Chapter 23
“Hello-! Mister Reporter-!”
As the striking mother-daughter pair entered the café and the child politely bowed to him, all eyes began to turn their way.
Ahem!
Lee Dong-hyeon cleared his throat in embarrassment.
The child's mother said with an apologetic expression.
“By any chance, are you the reporter we were supposed to talk to today? I'm sorry if our kid misunderstood…”
“Ah, n-no. I'm the reporter. Nice to meet you, I'm Lee Dong-hyeon.”
“I'm Han Seol-ae.”
“Little one, hello. It's nice to see you greet people so cheerfully.”
“Hehe!”
Han Seol-ae sat down gracefully, and the child hopped lightly onto her chair. Her legs dangled in midair.
Lee Dong-hyeon handed the two of them a menu.
Han Seol-ae chose an Americano.
The child took the menu with both hands and studied it seriously, swinging her legs.
“Mister, mister.”
“Yes?”
“Can I order the expensive one?”
The child made an innocently outrageous request with that cute face.
Lee Dong-hyeon hesitated for a moment.
For a salaryman living paycheck to paycheck, a dessert that cost more than lunch was pure luxury.
But he had come all the way here to somehow land an interview with the first author, Yua-yeon.
He was in a situation where he had to grab at even a straw.
‘Sigh... I'm here to interview Yua-yeon. I can stomach whatever expenses are necessary.’
“…F-fine. I'll buy you whatever you want.”
“Really? Yay-! Thank you so much-!”
The child pointed at the menu without hesitation.
Seasonal strawberry bomb cake.
The café's most expensive dessert, a cake lavishly topped with strawberries.
Seeing that wicked price, Lee Dong-hyeon could only swallow back tears.
After he went to the counter to place the order and came back, Han Seol-ae said,
“Before we start talking, reporter... you do remember today's promise, right?”
“Yes. We agreed that today's conversation would just be a private conversation, not an interview. We promised not to publish anything we hear today... but may I take personal notes?”
“That's fine.”
In any case, his goal was Yua-yeon, so it didn't matter even if he couldn't turn today's conversation into an article.
Once he was ready, Lee Dong-hyeon started asking questions.
“I'll ask directly. Ms. Han Seol-ae, do you know Ms. Yua-yeon, the first author of [On the Proof of the Riemann Hypothesis]?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Are you close?”
“Yes. Very close.”
“Your name is listed as a second author on the paper. How much were you involved in the work?”
“I helped with typing. I also proofread it.”
“Even in terms of the content?”
“Hmm...”
Han Seol-ae thought for a moment, then gave a soft laugh.
“To be honest, I still don't fully understand the specific logic behind the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis. That's actually a little embarrassing for me. Of course, I wasn't the one who came up with the core idea either.”
Lee Dong-hyeon nodded as he took notes in his memo pad.
‘So the idea for the paper itself came from Yua-yeon... I see.’
Before long, the cake was brought out.
A cake whose entire top was covered in strawberry toppings, enough to hide even the whipped cream beneath.
A luxurious cake he would absolutely never buy with his own money.
“Heh-heh.”
The child picked up a fork with sparkling eyes.
Nom-nom-chomp-chomp-.
“Phew... It's delicious... Mom, do you want some too?”
“Then can I have just a little? Mmm...! This is so delicious!”
“Heehee, right? It's super tasty, isn't it?”
For a while, the mother and daughter shared the cake and smiled happily.
Lee Dong-hyeon had to squeeze his eyes shut, unable to bear watching three days' worth of lunch money disappear down the mother and daughter's throats in an instant. It was a painful time.
“Phew, embarrassing as it is, thank you for the meal.”
“Thanks for the meal-!”
Only the two forks they had used remained on the plate.
“Ugh... Then let me ask again... the core of the proof came entirely from author Yua-yeon, right?”
“Yes. That's right.”
“Do you know where Ms. Yua-yeon is right now?”
“I do.”
“And you're able to contact her now?”
“Yes. I can contact her right away.”
Lee Dong-hyeon put down his pen for a moment and looked at Han Seol-ae.
“Would it be possible to meet her in person? I'd like to request an interview with Ms. Yua-yeon.”
Looking down at her coffee cup, Han Seol-ae said,
“I think we can do an interview once Yua-yeon is ready.”
“Ready as in...?”
Just as he was about to ask again, unable to grasp what Han Seol-ae meant,
the child spoke to Lee Dong-hyeon.
“Mr. Reporter.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Do you know any foreign correspondents?”
A somewhat abrupt question.
Lee Dong-hyeon debated whether he should answer it.
“…Uh, yes. I do. I know some people over at CCN or BCC.”
The child held out her hand and flashed a peace sign.
“Later, Yua-yeon is going to give a big lecture, you know? You and one foreign correspondent you bring along. After the lecture, I'll have those two be the first to get an exclusive interview with Yua-yeon. It's your reward for buying me the strawberry bomb cake!”
Lee Dong-hyeon looked at the child for a moment. Then he smiled gently and chided her.
“Little one, we're having an important conversation right now. You mustn't joke around.”
“Muu-. I'm not joking.”
The child stuck out her lower lip.
Han Seol-ae also agreed.
“I'll go along with what this child says.”
“Huh...? Really?”
“Yes. I'll give you the exclusive right to interview Yua-yeon.”
Lee Dong-hyeon still didn't understand it, but in any case, he was happy.
‘Nice! I finally landed Yua-yeon's exclusive interview!’
He cheered internally and moved on to the next question.
“Could you tell me what background Ms. Yua-yeon comes from? Other than being a self-taught researcher, nothing is known about her.”
“I think you'd be better off confirming that directly at the lecture.”
“May I ask what connection she has to Professor Shin I-jun?”
Han Seol-ae shifted her gaze toward the child.
Then she placed a hand on the child's head and patted her gently.
“You'll find that out at the lecture as well.”
Her expression seemed to say she couldn't say any more here and now.
Lee Dong-hyeon instinctively judged that it would be hard to press further here.
Lee Dong-hyeon shifted his questioning in another direction.
“What meaning do you think it will have for the mathematics world once the paper is finally verified?”
“I know-! The person who proved it can get tons and tons of applause-!”
The child said that with her right hand raised high.
At that deadly cuteness, a smile spread over his lips without him realizing it.
And Han Seol-ae said calmly,
“I think it could leave a mark on history.”
Though brief, Lee Dong-hyeon felt there was something in that statement.
Just as he was about to ask something more,
Han Seol-ae spoke first.
“Reporter Lee Dong-hyeon.”
“Yes.”
“Once Yua-yeon's lecture date is fixed, I'll contact you directly.”
“Really? Thank you!”
“The lecture content... would be too much to fit into an article alone. If possible, please share the schedule with the broadcasting side too. I'd like it if a live broadcast were possible as well.”
Han Seol-ae's words were somewhat strange.
It was as if she already knew what kind of ripple effect Yua-yeon's lecture itself would create.
“…Sorry, but that's not within my authority.”
“I know. Still, you can judge that and pass it up the chain, can't you? If it's the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis, the press would be drooling over it.”
“…Understood.”
Lee Dong-hyeon wrote that down in his notebook.
“Is it enough to bring just one foreign reporter? Can Yua-yeon speak conversational English?”
“Yes. Communication won't be a problem. And tell that reporter this too—if they come with a professional broadcasting team, it'll work out well.”
‘Huh... this seems like it's getting bigger than I expected...’
At Han Seol-ae's confident tone, Lee Dong-hyeon found himself thinking that for a moment.
“Understood. I'll wait for your call.”
That was all the conversation they needed to have here.
As if that were the signal, Han Seol-ae rose from her seat.
The child stood up too and bowed politely.
“Mr. Reporter, the cake was delicious. Thank you so much!”
“Oh, sure. Thanks for eating it so happily.”
Lee Dong-hyeon waved back.
The two of them left the café.
Lee Dong-hyeon stared blankly at the door for a while, then opened his notebook again.
There wasn't as much written down as he'd expected.
She knows where Yua-yeon is.
She's close to Yua-yeon.
She helped with typing and proofreading while the paper was being written.
The idea for the proof came from Yua-yeon.
There would be a lecture later.
She would let him and a foreign reporter be the first to get a one-on-one interview with Yua-yeon.
It would be good to bring a broadcast team.
That was everything.
The most important part—who Yua-yeon actually was and where she lived—was still unknown.
As he took a sip of the now bland Americano, Lee Dong-hyeon thought back to the child he'd just been sitting with.
At first, he had thought she was just an adorable little girl.
But from the moment she asked if he knew any foreign correspondents, the conversation had taken a strangely different turn.
In the end, getting the exclusive interview rights to Yua-yeon was a good thing, but...
‘How strange.’
He closed his notebook.
Because he had to go and report to his superior.