By Zephyria 
After finishing their meal, they all gathered in the living room to eat sliced fruit and watch a drama. Once the show ended, Jeong-ju went into the room, saying she would practice her script with Yu Nam-saeng as her scene partner.
While Yoon Tae-hee was away taking a shower, Jae-gyeom grabbed his workbook and headed to the second-floor study. He wanted to have the work he had studied today checked and receive some supplementary tutoring.
He planned to show Yoon Tae-hee what he had studied once the other returned from his shower. Jae-gyeom leaned back deeply into the chair.
Feeling bored while waiting for Yoon Tae-hee, he opened a book lying on one side of the desk. It was a book Yoon Tae-hee had been reading lately. He read about a page to see what it was about, but it was so tedious and boring that he closed it again.
Then, Jae-gyeom tilted the chair back as far as it would go, sitting in a position that was almost lying down. With his legs propped up right on the desk, the posture was very comfortable.
Just then, Yoon Tae-hee, having finished his shower with a towel draped around his neck, opened the door and entered the study. Seeing the state Jae-gyeom was sitting in, Yoon Tae-hee seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then spoke in a formal voice.
“Did you call for me, Chairman?”
Jae-gyeom burst into laughter.
As it happened, the drama they had just watched in the living room was about a chaebol family, making Yoon Tae-hee’s sudden roleplay hilariously absurd.
“Indeed. Are you done showering?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Then hurry up and come check your workbook.”
“I shall do as you command.”
“If you got even one problem wrong, your stipend… no, your annual salary will be cut.”
“Why is my salary being cut when you’re the one who got it wrong…?”
“Quiet.”
The two of them laughed together for a long while.
After giggling, Jae-gyeom straightened his chair and handed over the workbook.
“Here, take it.”
Yoon Tae-hee brought over an extra chair and sat beside him.
Then, he picked up the glasses resting on the desk, put them on, and opened the workbook Jae-gyeom had handed him. He carefully reviewed the studied material. Today’s lesson unit was about ‘Empathy and Active Listening.’
“You studied Korean today.”
“Yeah. This was a mock exam, and I graded it myself.”
“I see.”
Having grasped the content with a quick glance, Yoon Tae-hee took a red ballpoint pen from the stationery holder on the side table and opened the test paper Jae-gyeom had solved.
“Then shall we go over which ones you got wrong together?”
“Yeah.”
They decided to start with the first question.
Which of the following is the correct attitude for empathizing with Kyung-tae’s words?
Kyung-tae: I really worked hard… but I messed up the exam.
(1) That’s why you should have worked harder.
(2) I got a hundred on the math exam.
(3) I’m busy right now, so let’s talk later.
(4) You worked hard, so it must be disappointing.
The answer Jae-gyeom had chosen was number 1. ‘That’s why you should have worked harder.’ Naturally, it was incorrect.
“…….”
Yoon Tae-hee was speechless for a moment upon seeing the marked wrong answer. He clicked the end of the pen against his chin a couple of times before asking.
“Why did you choose number 1?”
“He said he worked hard but failed. Then he should have worked harder.”
“The answer is number 4, ‘You worked hard, so it must be disappointing.’”
Jae-gyeom narrowed his eyes and said,
“How do you know if he actually worked hard or not?”
Faced with a critique that dismantled the premise of the question itself, Yoon Tae-hee was at a loss for words.
“…….”
“What’s the point of just saying things that sound good? How do you know if he’s just saying he worked hard? It’s better to tell him to work harder so he snaps out of it. A young brat like that shouldn’t get into the habit of whining to others already.”
Yoon Tae-hee, who had been listening silently while twirling the pen, suddenly muttered.
“It didn’t say how old Kyung-tae is…….”
“Regardless, he’s probably younger than me.”
“That is true.”
Nodding in agreement with Jae-gyeom’s opinion, Yoon Tae-hee looked back at the workbook and said,
“Kyung-tae. The elder says you should work harder.”
“Who are you calling an elder?”
Just as Jae-gyeom flared up.
“You’re right. We can’t know if Kyung-tae really worked hard or not, and telling him to work harder might actually be more helpful for his life. But then, shall we try assuming something else?”
“Like what?”
“Maybe Kyung-tae really did work hard, but happened to get an upset stomach on the day of the exam. Or maybe someone who wanted Kyung-tae to fail intentionally gave him the wrong study range.”
“But that’s just guesswork, it depends on how you frame it.”
“Your logic is the same. You’re currently tearing down the premise itself. You said we can’t know if Kyung-tae really worked hard. Then conversely, it’s also possible to assume that Kyung-tae has some kind of story, like the examples I gave.”
“Hmm…….”
“And exam questions have an intended purpose and a desired answer. The key is whether you grasped that and derived the answer as intended.”
Yoon Tae-hee continued.
“Kyung-tae wants someone to empathize with his feelings. Therefore, the intent of the question is to choose the words that Kyung-tae would find comforting.”
“Did Kyung-tae say that? That he wanted empathy for his feelings?”
“It’s written in the question. It says to choose the ’empathizing attitude.’”
“Ah, right…….”
“You have to read the question carefully. Usually, the answer is in the question.”
“Got it.”
Yoon Tae-hee nodded and adjusted his glasses.
“Now, next question.”
Which of the following is the most appropriate empathic response to Eun-ji?
Eun-ji: It was my first time cooking, but it turned out too salty. My mom didn’t say anything even after eating it.
(1) It’s amazing that you finished it even though it was your first time!
(2) Cooking isn’t for you.
(3) Why don’t you just buy food next time?
(4) So that’s why your mom didn’t say anything.
The answer Jae-gyeom had originally chosen was number 3, ‘Why don’t you just buy food next time?’, which was incorrect.
“Then what would be the correct answer for this one? Let’s try picking again.”
Based on the tailored explanation from before, Yoon Tae-hee encouraged him to solve the problem again.
“Hmm…….”
Jae-gyeom pressed his palms together and glared at the question with a very serious expression. It was obvious at a glance that he was contemplating deeply. Seeing this, Yoon Tae-hee silently rubbed his eyebrow.
“…….”
He’s actually agonizing over this…
After much internal conflict, Jae-gyeom carefully chose an answer.
Number 4. So that’s why your mom didn’t say anything.
“…….”
Yoon Tae-hee covered his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed uncontrollably.
“Why are you laughing? Isn’t it number 4?”
“Yeah. It’s wrong. The answer is ‘It’s amazing that you finished it even though it was your first time!’”
Jae-gyeom frowned.
“Really? The answer is number 1?”
“Why did you think it was number 4?”
“If I put myself in that position, if I messed up a dish and someone came up and said, ‘It’s amazing that you finished it for your first time!’, I’d think, ‘Are they making fun of me?’ and it would just ruin my mood. But number 4 felt like it had a sense of compassion, empathizing with the pity of my situation, so I thought it was the answer.”
“Eun-ji says no.”
“She says no?”
“Yes. Eun-ji is simply in a state where she needs comfort and encouragement.”
“I see… alright….”
After that, Yoon Tae-hee checked each wrong answer one by one and explained the parts Jae-gyeom didn’t understand at his level. By the time today’s lesson ended, it was nearly 10 PM. Yoon Tae-hee took off his glasses and asked,
“Are you sleepy?”
“No. I’m not.”
Although it seemed like the day’s routine was mostly finished, there was still something left for the two of them to do. Yoon Tae-hee said,
“Then shall we go for a walk?”
Jae-gyeom nodded as if he had been waiting for the suggestion.
At some point, as if by unspoken agreement, they had been taking nightly walks every day. There were days they skipped if they were sleepy or tired, but they generally tried to walk, even if it was brief.
A night walk was nothing more than walking around the dark neighborhood, but this was the moment Jae-gyeom looked forward to most in his day.
As soon as they stepped out the front gate, the two held hands without needing to decide who would go first. Since it was a pitch-black night, they wouldn’t be easily seen by others anyway. Moreover, there weren’t many houses around here, so people were scarce.
Jae-gyeom loved this time, walking hand-in-hand with Yoon Tae-hee and talking.
During their daily walks, they had shared many stories. Just trivial things. Stories from the time when they didn’t know each other. Stories they had never told anyone. Stories they couldn’t tell anywhere. Stories about their fathers. Stories about their teachers…….
When talking about dark pasts, emotions would sometimes overwhelm them, leading to tears; when sharing funny anecdotes, they would burst into laughter and walk while giggling the whole way.
Jae-gyeom had become quite talkative.
This was one of the biggest changes since he woke up. Above all, he asked Yoon Tae-hee many more questions. Looking back, Yoon Tae-hee had mostly been the one asking questions, and Jae-gyeom had been the one answering. There were many times when he only answered without asking back. But now, it was the opposite; Jae-gyeom often took the lead in questioning.
“By the way, why do you wear glasses? Is your vision bad?”
“My vision is fine, but I have astigmatism.”
“What’s that?”
“I guess you could say it feels like the focus isn’t quite right. It’s fine for daily life, but I tend to wear them only when reading text or driving at night.”
Even though they knew each other better than anyone, new curiosities continued to spring up. Jae-gyeom found this sensation fascinating.
“But why haven’t you been smoking lately?”
“Hmm, I work at a school, so I’m a bit mindful of it.”
“Then did you not smoke when you infiltrated as a librarian before?”
“No.”
“Ho-oh….”
Unlike before, when he was indifferent to everything, Jae-gyeom had become very interested in the affairs of the world and other people. He didn’t seem to realize it himself, but Yoon Tae-hee, as his conversation partner, could tell immediately.
Jae-gyeom often brought up stories about the people from the Exorcism Bureau.
“What is Kang Yi-bin doing these days?”
“Chief Kang contacted me a while ago saying he got a job at a company.”
“A job? What kind of work?”
“I think he said it was a construction company….”
After retiring from the Exorcism Bureau, Kang Yi-bin had devoted himself to studying at a certification academy. As a result, he succeeded in obtaining a tower crane operator’s license and had been working as a heavy equipment operator for some time. When he heard the news, Yoon Tae-hee thought it was a move that was truly characteristic of Kang Yi-bin. It seemed the work suited his aptitude quite well.
“Then what about the other team members?”
“Chief Go also said he quit being an exorcist.”
“Really?”
Jae-gyeom looked surprised.
He didn’t know Chief Go very well, but he hadn’t thought he was the type to quit being an exorcist… He had seemed like the kind of person who just coasted through everything.
“So what is he doing?”
“I heard he’s learning Tarot.”
“What’s that?”
“It originated from abroad; they’re called Tarot cards, and you tell fortunes using cards with pictures on them.”
“Heeh….”
He wasn’t entirely sure, but he figured it was similar to divination using Yut sticks.
“So? Is it going well?”
“It seems he’s raking in the money.”
Yoon Tae-hee added with a small laugh,
“I heard he’s earning more than double what he did as an exorcist.”
Kang Yi-bin had gone ballistic upon hearing the news that Go Jun-hyung had become a Tarot reader.
‘Even so, a guy who was an exorcist is making money with some Western occult sales tactic? Do you have no pride? If you’re going to do it, at least start something big like the Chief of the Bureau did; do you have no dignity!’
‘Now, now. Sales tactic? This is the harmony of East and West. The harmony of East and West!’
Saying so, Go Jun-hyung had bought Kang Yi-bin expensive beef and gifted him a luxury brand bifold wallet. In response, Kang Yi-bin reportedly became quiet very quickly, saying, “Actually, I was so jealous…”