The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 104

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Jinhyuk paused from placing the Go stones and adjusted his posture.

“It won’t be dangerous. I’d like to hire them if possible.”

Managing people isn’t easy.

Money is one thing, but trust is the biggest issue. Bringing people into your life after only exchanging a few words is risky. The task of building trust must come first. Therefore, he could understand his father’s conflict.

However, Son Kwang-yeon kept his words to a nod. His son’s words, spoken while looking him straight in the eye, always had a trustworthy quality.

Late into the night, father and son played Go while discussing future plans.

The first things to resolve were the construction of the security building and the treatment of Moon Seok-il and his group.

“As soon as the land designation change is complete, people will come down from Seoul.”

The site for the security building was already decided, and construction could begin as soon as possible.

According to Hong Ki-joon, the goal was to complete it before the winter break.

“We need a place for those uncles to stay too.”

*Tak-* Jinhyuk slammed a Go stone onto the upper left corner point.

Son Kwang-yeon scratched his cheek, recalling Moon Seok-il’s words before he left.

– “We need a place to rely on. If you take us in, we will repay your kindness.”

It was something a ronin [a masterless samurai] from the 80s would say.

However, considering their level of education, he thought there couldn’t be a more sincere expression. Son Kwang-yeon was a generous man after all.

While believing in their sincerity, he couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.

“They won’t betray us, will they?”

“They absolutely won’t be able to.”

Though not perfectly, Jinhyuk vaguely remembered the words the shadow had said in his dream.

He thought he was being clever by talking about fear and mercy, but an unknown entity was helping him. He had put a gold or gold-plated item on Moon Seok-il. Perhaps it was a condition to help me, Jinhyuk grumbled inwardly.

Son Kwang-yeon also nodded.

Unless it was a double agent scheme, they wouldn’t have come to apologize like that.

‘We even ate together.’

It was a quirk of Son Kwang-yeon’s, but food was important.

There was nothing better than a delicious meal to win people’s hearts. Even the picky Jo Il-heon often visited, saying that Han Yu-young’s food was the best.

He also liked how they politely refused the alcohol, saying they wouldn’t drink.

“If they come back, will you keep them by your side?”

“I’ll have to. It’s better to keep dangerous people where you can see them and watch them. Besides, they’ve shown sincerity. The bodyguards will also be settling in soon.”

Jinhyuk’s lips curled up silently.

How enjoyable it was to talk with someone who thought the same way.

“I hope construction starts soon. I’m worried when it’s just Mom and Yujin. They’re vulnerable.”

“Dad is vulnerable too.”

Just when one topic seemed to be finished, the conversation always flowed in an unexpected direction.

Jinhyuk, who had been looking at the Go board, stared at his father.

A thicker neck than before, deltoids protruding over his undershirt, biceps like pufferfish, forearms that looked more luscious than chicken legs and too tough to bite into. And the bulging veins and tendons on top of them.

‘He’s like Rambo…’

*Ahem-* Son Kwang-yeon cleared his throat, embarrassed.

Then, he made a stern face.

“How did your midterms go?”

“I probably got one or two wrong…”

This time, Jinhyuk scratched his cheek.

His brain had definitely gotten worse, but it was absurd to simply compare his brain now to when he was just studying. He had a lot to worry about and was busy now. Plus, he didn’t skip his workouts. Still, getting only one or two wrong was something.

But his father’s reaction was strange.

“I should cut your allowance.”

“Huh…?”

No, even so, that was a bit much.

Jinhyuk’s eyes, usually half-closed, widened.

Even though Jinhyuk didn’t have much use for money, a decrease in his steady income was a different matter. Besides, unlike the money his mother gave him every week, the allowance his father secretly gave him was a perfect slush fund that left no trace.

While he was at a loss for words, his eyes wandered aimlessly.

*Ahem-* Son Kwang-yeon cleared his throat and leaned forward, glancing at his wife.

“A student should be studying, right? Huh? You’re just running around with the dog all day, huh? And playing Go until late at night, so you can’t get a perfect score, huh?”

Despite the force in his words, his voice was soft and whispering.

Ah, so that was it.

Jinhyuk quietly took back the stone he had just placed.

At the same time, Son Kwang-yeon straightened his back.

“These days, students have a lot of places to spend money, right? I’ll increase your allowance. Ahem-”

“Ahem-”

The men, who had been quietly talking while playing Go, coughed, and Han Yu-young, who was knitting at the table, narrowed her eyes. A cold? I’ll have to give those guys six shots each to feel better.

Han Yu-young rubbed her bottom for no reason.

***

Son Kwang-yeon had a lot to take care of on his own.

So, Jinhyuk, who returned home after school, took care of most of the household chores.

Of course, it was a unique kind of housework, different from other families.

“We need to secure the security building site here, here, and here—four places. I’ve already selected them and changed the land designation.”

“Ah, yes, yes. That’s right.”

The person who came down from Seoul with the special mission of managing the construction site used a tone that was neither formal nor informal with Jinhyuk. Jinhyuk was so used to adults doing that, he no longer found it uncomfortable.

There was something else that was uncomfortable.

“What is this blueprint? The location is…”

Jinhyuk turned his body in the direction the map was pointing, then looked back and forth between the map, the blueprint, and the site.

‘That’s our sesame field?’

Could there be some kind of design error?

The problem wasn’t just the location.

It was the scale of the building.

“What is this? It says swimming pool, right?”

“Ah, that’s… yes, it is.”

The man only scratched the side of his head.

It was a 50-meter indoor swimming pool.

A facility that wasn’t even in the county’s public gymnasium was being built 50 meters in front of his house. *Haa-* Jinhyuk’s blood pressure began to rise slowly as he carefully traced the blueprint with his finger.

“Next to the swimming pool, what is this complex…”

“It’s a multi-sports facility. Like a gym. There’s also an oval track. The longest straight track is sixty meters, and you can do long jumps and wrestling, and if you look here, there are mats for things like judo-”

“Yes. I see.”

Jinhyuk sighed deeply.

*Hee-yoo-* Even Janggun, who probably didn’t know anything, was the same.

Only then did Jinhyuk remember what his father had said yesterday.

That Chairman Yoo Myung-sun’s gift would be coming soon?

Since he liked sports, he was gifting a multi-sports complex.

It was a gift worthy of a group chairman.

He knew without looking that Yoo Se-ra’s influence had played a role.

‘Saying he’d look at my grades in the third year was just talk.’

With this kind of support, he had to get good grades no matter what.

Jinhyuk took it that way.

“The construction cost isn’t much. Since it’s being built underground anyway. If you look here—it’s being built lower than the ground and then covered with soil. That way, it can be used as a field, or you can put grass on it-”

“Yes…”

“It’s dome-shaped, so there’s no worry about collapse. And, if you look here-”

*Flap-*

Jinhyuk’s eyes scanned another map the man had unfolded.

A 30-meter wide waterway construction was also planned.

‘Why is everything tens of meters long?’

No wonder his dad seemed to be talking about a waterway when he was on the phone.

Civil engineering work was planned for the construction of a waterway that stretched straight for more than 2km from the seawall to in front of Jinhyuk’s house.

There was a plan to create a urethane track along the waterway and build the multi-sports facility next to the track.

‘That old man’s scale is breathtaking.’

But was a sports center of this scale even feasible for just one person?

Jinhyuk looked at the security building blueprint with a puzzled expression.

‘Ah, there are no exercise facilities in the security guards’ quarters.’

Was that why a mat for martial arts was being installed in the sports center? It must mean they were supposed to use it together. It might be an arrangement to minimize the size of the security building.

“But is it okay to do that kind of construction on farmland?”

Well, his dad must have taken care of it, but it was a question that came out without him realizing it.

He felt like he would lose his mind if he didn’t say something.

No one would be surprised if the world changed in front of their house in two months.

“Yes, in Korea, there’s nothing that lobbying can’t do. The waterway is the same. The Se-in Group’s secretariat is working on it, saying it’s necessary for water supply to large-scale farmlands-”

Is this a joke?

Why is the headquarters of a major corporation in Seoul working on supplying water to farmland?

Jinhyuk stopped thinking.

‘Make it happen’ wasn’t just a saying in the military.

“When does construction start?”

“Tomorrow.”

It seemed they planned to finish it before winter came.

He thought it would take a long time because it was a large-scale construction, but the equipment and manpower being put in were beyond imagination.

‘Did a ghost obsessed with civil engineering possess them?’

Wait, but what about the existing waterway?

The waterway where he had memories of catching mudfish with Jo Seul-chan.

Jinhyuk pointed to the waterway in the distance.

“What’s going to happen to that?”

“We’ll fill it in and make it into a field. That waterway is long, so the area is the same as the newly created waterway. If we secure the same area of farmland, the government won’t raise any major objections. The negotiations to purchase it under Son Kwang-yeon’s name are also complete.”

The technical term ‘same’ came out, but Jinhyuk could understand it.

That’s right.

“The land has increased…”

The newly created waterway was clearly private land.

In addition, farmland was being secured.

Jinhyuk thought his dad must really like land.

But even if it was at a bargain price, to buy that much land.

Does he have money? Jinhyuk’s lips moved.

“The chairman said he’d lend it to us-”

“Yes…”

He probably just considered it a gift.

His dad was definitely not the type to pay back money.

***

Son Yujin was bored.

That’s because the time her brother spent playing with her after returning from school had decreased a lot.

As soon as her brother came home, he looked around the construction site.

Sometimes he explained something to the neighborhood uncles and aunts, and when she saw him scratching the back of his head with a smile, it seemed like he was feeling sorry. Because the construction could cause harm to the neighbors.

Son Yujin was a smart child, so she knew that too.

“Anyway, you’re bored, right?”

Son Yujin stroked Janggun and said the words her mother often used. Hmm, it didn’t stick. Adults’ words always made her mouth uncomfortable.

“Janggun is bored too, right?”

*Hehe-hek-*.

Janggun had also been waiting for her brother under the acorn tree all day, so Son Yujin could understand how he felt.

So, Son Yujin decided.

To take Janggun for a walk. It was a self-help measure for a child and a dog who had no one to play with. She couldn’t run as fast as her brother, but she could walk with her strong legs.

The sun was warm, but the wind was getting chilly. Son Yujin wore the earflap hat her mother had knitted and toddled along.

“Hello-!”

Son Yujin bent her waist when she reached Choi Mi-kyung’s house.

The earflaps on her hat dangled and almost touched the ground, showing off her flexibility.

Kim Soon-bok smiled brightly and made a fuss.

“Oh my, did Yujin come alone? Where’s your mom?”

“I’m not alone, right? Janggun is here, right? Mom is with my brother, right?”

Son Yujin stretched out her short arm and pointed to where her brother might be.

“Why aren’t you there and came here?”

“It’s dangerous, right?”

Her mom and brother said it was dangerous and didn’t take her with them.

Son Yujin explained to Kim Soon-bok as she had heard from her brother.

She even tapped her head with her fist and pretended to fall. Son Yujin’s big eyes, which were waving her short arms and legs, shook pitifully. Her eyes looked like she was about to cry, but her smiling mouth was so cute it was heartbreaking.

“Oh my, you shouldn’t do that. You have to take care of the little one too. Let’s go together with auntie. *Oop-*”.

Kim Soon-bok picked up Son Yujin.

*Hehe-* Son Yujin smiled a triumphant smile so that Kim Soon-bok couldn’t see it.

There seemed to be a lot of fun things near the construction site, and she was finally going to see them.

It would be fun to put the gray paste on her face like makeup.

When she saw the workers working from afar, they were putting it on like crazy.

“Let’s go-!”

*Hehe-hek-*.

Janggun, who had already stolen the yellow dog’s food and had a bulging belly, waddled behind them.