The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 185

< Coward (2) >

*

Son Gwang-yeon’s face was beaming.

Son Gwang-yeon was a robust man, not easily spooked by ghosts or anything else. However, his wife, being traditional, was hesitant to bring their young children to a funeral home, fearing it might have a negative impact on them.

Even so, he felt for his wife, who was worried, ‘No one will come, it’ll be so dreary, what if loan sharks show up?’ But since his eldest son had volunteered to accompany her, he thought it was for the best.

‘As expected of my son. He understands and cares for his mother’s feelings.’

Son Gwang-yeon thought, ‘There’s a reason why they call him the eldest son.’

“Since things have turned out this way, anyone who wants to get some fresh air, let’s go together. I’ll cover the condolence money.”

Regardless of the usual protocol, the purpose of a funeral is to comfort the bereaved, not the deceased.

Though not related by blood, comforting his wife’s sister, who had been a part of her life and left a mark on her heart, was a good thing, and having many mourners was a bonus. It was a decision and a proposal for his wife.

Moon Seok-il, who understood Son Gwang-yeon’s intentions well, second only to Yang Kang-wook, stepped forward.

“Everyone’s going. I’ll give you 10 minutes to change. Since Team Leader Yang isn’t here, Myung Hyun-woo will take command.”

He was so charismatic that it was hard to believe he was the same person who had been squatting down, wearing sunglasses, and brushing dog hair. He had the presence of a Special Forces training commander.

It didn’t take long for SSS [Special Security Service] to gather again in black suits without complaint. Moon Seok-il, who saw Jang Jin-nam emerge with his bulging muscles hidden under a black suit, looked puzzled behind his sunglasses.

“Senior Jang, are you going too?”

“I owe a debt to the Madam, and I was secretly hoping she would ask me to come along.”

It was a rare outing for the head of the family.

With everyone except the off-duty and on-duty agents following, there were eight SSS members.

Although he was the temporary commander, there was little for Myung Hyun-woo to do at a small-town funeral home.

“Senior Jang, don’t eat too much. It looked like you ate a whole cow yesterday.”

“Don’t be so harsh about eating. They say you have to eat a lot at a funeral for the deceased to go to a good place.”

“I’m just worried that the chief medical officer will be upset if you get indigestion.”

It was early summer that year when Jang Jin-nam had a stomachache after eating grilled clams. Chief Medical Officer Joo Shin-young had sighed, saying that he was so big that he needed three times more IV fluid than others.

“Shin-young always hates me. I was her immediate senior, you know? I never even bullied her, but she grinds her teeth whenever she sees me.”

‘The seasoning is just right, it’s delicious.’ Whether Myung Hyun-woo nagged or not, Jang Jin-nam focused on devouring the spicy beef stew. His large frame with his mouth stained red was quite a sight.

Myung Hyun-woo sighed silently and looked around the hall.

There was no one suspicious enough to be a threat.

Rather, it was too quiet because there were so few people.

‘It’s Sunday, the second day when there should be the most people, but it’s so desolate.’

Seeing the faces of the bereaved faintly brighten after Son Gwang-yeon’s group arrived, Myung Hyun-woo seemed to understand Moon Seok-il’s intention in ordering all SSS members to attend.

‘That guy is a bit strange?’

Myung Hyun-woo’s thick neck tilted as he noticed Jin-hyuk.

Jin-hyuk, who usually walked around with his eyes half-closed, was known as ‘Sleepyhead’ among the agents. But now, his eyes were wide open, and his pupils were slowly darting around.

His expression was clearly tense, with his chin pulled in and his neck hunched. He looked like a frightened puppy.

***

Jin-hyuk entered the funeral home but couldn’t bring himself to move forward. He lingered at the end of the line of mourners, keeping his distance. He held Jeong-won, who was happily touching his brother’s face.

“Eung-ah, eung-ah. Mommy busy-”

Jeong-won, tired of playing with his brother’s face, whined to go to his mother, and Jin-hyuk just watched.

The sight of his father and the SSS agents in their solemn black business suits, and Kim In-rang, acting as the chief mourner, welcoming Jin-hyuk’s family and colleagues.

“Thank you for coming.”

“In-rang, you’ve been through a lot.”

Regardless of the place, children seemed to have the power to brighten the atmosphere just by being there. Kim In-rang, with his disheveled face from staying up all night, smiled brightly like a child.

“Oh, our pretty Yu-jin is here too?”

“Uncle, is the meat here delicious?”

Yu-jin also bowed her head in front of the portrait, following her father and uncles.

“Hello-” Hwang Ga-yun and Hwang Ga-young pursed their lips as they watched Yu-jin greet the portrait quietly. They were trying to hold back their laughter at the unexpected surprise. Their eyes were sparkling as they watched Yu-jin, and their eyes were slightly swollen, probably from crying.

They must have cried during the encoffining ceremony [the ritual of placing the body in a coffin].

Everyone said so. No matter how much you hated or disliked someone, you forgave everything at that moment. The words you couldn’t say, the resentment you couldn’t express, and the deep-seated grudges poured out as tears.

The sight of crying and laughing. It would seem normal to anyone.

‘That’s what humans are,’ Jin-hyuk thought to himself, nodding from afar.

“Why did you come? Bringing even the little kids…”

“I came because I wanted to see my sister.”

There was no shadow to be found on his mother’s face as she hugged and comforted Kim Eung-nyeo, Hwang Ga-yun, and Hwang Ga-young in turn. His mother and Kim Eung-nyeo, chatting with smiles on their faces, were like affectionate sisters.

While observing Kim Eung-nyeo and her daughters, Jin-hyuk unconsciously enhanced his vision.

‘Their impressions… are too different.’

He had seen Hwang Ga-young from afar a few times, but it was his first time seeing the other family members.

They were familiar faces, but their eyes and complexions were not the same as the people Jin-hyuk remembered.

Except for a slight fatigue, they looked no different from any ordinary neighbors.

No, they even looked kind.

‘A whole new world.’

The theme song from the Disney animation released two years ago suddenly popped into his head.

Could there be any other way to express it? Even if the feeling he had while thinking of the song was different from what the creator intended.

Along with returning to the past, this was also an experience like watching a wondrous magic show.

“I really don’t know how to thank you for coming like this… Please, have your meal first, teachers.”

Kim Eung-nyeo led the SSS agents to the low tables.

The SSS agents’ posture, still looking like active soldiers, added solemnity to the funeral home.

The men who had been drinking and chatting, having taken their seats first, rolled their eyes at the weight that no ordinary person could imitate. They shut their mouths as if they had never been exchanging vulgar words.

While observing the hall, Jin-hyuk turned his gaze to the hallway, pretending to be distracted. He kept lingering, feeling like he couldn’t leave.

He didn’t care even when he made eye contact with Myung Hyun-woo, who was looking at him strangely and tilting his head. It was more important to soothe Jeong-won and observe Kim Eung-nyeo and her three daughters.

‘Since so many people came, they won’t notice if I don’t go in…’

“This is our eldest son. Oh? Jin-hyuk, what are you doing there?”

Ah, it’s obvious.

“Come here and say hello. This is your aunt that your mother told you about.”

He couldn’t ignore his mother’s shining eyes.

The eyes of Kim Eung-nyeo and her daughters, filled with both favor and curiosity, also gave Jin-hyuk courage.

It was ironic.

He was gaining courage from the people he had been afraid of.

A first meeting after a long time.

It was a significant moment for Jin-hyuk.

Even after looking closely, he couldn’t find any trace of the past that had made him resentful, and he felt a sense of alienation, as if he had been possessed by a stranger in a strange world.

He carefully approached, holding Jeong-won.

This wasn’t a place where a greeting like Yu-jin’s “Hello” would be appropriate, so Jin-hyuk bowed his head to show respect.

“Oh my, he’s so handsome. Thank you for coming.”

Kim Eung-nyeo, though she was reserved due to her mourning, had affection in her eyes as she pulled Jin-hyuk’s hand and stroked it.

‘Ah…’

A memory that he hadn’t been able to recall came back to life like magic.

Kim Eung-nyeo’s last appearance on campus during his freshman year of college.

Kim Eung-nyeo had held Jin-hyuk’s hand and stroked his cheek.

He seemed to have said something, but strangely, no sound remained.

Even though it was something he had experienced directly.

– “■■ ■■■■ ■■■. ■■ ■■■■ ■■■.”

However, the feeling of that day brushed against his cheek like the wind.

Relief, sorrow, regret, pity, and avoidance.

Jin-hyuk seemed to have just stood there expressionless and aloof, avoiding Kim Eung-nyeo’s gaze.

Even after rummaging through his memories like an old photo album, there was no trace of hatred or resentment towards Kim Eung-nyeo, not even in fragments. Either it had been eroded by time, or it had never existed at all.

‘I’m sorry.’

Jin-hyuk patted Kim Eung-nyeo’s hand and sent an inexplicable apology.

He glanced at Hwang Ga-yun, who was standing next to Kim In-rang.

When their eyes met, Hwang Ga-yun lowered her head.

“Thank you.”

It was hard to believe that this person was the delinquent drug user.

Her round, smiling eyes seemed to say, ‘I’m a good person.’

Finally, he made eye contact with Hwang Ga-young as well.

The nineteen-year-old high school girl with short hair, pointing at Jin-hyuk with her uncurled index finger, awkwardly raised the corners of her mouth.

“…I know.”

A student who raised dust every morning while running on the school field. They had coexisted in the same school, different buildings, for three years, so it would be strange if she didn’t know Jin-hyuk. It was normal for anyone who didn’t know Son Jin-hyuk to be called a spy.

He mustered the courage to look at Hwang Young-mo’s portrait.

Although he only existed in the picture, he was the only person who matched Jin-hyuk’s memory.

‘He’s a little different.’

Hwang Young-mo’s eyes in the portrait were looking in different directions.

His eyes, which had been fine even at the last moment they met in the past, seemed to have become strabismic in this life. There was no need to be curious or feel sorry now. He just thought that something must have happened.

He handed Jeong-won, who didn’t want to leave his brother, to his mother.

“Eung-ah, woo-eung-ah!”

“I haven’t paid my respects yet.”

Still, he should at least show respect in front of the deceased.

It was a funeral rite for the bereaved, not the deceased.

Condolences were for comforting the bereaved, so what did it matter to bow to a dead person? After much deliberation, Son Jin-hyuk, the coward who had come to the funeral home to avoid reporters, rationalized his silent tribute to his old enemy.

「We ask for your respect for the deceased with a flower offering and a moment of silence.」

It was a relief that he didn’t feel like bowing.

He closed his eyes in front of the portrait and bowed his head lightly.

‘If you are ever reborn, live a good life.’

Let’s consider our bad blood to be over with this.

If you try to harass my mother even as a ghost, you’ll die twice.

He left a warning that wouldn’t reach Hwang Young-mo and a wish for an absolute being that might exist somewhere.

***

Son Jin-hyuk had always suffered from emptiness.

He ate a lot and drank a lot.

Perhaps he had been trying to fill his empty and hollow heart with the habit of overeating.

That hadn’t changed even after he returned.

“You must be hungry, have a meal.”

“Yes…”

But for some reason, he hadn’t touched the food, even when Hwang Ga-yun approached him and offered it. It wasn’t because it wasn’t delicious.

‘I’m not hungry. No, am I hungry but don’t want to eat? Am I full even though I haven’t eaten?’

What is this nonsense…

It was as strange as the day he had returned to the past and sprinted to school without a moment’s rest.

Everyone who knew Jin-hyuk looked at him with curious eyes, but the light-eater Son Jin-hyuk only picked up his chopsticks to give some sliced pork to Yu-jin. He still held Jeong-won in one arm.

Hwang Ga-young, who had come next to him, watched Jin-hyuk carefully.

Then, when she made eye contact with Jin-hyuk, she hunched her neck like a frightened child.

“Um… can I hold the baby?”

That natural behavior of a girl her age was rather new to Jin-hyuk.

What would Jeong-won’s reaction be? Jin-hyuk turned his body so that the baby could see Hwang Ga-young’s face.

“Oboo-.”

Jeong-won reached out his arms towards Hwang Ga-young.

He had grown quite sturdy, but since it had only been a little over 100 days since his first birthday, Jeong-won was still a babbling baby. He was usually a gentle soul but was quite shy, yet he smiled brightly at Hwang Ga-young. As if acknowledging her as a good person. That sight eased the worries of his cowardly brother. Jin-hyuk handed the baby over without further hesitation.

“He’s so cute…”

Watching Hwang Ga-young’s eyes sparkle as she held Jeong-won, Jin-hyuk mustered his courage.

“Jeong-won, she’s your older sister. Say ‘older sister’.”

“Ooo-oon-na-.”

At home, Jeong-won would look at Yu-jin with wide eyes and pouty lips like that. He seemed to like his new older sister.

“Oh my? Older sister? Older sister?”

Hwang Ga-young was as moved as a new mother who had heard her baby say ‘mommy’ for the first time.

Watching her affectionate fuss, Hwang Ga-yun also knelt beside her and joined the older sister ranks.

“Baby, I’m your older sister too.”

“Ae-boo-.”

Chop chop-.

“Ouch-.”

However, Hwang Ga-yun was not recognized as an older sister.

Wasn’t her mouth beaten by Jeong-won’s resolute hand, who didn’t tolerate nonsense?

“She says you’re not an older sister-.”

“Really? That’s strange. Baby, there’s only a three-year age difference between her and me. I’m an older sister too-.”

“Ae-bba-bbooo-!”

Chop chop-!

“Ouch ouch ouch-.”

“She says you’re too old to be one-. Ahahaha!”

It was a laugh that was inappropriate for a bereaved family member, but no one scolded her, and no one found it strange.

In a normal and peaceful human world, wherever there is a baby, laughter blooms and the winds of reconciliation blow. Whether it’s a battlefield or a funeral home.

‘It was a good idea to bring him.’

Jin-hyuk, watching the two sisters smiling brightly, didn’t realize that he was also smiling contentedly.