Chapter 12: The Early Dawn (1)

“Ms. Kim told us that we should go to the infirmary if we’re ever sick, so I took them there.”

That was the boy’s answer when asked about what had happened with Hyung-Oh, the running in the hallway, and, most importantly, the piggyback. It was such a textbook answer, delivered in a calm, composed manner, and the vice-principal couldn’t help but ask more questions out of sheer wonder. “No, I wasn’t particularly scared. Just worried. I thought it’d be best to get them to the infirmary as soon as possible, for treatment.” Once again, an impeccable answer. “I don’t think I was in any danger. I knew I would be able to carry them both by myself.” Again. “No, Hyung-Oh looked like he was having trouble breathing, so I prioritized him over Kyung-eun.” And again. No matter what the question was, the boy answered without missing a beat, and the vice-principal knew without a doubt that he was an extraordinary child.

The boy left the counseling room, and the vice-principal followed him with his eyes for a moment before focusing on Hee Yeon, hanging her head low. Perhaps it had been a mistake to assign first year students to a teacher with only three years of experience. With no solution at hand, the vice-principal inwardly blamed the two teachers who had left after requesting maternity leave.

“Ms. Kim, for now you should focus on the summer holiday ceremony tomorrow. The disciplinary committee meeting will be held during break, so just make sure to submit your report before then.”

“I’m so sorry, sir.”

“Well, it could have been worse. Hyung-Oh’s parents understood, and Kyung-eun’s parents…well, we’ll figure something out.”

Hee Yeon didn’t know what to say. There was nothing she could say. Everything had just happened by chance.

“Hyung-Oh will be resting at home, so he won’t be coming to school until after break is over. You’ll have to choose another class president for the next semester anyway, so I’m sure things will be okay even if his mother doesn’t come tomorrow.”

As it were, Hyung-Oh’s mother was chosen as the head of the Parent Committee at the beginning of the semester, which is why Hyung-Oh had the title of class president. Considering the timing of everything, his mother was sure to resign from her position, but Hee Yeon still had no way of knowing what kinds of conversations the parents would have following the emergency meetings they would inevitably hold. There was already too much talk in the parents’ SNS, and the summer holiday ceremony was a day away. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and hit the desk with a quiet plop.

Having left the counseling room, the boy headed straight to the library. Classes were already over, and most of the other students had already left the school. After-school classes had been postponed until summer break was over, so the boy had decided to wait in the library for the older students to finish their classes. If things had gone as usual, Myeong-su would surely have insisted that they go play in the courtyard, but because he had been summoned by the vice-principal, he was now free to go read as he wished. He greeted the librarian with a simple, yet courteous “Hello,” and the librarian welcomed him with a bright smile.

“Oh, you’re here! I heard you had quite the day today. I guess smart kids really are different, huh?”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“And polite too! Just perfect.”

One of the librarian’s only duties was to be a reading instructor for the students, meaning she often had time to spare. On this particular day, she had been bored out of her wits as usual when she received news of a first grader’s stunt. It sounded like some action movie sequence, and the librarian had been looking forward to seeing the boy. Paying no mind to her enthusiasm, the boy greeted her once again and dove straight into the General Education aisle, looking over the many books on the shelves. The most pressing question he had was the reason behind Hyung-Oh’s strange symptoms. He had wanted to ask the other teachers but decided against it when he realized this was not the time for such questions. While asking the nurse would be ideal, she had unfortunately left the school to accompany Hyung-Oh and Kyung-eun to the hospital. She would be back soon enough, but the boy wished to learn for himself as much as he could in the meantime.

“Traveling by Myself,” “New Practical Education,” “Leadership.” There were so many books on so many subjects, and the boy couldn’t help but feel drawn to them. If only he had the time, he would have read them all on the spot, but he decided to take it slow. That was the first rule his father had taught him: never rush. If you rush in the forest, you can get lost. If you rush while hunting, you can get hurt. If you rush to convey your thoughts to someone, your words will lose meaning, causing a misunderstanding, and you might get into an argument. So, don’t rush.

The boy took out all the books with the word “medical” in their title and headed to the designated reading area to start going through them one by one: “colds are not caused by cold temperatures. Rather, they are caused by over 200 types of viruses,” “…a virus so dangerous it caused the deaths of over 500 million people, possibly wiping out civilizations.” The boy wasn’t sure what exactly a “virus” was, but he was clever enough to understand through context that they were the cause of disease. One of the passages he read explained that the first western depiction of doctors came from the Iliad: “[…] when he had seen the wound, he wiped away the blood and applied some soothing drugs.” Though an interesting fact to know, it wasn’t what he was looking for. Wondering whether everyone knew about all these things and realizing how much more he had yet to learn, he moved on to the next book in his pile.

However, the more he read, the more he realized that the books’ contents were all very similar. Most only explained anatomical structures and their roles, and there was no information on specific diseases and their symptoms and cures. When he asked the librarian about it, she had only told him that the school library didn’t carry such books, but even if it did, he was much too young to understand them. “Of course,” she replied when the boy asked where he could find such books, “you’ll find them in the big library downtown.” She sounded amused, her voice almost singsongy, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled at him. Realizing that she would answer most of his questions, the boy decided to just ask her what he wanted to know rather than going to another library.

“Our class president just suddenly stopped breathing and he was shaking all over. Why is that? It’s not like his mouth was held shut, and no one hit him, but he still couldn’t breathe. What kind of illness is that? Is it possible to get sick so suddenly?”

Finally realizing what it was that the boy wanted to know, the librarian couldn’t help but be awestruck by his insight. He had seen the class president have breathing difficulties and had set out to figure out not only the cause of his “illness,” but also a cure. She was sure that few in his age group would be able to think that way. Connecting symptoms to illnesses and trying to find a cure was no idle train of thought. As things were, she had (thank goodness) heard about what happened to the child from other teachers, so she tried to explain it in simple enough terms so the boy could understand.

“It’s not that he got sick just like that. Sometimes people are afraid of certain things. For example, they could be scared of needles, or really dark places. So when they come face to face with the object of their fear, their bodies stop listening to them.” The librarian explained calmly, gauging the boy’s reaction. “Do you know how we breathe?”

“We inhale air through our noses or mouths, which gets transported to the lungs, and then it spreads out all through our bodies. And then we get rid of the excess carbon dioxide with our mouths.” The boy’s answer came without pause. It was something he had read in a book and remembered well. He was such a lovely child, and the librarian excitedly began to explain “phobias” to him. She possessed the knowledge of common medical information, but this knowledge did not expand to medical morality, and she kindly described the details of phobias. As such, the boy had learned about Hyung-Oh’s “illness” and his “symptoms.” Thankfully, however, even the librarian was unaware of the exact cause of his symptoms, and a sliver of morality was achieved. Moreover, she was satisfied with the fact that she had been able to exert her influence as a teacher and show off her authority and knowledge in front of this precocious child.

Through all the commotions of the day, the boy had learned that people’s illnesses weren’t always due to physical discomfort or outside forces, and that if people were hurt mentally, that could also result in an illness. As a bonus, he had also found out that there was a big library downtown, with even more books than the school library. Content with how he had spent the day, he even tolerated Myeong-su’s whining throughout the car ride back to the institute.

On the other hand, Hee Yeon’s day had been a living hell. Her superiors had been a nightmare all day long, and on top of that, her phone had rung nonstop, with notifications piling on and on. She had grown tired of checking them all and had resorted to just throwing her phone inside her cabinet drawer. They were probably all from angry parents demanding this and that.

“Hee Yeon, let’s go get a drink.”

It was her friend, the teacher in charge of the fifth graders, offering to buy drinks as consolation. Hee Yeon readily agreed and got up to leave. Even if she couldn’t get fully wasted, due to tomorrow’s vacation ceremony, at least she could wash the bitterness down with some good old alcohol. Her worn out brown flats led her straight out of the school gates with no hesitation.

<The Early Dawn (1)> End