Chapter 12: Unexpected Aptitude

Yoon Heesung settled quietly opposite me, his eyes wide. Despite his imposing size, his actions were surprisingly docile. Then, he asked, “Why?”

I retrieved the workbook I had brought from my bag.

“Let’s study together.”

“……”

Yoon Heesung remained silent for a moment. Soon, however, he understood the implication and returned with his own book and pen.

‘I thought he had completely given up on studying,’ I mused. ‘But he still has a workbook.’ I inwardly marveled as I opened the workbook Yoon Heesung had brought.

But then.

‘Isn’t this from years ago?’

Every high school student in Korea used this particular workbook. I even owned a few copies myself. Yet, the cover design seemed unfamiliar to me.

I checked the page immediately after the cover. The publication year was dated a surprising five years prior. Tilting my head, I quickly flipped through the pages.

To my astonishment, every single problem had already been solved. I tilted my head even further, a deeper crease forming on my brow.

‘The content must have been different back then,’ I thought. However, since the changes wouldn’t be drastic, it was still possible to work through an older workbook. I, too, had often obtained and solved last year’s or the year before’s workbooks from teachers at my previous school.

‘But why would he specifically solve one from five years ago?’ I wondered. ‘It must have been hard to even find.’

“Did you intentionally buy an old one?”

I had seen students who, after finishing all the current year’s problems, would seek out and solve those from the previous one or two years. But five years? Frankly, Yoon Heesung didn’t strike me as someone that interested in studying.

“It’s not like that. I bought it when it came out. It’s the only workbook I have here right now.”

“……”

I struggled to fully grasp what he meant. Had he engaged in advanced learning? Five years ahead of schedule?

Perhaps misunderstanding my silence, Yoon Heesung asked another question.

“I have other subjects too. Should I bring those?”

“……No. Let’s just use mine together.”

‘It couldn’t be that he had no money, forcing him to keep using a five-year-old workbook,’ I reasoned. ‘Then what was it?’ I simply couldn’t figure it out.

Pushing my worries aside for the moment, I introduced a new topic.

“Do you know we have a mock exam next week? It’s on Monday.”

“Really?”

As expected, Yoon Heesung’s voice was indifferent, devoid of any interest. I opened my own workbook.

Having only a few workbooks, I had to solve them repeatedly. Because of this, I made sure to write all my solutions separately, keeping the workbooks themselves clean. I pushed one towards Yoon Heesung, also opening a notebook beside him.

“Let’s see what you know. Try solving this.”

“Solve this?”

“Yes.”

No matter how much the kids bothered him or how often he skipped school, giving up on studying entirely was unacceptable. Regardless of whether he had money or not, it felt too unfair.

I didn’t want Yoon Heesung to suffer any disadvantages in life. I wasn’t sure why I cared so much about someone I had only recently met.

Perhaps it was because Yoon Heesung had done so much for me. When everyone else stood by and watched, only Yoon Heesung had extended a hand.

As I rationalized my feelings, I watched Yoon Heesung solve the problems.

“……What? You’re actually solving them well?”

Contrary to my concerns, Yoon Heesung solved the problems quite adeptly. I had naturally assumed he would get stuck after a few questions, so I flipped the page and presented the next problem.

Yoon Heesung solved that one effortlessly too, despite it being quite challenging.

“Hey. Aren’t you good at studying?”

“Am I? I don’t know.”

The person in question, however, remained utterly unenthusiastic. I found myself acting like an overzealous parent.

“You seem incredibly good! Did you skip school and study alone at home?”

“Would that even be possible?”

Yoon Heesung burst into laughter at my words. A clear, yet brief, burst of laughter brushed past my ears before fading.

Still wearing a faint smile, Yoon Heesung asked, “Why are you so happy about me solving problems?”

“Was I… happy? No, it’s not like that.”

I quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, you need to come to school next week and take the mock exam. Let’s see what score you get. You’ve taken mock exams before, right?”

“No.”

‘No…?’ I carefully composed my expression. I didn’t want to show my overt surprise and hurt Yoon Heesung’s feelings.

However, for a high school student to have never taken a mock exam was incredibly odd. Had he been bullied at his previous school too? Had that prevented him from attending?

I almost asked directly but then decided to beat around the bush instead.

“At your previous school… no, where were you before you transferred here?”

“America.”

“Ah. America…”

That made sense. Someone who attended school in America wouldn’t have taken a Korean mock exam.

‘So, Yoon Heesung was in America all this time and then suddenly came to Korea because of the Madam?’

I was curious. Beyond this, I was curious about everything concerning Yoon Heesung. Who he lived with in America, what his life was like, whether it was difficult to decide to return to Korea.

But at the same time, I felt cautious. Was it okay to ask everything I wanted to know? I wanted to close the distance between us, but I didn’t know how. I couldn’t tell where the appropriate boundary lay.

“……!”

Just then, Yoon Heesung abruptly closed the distance between us. Quite literally, he narrowed the physical space. He leaned forward, suddenly bringing his upper body close.

Taken aback, I instinctively recoiled but couldn’t evade him. Mesmerized by his dark, beautiful eyes so close to mine, I could only stare. His eyelashes fluttered gently.

“By the way, Yunwoo.”

“Hm?”

“Can’t we sit side-by-side? Do we have to sit opposite each other?”

I had wondered what serious thing he was about to say. I responded, a little bewildered.

“There’s no reason why not… but why?”

“If we sit side-by-side, it’ll be easier to show you the problems I’ve solved. And it’ll be easier to ask you questions.”

“Would you even have anything to ask me?”

‘You seem to solve them even better than I do,’ I thought. As I nodded, Yoon Heesung quickly moved to sit on my right. Then, he smiled, clearly pleased.

He didn’t seem like the type to smile often. Perhaps he smiled more frequently once he got close to someone. I now knew one more thing about Yoon Heesung.

“First, I’ll give you this, so try solving it.”

“Okay.”

I lent Yoon Heesung one of my workbooks and instructed him to solve the problems.

However, a challenge soon arose. I hadn’t realized that when Yoon Heesung concentrated, he had a habit of leaning to one side.

“……”

Yoon Heesung’s shoulder kept brushing against mine. I wrote with my right hand, while Yoon Heesung leaned his body, supporting himself with his left arm on the floor, making it impossible for our bodies not to touch.

Moreover, we were both wearing short-sleeved shirts, so our bare skin kept making contact, making me doubly aware of it.

I couldn’t suggest moving apart, fearing that showing my awareness would make the atmosphere even more awkward.

I wasn’t even sure if this awareness was normal. Did everyone notice these things when they were with friends? Noticing when they were close, noticing when they were beside each other… Was that how it was?

Unable to focus on the problems, I bit my fingernails restlessly. To avoid showing it, I idly scribbled some random equations with my free hand.

“Yunwoo.”

“Huh? Why?”

It was then, when Yoon Heesung suddenly spoke, causing me to quickly turn my body. A handsome face was incredibly close.

As if to match my eye level, he had lowered his head, looking down at me. We were so close that I could discern the color of his pupils within his dark eyes.

“I don’t understand this.”

With those words, his breath brushed against my cheek.

“How do you solve this one?”

Involuntarily, I swallowed hard. I had a feeling Yoon Heesung must have heard it. I tried my best to act unconcerned.

“Uh… well, if we assume this is on a plane, the z-axis disappears, right? Then this coordinate…”

My heart pounded throughout my explanation. I gripped my trembling hand tightly and wrote down the equation.

“…Do you understand?”

“No.”

His firm answer helped alleviate some of my tension. I continued my explanation once more.

“Look. The coordinates are complex right now, aren’t they? So, we eliminate one.”

“Okay.”

“Then, if we substitute the equation here…”

After listening to the full explanation, Yoon Heesung nodded and rubbed his eyes.

“You explain things well.”

“What’s so…?”

“No, really. You’re the best among all the teachers I’ve seen.”

Even as he said that, Yoon Heesung leaned back, resting the back of his head against the sofa. Then, he complained softly.

“But I’m tired. Let’s rest for a bit.”

“What have you even done…?”

Though I chided him, I quietly put down my pen. Nevertheless, knowing that he hadn’t completely abandoned his studies brought me a sense of relief.

If he hadn’t been attending school and his grades were also terrible, I would have been even more upset. Since he was in America, his English would likely be good, and his math skills seemed decent enough.

That meant I only needed to worry about Korean and inquiry subjects. First, I would have to see what score he got on the mock exam next week.

Yoon Heesung had too many absences to qualify for early admission.

‘Then again,’ I thought, ‘why am I even thinking about all this? I’m not his mother.’

“You rest too.”

“Ah!”

Yoon Heesung, unaware of my complex thoughts, calmly pulled my shoulder, making me lean the back of my head against the sofa. Even after that, he didn’t lower the hand gripping my shoulder.

My heart plummeted. Body touched body. My arm pressed against his firm chest. Perhaps because of the sudden movement, my pulse surged wildly.

He seemed to be quite lonely and enjoyed physical closeness, but this kind of contact was new to me, so I was a bit… surprised. My surprise didn’t easily subside.

But Yoon Heesung simply closed his eyes peacefully and asked, “You’re staying over tonight, right?”

“……Uh.”

“Good.”

“……”

Judging by those words, he truly seemed to be thinking nothing of it. I deliberately ignored the churning in my stomach. Trying to break free from the embrace-like position, I straightened up and changed the subject.

“What’s that game you play every day? What makes you so engrossed in it?”

“This one. Do you know it?”

“No. I don’t play games.”

The game Yoon Heesung showed me was a simple one. Matching three identical patterns in a row to make them disappear. Yet, Yoon Heesung’s score was incredibly high. I shook my head in disbelief.

“Is it really that fun? You look like someone who just eats and plays this game all day. Look at your score.”

“It’s not fun, but I just play it. When I play, I don’t think about anything.”

“……”

That answer somehow struck me as poignant.