Ch. 5 — 05
With his new phone, Cheol-jun lost all track of time.
He had been incredibly frustrated because he had no one to ask about things, but everything was right here.
When he searched for things he had been curious about, countless pieces of information poured out.
Of course, cross-verification was essential.
Because sometimes, completely nonsensical content was mixed in.
When a single question mark popped into his head and he searched for it, dozens more question marks would appear.
The mechanics of Uncle Hyung-man’s car roof opening.
‘Ah, they call that a sunroof.’
The operating principle is an electric motor pushing the glass…
Then how does a motor move?
The principle of an electric motor?
Electromagnetic induction?
Then what is electromagnetism?
Electromagnetic force?
Light is also a type of electromagnetic wave?
The speed of light?
300,000 kilometers per second?
Seven and a half times around the Earth in one second?
To the sun?
8 minutes and 20 seconds?
The sun I’m seeing now is from 8 minutes and 20 seconds ago?
Then what about the stars?
Proxima Centauri?
4.2 light-years?
Light from 4.2 years ago?
Whenever he brought up one question mark, it would naturally bite the tail of another, practically giving birth to new ones.
His heart pounded wildly.
‘He told me to give my all to the things I enjoy, right?’
Cheol-jun smiled brightly and brought up another question mark.
How does a car move?
The principle of an engine piston?
The world of infinite knowledge unfolding in the palm of his hand.
He loved swimming in it.
He never knew learning something new could be this much fun.
And just like that, merely a day after getting a phone, Cheol-jun fell into a severe addiction.
And Hyung-man, secretly watching him, let out a sigh and tapped his own phone.
[How to restrict elementary schoolers’ phone usage]
[Treatment for elementary schoolers’ phone addiction]
[Elementary schoolers’ bedtime and growth]
[Parental settings for elementary schoolers’ phones]
[How to set phone screen time limits]
*
*
*
A Seoul National University Mathematics Department graduate.
Five years of experience strictly tutoring elementary math.
Though not quite at the absolute top tier that Gangnam parents would kill for, she was a (self-proclaimed) near-top-tier tutor with her schedule fully booked a semester in advance.
Because the student she originally tutored had emigrated overseas, leaving her with suddenly open time, she figured there was no point in slacking off. So, she took on this side gig without even doing a prior level assessment. Today was the first day.
Even so, Cha Se-young, a (self-proclaimed) fairly successful elementary math instructor in Gangnam, stared blankly at the child sitting in front of her.
“So, you mean you’ve been studying all on your own like that until now?”
The incredibly pretty-looking child smiled brightly.
“Yes!”
At the child’s innocent reply, Cha Se-young swallowed hard.
‘This is child abuse… No, that’s going too far. Neglect? Abandonment? Anyway, this is way too serious.’
No matter if he lived in China and was in a special situation, how could they do this?
Wait, did they not even have the internet?
You can find tons of videos on elementary math just by searching YouTube.
Ah, maybe he couldn’t watch YouTube because it was China?
Even so, the only thing he’s watched is a numbers game video?
And the only book he’s studied from is a Chinese second-grade elementary textbook?
‘How am I supposed to teach a kid like this?’
Cha Se-young’s eyes trembled wildly.
*
*
*
After having a brief conversation to evaluate the child’s level, Cha Se-young came out to the living room, sat in front of the guardian, and quickly tried to organize her thoughts.
“So, how was his level?”
Cha Se-young flinched.
The guy acting as the guardian looked incredibly scary.
‘Is he a gangster?’
He said he was the kid’s uncle, but he had a huge frame, an unusual scar near his left eye, a gold bracelet, a gold necklace…
Cha Se-young gulped and cautiously spoke up.
She needed to get out of here first.
She had no confidence in teaching a kid who was a complete blank slate like that, and more than anything, this guardian mister was terrifying.
“Uh, his foundational education is a bit… I mean, I specialize in advanced learning, so I’m afraid that level is…”
“Ay. He’s just an elementary schooler. You can just teach him roughly whatever you know.”
“W-Well…”
“I heard from Dong-wook that you’re widely praised for teaching kids well…”
“Ah…”
Cha Se-young let out a deep sigh inwardly.
Why did her uncle have to introduce her to a house like this…
He said this guy was his most respected senior. Wait, was my uncle a gangster back in the day?
Wasn’t he just a former civil servant?
“Um, I’ve never actually taught from the very basics before…”
“He’ll learn fast. The kid is incredibly smart. His IQ is 120!”
The kid did look smart.
And he was so cute that she felt warm inside the whole time they were talking.
“Alright, three times a week. His IQ is 120, so the tutoring fee is 1.2 million!”
Cha Se-young blinked her eyes.
What kind of random logic was that?
Furthermore, 1.2 million won for two hours, three times a week?
Her usual tutoring rate was 100,000 won an hour.
So, two hours, three times a week should be 2.4 million won a month.
Phew… Cutting the tutoring fee in half just because it’s an acquaintance…
“Ah, is the weekly pay a bit too low? I heard the top tutors all make around that much.”
“…Excuse me?”
What? Weekly pay?
T-Then it’s 4.8 million a month?
“Please do me this favor. He has to go to school as soon as the semester starts, so just roughly get him up to the current 5th-grade level. Alright?”
Cha Se-young instantly bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle.
“I will do my absolute best! Fath—… I mean, Uncle sir!”
*
*
*
Sitting back down in front of the child, Cha Se-young tapped her educational tablet with a furrowed brow.
She had just checked the 2nd-grade level of Chinese elementary schools on her phone.
From the looks of it, it was almost identical to a South Korean 2nd grade.
‘Second-grade level, huh…’
Se-young pulled up the 2nd-grade math curriculum on her tablet screen.
1st Semester.
Reading and writing three-digit numbers, various shapes, addition and subtraction up to two digits, measuring length in centimeters, categorization, the introduction of multiplication concepts (grouping and counting), multiples.
2nd Semester.
Reading and writing four-digit numbers, memorizing the multiplication tables from 1 to 9, measuring length in meters, telling time, basics of tables and graphs.
‘Hah… In Gangnam, kids finish this stuff in kindergarten…’
The problems she had brought to evaluate the child’s level were displayed on the tablet, but it seemed she wouldn’t be using them for now.
Because they were all 6th-grade and middle school problems.
‘I thought advanced learning was a given since he lives in Daechi-dong…’
Cha Se-young turned off the tablet and looked at the child.
His round eyes were so pretty.
He truly looked like a doll.
Just looking at his face felt incredibly healing.
He was on an entirely different level from other eleven-year-old brats.
Plus, the kid was so calm and polite.
His vibe was completely different from his guardian’s.
‘Well, it’s just elementary school subjects…’
For now, the one thing they had to solidify at the 2nd-grade level was multiplication.
“Alright, Cheol-jun, have you memorized your multiplication tables?”
“Multiplication tables?”
“Ah… Um, it’s multiplication…”
“I know multiplication! It’s when a number is repeatedly added by the given amount.”
“Ah, right. You know the concept. Memorizing that from 1 to 9 is memorizing the multiplication tables.”
The child blinked his round eyes.
“Memorize it?”
“Yeah. It makes the multiplication you’ll do in the future much easier.”
Cheol-jun furrowed his brow.
Why would you memorize that?
You can figure it out instantly just by looking at it, right?
Still, I shouldn’t say that out loud, right?
First, he needed to gauge the level of his average peers.
“Teacher.”
“Yeah?”
“Do kids my age learn that kind of stuff?”
“Hmm… No. Actually, they learn much harder things.”
“Like what?”
Cha Se-young hesitated for a moment.
She was worried that a kid lacking even the basics might get intimidated right out of the gate and give up completely.
“Alright, Cheol-jun, for now, let’s start with what I teach you and slowly work our way up step by step. Okay?”
Cheol-jun smiled brightly.
“Okay! Teacher!”
After returning home, Se-young downloaded an educational app tailored to elementary school levels.
‘Starting from the 2nd-grade level first…’
Then, two days later, on their first actual tutoring session.
About an hour after she started teaching him 2nd-grade math.
“I solved them all! Teacher!”
“A-Already?”
Having solved everything up to the 5th-grade problems, Cheol-jun beamed brightly.
“Kids my age can all solve this much, right?”
“Uh…? Yeah. That’s right.”
Se-young stared at the tablet with a blank face.
Honestly, if she hadn’t seen the kid’s level skyrocketing in real-time with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it.
There were often parents like that.
Parents who wanted to emphasize how special their child was, claiming a kid who had already studied advanced material had only learned up to their current grade level.
If you just threw them a casual, “Wow, that’s amazing,” the kid would look all proud, and the parents would go, “Our kid is incredible, isn’t he?”
She might have assumed this was one of those situations.
However, this child genuinely lacked even the absolute basics.
He was exceptionally good at adding and subtracting entirely in his head, but he had tilted his head in confusion at two-digit multiplication.
But once she explained the concept just a little bit, he instantly started solving it all mentally.
A kid who didn’t even know what fractions or decimals were understood the concepts immediately after hearing just one short explanation.
Then, he flawlessly performed addition and subtraction with fractions and decimals right away.
He just solved mixed operations without even being taught, and he completely understood factors, multiples, fraction and decimal multiplication, and finding averages all on his own.
Aside from occasionally asking if it was true that kids his age could all do this, he barely asked any questions.
In the end, he had completely blazed through everything from the 2nd-grade curriculum to the 5th-grade curriculum in a mere hour.
Se-young had been there for this entire process.
It was Se-young who taught the foundational concepts, and Se-young who introduced fractions and decimals.
There was no need to repeat herself even a few times.
He understood perfectly the first time she said it.
She watched the kid ponder deeply in real-time.
And she also saw him get immensely joyful after solving a problem.
It was absolutely not the face of someone faking it or deceiving her.
‘What on earth is this kid?’
Se-young was getting a bit confused herself.
She had never taught an eleven-year-old kid who had grown up this much without any foundational knowledge before.
‘Is his brain already so developed that he just understands things fast?’
Assuming that for the time being, she pulled up 6th-grade problems on the screen.
“Alright, this unit is dividing fractions, which requires an understanding of ratios. If you look at this problem here, you have to use something called a proportional expression…”
The child’s face, listening to her explanation with his round eyes sparkling.
Caught off guard by a vibe entirely different from other brats who looked like they were dying to get out of studying, Se-young inadvertently flinched.
Everyone else was just forced to sit there by their overbearing parents; this was her first time seeing a kid like this.
Sure, she’d heard that occasionally there were kids crazy about studying at that age, but Se-young had never actually met one.
“So, what a proportional expression is…”
“Uh, I just have to solve this problem?”
“Huh?”
[If Cheol-soo and Young-hee divide 24 candies in a 3:5 ratio, how many candies will each get?]
Se-young ran through how she should explain this problem in her head.
According to the textbook, since 3+5=8, you divide the total by 8, meaning 24÷8=3 is one unit.
Therefore, solving it with an equation, 3×3=9, 5×3=15…
“Cheol-soo gets 9 and Young-hee gets 15? Right?”
Ridiculously fast mental math for a kid his age.
Se-young blinked and nodded.
“This is fun! Another problem!”
“Ah, uh…”
The important concepts in 6th-grade math were the division of fractions and decimals, percentages, graphs, mixed operations, proportional expressions, and pi (circumference ratio).
This child completely understood all those concepts in exactly 10 minutes.
The way Cheol-jun studied math was entirely different from other kids.
Other kids acquire the concept first and then move on to solving problems, but this kid found the concepts hidden withinthe problems.
Once they entered the 6th-grade curriculum, he barely even asked questions.
He substituted everything he had learned so far into the problem and figured out the answer all on his own.
If anything, Se-young was the one who had to ask questions because she was so curious about what was going on inside his head.
[If you add two numbers together, the result is 13, and if you subtract them, the result is 3. What are the two numbers?]
“Uh, 8 and 5.”
“…Why?”
“Is it wrong? I’m pretty sure…”
“No, no. It’s correct, but why is it that?”
“If the difference is 3, that means the bigger one is 3 more than the smaller one, right? Subtract 3 from 13, divide it in two, which is 5. So the bigger one is 8.”
“……”
Just like that.
And, he needed absolutely zero repetition.
Once he understood it, he wouldn’t even bother looking at problems with similar concepts.
And then, he asked again.
“All 5th graders can do this, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah…”
That day, Se-young ended up advancing all the way through square roots and real numbers, quadratic equations, advanced quadratic functions, and trigonometric ratios—which were 3rd-year middle school (9th grade) level concepts.
She had no choice because they had so much time left over.
“All 5th graders can solve these too, right?”
“U-Um… this is…”
When Se-young shook her head with a blank face, Cheol-jun panicked considerably.
Cheol-jun found this thing called math unbelievably fun.
A perfectly predictable world.
An explicitly defined answer.
The world he had lived in up until now had always been uncertain.
A place that was safe yesterday could be dangerous today, and he had experienced the person he relied on the most vanishing in an instant—twice.
There were far too many variables in Cheol-jun’s world, and there was never a correct answer.
But math was different.
1 plus 1 was 2 yesterday, is 2 today, and will be 2 tomorrow.
In any situation, whether in China or South Korea, it’s 2.
There are rules, and those rules will absolutely never betray you.
There is no problem that cannot be solved.
Even if you get stuck, an answer inherently exists.
He loved that.
To an eleven-year-old who had lost his dad and been dropped into a strange country, the fact that there was at least one certain thing in the world brought him immense joy.
‘Ah. This is so much fun.’
That’s why he got so excited.
Looking at the teacher’s reaction, it seemed he had gone a little bit further ahead than the 5th graders.
Well, he was told it was okay to work hard on the things he genuinely found fun, after all.
‘What other problems are out there?’
Cheol-jun quickly turned on his phone to search for more math problems.
But, the screen was acting strange.
‘…Huh?’
[Your screen time limit has been reached. Please contact your guardian.]
“Squirt. Go to sleep early. From now on, no phones at night.”
At Hyung-man’s low voice, Cheol-jun dropped his head with a devastated expression.