"... a heuristic, is any approach to problem solving, learning, or discovery that employs a practical method not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect, but sufficient for the immediate goals. Where finding an optimal solution is impossible or impractical, heuristic methods can be used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution." - Wikipedia    Heuristics is an important topic. When our brains are tired, or when we are short on time, heuristics become our easy way out by solving problems in an imperfect but quick way. It's not just in Mathematics, but heuristics is integrated into our everyday lives. When teaching heuristics in Math classes, teachers might throw you a question that seems unsolvable or extremely tedious, but the solution would always been something quick and basic, so that you would feel extra dumb when you see how beautifully simple the solutions can be.    Yet Sunggyu didn't like that. The solutions to heuristics are not meant to be optimal, they are just enough, just the bare minimum for solving a question. It's meant to be used when you're lazy or desperate, when you don't have the time to pause and appreciate Math for its exquisiteness, but you rather get it over and done with in the crudest way sometimes. Sure, the satisfaction is there when you solve the question, but you don't feel proud.    Yet so often life wears us down such that we no longer have the time and energy for savouring fun, so we resort to heuristics, to occasionally imperfect methods to quickly rid our problems.    Is that so wrong?   -∞-   Sunggyu knew he wasn't going to have much teaching done today. No, it's not because 3D-1 hated him. They were getting accustomed to him and now that they knew Howon had been tamed (even slightly), they didn't really bother with torturing their teacher anymore. And when words spread among students that someone was finally working on the Woohyun project, they figured this teacher might be an ally after all.    It was because the whole class was murmuring about what happened an hour before Sunggyu's class that day. The usually quiet and nonchalant Janelle had suddenly stood up in the middle of a class and excused herself. Despite their subject teacher's rejection, she demanded that it was an emergency and simply ran out of class with her belongings.    "Two hours of detention tomorrow, you hear me!? And I'm gonna ring up your parents!" The teacher shouted after her in the corridor.    "Yes, sir!" And the girl sped past the basketball court and towards the school gate.    The class figured out that Howon's ill behaviour had finally rubbed off even on the loner in class. They had been teasing him for a full ten minutes, asking him if he had bribed her into pulling a new prank on the teachers. Yet the boy was just as clueless as his classmates were, and he was now staring blankly at Sunggyu's equations on the board, biting on his pen mindlessly.    "Okay guys, what's wrong?" Sunggyu terminated his own class to confront his class.    "Seonsaeng-nim, didn't you hear? Janelle just ran out of class and dashed out of school entirely, claiming that it was an emergency!" Someone volunteered the information.    "I bet she's going to see her boyfriend. There's no real 'emergency' when it comes to her."    "Maybe it's Woohyun? I heard they are getting closer."   "Wow, you might be right."   "Yeah!"   Howon and Sunggyu's gazes locked momentarily as they scanned the class, taking in their extraordinary speculations. True, they knew Janelle wasn't one to skip classes as she pleased, and she most definitely did not have to run out of school just to meet a boyfriend because they knew she was as single as singles could be.   Amidst the chatter, Sunggyu's phone vibrated softly such that nobody could hear. He looked down at the text message.    "Seonsaeng-nim, Sungsoo Elementary School. Now. Emergency please."    The text was from Janelle.    The school bell rang just at the right moment for Sunggyu to sprint out of class.    --   "So a seventeen year old girl turns up in her school uniform turns up and claims to be his aunt, and now you're telling me you're his babysitter? Is it so hard for me to get hold of his parents or....what? His brother?" The plump lady seated behind the desk labelled discipline mistress was hurling her disapprovals at Janelle and Sunggyu in her excruciatingly high-pitched voice, reminding Sunggyu of a rather pompous aunt he had that was a British-royalty-wannabe. He smiled politely and took out his name card, "I'm actually a close family friend who has been taking care of Myungsoo and his younger brother."    The discipline mistress scrunched her nose and eyes together to focus on the prints on his name card. "So you're a teacher too."    "Yes."   "Then you should know that I need to get hold of Nam Myungsoo's family in a situation like this. Not family friends or fake aunts." Janelle did not like the tone of the woman. She was speaking down to Sunggyu, conscious of the fact that she was much more senior in the profession than he was. She had a fleeting smirk on her face as she realised she was facing an amateur. Yet Sunggyu sat unwavering.    "Of course I understand. But I'm also sure that a senior teacher like yourself would have remembered and read through, quite thoroughly, that Myungsoo's parents are currently divorced and not staying in the same residence as the brothers, and that his brother is preparing for an important examination in school since he is a high school student, as stated in that profile on your desk." Sunggyu said it with such respectful tone and expression that the lady was annoyed she could not rebuke. She pretended to scan through the file again and looked up quickly.   "Of course I know that. Fine then, we shan't bicker over who is who. As long as I have a responsible adult here to talk this over, it's fine." Janelle could almost see her scrambling to put her shambled pride together after that destroy by her own teacher.    "As I was telling this young lady here just now, Myungsoo has committed an offense that is not tolerable by the disciplinary standards of this school. While I know children at his age can be slightly aggressive, hitting and kicking a classmate - and also the teacher who tried to intervene - is definitely ill behaviour. Maybe the divorce is stressing the child out, because he had no prior records of such behaviour. In fact, he's one of the better students around. The other kid is in the infirmary now, and his parents are furious. Myungsoo refused to talk to us, and he's demanding to drop out of school. Might I add that he also swore at me and the other teachers before that ridiculous request."    Janelle glanced over at her teacher nervously. Sunggyu urged her to stay put with his eyes, but the two could agree on something: in their brief moment of communication, they could see the confusion in each other's eyes. Myungsoo? Hitting someone and swearing? The same Myungsoo who sketched a birthday card and would always take care of his brothers?   "Maybe there's some misunderstanding..."    The discipline mistress held out her hand to stop Sunggyu. "Let me be frank. I get that there can be stressors in his life, but the other child is really hurting right now. I think it will be better for both parties if I suspend Myungsoo for three days to let him calm down and reflect on his behaviours. This will have to go into the books, and I'm sure you don't need me to remind you, fellow teacher," her face was extremely stern, "apologise to the family out there."    Janelle could not imagine this day would come, not after the incident a few weeks ago, when she witnessed her teacher singlehandedly take down two towering men. There he was now, beside him, bowing his head to apologise to the cocky disciplinary mistress and begging for this to go off records.    "Since you're aware that this is his first offense, I hope you can understand that Myungsoo is going through a lot now. I will settle the matter but please, let this go off record. He needs help, not punishment. Please, seonsaeng-nim." Sunggyu was almost short on breath as he said those words sincerely to her face. His arm reached over to Janelle's head as he lightly pushed her head down so that both of them were bowing their heads, pleading for the boy outside the office right now.    "Please." Janelle croaked. She didn't realise she was tearing from watching her teacher and thinking of the young boy outside.    The middle-aged woman curled her lips so that it formed a thin line as she gave their offer a thought.    "Fine. The suspension will stand, but this will go off record. We don't want future schools to know we have students of such records either. Please work on this with Myungsoo, and if need be encourage him to see the school counselor."