All of My Days

BONUS Chapter: Shallow

Late autumn, 2006

Yoon Se Hyung has never been nervous before big presentations. He considered himself a rather well-spoken, confident student who looked especially good in suits. So when he needed to deliver a 3-series final project for his main business and economics class, he was excited, smiling at himself in the mirror as he tightened his Gucci necktie.

Two students were scheduled to present the summaries of their research before him, and he had no idea what they talked about, constantly checking his reflection on the glassy surface of his cell phone and texting with his girlfriend.

When the professor finally called his name, Se Hyung quickly opened his PowerPoint from his email, grabbed his laptop, and moved towards the small stage in front of the audience. Gesturing quickly for the teaching assistant to connect his laptop to the big screen, he waited, glancing over the audience. He winked at a few of his friends and straightened up his suit, then picked up the laser pointer from the podium. Not sure what to do with it and what to point at, but it was pleasant to hold, and he thought it made him look more serious.

He started presenting, reading off the slides automatically, not even fully understanding what he was saying and watched the audience listen and nod thoughtfully. His smile grew bigger and bigger as he neared the end of the presentation, his voice raising confidently as he went through the last slide.

"And that completes my research on the impact of South Korean trade on the economic and geopolitical status of South East Asia, which a butt-scratching baboon like me could not do himself as I downloaded it off the internet..."

His voice trailed off as he realized what exactly he was saying, and a soft murmur went through the audience before a bunch of his classmates burst into laughter.

Se Hyung moved his eyes back to the slide to make sure he indeed read it right, then glanced at the professor, a shocked expression all over the older man's face.

"My apologies, this must be some sort of mistake," he muttered and clicked back to the previous slide, and his classmates laughed again at his pathetic attempt to cover the slip-up.

"We'll review this mistake with the Principal and your father, mister Yoon. You may go now," the professor got up and rushed him off the stage, throwing disappointed glances at the young man.

Se Hyung's ears have never burned in embarrassment hotter before.

*

Slamming the door to his room, Se Hyung moved to start up his desktop computer at home to check the presentation. How can this be? He thought he checked the slides. He didn't read through the details, but the last sentence was definitely not there when he opened it at home. Indeed, the file on his home computer was correct and did not include the offensive remark that earned him an academic investigation and an embarrassing lecture from his father and the school principal. How could this be?

*

A week has passed since the incident, and Se Hyung was still confused as ever. Blaming the anonymous author of the presentation online, he hired a tutor and got him to prepare the next one in the series. He needed to make sure it would go well the next time; it was his last chance to restore his reputation.

He checked the slides time and time again before emailing the PowerPoint to himself an hour before the class. He was ready and 100% confident.

But as he got to the podium and connected his laptop to the big screen himself, he found the email inbox empty, the "sent" folder empty with no trace of attachments. Frantically, he searched through his computer files looking for the damn document to find nothing at all, while his professor clicked his tongue under the classmates' snickering gazes.