Chapter 6 – I Am – Part 3

Chapter 6 – I Am – Part 3

“I want to prepare for the General Equivalency Diploma.”

The family’s eyes widened.

It hadn’t even been three days since Woojin returned home.

But he immediately wanted to prepare for the General Equivalency Diploma.

Dad said,

“Woojin, you don’t need to rush. It’s okay to take your time.”

“Yes, Woojin, I don’t think you need to be so impatient, do you?”

“Not now, but in a week.”

The family blinked their eyes once more.

What would be different now or a week from now?

Woojin said,

“I want to live a normal life.”

Woojin’s words touched Mom and Dad’s hearts.

Dad, who had been looking at Woojin with concern, soon let out a big laugh.

“Alright! If our son wants to do it, he should. Honey, what day is the middle school General Equivalency Diploma on…?”

“August.”

“August?”

“Yes.”

You’ve already looked into everything?

As Woojin nodded, Dad patted his shoulder.

Woojin’s initiative is amazing, just like mine.

But there were only three months left.

He had to master three years of middle school curriculum within that time.

Considering all the hardships Woojin went through there, it would probably be difficult.

Woojin, how about we make a promise, you and I?

Yes.

Since it’s your first time taking the exam, don’t be sad if you fail. Many people fail, you know.

Yes.

Alright.

Smiling, Dad left for work, and Bomi came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

Brother, if there’s anything you don’t know, I’ll teach you. I’m second in my class.

Okay.

***

Woojin reduced his sleep and practiced by making sounds for studying, or rather, for pronunciation correction.

If the high school equivalency exam was the big goal, pronunciation correction was the smaller goal leading to it.

After three days, when he thought he was satisfied, he asked Bomi with his usual expressionless face.

Bomi, how do I sound?

Bomi debated whether to tell him the truth or not.

That thought didn’t last long.

She decided she had to be honest for her brother’s sake.

You sound like an electronic male…

Electronic male?

Yes… Like a machine talking. Like it’s reading a book.

Woojin scratched his head and went into his room. Another day passed, and he asked again,

“Does my pronunciation sound okay?”

“Yes, it’s so precise, like an announcer…”

Woojin scratched his head again and headed to his room.

Then Bomi said,

“Brother, if it’s too precise, it sounds stiff and strange. Instead of that…”

Bomi recommended dramas and movies to him.

She purposely suggested funny ones because she wanted to see her brother’s bright face.

And that evening, Bomi could hear Woojin’s voice coming from his room.

“Hahaha!”

Bomi, who was in the living room, quickly turned her head to her mom.

“Mom, that’s brother’s laugh, right?”

“I think so…?”

“Puhahahaha!”

“It is! His laugh!”

Bomi, who had jumped up from the sofa, carefully opened Woojin’s room door.

And she peeked inside.

Mom was also looking over Bomi’s shoulder.

“That boy! Hehehe!”

The mother and daughter blinked their eyes at the sight of Woojin looking at his cell phone.

It was because he was making laughing sounds with his mouth, but his facial expression was unnatural.

Closing the door quietly, Bomi said to Mom,

“Brother… it seems he wants to be an entertainment reporter too.”

“Indeed…”

The mother and daughter exchanged awkward smiles.

A week passed like that, and Woojin’s pronunciation and intonation became similar to that of an average person.

Of course, his family liked it the most.

The person who liked it most brightly was Bomi.

“Brother, don’t you like online lectures?”

She was referring to studying for the high school equivalency exam.

Mom and Dad had recommended some good online lectures, but Woojin shook his head.

“I don’t think I need to watch them.”

After searching for middle school equivalency exam questions online, he thought a book would be enough.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, though?”

“Yes.”

Bomi slowly nodded her head.

Before, he had told her not to be sad and shown her unknown terms written on his phone, and somehow, she vaguely felt that her brother would really do well.

But that was just a thought, and it was better to make sure for her brother’s sake.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“Package delivery!”

It was the equivalency exam workbook.

Bomi, who received the package, seemed to have an idea. She tore open the box and opened one of the workbooks for Woojin.

“Brother, can you solve just five pages of this? If you don’t know something, you can ask me.”

“Okay.”

“Here’s a pen.”

The subject was mathematics.

Woojin’s eyes moved quickly from side to side as he looked at the workbook.

Bomi blinked.

Her brother marked the numbers without looking at each page for five seconds, like someone speed-reading.

Rustle, rustle. Rustle.

It was like he was just glancing through it, but he didn’t forget to check it.

“You, you finished them all?”

“Yeah.”

Bomi quickly checked the answers like a girl possessed.

“Amazing…”

There were no wrong answers.

“Brother, just a moment.”

Bomi, who had gone into her room, came out with a math workbook and showed Woojin the problem she was struggling with.

“Brother, can you solve this?”

Woojin’s mouth opened after three candles.

“43.”

“Mom! Brother’s acting weird!”

Bomi shouted, but Mom was out at the supermarket. Bomi asked again, bewildered.

“Brother, how do you know things like this?”

Although Mom and Dad didn’t tell her everything, she heard he went through terrible things.

In that environment, how could he…

“I learned it from books. There were a lot of books there.”

“Can you solve other subjects quickly too?”

“I’d have to see…”

Bomi opened her Korean, Science, English, and Social Studies workbooks one after another.

“Can you solve these too? Don’t solve them all, just five pages each…”

Before Bomi could finish speaking, Woojin started solving the problems, and Bomi scratched her head at the absurd sight.

Anyone would think he was just messing around with the workbook.

Soon, after Woojin finished all the problems, Bomi checked the answers and said,

“Wow… amazing. Brother, you’re like a genius. My brother’s a genius!”

Bomi gave a thumbs up with both hands.

How can I study to be like you, big brother?

Woojin fell into thought for a moment.

At first, he just kept looking and looking, and he memorized everything he didn’t understand whole.

To defeat the one dormant in the unconscious, that was the only method.

But as time passed, he realized that was terribly wrong.

That’s not how you acquire knowledge.

Woojin, thinking ‘How can I explain this so Bomi will understand it well?’, opened his mouth.

Bomi, have you had fun recently? Like when you went out to play?

Huh? Why suddenly ask that?

I’m going to tell you. My study method.

Bomi looked bewildered, but Woojin saw his sister’s eyes drift up to the right.

She was reminiscing about the past.

When I went to the amusement park with my friends?

I’ve never been on a ride. That must have been fun.

Oh! I’ll definitely take you next time, big brother. Let’s really go together. There are so many rides…

Bomi excitedly began to recount the events of that day.

What was delicious and which ride was the most fun…

Woojin quietly listened to Bomi, who was speaking with a joyful expression.

It’s a promise. Let’s definitely go together. I’ll even buy you churros. Hehehe.

Woojin, linking pinky fingers with Bomi, said,

How did you feel when you talked about the amusement park just now?

Huh?

You were happy, right?

At that one remark, Bomi felt a shiver run down her spine.

It was because I was feeling the thrill of riding the ride, just as my brother said, and the fun I had at the amusement park, right now.

My brother told me, and I immediately understood.

“Regression.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a method that revives past memories sleeping in your mind and makes you re-experience the emotions and feelings from that time.”

By making them recall happy times with questions and simply listening to their stories, the ‘consciousness’ feels pleasure.

Just like how your mouth waters when you think of something sour, even if you haven’t eaten a lemon.

Our brain considers vivid thoughts or imaginations as reality and makes our body react.

It was a method that could gift joy to the other person through words.

Conversely, it could also be misused to tempt someone.

“You need to consciously understand the brain well. Our brain likes what’s familiar and can easily become a slave to dopamine.”

“Dopamine? What’s that?”

“It’s a hormone secreted when you’re excited or have a stimulating experience. If you have too little, you can get sick, but if too much is secreted, you can easily develop various addictions. For example, alcohol addiction. It’s like continuously drinking without stopping to get that intoxicated feeling.”

“Oh… I think I understand a little of what you mean.”

“You just need to consciously use this brain…”

Just then, the door opened and Mom and Dad came in together.

“Kids, we bought some rice cake skewers~.”

Woojin, who was talking to Bomi, quickly got up from his seat and approached the entrance.

“Rice cake skewers?”

While Woojin’s eyes were shining, Bomi shouted.

“Ah, brother!”

She felt as if she had lost to the rice cake skewers.