like I can get seriously angry at kids, and even if I tell the teachers, this kind of subtle bullying won’t disappear.

Rather, they’ll probably say that I’m a coward for snitching, and that boys are this and that.

…I wasn’t in the mood to read.

I just lay down and closed my eyes.

When I slightly opened my eyes, Alice was looking at me, who had done something unexpected.

“I’m going to sleep.”

“……”

Surprisingly, Alice didn’t lie down next to me and turned her gaze back to the book.

Kim Maru’s body was still young, so it was hard to resist the urge to sleep.

I soon fell into a deep sleep.

Alice carefully observed Kim Maru, who was sleeping, and put her finger on his nose.

She could feel a faint, regular breathing. Having grasped Kim Maru’s sleep patterns over the past week, she was confident that Kim Maru was currently in a deep sleep.

Her body slowly rose.

And she quietly slipped out of the library like a cat.

She had waited until he was completely asleep, so quite a bit of time had passed.

As Alice headed to the yard, the girls, who looked tired after playing soccer, were coming to the entrance of the orphanage.

Among them, the madam girl was still in the yard. Two of her gang members spoke to her.

“Madam, aren’t you coming in?”

“I’ll do a little more.”

“Wow, aren’t you tired yet?”

The two shook their heads and left the yard. Now, only the madam is left in the yard.

Alice approached the madam.

She didn’t walk like a cat anymore.

She strode forward with the confident gait of a tiger, as if she didn’t care if she was heard.

Feeling someone approaching from behind, the madam girl stopped her shooting stance and turned her head.

There was Alice, approaching her.

“Oh, are you going to play soccer? Then go to the keeper…”

Clap!

A dry hitting sound echoed through the yard.

The madam needed a moment to realize what had happened to her.

“Huh?”

Holding her stinging cheek, she looked at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who had hit her.

Alice’s right arm is to the left.

She hit her, Alice did.

“What are you suddenly…!”

When Alice remained silent without answering, the madam got angry and raised her fist.

There is no one her age in this orphanage who is bigger than her. That’s why she became the head of the gang, and she was always the ace when they played soccer.

So the madam thought that if she started hitting, the fragile, doll-like girl in front of her wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Her large fist reaches out towards Alice’s face.

At that moment when she was sure of victory.

“……”

“……”

The expected hitting sound did not occur.

The madam’s fist lost its strength just before Alice’s face and stopped.

The distance was insufficient.

Because Alice had reached out her leg and pressed down on the madam’s left knee, which she had used for propulsion.

And once again.

Clap!

Both of the madam’s cheeks were burning red.

The pain and helplessness she felt for the first time in her life quickly broke her spirit.

“Wh, why are you doing this…”

Tears welled up and she stuttered. Alice didn’t stop her arm even after seeing her opponent’s surrender.

“Al, alright! I won’t bother you anymore! I won’t bother you to play soccer either!”

Seeing that Alice’s expression was still stiff, the madam’s head started to spin quickly. And she came to a conclusion.

“Because of Kim Maru…? I won’t bother him either… So, d, don’t hit me…”

“……”

Alice turned around and entered the orphanage only after hearing what she wanted to hear.

For a while, the sound of a girl sobbing as she rubbed her cheeks could be heard in the yard.