The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 109

< Stepping on the Seasons (2) >

***

Before Yang Kang-wook could speak, Son Kwang-yeon pointed it out first.

The lingering doubt that SSS [Special Security Service] might harbor.

Even if they received instructions through Moon Seok-il, they still couldn’t understand the situation where a middle school student was controlling the security team. Even if he was the son of a VIP, he was still just a young student. Son Kwang-yeon, who knew the pride of adults, wanted to address it before any conflict arose.

Of course, Yang Kang-wook had no complaints about Jin-hyuk. He was the one who recognized his true worth at first sight and said the words he had always wanted to hear.

Still, a middle school student was too young…

“He’s better than me.”

“Pardon?”

“My son is better than me. Even if I wasn’t here, Hong Ki-joon would have assigned Team Leader Yang to my son. I hope you don’t worry too much about it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yang Kang-wook bowed his head without asking further.

Son Kwang-yeon finished the conversation by patting Yang Kang-wook’s shoulder a couple of times, who was sitting in the front seat.

Even though he seemed like a warm person, Hong Ki-joon was the most cold-hearted person Son Kwang-yeon knew. During their college days, Son Kwang-yeon used to curse at Hong Ki-joon, calling him a ‘guy who would only study even if someone died next to him.’ In fact, he almost died from a twisted appendix, but Hong Ki-joon, that bastard, only called an ambulance after he fainted from studying.

‘Damn bastard.’

Kuh-. Thinking about that day made him laugh, but also made him sweat. Of course, Hong Ki-joon was sorry the whole time, saying he didn’t know it was serious and thought he was joking.

Anyway, he wasn’t the kind of friend who would go out of his way for something that wouldn’t benefit him. Son Kwang-yeon knew that his son, Jin-hyuk, was at the center of Hong Ki-joon’s ultimate goal. He was trying to invest because he wanted something.

The same went for Yoo Se-ra. She seemed like a woman with a few screws loose, but she was born into a chaebol [family-owned conglomerate] family. She grew up with a brain sharpened by calculations and politics. Since that’s what she learned from her father since childhood, her survival skills would naturally be different from other women.

Outwardly soft, inwardly strong. It meant that a woman who seemed crazy on the outside but was as strong as steel on the inside wasn’t just being submissive to her husband.

‘Alright, protect him well, raise him well, and use him.’

The car carrying Son Kwang-yeon slowly crossed a bridge over a dry waterway.

There wasn’t a single breeze, but a large persimmon tree in the distance was shaking like crazy.

***

Persimmons were usually picked when the cold wind blew.

Jin-hyuk didn’t know why either. There was no one to teach him, so he was just imitating what the adults in other houses did.

He just thought that the timing was probably like that because they finished the busy farming and picked the fruits before they froze. He just thought that as he shook the persimmon tree, which had only fruits hanging without leaves, creating a harmony of orange and brown.

‘Well, I can eat them anyway.’

He used to live like a robot following a manual, but now he was relying on the clock that his body had newly learned. This was true analog sensibility.

Thud-, Thud-.

The siblings, who had been laughing for a while, lost their words.

Jin-hyuk was tired, and Yu-jin was tired too.

“Haaah-, it’s hard.”

Finally, Yu-jin plopped down under the persimmon tree.

Yu-jin pulled one of the tassels on her ear-flapped hat and rubbed her nose with it.

The clear snot on the knitted tassel shone in the sunlight. The baby’s eyes, which were staring at it curiously, were focused in the center.

“Is our baby very tired?”

“Yes-. Ehehe-.”

Yu-jin was smiling, but her eyes were unfocused.

There was still a long way to go.

“Yu-jin, go inside and eat cookies.”

Looking at his younger sister, her cheeks were red and clear snot was running from her nose.

“Uh-huh-, uh-huh-.”

It would be a big problem if she caught a cold, but Yu-jin shook her head. It probably meant that she preferred to be with her brother.

“Haaah-.”

She patted his shoulder with her tiny hand.

She looked like a fairy, but her actions were like an old country woman. She had learned those things from watching the adults as she wandered around the neighborhood, so it was natural for her to act like that.

“Ah, what should I do?”

Jin-hyuk put his hand on his stiff neck and looked at the persimmon tree.

The bark was all peeled off where the main trunk branched out like a slingshot. It must have been unable to withstand Jin-hyuk’s constant nagging when he was young, when he used to climb up there every day.

‘Thank you. You also left a mark on my life.’

It used to be taller than his head, but now it was only about chest height. Jin-hyuk put warmth into his hand as he stroked his former playground.

Still, like a persimmon tree, it was still tall and big enough that the pole couldn’t reach it.

“Yu-jin, rest.”

“Uh-huh-.”

Yu-jin didn’t even have the energy to answer, so she just nodded.

Tu-, Jin-hyuk spat on his hand and grabbed the pole again.

If he left work unfinished, he wouldn’t be Son Jin-hyuk. If it weren’t for his parents and younger sister who liked to eat, he might have left them all for the magpies to eat, but unfortunately, the people in this house loved to eat too much.

‘I just need simple rice and meat soup.’

Except for Jin-hyuk, his family craved all sorts of snacks.

Am I the only one who was picked up? Come to think of it, I’m the only one who’s ordinary. Jin-hyuk kept his mind going, following the flow of his thoughts. It was Jin-hyuk’s own way of not getting tired while doing simple labor.

Then, reinforcements arrived.

“Do you need help?”

“Yes, please.”

SSS uncles wearing pesticide hats gathered one by one.

Some held poles, and some held sacks.

Originally, he had told them not to interfere in his daily life, but since they were living together anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to give and receive help sometimes. Since it was also a winter snack to share with SSS, Jin-hyuk didn’t refuse their help.

“Oh? That one looks ripe?”

As soon as someone said that, a ripe persimmon fell to the ground. Fortunately, it didn’t get crushed because it fell on a place with a lot of fallen leaves. Jung Sang-tae, who knew the taste of ripe persimmons, smacked his lips and quickened his pace.

“Hey, hey! You punk!”

Hehehe-!

But Jang-gun was one step faster.

He was a dog who rarely came out of the house these days because he was heavy, but as soon as the ripe persimmon fell, he ran over and quickly grabbed it and ran away. He kept looking back to see if anyone was chasing him.

Wahaha-!

While Jung Sang-tae was looking at the dog’s tail in vain, the men’s hearty laughter cut through the cold air.

However, there was someone who couldn’t just laugh.

‘Oh, our Jang-gun. How much did he want to eat…’

Jin-hyuk’s nose tingled. His eyes were also hot.

He was a dog who didn’t crave food unless his family gave it to him, but he thought that Jang-gun, who wasn’t lacking in food, must be craving it because he was pregnant. He felt sorry for the little guy who couldn’t even speak, thinking that he was doing that because of his puppies.

Bomi, you bastard, next time I see you, I’m going to neuter you for sure…

***

Flint-!

Startled, she woke up from her sleep, and the pink ribbon around her neck fluttered.

Clunk, the gate opened, and as a familiar person entered, Bomi wagged her tail.

“Why did you bring so much?”

“The chairman sent it because the madam is having morning sickness.”

“Dad, really…”

Upon hearing the news that his beloved daughter was having a late child, Yoo Myung-sun sent a large amount of cookies that his daughter liked through Kwon Je-hak. Kwon Je-hak also didn’t leave out the explanation that he had been nagging the president of Se-in Trading in Hong Kong.

“He also asked me to tell you that stability is the priority, so it would be better to do the sports foundation work slowly.”

“Why is he telling Kwon Uncle again what he said on the phone?”

Yoo Se-ra pouted. Still, she didn’t dislike it, thinking that he was nagging her out of concern for his daughter. She skillfully unwrapped the cookie box and raised the corners of her mouth.

“Actually, Soo-jung’s dad has agreed to take over for the time being.”

“Then the chairman will be relieved.”

Kwon Je-hak smiled kindly.

As if she had thought of something to ask, Yoo Se-ra munched on a cookie and widened her eyes.

“Oh! I heard that you paid for all the construction costs in the countryside with your own money?”

“Yes. He said that the security building, the sports center, and the waterway and track construction were all gifts from the chairman.”

“Does he like his son-in-law that much?”

Yoo Se-ra narrowed her eyes.

Her father had bought three cars for her eldest son when he turned twenty, who loved cars, so she understood it to some extent, but she thought he was spending too much money.

Looking at Yoo Se-ra’s childlike expression, Kwon Je-hak smiled for the first time in a while.

“Who knows what the chairman is thinking? He said he decided to give a gift when Mr. Kwang-yeon’s family came last time.”

Hmm-, a gift. Yoo Se-ra nodded.

Kwon Je-hak peeked towards the house.

“Where did Soo-jung go? It would be nice if I could see her face while I’m here.”

“That’s right. Soo-jung said she wanted to see Kwon Uncle, but she’s been busy these days.”

“I guess she went to the academy? She seems to have a desire to study, just like her father?”

Kwon Je-hak, who remembered Yoo Se-ra always drooling and falling asleep whenever she opened a book since she was young, couldn’t bring himself to say that she was like her mother.

“It’s an academy, but not a study academy.”

Yoo Se-ra sighed deeply.

It was because her daughter’s desire was a desire, but not a desire to study.

Hong Soo-jung was crazy about exercise.

She was getting coaches for ballet, gymnastics, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, etc., to exercise, saying that she needed to grow taller to be like her prison-like brother. She only came home exhausted around dusk.

‘Well, thanks to that, the cookies are all mine.’

The cookies tasted several times better than before.

Am I trying to gain weight?

***

As a result of the men working together to shake the persimmon tree until sunset, they collected more than three sacks of persimmons.

‘Choi Mi-kyung, that bastard, just ate cookies and left.’

Yang Kang-wook took Choi Mi-kyung’s teenage bamboo basket, saying he would deliver it.

His silhouette reflected on the darkened field path was really similar to a bear.

Several men with knives sat around in the small mud house’s main room.

Ehem-, swish-swish-.

Only the sound of clearing throats and peeling persimmon skins could be heard.

Some were peeling the skins to make dried persimmons, and some were putting them in basins to cover them with blankets to ripen. There would be a stale smell similar to alcohol while they ripened, but it wasn’t a smell that they couldn’t stand. Anyway, there was no one living in this mud house.

They all had a knack for handling knives, so he thought they would be fast, but the people except for Jin-hyuk and Moon Seok-il were wasting too much fruit.

“How about Sang-tae-chang uncle starts a fire in the furnace?”

The room was chilly, and he was worried about Yu-jin, who was sniffling.

“Oh, should I?”

“It would be better to fill the pot with water before starting the fire, right?”

Jung Sang-tae and Kang Heon-chang, who were clumsy with the knife and were demoted to the furnace, got up hesitantly.

“The mudskippers hanging on the eaves are dry, so please grill them while you do it. They’ll be delicious.”

At those words, Kim In-rang’s ears perked up like a horse.

“Then I’ll go start a fire too-.”

“No, you can’t? You have to say ‘Ta-chong’? Yeah-!”

Kim In-rang had no choice but to keep carrying Yu-jin around the main room.

Moon Seok-il swallowed a laugh as he watched Kim In-rang crawling on all fours.

‘It’s ridiculous the more I think about it.’

He had been a special forces soldier and a troubleshooter, but somehow he had ended up in this rural village, and his affiliation was a security company affiliated with the group.

He started his day by doing a morning run, following Son Jin-hyuk’s tail as he ran to Gubong Mountain. It wasn’t that this guy forced him to do it. It was just that they all volunteered because they felt like they needed to use their bodies.

They ate delicious meals made by the cook in the accommodation and office that Jin-hyuk had named the Hobbit Bunker, and their main job was to act as a bridge between Jin-hyuk and the SSS team. They also monitored whether there were any suspicious people and helped with the village work.

Today, he spent the whole day trimming green onions in Kim Eun-jung’s greenhouse. He didn’t know why, but he was just patrolling the village as he walked, and when he made eye contact with the owner, his feet automatically went into the greenhouse.

‘Is this the rural hospitality I’ve only heard about?’

He wiped his nose with the back of his hand holding the knife to suppress the smile that was coming out without him knowing.

The day before yesterday, he roamed Gubong Mountain with Jo Il-heon and dug up medicinal herbs.

Even for Moon Seok-il, who had received survival training, finding medicinal herbs in a deep forest full of fallen leaves was not something to be taken lightly. It was a season without leaves or stems, so how could he find medicinal herbs? But Jo Il-heon was different.

He said that the medicinal herbs dug in winter were good, and since they were eating the roots anyway, it was okay even if there were no stems, and he found them well.

Jo Il-heon gave him some deodeok [a type of root vegetable] roots, saying that his weak younger brother had suffered, so he gave them to the cook, and she made deodeok seasoned grilled dishes. He also gave one root to Yang Kang-wook, and he was so grateful, saying that his wife would like it.

Anyway, he was doing all sorts of things.

‘Now I’m sitting on the floor peeling persimmons.’

He had always lived with his senses on high alert, focusing on something until his eyes were bloodshot, but how long had it been since he had stepped on the seasons like this? The corners of his mouth curved into a satisfied smile.

Jin-hyuk, who had been glancing at Moon Seok-il, moved his lips.

“Are your family not coming?”

“We’re talking about it.”

It was something that no one could force.

Jin-hyuk had just made the suggestion in the hope that they could live comfortably.

Wouldn’t it be nice if their families lived in the town like the other SSS team members?

Still, Moon Seok-il said that he was relieved that he could contact his family often and live.

Jin-hyuk, who had stopped his busy hands, let out a light sigh.

“Can you find someone for me?”