Reading Books
The moment Mom and I got home, Dad's massive hand snatched me up.
"My little girl!!!"
"Eek!"
Whoosh whoosh—. Then he started bouncing me up and down like an airplane.
"IQ 160? What the heck is that! Do you know what your dad's IQ is? Pretty high, you know? But you totally crushed me!"
"Hee hee hee. Put me dowwwn—."
"No way. You're too amazing, my girl! Honey, our daughter's a genius! A real genius!"
Yeah. That's exactly the reaction I was hoping for when they heard about the IQ 160.
I burst out laughing uncontrollably as he kept flying me around.
Getting your sides grabbed and flown around like that? That's a kid's exclusive privilege. Once you grow up and gain weight, it's too hard to lift.
Free adrenaline rush included. When else am I gonna enjoy this?
But is it really okay for me, with an adult's intelligence, to be this thrilled about acing a test for kids under seven?
It's like smurfing in a low-tier game with a smurf account and loving it.
That thought almost crossed my mind, but it didn't matter anymore. Because I'm not really my past life's self—I'm just a two-year-old kid with those memories.
So, all I have to do is react like a two-year-old kid would!
"Heh heung. This much is eaaasy."
"'This much'? IQ 160 doesn't just happen. You think that's easy?"
Dad pinched my squishy cheek. "Ni hi hi. Stooop~."
My mouth stretched into a huge grin—. No sign of it coming down anytime soon under this barrage of close-range praise.
Having inherited Mom's DNA, I've become a praise monster. Now I get what they mean by "praise makes even whales dance."
A humpback whale would leap up and tap-dance if it got praised like this. For real.
Late at night, when everyone was asleep.
I lay there staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought. Today's events were keeping sleep at bay.
—No matter if you're a genius or not, Mom just wants you to be happy, A-yeon.
—Our daughter's a genius! A real genius!
Mom and Dad's reactions had quite the temperature difference.
I didn't get it at first, but after mulling it over, I think I figured it out.
Digging into my past life's memories, there was this one time...
...
It was one night when the two of us were prepping late for an overseas conference presentation, eating convenience store bentos.
"Professor, don't you ever get lonely?"
"What's that out of the blue? Seol-ae, are you feeling lonely in the middle of prep? Have I been pushing you too hard?"
"Sorry, bad timing. It's not because the prep is tough—well, it is tough, but that's not why. Anyway, it's just life talk."
"Life talk, huh..."
"Doesn't it get lonely not having anyone around who thinks like you do, Professor? I felt that way in school. When I was the only one excelling, people called me clueless or got jealous. So I pretended to be average on purpose."
"I see... You went through quite a bit."
"Never happened to you, Professor?"
"I had my share of dirty looks too. But I'm not the type to care about every glare, so I ignored them all. Better to read one more page than waste time on that."
"Sometimes I envy that indifference of yours, Professor."
"So, how about life as a researcher now, Seol-ae?"
"Well?"
Han Seol-ae smiled brightly.
"At least having someone like Professor Shin Ijun as my advisor makes me feel really lucky."
...
Only after recalling that memory did I vaguely understand why Mom said what she did.
She was worried. About my future. She knew the double-edged sword of genius.
What it feels like to be too far ahead. What it's like not being understood. How exhausting it is to hold back on purpose.
So she saw me—the kid who'd carry that 160—not just the number.
Dad, on the other hand, was an elite science high school grad, but if you had to pin it down, he was an effort type. Never skipped review on school days, diligent at work. And he got along everywhere—sociable, always smiling, easy to be around.
To him, higher intelligence was just plain better.
So yeah, pure joy at his daughter's IQ 160.
I got Mom's worry. I got Dad's happiness. And at the same time, I understood they both loved me in their own ways.
What... this weird feeling...
My chest felt strangely warm and cozy.
After that day, my parents' attitude toward me shifted a bit.
"Hey, sweetie, anything you need?"
Dad asked cautiously, trying to figure out what I wanted.
"Hmm..."
I thought for a moment.
Obviously, "I wanna write a paper right now" was off-limits. Not mentally ready yet.
So what then...?
After pondering, I answered.
"Books... wanna reaaad..."
"Books? Like picture books?"
Shake shake—.
"Not picture books... ones with moooore words..."
Honestly, Cinderella getting smacked by her stepmom was fun at first, but it got old. Too simple a story structure.
With little sis A-rin needing so much hands-on from Mom and Dad these days, my alone time had increased. I needed my own entertainment.
"Alright... Got it! Dad'll bring back a ton of fun stuff for you!"
Dad rolled up his sleeves and flexed his arm muscles showily.
The next day, Dad came back with a huge bag.
I opened it, and colorful magazines poured out.
Children's Science Donga, Math Donga, Children's Economic Newspaper, WizKids, National Geographic Kids, Children's Chosun Ilbo, and more.
For elementary to middle schoolers. Science, math, economics, current events, culture, general knowledge. All sorts of topics.
"Whoaaa—!"
Finally free from the endless Cinderella, Heungbu, Nolbu loop!
I grabbed the books and rushed to the living room to read.
"A-yeon, say thank you to Dad first."
"Thank yooou—."
I bowed my head deeply to Dad, then hurriedly opened a book.
One. Two. Three.
The content was as expected. Written simply for kids, lots of pages taken up by serialized educational comics.
I started sitting but soon my arms hurt, so I flopped down to read.
Thud—. My foot kicked the blanket.
The colorful illustrations explaining concepts were pretty fun.
The photosynthesis page had chlorophyll's structure as a comic, and the primes page explained the Sieve of Eratosthenes like a puzzle.
The fresh stimulation after picture books pulled me right in.
But...
Three days later.
Bored...
I stared vacantly at the ceiling with an empty expression.
Elementary level stuff—no new takeaways. And the comics are just like picture books, ending with haha ho ho.
In short—too shallow.
Mom came out to the living room holding A-rin and saw the magazines neatly stacked on the floor. She asked me,
"Finished all the magazines?"
"Yeah..."
"How were they?"
"Um... funnn."
"Really?"
Mom stared at my face a few more seconds.
"You can be honest."
I hesitated at that, then said,
"...Wanna read haaarder stuff..."
Pat pat—.
"Good girl for saying it. What do you want to read?"
"Newspapers or journals..."
Hearing that, Mom whispered to Dad,
"Honey, not kids' magazines—get adult ones. Newspapers or journals."
The next day, Dad brought a thick bag.
The second I checked the contents, my eyes sparkled.
Chosun Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Science and Technology, Science Times, Journal of the Korean Chemical Society, Journal of the Korean Physical Society, and more.
"Wooow—! Thank yooou—!"
Clatter! I quickly thanked him and dragged the heavy bag to the living room with grunts.
I started with the newspapers.
Politics, economy, society, culture. Way deeper than kids' mags. Fun. "Ni hi hi."
But midway through the science section, my hand paused. It was an article on quantum mechanics.
Huh? There's a bit of logical error here maybe.
My past job being what it was, I had physicist friends and decent theoretical physics knowledge.
Plus, my Riemann zeta research used physics-heavy approaches.
So these shallow quantum articles jumped out at me.
Uncomfortable...
I read the page with a displeased frown.
My chest itched to point out the error to the newspaper.
Ah, wanna correct it! Ugh... That's not how quantum mechanics works!
Thud—! Thud—! I kicked the innocent blanket.
Finished with the papers, I grabbed a journal.
First up: Journal of the Korean Chemical Society.
The lead chapter was on electrochemical nitrogen reduction. I followed the paper's flow with my eyes.
Not my field, but decent enough.
The logic tracked. Experiments made sense.
Thud—. Thud—. My feet kicked faster.
Next paper: Metal complex structures and reactivity.
Thud—. Thud—. Thud—.
Next: Lithium-ion battery electrode materials.
Thud-thud-thud—. Thud-thud-thud—.
Years later, I'd realize I had this habit of unconsciously kicking my feet when deep in focus...
...
"A-yeon, time for dinner."
"Yesss."
Even at the table, I couldn't tear my eyes from the journal.
Nom nom nom nom—.
"A-yeon, you'll get a tummy ache. Eat slower."
"Mmph mmf yesh."
I mumbled around unswallowed rice.
"Honestly..."
I didn't catch it clearly, but Mom's voice sounded oddly excited.
That night.
Even past 10 PM, I clutched the journal.
Dad came to turn off the light but stopped.
"A-yeon, bedtime."
"Just a biiiit."
"How many 'just a bits' is this?"
"...Juuust a biiiit~."
Dad sighed softly.
Snatch—he took the journal from my hands!
"Hey! Nooo!"
"Sleep early and read tomorrow."
My wandering eyes had nowhere to go.
"Waaah..." Too mean!
What parent snatches an academic journal from a kid's hands?!
Thud thud—! Thud thud—! Super mad, I pulled the blanket over my head and kicked hard.
Click—. Whether he got my complaint or not, Dad silently turned off the light and left.
"... Uuu."
Journal-less, I lay there with puffed cheeks, staring at the ceiling.
The paper's conclusion I'd left unfinished kept swirling in my head.
Gotta wake up early tomorrow and finish it.
Roll roll.
Sleep fast, sleep fast, sleep fast.
Roll roll roll.
Need to sleep... gotta sleep quick... come on, Yoo A-yeon, sleep now!
Roll roll roll roll...
For some reason, sleep wouldn't come that night.