A Network of One's Own

It was a twenty-minute walk to the school gates.

Lee Cheol-jun walked among the children wearing the same uniform as him.

At first, there wasn't a single one, but after crossing an intersection, two appeared. By the time he passed the back alley, there were five, and when the school gates came into view in the distance, there were suddenly over thirty children walking in the same direction.

He had heard there weren't many kids commuting from nearby, but there were more than he expected.

Cheol-jun was thrilled to be walking among them.

It was his very first sense of belonging.

As Cheol-jun neared the school, a school bus pulled up in front of the gates.

A crowd of children wearing the same uniform poured out of the large bus.

In an instant, Cheol-jun's surroundings were bustling with Hanyoung Private Elementary School students.

They all greeted each other warmly, as if seeing one another after a long time.

With no one to greet, Cheol-jun walked among them, silently greeting the children whenever their eyes met.

'Hello. It's really nice to meet you. I'm Lee Cheol-jun, and I'll be studying with you starting today.'

Next year—no, after the summer break in the second semester—he, too, would be able to greet them warmly, saying it had been a while.

Just the thought of it made his heart swell.

Before passing through the gates.

Cheol-jun paused and suddenly turned around.

He looked toward the alley across the street.

The man who was connected to his father, Jaegang, by a tight bond, which had ultimately extended to him.

He was realizing anew what a truly powerful personal network—the kind his father had always emphasized—actually meant.

Cheol-jun knew very well the sincerity hidden beneath that gruff, seemingly indifferent way of speaking.

Cheol-jun bowed deeply toward the alley.

'Thank you.'

After taking one more look at the alley, Cheol-jun turned back toward the school gates.

Living with Uncle Hyeong-man, he had always envied his father.

He thought it was incredible that his father had several more people in Korea as trustworthy as Uncle Hyeong-man.

'From now on, I'm going to build my own personal network.'

His heart fluttered with excitement.

"So what?"

"Whatever."

"Look at this Gold scrub acting cocky."

"I'm not Gold, okay? My sniper form is insane right now!"

"Wanna 1v1 later?"

"Yeah, right. Academy issues. Buzz off."

"You're scared, lol."

"No, I'm not?"

"U mad? Can't do anything, can you?"

"Whatever. Seriously, get lost!"

"Scared? So tilted, right?"

"Ah, damn! You wanna go?"

"Ooh! I'm telling the teacher you cursed!"

"Pfft, no you're not."

"What're you gonna do about it?"

"Didn't ask."

As soon as he calmed his racing heart and opened the classroom door, Cheol-jun froze, unable to take a step inside.

What on earth was this bizarre language?

One of the kids giggling at a desk spotted Cheol-jun and walked over.

"Who's this guy?"

"Never seen him before."

"Hey! This is the fifth-grade room. Lower grades are over there."

Cheol-jun blinked his round eyes.

This, he could finally understand.

"I'm in fifth grade too."

"Don't care!"

"Stop lying, lol!"

"You look like a third grader, for real!"

The kids near the door stared at Cheol-jun.

"Anyone know him?"

"Nope. No clue. Just a lost third grader. Keep moving, kid."

"Pfft!"

As Cheol-jun swallowed hard with a dazed expression, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright! Quiet down, everyone!"

The kids crowded around Cheol-jun giggled and dispersed.

"Whew... Cheol-jun, let's go inside."

Go Chang-ho shook his head, guiding Cheol-jun into the classroom by the shoulder.

"First, everyone take a seat wherever you like."

"Yes, Teacher!"

Standing at the podium with Cheol-jun, Chang-ho scanned the students.

He had already checked the attendance sheet.

A perfect collection of troublemakers.

To put it differently, they were kids who had drifted slightly outside the standard curriculum of Hanyoung Private Elementary School.

For Chang-ho, this was actually a rather welcome sight.

Perhaps that was why, even though other teachers would have thrown their hands up in despair, they all looked adorable to him.

"Now, you all know who I am, right?"

"Yes!"

Since Chang-ho taught upper-grade English alongside the native-speaking teacher, he recognized almost all of their faces.

And thanks to his uniquely humorous classes, he was quite popular among the kids.

Though there were some rumors among the parents because he spent more time playing with the kids than actually covering the syllabus.

Chang-ho grinned and picked up a piece of chalk.

"Still, I should at least pretend to introduce myself."

While the kids snickered, he wrote his name, Go Chang-ho, on the blackboard.

Then, he placed a hand on Cheol-jun's shoulder.

"Now, this friend here is a new face to all of you, right?"

"Yes!"

"This is Lee Cheol-jun. He'll be joining our class starting this semester."

The kids whispered among themselves.

'No way, he's really a fifth grader?'

'Why is he so tiny?'

'My younger sibling is bigger than him.'

'His name is Cheol-jun! So old-fashioned!'

'Yeah, well, your face is more old-fashioned.'

"Quiet, everyone!"

"..."

"Cheol-jun, why don't you say hello?"

Cheol-jun made eye contact with each of them, one by one.

Their faces were full of mischief.

The atmosphere was completely different from the children he had met at the Shenyang Consulate.

"Hello. I'm Lee Cheol-jun. I look forward to getting along with you!"

—Clap clap clap clap clap!

"Alright, Cheol-jun, go ahead and sit wherever you'd like."

As Cheol-jun padded over, the curious gazes of his classmates followed him.

Cheol-jun found their stares rather ticklish.

"Do you like the seats you're in right now?"

"Yes!"

"Then stay right there. And as you can see, we have plenty of empty seats, right? They all belong to our class, so if you want to move, feel free to swap to any empty spot. Pretty awesome, right? Our class is rich in seats."

The kids burst out laughing.

Chang-ho grinned and turned on the TV with a remote control.

"In a moment, the principal's welcoming address will begin. 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 turn the volume down, so whisper quietly among yourselves so we don't get caught."

"Yeees..."

"Once the principal is done speaking, it's free time!"

"Yes!"

"Teacher! Can we turn on our phones?"

"Just for one hour."

"Whoa!"

"Awesome!"

Chang-ho decided to give them time to exchange phone numbers, social media handles, and game IDs.

Well, they would probably finish that quickly and huddle up to play games anyway.

Regardless, the children's faces were brimming with playfulness.

Chang-ho liked seeing them like this.

A rigid classroom atmosphere was never any fun.

As Chang-ho scanned the room, his eyes met Cheol-jun's.

He had expected the boy to be quite nervous, but there was no sign of it at all.

Cheol-jun's round eyes curved into half-moons.

Chang-ho smiled back and sat down at his desk.

Cheol-jun slowly looked around the room, observing the other kids.

One of the whispering kids locked eyes with Cheol-jun.

Cheol-jun beamed.

The other kid beamed back.

His first day of school.

Though he had been a bit flustered at first, everything was thrilling and exciting.

As soon as the principal's address ended, recess began.

Kids who had seen each other around school exchanged light greetings, while those who were already close joked around or sat together to chat.

Due to the nature of a private school, the student count per grade was quite small. There were only five classes in total: three regular classes, one gifted class grouped together since the fourth grade, and the Special Creativity Class. Thus, the children all shared some level of familiarity.

Chang-ho was matching names to faces on the attendance sheet, getting a feel for the students' personalities.

For today, at least, he planned to simply observe without interfering unless something major happened.

There were kids he needed to keep a special eye on, and others who didn't stand out much.

In particular, there was one child Chang-ho had been paying the closest attention to.

Though that was only until he met Cheol-jun.

Park Si-woo.

His father was Park Jin-gyeom, a professional Baduk player who had once ranked in the top ten in South Korea.

A prodigy raised from a very young age outside the standard Korean education system, under a specialized training regimen.

He had even appeared in the newspapers a few times.

Although he had narrowly missed becoming Korea's youngest professional Baduk player after falling short in last year's under-12 professional entry tournament, rumors abounded that he was one of the most promising Baduk geniuses of his time.

As expected, he was sitting quietly by himself in the very back row by the window.

An aura of composure that didn't belong to a child.

He didn't even try to mingle with the other kids.

He stared out the window with an indifferent face, as if he alone existed in a different world.

The corner of Chang-ho's mouth curled upward.

'Intriguing, as expected.'

Just as he was about to shift his gaze to another student, someone approached ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Si-woo.

'Huh?'

It was Cheol-jun.

Chang-ho rested his chin on his hand and grinned.

The combination of those two looked highly entertaining.

The total number of students in the class was nine, including Cheol-jun himself.

Excluding himself, there were five boys and three girls.

Two of the girls were huddled together, while one sat apart.

The boys were also gathered in pairs, with one sitting alone.

Though Cheol-jun had almost no experience dealing with kids his age, he felt a bit hesitant to approach a girl first.

So, he decided to target the lone boy first.

In truth, it was also because he still couldn't fully understand what the groups of kids were saying to each other.

He realized he needed to quickly learn the children's language.

For those reasons, Cheol-jun padded over to the very back seat by the window.

And beamed.

"Hello."

"...Huh?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cheol-jun. Lee Cheol-jun."

"Ah, I'm Park Si-woo."

"What are you looking at? Is there something outside?"

"Just because. It's less dizzying than the classroom."

"Dizzying?"

"Yeah."

Cheol-jun noticed the book Si-woo had open.

"Oh? What's that book?"

"You don't need to know."

"Is it Baduk?"

"...Yeah."

Cheol-jun smiled brightly.

"Wow. My dad taught me Baduk too!"

"Whew... Right."

"He told me I was really good at it!"

"Sure."

Si-woo replied half-heartedly and turned his gaze back out the window.

Cheol-jun was starting to find this difficult.

Above all, he could clearly sense the other boy's annoyance.

He was flustered, unable to figure out what he had said to offend him.

'Ah, right.'

He had forgotten.

His dad had told him to always hold his tongue when he didn't have much information about the other person...

Just then, a chubby hand clapped onto Cheol-jun's shoulder.

Turning around, he saw the two loudest boys who had first spoken to him.

"Cheol-juuun! What's up?"

"Oh? Uh, hi."

"What's your rank in Rival?"

"Huh?"

"What? You don't play Rival? Are you a PUBG guy? Don't tell me it's Minecraft?"

"...Huh?"

"Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even that? Whoa, what is with this guy? Then what games do you play?"

"Games?"

Cheol-jun furrowed his brow.

He recalled the games he used to play with his dad.

Spinning knives?

Hitting targets with knives?

Memorizing card numbers?

Poker?

Mahjong?

Deciphering codes?

Speed-assembling firearms?

Image memorization battles?

As he pondered which one to mention, the chubby boy gave Cheol-jun a strange look.

"What? You don't know any games?"

"Who is this guy? Did you come from North Korea?"

Cheol-jun's eyes widened, and he flinched.

"Ah..."

Dr. Lee Min-ah, a pediatric psychiatrist at Ilseong General Hospital, nodded slowly.

Beside her, Yoon Kyung-mi, a psychological expert, offered a faint smile.

Hearing the guardian's words, it was clear that the boy was indeed an extraordinary prodigy, just as she had previously suspected.

Dr. Lee Min-ah glanced at Yoon Kyung-mi.

Yoon Kyung-mi quickly wiped the smile from her face.

"To be honest, the specialist who conducted the evaluation also suspected as much. However, we couldn't share mere assumptions with the guardian, which is why I didn't include it in the official opinion."

Hyeong-man nodded.

"So, today is his first day of school?"

"Yes. I came because I have a few questions about him."

Dr. Lee Min-ah nodded as she opened Cheol-jun's medical chart.

"What exactly are you curious about?"

Hyeong-man scratched the scar near his eye and spoke.

"I mentioned this before, but he still wakes up in fits three or four nights a week. He weeps so sorrowfully, though I don't know what he's dreaming about. Yet, during the day, he never shows any of that. He's incredibly bright and cheerful."

"Ah..."

"He started school today, and I'm worried that something might trigger him among his peers and cause him to snap. He's usually so brave and cheerful, but seeing him like that in his sleep makes me think something is buried very deep inside him."

Dr. Lee Min-ah closed the chart and tapped it with her index finger.

"Has the child ever brought up his late father on his own?"

"Often. And he does it so naturally. 'My dad said this,' 'I learned this from my dad'... He doesn't seem to struggle with it at all."

"Does his expression or the look in his eyes change in those moments?"

"Not really... If anything, he seems proud."

Dr. Lee Min-ah nodded slowly.

"He is coping in his own way."

"Pardon?"

"Children sometimes unconsciously compartmentalize memories that are too difficult to bear. During the day, he remembers his father as someone to be proud of, and at night, his subconscious processes the painful emotions. In a way, it's a fairly healthy defense mechanism. Because he is highly intelligent, he might be managing that stress more deliberately."

"Then at school..."

"The possibility of a sudden outburst?"

"Yes. I can't follow him around and watch over him anymore. I've already taken a month off work. He'll have to manage on his own from now on, so I'm worried..."

Dr. Lee Min-ah continued.

"I cannot say the possibility is zero. Especially among peers, an unexpected word can act as a trigger. There will also be emotional situations that might feel overwhelming for him. That is something we must keep monitoring. More than that..."

Dr. Lee Min-ah's brow furrowed.

"Because he is a prodigy, he will likely face more difficulties fitting in with children his age."

"...Pardon?"

"Their interests and cognitive levels are completely different, making it hard to converse. They might find relationships boring, view their peers as childish, or shut down connections entirely because they feel there's nothing to learn from playing together. Thus, there is a high chance he won't fit in from the start. They simply find no joy in peer groups. This is a common phenomenon among highly gifted children."

"Ah..."

"As shown in his evaluation, symptoms like attention deficit, easily getting bored, perfectionism, and emotional overexcitability are common in gifted children. If they develop intellectual superiority, they might even start looking down on others. Or, they might suppress emotional responses, deeming them inefficient, and eventually become numb. If they stop getting angry and lose their competitive drive entirely, they can fall into lethargy."

"Sigh..."

"That is why the guardian's role is so crucial."

Hyeong-man nodded.

"First of all, a child's intelligence is a blessing. I only highlighted the negative aspects because I needed to inform you of what to watch out for, but there are far more positive sides. Oh, and it's not good to restrict things like smartphones too much. It's one of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠few ways he can communicate and share interests with other kids. Next time, bring the child with you. I think there are quite a few things I'll need to re-evaluate."

Hyeong-man bowed his head, his brow furrowed.

"Yes. Thank you, Doctor."

"Can't do anything, can you? Instantly dead to a knife, lol!"

"Wow, I've never seen anyone this bad!"

"So tilted, right? Didn't even need to shoot!"

"Ah! Seriously! Move! Are your hands paralyzed?"

Surrounded by the kids, Cheol-jun stared at the phone screen, his eyes wide.

Cute, round characters were running around with guns, shooting at each other.

Since Cheol-jun's phone required Hyeong-man's approval to install apps, he was experiencing a video game for the very first time on another kid's phone.

'Wow. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This is really fun.'

But...

'Am I... angry right now?'

Cheol-jun was flustered by this entirely unfamiliar emotion.

He had memorized the controls, figured out the patterns, and could clearly see his opponent's movements, yet his fingers couldn't keep up, causing him to lose repeatedly without doing a thing.

And above all, the words of those kids...

'Ah, this is so tilting...'

Experiencing competitive drive for the very first time in his life, Cheol-jun scrunched up his nose.