An autumn day had passed, and Minjin sat next to Minjun. Despite being in Section One, her class behavior did not change, as she frequently dozed off during lectures, prompting Minjun to nudge her when the teacher was nearby.
As their Korean history teacher, Mrs. Soo approached their desks, Minjun whispered, "Ya!" but Minjin remained asleep.
Until Mrs. Soo gently tapped her head with a book, waking her up. "Minjin-ah, go outside. Stand there and keep your hands raised until class ends," she instructed.
Minjin sluggishly exited and stood outside the classroom with her arms raised.
In the following English class, Minjun noticed her gazing out the window once more. He tapped her foot with his, and without looking at him, she returned the nudge. When the teacher asked for a volunteer to answer the upcoming paragraph question, Minjin smirked, took Minjun's hand, and lifted it on his behalf. This caught Minjun by surprise.
"Alright, Minjun-ah. Please answer it," the teacher, Kim Seon-mi, said as she approached Minjun with her open book in hand.
Minjun glared at Minjin before getting to his feet. As she sarcastically smiled at him. Minjun cleared his throat first and focused intently on mentally reading the paragraph.
Minjin tilted her head in curiosity. This was her first time awake during English class. She lowered her head down to read the page in the English book where Minjun was quietly reading. She scanned the textbook carefully.
She observed that the reading comprehension worksheets featured passages on various subjects, primarily emphasizing the identification of main ideas, supporting details, and inferences. Regarding vocabulary and grammar, they covered the application of word lists, including high-frequency academic terms, idioms, and phrasal verbs. The grammar lessons included explanations of basic tenses, along with examples and practice exercises.
She was surprised by the approach to listening comprehension. It featured dialogues related to everyday conversations, school experiences, travel, and business-focused lectures on subjects like science, history, and culture. The exercises emphasized identifying key details, summarizing, and making predictions. However, the listening activities were still grounded in written questions, where students pinpointed items or topics of discussion through multiple-choice answers.
She muttered to herself in English. "What the f***?"
Minjun raised his head after silently reading the text. Minjin frowned as she tried to read the text.
After finishing the reading, she felt confident about answering the reading comprehension questions. However, this reading comprehension was tailored more to fluent English speakers, which was why the student wasn't required to read it aloud.
Minjin turned to Minjun for his response. At that moment, she realized that the English teacher, while openly holding the textbook, was a native citizen.
Minjun then looked at Kim Seon-mi to give his answer. "The main idea of the passage is 'a.'"
Minjin cast another frown as she gazed at her book. The English sentence for the letter 'a' was "People should work all the time to be successful," which was the easiest to understand. That seemed to be the best answer compared to the other choices: "Entertainment is more important than studying" and "Taking breaks is a waste of time."
She thought it made sense that Minjun chose that answer, yet it was incorrect. The answer she observed contained the most complex English words, with the longest one expected to be right. After this realization, she shook her head and turned to her English teacher. She took a moment to reread the text, tracing her finger along the page.
"Your answer somehow made sense. However, that is not the right answer," Kim Seon-min said. "Let's reread it, and then give me your answers."
Minjun sat down and Minjin quickly leaned in. "Ya, Minjun-ah, English shouldn't be taught like this."
Minjun smirked, turned towards her, and raised his hand. "Saem, Minjin wants to answer."
Minjin chuckled in disbelief, giving him a slight glare.
"Aren't you from America, Minjin-ah?" Kim Seon-mi asked.
Minjin turned to her and replied, "Ne, saem."
"Good, then what is the right answer?" Kim Seon-mi asked as she placed her open book on the desk.
Minjin stood up from her seat and held the open book. "The answer is already visible in the first paragraph, its opening sentences." She lowered her head and read the sentence in English: "Many successful people emphasize the importance of managing time wisely. Time is a valuable resource because once it is lost, it cannot be recovered. People who use their time effectively are often more productive and less stressed."
Minjun's eyes widened upon hearing her speaking fluently in English, but he quickly grinned.
Minjn continued. "It has already mentioned "time," and the words "managing time wisely" are equivalent to the meaning of "balanced," and, obviously, the word "productive" is already given. So, the answer is letter b: Time management helps people become more productive and balanced." She said the last sentence in English.
Bang Eun-Kyung gaped in disbelief. A few classmates around them shared astonished glances. Beside her, Minjun smirked but soon broke into a grin.
Mun Sara sat frozen, her eyes wide, as she listened to Minjin speak in clear English and tried to explain how she articulated her answer. She also caught a glimpse of Minjun, who was grinning proudly at Minjin. Turning to her book, Mun Sara tried to grasp how Minjin had managed to rationalize reading comprehension. Though she had always considered Minjin a genius, she had not anticipated such reasoning skills at this age.
Kim Seon-mi's eyes widen in surprise. She felt a surge of panic and quickly reread the textbook before focusing back on Minjin. After a moment, she smiled warmly at her. "That's a great explanation and observation, Minjin-ah. Since we've all been having difficulty with the English language, I really hope you can assist your classmates."
Minjin gave an awkward smile. "I'll do my best, saem." Then she settled back in her chair.
Minjun chuckled, grinning as he looked at her. "You didn't just understand it; you analyzed it."
Minjin turned her head towards him. "That's a 'thesis statement,'" she explained, using English for the last part.
"A what?" Minjun asked, his expression turning to a frown.
Minjin continued, "I don't know 'thesis statement' in Korean, but it means a sentence or paragraph that captures the main idea of an essay or research paper, usually found at the end of the introduction."
Minjun expressed his astonishment with a nod.
"I told you, this is not the proper approach to teaching English to non-English speakers. So, don't feel bad if your answer is wrong. It is understandable," Minjin said as she gazed back at the book.
Minjun smiled as he returned to his book. He thought that it was great to have Minjin in his section. This was just the beginning of her revealing her potential. It also felt right to have her by his side, as she had always been understanding and considerate of his feelings since childhood.