After I Started Working at a Pet Kindergarten - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Today was my first day working at the pet kindergarten.

Just as I was about to leave for the morning pickups, Dad smiled at me.

“Class starts at ten. If you’re late, it comes out of your pay.”

It was eight o’clock.

Two hours to pick up a few dogs. Easy, I thought.

Seeing how little I cared, Dad gave me an unreadable look. “Off you go. There are some tools in the van. Use whatever you need.”

Tools?

When I climbed into the van, I found a dented metal basin on the passenger seat. Inside it were earmuffs, a dog ball, a towel, and an assortment of other completely unrelated odds and ends.

According to the route, my first pickup was a Labrador named Soda.

His owner sent a temporary door code to the group chat and told me to let myself in because she wanted to catch up on sleep.

She had posted her door code to the entire group. Talk about trusting.

After parking in the apartment complex, I took the elevator upstairs. Before I had even finished entering the code, I heard loud bang-bang-banging from inside.

The moment I opened the door, I found what looked like a hundred-and-fifty-pound white Labra-pig waiting in the entryway. He panted happily as his wildly wagging tail hammered the shoe cabinet.

When he saw me, he paused and cocked his head.

I crouched and held out a hand for him to sniff.

“Hi, Soda. I’m the new teacher. Want to come to kindergarten with me?”

He sniffed my hand.

The next second, his tail went berserk.

[Like, like! Miss Teacher smells so good!]

[Hurry, hurry! Put my collar on! Dog is going to school!]

I froze.

Was that… Soda’s voice?

He sounded adorably dim.

When I didn’t move, he stood, fetched his leash from the cabinet, and dropped it in front of me.

As he rose, his tail lashed my crouching arm twice with full force.

Ow!

[Hurry, Miss Teacher! Dog can’t wait to go out, Miss Teacher!]

I scrambled up and grabbed the leash. Soda paced in eager circles, urging me on. Every few seconds, his tail smacked my leg or my hand.

It really hurt.

I hurriedly fastened his collar and took hold of him. “All right, all right. Let’s go.”

Soda had been trained well. He stayed close as we walked and neither lunged nor tried to run away.

The only problem was…

His tail kept whipping my calves, thighs, and the backs of my knees.

I edged away. He immediately pressed close again.

And resumed the beating.

[Miss Teacher has to stay right beside Dog. Otherwise someone might drag Dog off and sell him for meat.]

“…”

My calves were already trembling. All I could do was walk faster.

At the parking lot, a passerby looked us over and recognized Soda.

“Oh? No gongs and drums today?”

Soda barked.

[This is the new Miss Teacher.]

[The nice-smelling Miss Teacher.]

At first, I didn’t understand.

Then I opened the van door for Soda, spotted the battered metal basin on the passenger seat, and had a revelation.

I took it out and held it in front of my legs.

The next second—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Soda’s tail wagged like mad. His mouth split into a huge grin.

[That’s the sound, Miss Teacher! Every time people hear it, they know Dog is going to school. They’re all so jealous of Dog, Miss Teacher!]

My calves throbbed.

So he had been holding back before, had he?

I drew a deep breath.

“In you go. We’re picking up the other kids.”