Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”This is a study session, not story time. Today’s assignment is about two idioms. In your workbooks, you will write down the meaning of these two idioms and then use each to form a sentence. No asking for help—you must use your own minds.” After speaking, he wrote two idioms on the blackboard: ”The Fox and the Tiger’s Might” and ”Human Face, Beast’s Heart.”

And so, the three children quietly hunched over their desks, earnestly racking their brains.

Twenty minutes later, Dylan Grant was the first to turn in his homework. The old professor nodded in satisfaction after looking it over.

Thirty minutes later, Dorothy Ellsworth handed hers in. When the old professor saw it, his face darkened.

Forty minutes later, the slowest of the three, Elmer Grant, also turned in his workbook.

When the old professor saw it, he was so angry his mustache practically bristled.

He held up the three workbooks and said, ”I’ll read Dylan Grant’s first, just to put myself in a better mood.”

Opening the workbook, the old professor read aloud, ”’The Fox and the Tiger’s Might’ means to bully others by relying on powerful connections or to abuse one’s own authority. Sentence: ’Relying on his family’s wealth, Jimmy bullies other people with borrowed power.’ ’Human Face, Beast’s Heart’ means someone who looks human but has a heart as vicious as a beast’s, describing someone cruel and despicable. Sentence: ’That man, a beast with a human face, actually hurt his own parents!’ Dylan Grant’s answers are completely correct. The teacher gives him a hundred percent. Now, let’s see what you two have written.”

The old professor said that last part through practically clenched teeth.

He opened Dorothy Ellsworth’s workbook. ”Dorothy believes that ’The Fox and the Tiger’s Might’ means the fox is fake and the tiger is showing its might. Crudely put, but not entirely off the mark, so I suppose it’s acceptable. However, this sentence...”

He hesitated for a moment, then said, ”This is the sentence Dorothy Ellsworth came up with: ’My teacher, with his fox-and-tiger-might, gets so uncomfortable all over when he sees how bad I am at my studies.’”

The other two students immediately burst out laughing. The old professor glared at Elmer Grant. ”Don’t you laugh at her. Yours is even worse!”

Elmer Grant immediately clamped his mouth shut, but he still couldn’t suppress a grin.

Dylan Grant said with a grin, ”Professor, please keep reading.”

The old professor continued, ”For the second idiom, ’Human Face, Beast’s Heart,’ this is how our dear Dorothy understood it: ’A person’s face has an animal’s internal organs inside.’ Again, it’s crudely put, but not entirely illogical. This sentence, though, is a little pitiful. What do you mean by, ’My kitten has a human face and a beast’s heart’?”

Dorothy Ellsworth explained, ”My kitty is always caterwauling when it’s in heat. That’s its ’human’ side. And it has a ’beast’s heart’ because it’s an animal, so of course it has an animal’s heart.”

The old professor was dumbfounded. ’Is that even a valid interpretation?’

”Fine. The teacher will give you a forty.”

The last one was Elmer Grant’s. The old professor really didn’t want to open the workbook at all.

”All right, the last one is Elmer Grant’s. The definitions he wrote for the two idioms are completely nonsensical, having nothing whatsoever to do with the actual meanings. But that last sentence... Elmer Grant, tell me, did you think this up with your toes?”

Elmer Grant scratched his head. ”Professor, I think my sentence is very fitting! Look: ’My teacher does sacred work every day, yet engages in the dealings of a beast in human form.’ Isn’t that a sentence?”

The furious professor slammed the workbook shut. ”I’m giving you a zero! Go show that big goose egg to your parents! All right, let’s turn to page 49 in the textbook...”

For several days, the airport massacre continued to be a raging topic of discussion online. The crux of the issue was that the mastermind had not been publicly arrested and brought to justice, making it impossible to quell the public’s outrage.

The senior leadership knew who was responsible, but arresting Toby Dalton would be no easy task.

Since Grestin refused to hand over Toby Dalton, Fravia, having obtained irrefutable evidence, submitted it to the International Court of Justice. Fravia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Grestin for harboring a criminal and for its inaction. The court accepted the case, though further details were still under review.

The matter remained at a standstill, even as Lillian Bancroft concluded her state visit and began her journey home.

Quentin Grant knew the matter would ultimately come to nothing. To achieve any real resolution would require a much greater conflict between the two nations.

Toby Dalton came from an incredibly powerful background, with a monopoly on more than half of Grestin’s economy. If he were brought to justice, Grestin’s economy wouldn’t just be set back by decades; the temporary economic paralysis would be nearly impossible to recover from. Grestin’s Supreme Leader would never allow such a scenario to unfold.

In Fravia, public interest in the matter only intensified. An unresolved case was detrimental to social stability and the people’s trust.

Fravia’s Supreme Leader urged the international court to handle the matter swiftly. However, Grestin simply ignored the court’s communications and steadfastly denied that Toby Dalton was the perpetrator.