Chapter 101
Eun-chae finally slipped her arms under Professor Yoo A-yeon's armpits and hoisted her tiny body into the air.
“Eek-!”
Then she sat down in the chair Professor Yoo A-yeon had occupied just moments before.
She plopped the tiny, 118-centimeter-tall Yoo A-yeon onto her lap.
Then, as if Yoo A-yeon were her favorite stuffed doll, she began hugging her tightly with both arms.
……
The sight was so natural that.
The students gathered there had no trouble deducing that Eun-chae and Professor Yoo A-yeon were very close.
However.
As far as So-yeong's common sense went, treating a professor like a close friend was simply impossible under Korea's professorial power structure.
“Um, Eun-chae. Wouldn't that be rude to Professor Yoo A-yeon?”
So-yeong asked cautiously.
“Huh? Oh, it's totally fine!”
Eun-chae answered with a bright smile.
“Our adorable professor likes being petted!”
Pat-pat-pat-.
Eun-chae's delicate hand landed on the crown of Professor Yoo A-yeon's head and vigorously stroked her shiny, swaying hair.
“Nihihi.”
Yoo A-yeon, sitting on Eun-chae's lap, made a satisfied humming sound.
……
Even when she asked so indirectly.
All she got in return were answers that defied common sense.
So-yeong was left speechless.
No, in the first place.
Wasn't a seven-year-old elementary schoolgirl becoming a professor itself an absurd situation?
Perhaps it was only natural for absurd things to happen in an absurd situation.
‘She can hug and pet the professor… I'm so jealous….’
The students who had already fallen completely for Professor Yoo A-yeon's adorable charm envied Eun-chae, who seemed so close to the professor.
They had followed Yoo A-yeon's lectures diligently, asked passionate questions, and bought every kind of snack an adorable child might like.
They had mistakenly thought those things alone had earned them a hefty number of affection points.
At this very moment, they somehow felt embarrassed.
Because Eun-chae seemed not to need even that much effort.
“Um… how did Student Eun-chae become so close with Professor Yoo A-yeon?”
A graduate student senior who could not contain their curiosity asked.
Then Professor Yoo A-yeon, who was being petted in Eun-chae's embrace, answered in their place.
“Nihihi. I got close to Unni Eun-chae at the chess club.”
“Ah… chess.”
The students present nodded and accepted the explanation.
They all remembered the special documentary on Yoo A-yeon that had caused a nationwide stir two years ago.
One of Yoo A-yeon's hobbies introduced in that documentary was chess.
“That's right. In our club, A-yeon… I mean, Professor, is just so cute! And she's incredibly good at chess, you know? Did you know Professor won a silver medal at a French tournament last year?”
Eun-chae bragged while poking Yoo A-yeon's cheeks.
“I want to get closer to Professor too!”
One student finally revealed their honest desire.
Watching Eun-chae put Yoo A-yeon on her lap and pet her so enthusiastically, they wanted to be able to do the same.
Then Yoo A-yeon answered with a mischievous grin.
“Heheh. Unnis and oppas, first of all, please attend class diligently, ask passionate questions, and work hard on your exam problems. If you do just that, I think I'll like you sooo much!”
Then she continued, her eyes sparkling.
“Oh, right! In addition to the class material, you could bring me a topic you've researched yourself and ask me a question that surprises me. Or if you bring me an interesting mathematical result, I'd be incredibly happy!”
“Oh…”
Ultimately, she was telling them to study mathematics hard.
It was the kind of thing that would make most people recoil with a “Hing, I hate studying-.”
But.
The students here were the ones who had come all the way to the professor's lab of their own accord.
That meant they were a little more serious about their major than the other students who had not come.
‘Since I'm studying anyway, I'll study even harder and surprise Professor!’
Hearing Professor Yoo A-yeon's words, they quietly burned with determination in their hearts.
It was the moment their desire for the adorable professor's pats and cheek pokes was sublimated into a passion for scholarship.
As a bonus, Professor Yoo A-yeon smiled warmly while observing their determined expressions.
And that heartwarming scene.
Park So-yeong watched it from her seat with an awkward expression.
‘…What is this atmosphere?’
Influenced by her father, a mathematics professor, So-yeong had often met other professors since she was young.
In the professors' offices she knew, there was an absolute wall between professors and students that could not be crossed.
But no such wall existed in Special Professor Yoo A-yeon's lab.
Everyone genuinely liked that tiny professor.
And that tiny professor was making every possible accommodation for her students' studies.
It was a strange sight, but So-yeong could clearly understand that it was not a bad one.
If anything, it was much warmer and more vibrant than other professors' offices.
Yoo A-yeon.
So-yeong had thought she was merely a cute, clever, and well-mannered child.
But she was cute, clever, and well-mannered, with excellent social skills and deep consideration for others.
So-yeong slightly regretted the challenging look she had sent Professor Yoo A-yeon on the podium during the first Calculus lecture, as if saying, ‘Let's see how well you teach.’
‘I have to admit that I've been looking at her through the lens of prejudice until now…’
She had initially harbored jealousy, but now So-yeong wanted to get to know Professor Yoo A-yeon better.
✒️✒️✒️
Before they knew it, the lively office hours had come to an end.
The unnis and oppas who had come to the lab.
They munched and gobbled their way through every snack spread across the table until not a crumb remained.
Then they even swept up the snack crumbs that had fallen on the floor before leaving.
“Professor, we're heading out!”
“We'll come again next time!”
“Yees-! Goodbyee-!”
They had left the place unbelievably clean.
It was truly the model of a cultured person's manners.
“Professor, did you have fun?”
Mom asked with a gentle smile.
“Yees-!”
I answered energetically.
Honestly.
As a math veteran, I absolutely can't resist content like raising math newbies!
Unni Eun-chae probably thinks she merely petted adorable little me like crazy.
But if you look at it from a broader perspective, the exact opposite is true.
You could say that I, a math veteran, was the one lavishing affection on Unni Eun-chae, a math newbie.
This was all part of my grand plan to raise math newbies.
I went to high school mathematics lectures and enthusiastically promoted how much fun math was.
Using my adorable charm and the research lab's comfy, cozy atmosphere as bait.
Lowering the barrier to entering mathematics little by little.
Then gradually helping them discover how fun mathematics could be.
And finally corrupting pure-hearted unnis and oppas into taking the path of mathematics.
That was the grand picture Yoo A-yeon was aiming for!
Unni Eun-chae had already bitten my bait—chomp-!
She had been moved by my high school mathematics lecture and eventually enrolled in SNU's Department of Mathematical Sciences.
You could say she had been hooked perfectly.
The other undergraduates who came to the lab today were no different.
They had come to the lab with relaxed minds.
But they had ultimately left after burning with the determination, ‘I'll study even harder!’
Now that they had bitten my bait, they had no choice but to study mathematics hard.
I was already looking forward to seeing those pure-hearted newbie unnis and oppas become corrupted by mathematics.
“Woo-he-hing-.”
I smiled smugly to myself.
This was how I would slowly but surely increase the population of mathematicians in South Korea.
That was my mission as an educator!
✒️✒️✒️
Afterward.
We left the windows slightly open for ventilation.
Then we looked over our papers a little longer.
Click-click-.
Scratch-scratch-.
The lively lab regained the quiet characteristic of pure mathematics.
And after some time.
We wrapped up the day and headed home.
“Nnggh-! Mom, today was another fulfilling day-!”
“Indeed. Our Professor A-yeon is very popular.”
“Heheh. Of course! I'm the cutest person in the world!”
Not to mention, I'm Yoo A-yeon, a girl who books an absurdly expensive salon every four months to maintain this shiny, swaying, super-cute wavy hair, while Dad fixes my hair every morning.
Since I pursue cuteness every single day, it's only natural for the unnis and oppas to fall head over heels for my charm.
I, Yoo A-yeon, take cuteness seriously!
I held Mom's hand tightly.
Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-.
With light, quick steps, I left the lab.
My first week of professor life had gone very smoothly.
✒️✒️✒️
And around the time I had been a professor for three weeks.
A letter arrived at our house.
……………………
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
To: Yoo A-yeon (and her guardian)
Notice of Attendance for Yoo A-yeon's Achievement Assessment for Early Completion of the Elementary School Curriculum
Our Office of Education holds Yoo A-yeon's outstanding cognitive development and learning ability in high regard. Accordingly, we would like to formally review the possibility of her early completion of the regular elementary school curriculum.
Considering the child's current academic achievement and giftedness, we will conduct a ‘Personalized Achievement Assessment’ as described below. Please attend at the designated date and time.
Date: Monday, April 12, 2027
Time: 10:00–14:00
Location: Solsol Elementary School
Contents: Comprehensive assessment of subject understanding and problem-solving ability across the elementary school curriculum (with an in-depth interview)
Items to bring: Identification documents (resident registration transcript or family relations certificate)
This assessment is an important procedure to ensure that Yoo A-yeon can fully realize her potential, so we ask for the guardian's active cooperation.
For any other inquiries, please contact the Gifted Education Team of the Elementary Education Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.
March 19, 2027
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SEOUL METROPOLITAN OFFICE OF EDUCATION (SEAL) << Stamp firmly~
……………………
Oh, right.
I'm still an elementary schooler.