Ch. 18 — 18
Si-woo’s brow was deeply furrowed.
The door to the opponent’s territory was wide open, as if daring him to enter.
If it were the usual him, he definitely would have looked away immediately and found another spot.
Because he knew very well that the moment he entered that door, the number of moves he could read ahead would drastically decrease.
But today was different.
He wanted to jump into that space, tangle with Cheol-jun’s stones, and have a messy mud fight so badly.
He felt like he was going to get crushed again this time.
But it was so much fun.
He hadn’t realized that fighting fiercely and losing could be this refreshing and enjoyable.
Even if the end was a defeat, the traces of the fierce battle drawn on the Go board remained truly magnificent.
‘It’s just because I’m not used to it yet.’
Si-woo could tell for sure.
That he was already starting to properly respond to Cheol-jun’s fierce attacks bit by bit.
In their first even game, he was crushed without a clue.
Because it was his first time encountering a Go style that charged at him like that.
So he had been terrified to take a step through that wide-open door.
Cheol-jun hadn’t left him alone as he retreated.
He chased after him, even giving up his own advantage.
Why? Are you scared?
You won’t win if you run away, you know?
I’m saying let’s fight here?
You’re not coming?
If you’re not coming, I’m going in?
Cheol-jun chased after him incredibly persistently, eventually guiding the situation to where he had no choice but to fight.
This kid didn’t know the proper boundaries.
He charged in like a fighting cock without a single thought about profit or loss.
He had forced a game upon him where he absolutely couldn’t win just by backing away.
As a result, he had started to get excited without realizing it.
Composure.
With the most important mindset in Go gone, the shape of the Go board itself completely changed.
It was no longer a calculated battlefield of solidly building fortresses and exchanging offense and defense, but a chaotic plain where reckless hand-to-hand combat ran rampant everywhere.
But that was just so much fun.
In a messy battlefield where he himself could barely read a few moves ahead, with the opponent running wild, reading any further was meaningless.
So, he ran wild too.
If he couldn’t see a few moves ahead, he just had to make his opponent see even fewer.
He struggled desperately like that.
In a real sword fight where clumsily stepping back even once meant getting your head sliced off, Si-woo lost seven times in a row.
And then,
-Clack!
“…Huh?”
Cheol-jun tilted his head, and with his small, bracken-like hand, he retraced the stones he had been fighting Si-woo with just a moment ago.
Then, he heavily scrunched his nose and fell deep into thought.
One corner of Si-woo’s mouth twitched.
If it were his usual self, if it had been a match against a research student at the institute, it was an expression he absolutely never would have made.
“You can’t block it.”
If it were the old Si-woo, he never would have said that in front of a Go board.
But, he couldn’t hold it in.
“I’m telling you, you can’t block it.”
Cheol-jun’s brow furrowed further, and the more it did, the higher the corners of Si-woo’s mouth rose.
Cheol-jun’s lips parted.
“Ah… I missed that spot.”
Lightly scratching the corner of his eye with his index finger, Cheol-jun picked up a white stone and placed it on the table.
And he bowed his head.
“I lost.”
A victory barely obtained after eight games.
Normally, he would have paid more attention to the games he lost, but…
“…I won.”
Si-woo clenched his fist tightly and muttered.
Then, another word popped out without him realizing it.
“Y-Yesss!” (Yareu)
His heart pounded wildly.
He had achieved countless victories in the weekly league matches at the headquarters, but he felt like he had never felt this kind of flying sensation before.
He fought to his heart’s content and won through combat.
Up until now, it had been nothing but matches of avoiding, appropriately conceding, taking only certain profits, and smoothly winning or losing.
Even during reviews, the AI mostly recommended those kinds of moves.
Because the win rate for those was much higher.
While researching only those moves that guaranteed victory, he had forgotten the true fun of Go that he felt when he first picked up a stone.
How long had it been since he felt the exhilaration of clinging to older guys much bigger than himself and barely managing to squeeze out a win when he was younger than he is now?
Cheol-jun met Si-woo’s eyes and smiled brightly.
He didn’t say it, but having conversed through Go up until a moment ago, Si-woo could see exactly what Cheol-jun was thinking.
‘See. I was right, wasn’t I?’
Si-woo smiled broadly, too.
‘Yeah, you were!’
7 PM.
The long conversation between the two young Go players came to an end.
*
*
*
“Hah…”
Having sent Cheol-jun up first after getting out of the teacher’s car in the apartment parking lot, Hyung-man shook his head in disbelief as he listened to what Go Chang-ho was telling him.
He had received a message earlier saying he’d be a bit late because he was playing Go with a friend, but that opponent was the son of that fighting cock 8-dan Park Jin-gyeom?
Since he used to be a fan, Hyung-man knew that name well.
He was someone who played Go by refreshingly charging in headfirst, even if it meant losing.
“You should have contacted me earlier. I could have gone to pick him up…”
“It’s no problem. I was on my way home from work anyway…”
“Um, did you say 7 wins and 1 loss?”
“Yes. I don’t know Go well so I couldn’t tell for sure, but Cheol-jun’s skills are considerable. Si-woo is a kid who plays incredibly well even among his peers…”
“Wow…”
“I felt I had to let you know. I don’t know how much Cheol-jun learned Go, but you could consider his skill to be almost pro-level.”
Hyung-man recalled the sight of Cheol-jun playing Go yesterday.
He was so completely immersed from 3 PM to 3 AM that he was practically out of his mind.
Is Go really that fun?
Should I make him pursue Go then?
While Hyung-man was having these thoughts, Go Chang-ho spoke up again.
“However, when Si-woo asked Cheol-jun to go to the Go institute together, Cheol-jun said he didn’t want to.”
“…Pardon?”
“He said Go is too difficult…”
Hyung-man twitched an eyebrow.
After beating a research student dreaming of turning pro 7 to 1?
“Cheol-jun said to Si-woo. That he wouldn’t be able to win by that much anymore. He said he couldn’t catch up to the intuition accumulated through experience.”
“Wow… Well, if he starts building experience from now on…”
“I chimed in saying the same thing. But he said there are too many fun things in the world to only do that.”
“Haha…”
Go Chang-ho narrowed his brow slightly.
“There is a term called intrinsic motivation. It means the psychology of doing something because you want to and because it’s enjoyable. Conversely, there is a term called extrinsic motivation. It means placing more importance on showing off what you’re good at and gaining recognition from those around you.”
“……”
“Cheol-jun played Go with pure intrinsic motivation. For Si-woo, his extrinsic motivation had grown far larger than his intrinsic motivation. However, while playing Go with Cheol-jun, those two motivations swapped places.”
“Um, what you’re trying to say is…”
Go Chang-ho hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“Has Cheol-jun ever shown off or bragged when he was good at something? Ah, for reference, I haven’t felt that at all at school.”
Hyung-man narrowed his brow slightly.
“Now that you mention it, he hasn’t, not even once.”
“Ah… As expected.”
“Um, is that a negative sign?”
Go Chang-ho quickly shook his head.
“No! What do you mean negative. You can view it very positively. It means he is facing the world entirely based on his own subjectivity without any stress. There was a paper like that. That the children in a group where a child with strong intrinsic motivation is the leader mostly changed to become similar to that child…”
Hyung-man scratched his head awkwardly.
“I’m, um, a bit weak when it comes to papers and things like that…”
Go Chang-ho quickly waved his hand.
“No. I just wasn’t articulate in my explanation. Simply put, I wanted to say that Cheol-jun could have a good influence on the children around him. In the US, there was a case where many of those belonging to an intellectual community in a rural town grew up to become incredible people with massive influence on American society. The leader of that community at the time was Abraham Lincoln of the New Salem community.”
“Wow… Lincoln?”
Chang-ho smiled brightly and nodded.
“I once read an educational paper titled ‘A Genius Who Creates Geniuses’.”
“……”
“It might be a leap. But today, witnessing Si-woo change because of Cheol-jun, that paper title came to mind.”
“Oh my… To go that far…”
“The energy known as intrinsic motivation is known to be contagious. Research shows it seeps in even more seamlessly, especially among pre-pubescent children.”
“Ah…”
“I’ve only watched him for a few days, but I am certain that Cheol-jun can provide incredibly positive energy to the children around him. This is not a leap. Because the child’s outstanding giftedness hasn’t yet been concentrated in any one place, I am even more excited for his future. I can’t wait to see what an incredible adult he will grow into if he experiences various things with diverse children.”
“……”
“For that to happen, the guardian’s role is absolutely crucial, and I really like your current policy. Because letting such an outstanding child freely do whatever he wants is not an easy decision for a guardian to make. Honestly, I’m also feeling a strong urge to somehow exert influence over Cheol-jun. I wonder how you manage to hold it back…”
Go Chang-ho bowed deeply.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Hyung-man quickly bowed back.
“Oh my, I should be the one asking you to look after him.”
Honestly, Hyung-man felt a pang of guilt inside.
Because up until just a moment ago, he had been pondering, ‘How can I coax this kid into pursuing Go?’
“Then, I’ll be going now.”
“Yes! Yes! Take care! Teacher!”
Watching Chang-ho’s car drive away, Hyung-man scratched his head.
‘Still, it’s a relief he met a good teacher.’
Well, it was all praise, so he felt very satisfied.
There was praise for Cheol-jun, and praise for himself as well.
His shoulders unconsciously stiffened with pride.
‘Let’s see, this kid plays Go for just one day and now he’s not doing it anymore?’
[Highly intelligent gifted children easily get bored with anything and often quickly turn their attention to other fields. Therefore, people often mistakenly think they are children lacking perseverance…]
‘This expert’s words are right, too.’
Hyung-man chuckled and pressed the elevator button.
*
*
*
Cheol-jun lay in bed, giggling to himself.
Because the massive question mark that had appeared when he first saw Si-woo’s game record had been cleanly erased.
No, after erasing it, he realized it wasn’t a question mark.
It wasn’t well-organized in his head, but the regret wishing the black stones in that game record had enjoyed it more seemed to have become a question mark and approached him as a suffocating feeling.
Or, perhaps it was an obsession wanting to confirm if the feeling he felt was right.
Anyway, seeing Si-woo smile so brightly made the question mark completely disappear, and he felt a huge sense of relief too.
‘Hehe.’
Conversing through Go was really fun.
It was much more honest than conversing with words.
He loved that.
Si-woo normally barely spoke, but through Go, he had expressed so many things.
‘I’m glad he had fun.’
Honestly, Cheol-jun had been scared, too.
If he couldn’t persuade him even through Go, or if he happened to be wrong, he had no idea what to do next.
However, as the number of games increased, he became certain.
As he had expected, Si-woo had forgotten how to have fun.
Today’s Go match was to confirm that for him.
It was a problem that couldn’t be proven with math or words.
He had to play Go directly to let him know.
And, he found the answer in his own way.
‘I was right.’
He felt proud for some reason.
He really loved the bright smile Si-woo gave him at the end.
‘It’s obvious you play better when you’re having fun.’
He felt incredibly good that he had become someone Si-woo desperately needed.
He could definitely feel a strong bond form between himself and Si-woo after the conversation they shared through Go.
He thought he understood a little bit.
What his dad had said about making truly ‘my’ people.
His dad must have been someone who first became a necessary existence to someone else like this, too.
Suddenly, he became curious about the people connected to his dad with strong bonds.
‘I’ve met Uncle Hyung-man, Lawyer Uncle, and NIS Uncle so far…’
What kind of people would the others be?
He was incredibly excited.
His eyes slowly began to close.
He hadn’t slept well yesterday, and he had used his brain too much, so it seemed he was quite exhausted.
Cheol-jun fell asleep just like that, with a ‘hehe’ smile on his face.
And, he dreamed a dream.
It was a dream of him happily running around on a bouncing Go board, wildly rolling and throwing fluffy Go stones.
From far away, Si-woo came running excitedly.
Then he rolled Go stones toward Cheol-jun.
Cheol-jun caught those Go stones and threw them back at Si-woo.
The two of them played like that for a long time, tossing the fluffy Go stones back and forth.
It was so much fun, as expected.
*
*
*
“Squirt, aren’t you hun…gry? Huh? You’re sleeping? Without even washing up? Haha. You could at least change out of your uniform…”
Hyung-man chuckled and pulled up the blanket that had slipped off the bed.
He kept giggling, wondering what kind of dream he was having.
He had seen him sobbing or shivering violently many times, but this was the first time he saw the child smiling like that in his sleep.
When he gently stroked his hair, he giggled out loud.
Watching the child affectionately, Hyung-man turned off the light and came out to the living room.
‘He must have had a really fun day today.’
Honestly, Hyung-man had been on edge every single day.
Monday and Tuesday seemed to have passed without much issue, but he was worried whether a child who grew up in a completely different environment, and one who had suffered an incredibly massive trauma at that, would be able to properly adjust among school friends.
Furthermore, having seen the negative emotional tendencies of gifted children, those worries had only increased.
However, talking with the teacher today, it seemed he was doing well, so he was relieved.
But he still had to stay alert.
Because no one could know what the inside of that child was like.
Hyung-man let out a sigh and walked over to the refrigerator.
“Alright, today Cheol-jun fell asleep early, so maybe a glass of soju… Huh?”
His phone on the sofa vibrated.
Checking the caller ID…
[Madam Choi]
“Hmm…”
Hyung-man twitched an eyebrow and answered the phone.
“Hey. What’s the occasion. Someone as busy as you calling.”
—Oppa! Why aren’t you sending the pictures?
“I already sent them!”
—No, the ones in his uniform!
“Haha. Did you really call just for that? I’ll send them after we hang up.”
—You better!
“You can just come and see him yourself… Geez…”
—Yeah. That’s why I’m going. To Korea.
Hyung-man’s eyebrow twitched.
“What. The European tour is over?”
—There are articles all over the place, and you don’t even know that? Seriously… Oppa, you pay way too little attention to your little sister. Did you know my kids sold out all 90,000 seats at Wembley? If you’re someone who even holds stocks in my company, show some interest.
“……”
—Anyway, I’ll be back before the weekend.
“Well, bring a bottle of Macallan when you come. The 30-year-old.”
—You have quite the expensive palate. Got it. I’m hanging up. Send the pictures right now!
“Hey.”
Hyung-man hung up the phone, found the picture he took when Cheol-jun first put on his school uniform, and sent it via messenger.
‘Geez. So annoying…’
Thinking of that face, the one who would probably want to see Cheol-jun more than anyone else, Hyung-man shook his head in disbelief.
*
*
*
The next day.
The 5th-floor hallway of Hanyoung Private Elementary School.
“Wow! Epic! Cheol-jun hit a girl!”
At the sound of Ha-rang’s voice suddenly ringing out, the kids rushed out into the hallway.
A girl was covering her face, crying her eyes out, and in front of her, Cheol-jun was swallowing hard with a panicked face.