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It’s already early July.
Tomorrow, as soon as the finals are over, the vacation will begin.

During school recess,
I was nourishing my mind by reading a book.

“Dohee, you’re reading another difficult book again? Aren’t you supposed to be studying for the test?”

Sujin approached and spoke to me.

“Yeah, I’ve already finished studying.”

Sujin is the only girl I’m close to.
She’s cute and not annoying, so I started hanging out with her.
Most importantly, when I’m with a girl, the boys bother me less.

“Ow!”

Except for Park Youngjun, that brat.
He pulls my hair again and runs away.

‘Does this kid need another beating to come to his senses?’

He cried for a long time after being hit by a soccer ball last time, but instead of learning his lesson, he became more aggressive.

‘Sigh… Being the gentleman that I am, I bear with it.’

Lately, the boys have been annoying me more often.
It seems that since I haven’t been responding to their antics and have been staying passive, it seems like a challenge ‘bother Lee Dohee’ has emerged among the boys.

“Hey! Park Youngjun! Stop it!”

Unlike me, who has already reached Nirvana and is indifferent, Sujin, contrary to me, who wasn’t even affected, gets angry.

“What’s she saying, ugly!”

‘Haa. Please let the vacation come quickly… I miss the peaceful times before elementary school.’

“Why do you keep bothering Dohee!”
“I bully her because she’s ugly, so what!”
“No? Dohee is pretty! She is so pretty!”
“No? She looks ugly!”
“She’s pretty!”
“She’s ugly!”

‘Please, both of you, just be quiet…’

I feel like I’m becoming childish too.

The two had a petty argument typical of 8-year-olds for a while, and in the end, the soft-hearted Sujin burst into tears.

“Waahhh!”
“I won!”
‘Ah…my fate.’

I approached Sujin, wiped her tears, and hugged her.

“Sujin, shh, there, there, stop crying.”
“But… hick, hick”
“Aww, were you upset? It’s okay now, there, there, shh!”

After soothing her for a few minutes, Sujin’s sobbing finally subsided.

“Next time if he does that again, I’ll scold him. This time, the kind Sujin is letting him off the hook, understand?”
“Yes…”

After barely stopping Sujin’s tears, I called the little brat out.

“Hey, Park Youngjun. Come over here.”
“No, you come here.”

‘Seriously, should I hit him once or not?’
Sigh… As an adult I have to endure it..

“Hey, Park Youngjun. Do you like me?”
“What are you talking about, ugly!”
“Then why do you keep flirting with me?”
“I’m not flirting with you?”
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. If you bother me one more time, I’ll take it as you like me.”
“Hmph, that’s not going to happen, is it?”

Please don’t, because if you confess, I’ll give you a beating
Sigh, the short time left until vacation feels even longer.

That evening at dinner,

“Mom, can’t I just smack the kids once?”
“Are they bothering you again?”
“Yeah, I’m going crazy.”

Dad, who was listening to the conversation between me and my Mom, said.

“As I said before, they do it because they like you. Boys are like that. I used to bother your mom too.”
“Oh, right. He wasn’t a child but as an adult over twenty, he kept bothering me so much I wanted to beat him.”
“Gasp… honey…”
“Still, compared to him, dad is an angel. Imagine having to deal with an ugly guy like that for an entire semester. It drives you crazy, you know? If Mom were to deal with it she wouldn’t be able to last even a month and would beat him up.”
“Unni, what does ‘beat him up’ mean?”

Doa, who had been quiet, imitated my words.

“No, no, Doa, you don’t need to know. Unni misspoke, so forget about it, okay?”
“Lee Dohee, didn’t mom tell you to be careful with your words in front of Doa?”
“Mom brought up beating first.”
“When did I?”

Dad, listening, intervened again.

“When dad saw it, both of you were at fault.”

Dad always jumps in and annoys us whenever mom and I argue.

“If you think about it, isn’t it because dad harassed mom because he liked her?”
“Yeah, it’s your fault, honey.”
“No… Why is it my fault again…?”

Dad ended up looking sullen after getting scolded.

“Anyway, I have finals tomorrow, mom.”
“Finals? Come to think of it, there is, isn’t there?”

I intentionally made a slightly sad expression and said.

“You just realized that? You’re mean. How can you be so uninterested in your daughter…?”
“Stop acting.”
“Heh.”
“Mom thought you didn’t have exams since you’re in the first grade. So you didn’t have to take the midterm exam?”
“I heard that our school was chosen to be a pilot school, so they said we won’t have a midterm exam starting this year.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, anyway, mom, what will you do, if I get a perfect score on the final exams this time?”

“It’s obvious that our princess will definitely get a perfect score without looking at the result, so why should mom do anything?”
“There are such things as feelings you know.”
“So, what do you want?”
“Buy me a phone. Everyday life is so boring these days.”
“Dohee is capable of handling things on her own, so Mom doesn’t mind, but just go ask Dad.”

I got up from my chair, approached my dad, hugged him, looked up at him with pleading eyes, and said.

“Daddyyy~ Sajo[1]~ Okay?”

Dad, smiling foolishly when I show him my aegyo[2].

“Aww, if our daughter gets a perfect score, I’ll have to buy it for her.”

Without a second’s hesitation, dad made the promise.
As soon as I heard my dad’s words, I released my dad’s arm and ran away.

“Yes, Thank you. Please make sure to fulfill your promise.”

In our house, full of cunning tricks and schemes, only the clever can survive.
I wonder if Dad is going to get taken advantage of somewhere.

Dad picked up and embraced the quietly sitting Doa tightly and spoke with sad eyes.

“Doa… can you not take after your Unni and Mom?”
“Huh?”
“Please tell me you understand…”
“Okay.”

Math test time,

“Please turn the test paper over now~”

First-grade math tests are just simple number games, so I finished everything in 5 minutes and lay down on my desk.

I wish everyday was a test day.
Classes end early, and there’s no kids to bother me.

Five minutes after the teacher collected the test papers, the teacher came up to me with a question, seeing me lying on my desk.

“Dohee, you need to work on the problems.”

“I finished them all.”

“Hmm?”

The teacher looked at my test paper and covered her mouth in surprise.
This is why I love being secretly talented.

After the math test, it was time for the Korean language test.
Unexpectedly, there were a few tricky questions.

12) The following is a letter asking for a bicycle. Which reason does not fit? ( )
Dad, please buy me a bicycle as a birthday present.
① Riding a bicycle makes you healthy.
② It strengthens your legs and arms.
③ You can get to nearby places quickly.
④ I just want it.
⑤ I can ride it with my younger sibling.

④ I just want it.
This seems to work best with my Dad.
But, according to a social conversation, the correct answer is probably ④.

Next question.

13) Which house do most people want to live in?
① A large, fancy house.
② A house with many animals.
③ A big house with many trees.
④ A convenient and clean house.
⑤ A house with many entertainment facilities.

That’s simple, ①.

…

“Answer for question 13 is ④~”

What?

After the answers were announced, I went to the teacher to point out the error.

“Teacher.”
“Oh, Dohee, what can I do for you?”
“I think there’s an error in question 13. Why is the answer ④?”
“Why? Of course, it’s ④.”
“Isn’t it obviously ①?”
“Why?”

The teacher looked at me with a puzzled expression.
She probably didn’t think there could be an error in a first-grade test question.

“Sigh, let me explain. First, options ② a house with many animals and ③ a house with many trees are indeed desirable to many people. However, because these can be a matter of personal preference, they can be excluded.”
“That’s true. And then?”
“Looking back at the question, it asks which house people want to live in. What kind of house do people want to live in?”
“Of course, isn’t it the convenient and clean house, number ④?”
“No. Statistics show that people want to live in expensive places like Tower Palace, single-family homes, Itaewon, Cheongdam, Hannamdong. In other words they want expensive houses.”

“Huh…?”

“Although ④ at first glance seems like the correct answer, it has a catch. A convenient and clean house means it’s always clean. This implies the house is small. Thus, the house price would be lower. Therefore, number ④ is excluded.”

“…”

“Then why is ⑤ excluded you may ask? A house with many entertainment facilities like a swimming pool, movie theater, karaoke room, PC room, cocktail bar, and gym must mean it is a luxurious house. But there’s a big catch here, more amenities means in terms of scale it’s not just a house but a building where these facilities are rented out for tenants. So, ⑤ is excluded because it’s not a house but a building. In the end, the only answer left is ①.”

“Haha… I see…”
“Right?”
“Yes…”

Then the teacher took out her phone and called my mom.

“Hello, Dohee’s mom. This is Dohee’s homeroom teacher, Yoo Jiyeong.”
“Oh, yes, hello. Did Dohee cause trouble again this time?”
“Not that, but during today’s test, I found Dohee’s thinking to be quite unique and mature for her age in many ways, haha…”

.
.
.

In the end, I received a multiple-choice correction and went home.

“See, Mom, I was right.”
“How can a large, fancy house be the right answer?”
“Think about it, if you had to choose between Baekhwi’s house and our house, wouldn’t you choose Baekhwi’s?”
“It certainly makes sense.”
“Right?”
“Are you kidding me.”

Mom pulled my ear.

“Oww, why again?”
“You’re already so materialistic and snobbish at such a young age. I’m worried Doa will take after you.”
“Hmph, what’s wrong with me being so smart?”

After being released by Mom, I hugged Doa, who was playing with her princess doll again today.

“Aang, I was playing with dolls.”
“Play with your Unni~”
“No way.”
“Crying…”

Letting go of Doa, she returned to playing with her doll.

“Doa.”
“Yes?”
“Doesn’t Doa want to be like her Unni?”
“Dad said not to.”
“…”

Both Mom and Dad are telling Doa not to take after me, does that mean I really have a problem?

Anyway, I achieved my goal by getting a perfect score and getting a phone.
I’m excited to take lots of pictures of Doa with my phone.