Chapter 43 – The First Meal in Three Days

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“I see what you’re trying to do. I won’t judge him by his age,” Molley answered calmly as he brought his coffee to his mouth once again. By now, he was getting a grasp of that author’s character and was slowly realizing that there was nothing ordinary about this “Yun Woo” Nabi had been talking about.

From his perspective, Nabi didn’t talk about her clients in too much detail. It was one of her strategies because higher expectations could also lead to greater disappointments. This time, it was different. She was full of confidence. No matter how high the expectation was, she was certain that he was not going to be disappointed. She hadn’t been like that when she was working with Seo Joong Ahn not too long ago.

“OK. I’m interested in taking a look. Do you have a sample for me?” he said as he savored the nutty fragrance of coffee.

“Yes, of course.”

The materials she had prepared went over to Molley’s hands.

*

“Here’s a loaf of bread,” Mr. Moon said as he placed a loaf of bread onto the desk with it still wrapped. All eyes were on the bread. It was a muffin.

“Turn this bread into gold.”

His mission didn’t make a lot of sense, so Sun Hwa asked, “What do you mean by ‘turn it into gold?’”

The members looked at each other.

“Are you telling us to plate it with gold?”

“Well, that’s not too bad. Juho Woo, give us an example,” Mr. Moon spoke ambiguously.

Then he looked at Juho, who had was resting his chin on his hand. Juho stopped himself from smirking at being called out all of a sudden. ‘He’s so certain that I’ll have something,’ he thought.

“What is it? Did you get it?” Sun Hwa asked.

Juho did understand the instructions. Though he was planning on keeping his mouth shut, he was forced to speak by suddenly becoming the center of attention.

“A loaf of bread after starving for three days.”

“Aha!”

Everyone understood with that one sentence alone. Just the thought alone was enough to understand how precious the bread must have been. Before a person who had been starving for three days, a loaf of bread would be much more precious than gold. They probably wouldn’t trade it for gold.

“I see. That’s what he meant,” Seo Kwang murmured.

All together, the club members understood the entirety of that day’s lesson from Juho’s example. Once they understood, it actually sounded sounded fun, and everyone willingly started discussing their ideas with one another.

“OK, let’s do this.”

They brainstormed as they sat around the bread. That loaf of bread had to be made precious, so everyone thought as hard as they could while looking piercingly at its smooth, golden brown surface.

“What if everyone was sharing a loaf?” Bom said.

“It probably makes the bread more valuable than it is when only one person’s eating it.”

“Wouldn’t it still be less valuable than gold?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

She smiled awkwardly as she scratched her head. Juho’s example was stuck in their minds. They couldn’t think of something different.

Seo Kwang spoke up next, “What about having a loaf to yourself without having anyone else knowing?”

“Eh, that’s a little ambiguous.” Sun Hwa tilted her head, ‘Wouldn’t he feel guilty for tricking others?’ she thought. The word betrayal was as far as it could be from the word gold.

Seo Kwang argued, “Why? There’s a saying that food tastes best when you’re eating in secret. You don’t know if someone chose to eat that loaf of bread in secret even with a piece of gold in front of you.”

“Maybe he’s right.”

“Who would do that?”

“This guy.”

“You’re funny.”

“I think I’d feel guilty too. Gold would be better.”

Seo Kwang clicked his tongue at Bom’s answer as he quarreled with Sun Hwa.

“Well, I think it depends on how you set the situation. Try to be more specific. For example, being surrounded by the people you’d hate to be around,” Juho said.

“I actually wouldn’t feel all that guilty.”

“What if everyone’s stranded and on the verge of starving to death?”

“It wouldn’t be weird to choose bread over gold.”

Sun Hwa, Seo Kwang, and Baron answered Juho in order. Baron was drawing something on his sketchbook as he spoke nonchalantly. Bom clapped timidly, and Sun Hwa placed her hand on her temple. She seemed upset.

“Why couldn’t I think of that?”

“Isn’t it because you’re not as quick as Juho?”

She retaliated with her hand at Seo Kwang mocking her. As he looked at the two close friends, Juho said, “Let’s not compare ourselves to others and make ourselves feel small.”

“That tranquility. I hate how politically correct he can be.”

“Haha!” Juho laughed it off.

Sun Hwa glared at him as he laughed peacefully, and Bom said timidly, “Then the bread in another person’s hand must look more valuable. There’s a saying that the grass always looks greener on the other side.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Mr. Moon clapped at Bom’s words. He seemed proud of her. Their discussion was going much better than he had anticipated.

“Then, let’s try the opposite this time. Make it worthless. Less than dirt.”

The members got together excitedly, and Seo Kwang said, “Let it sit for a few days. It’ll go bad, and nobody will be able to eat it.”

It was simple, but it wasn’t wrong either.

“You might as well throw it on the ground,” Sun Hwa seemed unsatisfied with his answer.

Juho gave another example, “How about a leftover loaf?”

When a person had already had too much to eat, the smell of bread alone would be enough to make them nauseated. They’d probably want to go out and walk around more than anything.

“What’s wrong with leftovers? It tastes fine once you microwave it.”

“Besides, how do you not finish your bread?”

“Have you heard of the five-second rule?”

Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa presented their arguments simultaneously. Being the only person who agreed with Juho, Bom looked around timidly. Of course, they had stomachs of steel at that age.

By the time everyone had enough opinions, Mr. Moon changed the subject of the discussion. He showed them a picture of a steep cliff. Its irregular surface gave off a dangerous feeling.

“That cliff looks pathetic compared to the real thing,” Seo Kwang said mischievously. It was true. A picture of a cliff didn’t hold a candle to the actual cliff.

“Then, a clay wall made by a child has gotta be the same way.”

“Sure, but wouldn’t it be different for the parents?”

“I guess so. They’d probably give anything for their child.”

“They might give the child away for a gold!”

“I know my mom wouldn’t!”

They moved onto the next phase, and Seo Kwang said, “What about a cliff made of gold?”

“That’s not bad.”

“Is that the best you got?” Sun Hwa gave her opinion right after.

Once the club members had a grasp of the activity, they raised and lowered the value of the subject. They had thought of a situation where a group of people simultaneously wanted the same thing. This time, Mr. Moon took out his cell phone. After tapping on its screen a few times, a sound came from his phone: Snore, pff, snore, pff, it was the rhythm of a person snoring.

“Who’s that?”

“I can’t tell you since it’s my personal life.”

The members quickly resumed their discussion with their eyes, ‘Could it be him? No, it can’t be. Maybe a roommate? Maybe it’s just sound effect.’

They came up with all sorts of speculation. Juho too was dying to know, but out of respect for his teacher, he decided not to dig too deep. He did admire Mr. Moon’s passion for the club and ignored the suspicious looks the club members’ eyes had as if on a mission.

“Make it more valuable than gold.”

Making a snoring sound more valuable than gold was not an easy task. Juho rested his chin on his hand and let everyone else speak first.

“What if the recorder was made of gold?”

“Are you serious?”

“This is creative too.”

‘What if that snore came from somebody who couldn’t afford to be shown with their guard down? If it was the snore of a person who had a lot to lose from their personal life being exposed, they’d be bound to have enemies. Especially so if they had to appear dignified on a regular basis. If the person who recorded it were to sell what they had captured, they could probably ask for quite a bit – like a piece of gold,’ Juho thought as he listened to the two quarreling.

At that moment, Sun Hwa made a suggestion, “How about this? What if we have people competing for who can snore the loudest for a gold prize? So-called: “The Snoring Contest.” The person in the recording would be the winner of the contest. Wouldn’t it be worth the gold?”

“Well, there are million dollar legs. I’m sure there’s a snore that’s worth a piece of gold somewhere in this world.”

“If this contest took place at night, I’d hate to be anywhere around it.”

“Next door as well,” Juho added to Seo Kwang’ remark.

At least a family could wake him up. For a nextdoor neighbor, it would be a much more complicated situation.

“A snoring father,” Bom said timidly. She actually understood the mission now.

“Wouldn’t a father snoring after a long, hard day at work be as precious as gold?”

“I miss my dad all of a sudden.”

Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa said simultaneously. Juho thought of his father going to bed early after coming late from work. He snored quite loud at times, but he wanted his dad to be healthy more than anything else, even if that meant he would snore for the rest of his life.

“I’ve heard snoring is a sign of bad health,” Sun Hwa said. Her sensitivity simply didn’t last.

The students came up with a few more ideas for their discussion. As he sat still listening to them, Mr. Moon suddenly stood from his seat when it was time they start wrapping up. All eyes were focused on him, and he opened a shelf and took something out.

“Is that for us?” Sun Hwa asked.

“Uh… That’s not…” Juho said out of reflex. He recognized what it was at once. In the past, he had seen the label on the bottle countless times.

“This is alcohol.”

Mr. Moon had brought alcohol to school, and Seo Kwang said, “This is going to get you fired.”

“It’s for educational purposes.”

“Still! The school will call the parents!”

“Not if I don’t get caught,” he answered briefly.

It definitely wouldn’t be good to be seen with alcohol at school. He had hid the bottle in a shelf because he was aware of that fact. Schools and alcohol didn’t blend well. Juho stared into the shelf where the bottle was in. As familiar of the sight of it was, it was quite entertaining. Everyone was excited.

“But why did you bring this? Are we going to drink it?”

“I said it’s for educational purposes.”

There was a blunt sound as he opened the bottle, and everyone exclaimed in astonishment. Juho squinched his eyes and looked at the bottle in Mr. Moon’s hand.

“Now, make this cheap.”

“I want to smell it!” Seo Kwang raised his hand.

He added an excuse as Mr. Moon looked at him. To allow for a more realistic imagination for the club members, he handed the bottle over to Seo Kwang without hesitation. Like a dog, he put his nose over it. No one said anything, but they all waited for their turns.

“It does smell like alcohol!”

Since coming up to high school, Seo Kwang had had experience with alcohol. His parents would let him take a few sips sometimes. However, seeing alcohol in school was an exciting experience. He passed the bottle to Sun Hwa as she rushed him impatiently.

“It smells like alcohol,” she said.

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