“I’m not worried. Either way, the one who’ll suffer isn’t me but you, teacher.”
“Mm…… Yeah……”
Junyeong took out a bundle of papers from his bag. It was a practice test he’d printed himself. He said that normally on the first day of tutoring, a diagnostic test comes first, and handed over the exam paper.
“I mainly teach just math, so let’s do this first. Ah, can you write calculations? Should I give you a little more time?”
He was about to set a timer on his phone when he saw Seonwoo awkwardly gripping the mechanical pencil with his left hand and asked. Even after seeing the hand wrapped in bandages, he surprisingly didn’t ask useless questions like how he got hurt.
“It’s fine.”
“Oh. You’re confident.”
The timer set for 100 minutes decreased rapidly. While the time passed, Junyeong opened the major textbook he’d pushed to the side. On the page he opened familiarly, all kinds of anatomical drawings were printed. The area around it was full of post-it notes.
His eyes and hands moved more busily than Seonwoo solving math problems. He looked like someone who came to study for himself rather than to tutor. It seemed all his nerves were focused only on studying.
“I’m done.”
“Hm? Already?”
Junyeong raised his head. The timer still had over 50 minutes remaining. He examined the exam paper with a “no way” expression.
“……There’s a lot you didn’t solve?”
It wasn’t just a lot. The further back it went, the more blank space there was. Toward the end, there were even places where entire pages were empty. No wonder more than half the time remained.
Since Seonwoo had only been accepted to art school with internal grades and practical skills, he was far from studying for the college entrance exam. On top of that, math was an area he’d almost given up on, so there were many problems he didn’t know.
“So, have you not prepared for retaking the exam at all until now?”
Junyeong’s face was serious after finishing grading. He tried hard to choose his words, but it was rather useless.
“I was in a traffic accident and was discharged from the hospital last week.”
“Huh? Ah, I see…… Are you okay physically?”
“I also hurt my head so I became a bit stupid.”
“……”
Junyeong looked at the ceiling once, then fixed his gaze on the window and folded his arms, lost in thought. It was quite a long silence.
“From now on, it would be better to do it separately from Taejeong. The progress would be too different.”
Seonwoo, who had been doodling with his left hand, raised his head. In the blank space of the exam paper, some kind of round-shaped sketch was drawn.
“Is he good at studying?”
“He does well. From first choice to third choice, they’re all medical schools.”
“……”
“……Is that so shocking?”
He was surprised enough to unconsciously stop the hand that had been sketching. He hadn’t thought at all that Taejeong’s goal would be medical school.
“Don’t tell me you thought Taejeong was bad at studying?”
“Yes.”
“Why? His father is the Vice Director of Taewoong Hospital, so there’s no way he’d let his only child do poorly in school.”
“He seemed more talented at sports than studying.”
“Hey, thinking athletes must be bad at studying is all just prejudice, you know?”
It was a valid point. However, the reason Seonwoo thought that way was purely because of Taejeong’s personality. It was only twice, but every encounter had been him unable to control his emotions.
“Still, well, Taejeong uses his body as well as his brain. Sometimes when I look at him, it seems like he has everything. He’s handsome too.”
“What sport does he do?”
“Swimming. When he’s not home like now, he’s probably at the pool most of the time. His records are pretty good too, so if he wasn’t the Vice Director’s son, he would’ve become an athlete already, right?”
For a moment, Seonwoo recalled the scent that had wafted over when he first met Taejeong. A scent that was cold yet somehow felt familiar. It was the smell of water steeped in disinfectant. If he could smell it to that degree, just how long was he in the water?
“Why didn’t he become an athlete?”
“Well, obviously because he has to inherit the hospital. His father is the Vice Director of Taewoong Hospital.”
But he was just the Vice Director, true to his title. There would be a separate Director, and he wondered if a hospital of that scale could be handed down to whoever they wanted.
“So why is he retaking the exam? You said he was smart.”
“You’ve been asking all sorts of questions since earlier. Are you very curious about Taejeong?”
“……”
Junyeong was smiling so widely that a dimple formed in the middle of his cheek. Setting aside the topic being Taejeong, he seemed pleased that Seonwoo was taking interest in their conversation.
“Look, look. There’s no better drinking snack than talking about others. This is how everyone becomes close.”
Saying that, he grabbed Seonwoo’s shoulder and closed the distance. Seonwoo was about to remove the hand on his shoulder but chose to just stay still. He was curious about why Taejeong was retaking the exam.
“With Taejeong’s grades, he could’ve even aimed for Korea University’s medical school. He said no, but in my opinion, I thought he could make it, you know? But he secretly applied to a different department without the Vice Director knowing and ended up getting accepted there.”
“……”
“The department he happened to apply to was veterinary medicine too…… so it became like he was openly telling the Vice Director to screw off. The atmosphere back then was really terrifying, you know? Since I’m his tutor anyway, I was the only one who got burned in the middle……”
“So why is he retaking the exam? If he got accepted, isn’t that the end?”
“Mm…… So……”
Junyeong, who had been rattling on endlessly, suddenly moved his lips and chose his words.
“There’s no way they’d let him enroll just like that, right? Even if he doesn’t inherit the hospital, it would be embarrassing if the son of Taewoong Hospital’s Vice Director went to veterinary school……”
So it meant he was being forced to retake the exam for the career path the Vice Director wanted. Seonwoo’s thought from the first day he came to this house that it was a dysfunctional family wasn’t a misunderstanding after all.
“How is it? Do you feel like we’ve gotten a bit closer now?”
“Yes.”
“Haha, I don’t feel any sincerity at all.”
After one round of chatter ended, the topic returned to Seonwoo’s college entrance exam. However, since Seonwoo had no university he wanted to attend or major he hoped for, the conversation stalled. In the end, they set rough goals following a guideline Junyeong hastily put together.
“Originally, there are almost no people who know what they want to do from the start. So that you won’t be held back when you find something you want to do later, for now you just study and match your grades. Ah, give me your phone. I’ll give you my number.”
Seonwoo handed over his phone for him to do as he pleased. On the screen returned to him after a moment, it said ‘Junyeong-ssaem.’ This made him the second person saved in Seonwoo’s phone.
“Classes will be twice a week—do you have any preferred days?”
“No. Whatever’s convenient for you.”
“Hmm. Then let’s do Wednesdays and Saturdays. Both afternoon sessions. I’m going to be a second-year medical student this semester, so I think I’ll be busy. How’s that?”
“Okay.”
He thought that was where the business ended. But Junyeong, who leaned his head in from the side, looked at the empty contact list with curiosity and pointed at the number labeled ‘Ahjussi.’
“Who’s this? I’m really curious since there’s only one person besides me.”
“The landlord of this house.”
“……Don’t tell me you mean the Vice Director?”
“Yes.”
“Ooh……”
His gaze was full of curiosity. It seemed he hadn’t heard the detailed story from the Vice Director. He looks loose-lipped, so what to do? It was the moment when his lips moved beneath the mask.
“Excuse me, student Seonwoo?”
Along with a light knock, a hesitant voice was heard. It was the housekeeper they’d seen on the first floor earlier. For some reason, she had both hands politely clasped together and wore a very apologetic expression.
“Sorry for interrupting while you’re studying, Junyeong-ssaem. A delivery came for student Seonwoo, but I didn’t think I should touch it carelessly…… There are quite a few boxes, so could you come down and take a look?”
“Hey, don’t be like that. Today’s the first day, so we were just having a light conversation. Should I help you move the luggage?”
“Oh my, I’d be so grateful if you did. Junyeong-ssaem is always so kind.”
Junyeong got up from his seat and left the room with a warm smile. Seonwoo followed behind him as well. It was purely out of curiosity. Not only was there no delivery that should be coming, but he’d never given this house’s address to anywhere.
