A Genius Unveiled
Kim Suhan was a newly appointed math teacher at this high school.
He checked the sign outside the classroom.
'Class 3-1. This is the one.'
*Screeech.*
He slid the door open, quieted the noisy students, and began the lesson.
"Open your books to page 62."
As usual, he began by summarizing the concepts for the day's lesson, followed by a few simple practice problems.
"Alright, now let's try some actual problems."
He believed that the best way to learn was through practice. Thus, he always had the students come up to the board to solve problems themselves. Today was no exception.
"Since today is the eleventh, student numbers 11 through 15, come on up."
He then assigned the problems.
"Number 11, take problem one. Number 12, take problem two..."
The students began solving the problems one by one. The first few weren't very difficult, so everyone managed to work them out.
Kim Suhan checked their answers and sent them back.
"Good job. Next, numbers 16 through 20, come on up."
It was time to assign problems six through ten. As he looked down at his textbook, he noticed a note he had written previously.
[Difficulty: High. Skip.]
'Hmm, problem twenty is way too difficult. Let's skip this one.'
So, he made an adjustment.
"Student number 20, don't do problem twenty. Just solve problem nineteen instead."
But student number 20 declined.
"Problem nineteen? Hmm... I'll just do number twenty."
"This problem is a bit difficult, though."
"I can do it."
"Ha... Alright then. Give it a shot."
It was challenging, but not completely impossible. Still, Suhan expected him to struggle.
But then...
*Clack, clack, clack.*
Student number 20 began writing formulas on the chalkboard like a whirlwind.
'Huh?'
He finished and spoke faster than any of the other students.
"The answer is 42. So, option three."
Kim Suhan was taken aback.
"What?"
"Is it correct?"
"Uh, yes. That's correct."
Checking the answer key in his book, Suhan quickly confirmed it. He stood there, momentarily dazed.
"Do you happen to have any other difficult problems?"
Suhan blinked at the student's question.
"Difficult problems?"
"Yes. The one just now was a bit too easy."
'Easy?'
"Haha... Alright then."
A competitive spark flared within Suhan, and he nodded. He happened to have a reference workbook he had brought along to select exam questions.
'Let's see...'
Quickly flipping through the workbook, Suhan wrote a problem on the board.
"Try this one."
It was a top-tier problem. He was certain the student wouldn't be able to solve it—at least, not right here on the spot.
But then...
*Clack, clack, clack.*
"The answer is 28. Is that correct?"
"Huh? Y-yes."
The student had solved it in a single breath. Suhan's pride was thoroughly stung now. Without even being asked, he blurted out, "Th-then try this one too."
This was an exceptionally difficult problem, one of only a few in the entire workbook. He was absolutely sure the boy would fail this time.
*Clack, clack, clack.*
"The answer is 74."
It was correct.
'Ugh!'
"Solve this one too!"
This was a problem on par with those found in math olympiads. It was arguably the most difficult type of question possible within the high school curriculum.
Perhaps that was why.
"Hmm..."
For the first time, student number 20 seemed to hesitate, falling into deep thought.
'Aha! You can't solve this one, can you? Haha!'
But then...
*Clack, clack, clack.*
"There's a slight error in the problem itself. If you interpret it this way, the answer is 51. If you interpret it that way, the answer is 69."
"What?"
Kim Suhan stared at what the student had written.
'An error? Uh... it feels like he might be right... but I'm not sure...'
He couldn't immediately determine if there was indeed an error. Checking the answer key, he saw the official answer was listed as 51.
It was one of the two answers the student had provided.
Either way, he had solved it.
"Wow..."
Suhan completely gave up. He had no choice but to acknowledge the student's sheer talent, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What is your name?"
"Ji Hyunwoo."
"Right, Hyunwoo! Have you ever thought about entering a math olympiad? Actually, are you already participating in them? Yes, of course you must be."
"No. I've never entered one."
"Huh?"
Suhan was dumbfounded.
'Never? Really? How could... No, are the teachers at this school complete fools? Why haven't they sent a genius like this to any competitions?'
As he was lost in thought, one of the students chimed in.
"Teacher, he's ranked dead last in the entire school."
"Huh? Dead last?"
As Suhan turned around in bewilderment, Ji Hyunwoo nodded calmly.
"That's correct. At least, I was until last year."
This led Kim Suhan to a massive misunderstanding.
'What kind of school is this? Even the student ranked dead last can solve olympiad-level math problems with ease?! My God!!!'
Before long, it was time for the final homeroom of the day.
"Good work today, everyone. Since midterms are next week, try to stay behind and study if you can."
"Yes, sir!"
Once the homeroom teacher left, my friends gathered around my desk.
"Hey, let's hit the PC cafe."
"Are you crazy? You're really going?"
"Of course. Hey, if you don't want to, you can stay and study. I'll just go with Ji Hyunwoo."
I spoke to the snickering guy.
"Count me out."
"Huh?"
"I have some things to take care of at home."
"What?"
"See ya."
"Wait, seriously?! The great Ji Hyunwoo is skipping the PC cafe?! No way! Hey, wait up!"
Ignoring them, I packed my bag and walked out of the school.
Soon, I arrived at the bus stop in front of the school.
"Let's see... I need to take the number 36, right?"
Taking the bus from here would take about thirty minutes. The school was near the city center, while our house was on the outskirts.
*Beep.*
"Student fare."
*Vroom—*
A short while later, I arrived home.
"It's been a while."
"It was a somewhat run-down, six-story villa. An old-fashioned building with no elevator."
'What was the passcode again?'
Trusting my muscle memory, I let my fingers move on their own. Fortunately, it worked.
*Beep, beep, beep, beep. Chiming, click.*
"Nice."
I stepped inside, but the house was empty.
'As expected.'
I walked slowly through the quiet rooms, letting the memories wash over me.
"Has it really been twenty years?"
I picked up a family photo resting on the shelf.
In it, a younger version of myself was flashing a bright peace sign in the middle of some random field. Behind me stood my parents, young and holding hands.
"They looked so young and happy back then."
My father had worked at a paper mill ever since I was a child. My mother did all kinds of grueling work at a small restaurant.
'At least things were peaceful back then.'
The problems began after I went to college in Seoul.
'One misfortune after another struck our home.'
The mill my father worked at suddenly went bankrupt. Shortly after, my mother was diagnosed with cancer.
Left unemployed, my father took on all kinds of grueling, manual labor to cover her medical bills and our living expenses.
'And in the end...'
He was taken from us forever in a late-night traffic accident.
'And I only found out about it far too late.'
My parents had kept everything a secret from me. They didn't want to worry me while I was studying in Seoul.
'They didn't have to do that.'
Because of their silence, by the time I realized what was happening, there was nothing left for me to do. My father was already gone, and my mother's terminal cancer had progressed past the point of no return.
I had to hold two funerals almost back-to-back.
'It's been over twenty years since I last saw them.'
That was one of my deepest regrets. If I had paid just a little more attention to my family, things might have turned out differently.
'I won't let that happen this time.'
Right at that moment...
*Beep, beep, beep, beep.*
The sound of the front door passcode being pressed echoed from outside.
*Chime, click.*
The door opened, and both of my parents walked in together.
They greeted me as if nothing was wrong.
"Oh?"
"Hyunwoo, you're home."
For me, this was our first meeting in twenty years. Suddenly, my body refused to cooperate. My chest tightened, and a wave of emotion washed over me.
'Whew...'
Forcing my trembling lips into a smile, I welcomed them.
"Yes. I just wanted to come home early today. More importantly... how was your day?"
A short while later, I sat at the dining table, watching my mother cook.
"How did you and Dad end up coming home together?"
"Just a coincidence. We ran into each other on the way. The owner told me to head home early since there weren't many customers today. *Sigh.*"
"That's lucky."
"I suppose. But you're home early too. Didn't you have night study today?"
"No. Today... I decided to just study at home."
In the past, I had used night study as an excuse to hang out at PC cafes. My parents had genuinely believed I was staying late at school to study every day.
'Well... I actually have to do it now.'
I needed to study anyway.
"Alright, dinner's ready. Let's eat. Honey! Come and eat!"
"Coming!"
And so, for the first time in a very long time, our family gathered around the dinner table.
"Oh! This is delicious!"
"Really? I'm glad it suits your taste today."
"Hmm, you usually complain about the side dishes. What's gotten into you today?"
"Ah... I was immature back then."
I had only realized how precious this was after she passed away.
"Pfft! You were complaining just the day before yesterday! Did you suddenly age a few years over the last couple of days?"
"Yes. Well..."
I aged a lot, actually.
"Stop it, you're embarrassing the boy."
"I'm just joking. But look at him, doesn't he seem a lot more mature now? I told you, kids grow up and find their senses eventually."
"He is a senior, after all. But now that I think about it..."
My mother tilted her head slightly and asked, "Isn't it exam season soon?"
"Yes, next week. I'm planning to study right after dinner."
"Oh?"
After a moment of thought, my mother spoke gently.
"Um... just in case you're stressing, don't worry too much about your grades. I'm happy enough just seeing you healthy."
"She's right. There are plenty of paths other than studying. Getting a job right after graduation is a good option too."
I shook my head at their words.
"No. I'm going to college."
"Huh?"
"All of a sudden?"
"Yes. I should go. It's not like studying doesn't suit me."
Both of them stared at me with dumbfounded expressions.
"...What do you mean? Studying suits you?"
"...We both know what your grades look like, you know?"
"Yes. Now that I've actually tried it, I find it quite fitting. My grades will go up soon."
Without a doubt.
"Haha! Alright, just try to escape last place first."
"I really hope you do."
A short while later, dinner ended.
"I'll head to my room now."
"Alright, study hard."
I entered my room and opened my textbooks.
'First, I should skim through everything.'
Korean, English, Math, Science, Korean History.
While I could easily solve any textbook problem, taking an actual exam was a different story. Exams had time limits, and the questions were often twisted in strange ways.
'This midterm will be a test run.'
Honestly, my GPA was already beyond saving, so using it to get into college was out of the question.
In the end, the CSAT was what mattered, so I didn't strictly need to ace this exam. Still, I needed to test whether my abilities translated well to a test environment. I also needed to gauge how much effort I'd need to put into subjects like Korean History.
'Alright, then...!'
I began studying.
'Huh?'
From outside my room, I heard my parents speaking in hushed tones.
"Honey, now that Hyunwoo says he wants to go to college... I think my salary might get cut significantly soon."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"The factory is replacing the wastewater treatment facility. They need to comply with the new environmental regulations."
New environmental regulations?
"And?"
"Well... it looks like the company is importing the new equipment from Germany. The system is completely different from what we have now. It'll take time for me to adapt to it. So, I think they're planning to hire someone else who already knows how to operate it."
Flustered, my mother's voice rose slightly.
"Then... what happens to you?"
"I won't be fired, but I'll probably be reassigned... It's essentially a demotion."
"Oh no...!"
I vaguely recalled this period. Around this time, my parents had suddenly started tightening their belts. They had completely stopped dining out, which we used to do occasionally.
'So it was because of this.'
Back then, I hadn't cared enough to notice, but now I understood the situation.
'But replacing a wastewater treatment facility?'
And they were importing it all the way from Germany. That wouldn't be cheap.
'It'll probably cost billions of won.'
While the factory my father worked at wasn't massive, it wasn't small either. The sheer size of the facility needed to handle their operations, combined with the cost of shipping it by sea, meant the expenses would be astronomical.
For the company, it was a massive investment and transition, which was why they wanted to hire a specialized technician to ensure everything went smoothly.
'But what if they could replace it with something much cheaper?'
I immediately realized what I had to do.
'This... is a massive opportunity!'