Winter break was only a few days away now, and this knowledge, coupled with the thought that everyone would be moving up a grade, increased the excitement in the classroom. The children were excited for the start of another break, while teachers dreaded the soon-to-come increase in paperwork. Diligent teachers would have already finished editing last year’s student records and writing up student evaluations and progress reports, but most usually ended up procrastinating until the end of the year, resulting in a mountain of paperwork that now included everything that normally came with, well, the end of the year. Student records, after all, pertained to every student in the school, and there was even more paperwork involved for students graduating or moving up a grade. The decreased number of students meant that more experienced teachers made quick work of their papers, freeing enough time for them to plan out their break, but the others were left to slave away day and night trying to balance lesson plans and paperwork.

The teacher in charge of Class 1-3 was no different, and dark circles had settled under her eyes for quite a few days now. Nevertheless, she had still spend last evening sitting in her living room to watch TV, disregarding her pile of laundry and increasing paperwork, all because one of her own students, the school’s celebrity and her own little pain in the neck, was making an appearance, all thanks to her tip to the broadcasting station. She felt almost obligated to watch, and honestly, she relished the opportunity to rest her tired mind and body. Even more honestly, she felt much too lazy to do anything.

Still, sitting there in front of the TV, waiting for the program to start, she felt a bit like some sort of mastermind, and she felt good knowing that this was her student. Perhaps all her colleagues or even parents would come to her tomorrow to ask all sorts of questions about her teaching methods, about how she taught a prodigy, or how prodigies studied. Maybe they’ll even ask about what it’s like to deal with a prodigies and all the pros and cons.

The program lasted 50 minutes, with Lucid appearing in a twenty minute clip. And yet, the more Hee Yeon watched, the more confused she felt. This wasn’t the child she knew. The whole time, she mumbled to herself, “He’s not like that. He’s much more…” and scratched her head. The Lucid she knew was much more vibrant, more clever, and asked questions that she could never have imagined. He displayed a genius that had baffled her, and yet onscreen, he appeared to be no different from any smart kid on the block. After being introduced as a first grader with a keen interest in physics, he had passed a preliminary test with flying colors, which was amazing, yes. But then the IQ test results were revealed, and he had scored lower than most other children who were labeled as prodigies. Then they cut to a science high school teacher explaining some theories, and then went on to show Lucid being excited about an experiment. Hee Yeon knew that he was excited over the precise numbers and calculations, but the audience had no way of knowing that, and simply thought the experiment must have looked cool to a child his age. All in all, the program had done nothing to convey just how amazing and extraordinary Lucid was.

The science teacher had gone on to end the interview with a rather puzzled look.

“It’s normal for elementary school children to be curious about their surroundings and and to want to learn more about science.” he had said.

But it wasn’t normal at all! He was the only one in Hee Yeon’s class to even care about anything like that!

“But it’s wonderful to see this curiosity being taken to the next level, to the point that he would take on more advanced topics in an effort to lean more about what he wants to know. That’s not that common. The fact that he’s still in elementary school is really quite a surprise.” The interview continued.

But he wasn’t just any elementary schooler! He’s in first grade! He only started receiving education last year!

“Given his passion and willingness to learn, I’m sure we can expect great things from him. I, for one, am rooting for him.”

Why won’t they just admit that he’s a genius? That he was amazing, a true marvel, and that everyone as a society should help him prosper??

Hee Yeon quickly grew bored. Perhaps her expectations had been too high, or perhaps she had mistakenly thought that she knew more about him that she actually did. The program ended like that, on a very, very boring note, and Hee Yeon found herself browsing through the program’s forums, eager to see if others thought the same way.

“Is that the library kid from social media? He’s cute.”

“Is he mixed? Look at his nose. Damn.”

“His eye color looks really strange. Is it because of the lights? Or am I going crazy?”

“A child who’s into physics? That’s sorta boring as a topic, isn’t it? And today’s show seemed really forced. Stop pushing kids to fit your definition of a prodigy.”

“Do elementary schoolers really not know linear equations? Like, is he really the only one?”

Hee Yeon hadn’t thought of it before, since she had grown accustomed to it, but it seemed that people were more interested in Lucid’s looks. Most of the posts were about how good-looking he was, and the few posts that discussed his intelligence all seemed to agree that he didn’t qualify as a prodigy.

In actuality, there weren’t that many posts to begin with. Had the show failed to attract people’s attention? Hee Yeon regretted her decision to watch it in the first place. She could have gotten so much done. Like her laundry, for example. Sighing to herself, she sat at her desk, once again focusing on her paperwork.

****

“Come on, Jang. We have a lot more children lined up. Let’s get ready for the next episode.”

“We just have to make sure the next episode is better. Don’t let it get to you, and don’t be so disappointed.”

“Views aren’t everything. We did well to show the issues with today’s education system. It’s alright. Don’t sweat it.”

The last to visit him had been Nayeon, the youngest writer. She looked like she was about to cry, apologizing with a trembling voice. They had avoided hitting the lowest views since the birth of the program, “Looking for Prodigies,” but when compared to last week’s episode of a child figuring out car models simply from the sound of the brakes and helping the police identify stolen cars, the views had dropped by 4%.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” said Jang reassuringly. “It’s my fault for not capturing it right.”

Of course, their program relied much more on the topic and story themselves than on presentation, but that didn’t mean that he could blame Nayeon for the episode flopping. If they had focused on his looks in the first place, the views would have been much higher, so in the end, it really had been an issue of presentation. Jang knew this was a reach, and he felt angry at how unfair this all was, but he also knew that it couldn’t be helped. With the end of the year approaching, he would have to move mountains to schedule another shoot, and it was difficult to clean this mess up, as no one had predicted this would happen. Because it had been so unexpected, though, Jang had been able to get out of this without so much as a reprimand from the higher ups. That didn’t make him feel any better though, and he couldn’t bring himself to leave the editing room.

****

“Sir, I got it.”

“Good. So, this is the footage?”

A man, roughly in his early 50’s, received a file and a USB from his secretary.

“Yes, sir. We stopped it from going on air, in exchange for an advertisement. It’s taken care of.” The secretary reported, pushing up his gold-framed glasses. Given the nature of their product, airing an advertisement during a time where their main demographic was busy was nothing short of throwing money in the wind. Still, it was a necessary cost in order to carry out more secret dealings with broadcasting stations. This time was no different. The footage in question would have seriously hurt the company’s reputation, so buying it out was a great gain for them. For the station, they clipped out a less than satisfactory video in exchange for an ad, resulting in a great gain there, as well. That Jang wouldn’t be penalized for the drop in views was just a bonus.

“Did you get it analyzed?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve already conducted the first round of testing, comparing that footage to the video we got from the high school.”

“First round?” the man asked, looking up at his secretary from the pile of documents in the file.

“I mean, the report was baffling for us all, sir. It was a general consensus that one analysis wouldn’t be enough to fully comprehend the situation.”

“So?”

“We will conduct more in-depth analyses and experiments. Our research team is on it, sir.”

“What happens if the footage is real?”

“The experiment was only conducted three times, so the validity of the results is dubious at best. But if we were to assume they are accurate… Then whatever they used is seven times more effective than our product, sir.”

“Seven times…”

“If even a second of that footage had been broadcasted, it would have caused enough uproar to flip our entire industry around.”

“That data, though… It can’t possibly be real, can it?”

“No, sir. Even our researchers are doubting it. We tested all the products they used even before the episode aired, and it just isn’t plausible that such results would pop up all of a sudden. But we can’t dismiss it, either. We have a few people determined that the footage is unaltered and real.”

“…”

The secretary cleared his throat and straightened up a bit.

“For now, we should leave it to our researchers. I will report their findings as soon as we get more information.”

“Do they know?”

“The other company? No, sir. It’s a stroke of luck that we found out about it in the first place. Remember Director Park’s son? He was there during the experiment, and he contacted us as soon as he realized something was off.”

“I’ll have to meet up with him, have a drink or something.” the man grumbled, tapping the USB against the desk as he thought. “Oh, and figure something out for a scholarship. And tell those researchers that I want results quick.”

So many requests, and all over the place, too. The secretary bowed his head in understanding and left the room.

****

Winter break brought along another exciting event: Christmas. The institute was alight with decorations and fairy lights, having been set up as early as the beginning of December. The small, decorative trees were covered in lights, and the hallways inside were lined with paper flowers and garlands. All in all, Christmas was no different in the institute than in any other part of the city. The many volunteers and welfare facilities helped set up a wonderful Christmas spirit, and the children were also spending their days in a flurry of excitement and anticipation for their presents and other fun events.

Lucid was also enjoying himself. The TV program had renewed his interest in physics, and he was now looking forward to studying more in-depth about it. Still, the filming itself had been a dull affair. He found it much too inefficient, what with having to go from place to place and wait around for this and that. If only he had spent that time reading, then he could have at least learned new things.

But something even more exciting than all that had appeared at the institute.

“Whoa, look at that. So many!”

“Are there comic books here?”

“Ugh, only plaster face reads this stuff. Whatever.”

A library opened inside the institute.

<Clash (6)> End.