30/07/20XX

‘Is it reasonable for me to want to dig up a hole and bury myself in it? ‘Coz today has been a hell of a day.’

Flashback

“Welcome one, Welcome all to the Brain Challenge! There are 2 teams that we’ve got on today. Team Panther and Team Lion!

We’ll proceed to Question Number One.

Q: What is the exact date the Titanic sank?

BUZZ.

Team Lion, what is your answer?

Between April 14 – 15, 1912

CORRECT!

‘Seriously, I never paid attention to History so I was thankful when Henry Dibujan answered the question.’

Next Question. What’s x in 2x + 9 = 18

BUZZ.

Team Panther, what’s your answer?

X = 4.5

WELL DONE!

Next Question for Stage One.

What does DNA stand for?

BUZZ.

Team Lion, what’s the answer?

Deoxybironecluic acid.

‘Everyone was in utter shock.

For once I’ve given a confident answer.’

Well done, Jin-Su, that’s correct!

Everyone cheered.

‘I remember answering all the Science questions and most of the Maths questions while leaving out the other subjects for the rest of the team.

Questions like ‘What’s the balance symbol equation for photosynthesis?’ and ‘What lines corresponds with 2y = 2x + 5?’ and even ones like ‘What’s the empirical formula for carboxylic acids?’ which wasn’t even on the syllabus.

Everyone was impressed with me and for some reason I was happy for the recognition.

However…that’s when the atmosphere changed completely and I had to answer a language question.’

Jin-Su, what would you say about Ha-eun, that makes her special?

‘At that moment, I froze and, funny enough, so did time.

I had no clue what to do and if I did, what words in Spanish I had to say, so instead I muttered:’

‘’P-Pass.’’

Ooh. Jin-Su has made his first pass.

Team Panther, what’s your answer?

Ha-eun es una persona magnifica y los ojos de Ha-eun mira fantastica. El pelo marron es especial con su ropa que otra ropa miran mal a otras personas.

Wow. Well done Team Panther. You’ve really learned your Spanish well that you earned yourself an extra point making you the winners of this year’s Brain Competition. Congratulations!

A cheer broke out.

…

‘To me everything sounded faint, almost as if muted, as if I’m in one of my dreams and I can’t shout out when I am in need of help.

I really wanted to dissolve on the seat I was on but that’s not realistically achievable.

I felt an arm touch my left shoulder.

I glanced to the person.

It was Ha-eun.

She began to talk but I shook my worthless head.

I’ve let the team down.

I’ve let everyone down.

I didn’t want to talk to anybody so I stood up and walked out of the hall into the blistering, subzero temperature rain.’

Thank you for reading Chapter 5 of Every Day Life with Jin-Su. There may or may not be episodes for the next two weeks but if there are, make sure to keep on top of the notifications. This is your Author Park Yeon Mi.