Cursed Chain of Heartthrob Tears

People think Jeno entered the wrong room, or maybe they think he’s a sit-in student, or some middle school kid who’s definitely lost. This happens all the time. Jeno has gotten used to it. Though he’s getting older year by year like everybody else, he’ll always be three years younger. He doesn’t hate it, not proud of it either. In fact, he thinks it’s something that doesn’t deserve to be thought of. He happens to have a very high IQ and managed to get into high school at such a young age, as simple as that. No need for further explanation nor should there be further discussions. That’s just it.
He managed to find a seat on the center of the front row, his usual place. No he doesn’t pick that chair all time cause it’s a smart person’s sit, he sits there so he wouldn’t have to see his classmates. He sits there so there wouldn’t be any distractions. He sits there… so there would be no one ahead of him, chatting about him. Though he could hear them all, and notice every little thing they do, all their movements and all, he didn’t care. He thinks it’s something that doesn’t deserve to be cared about.
Jeno just sat quietly. He didn’t slouch as he did. He always sat properly. It’s not like he’s abiding on every rule of the world. It’s just that slouching didn’t make sense to him, like you’re a very informal person when you do it, like it’s very improper, and like it won’t give you any benefit. He thinks it’s something that doesn’t deserve to be done.
He didn’t bring out any of his books to do some light reading. He got them last week and had already made advanced readings, three chapters ahead on every subject. Yes, three, his favorite number. Everything comes in threes, like three meals a day, three years of middle school, three years of high school, three strikes in baseball, three bones in the human ear, three bears in a house, three wise men, three little pigs, three years advanced… it’s not like Jeno believes in jinxes because jinxes aren’t logical, but he do think it’s a lot easier to believe on something you can’t prove wrong than something you can’t prove right.
The classroom door opened as a man with glasses entered, he must be in his thirties as Jeno guessed. He looked professional enough to Jeno, so it was fine with him that this guy would be teaching them Math for the whole year. He didn’t know how long they’ve been waiting for their teacher. This has been Jeno’s flaw ever since forever. He always loses track of time, which is why he always wears a watch. He got to the room at 7:15am, classes were supposed to start at 7:30am, and now it’s 7:40am, which means… Mr. Byun’s ten minutes late. Fifteen minutes (long arm passed three numbers on the clock) is Jeno’s grace period when waiting, so ten minutes is totally fine with him.
“Good Morning class…”, he greeted them. “First of all, welcome to K High! High School is the best three of a person’s education years. So I hope you’ll make fond memories while staying here. Feel free to walk the hallways and make history.”
“I am Byun Chaekjang (Bookcase Byun).”, the class laughed as he introduced himself. Even Jeno shrugged. “What an embarrassing name.”, he thought. “No, that is not my real name. It’s just a nickname given to me back in my high school years, and it got stuck up to this day. So… as you see kids, high school…… is very crucial.”
“I’ll be in charge of teaching you mathematics for the whole year and… I am your homeroom teacher. So… I’m looking forward to have a good relationship with you all.”, he finished.
“Byun Chaekjang-saem (Teacher Bookcase Byun)!”, a bad-boy-looking kid raised his hand from the back row.
“Sorry haksaeng (student), I prefer Byun sonsaengnim (Teacher Byun-formal) or Byun-saem (Teacher Byun-for short) if you don’t mind.”, Byun-saem started. “What was that you wanted to say?”
“Can we have an early dismissal today?”, the students started laughing and cheering. “What a stupid, irresponsible, low-leveled question, that was.”, Jeno thought instead.
“No… I’m afraid not. But if you want to leave right now, I can’t stop you. It won’t be my loss though, it’s yours. I already have a life, and I can clearly see that you definitely haven’t gotten yours. So if I were you, I’d sit down and try to get some.”, Baek-saem spoke the words that Jeno would’ve said. He was impressed with this teacher.
Jeno saw some girls rolled their eyes and some other kids murmur while stupid irresponsible low-leveled bad boy stayed quiet, looking pissed.
“Anymore questions?”, Baek-saem looked around the room. Jeno couldn’t help it and raised his hand.
“Yes?”, Baek-saem gestured for Jeno to stand up and state his question.
Jeno already knew what would happen, but he didn’t care. He’s already gotten used to it. “What came first Saem… the chicken or the egg?”, the whole room started laughing at Jeno’s question, the way everybody always did every time he asks it. But it wasn’t a stupid question. It was way more than that.
He saw their teacher make a slight smile before approaching him. “What is your name, young man?”, he asked.
“Jeno.”, he simple replied.
“Is that so? Well, I think you’re asking me the wrong question, Jeno. Isn’t it supposed to be, whatever came first, chicken or egg, where did it come from?”, the teacher’s reply got Jeno thinking. He had a point. Whether it is chicken or egg, if it was the first one that came, where did it come from? It can’t just appear out of thin air.
“What about the theory of evolution sir?”, it was the best thing Jeno could come up with. He wanted to give this guy a little pre-test.
“Define theory, Jeno.”, he briefly replied.
Jeno got tongue-tied. He was running out of moves and he knew there won’t be a way out.
“Go on, haksaeng… You know this one. Define theory, Jeno.”, the teacher never took his gaze off of him.
“An abstract thought.”, he simply replied.
“Yes……”, Baek-saem said, waiting for more. “Elaborate haksaeng!”
“It’s a speculation.”, he went on. Jeno couldn’t stop the knowledge pouring out of him. He couldn’t restrict himself to say more. “It is an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true.”
The teacher stared and gave him a grin. Jeno sat down, knowing he lost.

For some reason, Byun-saem decided to give them a surprise first day quiz.
“This is just a pre-test, kids. Don’t worry I won’t record it. I just want to know how much you know about math and… what kind of kids you are.”, Jeno didn’t get the last one Byun-saem said, but he sure was confident. Math was his favorite.
Easy… very, very easy… “Piece of cake!”, Jeno thought as he answered each and every question being 100% sure of his answers. He finished the test in no time. There’s still thirty minutes left on the clock and Jeno had no idea how to spend it. He stared at his desk as the rest of the class kept on answering.
There were just random vandals all over the desk, and only one of them caught Jeno’s attention, numbers… no, equations… two linear equations.
20y = 15x – 5
6x +12y = 18
Two linear equations may or may not intersect at one point. It was too easy. It wouldn’t hurt if Jeno would try to solve it. So, he did.
x = (18 – 12y)/6
20y = 15[(18 - 12y)/6] – 5
20y = 15(3 – 2y) – 5
20y = 45 – 30y – 5
20y + 30y = 40
50y/50 = 40/50
y = 4/5 or 0.8
Substituting…
x = [18 – 12(0.8)]/6
x = (18 – 9.6)/6
x = 1.4

(1.4,0.8)… That’s where the two lines intersect… Piece of cake to Jeno, that was. But what does it mean? The problem was too easy. Why would someone write it on his desk?
Jeno pretended to sleep on the rest of the remaining time, but the truth was, he was still thinking. Somehow, it felt like it was more than just a vandal. For some reason, Jeno felt like whoever wrote it, was trying to tell something. He was trying to tell something to whoever gets to solve it. But it was too easy. Anyone could solve it. At least that’s what Jeno thinks.
“(1.4,0.8)… (1.4,0.8)…”, he kept repeating in his head.
“Alright! Times up! Everyone pass your papers.”, Byun-saem snapped Jeno back to reality.
Jeno passed his paper as the rest of the class did as well. Morning classes passed by quickly for Jeno, but never did he gave (1.4,0.8) a break.

Lunch time came and Jeno finished his meal as fast as he could. He had half an hour left before afternoon classes start. He walked around the school, thinking, still trying to figure out the equations carved on his desk.
He didn’t know where his feet wanted him to go. He just walked and walked on the hallways. People were looking at him and he’s pretty sure they’re chatting about him. Some girls would say hi to him from time to time and try to show him their aegyos, but he just doesn’t care.
He kept on walking until something on the wall caught his eyes. It was a map of the building, 5 floors. He figured he still has enough time to visit the school library. He was pretty sure it would be his favorite hangout for the rest of his high school years.
“Third floor…”, he said to himself. That’s where he’ll find the library. “So, in the middle of the third floor, there’s a unique crossing hallways. From the view of the stairs, I have to turn left and that would be the library…”
Jeno made his way to the stairs and he found himself at the crossing hallway in no time. “Okay… now left.”, he thought as he turned to see the big sign that says “LIBRARY”. He got all excited when he saw it and was about to go in until…
“Crossing hallways?”,Jeno thought, turning back. “Oh my… crossing hallways! Rectangular Coordinate System… The third floor is the Cartesian Plane!!!”
Jeno was on geeky mode. The two hallways represent the x and y axes. He had to find where (1.4,0.8) lies.
He got nothing. Jeno tried everything, but still no luck. He tried if the measure was meters, inches, centimeters, nothing. He tried to apply it in each and every possibility but still… he got nothing. Third floor wasn’t it.
Jeno realized it was almost time for afternoon classes, and decided to just check out the library some other time.

Jeno didn’t get bored on any of the classes. But everything he thought of for the rest of the day was that same coordinates, (1.4,0.8). He kept on thinking and thinking ‘till an idea stuck him. “What if…”, he thought. But he had to finish all his classes before he could check it out.

After giving them more homework, their last period teacher bid them goodbye. Jeno was carefully getting his stuff in his bag.
“Hey kid! Do you still have to wait for your Mom to pick you up?”, it’s that kid again, the stupid, irresponsible, low-leveled bad boy. “Well don’t forget to grab your lunchbox tomorrow…”, the kid went on as his friend laughed with him as he made fun of Jeno.
“Stop it Jaehyun! Just leave him alone…”, a girls said from behind.
“Just trying to make friends, that’s all…”, he said back to the girl. “Guess I’ll just see ya around… on the playground maybe…”, he made fun of him one last time before leaving the room.
The rest of the kids already went outside and Jeno was left alone with a girl in the room, the girl who stopped that Jaehyun guy.
“Just ignore Jaehyun… He’s a jerk.”, she told him. But he just ignored her, pretending he was alone, like he always did.

Jeno started to work as soon as the girl was gone. “What if this room is the Cartesian Plane?”, he asked himself. He stood at the center, which he’d guess, can be the origin. If that was the origin, then (1.4,0.8) would be lying on that one tile. “Perfect.”, Jeno approach the tile and examined it, but there’s nothing special about it at all. “No… it’s not it.”
“But what if…” he thought again, “What if I’m the origin?”, Jeno rushed back to his sit and tried to plot the coordinates again. But like the last one, it wasn’t it.
Jeno didn’t how long he’s been inside the room, it was getting late but some kids are still hanging around in the building. Their school officially closes at six. Jeno had to move fast. He had to think fast, and Jeno’s really good at that.
“I got it!”, he thought to himself in delight. “I’m not the origin! I AM (1.4,0.8)!!! The origin is what I have to find.”
“BINGO…”, Jeno whispered as the tile that he measure would be the origin wasn’t actually fixed on the ground. Jeno glanced at the CCTV camera before checking out what the tile’s got for him. He remembered what the kids say in the hallways. They said the school’s security is really bad. They said the only person in charge of keeping an eye on the CCTV is a stinkin’ fat security guard who spends his time eating a doughnut, and barely cares about what’s going on the CCTVs.
For the first time in his life, Jeno trusted the rumors. He bent one knee and lifted up the tile. There were papers. Letters? He didn’t know. He tucked them in his back pack and placed back the tile. He got out of the room, hoping nobody saw him, and went straight home.

Jeno was all excited as he got back to his bedroom. He brought out the pieces of paper he found. It felt like opening as treasure chest as Jeno went through the papers. His heart skipped a beat as stared down at his treasures.
“This is bad…”, he thought. “I’m not supposed to see this. I’m stepping into someone else’s life.”
Though Jeno knew it wasn’t right, he could help it. There’s no way he could stop his curiosity. He grabbed one of the letters.
To: Jaerim
From: Kyungsoo
Jeno opened it before he could even think twice.

Notes