Chapter 29: I Know, But I Don’t Know

 

“Is there anyone here who got the first grade in math on the March mock exams? If you’re here, come up and solve this problem.”

 

It was third period, math class.

 

Though the results weren’t officially out yet, I could roughly estimate my grade by looking at the cutoff scores.

 

Math had always been a strong subject for me, and luck had been on my side this time, landing me in the first-grade score range.

 

In other words, I was precisely the person our math teacher was looking for.

 

However, my judgment was to keep my mouth shut during times like these.

 

“Hey, Lee Han-gyeol, didn’t you have first grade in math? Why aren’t you raising your hand?”

 

“Keep it down, dude. It’s better to lay low at times like this…”

 

What I had learned in society was that drawing attention to yourself could often lead to a backlash.

 

Staying unnoticed and blending in was essential for survival. Boasting about my skills or capabilities was best avoided.

 

Then, suddenly, Jang Yujin raised his hand and proudly declared,

 

“Teacher, my desk-mate is the Newton of our class.”

 

This punk?

 

I’ll see him later.

 

“Oh, really? Then come up and solve this problem. Let’s see the Newton’s skills.”

 

“Teacher, I’m a math-phobe. All I can do is punch numbers into a calculator.”

 

“Quit the nonsense and come up to solve it.”

 

“Yes.”

 

All eyes in the class turned to me.

 

Feeling that staying seated would be more disadvantageous, I eventually went to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk.

 

“Solve this problem. You can’t just write down the answer.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“What’s ‘sure’? Do you think you’re some office worker?”

 

The class chuckled at the teacher’s joke.

 

Hearing the laughter, I felt the tension rise. I had never been the type to enjoy being the center of attention.

 

“Ah- I’ll, I’ll solve it.”

 

I looked at the problem and silently wrote down the equation.

 

I wanted to finish quickly, anticipating another of the teacher’s awkward jokes if I took too long.

 

Finally, I wrote the answer in a corner of the board and told the teacher,

 

“I’ve solved it.”

 

“Never mind the explanation, is the answer 4? Are you sure? Double-check.”

 

“It seems correct.”

 

“Seems correct? Are you sure? Is it right or not?”

 

Ugh—There’s always at least one teacher who enjoys these frustrating games.

 

“I’m sure.”

 

“What will you do if you’re wrong?”

 

“There’s no way I’m wrong.”

 

My confident declaration elicited a chorus of awe from my classmates.

 

I had to clench my eyes shut to endure the ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’.

 

“How did you know it had a repeated root?”

 

“The function has an absolute value applied to a quadratic function... If a quadratic function has a repeated root, it should be differentiable.”

 

“Perfect. Nice to meet you, Newton.”

 

Haa, this math teacher is tough.

 

“Ah... Yes, I’ll go back to my seat.”

 

“Well done.”

 

Even as I returned to my seat, I felt some lingering gazes.

 

Ah—this is precisely why I hate going up to the board.

 

Once seated, I glared at Jang Yujin.

 

“Hey Newton, what’s up?”

 

“Don’t call me something weird.”

 

The rest of the math class proceeded smoothly.

 

However, as soon as class ended, I found myself entangled in something annoying.

 

The guy sitting in front of me asked for help with a math problem.

 

“Newton, can you explain this problem to me?”

 

“Don’t call me that. And have you tried looking at the solution manual?”

 

“I just did. Still don’t get it.”

 

“Too bad. Show it to me.”

 

I was not particularly good at teaching, but it was easy because the guy who asked knew precisely what he didn’t understand.

 

So, I spent my break time not actually taking a break but explaining a math problem to my friends.

 

The real issue was that this little spark ignited by Jang Yujin seemed to be turning into a bigger fire.

 

During the next break, a girl I rarely spoke to came up to ask about another math problem.

 

“Han-gyeol, can you help me with this?”

 

While she was asking about a math problem, I faced a dilemma.

 

Declining harshly could label me a cold person, which concerned me.

 

But neither did I want Eun-ha to see me helping another girl with her studies.

 

These kinds of situations usually lead to misunderstandings.

 

So, this was my conclusion.

 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to solve this problem either. If you figure it out, could you let me know too?”

 

“Ah—sure, I will.”

 

If I say I didn’t know, that should be the end of it.

 

It was not like I was inviting trouble into my life.

 

Satisfied with my deft handling of the situation, I sneaked a glance at Eun-ha.

 

Whoosh—

 

She turned her head away.

 

Did I mess up?

 

***

 

After the fourth period, I had lunch with Eun-ha.

 

I was thinking of spacing out a bit after brushing my teeth when Eun-ha approached with her textbook and notebook.

 

“Han-gyeol, I have some questions to ask. Can you help?”

 

“Uh? Sure.”

 

She usually asked after all the school lessons were over, but today she asked during lunchtime.

 

“I hope you don’t mind—it’s a lot, actually. It might take up the whole lunch break.”

 

“Why worry about that? Just tell me what don’t you get?”

 

“Ah—there’s quite a bit, so let’s take it slow. This and this...and also this and this one...”

 

“Yeah, that is quite a lot. But it’s fine. Alright, let’s go step by step.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

As I wrote down the solution on my notebook, I explained each step in detail to Eun-ha.

 

Whenever I clarified my approach, she nodded and listened attentively.

 

By the time we finished all the questions, there were barely ten minutes left of lunch break.

 

Guess it wasn’t an exaggeration to say it’d take the whole time?

 

“Han-gyeol, I’m sorry. I made you spend your whole lunch break on me.”

 

“Nah, it’s fine. And the questions were pretty tough, so it was a good review for me too.”

 

“Ah—but would you mind if I bring more questions next break?”

 

“Aren’t you working too hard lately? Take it easy, you’ll wear yourself out.”

 

“No, I can’t afford to fail twice.”

 

“Alright, alright.”

 

Helping someone who was working hard was a natural course of action.

 

“Oh right, do you have any candy, Han-gyeol?”

 

“Of course. Want one? Didn’t you just brush your teeth?”

 

“Um—a single candy should be fine. Just one, please.”

 

“Okay, here.”

 

I pulled a candy from my pocket and handed it to Eun-ha.

 

“Do you always carry around multiple candies?”

 

“Hmm, not sure about the exact number, but I always have some.”

 

Eun-ha and I planned to spend the remaining 10 minutes in such idle chatter.

 

Just then, the girl who had asked me a math question during the previous break approached my seat with her reference book in hand.

 

I was having a rare one-on-one conversation with Eun-ha—what impeccable timing.

 

“Lee Han-gyeol.”

 

“Yeah? What is it?”

 

“What do you mean ‘what is it?’ You said to let you know if I figure out the question.”

 

“Ah—right, right. There isn’t much of a lunch break left, but that should be okay?”

 

“The time’s not the issue... if you’re talking with Eun-ha, we can do it later.”

 

Quite an observant friend, huh?

 

But it seemed that Eun-ha had different thoughts.

 

“Huh? I’m curious too, is it okay to explain it to both me and Han-gyeol?”

 

“You too, Eun-ha?”

 

“Yeah. If it’s a problem that Han-gyeol can’t solve, I probably can’t solve it either.”

 

“Um... Okay.”

 

The girl from class sat across from both Eun-ha and me.

 

“Ah, I was planning to write it down as I explained. Eun-ha, can I borrow your notebook?”

 

“Sure, sure! Feel free to use it.”

 

Eun-ha promptly handed over her notebook.

 

“Thanks. Alright, let me explain. This problem initially—”

 

The girl started detailing the solution on Eun-ha’s notebook. However, midway through, I felt like I got the gist of how to solve it. It would be awkward to cut her off, so I just nodded along.

 

But then, something odd caught my eye in Eun-ha’s notebook.

 

It looked like the math problem Eun-ha had asked me about earlier was already solved on it. But it wasn’t even in my handwriting, and the notebook I used to help her understand was my own.

 

“Han-gyeol, were you listening?”

 

“Huh? Of course, I was. Thanks for explaining it to me.”

 

“Sure, I’ll head back now. If you have more questions later, just ask, okay?”

 

“If I have a problem, I’ll ask you. Thanks for coming over to explain it.”

 

“Alright.”

 

So, the girl who had asked about the problem returned to her seat. The class was almost over, so Eun-ha began to pack her stuff too. She picked up the reference books and pencil case she had brought, and just as she was about to pick up her notebook, my hand gently landed on it.

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

With a puzzled look on her face, Eun-ha stared at me as I spoke with a sly grin.

 

“Eun-ha.”

 

“What?”

 

“From now on, only bring questions you don’t know the answers to, okay?”

 

For a moment, Eun-ha flinched, and her face slowly started to turn red.

 

“I, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

 

“No, it’s just that you seem to understand things so well.”

 

“The bell is about to ring! I’m going back to my seat!”

 

Eun-ha hurriedly grabbed her notebook and fled back to her seat.

 

When will I confess? How many kids should we have, and what would be good names for them?

--- The End OF The Chapter ---

 

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