Magician City - Chapter 9

Chapter 9. School (2)

She waited a while before she got off the line. No matter how long she waited for the phone to stop ringing, it kept going. Nobody answered. Not even Yu-ye himself.

Maybe it was the wrong time to call. Yunhwa then tried morning, day, and night to call, using all the spare time she had, but still, nobody answered.

It was strange. She checked Yu-ye's information. When she looked at the family relations page, the space under father was empty. No brother. No sister. Just a grandmother and a mother was his family. To make things worse, where they lived was the Moon Village, a town infamous for its poverty-stricken people. His mother must have been at work night and day, and Yu-ye must have grown alone in the hands of his grandmother.

Yunhwa couldn't help but be shocked at his records.

It had been two years since she started to teach already. She felt ashamed to have been confident that she knew her students front to back. She was arrogant when she didn't even know the family situations of the students she cared so much for. She was surprised by Yu-ye's family.

'Yu-ye grew up with a broken family?'

It wasn't the first time Yunhwa met kids with the same situations. She had 2 or 3 students with the same type of family as Yu-ye but to think Yu-ye was raised by a single-mother! That was truly a surprise.

Even without his intellect, the aura he had was never the unconfident victimized one that other single-parent kids seemed to have.

He was a little odd, but when she looked at his usual way of behavior, she couldn't help but to think he was raised between responsible, stern parents. He was calm, quiet, and never quick to judge. He was never easily provoked and never intimidated, almost as if he was somewhat royal or from a very wealthy, high class family.

Yunhwa was certain now.

Yu-ye really is a genius. The word 'genius' wasn't enough to define how much of one he was. She truly believed, when a child like this grows up, he could bring about a great change in the world. A sensation worth turning the world upside down. Maybe enough to be in every textbook around the world. Yunhwa couldn't let go of her cell phone all day now as a sign of desperation.

But the result was always the same.

She called and called again. No answer. She sent letter after letter to the same address. Nothing. Was the number wrong? She asked Yu-ye about the number. The only answer she got was that it was right.

Only one solution was left.

If she wants it, she had to come and get it.

It was after school. Everyone went home as Yunhwa quickly changed after clocking out. She tried the number one last time before making her way. As always, no answer. Someone had to be at his house, but they never seemed to pick up the phone.

"How weird."

Yunhwa started to find her way through the streets. She had the address written down, but the infamous town was hard to find as she had never been there before. Yunhwa then remembered, after walking around aimlessly, that her cell phone had a navigation. She made her way past the old, run down houses only to stop in front of a long, steep, mountainous road. If she were to fall, she felt she would die instantly.

"Woah……"

Her journey began there.

She hoped that his house was at the bottom of the hill.

The more she went, she hoped that the house would be where she was. Yunhwa's hope stopped at the tip-top of that hill.

She felt emotional that her hopes were mercilessly crushed.

Trying to think only happy thoughts, she knocked on Yu-ye's front door.

"Hello? Yu-ye? It's your teacher Ms. Jung!"

One would think this would be the end to her problems. That she would meet Yu-ye and have a nice talk with his family. But the world was a much crueler place than Yunhwa thought. She kept banging his door, yelling that she came to see Yu-ye, but nobody came to greet her.

Was the address wrong this time? But the worn-out paint on the front door signaled that it was the right house.

Tired but unwilling to go so soon, she decided to wait.

If she thought of how much time and effort she put into meeting him and climbing this monstrous hill, she couldn't give up now.

She stood there thinking if anyone passes by, she would ask about Yu-ye. Yunhwa played her cell phone games even after the sunset. Not one person came by. Not even an animal or an ant.

"What's up with today… Everything is not going as planned……."

Becoming teary-eyed, Yunhwa tried, once again, banging the door calling Yu-ye's name. Then she was done. She forcefully pushed open his front door, then went inside.

The paint on the steel door was worn out as it made an eerie screech.

"Is anybody there?"

Yunhwa raised her voice as she looked around. She walked across his muddy front yard. It must not have dried from the rain a couple days ago. On the porch, she found two silhouettes of people and walked closer to discover a young middle school girl, and Yu-ye in her arms.

Finally discovering her target, she cleared her throat in hopes that they would wake up to greet her. But even when her throat started to hurt, they didn't wake up.

Yunhwa had no choice. She shook the middle school girl.

"Uugh…Who is it……."

Yunyoung waved her arms as if there was an annoying fly, then continued to sleep. Yunyoung was persistent, but Yunhwa was too. She sat there shaking Yunyoung for quite some time when Yunyoung finally opened her eyes slowly. Yunhwa, suddenly feeling awkward, waved her hands in front of the girl's face.

"Who are you..?"

Yunyoung opened her eyes wide to see a woman in her mid-20s in a suit waving her hands in front of her face. It was a strange sight. Yunyoung looked at her in intimidation.

"Ah, Hello! I'm Yu-ye's homeroom teacher……Do you have an adult with you by any chance? I need to have an important conversation about Yu-ye."

Yunyoung, who was in the midst of a yawn, rubbing her eyes, suddenly sat upright and dusted off her clothes to look proper. The way she suddenly changed made Yunhwa think of a parent counseling with a teacher for the first time.

"Oh, I see! Hello."

Yunyoung got up and gave Yunhwa a 90 degree bow as a sign of respect.  Yunhwa mimicked Yunyoung's bow out of surprise.

"Don't stand there. Please come inside. Although the house is a mess……. Hey! Yu-ye! Get up. Your homeroom teacher is here!"

Yunyoung lightly kicked Yu-ye's legs as she guided Yunhwa in the house. However, Yu-ye's response was the same as Yunyoung's before she woke up. He slightly opened his eyes as he sat up, but soon fell over sleeping. This time, he was even drooling.

"This little…!"

Annoyed at Yu-ye who seemed lazy even when his teacher paid a visit, Yunyoung started to pull his cheeks mercilessly. It was enough for a normal person to wake up in pain, but Yu-ye stayed limp, letting out a lengthy groan. "Aaaaaah…." He was still sleepy.

"Oh, no. It really became a habit now. Well, this boy won't get up anytime soon, so let me prepare you some warm tea. Please come inside."

Seeing the image of a stern mother in Yunyoung as she violently tried to wake Yu-ye, Yunhwa replied politely, using honorifics.

"Ah, yes. Please"

"Huh? No, that's okay ma'am. You don't have to use honorifics! Please call me casually."

Yunyoung gave a slight smile as she went into the kitchen.

While Yunyoung got the tea ready, Yunhwa took a look around Yu-ye's house. Well, the house was too small to even look around. It consisted of a porch, a washroom, and one room. Inside the room, it had an old closet, a dusty, aged TV, a fridge, and a foldable table. All of it was worn down and crumbly, but the house was clean. No mold was found on the walls even through the humid summer days, and no remains were left of the tearing wallpapers. It was spotless. Then through the corner of her eye, she spotted a telephone.

It looked as old as any other furniture in the house but looked clean as if nobody had used it for a long time. It looked like it worked fine, but when she held it in her hand and called the number with her own cellphone, only the screen flashed on and off. No sound, no vibration. This meant someone had to look at the phone the whole day to answer a call. She finally understood.

From every corner of the house, she could smell and feel the poverty. She had heard the stories about the Moon Village, but didn't know its severity. Common storybooks, toys and other necessities as a child were nowhere to be seen. Yunhwa guessed that it was probably the same ever since he was born.

She stared at Yu-ye sleeping on the porch.

It was the look of a sweet child, innocently sleeping. Tears started to well up in Yunhwa's eyes as she thought of Yu-ye's harsh reality. Then she realized that he was an even greater being than she had ever imagined before. It was a miracle how well he did in school, and how well he learned.

"Sorry, all we have is an instant coffee mix."

Yunyoung handed Yunhwa the cup of coffee.

"That’s quite all right. Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"You're using honorifics to me again. It’s okay."

Yunyoung smiled, and Yunhwa smiled back, pleased.

Yunhwa expected Yunyoung to be Yu-ye's blood related sister. They didn't look anything alike, but they shared the same kind of aura. They were both calm, but a little odd. She could never read what move they would do next.

Why was it that he name was out of the family information sheet?

Yunhwa asked Yunyoung directly.

"Yunyoung. Are you Yu-ye's real sister?"

"No, I just happen to live next door."

At her response, Yunhwa glanced at Yu-ye.

He was deep in sleep, hugging the thin blanket as if it was Yunyoung. After confirming that Yu-ye was still dreaming, she asked, carefully and quietly.

"Then, where would Yu-ye's parents be…?"

"He has a grandmother. She goes to work in the morning."

"Is that so? What about his mother? Does she have a different job?"

"His mother? I'm afraid I've never seen her myself……"

Yunhwa replied without thought.

"She comes home that late huh…"

Yunhwa saw the spotlessly clean, well-organized room. There was no way Yu-ye didn't have a mother. It was a skill equal to that of a long, trained housewife. One that Yunhwa herself couldn't do. However, her thoughts were far from right.

"Hm? No, there is no way. I eat dinner with Yu-ye. I even sleep here sometimes, but I've never seen her."

"Then who did all the cleaning? His grandmother?"

"That was me of course."

"I…I see."

It had only been a couple of years since Yunyoung started her household chores, but it was flawless. It had to be. She did them for two houses every day.

Maybe it was because both Yunyoung and Yunhwa were girls, or because they both cared about Yu-ye a lot, their talk went smoothly for the rest of the night. Although the talk made Yunhwa more depressed and suffocated. It was truly a relief that a good girl like Yunyoung was there to take care of Yu-ye every day, but she still felt something tugging at her heart. It didn't matter if a child liked his parents or not. The kid needed to be with the parents to be raised right. Judging from Yunyoung's words, his mother didn't seem to be living in the same house.

In the end, even until she left, Yunhwa couldn't bring herself to ask about the genius test. Nobody was there to approve of it, but more than that, her heart kept her from doing so. His family situation was horrible, and she felt sorry for him. She questioned her self-worth as she walked down the mountain. She felt horrible. While Yu-ye was struggling to survive, and eat every day, she was trying to sell him off to better herself. How pathetic.

Yunyoung saw off as she started to walk, but the mountain downhill was even more terrifying than climbing up hill. She felt weak in her knees. It was because she didn't have any strength left over from walking, but also because of the miserable feeling she couldn't shake off after visiting Yu-ye's house. She was sure something wasn't right about how he lived, but she couldn't do anything about it.

Yunhwa kept thinking to herself of the possible things she could do to help Yu-ye as she made it out of the Moon Village. Maybe it was a shame to Yu-ye that she went back without mentioning the genius test, but one's future cannot be foreseen. Would Yunhwa's actions benefit Yu-ye?