Anonymous Board,
[I confess to blasphemy.]
-To be honest, before the exam, I was worried about what would happen if I scored higher than Orijwa. Deep down, I even felt a little guilty. But after seeing the results, I feel at ease. I think I can keep working hard without guilt from now on.
└No way, what a cute thoughtㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Anyone can dream. Didn't we all only know first place before coming here?
└Agreed, I didn't know I'd get this score either.
└The math and science problems were seriously diabolical. Getting them all right felt surreal.
└I never imagined it, but Orijwa's true identity is... Mmph!
└Everyone watch your mouths. That person is very shy.
After grades were forcibly made public, slight changes occurred in Seoha's daily life.
"Hi, Seoha!"
A student from the next class passed by, saw Seoha, and waved.
"Hello."
That was already the fifth time today.
The number of people greeting Seoha first had increased. Most were first-years from other classes, and sometimes upperclassmen he didn't know. Seoha knew all the first-years' names, and now he was contemplating whether he had to memorize all the upperclassmen's names too.
Besides that, his name was called much more often during class, and the school newspaper club requested an interview, but Seoha did not get excited and simply continued doing what he had to do.
On a weekday afternoon, Seoha headed to the library as usual.
Even though exams were over, the school library was always packed with people. Yet, for some time now, the window seat on the third floor that he liked was miraculously always empty.
It was the students' own way of showing courtesy to the top scorer across all subjects, but Seoha didn't know that.
'What a relief.'
He set down his bag and opened his notebook. Then he went to the reference room to look for the book he needed to study today.
'There it is!'
Seoha was the library's infamous problem patron.
Because whenever he couldn't find a book he needed, he always requested them to buy it.
[Theory of Computation]
Seoha returned to his seat with the book.
It was one of the methods Seoha had chosen to break through the deadlock of the Four Color Theorem. It was a concept mainly used in computer science, but also a branch of mathematics.
'There are too many cases to calculate.'
As with the method solved by Appel and Haken, it was already known that the theorem held if you divided planar graphs into thousands of special cases and checked them one by one. It just wasn't something a human could do on their own.
Seoha decided to dig into this very point.
'What if I don't count every single case, but compress it into far fewer steps?'
Theory of Computation analyzes how quickly a given problem can be solved.
Among this theory's tools were automata (mathematical modeling of computational processes), formal languages, and polynomial verification. Seoha wanted to borrow these to express the possibility of graph coloring in a different way.
'Instead of dividing cases, I'll create a new discrimination rule.'
To accomplish this, there were many theories he needed to study.
Sunset light seeped through the library window.
Seoha rested his elbows on the book, his eyes tracing the formulas he had written. The pencil in his right hand raced busily across the paper.
The automata constructed in Seoha's mind connected one by one, and the vertices of graphs overlaid upon them. Moments later, countless cases scattered hazily, then rearranged themselves in an orderly fashion at Seoha's fingertips.
'Ah!'
The modeling he had tried as a test showed promise. But when he tried to proceed to more complex stages, the path disappeared as if shrouded in fog.
'Is this not enough?'
Without realizing how much time had passed, Seoha tried connecting them over and over again.
* * *
Gyeoul was furious.
When she checked the clock, the meeting time had already passed by ten minutes.
'He's making me wait?'
She had never waited for anyone in her life. The other party had always arrived before the appointed time. Not that she had ever been late herself.
A sense of displeasure welled up.
She finally couldn't resist sending a text, but there was no reply.
Once more.
The answer still didn't come.
'He hasn't even read it?'
Beep—.
"The phone you are calling is powered off."
Her hand gripping her phone trembled.
"Argh! Seriously! As if I'd ever meet you again!"
Gyeoul packed her math book and rose from her seat. Then she roughly pushed open the music room door and left.
Trudge, tra...dge.
But her steps gradually slowed and eventually stopped completely.
They hadn't known each other for long, but no matter how she thought about it, Seoha wasn't someone who would break a promise for no reason.
The words she had heard before suddenly nagged at her.
'Sometimes I need peace of mind.'
His calm eyes as he said it, how he had pleaded desperately wanting her.
Come to think of it, his complexion hadn't been good either, and she worried he might be ill somewhere.
"Fine! I'll go get him."
Gyeoul decided to go check what had happened herself.
She crossed the lawn and passed through the trail.
Then the scenery gradually began to change. For the first time since enrolling, Gyeoul set foot in the Science department area.
A campus strangely quiet,
Gyeoul unconsciously caught her breath and stopped walking.
The constant hum from the Arts department, silly jokes and laughter, the smiling students sitting on benches playing instruments—none of that could be seen here.
"Why is it so quiet?"
The bleak concrete buildings seemed to turn even the sound of the wind into static silence.
Pinned on the bulletin boards were stiff-toned announcements and arrays of words she couldn't recognize.
Whether it was her imagination or not, even the faces of passing students seemed full of fatigue and indifference.
'Can people even live in a place like this?'
Gyeoul forgot that this was even the same school.
Then, from not far away, she heard students talking.
"Hey, what's Seoha up to these days?"
At the familiar name, Gyeoul's heart dropped.
"Dunno, I heard he asked the librarian to get him some theory book? It's already been days since exams ended."
At Taejin's answer, Gibeom nodded lightly.
"You can't help but respect this. My cousin's in a PhD program for new materials, and I bet he doesn't work as hard."
Unable to stop herself after hearing the conversation, Gyeoul called out to them.
"Excuse me!"
The two students turned their heads simultaneously. And flinched in surprise.
The gender ratio in the Science department was 8.5 to 1.5.
The 1.5 that existed were largely the same species as them. Hoodies and sweatpants worn every day, dark circles visible through thick horn-rimmed glasses—in terms of color, they were the same gray as them.
But Gyeoul was different.
Her softly shining brown hair, neatly pressed blouse, straight-backed posture, and above all, her wide-open eyes sparkled vibrantly. She was a brilliantly shining gold.
For the first time since enrolling, the two realized that this school's uniform was pretty.
As if she had no interest in their agitation, Gyeoul asked point-blank.
"Do you know Yu Seoha?"
"Yes! We know him!"
The two nodded like fools.
"Where is he now?"
Though she clearly looked younger, Gyeoul had a chilly yet confident air.
A figure in stark contrast to their beggar-like appearances.
"Probably on the library's third floor..."
Before Gibeom even finished speaking, she turned around. And walked away without looking back.
"Holy shit! Did she just come here looking for Seoha?"
Gibeom blinked in disbelief.
"Can't you tell by looking?"
"I take back what I said about respect. That runt's doing what even seniors couldn't—dating..."
"Stop. It's pathetic."
Taejin patted Gibeom's shoulder.
"No, but does this make sense?! Seoha's freaking smart too, is this even a just world?"
The two felt an even greater sense of defeat than they had during exams.
* * *
Gyeoul stood before the library door and caught her breath for a moment.
She didn't want to show that she had rushed over for Seoha.
"And here I thought you were sick, but you look perfectly fine?"
She was genuinely angry. She detested people who didn't value promises.
"I'll say just one thing and leave. Then we never have to see each other again."
What did he mean by 'as natural as breathing'?
She truly hated people who made promises that couldn't even last a month.
She took a deep breath and opened the library door.
A place she was visiting for the first time,
From inside came the sounds of pages turning and low coughs.
'Third floor.'
Gyeoul climbed the stairs.
'So this is how hard the Science department students work.'
Careful not to disturb the students studying seriously, Gyeoul ascended the stairs without making a sound.
When she reached the third floor, a different scene from the second floor unfolded. Not a reading room with partitions, but open tables. Nearby bookshelves held countless books neatly arranged.
With slow steps, she tiptoed around the third floor.
Heading toward the window, she saw the person she was looking for.
Sunset was streaming through the glass window. At the center of that light was Seoha.
Gyeoul's steps halted on their own.
Seoha was immersed in his book, as if he had forgotten all sound in the world.
He furrowed his brows deeply, then at some point they gently relaxed and formed an innocent smile.
'His eyelashes are long, aren't they?'
Long, slender fingers held a pen neatly.
What he was writing were clearly difficult formulas she had never seen in her life; Seoha wrote them out at length and corrected them again and again.
Watching him lost in his own world, Gyeoul felt as if her breath was being taken away.
She had definitely come to be angry, but the displeasure she intended to burn away no longer remained in her heart.
Unable to think of speaking, she stood there for some time before Seoha checked the clock, then his phone in surprise. And his eyes met Gyeoul's.
Panic, surprise, regret.
His usually expressionless face changed dramatically several times in a short moment. He bolted up from his seat and approached Gyeoul.
"I'm really sorry. I had set my phone alarm, but I didn't know the battery died."
Seoha's face was full of apology. Thanks to that, the little anger remaining in Gyeoul completely subsided. But she didn't let it show.
"Thanks to you, I spent 30 minutes looking for you."
The sunset had already deepened, illuminating Gyeoul. Her hair sparkled as it caught the light. Perhaps because of that, her ears were dyed red as well.
"I-I'll get ready and come out now. I'll definitely make up for today later, I promise."
Seoha hurriedly packed his bag and came out.
As they exited the library, Gyeoul spoke to Seoha.
"Instead of later, how about today? Since you're done studying, buy me some tteokbokki or something."
"Yeah! Okay."
The two walked together along the trail toward the music room.
Gyeoul looked back. The Science department buildings that had seemed so gloomy no longer looked depressing.
Upon arriving at the music room, Gyeoul immediately sat before the piano.
"You want me to play first?"
"Yeah, I want to today."
Ding—, Diiing—.
As Gyeoul began to play, Seoha closed his eyes.
The piece that flowed out was Debussy's Clair de Lune,
Its poignantly beautiful melody filling the music room.
Gyeoul felt stifled.
She didn't know the reason for her frustration, but she knew what to do at times like this.
She released everything into her performance, sending it away.
Gyeoul poured all the emotions she was feeling now into her playing.
* * *
Seoha took a deep breath with his eyes closed.
The notes flowing from the keyboard gently stroked Seoha's complicated mind.
It felt as if all his worries and concerns were subsiding.
Thump, thump.
His heartbeat had already matched the tempo of Gyeoul's performance.
Seoha felt at ease. And he looked back on his day.
'What was I trying to do today?'
He remembered.
He had been trying to create a new discrimination rule.
Seoha caught his breath and recalled the thought process that had been cut off.
'Where was I stuck. Ah! The modeling of more complex automata.'
Seoha's consciousness dug into the depths of the problem where he had been stuck. And instantly spread outward.
The scattered fragments of thought began to find each other and gather. And finally formed one complete logic.
'I got it!'
'You shouldn't try to fill the entire planar graph.'
'If I can encode only the color information at the boundaries and create a finite automaton, I can determine whether this boundary can be extended with four colors using local rules.'
Only now did Seoha feel certain.
'I can solve this problem.'
When he opened his eyes, Gyeoul was on the verge of tears.
"You've been like that for over 30 minutes."