Apocalypse's Teacher - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Patriotism is a Serious Matter

***

My head was spinning.

My mind was blank, and an inexplicable gloom filled my entire body.

“So, I want to live here… hey? Are you okay?”

As Helen’s words continued, I was spacing out, and she waved her hand in front of my face.

“Ah!”

I snapped back to reality.

I shivered involuntarily and then spoke to Helen.

“Oh, I…!”

There had to be something I could say.

After all, I went to a four-year university, didn’t I? My pride wouldn’t let me stumble over something this minor.

I swallowed dryly.

I widened my eyes and looked at Helen.
T h i s w a s c o p ie d fr o m k i n gm t l . or g

Her sparkling blonde hair was striking, and our eyes met.

I responded from within.

“Oh, I don’t speak English!”

Tension filled the air.

Helen’s pupils trembled.

Her shoulders shrank, and her lips trembled.

‘Is this the first time she’s seen someone who can’t speak English?’

Suddenly, I felt aggrieved.

Think about it, isn’t it fair?

This is Korea, and Korea is a country that speaks Korean.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Why should I be judged for not speaking English in Korea?

I decided to stand tall.

I straightened my shoulders and forced my gaze forward, even though it wanted to drop.

In that moment.

“I-I can’t speak Korean well.”

Helen stammered.

Her eyes glistened with moisture.

Her voice had a hint of tears.

“Korean is too difficult….”

Her words, spoken in a broken accent, made me feel a sense of kinship.

***

“Are you an idiot?”

The next day, Mr. Park’s words.

I lowered my head deeply.

It was out of embarrassment.

“No, it’s just….”

“Can’t you handle basic conversation? And what’s with your pronunciation? How did you speak English in such a way that the other person understood it as Korean?”

Mr. Park’s words heightened my shame.

There was something I hadn’t realized in that moment.

The fact that when I said, ‘I don’t speak English,’ Helen responded with, ‘I can’t speak Korean well.’

What did that imply?

It meant that my attempt at speaking English sounded like Korean to Helen.

‘Damn it…!’

I should have studied harder. This is beyond embarrassing.

Mr. Park sighed.
T h i s w a s co pi e d f r o m k i n gmt l. o r g

He looked at me with his trademark disdain and spoke.
T h i s w a s c o pie d fr o m k i ng m t l . or g

“That woman wants to live here. She was impressed by how you took care of the kids. She also wants to help.”

“Huh?”

“Why, isn’t that good news for you? You get an English teacher.”

It wasn’t good news.

I scoffed and retorted to Mr. Park.

“I appreciate the kind words, but what about communication? And dealing with another mouth to feed? Besides, is English even necessary in this world?”

Those were just the three things that came to mind immediately.

Even if we could manage the first two, what about the third?

Why should we accept her when English isn’t even needed in this world?

“Well, she’d do fine at any shelter, wouldn’t she? A biology researcher would be welcomed with open arms.”

“Are you seriously asking that?”

Disdain deepened on Mr. Park’s face.

My body trembled involuntarily.

Why, you ask?

I have an allergy to highly educated people and handsome men.

And Mr. Park possesses both, so when he looks at me disdainfully, it makes me shrink.

“What…!”

“You idiot. How can you teach kids without English?”

“Isn’t it possible….”

“If you don’t know English, how will you read original texts?”

“Original texts?”

“Theses and research papers. Most of those are written in English. Even in bookstores, most specialized texts are in their original language.”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘I didn’t know that.’

How often do I read specialized texts?

The only ones I’ve read were related to the subjects I teach, and I learned them all in Korean.

I had never needed to read them in English.

Considering my experience and the educational level of the kids, I wanted to rebut Mr. Park but had to swallow my words.

“…Dayoon will need English.”

Our prodigy Dayoon.

T h i s wa s c o p i ed f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
She’ll need to learn specialized texts in English.

Given how quickly Dayoon absorbs knowledge, she’ll need English soon enough.

“Yes, exactly. For Dayoon, teach her English, Chinese characters, and if possible, Latin. Many theoretical terms have Latin roots, which makes memorizing easier.”

My shoulders suddenly felt heavy.

“…Raising kids isn’t easy.”

“Do you think Gangnam moms put their kids through rigorous training because they had too much time? If you want to raise them to a level admired by others, this level of investment is basic.”

“Don’t bring that up. It gives me PTSD.”

The mention of Gangnam moms made me shudder.

It wasn’t for no reason.

Before the world ended, when I first started teaching, I was tormented by those mothers, leaving me traumatized.

It was so bad they somehow found my contact information, which I tried to hide, and harassed me day and night.

In a joking tone, I could say it was a period when I was popular with women.

If you ignore the fact that those women were overzealous middle-aged moms, it could have been a pretty good situation.

“Idiot.”

Mr. Park clucked his tongue at my darkening face.

Then he took out a cigar and lit it.

I had fetched it for him.

Sssss-!

“Ahhh-!”

Thick smoke rose from the cigar.

I frowned and waved my hand.

“Ugh, the smell.”
Th i s w a s c op i ed fr om kingm t l .org

“Heh… nice. So, live with that woman.”

Ignoring my reaction, he spoke nonchalantly.

I coughed and backed away, replying.

“Given what you said, I think we have to, but how do we communicate? Or maybe you could stay with us and…?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

A sharp rejection.

I smacked my lips and scratched the back of my head.
T h i s w as c o p i ed f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g

‘He’s not budging.’

Having Mr. Park would make life dozens of times easier, but getting him to stay was nearly impossible.

Still, I couldn’t force him.

I decided to give up and wait for another opportunity.

“It’s a shame.”

“Figure out the communication. Teach her Korean while teaching the kids.”

“Oh.”

“What’s with the ‘oh’?”

Mr. Park laughed.

After taking a long drag from his cigar, Mr. Park spoke again.

“Oh, by the way. There are rumors about you.”

“What rumors?”

“About what happened in Mapo.”

I snapped my head around.

Mr. Park answered me in a mocking tone.

T h i s w a s c o p ie d fr o m k i ng m tl . or g
“A guest yesterday said, ‘Bomberman is back!'”

He said, stretching his arms to the sky in a playful manner.

My fists trembled.

“That damn Bomberman…!”

It’s a truly embarrassing nickname.

And an utterly unfair one.

“Why am I the only one they do this to…?”

“You’re on the blacklist, top-tier.”

“They gave everyone else cool nicknames! ‘Priest,’ ‘Doctor,’ and so on! Couldn’t they call me ‘Teacher’ or something?”

“Why would the shelter folks give you a cool nickname? You blow up a place every time you show up.”

“Then they should behave better. Why should I stay put when they act like jerks?”

“They probably think you’re the jerk.”

“Damn it….”

I resolved once again.

‘If I find the person who made up that nickname, I’m going to…!’

With a heart full of gratitude, I decided to plant a grenade in their stomach.

My body trembled with rising indignation.

Mr. Park, watching me, laughed and said.

“Be careful. There are many people who hold grudges against you.”

“If they had the guts to come after me, I’d already be lying on the street.”

“Your confidence is… impressive.”

Mr. Park shook his head.

Then he exhaled a long stream of cigar smoke.

I frowned and warned him again.

“Seriously, that smoking…”

“Join me if you don’t like it.”

…We can’t communicate.

***
T h i s w a s co p i e d f r om k i n g m t l .org

T his w a s c o pi ed f r o m ki n g m t l . o r g
When Dayoon went to Mr. Park for tutoring, I faced Dabin, Hyesung, and Helen with a serious expression and spoke.

“Alright, let’s get started!”

“Let’s do it!”

“Yay…!”

Hyesung and Dabin cheered, tightly gripping their pencils.

Helen, in the middle, smiled and nodded.
Thi s w a s co pi e d fr o m ki ng m t l . o r g

What were we doing?

Teaching Hangul.

Two preschoolers and one foreigner.

It wouldn’t be an easy battle, but we had to do it.

“Today, we’ll learn greetings! In English, it’s ‘hello!'”

“Greeting!”

“Hello!”

“Yeah~.”

“Hey!”

A cheer in English mixed in.

With my keen hearing, I caught it and scolded Helen.

Helen stiffened.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

With a stern face, I reiterated what I had informed her through Mr. Park.

“When learning Hangul?”

Helen’s eyes rolled.

She was trying to understand through context.

A tense silence followed.

I worried Helen didn’t understand and, for a moment, couldn’t think of what to do next.

“Use Korean when learning Hangul!”

Fortunately, Helen understood.

I gave her a thumbs-up in praise.

Helen smiled with satisfaction.

End of Chapter