Bang, bang, thump! Bang!
Jaehee's gestures as she returned home, putting away her instrument and sheet music, were extremely aggressive. Her father, who had put the side dishes in the sink, peeked at her through the crack in her door. She looked angry, as if something was wrong.
'How strange. Shouldn't we be happy that Soo-hyun showed such talent? It's better than not being able to finish his assignment with a song he's never played. Why is Jaehee acting like this?'
Jaehee's father gently pushed the door open.
"Jaehee, what's wrong?"
His daughter turned her head sharply. Her eyes were red, and she looked quite angry.
'What on earth is wrong with this child? Why? If Soo-hyun is good, isn't that a good thing?''Dad, you idiot! You said Soo-hyun's performance was a new experience! It's a fraud! I couldn't play that perfectly even if I stayed up all night!'
Her father, who didn't know his daughter's feelings, stroked Jaehee's head.
"Isn't it great? He was a friend you were trying to help, but now he can do it on his own. Isn't that great?"
Jaehee's body trembled. She tilted her head for a moment.
'Hmm? Why was I angry? Because he can play a piece of music so well on the first try? Because my friend can do things I can't? Jaehee, are you that bad? No, why am I angry? I guess I felt a sense of relative superiority, thinking I could help him. And knowing I don't need your help, I guess I was disappointed. Am I bad? I guess I had very bad intentions, Dad.'
Her father smiled when he saw the anger disappear from Jaehee's eyes.
"Our Jaehee is very kind. In Soo-hyun's case, it wasn't just because you trusted him, but because you wanted to help him. Our daughter is very kind, right?"
'No, Dad. I'm bad. I had very bad thoughts. I can't help it. It's the only way to make up for the bad thoughts I had. I'll work hard.'
Her father smiled and headed to the kitchen.
"Oh, and don't forget. The Gifted Music Education Center's education is taught alongside the regular middle school curriculum. You shouldn't neglect your studies. Since Soo-hyun won't have reference books, take Jaehee's workbook when you go and ask him to study with you. Understood?"
Jaehee's expression, which had barely improved, distorted again. The girl was a fairly good student, but she didn't want to study, just like other children.
At the same time, something similar was happening at Soo-hyun's house.
"Yes? I have to study?"
"Of course. Do you want to live as someone who only knows how to play the piano?"
"I also speak Polish."
"So?"
"I can speak both German and English."
"Well, okay. Then I'll ask you a question. If you answer it correctly, you don't have to study."
Soo-hyun's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Well, then here's the problem."
'There's no problem that even adults can't solve.'
"Okay, I'll make it middle school level."
"Excellent."
'I received basic education myself. Franz was a studious man focused on languages, and Frederick taught me philosophy.'
Ji-ye said with a mischievous smile.
"Soo-hyun and Jaehee decided to pool their funds to buy a collection of fairy tales. They would each pay an amount at the beginning and then the rest in five installments. In each installment, Soo-hyun would pay 2,000 won more than the initial amount, and Jaehee would pay 80% of the initial amount. If the total paid up to the three installments is the same, and Soo-hyun paid 2,000 won more than Jaehee when buying all the books, how much would the fairy tale collection cost?"
Soo-hyun's body froze as if it had turned to stone.
'What the hell is this problem?'
Soo-hyun said with a bewildered expression.
"Why don't we both just buy them for the same price?"
"Hahahaha! It's a math problem. It's middle school level."
Soo-hyun had a perplexed expression.
'Hey, is middle school really that hard? Math? I remember that word. Uncle Frederick said it was a field he wasn't confident in and couldn't teach, but back then, I thought it was lucky to have one less thing to study besides the piano.'
Jiye nodded and said.
"Associative law, powers, class values, commutative law, monomials, frequency distribution polygons… etc. There are a lot of things to study."
"…"
Ji-ye said as she patted Soo-hyun on the cheek as if she thought he was cute, looking at him with an expression that said, "The sky is falling."
"You have to study. It's not more important than the piano, but you should still be careful not to become an idiot. Okay?"
Soo-hyun's shoulders slumped weakly.
"Yes…"
The next day, Jaehee, who devised the workbook and the musical scores, concentrated on practicing while noticing Soo-hyun's expression, who seemed to be depressed, and was now sitting on the sofa, completely exhausted. Jaehee's father, who came to check if Jaehee was practicing well, had a bewildered expression at Jaehee's appearance compared to Soo-hyun, who was looking at the musical score, but he was worried that he might be disturbing the children's short break after practicing hard, so he secretly asked Ji-ye, who was in the kitchen.
"What kind of atmosphere is this?"
"Oh, Dad is here. He's taking a little break from practice."
"But why is our Jaehee like this…?"
"Haha, that's because she was following Soo-hyun's practice."
'What kind of practice did you have to do to achieve that? Jaehee is a kid who usually practices for three hours a day. Compared to other kids, she has a lot of practice time.'
Ji-ye pointed to the clock with her eyes. Jaehee's father's eyes widened as he looked at the time.
"S-seriously… Are you saying you didn't start practicing while you were studying, but you've only been practicing until now?"
Ji-ye smiled and nodded. Jaehee's father stammered with an expression of disbelief.
"It's 7 p.m.… and you've been practicing for six hours?"
"Jaehee took ten-minute breaks, but Soo-hyun didn't. Soo-hyun was also like that in Poland. I asked if he was overdoing it, but he said he used to practice for six hours without any problem. Look at him now. He doesn't look tired at all, our Soo-hyun."
Jaehee's father saw Soo-hyun again. It was just as Ji-ye said. Soo-hyun was looking at the score carefully and taking notes with a pen.
'Perhaps those notes are for places that need accentuation, or they are your own notation to convey more emotion. A middle school student who practices for six hours straight? He must be a monster.'
It was Jaehee's father who suddenly looked pityingly at his tired daughter.
"Well… I think he should study a little. It'll be dinnertime soon."
"I was going to tell you to study for at least an hour."
Soo-hyun bit his lip, pretending to look at the score and pricking up his ears.
'If things go on like this, I'd have to study difficult math for an hour without being able to move.'
"Jaehee."
Jaehee, who was sprawled on the sofa, mechanically stood up and picked up the violin bow.
"Here and here, do you want to fix it?"
Jaehee lowered her bow weakly.
'Then I have to practice from the beginning again. Save me. Did you realize that I had bad intentions yesterday? That's why you're punishing me, right? I was wrong. Let's stop now, okay?'
Jaehee, who was silent, dropped her shoulders. But she quickly raised her head at the sound of Ji-ye's voice saving the child.
"Soo-hyun, that's enough practice for today. Let's study for an hour and then eat."
Soo-hyun said without taking his eyes off the score.
"Just a little bit more here."
"Nam Soo-hyun."
"It would be better if you rearranged it…"
"Nam Soo-hyun?"
When Soo-hyun turned his head to look at Ji-ye, Ji-ye, who was crossing her arms, nodded towards the table. Jaehee was seen putting the workbook she had brought earlier on the table and taking out a pen from her pencil case.
'That clueless girl!'
"Ugh… Okay."
"I will not tolerate any rebellion when it comes to studying. Come here and study for just one hour."
"…"
It was really annoying how Jaehee pushed a workbook towards Soo-hyun, who was walking slowly and sitting at the table, and nodded as if telling him to solve it.
"Grrr…"
Soo-hyun read the problem with his eyes.
'I have no idea what this says or if it's Korean.'
Ji-ye's voice was heard from behind.
"I'm going to check if you're studying well. Solve it by reading it out loud."
'Haha, this is the biggest crisis of my fourteen-year-old life.'
"Which of the following is incorrect…?"
'Oh, what number is this? There are bars between the numbers. How do I read it?'
"2… Stick… 1…."
Jaehee burst out laughing after hearing Soo-hyun's words. He looked at Jaehee with frightening eyes, but the girl's laughter did not stop. Ji-ye also spoke with a voice that contained laughter.
"That's a fraction. It should be read as 'one-half'."
"Sister, what's a fraction?"
'Oh, our genius Nam Soo-hyun! He was only a genius at the piano, but he was an idiot at everything else.'
"Jaehee? Please take good care of our Soo-hyun. He really needs you," Ji-ye said as she stroked Jaehee's head.
Somehow, Jaehee seemed to be snorting and had a confident expression. Was it that she had finally found a place where she could help? Jaehee quickly took out a mechanical pencil from her pencil case and began to write something for a long time. Jaehee handed Soo-hyun a torn notebook, who was frustrated because he couldn't even read the problem after a long time. Soo-hyun weakly accepted the note and read the words Jaehee had scribbled at the top of the note.
'Memorize it all in three days? What is this? How can you memorize so many things? I'm only human.'
Ji-ye said as she looked at the torn notebook while working in the kitchen.
"That's the multiplication table. Kids these days learn it all before they're ten. Ten years old, right? You're in the early grades of elementary school, you know? Soo-hyun, you don't know as much as other kids. Memorize it all in three days."
That night, a faint voice came from Soo-hyun's house, as if it were a house inhabited by a scholar who recited the sayings of Confucius and Mencius late into the night.
"Two times one is two, two times two is four, two times three is six… Sniff! My eyes are welling up with tears. I want to go see the old men…"
The next day, Jaehee stood in front of Soo-hyun's house at the same time as yesterday, holding a violin and smiling brightly before ringing the bell.
'I don't know how well I slept last night. I felt so refreshed and happy. For some reason, seeing Soo-hyun's angry expression or his tired expression made me feel like I was getting revenge for the six hours of forced practice I had to endure.'
Just as the smiling girl was about to ring the bell, the door swung open. Soo-hyun, with swollen eyes, opened the door wearing a tracksuit and looked at Jaehee.
"Are you here?"
'Nod, nod, but you, what's wrong with your eyes? Did you cry by any chance?,' Soo-hyun said with a wicked expression as he looked at Jaehee, who was flustered and didn't know what to do.'
"Today is an outdoor class."
'Outdoor class? Was there such a thing? You... you're not going out because you don't want to study, are you?'
"It's not that you don't want to study, is it?"
'When you say it like that, it makes me even more suspicious.'
"There's a place I want to go with you. And I also need your help."
'You need my help? Is there really a fourteen-year-old who doesn't even remember the multiplication tables? Where on earth are you going?!'
Soo-hyun said as he properly put on his shoes and went out.
"Let's go to Baeksa Village."
'You, did your sister give you permission to do that?'
As Jaehee resisted the urge to go, Ji-ye, who was also dressed appropriately, followed him and said.
"Let's go. Soo-hyun still has a hard time riding the subway, so I'll take him."
'Look, it's revenge. It's a revenge scheme between siblings. Dad, please save me.'