Ch. 11 — 11
—”What’s more important than money is your interpersonal network. People who will stay by your side when you truly need help. You can never buy people like that with money. People bought with money will fall away the moment the money runs out. To gain proper people, you must first become a person they need. Then, naturally, that person will become ‘your’ person. As time passes and it becomes a truly proper relationship, even if the mutual need disappears, that bond will continue. Keep this in mind. The truly important thing in life is having people you can trust.”
*
*
*
A roughly 20-minute walk to the school gates.
Cheol-jun walked among children wearing the same uniform as him.
At first, there was no one, but after crossing one intersection, two appeared.
By the time he passed the back road, there were five, and when the school gates started coming into view in the distance, before he knew it, there were over thirty kids walking in the same direction.
He was told there weren’t many kids commuting from the neighborhood, but it was still more than he expected.
Cheol-jun found walking among them incredibly enjoyable.
It was the first time he had ever felt a sense of belonging.
When Cheol-jun arrived near the school, a commuter bus stopped in front of the gates.
From that large bus, a horde of kids wearing the same uniform as Cheol-jun poured out.
In an instant, Cheol-jun’s surroundings were bustling entirely with kids from Hanyoung Private Elementary School.
Perhaps they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, as they all exchanged glad greetings.
Cheol-jun, who had no one to greet, walked among them, silently greeting the kids in his heart whenever their eyes met.
‘Hello. It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Lee Cheol-jun, and I’ll be studying with you all starting today.’
Next year, no, after summer vacation in the second semester, he’d be able to gladly exchange greetings like those kids, saying it’s been a long time.
Just that thought alone made his heart swell.
Right before passing through the gates.
Cheol-jun paused and suddenly turned around.
Then, he looked toward the alleyway across the street.
The person firmly connected to Dad Jae-kang, and ultimately connected down to him.
He was newly realizing what that truly powerful interpersonal network his dad had always emphasized really meant.
Cheol-jun understood perfectly the sincerity conveyed in his gruff, seemingly indifferent manner of speaking.
Cheol-jun bowed toward the alleyway.
‘Thank you.’
Cheol-jun looked at the alleyway one last time before turning toward the school gates.
Living with Uncle Hyung-man, he had always been envious of his dad.
He thought it was so incredible that his dad had several more people in South Korea he could trust as much as Uncle Hyung-man.
‘From now on, I need to build my own interpersonal network.’
His heart began to pound with excitement.
*
*
*
“And?”
“So?”
“You’re acting up even though you’re just a Gold?”
“I’m not Gold, okay? My sniper form is completely up right now!”
“You wanna go a round later?”
“Yeah. Academy issues. Piss off.”
“You’re scared, huh.”
“Um, no I’m not?”
“Triggered? You can’t do anything, can you?”
“Whatever. Just piss off already!”
“Scared? Super pissed, right?”
“Ah, f*ck! You wanna go?”
“Yes! I’m gonna tell the teacher you swore!”
“Um, no you won’t?”
“Whatcha gonna do about it?”
“Yeah. Didn’t ask.”
The moment Cheol-jun opened the classroom door, trying to calm his swelling heart, he froze instantly, unable to step inside carelessly.
What on earth was this bizarre language?
One of the kids giggling at a desk spotted Cheol-jun and approached him.
“Who’s this guy?”
“Never seen him before.”
“Hey! This is a 5th-grade class. The lower grades are over there.”
Cheol-jun blinked his round eyes.
Now he could understand them a bit better.
“I’m in 5th grade too.”
“Yeah. Don’t care!”
“Stop capping!”
“You look like a 3rd grader!”
The kids near the door looked at Cheol-jun.
“Anyone know this guy?”
“Nope. Not at all. He’s just a 3rd grader who can’t find his class. Keep walking.”
“Sh*t!”
As Cheol-jun swallowed hard with a blank face, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Alright! Everyone quiet down!”
The kids who had flocked around Cheol-jun giggled and scattered.
“Hah… Let’s go in, Cheol-jun.”
Go Chang-ho shook his head, grabbed Cheol-jun’s shoulder, and walked into the classroom.
“Sit wherever you want for now.”
“Yes, Teacher!”
Standing at the podium with Cheol-jun, Chang-ho looked over the students.
He had already checked the attendance sheet.
It was a perfect gathering of all the headache-inducing kids.
Thinking about it differently, they were kids who had strayed slightly from the standard education of Hanyoung Private Elementary School.
To Chang-ho, it was actually quite a welcome scenario.
Perhaps that’s why, even if other teachers were sick and tired of them, they all looked cute to him.
“Alright, you all know who I am, right?”
“Yes!”
Since Chang-ho was solely in charge of upper-grade English along with a native speaker teacher, he knew almost all the kids’ faces.
And thanks to his uniquely humorous classes, he was quite popular among the students.
Though rumors did circulate among the parents because he spent more time playing with the kids than advancing the curriculum.
Chang-ho smirked and picked up a piece of chalk.
“Still, I should pretend to introduce myself.”
While the kids snickered, he wrote the name ‘Go Chang-ho’ on the blackboard.
Then, he placed his hand on Cheol-jun’s shoulder.
“Now, this is the first time you’ve all seen this friend, right?”
“Yes!”
“This friend is Lee Cheol-jun, who will be taking classes with you all starting this semester.”
The kids whispered among themselves.
‘No way, he’s really a 5th grader!’
‘Why is he so small?’
‘Even my little brother is taller than him.’
‘His name is Cheol-jun! That’s so tacky!’
‘Yeah. Your face is tackier.’
“Everyone quiet!”
“……”
“Cheol-jun, you should introduce yourself, right?”
Cheol-jun met the eyes of the kids one by one.
Faces full of mischief.
It was a completely different atmosphere from the kids he had met at the consulate in Shenyang.
“Hello. I’m Lee Cheol-jun. Please take good care of me from now on!”
Clap clap clap clap clap!
“Alright, Cheol-jun, sit wherever you’d like.”
As Cheol-jun padded over, the curious gazes of the students followed his movements.
Cheol-jun found those gazes quite ticklish.
“Do you all like the seats you’re in right now?”
“Yes!”
“Then stay seated there. As you can see, we have quite a few seats left over, right? They all belong to our class, so if you want to move, you can move to any empty seat you want. Totally awesome, right? Our class is rich in seats.”
The kids burst out laughing.
Chang-ho smirked and turned on the TV with the remote.
“The Principal’s welcome back speech will start soon. Raise your hand if you absolutely must watch it!”
“……”
“As expected, no one. Still, we have to keep it on. You understand, right?”
“Yes…”
“I’ll lower the volume a bit, so quietly whisper and say hello to each other without getting caught.”
“Okay…”
“Once the Principal’s speech is over, it’s free time immediately!”
“Yes!”
“Teacher! Can we turn on our phones?”
“For exactly one hour.”
“Whoa!!”
“Yes!”
Chang-ho decided to give the kids time to exchange phone numbers, social media handles, and game IDs.
Well, they’d probably finish that up quickly and huddle together to play games anyway.
Regardless, the kids’ faces were overflowing with mischief.
Chang-ho liked seeing the kids like this.
A rigid classroom atmosphere was no fun at all.
As Chang-ho swept his gaze over the kids, he met Cheol-jun’s eyes.
He had assumed the boy would be quite nervous, but there was no sign of that at all.
His round eyes curved into half-moons.
Chang-ho smiled back and went to sit at the teacher’s desk.
Cheol-jun slowly looked around the classroom, observing the kids.
One of the kids whispering to another made eye contact with Cheol-jun.
Cheol-jun smiled brightly.
The kid smiled brightly back.
The first day of school.
It was a bit bewildering at first, but everything was exciting and thrilling.
*
*
*
After the Principal’s speech ended, it immediately became break time.
Kids who had seen each other while commuting exchanged light greetings, and kids who were already close joked around or sat close together talking.
Due to the nature of a private school, the number of students per grade was quite small. With only 5 classes in total—3 regular classes, one gifted class consisting of the same students from 4th grade onwards, and the Special Creativity Class—the kids all knew each other to some extent.
Chang-ho was currently matching names from the attendance sheet to faces and analyzing the kids’ tendencies.
For today at least, unless something special happened, he planned to not interfere at all and simply observe.
There were kids he needed to keep a special eye on, and kids who hadn’t stood out much before.
In particular, there was one child Chang-ho had been paying the most attention to.
Although that was strictly before he met Cheol-jun.
Park Si-woo.
His father was Park Jin-gyeom, a professional Go player who was once ranked in the top 10 in Korea.
A prodigy raised in a special educational system outside of Korea’s standard curriculum since a very young age.
He had even been featured in newspaper articles a few times.
Because he unfortunately failed the under-12 professional induction tournament last year, he couldn’t become Korea’s youngest professional Go player, but he was widely rumored to be one of the most promising Go geniuses right now.
As expected, he was sitting quietly by himself in the back seat by the window.
A calm atmosphere unfitting for a child.
He didn’t even try to mingle with the other kids.
He was staring out the window with an indifferent face, as if he alone were in a different world.
One corner of Chang-ho’s mouth crept up.
‘Fascinating, as expected.’
Just as he was about to shift his gaze to another child, someone approached Si-woo.
‘Oh?’
It was Cheol-jun.
Chang-ho rested his chin on his hand and grinned.
That combination looked highly entertaining.
*
*
*
—It’s easier to approach someone who is alone than someone who is already in a group. It’s an opportunity for you to potentially become that person’s everything.
The number of students in the class, including Cheol-jun himself, was nine.
Excluding himself, there were five boys and three girls.
Two girls were gathered together, and one was by herself.
Two boys were gathered together, and one was by himself.
Although Cheol-jun had almost no experience dealing with kids his own age, approaching a girl first felt a bit awkward.
So, he decided to approach the boy sitting alone first.
Honestly, it was also partly because he couldn’t properly understand the language the groups of kids were using among themselves yet.
He thought he needed to quickly learn their language.
Anyway, for those reasons, Cheol-jun padded over toward the back seat by the window.
And, he smiled brightly.
“Hello?”
“…Huh?”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cheol-jun. Lee Cheol-jun.”
“Ah, I’m Park Si-woo.”
“What are you looking at all alone? Is there something outside?”
“Nothing. It’s just less dizzying than the classroom.”
“Dizzying?”
“Yeah.”
Cheol-jun noticed the book Si-woo had open.
“Oh? What book is that?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Is it Go?”
“…Yeah.”
Cheol-jun smiled brightly.
“Wow. My dad taught me Go too!”
“Hoo… I see.”
“He said I play really well!”
“Okay.”
Si-woo answered apathetically and shifted his gaze back out the window.
Cheol-jun slowly started to feel the difficulty.
More than anything, he explicitly felt an emotion of displeasure.
He was flustered because he couldn’t figure out which of his words had made the other person feel displeased.
‘Ah, right.’
He had forgotten.
His dad had told him that when he didn’t have much information about the other person, he should absolutely keep his words scarce…
Just then, a plump hand heavily landed on Cheol-jun’s shoulder.
Turning his head, he saw the two loudest kids who had first talked to him standing there.
“Cheol-jjjuuun! Hello?”
“Uh? Uh. Hello?”
“What tier are you in Rivals?”
“Huh?”
“What. You don’t play Rivals? Are you a PUBG guy? Don’t tell me you play Minecraft?”
“…Huh?”
“Not that either? Wow! What is with this guy? Then what game do you play?”
“Game?”
Cheol-jun furrowed his brow.
The games he had played with his dad came to mind.
Knife spinning?
Hitting targets with knives?
Memorizing the most card numbers?
Poker?
Mahjong?
Decoding ciphers?
Speed disassembling and reassembling firearms?
Image memorization duels?
While he was pondering which of those he should say, the large kid looked at Cheol-jun strangely.
“What. You don’t know games?”
“Who is this guy? Did he come from North Korea?”
Cheol-jun’s eyes went wide, and he flinched in surprise.
*
*
*
“Ah…”
Professor Lee Min-ah of the Pediatric Psychiatry Department at Il-sung General Hospital slowly nodded her head.
And Yoon Kyung-mi, the clinical psychologist standing next to her, gave a small smile.
Listening to the guardian, it seemed he really was an incredible prodigy, just as she had speculated before.
Professor Lee Min-ah glanced at Yoon Kyung-mi.
Yoon Kyung-mi quickly erased the smile from her lips.
“Actually, the teacher who administered the test here also suspected that. However, since we couldn’t relay assumptions directly to the guardian, I didn’t include it in the medical report.”
Hyung-man nodded.
“So, today is his first day of school, you said?”
“Yes. I came because I had a few questions regarding the child.”
Professor Lee Min-ah flipped open Cheol-jun’s test chart and nodded.
“What parts are you curious about?”
Hyung-man scratched the scar near his eye and spoke.
“I mentioned this last time as well, but he still has convulsions in his sleep three or four days a week. He cries so sorrowfully, I don’t know what kind of dreams he’s having. But, he never shows that kind of behavior normally. He’s very bright.”
“Ah…”
“He started going to school today, and I’m worried something might suddenly trigger him within his peer group, causing him to explode. Seeing him so brave and bright normally, but often acting like that in his sleep, it seems something is deeply lodged inside him.”
Closing the chart she had opened, Professor Lee Min-ah tapped it with her index finger.
“Has the child ever brought up his deceased father directly?”
“Often. But he brings it up so naturally. ‘Dad said this,’ ‘I learned this from Dad’… He doesn’t show any signs of distress.”
“Does his expression or the look in his eyes change in those moments?”
“Well… If anything, he seemed proud.”
Professor Lee Min-ah slowly nodded her head.
“He’s enduring it well in his own way.”
“Pardon?”
“Children sometimes subconsciously compartmentalize memories that are too difficult to handle. During the day, he remembers his dad as someone to be proud of, and at night, he subconsciously processes the difficult emotions. In a way, it’s a quite healthy defense mechanism. Because the child is incredibly smart, he might be controlling that stress more distinctly.”
“Then at school…”
“The possibility of him suddenly exploding?”
“Yes. I can’t just follow him around and watch over him anymore. I’ve already taken a month off work. He’ll have to go by himself from now on, so I’m worried…”
Professor Lee Min-ah continued.
“It’s difficult to say the possibility is completely zero. Especially in peer relationships, an unexpected word can act as a trigger. Situations that are too emotional for him to handle will also arise. I believe you will need to continually pay attention to that aspect. However, more importantly…”
Professor Lee Min-ah’s brow narrowed.
“Because he’s a gifted child, there will likely be far more difficulties in him mingling with his peers.”
“…Pardon?”
“Their interests and level of thinking are completely different, so conversing with peers might be difficult for him. He might find the relationships themselves boring, feel that his peers are childish, and since there’s nothing to learn from playing with them, he might just block off relationships entirely from the start. So there’s a high chance he won’t be able to fit in from the beginning. Because he finds no fun whatsoever among his peers. It’s a phenomenon commonly seen in highly gifted individuals.”
“Ah…”
“As shown when we tested the child, traits like attention deficit, getting bored easily, perfectionism, and emotional excess are symptoms commonly seen in gifted children. If they fall into a sense of intellectual superiority, they can even develop a tendency to despise others. Or, there are cases where they judge emotional responses themselves as inefficient and suppress them until they eventually become desensitized. If they rarely get angry and even lose their competitive drive, they can fall into lethargy.”
“Hah…”
“That’s why the role of the guardian is so important.”
Hyung-man nodded.
“First of all, the child being smart is a blessing. I’ve only highlighted the negative aspects because I needed to inform you of the areas requiring caution, but there are far more positive aspects. Ah, completely restricting cell phones or things like that isn’t good either. That’s at least a means for him to communicate with other kids and share interests. Please come with the child next time. I think there are quite a few things I’ll need to re-evaluate.”
Hyung-man narrowed his brow and bowed his head.
“Yes. Thank you, Doctor.”
*
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*
“You can’t do anything, huh? You just died straight to a knife attack?”
“Wow, I’ve never seen anyone this bad!”
“Super pissed, right? Don’t even need to shoot a gun, huh?”
“Ah! Come on! You gotta move! Are your hands broken?”
Surrounded by kids, Cheol-jun stared at the phone with wide eyes.
Round, cute characters were running around holding guns, shooting at each other.
Because Cheol-jun needed Hyung-man’s permission to install apps on his own phone, he was experiencing a game for the very first time in his life on another kid’s phone.
‘Wow. This is really fun.’
But,
‘Am I getting angry right now?’
Cheol-jun was flustered by an entirely unfamiliar emotion.
He had familiarized himself with the controls, figured out all the patterns, and could clearly see the opponent’s movements, but his fingers couldn’t keep up, so he kept doing nothing and losing.
More than anything, the language those kids were using…
‘Ah, this is so triggering…’ (‘kingbatne’)
*Kingbatne (킹받네) is a trendy Korean internet slang that means “I am intensely annoyed,” “very angry,” or “greatly frustrated”
Experiencing a competitive drive for the very first time, Cheol-jun scrunched his nose.