Chapter 4
Everyone finished up their dinner and quickly cleaned up before starting on their homework, all seated around the table, on the floor, or on the couch.
"What are Ohm's Laws and the three formulas?" Chang asked, scribbling on his paper as he read aloud.
Yong-woo piped up, reciting the formulas with a little sing-song voice to help him remember. "The formulas for Ohm's Law are: Voltage equals Current multiplied by Resistance, Current equals Voltage divided by Resistance, and Resistance equals Voltage divided by Current."
Chang was about to answer Yong-woo when they were interrupted, losing concentration.
Hyun-woo was hunched over his robotics battle project, trying to get the little laser to work properly, but it zapped him.
"Oww! Dang it! Stupid piece of crap!" he yelled, shoving it over in frustration.
Haneul smacked him lightly on the head. The other boys glanced at him, then at Iseul, who was completely focused on her own schoolwork.
"Namdongsaeng is asking for a beating from his hyung, aren't you?" Haneul whisper-hissed, grabbing Hyun-woo by the shirt and pulling him close to murmur in his ear.
"No. I know I was wrong, Hyung." Hyun-woo's voice was low and steady. Even in anger, he knew—some things just couldn't be said so casually.
Lucky for him, Iseul was in her own world during homework time, oblivious.
"Tsk. Don't let me ever hear that again, or I'll have to lay some tough brotherly loving hands on you."
"Sorry," Hyun-woo mouthed quickly when Haneul let him go, pushing him back before leaning on the couch again and flipping open his textbook as if nothing happened.
Still, the shame weighed on him. He hadn't forgotten how Iseul worked extra shifts—before, after, even during school—just to save up enough money to buy him that basic robotics kit. He wasn't ungrateful. Just… frustrated.
The others gave him looks of contempt before returning to their own homework in silence.
Chang cleared his throat. "Alright, moving on. Explain Newton's First Law and the formula," he read out, voice loud and clear.
Iseul stood and slipped away to the restroom.
Yong-woo frowned hard, lips moving as if trying to summon the words. He muttered the beginning but tangled himself halfway.
"Uh… I kinda forget the words…" he admitted.
Just then, Iseul returned, catching his hesitation. She grinned. "No worries—we'll make it fun. Let's sing the song!"
She and Chang started clapping a rhythm. Chang leaned forward, sly but patient. "Alright, you're close, but you're forgetting the middle part. Remember? Iseul and I made up a song for you."
Yong-woo's head shot up. "Oh yeah!" His little voice cracked with excitement.
Chang clapped a slow beat on the table. Iseul picked up the tune, half humming, half singing in that playful, teasing way of hers.
🎵
"An object at rest stays at rest,
An object in motion keeps its quest.
No change in speed, no change in line,
Unless a force steps in this time."
🎵
Yong-woo jumped in on the second line, stumbling. "An object at… um—motion keeps its… uh…"
Iseul chuckled, leaning down to sing beside him and nudging him with her elbow. "Keeps its quest. Come on, you've got this."
"Right—quest!" Yong-woo shouted, then sang louder, "No change in speed, no change in line—"
"Unless a force steps in this time!" Chang finished, throwing his hands up like a conductor at the finale.
Everyone burst out laughing, the table bouncing under their claps.
Chang tapped the book with his finger. "See? That's Newton's First Law. The net force formula is F equals zero. No acceleration means no net force—just like the song says."
Iseul ruffled Yong-woo's hair warmly. "And you did great. Just practice the second line tomorrow and you'll nail it."
Yong-woo puffed his cheeks but nodded, secretly proud.
"Noona, give little Woo a kiss! Kissy kiss for him—he's handsome and awesome and a very smart six-year-old!"
"Yes, you are, little man."
"Muyah!" Iseul smothered him in a long, dramatic kiss on the cheek, hugging and tickling him until he squealed with giggles.
"Alright, everyone, hurry and finish your homework. No dilly-dallying—you've got tests coming up, so no staying up late tonight."
"Ughhh, jAhhhhhh…" they groaned together, their plans for ZepeNet's virtual battle arena ruined.
"Yeah, yeah, I know—I'm such a horrible person who deserves mockery for blocking your journey to newbie Godhood," Iseul teased, mimicking their voices as she shooed them toward their things.
"Hey! Don't be like that, Noona!"
"Come on! Please!"
"Yeah, no fair!"
"Aww!"
"But wait—if we just play for—"
"No, and that's final. I can't let you play on the old ZepeNet GameBox anymore," Iseul said firmly.
"What?!" Beom-seok shot up in disbelief.
"No, why?!" Chang demanded.
"Does this mean we won't have the network to watch the new Zepoman?!" Yong-woo gasped, his TV time flashing before his eyes.
That wasn't even true, but no one corrected him.
"What for?!" Hyun-woo blurted, more excited than angry.
"Are we selling it because we're low on money again?!"
Chang shot him a look. "Jokes at a time like this?"
The boys all fired questions, imaginations running wild.
"Low on what? You're low on money," Iseul deadpanned, smacking Chang lightly on the head for his smartass remark.
"Hehe." He rubbed the spot, laughing sheepishly.
"Why can't we play? Are we really getting rid of it?" Haneul asked softly. He tried to sound calm, but the sadness leaked through.
Her heart twisted at the sound. She knew this was the last thing their parents had given them. But she couldn't tell him the truth—that she was secretly upgrading it so they could finally experience the full holo-projected ZepeNet world.
She steadied her face, putting on her best apologetic act. "Yeah… sorry. Things are tight. Some things have to be sacrificed. But don't worry—I'll figure out a way, like always, to provide for us and get you something even better. Okay?"
The boys fell silent. Then Beom-seok spoke up, voice bright with determination. "If it's for Noona to pay bills, then go ahead. I don't mind. You don't have to ask—you take care of us, feed us, and put clothes on our backs. You do more than most parents around here."
"Yeah!"
"That's true—go ahead, Noona!"
"If that's not enough, I have my Ze-Zepe holo-tab—we can sell it too!" Haneul offered, already holding it out.
Iseul stopped him, her eyes watering. Their willingness to sacrifice their precious things just to keep the family afloat moved her deeply—even if she didn't actually need to.
She patted their heads and sent them off, collecting homework as they went to shower and change into pajamas.
Within thirty minutes, everyone was done. Iseul laid their graded papers neatly on the table, then headed to her room to gear up.
She pulled on her low-grade radiation filtering suit.
The scrapyard was dangerous—heaps of junk exposed to all forms of radiation from across the universe.
There, diggers scavenged for valuable metals, machine parts, Comtosia beast materials, even discarded weapons, AIs, or mechas.