Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 59

“Grandpa, I think it’s better to reconsider it again.”

“Stop it Little Hun. There is nothing to reconsider.”

“There is grandpa. It’s 100 million won. It’s money that can buy 3,570 potato pizzas grandpa.”

“Didn’t I say you can study hard without worrying about money?”

“What does studying hard have to do with money grandpa?”

I was persuading grandpa on our way to Berk elementary school.

“Think about it grandpa, How much paint I can buy with that money, how much black bean noodles I can eat, so why should we have to give all that money to go there?”

“Because it’s safe, facilities are good, and the quality of the teachers is good!”

“Is it dangerous at Government run schools? Is there a problem with the character of a Government run school teacher?”

“Relatively…Yes! Why are you so stubborn about it? Where did you hear about the tuition fee?”

“That’s not important grandpa. The important thing is you are planning on wasting 100 million won.”

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s not a waste of money. It’s for your studies.”

“You have to save it when you have it grandpa. You’ll be in trouble if you spend money recklessly because you’re rich.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Grandpa, you keep saying that you have a lot of money. But I’m the one who has to pay you back someday!”

“Why would you pay it back?”

“Okay, then I’ll pay for the tuition.”

“ Hey…Which elementary school kid pays for his tuition?”

“Then, I’ll go to the Government run school.”

“Stop it Hun. If you continue saying that, I won’t take you to the Art museum this weekend.”

These days, I often have arguments with grandpa.

In my previous life, they used to say, I’m a stubborn person, but even that can’t beat grandpa’s stubbornness.

We may have different opinions, but most of the time, I yield because of the threat of not taking me to the museum.

I’m angry.

“…Fine….I’ll go.”

When I admitted my defeat, grandpa patted my head with a smile, saying,

“Okay. Listen to the teacher. Have fun”

“Yes.”

I got out of the car.

Since I decided to go to school anyway, I want to study hard even if it’s a waste of money.

I’m looking forward to what I’ll learn in the first class.

⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩

“Isn’t he Ko Hun?”

“Yes, he is.”

“I saw him on NewTube.”

It seems like I was strangely attracting attention.

“ He’s so Small.”

“What grade is he in?”

“So Cute.”

“I went to his exhibition with my mum, day before yesterday. There were a lot of people.”

The conversation of the children around me sounds unfiltered.

I know it is an elementary educational facility for children from 8 to 13, but it feels definitely like the children didn’t care whether I listen or not.

“Then did the stock price go up a little?”

“No. The WH Art Museum is a non-listed company.”

“Why?”

“I think it’s created on a foundation fund. I’ve heard that they’re going to donate some of their profits.”

“Oh, non-profit organisation?”

“Yeah. A Social enterprise. WH Group was created for the purpose of returning to society.”

“Oh, my grandfather’s company has something similar.”

“Ours, too.”

I’m confused.

Children of this era seem to know a lot.

Maybe they are well educated.

They seem to be my age, but I can’t keep up with their conversation.

As I was thinking about the words they used, I reached the place, where the teacher’s room was.

I knocked on the teacher’s door, and soon a teacher came out.

“Oh, it’s Hun.”

Teacher Choi Jiho, the homeroom teacher, who guided me and grandpa around the school yesterday, welcomed me.

He was a young teacher in his early 30s, but I have to be polite with him since he’ll be my teacher from today.

“Hello”

I greeted him bowing my head.

“Hello Hun, Are you ready for your new class. let’s go.”

I headed to the classroom under the guidance of teacher Choi.

“All of your friends are nice, so you’ll be able to get along quickly.”

Looking at the level of conversation of children, it seemed difficult, but if I treat them with love, I’ll definitely be able to create a good relationship.

“This is it,”

Teacher Choi said, while pointing to the door, where it was written third grade.

Originally, I was supposed to attend 4th grade, but I started in the 3rd grade since I didn’t go to school last year.

For me, who did not go through a regular curriculum, it is fortunate to start one grade from the bottom.

“Hello everyone.”

When I entered the room with the teacher Choi, there were only four children in a large space.

As expected, there are no children.

It must be because of the expensive tuition.

Willem II National Middle School, where I attended in my previous life, had a maximum of 100 students per class, but there were only five students here, including me.

It’s definitely because of the tuition fee of 100 million won per year.

I can see that they are loved at their home through their neat attire and bright faces.

“Guys…We have a friend who got transferred to our school today. Hun, say hello to your friends.”

“Hi, I’m Ko Hun.”

“Hi HUN!”

I said hello awkwardly, and the students greeted me in a clear voice.

One child has been writing something since earlier, and didn’t look up at me.

“Hun has lived abroad for a long time, so he doesn’t know much about our country. Let’s be kind and let him know if he doesn’t know anything. Okay.?”

“Yes. Mr. Choi”

What bright and energetic children.

“That empty desk is Hun’s seat.”

It’s next to the girl who had her face down and writing something with pen.

I sat down in my seat and took out my tablet.

“Well, let’s get started.”

The first hour was Korean.

I opened a PDF file that I downloaded yesterday.

“ Everyone..It is time to study a literary work called ‘Gold Axe and Silver Axe’.”

An axe made of gold and silver.

Is it because it’s a school attended by rich children, it felt unusual from the first class.

“Now, let’s read it slowly .”

Fortunately, teacher Choi gave me enough time to read, since my proficiency was not good in Korean.

The story began when a woodcutter dropped an old ax into a pond.

In front of the stunned woodcutter, a transcendent being called the Mountain Spirit appears and asks, showing the golden axe.

“Is this ax yours?”

The woodcutter answered that it was not his ax, and then the mountain Spirit took out a silver ax and asked the same question.

When he said no, the mountain Spirit, who appreciated the honest answer of the woodcutter, gave him the gold ax and a silver ax.

“Did everyone finish reading the story.”

Isn’t the one who gave the ax was originally Hermes, but here it was changed to the Mountain Spirit.

There are things that do change over time.

It’s just amazing that stories written by Greek people are still being dealt with on the other side of the globe.

It seems like the lesson of living honestly still remains even in this era.

It is also a useful story for children who are about 10 years old.

“I think everyone has finished read it, so now let’s talk about what you felt about the story one by one. Shall we start with………..Yes…….. Hyunwoo?”

Teacher Choi responded to the child raising his hand.

“I think it created an unreasonable situation to teach you to live honestly.”

“Really? Why do you think so?”

“No one gives gold just for being honest. Assuming that the weight of the ax is about 3kg, which means it would costs about 200 million won, which is the money that can be used to hire an excellent person for about two years.”

“……..?”

Is something wrong with my ears?

“That’s a wonderful idea, isn’t it?”

Teacher Choi, who accepts it casually, is also strange.

“Now shall we ask Hun….about what he thinks about the story ?”

The children’s eyes turned in my direction.

Those sparkling eyes didn’t look pure anymore.

“If it’s difficult to speak in Korean, it’s okay to speak in English.”

I didn’t feel thankful for the consideration of teacher Choi.

I just panicked since I couldn’t think of anything other than ‘honest is good’.

After much thought, I started speaking in English.

“It felt like the story was adapted from Aesop’s Fable. I don’t know about the mountain Spirit, but I think it must be a god similar to Hermes…..”

“Right. Hun pointed out an excellent fact. Actually, this story was not a traditional Korean fairy tale, but an adaptation of Aesop’s fable.”

“Ahhhhhhh”

children nodded their head, pretending to be innocent.

“How did you know? Have you read Aesop’s fable?”

One child asked me in English that I could understand quite well.

“I thought it was a story of our country.”

“Me too.”

“You speak English well.”

“Where did you learn that?”

“It sounds like British English.”

“Right! Where did you live in England? I used to live in Billionaire Row!”

Kids these days are scary.

⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩

1 p.m.

After suffering from schoolmates, I was finally able to return home.

Grandpa, who came to pick me up on time, was also surprised.

“What’s the matter Hun?”

“It’s hard grandpa.”

“What…did anyone bother you?”

They didn’t mean it, but I did suffer as a result.

“These days, Kids are not too mature grandpa”

When I sighed and said that, Grandpa started laughing loudly.

“Hahahahah! I never thought I would hear those words from you.”

“There was a girl next to me, who kept writing something, and when I looked at what she was doing during the break, Guess what she said , she was doing asset allocation.”

“Huh?”

Grandpa also opened his eyes wide as if he was surprised.

“ She said something like Distributed investment? Stocks,? dollars,? gold,? real estate?”

I listed the words I remember, but I didn’t understand any of them.

“Oh, She seems to be a smart fellow. Hun also should learn about that someday.”

“I don’t want to. I just want to draw.”

“Hmm.”

Grandfather thought about it and said something unexpected.

“Curator Bang Tae, also said something similar. He asked me to let you focus only on drawing?”

“ That’s right. I’d love to do that.”

“Mmmm…We can leave the asset management to someone we know, but the problem is the manager. Hun do you know what a manager is?”

“Are you talking about the secretary?”