A Stroke of Victory [Yeongyu]

Chapter 4

Beomgyu was helping a girl with her algebra assignment when the Statistics Guy walked into the tutoring center. He didn't think he'd see him again. He seemed pretty scared the last time they talked. Truth be told, Beomgyu was also scared. He liked to keep his private life private, especially at work, so the guy had caught him off guard when he asked about Soobin.

Beomgyu avoided eye contact. If he was lucky, the Statistics Guy would end up working with Jongho that day, and there would be no confrontation. Beomgyu had no interest in having the type of conversation expected between two people who had friends in common. Plus, he was still a bit upset about finding out that Soobin had been talking about him and undoubtedly making fun of his Rubik's cube skills (which were quite impressive, thank you very much). Soobin was great, but not the most tactful guy.

After explaining for the third time why the quantity (x+a) divided by x was not equal to a, Beomgyu silently rejoiced when the girl said she had to leave. He enjoyed his job and liked teaching, but some people just didn't get it. It was frustrating for both. Beomgyu squirmed in his chair—first to the right, then to the left. He scanned the room to see who might be waiting for help and found the friendly smile of the Statistics Guy. Damn. He was the only one waiting for assistance—he couldn't escape this. At least statistics were at a higher level of math.

It would be a welcome change after spending three hours with basic algebra. Beomgyu waved him over.

"Hello. Welcome back," he offered the guy a smile.

The Statistics Guy's face lit up.

"Hi. I was hoping you'd be here."

"Oh. Well, most of the tutors have studied statistics. If I wasn't here, I'm sure someone else could help you."

"Yeah, I know. Still, I was hoping to see you."

Beomgyu maintained his smile but wasn't sure how to respond.

"My name is Yeonjun. Sorry for leaving so abruptly last time," Yeonjun rubbed his neck. "I guess I got a bit scared. It was my first time here."

"Yeah, I figured. It's okay." Yeonjun must be one of those guys who have a hard time asking for help. That was okay; Beomgyu had worked with people like that before. "Let's get started then. Are you still working on confidence intervals?"

Yeonjun nodded and opened the textbook to the marked page.

"When you're asked to find a confidence interval, there are five things you need to do: define the parameter, check the assumptions, name the procedure, calculate the interval, and state the conclusion."

Yeonjun blinked a few times, then gave him a blank look.

"How do you remember all that?"

"It's easy. Whenever I hear 'confidence interval,' I think PANIC3."

"I can do that."

"It's a mnemonic device. P-A-N-I-C: Parameter, Assumptions, Name, Interval, Conclusion." Beomgyu wrote down each step for Yeonjun, then helped him solve a sample problem. He watched as Yeonjun tried the next one on his own. He didn't seem to have a solid grasp yet, but Beomgyu assured him it would get easier with practice.

Yeonjun smiled again.

"Can I carry you in my pocket?"

"We'd be pretty cramped." Yeonjun's eyes sparkled.

"I'd be okay with that."

Oh. Oh. Awkward.

He shuffled his papers awkwardly when Beomgyu didn't respond.