Chap 6
miracle

The math teacher’s office was filled with old books, stacks of documents, and a faint smell of cigarettes. Without even telling me to sit down, he crossed his arms and looked me up and down. It was a complex look, one that seemed to convey suspicion, wonder, and even a touch of anger.

“Tell me the truth, Kim Min-jun.”

He opened his mouth. His voice was low and heavy.

Did you cheat?

It was the question I had expected. In just one month, and on an exam known as the most difficult in history, a student who had been in the middle of the class had achieved top-tier grades in the entire school. By common sense, it was impossible.

I shook my head. I didn’t make excuses or get worked up. I simply spoke calmly, meeting his eyes.

No, sir.

“Then how on earth are you going to explain these grades? Are you saying your mind suddenly went blank over the past month? I have your entire report card from the last two years in my head.”

“…I just… came to my senses.”

I said the simplest, and therefore the most powerful, truth.

“I felt that my life couldn’t end like this. So, for the past month, I did nothing but study, except for the time I spent sleeping. I staked my life on it.”

My voice carried a desperation and weight rarely found in a nineteen-year-old student. The math teacher remained silent for a moment. He stared intently into my eyes, as if trying to read falsehood or pretense in them. But my eyes held only unwavering sincerity.

After a long silence, he let out a deep sigh.

“…Understood. For now, go ahead. But… if your grades drop on next month’s mock exam, you’ll be dead to me.”

It was neither a statement of belief nor a statement of disbelief.

It was a postponement. I bowed my head silently and left the faculty office.

When I returned to the classroom, the atmosphere was even colder. The children openly avoided me or whispered amongst themselves. The heretic who had caused a rift in their world. That was who I was now. When it was time to leave school, Cheol-ho approached my seat. Instead of the playfulness of the past, his face was a mixture of hurt and betrayal.

“Hey, Kim Min-jun. What’s wrong with you?” “What?” “Were you just playing games with us? You pretended to be bad at studying just to hang out with us?”

His words flew and pierced me like a dagger. The anxiety and jealousy felt by the one left behind when an ordinary friend suddenly ran far ahead. I understood that feeling.

“No, Cheol-ho. I was exactly the same as you until recently. It’s just… I felt like I couldn’t live like this anymore. Really.”

Fine. You’re so great. I guess we’re just going our separate ways now.”

Cheol-ho left those words behind and turned away coldly. I could not stop his retreating figure. This, too, was the price I had to pay. To completely break away from the complacent world of the past, I had to willingly embrace solitude.

That night, I opened my diary. And I wrote briefly on today’s page.

Today, I gained a lot and lost a lot. But it’s okay. I go my own way.