Chapter 50
“Oui?”
“Non?”
Mom and Dad both asked at the same time.
“Think of oui as ‘yes’ and non as ‘no.’ If you just know yes and no, you’re already halfway there.”
Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-.
I walked up to the whiteboard and wrote down some real-life examples.
When you go to a restaurant and the waiter asks, “Would you like some more water?”
→ Nod and say, “Oui.”
When a Black man in sunglasses on the street tries to hard-sell you an Eiffel Tower keychain.
→ Wave him off and say, “Non.”
Dad wrote it down as he listened.
“Aha, I get it now. Oui, non. Okay.”
Arin raised her hand and chimed in.
“Oui! Non!”
“Good job.”
It seemed she liked the sound of it.
Then I started writing basic vocabulary on the whiteboard.
Bonjour — bonjour (hello)
S'il vous plaît — s'il vous plaît (please)
Merci — merci (thank you)
“Okay, repeat after me. Bonjour, s'il vous plaît, merci.”
“Bonjour.”
“S'il vous plaît.”
“Melsi!”
Mom and Dad repeated after me side by side.
Arin raised her hand and shouted the loudest.
I nodded.
“Good. If you know just these five, you won't have much trouble at restaurants or shops.”
Dad said, looking over the notes he had written down.
“That's it?”
“That's all for the basics.”
“You're not teaching us more?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad already have so much to prepare. I don't want to make you memorize too much and leave you all woozy. If you don't look too busy, I'll teach you more then.”
Mom smiled brightly and said,
“Ayeon, you're so thoughtful. I'll give you one more praise sticker.”
“Awesome!”
I took the praise sticker and slapped it onto my sticker notebook.
“Even if communication doesn't go well, it's okay! I'll be right beside you and do the talking!”
In fact, if even one person can communicate, the need for the other family members to learn French drops quite a bit.
“And if I'm not beside you, you can just speak English. Both Mom and Dad can speak English.”
Arin pointed to her own face with her index finger and said,
“Unnie, what about me? What about me?”
“Arin only needs to know bonjour and merci well. French people really love it when you say just those two words.”
“Why?”
“French people feel good when you use their own language. Even if it's just a simple greeting.”
Dad asked back.
“Is that so?”
“Think about it, Dad. If you were walking down the street and a foreigner cheerfully said, ‘Hello,’ or ‘Thank you,’ you'd feel really happy, right?”
“Hmm... fair point.”
Dad thought about it and nodded.
“So if we say bonjour and merci there, they probably won't dislike us, at least.”
“Right. Especially if a cute kid like Arin raises her hand and goes, ‘Fuheheh, bonjour!’ everyone will probably grin from ear to ear and laugh.”
Arin giggled and repeated the words I had taught her.
“Bonjour! Merci! Oui! Non!”
“Yeah, that's enough.”
And just like that, the family meeting was over.
✒️✒️✒️
“Ayeon, tomorrow let's go out with Mom.”
“Where to?”
“To the bank. I want to set up an account for Ayeon to receive the prize money.”
“Oh, the account. So we can just go?”
“Not just like that.”
Shake-shake-.
Mom began explaining.
“Ayeon doesn't have a resident registration card yet. So you'll need another document to prove her identity.”
“What documents?”
“A family relation certificate and a basic certificate. We need to prove that we're family, and we need Ayeon's name and resident registration number. Let's get them at the community center. Oh, and Ayeon's seal too.”
Nod-nod-.
I nodded as I listened, then froze at the mention of a seal.
“Huh? I need to make a seal? In my own name?”
“Yeah. A seal engraved with Yua Yeon's name.”
“But these days, isn't a signature enough for everything?”
“Usually, yes, but one million dollars is a lot of money, so it's better to be safe. I also asked Jina, and she said there could be legal trouble later if we use the money, so she told us to prepare in advance.”
“Hmm... got it.”
“Besides, Ayeon is only six, right? In court, signatures from people under fourteen aren't recognized. So the seal supposedly counts as stronger proof than a signature.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Making a seal, huh.
I imagined a seal engraved with my name.
If I added “in” to the end of my name according to the personal seal rule, it would look like this, right?
┌──┐
│Yua │
│Yeonin │
└──┘
“Uhehing-.”
Then if I stamped a document with it, [Yua Yeonin] would be stamped on there in huge letters.
That would be amazing!
“I want to make my seal already!”
Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-.
I couldn't hold back my excitement and paced around the room.
Now that I liked getting attention, the idea of owning an item engraved with my name was too thrilling to bear.
✒️✒️✒️
The next day.
“Here you go, your seal is ready.”
“Yay! Thank you, mister!”
“Heh heh, what a polite child.”
After I bowed politely, the seal shop owner smiled with satisfaction.
I turned the seal over and over in my hands, admiring the dignified engraving of my name.
“Ayeon, you look so happy. Did you like the seal that much?”
“Yep!”
Who am I?
IQ 160 genius, former iPhone owner, first author of the paper proving the Riemann Hypothesis, master of the holy trinity of fashion, hair, and makeup, the lawyer's niece, and owner of the Yua Yeon seal.
I’m the owner of a personal seal~ I’m the owner of a personal seal~
I need to engrave my name everywhere!
Ta-da-.
I got home and immediately squeezed pink paint onto the palette before stamping the Yua Yeon seal into it.
For the record, I know red is the standard color for stamping seals, but red isn't cute, so it's out.
Thump.
I stamped it onto my sketchbook.
The name “Yua Yeonin” was practically flaunting its presence.
Thump.
I opened the book I was reading and stamped that too.
Thump.
I stamped it on my forehead while looking in the mirror.
Now I had become “Yua Yeonin Yua Yeon.”
If I kept repeating the act of stamping my face, could I become Yua Yeonin Yua Yeonin Yua Yeonin Yua Yeonin... ?
Thump.
I stamped it on Arin's sleeping cheek.
Thump.
I stamped it on Arin's sleeping hand.
Thump.
I stamped it on the sole of Arin's foot as she was just starting to wake up, wondering what was happening.
“Mmng... What's going on... Huh? Huh? Ah, unnie—! What is this!”
“Heheh! Caught me! Run!”
Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-!
I quickly ran outside and took off on my kickboard.
If I turned the chase into an indoor pursuit, someone downstairs would come up yelling at me.
✒️✒️✒️
A few days later.
I came to the bank holding Dad's hand.
An employee approached us at the entrance.
“What can I help you with?”
“I'd like to open an account for a minor. A foreign-currency account.”
We sat down at the consultation counter.
There was only one chair, so I slipped onto Dad's lap.
We handed the staff member the family relation certificate and basic certificate we had gotten from the community center.
“Sir, you can open a foreign-currency account for a minor, but what's the purpose of the account? Are you planning to stay overseas?”
Before Dad could answer, I said,
“Yes! The Clay Mathematics Institute is giving me a million-dollar prize!”
Of course, since we were in a public place, I kept my voice about thirty decibels lower than usual.
My words left the employee slightly flustered.
“A million... dollars? Prize money? Huh?”
The employee looked back and forth between the documents and my face.
The name “Yua Yeon” written on the documents.
And my face, which was cute enough to be unforgettable after one glance.
Then he looked like he had realized something.
“Ah! Yua Yeon! You're the Yua Yeon from that documentary the other day, right? The Riemann Hypothesis!”
“Heheh. That's right!”
I puffed out my chest with a smug look. It was the moment I truly felt how famous I was.
After all that time checking internet reactions to myself, meeting someone in the real world who recognized me felt unexpectedly nice.
The employee glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then covered his mouth with his palm and whispered in a small voice.
“If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I get one autograph?”
“Nihihi, of course!”
The employee carefully held out a memo pad.
I took the pen and signed my name in flowing cursive.
“Wow! Thanks for the autograph. Congratulations in advance on the million dollars!”
“Fuheheh.”
After that, the account opening proceeded without a hitch.
“Since this is a minor's own account, we need the legal guardian's consent, but since your father is here, we can proceed. Please sign here.”
Dad signed.
Then the employee pointed to where the seal should go.
“Please stamp here.”
I took my personal seal out of a rabbit-shaped pouch.
I pressed it firmly into the ink pad.
Thump.
My name was stamped clearly in the signature line.
...It did get a slight pink tint because I had smeared pink paint on it yesterday, but that should be fine, right?
Tap-tap-tap-.
The employee checked the documents, then started typing.
After a moment,
“It's done. The foreign-currency account has been opened.”
The employee handed me a passbook with my name on it.
‘At the current exchange rate, about 1.49 billion won is going to go into this passbook!’
Just imagining it made me feel wonderful.
Dad stood up and said,
“Thank you.”
“Thank you so much!”
“Ah, thank you for the autograph too.”
The employee said with a smile.
I left the bank holding Dad's hand.