Ch. 7 — 07
“So, he’s a math prodigy? Something like that? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Uh, I can’t say that for sure either, but he’s already finished up to the middle school level. Ah, of course, among kids who do advanced learning, there are some who can do that at his age, but Cheol-jun was originally way below his age level, and then in just one day…”
“His ability to learn math is quite good?”
“It’s not just ‘good.’ If I briefly explain the concept, he goes straight from understanding to application…”
“Haha…”
Hyung-man glanced once at Cheol-jun’s bedroom door.
Smart enough to make the tutor panic this much?
“I understand what you’re saying for now. Please continue the lessons, and please cover other subjects evenly besides just math.”
“Y-Yes…”
As soon as the tutor entered Cheol-jun’s room, Hyung-man tapped his phone and created a group chat.
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- Professor Kim: I’m against unnecessarily raising his level. He’s a child lacking a lot of experience. It’s better for him to experience many things, figure out exactly what he likes, and then dive deep into one thing. Many kids from gifted academies are emotionally unstable. He must never grow up like that. If you just keep saying ‘good job, good job,’ the kid will only do that one thing. His perspective could easily narrow. If that happens, his mentality will become very weak, too. You shouldn’t push him too far ahead until he can judge things for himself. Besides, do you know how many math professors have ruined personalities?
- Staff of the People Bastard: Why? The kid could become hugely successful with math. You said he found it fun. If a kid is smart, it’s the adults’ job to open the path for him. He’s already late as it is, so wouldn’t it be great if he ranks first as soon as he enters school? Dominating early on is important. And Kim Ddol, you have a totally shit personality yourself, don’t you? Are math professors the only ones with ruined personalities? You’re exactly the same, you bastard. Acting like a know-it-all just because you studied a bit.
- Professor Kim: Hah, your ignorance is practically radiating even in a chat room.
- Staff of the People Bastard: What? Ignorance? Where are you? The bastard who can’t even squeak when we meet face-to-face always acts ballsy in the chat room.
“Hah…”
As Hyung-man was deeply contemplating which of these two idiots he should kick out, another message popped up.
- Lawyer Kang: Those two hyung-nims always fight whenever a group chat is made. Calm down before you get kicked out. I’ve spoken directly with the kid, and he really is incredibly smart. He definitely wasn’t at a normal eleven-year-old’s level. So I think it’s good to teach him up to a certain point. Honestly, at that age, math is the only way to prove genius, so even if we don’t go deeper, we should appeal to the teachers that the kid is special so they pay a bit more attention to him. But then again, he could get too buried in it, so it’s probably best to do it in moderation. Hyung-nim. It’s not too late to look into gifted academies later!
- Madam Choi: But is Jae-kang’s kid really that pretty? Oh my, of all times to be on a business trip to France. I want to see him so badly~ Oppa, do you have any pictures?
Hyung-man tapped his phone and uploaded a picture of Cheol-jun.
It was one he secretly took when they were eating pork ribs.
- Madam Choi: Ah! He’s like a doll! Look at those chubby cheeks! More pictures! More!
Hyung-man let out a deep sigh.
This woman didn’t seem very necessary for this conversation.
He invited her for nothing.
- Professor Kim: Thinking about it, Seok-hyun is right. But it’s good to set clear boundaries. Have him read a variety of other books, and make sure we can stop immediately if the kid feels even a little tired or burdened. Kids at that age need to run around and play to be healthy. It’s a time when everything they do should be exciting and happy, but this damn studying, studying, studying is what ruins kids.
- Staff of the People Bastard: And the bastard who says that threw a massive fit trying to get his own kid into Seoul National University? Ah, so that’s why you ruined your kid. That’s why she has no manners. Ah, or does she just take after her dad?
- Professor Kim: My daughter is a hundred times better than a guy who acted like a school bully relying on his cop dad.
- Staff of the People Bastard: What? I wasn’t being a bully, I was beating up the bullies!
- Professor Kim: Same difference.
- Lawyer Kang: Ah, seriously. Both of you stop it. Men in their fifties acting like this…
- Madam Choi: Hyung-man oppa! Do you have any more pictures?
- Staff of the People Bastard: So what? Your daughter only calls her dad when she runs out of money, right?
- Professor Kim: Much better than a son who only calls when he causes trouble.
- Lawyer Kang: Ah, hyung-nims, seriously.
- Madam Choi: Oppa! Pictures! Pictures!
Hyung-man smacked his lips.
He couldn’t figure out an answer on his own, so he made a group chat with the guys he could contact right away, but they were all acting like idiots.
Well, he managed to salvage a few worthwhile points.
He quickly pressed ‘Leave Chat’.
‘Diverse experiences. Caution against getting too buried. No forcing him to study. Variety of books. Exciting and happy things.’
Hyung-man narrowed his brow as he looked at the door to the room where the tutoring session was in full swing.
This is seriously difficult.
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“So if I take another point that’s very close to that point, find the slope between those two points, and then pull the close point closer and closer, eventually it becomes exactly the slope of that point, right?”
Cha Se-young completely erased the textbook explanation she had brought up in her head.
To think it could be explained this cleanly?
“…Yeah. That’s right. That’s derivatives.”
Cheol-jun smiled brightly and tapped the formula he had just learned with his pencil.
“So, h is a very short distance, and sending it to 0 is the limit.”
“……”
“Wow. So if you send h to 0, you really get the instantaneous slope. But they say if you approach the speed of light, your mass becomes infinite. Is that a limit too? They said as speed approaches light, mass increases, so according to that, the moment you hit the exact speed of light will never come.”
“……”
“Planets revolve in ellipses, so the direction a planet flies off at any point is the tangent line of that point, right? If the sun’s gravity suddenly disappeared, the planet would go straight in the direction of that tangent line.”
“……”
“Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years away, right? But while the light is traveling for 4.2 years, the star would constantly be moving. So what we’re seeing now is its position from 4.2 years ago. To know where the star is now, we need to know how fast and in what direction it’s moving, which would ultimately be the instantaneous velocity of that star, right?”
Cha Se-young’s mouth hung wide open, unable to close.
Her eyes were practically experiencing an earthquake.
Although they were somewhat unrefined approaches, the words that just came out of the child’s mouth were hard to believe even after hearing them.
‘Astronomical applications of derivatives, plus the theory of special relativity?’
Cheol-jun smiled brightly.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
Ever since seeing the nameless stars at the NIS, he had been exclusively searching for things related to stars. It was so fascinating how it all connected perfectly like this.
Se-young quickly closed her mouth and discreetly shut The Art of Mathematics.
His guardian had said it: he wanted her to teach all the subjects evenly.
Honestly, she wanted to look deeper into this child’s mathematical genius, but she held it in.
Truthfully, she had nothing left to teach him.
It felt like if she just handed him The Art of Mathematics, he would do just fine on his own.
She had one hour left.
“Uh, I think we can stop math here for today. Have you ever learned English?”
She had been so shocked by his math that she couldn’t think straight.
That’s why this was the first time she was asking about other subjects.
Morality or Korean history were honestly subjects where he just needed to read the textbook, memorize, and understand.
Elementary school science was also mostly memorization.
For a kid like him, those were subjects he could easily handle on his own.
The only thing she could teach besides math was English.
At the teacher’s question, Cheol-jun furrowed his brow.
“Writing is still a bit confusing for me, but I learned a little bit of listening and speaking from my dad.”
“Really?”
Since he lived in China, he would naturally be fluent in Chinese, but she had heard that English education in China was far behind Korea’s.
It was a relief.
At least she had one thing left to teach him.
Back in the day, she had gone through intense language study abroad in the Philippines.
Thanks to that, she had even enjoyed some decent flings while conversing with foreigners in English at clubs.
“Alright, from now on, shall we try conversing in English?”
Cheol-jun smiled brightly.
“Sure. But I should warn you that my English may sound somewhat unusual. It was not taught for school. Is that acceptable?”
Se-young’s eyes wavered.
What is with this kid’s pronunciation?
“Uh… um… ye, yes?”
“I genuinely enjoy mathematics, but applying it is even more fascinating. I have learned a great deal thanks to you. I am truly grateful.”
“Ah… you’re welcome…”
“I was told that a British accent is more refined. Do you prefer this accent as well?”
A sudden, sharp change in accent.
‘He, he’s asking if I prefer a British accent, right?’
Se-young swallowed hard.
“Ye, yes!”
One hour later.
Se-young barely managed to finish the class, tightly gripping her completely drained soul.
‘Am I… allowed to take money for this?’
For some reason, she felt like she should be the one paying him.
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Waiting for the elevator, she fell into deep thought.
Hanyoung Private Elementary School Principal’s Office.
“Pardon? Ah… we haven’t had a precedent like that until now… There might be backlash from the parents, and since it’s a lottery system, if rumors spread that we allowed a transfer admission, they might raise issues of fairness… Pardon? The Group Vice Chairman himself? Hah… Um, did you say he’s a close acquaintance? …Ah, that’s not it? A 5th grader… But are you saying we really just need to accept him? We don’t necessarily have to put him in a gifted class or anything like that? …Yes. I think we can manage that. There is a class with a few vacancies. …Yes. Understood!”
After hanging up, Principal Jang Gye-wook narrowed his brow.
The Vice Principal, sitting next to him with a deeply curious face, spoke up.
“Did you say it’s an official directive straight from the Chairman?”
Principal Jang Gye-wook twitched an eyebrow and nodded.
“Yeah, but it seems we don’t need to pay that much attention to it.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a request from the Group Vice Chairman, but apparently it came through a friend of a friend. It seems it’s just for the sake of saving face.”
“Ah…”
“He’s in the 5th grade anyway, so we just need to keep him around for two years and let him graduate.”
“Well, if it’s a class with vacancies…”
Principal Jang Gye-wook chuckled.
“Mr. Go’s class. We can just put him there. Even if rumors spread, the other parents won’t complain if it’s that class.”
“Ah. Teacher Go Chang-ho? Right, right. It’s the class everyone avoids, after all…”
The Vice Principal quickly nodded.
In times like these, in Gangnam of all places, it was a class that stubbornly focused on creativity-based lessons.
Of course, the appearance of educational differentiation was nice, but if they actually taught like that in the upper grades, the parents would inevitably throw a fit.
The kids usually already had advanced learning, so regular classes were nothing more than a review.
For that reason, teachers often turned a blind eye when kids did academy homework or read other textbooks during class, but the homeroom teacher of that class, Go Chang-ho, absolutely never tolerated such things.
Therefore, the parents of that class were always full of complaints.
By the end of the first semester, it was quite common for them to demand a class transfer or just transfer their kids to another school entirely.
It was a massive headache from the school’s perspective, but they couldn’t just fire him indiscriminately.
Because that very Go Chang-ho was the star teacher of Hanyoung Private Elementary School.
Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In other words, he was the only teacher among all private elementary schools nationwide with a Ph.D. from the Harvard GSE.
Because of that, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
As a result, they naturally tended to funnel 4th-grade kids who were slightly underperforming academically or hadn’t done much private tutoring into his class.
A.k.a., the Special Creativity Class.
Ironically, even though it was the class of the star teacher gracing the front page of the school’s website, it ranked dead last in the school’s average grades, had zero achievements in various academic competitions, ranked first in the number of parent complaints, and had the highest class transfer and school transfer rates.
“Let Mr. Go know in advance. But keep it quiet so rumors don’t spread.”
“Yes, Principal!”