Chapter 8: Chapter 8 (2/2)
Juho took some the white mackerel meat from the plate and put it in his mouth. The meat was just b.u.t.tery enough, giving it a smooth texture. It was perfectly combined with rice. He felt like he could eat an entire bowl just with the mackerel.
”Is everything OK at school?”
”Of course.”
”Has there been anything interesting lately?”
As usual, she calmly asked about her son's day. Naturally, Juho told his mother about what had happened that day. It was mostly about what he had talked about with his friends or funny things his teachers had said. When it came to the club activity in the science room, Juho only picked things that his mother might laugh at. In response, Juho's mother started sharing about her day and the things that happened between the neighbors.
”It's impossible to have a conversation with that lady. It's like she's from another dimension.”
”Is that right?”
”Yeah! She even talks like a baby.”
Then, she impersonated the lady's speech. Her lisp was rather funny. After they had finished talking, she added these words as always, ”There are things that should stay within the family. Just because I said what I said, you can't be going around telling your friends. You know what I mean?”
”I understand.”
Her concern for her son was habitual. After cleaning up, she cut up some persimmons. They were sweet and pleasant. After Juho took a bite from a soft piece of persimmon, his mother asked, ”How are you feeling these days?”
To that unexpected question, Juho asked back, ”What do you mean?”
”You're famous now. Your books are selling well. Are you excited?”
Juho's mother said it playfully, but Juho wasn't that naive. He sensed concern behind her words. It had to be something about her son becoming arrogant from the unexpected success. There had been moments like that in the past. His mother would carefully ask Juho a question after dinner, and back then, her immature son found her concern to be a ha.s.sle.
His parents had to have been caught off guard by their son's success. They probably weren't sure of how to raise him properly in such a situation. Coming to think of it, Juho's parents had always done their best to encourage him. He was solely responsible for neglecting their words and choosing not to listen. A child was not some creature that grew according to how its parents raised it. The reason Juho's life came to such an end was because of his choices.
”It is exciting.”
”Still, you know that you shouldn't be too excited, right? Things could fall apart at any moment.”
”I know. That's why I've been putting all my money into the savings account.”
”Great, that's my son! You're the spice of my life.”
Juho rea.s.sured his mother, and for the first time in a while, he spent time with her in front of a TV.
”Honey, the mackerel is too fishy. Do we have any lemon?”
”It's a fish. It's supposed to smell like that. We don't have any, so you'll just have to eat it.”
Coming in late from work, Juho's father had to get an earful from his wife after complaining about the mackerel.
”Hey, play a different song. Something exciting.”
”Got it.”
The music filled the cla.s.sroom. It had been a trend to listen to music during recess using the computer in the cla.s.sroom. The song selection usually varied depending on who was sitting in front of the podium, but it was generally pop.
The cla.s.s president held the mouse today, and unlike other days, he played a music video of a foreign pop singer. Seeing the s.e.xy dance moves, the boys cheered and whistled. Even the girls joined in. 'Take me.' The sound of laughter mingled with the music.
While bobbing his head to the intro of the song, Juho realized that he felt like the lyrics were being translated simultaneously and focused on listening.
”Why do you look so serious listening to a song?”
”I had something to think about.”
While he enjoyed the song, Seo Kw.a.n.g saw Juho with a serious face and laughed. Juho paid no attention and kept listening. After testing himself for several days, Juho realized that his head was able to translate any language after some time. It wasn't just English.
Click.
The phenomenon began with a sound that rang out in Juho's head. It was bizarre. He remembered seeing some five or seven year old prodigies on TV. Those kids learned several languages on their own and shocked the adults around them. Were those kids learning languages by using the same ability as Juho?
”Hey, there's something going on outside,” Seo Kw.a.n.g said with his eyes fixed on the hallway.
”Huh?”
By the time Juho had stopped thinking and reconnected with reality, there was a sharp scream. The music stopped, and the kids came out of their cla.s.s one by one. Seo Kw.a.n.g and Juho also left their seats to see what was happening. Kids who were walking on the hallway stopped and approached the scene. There was nothing at the center of the crowd standing in a circle.
”What's going on?”
”I can't really see.”
The kids closed in to get a better look. All of a sudden, the circle broke apart and split open like Moses splitting the red sea. There were screams occasionally. It was neither a G.o.d, nor a person that walked through the opening of the crowd. It was a centipede, with more legs than anyone could count.
”Oh, my! It's huge!”
”That is so gross!”
”Somebody, kill it.”
The centipede was busy moving around between the kids' feet. From the centipede's perspective, that group of kids probably had more legs. The centipede had to have probably realized it by now,
'I shouldn't have come here.'
Due to the school being close to a mountain, Juho heard a teacher saying that centipedes were a common find. The first years were on a high alert because a centipede had appeared before them. The school being in Seoul, most kids probably weren't used to seeing centipedes right in front of their eyes.
”It might be poisonous.”
Squirming what looked like either a head or tail, the centipede came closer. It was a threat. That thing was dangerous.
”Let's kill it!”
<smelly-grilled mackerel=””> The End
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