Chapter 5
The moment Mom and I got home, Dad's huge hand snatched me up.
“My daughter!!!”
“Kyaaah!”
Whoosh-whoosh-.
And then he bounced me up and down like an airplane.
“What do you mean, IQ 160, 160! Do you know what Dad’s IQ is? Mine’s pretty high too, you know? But our daughter totally wiped the floor with me!”
“Heeheehee. Put me down-.”
“I’m not putting you down. Our daughter is way too amazing. Honey, our daughter’s a genius! A real genius!”
Yes. This was exactly the reaction I'd hoped for when I said my daughter had an IQ of 160.
I laughed myself silly while being flown around like that.
Being grabbed by the waist and flown around like an airplane is a privilege only children have. Once you grow up, you get heavier, so it's harder to lift you.
A little airplane game where you even get a free adrenaline-fountain show.
If not now, when would I enjoy it?
'But is it okay for me, with an adult's intelligence, to be this happy about getting a perfect score on a test meant for children under seven?'
It was like smurfing in a lower tier and feeling good about stomping everyone, wasn't it?
That thought almost crossed my mind, but it didn't really matter anymore.
Because I was now basically a two-year-old kid with almost none of my previous self left, just my past-life memories.
So all I had to do was react like a two-year-old should!
“Hmph. This much is easy.”
“What do you mean, 'this much'? An IQ of 160 just pops out? You think that's easy?”
Dad lightly pinched my soft cheek.
“Nihihi. Stop ittt.”
Grin-.
My mouth corners showed no sign of coming back down under the point-blank praise barrage.
Now that I'd inherited Mom's DNA and turned into a praise-seeking monster.
I think I finally understood what they meant by 'praise can even make a whale dance.'
If even a blue whale got praised like this, it'd get right up and start tap dancing. For real.
✒️✒️✒️
On the night when everyone was asleep.
I lay there alone, blankly staring at the ceiling and lost in thought.
It was because I couldn't fall asleep easily after today's incident.
—You know. Whether A-yeon is a genius or not, Mom just wants you to be happy.
—Our daughter is a genius! A real genius!
Mom and Dad's reactions were quite different in tone.
At first I didn't know why, but after thinking it over, I felt like I understood.
If I called up my past-life memories, there had been something like this before.
…
One day, while we were staying up late preparing an overseas conference presentation and eating convenience-store lunch boxes.
“Aren't you lonely, Professor?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Miss Seol-ae, saying you're lonely out of nowhere while preparing the presentation? Have I been too hard on you?”
“Sorry, the timing was off. I didn’t bring it up because the presentation prep was hard—well, it is hard, but… anyway, that’s not it. It’s just a life question.”
“A life question…”
“Aren't you lonely when there’s no one around who thinks like you do, Professor? I was like that a bit when I was in school. If I was the only one doing really well, people would call me a clueless bitch, and I got a lot of jealousy from the people around me too. So I deliberately acted ordinary.”
“Oh dear… You went through quite a lot.”
“Has that never happened to you, Professor?”
“I wasn't exactly without people giving me unfriendly looks either. But I'm not the type to worry about every little glance from others, so I ignored them all. It was more meaningful to read even one more page of a book with that time.”
“Your unfazed personality like that… sometimes I envy it.”
“Then how is life as a researcher now, Miss Seol-ae?”
“Hmm?”
Han Seol-ae smiled bashfully and said.
“At the very least, I'm really glad that my advisor is someone like Professor Shin Yi-joon.”
…
Only after recalling my past-life memories did I vaguely come to understand why Mom had said that to me.
Mom had been worried about my future.
Mom knew. The two-sidedness of genius.
What it feels like to be too far ahead of the people around you.
What it feels like not to be understood.
How exhausting it is to keep trying to fit in on purpose.
So rather than the number 160, she had first looked at me—the one who would have to live with that number.
By contrast, Dad was an elite graduate of a science high school, but if you put it bluntly, he was a hard worker.
On days when he had classes at school, he never skipped reviewing the material, and he was diligent about going to work too.
And yet he got along well anywhere.
He was sociable, laughed a lot, and blended in easily with other people.
To Dad, intelligence was something that the higher it was, the better.
So of course he'd simply be genuinely happy that his daughter's IQ was 160.
I could understand Mom's worry.
I could understand Dad's joy too.
At the same time, I understood that both of them loved me in their own ways.
'What is this… weird feeling…'
My chest felt strangely warm and cozy.
✒️✒️✒️
After that day, the way my parents treated me changed a little.
“Our daughter, is there anything you need?”
Dad cautiously asking what I wanted.
“Hmm…”
I thought about it for a moment.
Naturally, 'I want to write a paper right now' was out of the question.
I wasn't mentally prepared yet.
Then what would be good…
After thinking for a bit, I answered.
“I… want to read booooks…”
“What, books? Like picture books?”
Shake-shake-.
“Not picture books… something with more words…”
Honestly, the story where Cinderella put her stepmother in her place was fun at first, but reading it over and over got boring. The narrative structure was too simple too.
These days, my little sister Arin needed a lot of Mom and Dad's attention.
With me spending more time alone, I needed my own entertainment too.
“Hmm… good! This dad will go buy a ton of fun things for A-yeon!”
Dad rolled up his sleeves and showed off his forearms.
✒️✒️✒️
The next day.
Dad came carrying a big envelope.
When he opened it, magazines of all different colors spilled out.
Magazines and newspapers for elementary and middle school students.
Science, math, economics, current affairs, culture, general education. They covered all sorts of fields.
“Wow-!”
At last, I could escape the endless Cinderella and Heungbu-Nolbu cycle!
I hurriedly picked up the books and tried to read them in the living room.
“A-yeon, you should say thank you to Dad.”
“Thank youuu-.”
I bowed my head to thank Dad, then quickly opened the books.
One.
Two.
Three.
The contents were as expected.
It was written so elementary schoolers could understand it easily, and serialized educational comics took up a lot of the pages.
I read while sitting, but before long my arm started hurting, so I began reading while lying on my stomach.
Bang-.
My feet kicked the blanket.
The way they explained concepts with colorful illustrations was pretty fun.
On the photosynthesis page, they drew the structure of chlorophyll as a comic, and on the prime numbers page, they explained the Sieve of Eratosthenes in puzzle form.
I got so absorbed in the fresh stimulation of reading something after picture books that I didn't even notice.
However…
Three days later.
'I'm bored…'
I was staring at the ceiling with a hollow expression.
'It's elementary-school-level stuff, so there's nothing new to learn. Besides, the comics in the magazines are only a little different from picture books in tone, and they all end up with everyone laughing and smiling.'
In short—.
It was far too shallow.
Mom came out into the living room carrying Arin, saw the magazines neatly stacked on the floor, and asked me,
“Did you finish all the magazines?”
“Mm-hmm…”
“How were they?”
“Hmm… they were fun.”
“Really?”
Mom kept looking at my face for a few more seconds.
“You can be honest.”
At those words, I hesitated for a moment, then said,
“…I want to read something harder…”
Pat-pat-.
“Good girl. What would you like to read?”
“Newspapers, or journals and stuff…”
Hearing that, Mom went to Dad and whispered,
“Honey, I think we should buy her things adults read instead of children's magazines. Newspapers or journals.”
✒️✒️✒️
The next day.
Dad came carrying a thick envelope.
The moment I checked what was inside, my eyes lit up.
Newspapers aimed at adults, and academic journals from various technical fields.
“Waaah-! Thank youuu-!”
Scurry, scurry!
I quickly thanked him and dragged the heavy envelope into the living room with a grunt.
I opened the newspaper first.
Politics, business, society, culture.
It was much deeper than a children's magazine. It was interesting.
“Nihihi.”
But while I was reading, my hand paused for a moment on the science section.
It was an article about quantum mechanics.
'Huh? There might be a slight logical error here.'
Because of my previous profession, I was on friendly terms with physicists and had a certain amount of theoretical physics knowledge too.
Besides, the way I interpreted the Riemann zeta function, my own field of research, was in fact mostly based on physics-like methods.
So this shallowly written quantum mechanics article stood out immediately.
Annoyed…
I read the page with a displeased expression.
My chest itched with the urge to point out the error to the newspaper.
'Ah, I want to call them out! Ughhh…! That's not how quantum mechanics works!'
Bang-! Bang-!
I kicked the innocent blanket.
After finishing the newspaper, I picked up a journal right away.
What I picked up was a chemistry journal.
The first chapter was a paper on the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction.
I followed the flow of the paper with my eyes.
'It's not my field, but it's decent enough in its own way.'
I could follow the logic.
I could follow the experimental design too.
Bang- bang-.
My feet grew faster and faster.
The next paper.
It was a study on the structure and reactivity of metal complexes.
Bang- bang- bang-.
The next paper.
A study on lithium-ion battery electrode materials.
Bang-bang-bang- bang-bang-bang-.
I only realized much later that when I got absorbed, I had the unconscious habit of kicking my feet.
…
“A-yeon, come eat.”
“Kay.”
Even after sitting at the table, I didn't take my eyes off the journal.
Munch, munch, munch, munch-
“A-yeon, you'll get indigestion if you keep that up. Eat slowly.”
“Mmng-mng-mwonyeheng.”
I answered vaguely without even swallowing the rice in my mouth.
“Honestly…”
I couldn't hear it clearly, but Mom's voice somehow sounded oddly upbeat.
That night.
Even after 10 p.m., I was still holding the journal.
Dad came to turn off the light, then stopped.
“A-yeon, it's time for bed.”
“Just a little.”
“How many times have you said ‘just a little’?”
“…Juuust a littleee.”
Dad let out a small sigh.
Swoosh-
Then he snatched the journal out of my hands!
“Ah! No way!”
“Go to bed early and read it tomorrow.”
My eyes, left with nowhere to go, wandered helplessly.
“Hiiing…”
Too much!
What kind of parent steals an academic journal from a child's hands? Where in the world do parents like that exist!
Bang-bang-! Bang-bang-!
I sulked hard, pulled the blanket over my head, and then kicked with all my might.
Thud-.
Whether he understood my complaint or not, Dad quietly turned off the light and went out.
“…Uu.”
With the journal taken away, I lay there staring at the ceiling with my cheeks puffed out.
The conclusion of the paper I'd just been reading kept circling in my head.
'I should wake up early tomorrow and read it again.'
Roll, roll.
'I need to sleep, I need to sleep, I need to sleep.'
Roll, roll, roll, roll.
'I need to sleep… I need to sleep quickly… sleep, Yoo A-yeon… go to sleep!'
Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll…
For some reason, that night, sleep just wouldn't come.