Tsunami Advisory
Chapter 7
Danbi’s dad worked at a telecommunications company, and her mom was a home-tutor workbook instructor. On the surface, they seemed like an utterly ordinary middle-class family, but they had one distinct trait: an extraordinary passion for education. With Danbi about to enter high school, her parents practically reenacted the tale of Mencius’s mother moving three times, pushing through a move straight into the epicenter of South Korea’s college admissions frenzy.
Leaving behind a respectable newly built apartment in their old neighborhood, the family set up their new nest in a cramped, decrepit apartment where cockroaches were a frequent sight. Perhaps because the land was priced as if paved with gold, even a rundown place like that far exceeded the cost of their previous home, forcing them into debt. The weight of the word “debt” pressed heavily on young Danbi’s shoulders. She hated saying goodbye to her friends, and the fear of an unfamiliar environment was overwhelming, but her mom’s conviction was unyielding.
“Don’t complain. We’re doing all of this for your own good. You need to swim in a different pond to study better and make ‘good’ friends.”
The “good friends” Mom talked about didn’t just mean friends she clicked with. They meant connections for the future, a kind of investment. Her mother believed Danbi had to associate with children raised by good parents with elite educations—kids who would grow up to be doctors, lawyers, and prosecutors. That network was capital, and she believed it would one day prove invaluable in life.
“That’s right, Danbi. Don’t live like a frog in a well. Mom and Dad will lift you up, so don’t worry and go make your way out in the world.”
Dad wanted to give his daughter more opportunities in life. Though they claimed it was all for her sake, the suffocating weight of their expectations and fervor exhausted Danbi before she had even begun.
Everything about the new neighborhood felt foreign and out of place. Even Danbi, who knew nothing about cars other than that they were metal contraptions with four wheels, could instantly tell that the vehicles gliding down the streets were anything but ordinary. Sleek foreign cars in gleaming black, silver, and occasionally striking primary colors dominated the asphalt with low, heavy rumbles from their engines. Even if she didn’t recognize the logos, their smooth, sculpted bodies and luxurious sheen made it obvious to anyone that they were expensive cars.
Could the price of just one of those cars pay off all her family’s debt and then some? If an accident happened, she felt she’d have to worry about the car rather than her own body.
The route to school was always packed with imported cars dropping students off. Beyond the deceptively ordinary school gates lay manicured lawns and sculpted landscape trees that looked more like a public park.
The scene inside the classroom was no different. The standard desks and chairs, along with the noisy chatter of the students, seemed like any typical school at first glance, but the topics of conversation reaching her ears were entirely different. Stories of weekend trips abroad, horseback riding, or golf lessons were tossed around casually. Danbi wore the same school uniform, yet her belongings—her shoes, backpack, wristwatch—drew an invisible line. It was a gap her parents could never bridge, no matter how hard they tried.
As Mom had said, the water in this pond really was different. The kids here were undoubtedly prime examples of the “good friends” raised in affluent households. But turning that thought around: to them, was Danbi a “good friend”?
“So, did you manage to get Oh Young-seok for math tutoring?”
“Yeah, Mom’s been badgering him since last semester, so she barely broke through.”
“Insane. They say if you get private tutoring from Teacher Young-seok, you’re guaranteed a Tier 1 rank, right?”
“Tier 1 isn’t even the point. The exact problems he points out show up on the tests. It’s a matter of whether you get a perfect score or not.”
They got private tutoring from celebrity instructors everyone knew about.
The more Danbi eavesdropped, the more lost she felt about how to even strike up a conversation. Sensing this subtle divide, the other students didn’t seem to acknowledge her presence at all, and even if their eyes met hers, they quickly looked away. As if she didn’t exist.
“My pencil case is gone.”
It was then. A fleeting silence swept through the room, as if an invisible force had suddenly brought order to the chaotic classroom air. Cutting through that silence was a low, calm voice, laden with an odd authority. Danbi instinctively turned toward the sound.
A boy wearing glasses stood in front of the teacher’s podium. At a glance, his build was noticeably larger than his peers.
He had a sharp jawline and a prominent bridge to his nose, but what truly caught her attention were his mismatched eyes. One eye narrower than the other, his gaze gave off a contradictory impression of being both neat and piercingly sharp.
His uniform was immaculate, but power radiated from his squared shoulders and solid posture. His composure, unfazed by the surrounding commotion, bordered on arrogance.
His appearance was striking enough to make one wonder what kind of man and woman could have combined to produce such a child.
“I’ll give 50 to whoever brings it to me.”
Danbi unwittingly caught her breath at his low, dry tone. What was he talking about? 50? 50 won? Was he making a joke? But if so, nobody was laughing.
Then, 500,000 won? That kind of money was more than enough to buy a new pencil case along with top-of-the-line stationery to fill it. Yet to that boy, it seemed like nothing more than the minimum cost to solve a trivial inconvenience—or perhaps worth even less.
The classroom stirred for a moment at his words, but no one stepped forward or bustled around to look for it.
A few hours passed. After class ended, Danbi, who had been resting her head on her desk, suddenly noticed an unfamiliar object by her feet. A sturdy-looking black pencil case. Could this be what that boy lost earlier?
Without hesitation, Danbi picked up the pencil case and looked around the classroom. What did he look like again? Tall, pale, handsome…
Her gaze naturally drifted toward the center of the largest group of students, and there he was. Danbi approached cautiously and called out to him in a small voice.
“Um…”
At her voice, the noisy group instantly quieted down, all eyes turning toward her. Danbi awkwardly squeezed through them. Behind his glasses, his sharp gaze landed not on Danbi’s face, but on the pencil case in her hand. Danbi placed the pencil case on his desk and spoke hesitantly.
“Isn’t this… your pencil case? The one you mentioned at the podium earlier. It was on the floor next to my desk.”
Embroidered on the left side of his chest were the three characters of his name: Han Hae-il. Hae-il (海溢), tidal wave. A name that felt like a cold, colossal gray wave surging forward. She thought it suited his face with eerie perfection.
Hae-il opened the pencil case without a word. Its contents were simple: a three-color ballpoint pen, a mechanical pencil, and a few highlighters. Having checked what was inside, he pulled out his wallet without delay, casually drew out several yellow bills, and held them out to Danbi.
“Here.”
It was a dry voice, devoid of any emotion.
What he held in his hand was undeniably a stack of 50,000-won bills. Even at a glance, it was noticeably thick. Danbi gasped in reflexive shock and waved her hands.
“Hey… I just picked up a classmate’s pencil case and brought it over. Why would I take money for that?”
A short, incredulous laugh slipped out at the end of her words. She simply couldn’t wrap her head around the situation. Returning a lost item was common courtesy, not something done for cash. In the world Danbi lived in, such a transaction made no sense.
That was when Hae-il lifted his head and looked directly at Danbi for the first time. His brow furrowed slightly, and an indiscernible, subtle glint flickered in his sharp, mismatched eyes. Without withdrawing the hand offering the cash, he looked Danbi up and down for a moment. Then, he added quietly,
“Take it and buy yourself some shoes.”
At those words, Danbi looked down at her feet. They were the brand-new sneakers her mom had splurged on as an entrance gift, their shine not yet faded.
“These are new.”
It wasn’t a difficult answer, yet his head tilted slightly. Narrowing his already sharp eyes, he gave the hand holding the money a slight shake.
“It’s a hassle to put it back. Just take it.”
She truly couldn’t understand him. Letting out a dry laugh, Danbi took the money. Then, she reached toward the wallet in Hae-il’s other hand.
“Ha… I’ll put it back for you.”
Pointedly shoving the bills back into his wallet, she muttered, “How is this such a hassle…” Then, shaking her head at Hae-il and his friends, who were watching the scene with intrigued expressions over his shoulder, she turned around.
It was an incomprehensible world. She needed to adjust as quickly as possible, yet the more she learned, the more alienated she felt. Money being involved just for finding a classmate’s pencil case. And no one batting an eye at it. It was a kind of culture shock. Or perhaps more like mental whiplash.
The world her dad had wanted to pull her into from her “frog in a well” life felt to Danbi like an abyss—vast, freezing, and deep. It took her breath away. Could she truly survive here? Or rather, what did surviving even mean? A fundamental question like that suddenly reared its head.
I swear, the kids here are all insane
A guy lost his pencil case and I picked it up and gave it back
And he gives me money
500k won
But you know what’s even funnier?
I’m the only one freaked out
They’re all crazy bastards
She shared this absurd experience with her friends from her old neighborhood, but all she got in return was disbelief and mockery.
Hey, you’ve been watching too many chaebol dramas lmao
Even in that neighborhood, isn’t 500k a lot of money?
Writing fanfic just cause we can’t check up on you
Lmaooo make it more believable next time
If that was real, you should’ve just taken it
If you keep stealing his pencil case and returning it, you’d be rich lol
LMAOOOO
Jackpot lmao
The frustration was enough to drive her crazy. A crazy neighborhood, and a crazy guy to go with it.
