Tsunami Advisory
Chapter 9
Most of the kids in this neighborhood came from so-called well-to-do families, but Han Hae-il was on an entirely different level. His father, Han Moo-jae, was an IT titan who had built a corporate myth in record time—and an icon of innovation closely watched by the entire Korean business world.
Unlike third- and fourth-generation chaebol heirs who simply inherited their wealth across generations, Hae-il was the second-generation successor to an empire that had just risen to the absolute summit. Commensurate with LD’s endlessly soaring stock price and prestige, Han Hae-il, the founder’s only son, drew massive public attention. Even among the myriad children born to the privileged class, his presence was unrivaled.
It couldn't be put into words, but she could feel it. Ah. This boy is going to be the most successful person in the world his whole life. He’ll live in a world forever distinct from mine.
By some whim, he had ended up sitting right next to Danbi. His reason this time was the same as in the cafeteria. Although the classroom had individual desks without formal assigned seating partners, Suhyeon’s gang loitering around Danbi’s desk during breaks and making noise had grated on his nerves.
Seemingly conscious of Hae-il, Suhyeon only glanced Danbi’s way and no longer approached her openly as he used to. With just a sliver of Hae-il’s annoyance, Danbi’s world had regained its peace.
“Are you… not on good terms with them?”
“Who’s them?”
“Um. Lee Suhyun’s group.”
One day, unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked, and he answered indifferently without taking his eyes off his textbook.
“They’re too low-class to bother dealing with.”
A blatant contempt for anything bothersome seeped into his low voice. The moment she heard those words, Danbi unwittingly pulled her shoulders in. It was the realization that she, too, fell far below his ‘standard,’ coupled with the stark boundary he had drawn without a second thought.
Watching his school life up close, aside from the intense ‘500,000 won bounty for the pencil case’ incident during their first encounter, he was surprisingly the textbook definition of a model student. He studied diligently, hung out with his friends, and never really caused trouble. Just the fact that Hae-il was sitting beside her made Danbi’s stifling loneliness gradually fade. When he studied, Danbi studied, and when his friends came over to chat, she listened in on their conversations.
Domestic and global economic trends, college admissions strategies, and even news about a recently discovered asteroid. As she listened, her hand solving problems would often come to a stop before she knew it.
The conversations she had directly with Hae-il could be counted on one hand, but an unreciprocated, inner intimacy toward him was steadily growing inside Danbi. The more it grew, the more courage she had to speak to him.
“Um… excuse me.”
“What.”
“What did the teacher just say? I couldn’t hear.”
“He said the exam questions will only come from the scope he just checked off.”
His tone wasn't gentle, but she always received an answer to her questions.
“Uh… sorry, but where is that scope?”
When she asked again cautiously, he wordlessly tapped a section of his open textbook with his finger. At the tip of his neatly manicured fingernail was the answer she sought.
‘p. 17–66’
Though an obvious trace of annoyance showed on his face, he answered everything she asked. To Danbi, who was treated like an invisible person by her classmates, that was something she felt deeply grateful for. Having just one person she could communicate with offered a breathing room in her daily life.
“Thank you.”
At her small, heartfelt voice, Hae-il turned his gaze back to his textbook without any particular reply.
✶ ✶ ✶
Near the end of PE class, the teacher generously allotted the remaining time to dodgeball. The girls called out, “Hey, throw softly, softly!” and voluntarily let themselves get hit to leave the court, while Danbi got double-outed when a ball bounced off another girl’s body and hit her. As the kids who were unenthusiastic about the game stepped out of their own accord, eventually only the athletic boys were left. Hae-il was among them.
“Ugh, my stomach… Did I eat something bad? Keep playing among yourselves. I'm going to the restroom for a second.”
The teacher acting as referee clutched his stomach and hurried out of the gymnasium. With the person in charge gone, the court was soon filled with rowdy shouts and fierce movements. Standing idly outside the boundary line watching the match, Danbi thought the game between only the skilled players was turning out to be quite thrilling. The dull thud of the ball hitting bare skin, the kids’ erupting cheers, and the heat scorching the court.
Among them, Suhyeon and Hae-il stood out the most. As expected, Suhyeon dominated the court with overwhelming power and agility. The balls he hurled were practically cannon shells; kids who got hit, boys and girls alike, screamed and were eliminated. In a stroke of luck within misfortune, Danbi was on the same team as Suhyeon, sparing her from his lethal throws.
Hae-il hardly touched the ball at first, moving passively, but once only boys were left on the opposing team, he finally sprang into action. When she had first recognized him during the pencil case incident, she had assumed he found everything in the world trivial and did things half-heartedly. But he was the exact opposite. Academics, friendships, and even a casual game during spare time—he never took anything lightly.
When he lightly snatched a ball flying through the air, twisted his body, and threw a shot that struck an opponent’s arm with pinpoint accuracy, cheers erupted from all around. Even from Danbi, who had been watching in a daze, a soft exclamation slipped out. “Oh…”
While she was staring blankly at the match, a yellow dodgeball flew toward her out of nowhere. It was a pass so hard that she could vividly feel the firm, rough surface of the ball against her palms. Danbi caught the ball by reflex and looked up in surprise, only to see Suhyeon inside the court gesturing at her with his chin.
“Danbi! Throw it hard! Kill ’em all!”
Suhyeon shouted loudly enough to echo through the entire gymnasium. It was an order. In an instant, every eye inside and outside the court focused on Danbi holding the ball. As she hesitated, flustered and not knowing what to do, Suhyeon pointed his finger in a specific direction. At the end of it, Hae-il was standing motionless.
As a member of the opposing team, Hae-il had just stood still from the moment Danbi caught the ball. Throwing it at him would make eliminating him virtually impossible anyway. He would likely catch or dodge whatever ball she threw with ease. Even if by some miracle she could hit him, she didn't want to eliminate him with her own hands.
Danbi glanced at Suhyeon. Without taking his eyes off her, he jerked his chin as if telling her to throw it already. It was a silent pressure. In the end, what she chose was a passive retreat.
“I… I’m not good at throwing.”
Muttering in a voice as tiny as a mosquito, Danbi limply passed the ball to the teammate closest to her. It was in the exact opposite direction from where Hae-il was standing. In that instant, Suhyeon’s sharp tongue click clearly rang out. “Tsk.” His expression showed blatant displeasure at Danbi’s choice. Had there been some meaning she didn't understand loaded into that single ball? Suhyeon stared intently at Danbi, then moved to evade the ball that had begun circulating again.
Taking a step further back than before, Danbi looked between Suhyeon and Hae-il. It felt as though a whirlwind of emotions she couldn't comprehend was swirling through this space. Having been caught in that current for just a brief moment brought a heavy wave of exhaustion over her. Danbi only wished for this period to end quickly. She wanted to escape the loud noise, the overheated air, and this somewhat violent game.
As the match progressed, the outcome became clear. Her team, with Suhyeon on it, would probably win. They fundamentally had more skilled boys, so the ball flew fast and hard. The ball whipped around frantically, and Suhyeon hurled it with all his might toward Hae-il, who had not yet settled into his stance. The ball flew fiercely, streaking in a straight line toward Hae-il. With no time to dodge.
Thwack! Along with a dull impact slicing through the air, the ball exploded against Hae-il’s face. In an instant, absolute silence fell over the gymnasium, as if all sound had evaporated. A moment later, only the sound of the ball dropping limply and rolling across the floor broke the stillness.
Clutching the spot where he had been struck, Hae-il stood motionless for a long while. The heated air on the court cooled to ice in a flash.
Even getting hit on the body by one of Suhyeon’s throws carried massive impact. If it hit the face, the pain had to be unimaginable. Danbi winced, imagining the blow. Her own face felt numb. She tried to check on Hae-il’s condition from afar, but the kids who quickly swarmed around him blocked her view.
Soon, Hae-il, who was a head taller than the other kids, raised his head. Only then could she clearly see his bare face without glasses. Danbi reflexively scanned the surroundings, searching for where his missing glasses had gone.
Just then, one of Hae-il’s friends shouted in an agitated voice.
“Hey, hitting the face is a foul!”
“Ah, sorry. My hand slipped.”
Suhyeon shrugged and offered a half-hearted apology. At those words, which lacked even a speck of sincerity, Hae-il let out a deep sigh. Anyone could tell he was suppressing his rage.
At that, Danbi’s eyes grew more frantic in her search for the glasses. Finally, Danbi spotted them at Suhyeon’s feet. Knocked off by the ball, they seemed to have been kicked by the feet of the kids crowding around Hae-il and slid all the way over there.
Without hesitation, just as Danbi was about to bend down toward the glasses—a shadow fell, a heavy sneaker blocked her view, and then stepped right down on the glasses.
Crunch!
The sharp sound of the frames breaking and the lenses shattering struck Danbi’s ears with a chilling force.
What on earth is happening? Looking up in confusion, she met Suhyeon’s eyes. He was looking down at Danbi with an unreadable expression. Soon tearing his gaze away from Danbi, he spoke toward Hae-il in the exact same casual tone as before.
“Ah, sorry. My foot slipped.”
