Chapter 35
Heave-ho-.
Mom scooped me up while I was still all woozy.
"Whii... Mom, I'm not heavy, am I?"
Whump-.
I whispered softly as I cuddled into Mom's arms.
'I'm already 16 kg, so I must be pretty heavy...'
Mom replied with a pleased smile.
"Hehe. Don't worry. A-yeon is still young enough for Mom to carry."
Thump-thump-.
Mom walked toward the back of the stage with me in her arms.
At that moment.
Voices came from the press seats.
"Hold on a second! Could we request an interview with Yu A-yeon?"
"Our channel too—"
"Wait, we asked first—"
Several voices burst out at once.
Mom looked down at me in her arms.
Mom stepped up to the microphone while holding me.
"Sorry, but the child is exhausted from giving a two-hour lecture, so we'll have to take interviews later."
A calm, polite refusal.
"W-what! Couldn't you work out a schedule for us right here?"
The media outlets started begging, "Please, please schedule an interview with Yu A-yeon!"
Hardly surprising.
They'd barely wormed their way into the press seats after fierce competition, so if they missed their chance here, they'd have to compete with the other outlets outside.
...Sadly for the media, that interview slot had already been claimed.
"We can't accept interview requests right now. Besides, two outlets here have already arranged to interview her first."
When Mom spoke firmly, the press seats stirred.
"Which media outlets...?"
I looked toward the press seats from Mom's arms.
The front row.
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon was sitting beside the camera.
I gave him a wink.
The other reporters' gazes all shot toward Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon. Their eyes were full of intense jealousy.
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon froze stiffly.
Pretending not to notice, I turned my face back into Mom's arms in a flash.
Ahh... Mom's arms are so warm...
We walked toward the back of the stage.
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Inside the auditorium.
After Yu A-yeon and Han Seol-ae left, the scholars left behind began networking.
(* Networking: a term used in academia to mean building scholarly relationships and personal connections with other researchers through conferences, seminars, joint research, and the like.)
Professors and graduate students gathered in small groups to chat.
Domestic scholars, overseas scholars, or a mix of both.
Though their languages differed, most of what they talked about was the same.
"I can't believe it. Five years old?"
"And yet she gave such an amazing lecture. How could she put on that kind of performance at that age..."
"The proof itself was flawless. I couldn't find a single gap."
"C'est incroyable. Elle a cinq ans?"
Professor Park Mu-yeol, who had been in charge of the lecture, also joined the networking.
"Park Mu-yeol, wasn't it you who endorsed Yu A-yeon's paper? You never told us who Yu A-yeon was, and yet she turned out to be a five-year-old."
"Haha. I was shocked too when I first saw her. I even threw a difficult problem I was working on at A-yeon, and she answered it smoothly."
"How did Yu A-yeon come to find you personally? Tell us how you ended up endorsing that paper."
"All right. The truth is, it happened like this—"
The professors listening to Professor Park Mu-yeol's story were astonished by Yu A-yeon's anecdote.
"Goodness. She came in person and just barged in asking you to read the paper? A paper claiming to have proved the Riemann hypothesis, no less? What a gutsy child."
"Honestly, when we were five, we were probably just rolling around in the dirt..."
As they talked about Yu A-yeon's extraordinary nature, Shin I-jun's name came up.
"I never would have guessed Professor Shin I-jun's research would continue in this way."
Professor Park Mu-yeol nodded.
"I'm truly glad that Professor Shin I-jun's determination to solve the Riemann hypothesis has been passed on to A-yeon."
"Yeah. I wonder how he'd have felt if he knew."
After thinking for a moment, Professor Park Mu-yeol answered.
"...I think he would definitely have been happy."
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Backstage.
As soon as the door closed.
"Sis—!"
Arin ran over.
Whump-.
Arin rose onto her tiptoes and hugged me while I was in Mom's arms.
Mom was holding me, and Arin was holding me too.
...Isn't this the covalent bond of H₂O?
What a life—being as popular as an oxygen atom!
"Sis, you were seriously amazing! I secretly watched from the back! You looked super cool!"
"Heh-heh. Right? I'm pretty great, aren't I?"
Dad came over too, smiling.
"My daughter."
Dad rested his hand heavily on top of my head. So now I was NH₃?
"You really did great."
Scritch-scritch-
He then mussed up my hair.
"Aah-! My 30-minute hairdo-!"
"Pfft, what does that matter? The lecture's over already. And it was Dad who brushed A-yeon's hair this morning, wasn't it?"
"What kind of logic is that! What does Dad brushing my hair this morning have to do with him messing it up now!"
"Hmph-."
Scritch-scritch-scritch—!
Dad rubbed my hair all over the place.
"Heh, tickles!"
Looking at the mirror on the prep room wall, my hair had become completely fluffy and messy.
"Sniff... my cute wavy hair... turned into scary hair!"
If I went to a haunted house now, they'd definitely think I came to apply for a part-time job.
With fluffy, spooky-looking hair and even ghostly 'ehehe' sounds, I'd probably get hired on the spot.
"Haaahm..."
Once I relaxed, fatigue came rushing in all at once.
That was only natural, since I'd been lecturing for almost two hours.
A five-year-old still spends a lot of time in dreamland.
"Mmm-mm..."
I tried my hardest to keep my eyes wide open and stay awake, but Mom's arms were so warm my eyelids kept closing.
The force tugging at my eyelids is stronger than a covalent bond...
"A-yeon, you worked hard. Sleep well."
"Sis, sleep well-."
Breathing softly-
I had lots of fun playing with cheerful friends in dreamland.
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A few days passed after the lecture.
Messages went back and forth on Mom's phone with Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon to set the interview date.
On the promised day.
I turned a hand mirror this way and that to check Yu A-yeon's cuteness level.
"Cute sailor outfit, okay... cute hair, okay... hee-hee."
Of course, I didn't have cute makeup, so I couldn't complete the full trio, but that's something I only put on for special occasions.
I was already insanely cute as it was, and then if I put on makeup every day too?
Then it'd be too overpowered, so people might stage a protest and ask the gods for a balance patch.
Then if the God of Normalization went, 'Got it,' and fired an appearance-normalization beam only at me, that'd be a legendary disaster, seriously.
Ding-dong-
The doorbell rang.
I dashed over and opened the door.
"Hello, reporter uncle!"
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon was standing there with a camera bag.
Beside him was a foreign man who looked like someone I'd seen once in the lecture hall.
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon snorted a laugh when he saw me.
"So it was you after all, kid. Who would've thought you were Yu A-yeon."
"Nihihi."
"We were that close that day, and I still didn't recognize you. Anyway, thanks for the exclusive interview."
"It's my way of repaying you for that strawberry-bomb cake!"
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon introduced the foreign man beside him.
"He's a reporter from CCN's Seoul bureau. His name is Michael."
"Ooh! CCN! I watched that a lot when I was practicing English pronunciation!"
"Haha, nice to meet you, Ayeon."
"Nice to meet you too, Michael!"
Michael held out his right hand.
I took it with both hands and shook it up and down.
Whoa. His hand is huge.
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We sat around the living room table.
Before the actual interview started, we had to fill out the contract first.
Dad laid the documents prepared for the interview on the table.
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon looked it over. There were quite a few items.
……………………………………………………………
- The likeness rights of anyone other than Yu A-yeon and Han Seol-ae shall be protected.
- Filming in the bedroom and bathroom is strictly prohibited.
- Filming will focus on Yu A-yeon's study scenes and the sisters' conversations, while unnecessary private life footage will be excluded.
- This coverage may be used only for the feature article and documentary in question, and may not be resold to other media or used for commercial advertising.
- Unused raw footage shall be destroyed immediately or handed over upon parental request.
- Parents are guaranteed the right to review the final cut in advance.
- The use of sensational wording is prohibited. (Subtitles and narration that could create misunderstandings about the child's intelligence or personality, such as 'monster,' may not be used.)
- Information that could threaten the child's safety, such as the exact address, unit number, or places frequently visited, must be kept strictly confidential.
- Daily filming time is limited to four hours or less, and filming must stop immediately if the child expresses refusal.
- A reasonable appearance fee for the exclusive close-up coverage shall be paid.
- The media outlet shall bear any expenses incurred during the coverage.
……………………………………………………………
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon carefully read the contract.
Beside him, Mr. Michael also reviewed the English-language contract.
"You've really covered all the bases."
Mom said calmly.
"She's still just a young child."
"Understood. I have no objections."
Mr. Michael nodded as well.
"No objections."
The reporters twirled their pens and signed with quick strokes.
Oh. Their signatures look cool.
Guess that's because they're the kind of people who make their living with pens?
Maybe I should practice my autograph in advance while I can?
"Someday, if I'm walking down the street and someone goes, 'Eeeek, it's Yu A-yeon! So cute! Please give me your autograph!' they might crowd me..."
Dad took the contract, checked it, and put it away in the master bedroom.
And then he naturally excused himself.
Arin also took Dad's hand and went off to the chess club they always went to.
Since the two people who weren't interview subjects had already agreed to be mosaicked out or not shown during editing.
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The camera turned on.
Mr. Lee Dong-hyeon and Mr. Michael lifted their cameras and filmed me.
"All right, then. Shall we begin? Just do what you normally do."
"Yep!"