Chapter 33 – Midterms Approached – Part 1

Chapter 33 – Midterms Approached – Part 1

Mina and Gaeul’s faces flushed red.

They felt like they were being treated like children.

“Did you do that on purpose to humiliate us? If you had at least told us you were going to leave our names out…”

“I really hate this.”

Woojin asked with a very gentle expression, despite their flushed faces.

“I’m just curious, I want to know what result Mina and Gaeul wanted. Like Santa’s gift, where what you wish for comes true if you just think about it without doing anything? In dictionary terms, something like a ‘wish’?”

At his teasing words, Lee Mina and Choi Gaeul trembled, not knowing what to do with their rising anger.

Conversely, Woojin’s face was the same as before.

That made people even crazier.

“I don’t think you need to be swayed by emotions that act on hormones. It means that a brain designed by the environment doesn’t need to react to a signal of anger. If you react to these hormones, the blood flow slows down as your joints and muscles contract, which is bad for your nerves and cardiovascular system. As a result, your hormone balance breaks down and your blood pressure rises, so your pulse also quickens and your testosterone levels increase, causing changes in your temporal and frontal lobes, which only clouds your judgment.”

At Woojin’s words, Mansu chuckled.

It seemed like he was playing with words.

What should I say?

It subtly seemed like he was being sarcastic, and also like he was provoking more anger.

It felt like a complete relief.

But Woojin was serious, unlike Mansu.

“Like this, like you who react to hormones, we also reacted to you and simply stated exactly what the team member did. Or did Mansu and I do something wrong? If harm was caused, if I was wrong, I would appreciate it if you could explain it logically and theoretically so it’s easy to understand. I’m just curious.”

Lee Mina and Choi Gaeul chewed on their lips and couldn’t open their mouths.

When there was no response, Woojin opened his mouth, thinking of their well-being.

“Just cry. You’ll feel a bit better.”

Because it could relieve stress and somewhat prevent hormonal imbalance.

Eventually, a tear fell from Choi Gaeul’s right eye.

Mansu chuckled.

“Oh? Hey, are you guys really crying?”

They quickly gathered their belongings and left the lecture hall.

Mansu, who had been laughing while looking at the back door, turned his gaze to Woojin.

“They must be mentally shattered from getting schooled, hahahaha!”

Woojin looked at Mansu with a face that seemed to ask what he meant.

“Schooled? I was just asking out of curiosity.”

***

On the weekend, Woojin sat next to Bomi on the bus.

They were going to an amusement park.

It was a day Woojin had been looking forward to.

They were planning to go on popular rides and visit the safari.

Bomi, who had been talking to Woojin, looked at her cell phone and asked,

“Brother, my friend is asking about the unconscious, and I don’t know how to explain it so she understands.”

Woojin slowly nodded and began searching his mind for suitable examples.

Then he said,

“Bomi, do you feel yourself breathing right now?”

“Ah… so the unconscious is when you inhale and exhale without consciously thinking about it? And what I’m conscious of right now is self-consciousness!”

“As expected, our Bomi is smart.”

“Hehe.”

“There are other things too. When you pick up a side dish with chopsticks, you don’t think, ‘I’ll hold the chopsticks like this and reach out my arm to grab the side dish,’ do you? You just do it without thinking. Those are also actions of the unconscious.”

“Indeed… Even our teacher can’t explain it as easily as you, Brother. Whose brother is this smart!”

“Bomi’s brother.”

“Hehe.”

Woojin stroked his sister’s head.

“Bomi, thank you.”

A few days after he first returned home, Bomi had said something.

‘Brother, I’ll take you to the amusement park! Let’s go together! Promise!’

“For what?”

“Just, everything.”

After several tens of minutes of driving, they arrived at their destination.

Since it was the weekend, it was bustling with people.

As Bomi was getting a Day Pass, Woojin offered her his card.

“Bomi. Pay with this. I have a lot of money.”

Woojin had transferred all the profits from his stock investments to his account.

“Even if you’re here, I’m paying for this. Put it away~. Put it away~.”

Before Woojin could speak, Bomi quickly paid and linked her arm with her brother’s.

Woojin and Bomi looked around at the rides, wore Rabbit Hats, and ate delicious Churros.

“Taking a picture. One~ two~ three!”

Click!

They also started taking pictures.

Bomi always wanted to create memories for her brother, who had been confined there.

Woojin felt an unconscious warmth from Bomi’s actions.

“You said you wanted to ride this first, right?”

What Bomi pointed to with her finger was the Viking Ride, which Woojin had only seen in the media.

They immediately got in line, and Woojin watched the ride swinging back and forth in the air.

‘Potential Energy to Kinetic Energy… It’s the Law of Conservation of Mechanical Energy.’

Woojin asked.

“When the Viking Ride goes up to the ends, why do people raise their hands as if in triumph?”

Bomi seemed to fall into deep thought, pondering seriously.

Bomi wanted to answer all of her brother’s questions. Soon, as if remembering, she said,

“Ah! When it goes up high, you feel like you’re floating, and people like that feeling, so they raise their hands.”

Woojin slowly nodded.

The highest point the Viking Ride reaches.

At that point, the body receives an upward force from the ride, and the gravity pressing down on the earth is cancelled out.

And when the ride suddenly and forcefully pulls the upward-moving body back down, the semicircular canals, which control rotation and balance, are shocked, causing the heart to beat rapidly.

Bomi smiled at Woojin, who was quietly watching the Viking Ride.

It was because older brother’s pretty eyes seemed to sparkle.

After waiting 20 minutes, they were able to get on the Viking Ride.

Woojin actively agreed with Bomi’s words that to properly enjoy the ride, one had to sit at the very end.

“Departing!”

The Viking Ride began to sway, and Woojin quietly focused, trying to feel his state on the ride.

Whoosh- Whoosh-

When the Viking Ride took Woojin to its highest point, Bomi shouted ‘Yahoo!’ and threw her hands up in the air.

That was when,

Woojin, with his eyes closed, clung to Bomi like a magnet.

“Older brother? Are you scared?”

“There are still 24 more rounds left… ugh…”

Woojin’s voice was drowned out by the screams of the crowd and Bomi couldn’t hear him.

“Older brother, it’s okay! Look at me! Yahoo!”

Bomi’s smile deepened.

Because she felt that her older brother was gradually changing as time went on.

Eventually, when Woojin got off the Viking Ride, his eyes looked hollow, as if his soul had left him.

“Older brother, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Instead of rides, how about we go to the safari?”

“No. Let’s go on the rides first.”

“You don’t look okay… Should we eat ice cream and then go on them?”

“Bomi, I’m fine. I want to ride them.”

“Then should we ride that?”

What Bomi pointed to was a ride that moved at incredible speed, the Roller Coaster.

“Huh?”

As Woojin stared blankly at the Roller Coaster,

“Should we ride something else?”

“No, I want to ride it. Let’s go ride that.”

Determination filled Woojin’s eyes, but his steps, in contrast, moved like a robot, clunking along.

***

As time passed, Woojin experienced more and more new things. And another new thing was slowly approaching.

It was the Midterm Exam.

“I hope everyone gets good results.”

As the Professor left, Mansu, as if he had been waiting, came to the Lecture Hall where Woojin was.

“Woojin.”

Mansu grabbed Woojin’s hands tightly.

“Thank you so much. We’ve been getting a ton of group orders! It seems parents keep ordering when there are school or academy events. We’re getting a lot of deliveries too. My brother said he’ll treat us to a big meal to show his thanks. Let’s go!”

“The exam is right around the corner, I should study. Everyone else is studying, I can’t fall behind.”

“He said he’d buy us 1++ Grade Beef…”

“Can we go to the store with a mask? Let’s hurry.”