Seoha followed Sujeong.
They exited the cafeteria and turned halfway around the building when a drink vending machine came into view.
Sujeong stopped there.
“What drink do you want?”
“Cola.”
*Thunk.*
Sujeong bought a cola, then pressed the button for coffee for herself.
*Click.*
Not knowing the full story, Seoha felt uncomfortable in this situation. Still, he felt a little happy that Sujeong had gotten angry on his behalf.
Perhaps misunderstanding Seoha’s stiff expression, Sujeong smiled gently.
“Don’t hate them too much. They’re actually not that bad.”
As if embarrassed to be making excuses, she awkwardly took a sip of her coffee.
“Huh?”
“Minho—ah! That tall kid. He used to be really nice. I’d known him since fifth grade, and a lot of kids struggled to adjust to the gifted academy at first. Minho helped them a lot back then.”
“He seemed kind of scary….”
Sujeong shook her head and spoke quietly.
“He’s just anxious.”
“About what?”
“Kids at the gifted academy have heard how special they are since they were young. Me too. But then it turns out they’re nothing special? It’s not easy to accept that. Minho must feel pressure to achieve something before he gets older. Seongchan, who was with him, is the same way.”
Wouldn’t it have been better if Minho had never come to the gifted academy?
Sujeong had seen far too many children crumble under pressure and stress.
“Did you feel that way too?”
At Seoha’s question, Sujeong opened her eyes wide and pointed at herself with her index finger.
“Me? No. I never once doubted myself. Not until I met you.”
“What did I even do….”
“It’s just… I can kind of understand those kids.
You’re not even from the gifted academy, and a kid much younger than them is getting all this attention right now.
Seoha, you’re pretty famous, you know? Around here, there’s probably almost no one who doesn’t know you now. Meeting you woke me right up too. It made me think I can’t rest on my laurels.”
Seoha listened silently to Sujeong, but there was something he ultimately couldn’t understand.
“Where does the awareness that you’re special come from?”
“Huh?”
What on earth were these people so obsessed with?
“If others tell you you’re special, do you really become such a person? I asked because none of the special people from the past that I knew seemed to be like that.”
Sujeong looked at Seoha with blank eyes.
She had never once thought about it.
*‘Specialness isn’t completed by someone’s recognition?’*
Sujeong realized that the proposition she had believed was not a necessary condition for being special. Praise should only be given as a result. If one pursued only fame, ruin might be the inevitable consequence.
But humans aren’t that strong. That’s why they crave recognition in advance. And they try to use it as fuel to move forward.
*‘Like debt collectors.’*
Soon, the people around them would demand payment for the recognition they had bestowed. It’s your turn now, so hurry up and show us how special you are.
Seoha turned his back and walked away.
Sujeong wanted to follow him, but her feet felt heavy and wouldn’t move, as if frozen.
* * *
Second period began.
Problems on algebra, calculus, and geometry.
*‘This geometry problem is quite interesting.’*
Having quickly solved the first two problems, Seoha smiled at the last one, number six.
It was a pleasant problem that gave him something to think about.
*Scratch scratch.*
Seoha twirled the pencil between his fingertips and filled out the answer sheet.
A coordinate plane was already unfolding in his mind.
*‘A problem using reflection angles.’*
Three points evenly arranged on a circumcircle. And the orthocenter H located slightly off its center.
Seoha could see what others couldn’t.
*‘The position vector of the orthocenter is equal to the sum of the position vectors of the three vertices.’*
A circle with OH as its diameter was drawn in his head.
Seoha’s eyes sparkled. The corners of his lips rose slightly.
*‘If I set the coordinate system with the circumcenter at the origin….’*
The symmetry of the triangle formed by the three intersection points.
The fact that the distances from the circumcenter to each intersection point were all equal, and that these points formed a beautiful relationship with the pedal triangle of the original triangle (a triangle formed by the feet of the perpendiculars from a given point to the three sides of the triangle).
A rich geometric structure was hidden within a seemingly simple figure.
The problem’s creator must have been captivated by the beautiful symmetry of this reflection.
*‘Hmm?’*
While writing his answer, Seoha sensed a strange presence.
*Pitter-patter.*
Suddenly, goosebumps rose on his arms, and he slowly turned only his eyes to look beside him.
And he was astonished.
“That’s it. Exactly that!”
The female proctor was standing behind him, looking at his answer.
She muttered strange interjections in a small voice so as not to be heard. She probably didn’t even realize that sounds were leaking from her mouth.
When Seoha turned his body and made eye contact, she flinched with a surprised expression.
“Ahem… ahem.”
Even after returning to the podium, the proctor’s suspicious behavior continued.
She would pretend to walk by and stare at Seoha’s answers, or frequently turn her eyes to check on Seoha even from afar.
She was fidgeting around like a puppy desperate for the bathroom.
The teaching assistant behind her mouthed words, seemingly begging her to stop, trying to calm the professor down.
*Beeeep—*
While Seoha watched them, second period ended.
The professor hurriedly walked up to the podium and completely changed her expression.
“Time’s up. Submit your answer sheets. The results will be announced within two weeks.”
Before the students left, Professor Kim Jiyun glanced at Seoha.
The news the teaching assistant had delivered a few days ago had been truly shocking.
“Professor, there’s a student who made a Latin Square on the first exam answer sheet!”
“What?”
Professor Kim jumped up from her seat.
But when she looked into his identity, he was an elementary school student.
Jiyun was astonished.
No matter how gifted a child was, they needed time to ripen; it was as if the existence known as Yu Seoha had slipped past this law entirely.
Then she came to her senses.
*‘There was also Elijah Cronen.’*
Exceptional beings, as if gifts prepared by God for humanity, had always existed throughout all ages and cultures. If she had discovered such fortune?
When she inquired at the mathematical society, she learned that he had swept the grand prizes in every competition he entered. In the high school division, no less.
Professor Kim Jiyun made up her mind. She would keep Yu Seoha in the mathematics world by any means necessary.
And she hurriedly revised the problem.
It was an extremely difficult problem, but one that would immerse the solver in the mysterious beauty of geometric figures if solved.
*‘Not this time.’*
The reality of the Korean mathematics world was bleak.
All the talented students entered medical or engineering schools. The number of students choosing mathematics, the foundation of science, was negligible, and even those mostly went to medical graduate school after graduation or slipped away through double majors to choose corporations.
There was a fundamental reason for this.
Korean society did not treat mathematicians well.
How had France, which had not achieved good results in the Olympiad until now, become a mathematical powerhouse?
Because society respected mathematicians.
They recognized the endless journey toward the unknown that mathematicians faced, the agony of struggling to find truth.
*‘It’s such a beautiful discipline.’*
Professor Kim couldn’t understand.
If she were a smart student, she would never give up this pure intellectual pleasure of exploring the laws of the universe and approaching absolute truth.
But this time, she was confident.
Yu Seoha had deliberately gotten an answer wrong to create the Latin Square she had intended.
This meant he instinctively knew the aesthetics of numbers.
If he showed this level of mathematical talent at that age, what would he become later?
The mathematics world had been led by America and China for decades.
Jiyun lamented the reality of the Korean mathematics world, which had become a subcontractor receiving and analyzing their research.
*‘If only Korea had a figure like Elijah Cronen….’*
She had thought this more than once or twice.
Jiyun had successfully suppressed her desire to talk to that child throughout first period.
But when she saw the answer sheet he submitted before lunchtime, her patience finally snapped.
A proof so perfect.
Every single line of his written answer struck a chord in her heart.
If she could secure Yu Seoha alone, it would more than make up for all the talent the Korean mathematics world had lost until now.
After all, in this field, just one true genius could lead the entire academic community.
But….
*‘What should I do?’*
Jiyun had never once tried to persuade a student.
Because until now, there hadn’t been a student worth recruiting.
Seoha packed his bag and left the classroom.
“Mr. Park!”
Jiyun habitually called the teaching assistant’s name.
Wasn’t a teaching assistant someone who resolved the professor’s difficulties?
“Yes, Professor!”
The teaching assistant had already run over.
“Go after him right now and catch that kid.”
“Huh? Catch him? What then?”
Jiyun panicked.
She needed to tell him to come to the mathematics department, but the merits she could offer were lacking even in her own eyes.
“No, go to my room right now and bring everything that might work as a souvenir. Understood?”
Professor Kim Jiyun hurriedly put on her coat, grabbed her car keys, and went out.
The teaching assistant watched her, tears welling up.
“Sigh, Professor. You’ve never done this for me before.”
But looking at the answer that kid had written, he felt his breath catch. He wasn’t confident he could do better even though he was a doctoral student.
The teaching assistant swallowed his tears and began searching for souvenirs that an elementary school student might like.
* * *
Seoha walked through the campus.
*‘It was a great problem.’*
Seoha’s head was still filled with the lingering emotion he’d felt after solving problem number six.
*Honk—*
A horn sounded from behind.
Seoha was startled and moved aside. But the car slowed down, pulled up alongside him, and rolled down its window.
*Whirrr—*
“Oh? You’re the kid who took the exam earlier? I was just on my way out—want a ride home?”
Seoha’s eyes narrowed.
The person who had acted strangely during the exam.
“My mom told me not to get into a car with someone I don’t know.”
At the unexpected answer, Professor Kim stammered.
“Huh? Ah…ah! Right? Was this too much for a first meeting?”
“My dad is coming soon, so I’m fine.”
“W-wait! I’ll be honest. Can you give me five minutes?”
“Huh?”
“Just five minutes. I created the last problem for second period. Didn’t you have any questions about it?”
Seoha fell into thought.
He wanted to talk to someone who had created such a problem.
“Yes! Okay.”
“Wait right there!”
Color returned to Professor Kim’s face.
Jiyun, who had quickly parked the car nearby and returned, sat on a bench with Seoha.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I’m Professor Kim Jiyun of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The reason I caught you is that your mathematical talent doesn’t look ordinary to me.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve heard that a lot, then?”
“Teacher Sin Uhyeon and Professor Edward Han told me before.”
“Senior Han? Don’t tell me you met him? What did he say? Surely he didn’t tell you to come to America? No, last time he took a promising undergraduate with him—is he stabbing me in the back again like this?”
“Ah…no. He did say it would be good to come to America, but I want to live with my family. He came because we have a paper we’re writing together right now.”
“A paper? Hah! I almost let this slip right under my nose.”
“Huh?”
“No, no! Seoha, you seem to have studied mathematics quite deeply. Why is that?”
She had thought she was the first to discover him, but she wasn’t.
“Uh…um….”
To such an ordinary question, he unexpectedly couldn’t answer easily. Then Seoha finally opened his mouth.
“Because the world is made of mathematics?”
Jiyun’s eyes widened.
*‘Oh my god!’*
To think there was an answer she liked so much.
Fanfare rang in Jiyun’s head.
“Do you happen to know the etymology of mathematics?”
She thought he wouldn’t know, but the correct answer came out.
“Mathematikoi.”
“Yes. It’s the name of the Pythagorean school.
Pythagoras was a man who served the gods. He could be considered half a priest. Since this was BC, of course not the God we know.”
Jiyun continued, gauging Seoha’s reaction.
“Pythagoras believed, just like your answer, that the world was made of numbers. Therefore, he thought studying mathematics was a way to approach the will of God.”
“I really liked that part when I read it as a child.”
At Seoha’s answer, Jiyun smiled brightly.
“Right? It’s as if you were born to be a mathematician. You must never change that mindset, alright?”
It was a needless worry.
There was no way someone would show such insight without an interest in mathematics.
The conviction that she wouldn’t lose Seoha to medical or engineering school brought a wave of relief.
“Yes! I want to continue studying mathematics too. There are still so many mysteries in the world that humans haven’t interpreted yet.”
“As expected, you know your stuff! Why don’t people realize that only mathematics can give truth to humanity?”
Seoha looked toward the school gate.
In the distance, someone who appeared to be his father was waving his hand.
“I think I have to go now.”
“Alright, just one last thing.”
Jiyun had really wanted to ask Seoha this.
“Yes.”
“Why did you get question 25 wrong on the first exam?”
Seoha turned to Jiyun with a surprised expression.
And then, as if he understood, he smiled brightly.
“I thought the problem’s creator desperately wanted that.”
Perhaps because he felt a sense of closeness, Seoha waved his hand cutely and walked away.
Jiyun stood blankly, watching his figure recede.