NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
It’s already early July.
Once the final exam ends tomorrow, summer break is just around the corner.
During the school break,
I was stacking up the food for my mind by reading a book.
“Do-hee, are you reading another difficult book? Aren’t you studying for the exam?”
Su-jin approached me and spoke.
“Yeah, I finished everything.”
Su-jin is the only girl I hang out with.
She’s cute and doesn’t bug me too much, so we get along well.
Plus, when I’m with her, the boys tend to stay away.
“Yikes!”
Except for that little rascal, Park Young-jun.
He grabs my hair again and runs off.
‘Does he really need to get hit again to come to his senses?’
Last time, he cried for ages after getting hit with a soccer ball, but instead of getting any sense, he seems to have gotten worse.
‘Sigh… As a gentleman, I’ll just endure it.’
Lately, the boys have been bothering me more often.
Since I don’t respond and just stay still, it seems like a “Bully Do-hee Challenge” has popped up among the boys.
Oh boy.
“Hey! Park Young-jun! Cut it out!”
Contrary to my already enlightened and unbothered self, Su-jin, who hasn’t been picked on, got angry.
“What a loser!”
‘Ah, I just wish summer break would come already… I miss the peaceful times before elementary school.’
“Why do you keep picking on Do-hee!”
“Because she’s ugly!”
“No way! Do-hee is cute, seriously cute!”
“Nah, she’s ugly!”
“She’s cute!”
“She’s ugly!”
‘Please just be quiet both of you…’
I feel like I’m getting childish, too.
After a childish argument typical of 8-year-olds, soft-hearted Su-jin eventually broke into tears.
“Waaaah!”
“I won!”
‘Ugh… What a fate I have.’
I walked over to Su-jin, wiped her tears, and hugged her.
“Su-jin, stop crying.”
“But… boo-hoo.”
“Oh, were you sad? It’s okay now, stop!”
After a few minutes of calming her down, Su-jin’s heavy breathing finally settled.
“If it happens again, I’ll scold him. This time, good Su-jin is letting it slide, okay?”
“Hmm…”
After barely stopping Su-jin from crying, I called out to the little rascal.
“Hey, Park Young-jun. Come here.”
“No way! You come here.”
‘Seriously, should I just hit him or not?’
Sigh… I guess I, as the adult, have to bear with it.
“Hey Park Young-jun, do you like me?”
“What are you saying, ugly!”
“But why do you keep bothering me?”
“I’m not bothering you!”
“Fine. Let’s agree on this: if you bother me one more time, I’ll take it as you liking me.”
“Hmph, like that would ever happen!”
Please don’t. If you confess, I’ll sock you!
Sigh, the time until summer break feels even longer.
Time feels like it’s stretching out longer.
That evening at dinner,
“Mom, can I just hit those kids?”
“Are they bothering you again?”
“Yeah. It’s driving me crazy.”
Listening to our conversation, Dad chimed in.
“As I said before, they all like you. That’s just how boys are. I used to bother your mom too.”
“Oh, right. I’m not a kid anymore; I’m over twenty, so I wanted to hit someone.”
“Whoa… Honey…”
“But compared to me, Dad’s pretty mild. If a super ugly kid did that for a whole semester, it would drive anyone insane. Honestly, Mom should experience it firsthand; she wouldn’t last a month before wanting to smack him!”
“Sis, what’s ‘smack’?”
The quiet Do-ah repeated my words.
“No, no, Do-ah, you don’t need to know. I just misspoke, okay? Let’s forget about it.”
“I told you to be careful what you say in front of Do-ah, Lee Do-hee.”
“But you brought it up, Mom.”
“When did I—”
Dad, who was listening, butted in again.
“I think both of you are at fault.”
He always has to interrupt when Mom and I are arguing; it’s super annoying.
“To be fair, Dad was just teasing Mom because he likes her.”
“That’s right; it’s oppa’s fault!”
“No… why is this my fault again…”
And just like that, Dad ended up sulking.
“Anyway, enough about that, Mom, I have finals tomorrow.”
“Finals? Oh, right, there’s a test coming up?”
I pretended to look sad as I said this.
“You just found that out? How unfair. How could you have such little interest in your own daughter’s life…?”
“Stop acting.”
“Heh.”
“Mom thought since you were in first year, you wouldn’t even have tests. So you didn’t take the midterms?”
“They said our school was chosen as a pilot school, so we don’t have midterms this year.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, anyway, Mom, what are you going to give me if I get a perfect score on the finals?”
“Our little princess will get a perfect score no matter what, so why should I give you anything?”
“There’s such a thing as feelings, you know.”
“So what do you want?”
“Buy me a new phone. Life’s been so boring lately.”
“You can handle it yourself, so I don’t really care, but ask your dad.”
I got up from my chair, went over to Dad, hugged him, and looked up at him.
“Dad~ Can you~ hmm?”
Flashing my cute charm made Dad grin widely.
“Oh, if our daughter gets a perfect score, I’ll definitely buy it for you.”
He promised without a second thought.
As soon as I heard Dad’s words, I released his arm and pulled away.
“Yes, thank you. Please make sure to keep that promise!”
” In our house, full of scheming and trickery, only the clumsy will get left behind.
I wonder if Dad is out there getting played like a fool.
Dad gently picked up Do-ah, who was sitting quietly with sad eyes, and said,
“Do-ah shouldn’t resemble her sister and mom, right?”
“Huh?”
“Please say you understand…”
“Alright.”
.
.
.
During math test time,
“Please turn the test paper over~”
Since the first-grade math test was just a simple number game, I finished all the problems in 5 minutes and laid down on my desk.
I wish every day was a test.
Class would end early and I wouldn’t have to deal with the other kids.
After about 5 minutes of receiving the test papers, the teacher came over when she saw me laying on my desk.
“Do-hee, you need to do the problems.”
“I’ve finished.”
“Huh?”
The teacher looked at my test paper, covered her mouth, and showed a shocked expression.
This is the thrill of being a smart kid!
After the math test ended, it was time for the Korean language test.
Surprisingly, there were a few tricky questions.
12. Below is a letter requesting a bicycle. What doesn’t match the reason? ( )
Please buy a bicycle as a birthday gift for Dad.
① Riding a bicycle makes you healthier.
② Your legs and arms get stronger.
③ You can go to nearby places quickly.
④ I just want one.
⑤ I can ride with my younger sibling.
Number 4: I just want one.
This always works best on Dad.
But still, socially, number 4 would probably be the right answer.
Next problem.
13. What kind of house do most people want to live in?
① A luxurious big house.
② A house full of animals.
③ A big house with lots of trees.
④ A convenient and clean house.
⑤ A house with lots of entertainment facilities.
Easy, number 1.
.
.
.
“Alright, the answer to question 13 is 4~”
Huh.
After all the answer numbers were announced, I went up to the teacher to point out an error in the question.
“Teacher.”
“Oh, Do-hee, what’s up?”
“I think there’s an error in question 13. Why is the answer number 4?”
“Why do you say that? Of course, it’s number 4.”
“Isn’t it definitely number 1?”
“Why?”
The teacher looked at me with a baffled expression.
I guess she never considered that there could be an error in a first-grade elementary school test question.
“Let me explain. First, number 2, a house with a lot of animals, and number 3, a house with a lot of trees are definitely the kind of houses many people would want to live in. However, since preferences vary, numbers 2 and 3 can be excluded.”
“Right. And?”
“Now, looking back at the question, it asks what kind of house people want to live in. What kind of house do you think people would want?”
“Which house do you want to live in? This one. What kind of house do people want to live in?”
“Of course, it’s number 4, a convenient and clean house, right?”
“Nope. Statistics show that people want to live in expensive places like Tower Palace, detached houses, Itaewon, Cheongdam, and Hannam. In other words, they want expensive houses.”
“Uh…?”
“Number 4 might seem correct at first glance, but there’s a trap. A convenient and clean house means it’s always tidy, which implies that the house is small. Therefore, the price must be low. So, we can rule out number 4.”
“…”
“Now, why do we exclude number 5? A house with lots of entertainment facilities. That means it has a swimming pool, a movie theater, a karaoke room, an internet café, a cocktail bar, a gym – all sorts of things. This means that a house with many entertainment facilities ultimately implies a lavish and large house. But there’s a huge trap here. If all those facilities exist, we’re talking about a building, not a house. So, we eliminate number 5 as it’s a building, not a home. In the end, only option number 1 is left.”
“Haha… I see…”
“Right?”
“Yeah…”
Then the teacher took out her phone and called my mom.
“Hello, Ms. Do-hee, this is Yoo Ji-young, Do-hee’s homeroom teacher.”
“Oh, hello! Did our Do-hee get into trouble again?”
“Not exactly, but we had a test today, and Do-hee’s accident seemed quite childish and unique, haha…”
…
Eventually, I got treated to multiple correct answers and came home.
“No, I’m right, Mom.”
“How is a lavish and large house the answer?”
“Think about it, Mom—if you had to choose between Baek-hwi’s house and ours, wouldn’t you choose Baek-hwi’s house?”
“That makes sense.”
“Right?”
“Right, whatever.”
Mom yanked my ear.
“Ahhh, why again?”
“You’re just a kid, and already so materialistic. I’m worried that Do-ah will turn out like you.”
“Hmph, what’s wrong with being smart?”
After being freed by Mom, I hugged Do-ah, who was playing with a princess doll.
“Ahhh, I want to play with dolls.”
“Sister, play with me~”
“I don’t want to.”
“Hmph…”
Once I let Do-ah go, she went back to playing with her dolls.
“Do-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you want to be like your big sister?”
“Dad said not to be like you.”
“…”
When both Mom and Dad tell Do-ah not to be like me, is there really something wrong with me?
Anyway, I got a perfect score and obtained a cellphone, so mission accomplished.
I’m excited to snap tons of photos of Do-ah with my new phone!