Chapter 51
Tap-tap-.
I sent an email to the Clay Mathematics Institute.
‘Our whole family is going, so how much are you willing to cover?’
I phrased it as politely as possible.
A reply came a day later.
“Oh.”
I was a little surprised as I read the reply.
—The institute will cover the full cost of round-trip first-class airfare for the award recipient and three immediate family members, as well as hotel costs for up to 13 nights and 14 days in connecting rooms near the ceremony venue.
I read the email three times over.
“Heehee-.”
I thought they’d only cover, at most, about a week, but two whole weeks?
I expected as much, but they’re incredibly generous.
I guess they must have tons of money from all those Harvard alumni donations.
After Dad got home from work, I told him about the email from Clay.
Mom and Dad’s eyes lit up!
“First class? Really?”
“Yep!”
“This is my first time ever flying first class.”
“Even in my past life, I only ever flew economy! When I went to overseas conferences with Mom, I had to cram myself into the seat, and it was su~ch~ a struggle!”
“A-yeon, honestly.”
“Heh heh heh. Thanks to our daughter, we get to fly first class too. Thank you, our daughter!”
Swish-swish-!
Dad placed his big hand on my head and roughly messed up my hair.
Mom said while looking at the calendar.
“It’s fortunate they’re even covering lodging for 13 days. We’ll have plenty of time to travel at a relaxed pace after the ceremony.”
“Right, right? Let’s plan the trip in advance!”
“Oh.”
Then.
Dad coughed awkwardly to get everyone’s attention.
“Girls, sorry to break it to you... but Dad only managed to save up 10 vacation days.”
Silence...
An awkward silence fell.
“What’s that? What’s vacation days? Is ten not good?”
Arin tilted her head.
Mom explained kindly.
“It means Dad can only take 10 days off from work to go on a trip.”
“Huh? Then...”
“And I already told the company I’d only be gone for a week. So unfortunately, I’ll have to spend just the first week with our family and come back to Korea first. Sorry.”
Dad clasped his hands together, apologizing.
“Aw... that’s a shame.”
“Me too.”
Gloomily-.
Arin and I both deflated a little.
“Come on, come on. We’ll still be together for the first week. Let’s make the most of that time and travel around as much as we can.”
Dad tried to lift our spirits.
...But come to think of it.
Before I even contacted Clay by email, hadn’t we originally figured the France trip would only be a week?
So Dad probably adjusted his schedule with work based on a one-week trip.
But now Clay had generously offered to cover two whole weeks.
I’d gotten excited and started thinking about how to spend the two weeks.
And now I was feeling disappointed again because Dad could only make time for a week.
Humanity really is fickle.
‘If I think of it as the four of us spending a week together from the start, plus an extra week where it’ll be just Mom, the kids, and me, that’s totally Lucky-Vicky.’
No good. I need to equip myself with a positive mindset.
Positive mindset... positive mindset...!
Grab-.
I grabbed Arin’s cheeks with both hands.
“Unnu?”
As I squeezed in from both sides, Arin’s lips puckered into the shape of a 3.
“We thought it’d only be a week, but it got extended by another week, so that’s awesome!”
I shouted, looking Arin in the eye.
Yu A-yeon special move, positive mindset injection!
“Unnu, musun sulu hunun guyu...? (Unnie, what are you saying...?)”
“Since it’s a week longer than planned, that’s so nice! It’s awesome! I’m happy! I am happy! So good~! So good~!”
“Ueet-?”
Dizzy-dizzy~
My positive-mind injection had Arin all dazed and unable to collect herself.
On top of that, Mom and Dad burst out laughing at my antics.
“See? Now you get it, Arin? It’s not that we’re disappointed Dad will only stay with us for a week and then go back to Korea. It’s that we get to stay in France for an extra week, which is great!”
“Uu... urussu... (Got it...)”
Phew-.
I wiped my forehead.
In fact, a week was plenty of time to enjoy a country.
If you watched travel vlogs on MeTube, people would smash through all the famous sights in just three or four days with optimized routes.
The point is, it’s not about how long you stay, but how densely you plan your route- that’s what matters.
“Then now! Let’s plan exactly how we’re going to get around!”
We spread the map of Paris out on the table with a thwack-.
✒️✒️✒️
The map prominently marked famous attractions and landmarks.
Arin poked at the map with her finger and asked.
“Is this the A-shaped one, the Eiffel Tower?”
“Yeah.”
“What about here?”
“The Louvre Museum.”
“Aah! I remember! The place where the diamond got stolen recently!”
“...Arin, if you talk about that at the museum, the security guard will scold you.”
“Eek.”
To be remembered by a four-year-old as the place where a diamond got stolen—the Louvre is so pitiful.
“Where is this?”
“The Arc de Triomphe.”
“Ooh... but what are they improving?”
“Dunno. I guess they were unhappy with something and improved a bunch of things back then.”
After marking off the sights one by one, there were really a lot.
“There are tons of famous places...”
“Honestly, we don’t have to try to see everything. To be honest, I’d rather eat tasty food than look at cool buildings!”
I wrote a list of places to go on a memo pad.
Dad said.
“And make sure to pack comfortable shoes too. Paris is huge, so we’ll have to walk a lot. You and Arin have short strides too. It might get tiring if you hold Mom and Dad’s hands and walk for a long time.”
“Yeah. I can keep walking no problem.”
“If we get tired in the middle, we can stop by a café or restaurant and rest. I hear Paris cafés have a great atmosphere.”
“It’d be fun to look out the café window and enjoy the grand buildings.”
Arin shot her hand up.
“I want to go to a café and gobble up dessert!”
“Paris desserts are supposed to be super delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really. Sweet, and it melts in your mouth~”
Imagining all those delicious desserts made my mouth water.
Mom spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
“Oh, right. We need to consider jet lag too. Korea and Paris are seven hours apart. If we start sightseeing right after we arrive, we’ll be way too tired. Let’s just rest at the hotel on the first day.”
Right.
They’re paying for such an expensive hotel, after all.
It would be rude not to take in the lavish hotel, too.
“Yeah. And since I’ll have to chatter a ton at the ceremony, I need to go in fully recharged that day.”
I looked over the ceremony schedule Clay had mentioned.
The event runs over two days.
The first day is the award ceremony for the general public.
After inviting a bunch of press, in front of the cameras.
—Now, the Riemann hypothesis has officially become the Riemann theorem. As for what the Riemann theorem is... mathematician Bernhard Riemann blah blah... and why this is mathematically important is blah blah...
After giving that background explanation.
Then they’ll announce, “But the person who solved that problem is this cute little girl right here-”
And then they’ll hand me a huge placard that says [1,000,000 $], snap a photo with me, and then...
Basically, it’s the kind of event where everyone goes, “Waaah, Yu A-yeon proved the Riemann theorem at age six, she’s so cool, so cute, so amazing!!! Clap clap clap!!!”
The second day is an academic conference for scholars.
Cameras get whisked away, and it becomes a place where everyone talks about difficult, headache-inducing math.
It’s not a place where I’m the only one rambling on and on like in a Yu A-yeon special lecture; I’m just participating as a guest.
They’ll probably discuss problems derived from the Riemann hypothesis, such as the generalized Riemann hypothesis or questions about L-functions.
Or maybe they’ll discuss the theorem used in my paper.
‘Personally, I’m more excited for the academic conference on the second day than for the first day’s ceremony. Hehe.’
Mathematicians discussing my paper again from a fresh angle after already chewing on it, picking it apart, savoring it, and enjoying it for six months?
I can’t resist that.
From that point on, it’s not Bernhard Riemann’s conjecture that’s the star anymore—it’s Yu A-yeon’s paper that takes center stage.
For me, that’s even more exciting than one million dollars!
✒️✒️✒️
Mom and Arin were chattering away about the itinerary while looking at the map.
Then.
Dad glanced around and then quietly came over to my side.
Whisper-whisper-.
And whispered in my ear.
“A-yeon.”
“Whyyy?”
“You’ve been saving your New Year’s money and allowance into your Nentendo 2 fund, right?”
“Yeah. Right?”
“Dad will make up the difference, so let’s buy it in advance now.”
Hearing that, I opened my eyes wide.
“W-what!?”
“Shh-.”
Hup-.
I clamped my mouth shut and went all fish-lipped.
“Really? Why the sudden change, Dad?”
Dad said nothing.
Instead, he was telling me with his eyes.
And I could decipher that look.
...Aha.
In the end, Dad was married too, after all.
During the week Dad would be left alone.
He wouldn’t have to wrestle with Arin over the remote because she wanted to watch kids’ channels.
He could stock the fridge with beer and drink in the living room without worrying about being watched.
And he could order delivery food whenever he wanted and play games without being interrupted.
I could read the blazing determination in Dad’s eyes.
The determination to thoroughly crush Zelda and Pokémon on the Nentendo 2 during that week alone.
“Yeah. I get it.”
Thanks to the memories of Shin I-jun, Dad’s old best friend from my past life, I could fully understand his feelings.
Nod-nod-.
“While we’re in Paris, I’ll lend you the Nentendo 2... but after that, Arin and I are playing Pokémon with it.”
“Thanks. Our daughter really is the best at showing Dad some filial piety.”
Dad opened his wallet and handed me two gold-colored bills.
He was telling me to buy the Nentendo 2 myself so Mom wouldn’t notice.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
Anyway, I got the Nentendo 2, so yay!”