In Korean Class

Teacher: Read any good books lately?

Me: Yeah, a novel. Outside is Summer by the Korean author Kim Ae-ran.

Teacher: What’s it about?

Me: … (Racking my brain, scrolling through vocabulary, assembling grammar, and forcing out a sentence. My brain cells were literally frying during this process.)

Teacher: I’ve been reading a novel recently too.

Me: (Still recovering from my brain short-circuiting) …

Teacher: (Staring at me) …

Me: (Reconnection successful) What’s the book?

Teacher: (Heaving a sigh of relief) If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura.

Teacher: (Starts explaining the plot) The protagonist is diagnosed with cancer and is told he’s “Sihanbu insaeng.”

Me: Si-han-bu-insaeng?

Teacher: Right, it means a “terminal diagnosis” or, in other words, a “prognosis of remaining life”.

(Ding! Korean vocabulary +1)

Teacher: (Continuing the plot) One day, a devil appears and tells him he’s going to die tomorrow. But, he can trade one thing from his life to vanish in exchange for one extra day of living. If it were you, what would you choose?

Me: … Cats?

Teacher: Starting with cats already?! Well, the protagonist chose phones, movies, and clocks. I won’t “Seupo” the rest for you.

Me: Seu-po?

Teacher: Yeah, a “spoiler” is shortened to “Seupo”.

(Ding! Korean vocabulary +2)

Right after class, I hopped on Amazon and ordered the book my teacher recommended.