The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 110

Jin-hyuk had never forgotten Park Dae-soon for a single moment.

Park Dae-soon had run away in the middle of the night with his wife and children. The neighborhood elders whispered that he had made such a choice because he had fallen into a pseudo-religion, but Jo Il-heon, who was his best friend, reacted differently.

– “That guy would never fall for anything like that!”

People dismissed Jo Il-heon as a braggart, but Jin-hyuk usually trusted him. It was because he had often experienced that after stripping away his somewhat exaggerated words and actions, there was a nugget of truth hidden inside.

According to his father, it was also Park Dae-soon who had suggested the clam digging to the couple. He had also said that he would come to pick them up, so they should wait in the waterway. Since it was a dark and gloomy new moon mudflat, his parents, who had no one to rely on, would have followed his words like iron.

‘I hope it’s not true, but.’

He had tried to forget it.

However, once a doubt had sprouted, it did not easily subside. Even when he was engrossed in something, the thought would make his head go cold.

Slicing away with his knife, Moon Seok-il stared at Jin-hyuk. He wasn’t one to make requests, but he was cautiously bringing something up, so curiosity was piqued.

“Who are you trying to find?”

“An uncle named Park Dae-soon.”

Moon Seok-il rolled his eyes and nodded. His gaze seemed to say that there must be a good reason.

Jin-hyuk noticed his tightly closed mouth and firm jaw.

“He lived in this neighborhood, but he suddenly disappeared about five years ago.”

“Any clues?”

“He had two children, a fourteen-year-old and a twelve-year-old.”

“That’ll make it easy to find him. The kids have to go to school.”

To send them to school, a transfer registration was essential.

For ordinary people, if they wanted to find someone, they often wouldn’t have a clue what to do or where to start, but for Moon Seok-il, finding people was nothing.

“Is it urgent?”

“No. You can take your time.”

“The handling?”

Jin-hyuk frowned.

Handling? Was this guy trying to make someone out to be a bad guy?

He was grateful that he didn’t even ask why he was looking for him, but wasn’t he jumping to conclusions too much?

Moon Seok-il, who received a cold gaze, flinched.

“Just check where and how they’re living. If they’re doing well, if the kids aren’t suffering…”

“Okay.”

The two men’s gazes returned to the persimmons.

Slicing, slicing-. Panting, panting-.

For a moment, only the sound of persimmons being peeled and Kim In-rang’s breathing could be heard.

After a moment of silence, Jin-hyuk spoke again.

“Are you going to report it?”

It was a soft voice, barely audible, but there was something dissatisfied in his tone.

He was probing, thinking that Hong Ki-joon might be behind Moon Seok-il.

He had sent them to Hong Ki-joon, thinking that they would also need financial support, but he did not know what kind of conversation had taken place between Hong Ki-joon and them. No matter how much Hong Ki-joon cared for Jin-hyuk, he wouldn’t have taken them in without any conditions. He was just guessing that they would be bound by a direct contract between the parties, not an employment contract, and find a way to utilize them.

Moon Seok-il raised his eyebrows as if surprised.

“I have to report it.”

This made it clear. It was a picture of them being attached to Jin-hyuk on the condition of reporting any unusual circumstances, even if it wasn’t surveillance.

Well, let them do as they please. It must have been meant to protect them, and Jin-hyuk would just use them in his own way.

After all, if it hadn’t been for Hong Ki-joon, he couldn’t have expected to live like this now. No matter what anyone said, Hong Ki-joon was the best helper in Jin-hyuk’s life.

Kim In-rang’s voice broke into the quiet space between the two men.

“Huff! Huff! Jin-hyuk! Isn’t there anything you want me to do?”

“No, there isn’t? Isn’t Yujin’s horse riding fun? Giddy up! Giddy up-!”

“Hee, heehee- . Ugh-.”

It seemed that Yujin’s horse role was not easy for Kim In-rang, who had been crawling around for about an hour, but Yujin did not allow the horse any freedom.

Jin-hyuk had to save him in this situation. He was the only one who could control Yujin.

“Yujin, Uncle must be tired. Come down now.”

“Yes-, ehehe-.”

Having played enough, Yujin obediently followed. Yujin, who had come down from Kim In-rang’s back without any regrets, lay down on the warm floor and waved her arms and legs like a frog.

“Ehehe-, Uncle, come here too?”

“Okay. Oh-, I’m dying. My body is melting, melting.”

Kim In-rang, who was lying on the yellowed floor, groaned.

Jin-hyuk, who knew the feeling, smiled.

How refreshing it was to stick to the warm floor on a cold day and sweat.

He said to Kim In-rang, who was wriggling like a slime.

“There’s a place called New Seoul Dabang [a type of old-fashioned coffee shop] in town.”

“Oh! I know that place too. The ladies there are very-.”

Jin-hyuk’s hand, which had been peeling persimmons like a machine, stopped.

Moon Seok-il, who noticed Jin-hyuk’s narrowed eyes, quickly gave a signal. Even though Jin-hyuk wasn’t radiating any killing intent, he seemed displeased.

“-They make good coffee…”

Jin-hyuk, who sighed softly, shook his head.

He was a vigorous young man, and he must have been very lonely living with his widowed mother. He must have also felt uneasy leaving his elderly mother alone in the outskirts of Seoul. He had to understand it that way.

“Please keep an eye on those people whenever you have time.”

“The ladies?”

Kim In-rang, who was lying down, raised his head with a delighted expression.

That was when it happened.

Thwack-!

“Gack!”

The persimmon that Moon Seok-il threw hit Kim In-rang squarely between the eyebrows.

That clueless bastard, that’s why he can’t get a date even though he looks decent, and he’s stuck riding a child’s horse. Moon Seok-il sent a glare, even though he was also stuck peeling persimmons.

Jin-hyuk’s shoulders shook as he laughed silently.

Moon Seok-il had gotten angry for him, so the generous Jin-hyuk was holding back.

“Tell me. He can’t understand unless you explain it in detail. He was just a porter when he worked. He’s strong, though.”

Moon Seok-il pointed at Kim In-rang, who had passed out and was lying sprawled out with his tongue sticking out, with the handle of the knife.

Jin-hyuk just laughed without saying anything.

“Uncle? Are you sleeping?”

Yujin shook him, but Kim In-rang did not wake up.

They said that you should cover a sleeping person with a blanket so they don’t catch a cold. The kind Yujin covered Kim In-rang with a blanket, just as she had learned from her mother. All the way up to his head.

It was a thick and heavy blanket that had been prepared to ripen the persimmons.

“Lullaby, lullaby-.”

The kind Yujin also hummed the lyrics, wondering when she would come back.

Son Yujin’s patting continued until her mother came to find her.

***

“Hyung, I think I hurt my eyes. I can’t see and it’s dark.”

“Is it dark? If you keep living so cluelessly, your future will be like that too.”

He should at least take off the blanket covering his face before talking.

Still, Moon Seok-il could understand Kim In-rang. Once you lay down on the heated floor, you wouldn’t want to move even a finger.

“Still, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d pass out.”

Moon Seok-il scratched his sideburns awkwardly.

“In-byeon, does it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts! Damn it-.”

Kim In-rang abruptly sat up. His face was shiny because he had been sweating for a long time on the warm floor.

With his forehead bulging as if another nose had grown above his nose, Kim In-rang was quite a sight.

“I’m serious! I went to spy on them under the Vice President’s orders and just drank coffee! Heon-chang was with me too!”

“You should have said something…”

Moon Seok-il swallowed ahem- a cough.

“Don’t you know about secrets, secrets?”

“I’m sorry, In-byeon.”

“Crazy! I thought you put some internal energy into that unripe persimmon. Ugh- a rock flew at me and I saw stars-.”

Moon Seok-il acted friendly, even calling him by his name before he changed it, but Kim In-rang’s anger showed no signs of subsiding.

Kim In-rang was already working on the task that Jin-hyuk was about to ask him to do. He had received secret instructions from Hong Ki-joon, saying it was for Han Yu-young.

“Hyung, but this is really delicious.”

Moon Seok-il, who had been pondering what Hong Ki-joon had ordered, raised his head.

The guy who had been angry just a moment ago was chewing on a grilled mudskipper.

Ah, he’s easily appeased if you just give him something to eat. He’s easy to handle because he has such a simple personality.

“Let’s go catch mudskippers tomorrow when Jin-hyuk goes to school.”

“Ehehehe-.”

The ugly Kim In-rang nodded vigorously, holding a mudskipper in his mouth.

Moon Seok-il and his colleagues were slowly blending into the countryside.

***

“I guess I haven’t lived in vain.”

If his reputation hadn’t been good, things wouldn’t have progressed so smoothly.

Son Kwang-yeon boasted in front of his wife that the construction of the agricultural and industrial complex had been expedited thanks to the county governor and the congressman rolling up their sleeves.

‘That’s right. Reputation is everything.’

Jin-hyuk, who nodded at his father’s self-praise, reviewed the business plan he had organized.

Agricultural product processing, eco-friendly fertilizer manufacturing, feed factory, food manufacturing, research institute. Even if automated facilities were built on the production line, it was an industry that required a lot of manufacturing manpower. In addition, they had to hire employees to establish and manage production plans, as well as experts for quality control.

To be competitive, quality improvement was also essential. In that case, they would also have to hire researchers.

‘And then delivery.’

Even if they contracted with Sein Distribution, which had a distribution network, the structure required trucks to travel to five bases across the country.

It had suddenly become a company that surpassed any small and medium-sized enterprise.

He had expected the scale to some extent because he had added to the conversation with his father, but he didn’t know that things would get this big.

“Isn’t it too big of a start from the beginning?”

Even though he was an accomplice, Jin-hyuk asked cautiously.

His father would take care of it, but as a son, he couldn’t help but worry.

“If you’re going to do it, you have to do it right, and make it widely known.”

Was his father someone who enjoyed fame?

How had such a person endured all this time? He had such a thought for a moment, but Son Kwang-yeon’s expression was serious, even solemn.

“So that no one can touch our family.”

Wasn’t that what a famous American rich man had said?

He had definitely heard it.

It was something about how a weak rich man would be robbed, but a famous rich man would be… It was a saying that had no value for Jin-hyuk, who was used to living alone and had no interest in worldly affairs. But for his father to say such a thing.

“While you’re at it, how about making kimchi and lunch boxes? It would be good if you followed Mom’s recipe.”

“Kimchi? That’s something you make at home.”

Son Kwang-yeon’s eyes widened.

After the 1988 Olympics, the kimchi manufacturing industry was booming. But wasn’t kimchi something you made at home with your mother’s touch?

“Later, when we have the capacity. I think it would be good to target nearby military units or schools.”

“Schools? They bring their own lunch boxes.”

“Well-, someday, there will be a day when they eat meals provided by the school. That’s what they do in American dramas.”

Jin-hyuk shrugged his shoulders.

School meals were for schools with dormitories, and it would take 20 years for it to be implemented nationwide.

“I thought we could provide stable jobs to local residents in industries that require a lot of manpower and have low hiring cutoffs. If the industries are diversified, there will be more areas where we can contribute to society.”

Son Kwang-yeon’s eyes lit up.

Oh, as expected of our son. He was thinking of his neighbors while seeking diversification.

Jin-hyuk, who was burdened by his father’s sparkling eyes, quickly changed the subject.

“But have you decided on a company name? You can’t enter the industrial complex without a business registration, can you?”

“They’re giving us a lot of convenience, so we can apply with the business plan and guarantee. We can register before moving in. I was thinking of naming the company Yuseong Enterprise-.”

Jin-hyuk’s half-closed eyes snapped open.

He had definitely heard that name before?

It didn’t seem like a good image.

Anyway, from the depths of his consciousness, he was shouting that it was a name to avoid.

“Yuseong is not okay!”

Son Kwang-yeon and Han Yu-young were startled by Jin-hyuk’s shout.

Yujin, who had been dozing off in her mother’s arms, was also startled.

“Why-, why is that?”

“Don’t you have any other names in mind? Why that name?”

Hem!

Instead of Son Kwang-yeon, who suddenly coughed, Han Yu-young answered.

“I was going to name it the same as my younger sibling.”

“Huh? Younger sibling?”

“Yes!”

Han Yu-young nodded, staring at her son with sparkling eyes. She even looked excited, just like Hong Su-jeong.

“I had a prenatal dream where a huge, dazzling star in the clear night sky shot into my skirt at a very fast speed-.”

Han Yu-young made a gesture of an airplane flying with one hand. Son Kwang-yeon smiled foolishly, looking at his wife, who was as innocent as a child.

No, that’s not what I’m asking… A younger sibling. A prenatal dream.

Jin-hyuk had no complaints about naming the company after Yujin. But Jin-hyuk was in great confusion because that younger sibling was a sibling who didn’t exist yet.

Jin-hyuk was speechless and just moved his mouth like a goldfish.

Regardless, his mother delivered the final blow.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be a son.”

Whether Jin-hyuk looked dazed or not, his parents held each other’s hands and blushed as if they were embarrassed. Anyone who saw them would think they were a couple who had a speed violation.

While Jin-hyuk’s soul was wandering somewhere on the rooftop, Yujin, who had woken up from her nap, rubbed her mother’s belly, which she hadn’t even called yet.

“Baby, baby. My younger sibling.”

A Hawaiian honeymoon baby.

A younger brother, fourteen years younger, was expected to arrive in the summer.

‘Oh my god….’