Apocalypse’s Teacher

Chapter 20

Learning Never Ends

***

Living with the kids sometimes…

No, mostly brings unimaginable fatigue.

“Space Police!”

Especially in cases like this.

Half-awake, I crawled on all fours, sighing heavily.

Why am I doing this?

Luckily, there’s no complicated explanation.

“Dabin-ah… Uncle’s back hurts.”

“Shh! Motorcycles don’t talk.”

I dropped my head.

Yes, I was playing Space Police with Dabin.

And I was the motorcycle.

Dabin, who turned 9 this year and was soon to be 10, loved Space Police and needed someone to play with since shy Dayoon wouldn’t join.

How is this kid so innocent?

T his w a s co p ie d f r o m k i n gm t l . o r g
At nine, shouldn’t she be able to tell right from wrong?

That might be true for kids who had ‘normal education.’

But expecting that from a kid who had only learned lies from Ki-hyun in a post-apocalyptic world was too much.

I glared at Ki-hyun.

She flinched and plugged in her earphones.

‘So you know?’

It seemed she knew why I was going through this.

At least she had that much conscience.

-The Space Police motorcycle can turn into a human, said my sister!

Since there was no motorcycle that turned into a human, I had become the human who turned into a motorcycle.

I had stayed up late the previous night, and the lingering fatigue made my whole body feel heavy.

“Dabin-ah, but what about our meal…”
Thi s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g mtl . or g

Splat.

Dabin’s water gun soaked my crown.

“No eating while working!”

Was that malice behind her smiling face, or was it just my imagination?
T hi s was co p i e d f r o m k i ng m t l . o r g

A saying from an elementary school teacher friend came to mind.

-The theory of inherent evil is correct. Otherwise, it can’t be explained.

Her face, worn out from fatigue and gulping down soju, was vivid today.

‘Cheol-jin-ah, you were right…’

The theory of inherent evil is correct.

Otherwise, this situation can’t be explained.

With my body drenched in fatigue and misery, I crawled on all fours again.

***

After a late meal, we planned the week’s schedule.

We needed to consider our remaining supplies and the nearby terrain to schedule outings in advance, so things wouldn’t get messed up.

After handling all that, I spent some time with Hyesung, who had been unusually quiet lately.

Hyesung’s mouth was agape.

Her eyes, filled with love, were fixed on the flower pot.

The kidney bean had sprouted leaves, and its fresh, vibrant appearance enchanted her.

“Baby, grow up quickly.”

How she could watch it all day without getting bored was beyond me.

Hyesung’s tone was full of excitement.

“Right, it will grow quickly.”

“Yes, so I have to keep watching.”

I laughed.

Her determination to watch every moment of its growth because it was growing quickly was endearing.

It was indeed true.

Kids grow up too fast.

T h is w as c o p i ed f r o m k i n gm t l . or g
Even a moment’s distraction, and they’ve grown an inch, learning new things from who knows where.

So it was right not to take your eyes off them.

Not having someone to share those growing moments with was a sad thing.

“Soon, we’ll need to support it with a stick.”

“A stick?”

“Yes, like a chopstick.”

T h i s w a s c opi e d f r o m k in g m t l . o r g
I pointed at the bean’s stem.

“When it grows a bit more, its head will get heavy and lean forward. To prevent that, we need to provide support.”

“Chopsticks. Chopsticks. Chopsticks.”

Hyesung repeated the word ‘chopsticks’ with a focused expression, trying not to forget.

Then she nodded.

“Chopsticks!”

She seemed to have memorized it.

After patting the absorbed Hyesung, I headed towards the twins.

Carefully.

I planned to surprise them as they whispered to each other.

Dabin flinched and turned, aiming her water gun at me.

“Freeze!”

Her posture was quite impressive, making her look like a real cop.
T h is w a s co p i e d f r om k i n gm tl. o r g

I raised my hands above my head and laughed.

“Oh no, I’ve been caught.”

Dabin grinned, and Dayoon looked down.

I slowly lowered my hands and checked what they had been whispering about.

What I saw was an open book.

The content was….

“Science?”

It was one of the books we had found earlier.

A science reference book.

Dabin nodded proudly.

“Dayoon is teaching me!”

“Teaching? Who?”

“Me!”

Dayoon’s cheeks turned red.

I asked her, surprised.

“What? Dayoon, do you understand this?”

Until now, our lessons had been basic Korean.

My reasoning was that they needed to know how to read before anything else.

So I was curious how Dayoon, who I hadn’t taught science to, could teach it to Dabin, and her answer left me stunned.

“…I understand it by reading.”

I recognized those words.

Rather, I knew the type of person who said such things.

‘…The club president.’

Back in college, when I asked the president of my department’s club for help with exam prep, he had said almost the exact same thing.

-Hey, do I really need to memorize all this?

-Yes, I picked out the questions most likely to appear on the exam. Just memorize these, and you’ll pass easily.

-…There are 1000 questions.

-Yes.

-You expect me to memorize all this?

-People usually do it in two weeks.

-….

As if it was a given, as if it was something anyone could do.

Dayoon’s face, with that same look of ‘just do it,’ overlapped with the club president’s.

“…Dayoon, you’re a genius.”

I muttered without realizing it.

Dayoon’s face turned as red as a persimmon.

Next to her, Dabin said brightly,

“Yes! But Dayoon can’t explain well!”

“Huh?”

“I don’t understand even when she explains!”

The sentence that popped into my head as she proudly puffed out her chest was,

‘…Is she really bad at explaining?’

Maybe Dabin just didn’t understand.

I didn’t say that aloud.

Even among college professors, not all smart people are good at explaining, so I kept that possibility in mind.

I just nodded.

Th i s w a s c o pi e d f rom k i n g m t l . or g
“That’s possible. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask uncle.”

It was something I said out of a desire to help Dayoon, but it was something I should never have said.

***

‘Why’ was a troublesome question.

The reason was simple, that question had a tendency to lead to more questions.

For example, someone might ask you,

-Why are apples red?

A difficult question.

But if you have the knowledge, you could explain it related to plant genetics and evolution.

But what if the questioner wasn’t satisfied?

What if they asked another question?

-Then why does evolution work that way? Why do genes work like that?

That’s when things get really difficult.

Isn’t it generally true?

Even experts in plant life might face questions outside their field if the queries keep extending.

In such cases, if there’s no one else to answer, the questioner would feel disappointed and frustrated.

So, what I’m trying to say is this:

Dayoon is too smart.

T h is wa s c o p ie d f r o m kin g m t l. o r g
“Uncle…”

I shivered.

My head turned, creaking, towards Dayoon.

“Y-yes?”

She showed me a notebook she was holding.

It was filled with all sorts of symbols and drawings I couldn’t understand.

It was Dayoon’s list of questions.

Cold sweat trickled down my face.

I gulped nervously.

“…Teach me.”

Gone was her usual shyness, replaced by pure curiosity and sparkling eyes that made her approach me.

“Uh, um…”

As I mentioned earlier, I am a PE teacher.

I teach kids about health and physical activities.

I don’t know much about chemistry or math.
T h i s was c op i ed f r o m k i ng m tl.o r g

“U-uncle is busy! I’ll teach you in a bit!”

And so, I fled.

Away from the curiosity monster and towards Hyesung.

Dayoon started to follow but stopped.

She was burdened by the admiring looks Hyesung gave her.

“The bean has grown longer!”

Hyesung, oblivious to my plight, excitedly showed me the pot.

I sighed in relief and patted her head, thinking.

‘…We need an external teacher.’

We needed an external teacher.

Someone to fall into Dayoon’s curiosity trap in my place.

And I knew just the person.

T h i s wa s c o p i e d f ro m k ing m t l.o r g
‘Mr. Park.’

Former researcher, Mr. Park.

We needed his help.

End of Chapter