Chapter 221
Translator: Dreamscribe
Seo-ha woke from his sleep.
The clock read 9 p.m.; outside it was already dark. Being cooped up in the hospital had wrecked his daily rhythm.
When he pulled the curtain open, a dreary rain was falling. Seo-ha sat on the edge of the bed, gazing out the window, lost in thought.
'Why did something like this happen?'
It felt as though cells that had lain asleep inside his head had woken up.
'Has Ducky hidden himself?'
He could feel the presence.
But it was like something in hibernation; no matter how he called, there was no answer. Just as Seo-ha was undergoing changes because of their contract, Ducky, too, might be adapting in his own way.
Perhaps because his body hadn't adjusted yet to his altered senses, his head began to ache.
Seo-ha fought desperately to keep it from showing on his face. Explaining to a doctor a cause only he knew about would have been an endless ordeal.
Besides, if he were found out, they might have to run every test again from the beginning. His plan was to hide it as well as he could and get discharged first. He was no longer a thirteen-year-old boy. Given time, he was confident he could bring a load like this under control.
Tap, tap.
Raindrops struck the windowpane and slid down it. Seo-ha stared blankly at them, then lifted a finger and traced slowly along the glass. The paths of the droplets pulled together and split apart under gravity. To anyone else it would have looked like idle play, but he was seeing an entirely different landscape.
'Path Convergence in Uncountable Space.'
A concept that had been circling the fringes of Step 8 faintly revealed its shape. Not wanting to lose the sensation, Seo-ha closed his eyes and drew out the equations.
Energy flowed like raindrops.
At first it was a single faint point. It spread slowly into a line, then gathered again into a plane. And in an instant light burst outward and a new space opened.
A world made of equations.
A place with no beginning and no end, because everything existed at once; Seo-ha spent a long stretch of time drifting through the space he had named himself.
"...I told you, I'll just look at his face and go!"
"You can't do this. Please make an appointment and come during visiting hours!"
The voices made his eyes open.
Someone outside the room seemed to be tangling with a security guard. It wasn't the first time, so he meant to ignore it, but the voice was familiar.
He hurried out of bed and opened the door.
Rattle.
"...."
At the sight of Gyeo-ul standing in the hallway, Seo-ha lost his words.
She was soaked through, as though she'd come the whole way in the rain. Her waterlogged coat hung heavy, clinging to her. Droplets dripped from the ends of her sleeves. Her white sneakers were a mess of muddy water, as if she had run without stopping.
But what hurt him most was her face.
Where had her usual poise and confidence gone? It was still early spring and bitterly cold, and pushing through the rain in that weather had left her face drained of color. Her hair, ruined by the rain, clung to her cheeks and made her look haggard.
"Han Gyeo-ul!"
Gyeo-ul's shoulders flinched, and she slowly turned her head. And the moment she found Seo-ha's face, she dropped straight down onto the floor. Tears welled up in her red, bloodshot eyes and then spilled down her cheeks, mixing with the rainwater.
"...You. Seriously."
A frail, trembling voice.
Whether from the cold or from relief, there was a sob caught in it. Drenched and drooping, Gyeo-ul looked as forlorn as a kitten left alone in a downpour.
"What's wrong?"
Seo-ha's eyes widened.
He hurried over and pulled her to her feet. Only after she'd confirmed that Seo-ha was in better shape than she'd feared did the strength drain from Gyeo-ul's shoulders. But then hurt and embarrassment came surging up all at once.
"I thought something terrible had happened to you...."
Her lips quivered and she swallowed the rest of it. Then she reached into the inside pocket of her wet coat.
"That's not it. It was because of this. I came to give you this, so don't get the wrong idea."
"W-wait a second."
Before he could get a word out, she whirled around and started walking the other way. Her ruined sneakers squelched with every step. But her back radiated a determination never to turn around, and Seo-ha couldn't bring himself to stop her.
He looked down at the envelope she had handed him.
[Han Gyeo-ul Solo Recital]
Two days later, at the Seoul Arts Center.
He remembered her mentioning that she was going to hold a recital in Korea. But he couldn't make sense of the idea that she'd come through the rain at this hour just to deliver an invitation.
"Seo-ha."
At Mi-young's voice, Seo-ha turned his head. She was walking toward him with paper bags in both hands. With Seo-ha's hospital stay dragging on, she had just been down to Okcheon to take her husband and daughter home and pick up some things.
"Here. Everything was such a blur back then, I didn't even think to bring it."
"Thank you."
The moment he took the phone, it hit him.
He quickly checked his messages. The instant the screen came on, notifications poured down like a waterfall.
"This is bad."
Seo-ha went into the room and read through the messages carefully.
Ji-hoon, Do-kyung, Chang-seok, Ji-ye.
Names he'd missed. Messages had come not only from Korea but from Ellie and Hugo at MIT, and even from Dean Whitman.
He slowly scrolled down the screen.
Han Gyeo-ul, Han Gyeo-ul, Han Gyeo-ul.
-Seo-ha, is there any chance we can meet this week? I need to give you an invitation to my recital.
-Why aren't you answering? Are you busy?
-Are you sick somewhere? Did you collapse? You're on the news right now.
-Call me when you see this.
-The articles saying you're in critical condition aren't true, right? Please just pick up the phone!
"Articles?"
Seo-ha stared at the screen for a moment, then opened a portal app with shaking hands. He typed his own name into the search bar.
[Fields Prize Winner Yu Seo-ha Rushed Unconscious to Seoul National University Hospital. Government, "Unable to Confirm"]
[Mathematician Yu Seo-ha in Critical Condition? Seoul National University Hospital Currently on Lockdown]
"What on earth is this?"
The internet was in an uproar.
It had all started with an article some small online outlet had run without checking a single fact. Someone must have tipped them off, because a video shot from a nearby rooftop was attached to it.
Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup-
It showed a helicopter setting down on the helipad at Seoul National University Hospital, then the medical team that had been waiting rushing in.
The face on the stretcher was clearly visible. Himself, unconscious, with an oxygen mask over his face.
As he scrolled, more articles came pouring out.
[Rumors of Yu Seo-ha's Critical Condition Shock Academia]
Seo-ha pressed a hand to his forehead. His head hurt even more now.
The articles had thousands of comments. Posts from people in the math world, ordinary people who'd come running after seeing the news, even comments in English, Chinese, and Japanese mixed in.
└Isn't this fake?
└Seems real. I'm admitted at SNU Hospital right now and the atmosphere is weird. Guys in suits walking around everywhere.
└Huh? Why would the government lock it down?
└I mean, for someone like Yu Seo-ha it makes sense for the state to manage things.
└Ahh! God is too cruel. Did He take him because he might've built a time machine? Because the singularity was coming?
└They're saying he's critical. Don't jinx it!
└Is this a reliable source?
└There's video. There are statements from Okcheon residents on social media too. Apparently several ambulances showed up at Yu Seo-ha's house?.
└There's a piece written by the MIT dean. My professor read it and ran out in the middle of class. (link)
As if in a trance, Seo-ha clicked the link.
Click.
[What It Would Mean for Humanity to Lose Yu Seo-ha - For Those of You Who Don't Know Much About Math]
-When Newton discovered universal gravitation, humanity finally understood the principles governing the motion of the heavens. When Einstein put forward the theory of relativity, we came to know the limits of space and time.
A hundred years have passed since, and humanity still has not glimpsed the world beyond. And Seo-ha, through his 13-Step Hypothesis, is the first person to show us that this solid wall, the wall represented by the theories of Turing and Einstein, might be brought down at all.
Still finding it hard to understand? Then let us suppose the following. There exists the greatest library in human history. But the books of that library exist inside a single person's head. And not yet fully written, of course. And now we might lose him?
Oh, God, take me instead! And please, please protect that noble flame that is meant to sustain humanity's next thousand years.
└Harold Whitman. Yep, it really was written by the dean of MIT's math department. Even the translation gives me chills, damn.
└Total math noob here, was Yu Seo-ha really that big a deal?
└He really is that big a deal. Please let this be a false report.
What on earth had happened while he was asleep. It felt as if an enormous storm had swept through.
Just as he was thinking he needed to set the record straight, the top articles on the portal site began switching over in real time.
[Breaking : Ministry of National Defense-Seoul National University Hospital Joint Announcement "Rumors That Yu Seo-ha-gun Is in Critical Condition Are Plainly False"]
-Merely a temporary fainting spell brought on by overwork; no health problems whatsoever. Currently resting after regaining consciousness.
Two hours after the false report broke, the hospital director had been called in from home and put before the podium in the briefing room. Word had it that the presidential office itself had ordered the facts confirmed.
"Oh my! Did you see that too?"
Coming into the room, Mi-young let out a sigh as she took things out of the paper bag and put them away. On the drive up, she'd taken a call from an acquaintance in the car and thought her heart would stop. She'd phoned the hospital with trembling hands, and sure enough, it was a false report.
"Yeah, I saw it. Sorry for worrying you, Mom."
"Don't be. The world takes such an interest in you, I suppose that's something to be grateful for. But you're really sure there's nothing wrong? It isn't the first time you've collapsed, and I just can't seem to set my mind at ease...."
"I'm perfectly healthy!"
Seo-ha sprang up from his seat and threw his arms into the air with an exaggerated flourish.
Then a thought flashed through his head.
'Han Gyeo-ul?'
Everything made sense now.
What she must have been feeling as she ran all the way to the hospital.
"Mom! Could you get me some clothes?"
"Hm?"
"There's somewhere I have to be right now!"
Seo-ha pulled a coat out of the bag Mi-young had brought and threw it on in a rush.
"What? But it's pouring outside!"
"Later!"
He dashed out of the room and headed for the elevator.
But a bodyguard in a black suit stepped into his path. However long they argued, the man wouldn't budge, saying he'd received no such orders. In the end, Seo-ha had to call the Minister and hand the phone over.
"In that case, I'll drive you there myself."
"Yes! Thank you!"
He already knew where he had to go.
Gyeo-ul's house, the one he'd visited as a child.
"Take me to Daesagwan-ro, please."
Seo-ha sat in the back seat and looked out the window. The rain was coming down harder and harder. He realized belatedly that he'd walked out in hospital slippers, but he had no intention of turning back.
About twenty minutes later, the car gradually slowed.
"We've arrived."
At the far end of Daesagwan-ro stood a grand house ringed by high walls.
It was without question the house he had visited all those years ago.
Ding-dong-
A moment later a voice came through the intercom.
"Who is it?"
A man's voice, low and composed.
"Hello, my name is Yu Seo-ha. I'm a high school friend of Gyeo-ul's."
"...."
A short silence passed.
"Come in."
A moment later, along with a mechanical hum, came the clunk of the gate unlocking.
When he climbed the stone steps, the man was waiting at the front door.
'Gyeo-ul's father.'
He was tall, with broad shoulders.
He gave a gentlemanly impression, but the eyes taking Seo-ha in were sharp. Seo-ha thought that Gyeo-ul had her father's eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."
Seo-ha bowed politely as he looked at him.
The man's expression was somehow displeased. Instead of answering, his gaze swept Seo-ha up and down. A jacket thrown hastily over hospital pajamas, hospital slippers, hair he hadn't bothered to fix, and a bodyguard in a black suit waiting behind him.
"Welcome. A friend of Gyeo-ul's, you say? But what to do. It seems my daughter doesn't want to see you at the moment."
A sudden sense of déjà vu.
It wasn't an unexpected turn of events. Seo-ha's shoulders sagged limply.
"Is she very angry?"
"Oh, certainly. And when my daughter gets angry, it lasts a very long time."
The man looked satisfied.
It was a name he'd heard from his daughter until his ears were worn out. The talk of the world, genius of the century, how large a fortune he had, none of that was any interest of his.
The first man Gyeo-ul had ever taken an interest in. When the daughter who had trailed after her father from the time she was small brought up another man, shyly, it had felt as if the sky were caving in. If the boy turned out to be an arrogant sort, he'd been prepared to overstep and offer a word of warning, but the young man in front of him wasn't what he'd expected.
His daughter's interest in him went back a long way.
Which meant that he, too, had been following news about Seo-ha for just as long. A man that gifted; how everyone around him must fuss over him. Even if he'd come down with something like celebrity syndrome and turned insufferable, in that environment it would hardly have been avoidable.
And yet, seeing him in the flesh for the first time, here was a well-mannered young man with a neat appearance. Most of all, he liked how thoroughly crushed the boy's face looked at being told he couldn't see his daughter.
But there was one thing he had to confirm.
"You, are you ill anywhere? I heard the reports were false, but what about family history?"
"Uh... No, sir! Both my parents are perfectly healthy!"
He nodded.
"That's a relief. As that girl's father, let me apologize. Her moods change from one minute to the next; why, the last time we traveled to Europe together...."
He went on at length about Gyeo-ul in a way that could have been bragging or complaining.
"Come by again sometime."
"Yes, sir! Her recital's in two days anyway."
Bowing again and again, Seo-ha took his leave.
The bodyguard came over and held an umbrella above him. Once Seo-ha was seated in the back, the man shut the door and gave a slight bow in his direction. Relief washed over him at the fact that the man his daughter had fallen for was no ordinary layabout.
"Is he gone?"
As the car vanished from sight, Gyeo-ul opened the door and poked her head out.
"He is. If you were going to hide there and listen, why didn't you just come out?"
"No way!"
"Hahaha! Quite right. That's only fair. Last time you got angry, you didn't say a word to me for a whole month. Let's make it two months for that fellow."
Gyeo-ul's eyes went round.
"What are you talking about, Dad?"
"Hm? Weren't you so angry you couldn't stand the sight of him?"
Gyeo-ul turned to him with an expression he had never once seen in his life.
"That's not it at all! I cried so much today I look hideous!"
Slam!
The sound of a door shutting hard.
He stared blankly at the closed door. Above his tightly clenched fists, his shoulders shook. He'd thought the boy looked like a decent young man and had been planning to treat him well, but it seemed that decision would have to be revoked.
*****
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