The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 111

I wanted to breathe in the clear air.

Jin-hyuk stepped out of the front door and sat on the bench on the deck in front of the living room.

The night sky was a gray hue, as if it would start snowing at any moment, and the cold air announcing winter was full of moisture, resembling clouds.

Jin-hyuk, sniffing, looked like the village idiot, just like his dad.

The dizzying change in reality had made him that way.

‘My life has taken such a completely different turn that I don’t even know what to do anymore.’

But it wasn’t like he was disappointed or dumbfounded.

He had his parents, and now he was going to have two younger siblings, so this was definitely a blessing.

A fresh wave of emotion rippled through his calm heart.

On the other hand, he was also worried about his much younger siblings.

‘Wow, if I have to support my siblings, wouldn’t I have to steal some land deeds or something?’

He thought they were in the basement safe. What’s the password? Jin-hyuk’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure it out. Of course, he had no intention of actually stealing anything.

Son Kwang-yeon, who had followed him out, put his hand on Jin-hyuk’s shoulder.

He was clumsily guessing at his son’s feelings as he sat huddled on the bench.

“Son, are you upset that we named the company after your younger sister?”

“It’s not that.”

Worried about Jin-hyuk’s shocked appearance, Han Yu-young and Son Yu-jin also came outside wrapped in blankets.

When the whole family gathered, Jang-gun also dragged his heavy belly onto the deck.

“Aww,” Jin-hyuk tickled Jang-gun’s chin with his finger and met his father’s gaze.

“I think it would be better to reconsider the company name.”

“Do you think so?”

He should have asked why, but Son Kwang-yeon couldn’t question his serious son’s expression.

“A shooting star can just flash by or fall to the ground, and then the world could end.”

“Oh, that makes sense?”

“Oh my? Really.”

Han Yu-young also widened her eyes and agreed.

It was just a made-up excuse for Jin-hyuk, but it seemed persuasive to the couple.

They seemed to agree that it was a name that was likely to just flash and disappear or fail.

Son Kwang-yeon decided to actively accept his son’s opinion.

“Let’s think again about what would be a good company name. We can always change it.”

Han Yu-young went a step further.

“Then, while we’re at it, should we change the baby’s name too? Yu-jin, what would you like your younger sibling’s name to be?”

“Piggy, yummy?”

Oh, Yu-jin.

Her eyes were glazed over, so it seemed she was just talking nonsense because she wasn’t fully awake.

It would be better to exclude Yu-jin’s opinion. Piggy Son is a bit much.

A sudden family meeting was held late at night.

It wasn’t urgent, but they decided to make a decision since the topic had come up, at Son Kwang-yeon’s suggestion.

“Yu-myung? Yu-jung? Yu-do? Yu-hyuk? Jin-soo? Jin-ho? Jin-jin?”

“Yu-jin? Oh, we already have that.”

Han Yu-young scratched the side of her head.

What would be good? What name would suit our family?

After a long silence, Jin-hyuk didn’t miss the brief opening and slowly interjected.

“Jeong-won.”

Both his father and mother held their breath.

It was because the name carried a special weight.

“We’re not using generational names, so I don’t think we need to stick to ‘Yu’ or ‘Jin.’ How about the name Jeong-won? ‘Jeong’ meaning ‘hill’ and ‘Won’ meaning ‘garden.’”

It was a lonely name.

The only two letters left by a person who stood alone, facing the wind and rain, and who fought against the world but left no trace, just like that name.

“We’re here, so you won’t be lonely anymore. If you think about it the other way, it also means a great person who does their job without being swayed by the wind and rain…”

He said that and looked at his father, but his father had turned his head and was looking at the distant sky. He didn’t know what he was thinking, but judging by the twitching of his cheeks and nose, he was probably thinking about his grandfather, whom he had never met.

“Yes. It’s a good name. It’s also smooth to pronounce.”

Han Yu-young, smiling warmly at her son, put her hand on her husband’s shoulder.

Son Kwang-yeon just nodded silently. His gaze was still angled towards the sky.

Jin-hyuk watched his father’s profile as he closed his eyes.

Who could understand his father’s feelings?

Now it was time to decide on the company name….

This family was all hovering in the realm of zero creativity.

‘I thought it was because I read too many books.’

Now I see it’s genetic.

Both his father and mother just scratched their heads and couldn’t come up with a decent name.

Nyah-aahm-.

Yu-jin, who was squatting down and petting Jang-gun, yawned widely.

“Our Jang-gun is pretty, isn’t he?”

At that moment, Jin-hyuk felt a heat in his upper dantian [an area in traditional Chinese medicine believed to be a center of energy].

It was a reaction he hadn’t felt in a long time.

A word popped out of his lips on its own.

“General.”

Jang-gun was also family.

In a way, he was also Jin-hyuk’s most special friend.

In addition, the word General also had the meaning of ‘ordinary, common.’

Yu-jin had given him a hint, but it must have been no coincidence that General, which had both the name Jang-gun and the meaning of ordinary, came to mind.

“General?”

“General…”

His mother and father looked unsure.

His mother seemed to be because of the unfamiliarity of the word, and his father had a look of being conscious of plagiarism.

“Let’s go global.”

Jang-gun Corporation sounds like a company that makes funeral supplies. Jin-hyuk muttered in a hesitant voice.

Son Kwang-yeon, who had already escaped his melancholy, smiled brightly.

“Hahaha! If it weren’t for our son, I would have never tried this in my life, but I have to follow it. I approve.”

“Hoh-ho-ho, me too.”

And so, despite the plagiarism controversy, the company that Son Kwang-yeon would establish was decided to be General.

Along with Son Kwang-yeon’s words that it would be better not to enter industries such as automobiles, aircraft, and design.

‘Anything is better than Shooting Star Corporation.’

It wasn’t something he had experienced directly, so he didn’t have a detailed memory of what had happened, but he felt like he had avoided a name that should be avoided.

Along with the happy news that he would have a nephew-like sibling, the company name was also decided.

Above all, he was proud of the fact that he had allowed his younger sibling to inherit his grandfather’s name.

Jin-hyuk stretched with a light heart.

***

The sports center was completed as if it had been waiting for the winter vacation to begin.

Jin-hyuk carried Yu-jin and walked through the yard, then through the garden to the sports center.

After walking for dozens of meters to the waterway track, the gymnasium sign came into view.

Two syllables that were a perfect blend of Korean and English.

It created a mysterious atmosphere, as if a bear was ascending, and the letters that Chun Gil-ryong had skillfully carved into the wooden board in Sandol Shinseon font [a traditional Korean calligraphy style] were stylish.

Jin-hyuk was planning to run on the farm road as usual, unless the weather was bad. So, he suggested the name by combining Yang Kang-wook’s nickname with Gym, as he would be the one using the center the most.

His father had asked if they needed a sign when no one would be coming to see it, but was there anyone without a name? It was the same with buildings. If you give it a name, it feels more precious and you become more attached to it. It was also intended to encourage the SSS agents to become attached to it and keep it clean.

When he entered the gymnasium, it seemed that all the neighbors who lived nearby had gathered. Choi Tae-yang, who had decided which university to go to, also came with his parents and younger sister, Choi Mi-kyung, and Jo Il-heon and Chun Gil-ryong had also arrived earlier and were looking around inside. Yook Sung-chan and Kim Eun-jeong, who lived far away, would visit someday.

“Elder, no smoking inside. It says so over there.”

“Ahem, that’s right. This old man was rude.”

Squeak-.

Chun Gil-ryong, putting out his cigarette with his thumb at Jo Il-heon’s scolding, bowed his head to the others.

“Ten high-performance pumps draw up groundwater, and the first impurities are filtered out by an ultra-filtration membrane. Then, the minerals that weren’t filtered out are broken down by an electric anode. After going through the hyper-clarification system’s active disinfection process, a neo-circulating pump circulates and purifies it once more.”

Listening to the presentation of the person in charge, who identified himself as the chief engineer, Jin-hyuk and the SSS team members just nodded. Most of them had glazed eyes and looked like their souls had left their bodies and were wandering around the village.

The engineer was explaining like an engineer. Well, it seemed to mean that it was state-of-the-art and good.

The engineer moved to a panel on one side of the center.

When he opened the panel door, which looked like a switchboard, there was a distribution board and a large circuit board.

“There is a timer built into the board, so when it’s time to change the water, a red light will turn on in the swimming pool ceiling, and drainage will begin after 10 minutes.”

Ah, that means no entry when the red light is on.

Jin-hyuk couldn’t help but be amazed by the surprisingly advanced technology.

“It’s okay to enter. The drains are long and horizontal on the floor of the wall—you see them over there? They’re not round holes, so hands or feet won’t get caught. Yes, the stopper is an automatic control barrier inserted in the middle of the drain pipe, not on the bottom of the pool, and this is a method used by Australians, and it’s a highly safe method adopted to prevent accidents-.”

He should have just glossed over it at that point, but the engineer’s pride was higher than the dome-shaped ceiling.

People were quietly yawning here and there, and rubbing their legs.

The engineer reached the area where various equipment and martial arts mats were placed and pointed to the track.

“The circumference of the track is two hundred and fifty meters.”

A synthetic track with two main tracks surrounded the swimming pool and the center.

It was too big.

No one would have imagined that such a dome-shaped gymnasium was hidden under the lawn and fruit trees.

The presentation was coming to an end.

“It was built so strongly that it can be used as a bomb shelter.”

Clap clap clap clap-.

As soon as the presentation ended, applause erupted as if they had been waiting for it.

The engineer smiled broadly, satisfied with his presentation, but everyone else was thinking the same thing.

‘It’s finally over.’

It was a presentation that felt longer and more boring than the construction period.

Yang Kang-wook covered his mouth with his bear-paw-like hand and yawned, and thick tears fell. No matter how smart he was, words he didn’t understand were like a lullaby.

Son Kwang-yeon, making a megaphone with his hands, shouted to the neighbors.

“Whenever you’re not busy, feel free to come and use it! The young ones here will teach you how to swim and play badminton with you!”

The neighbors, who knew his character well, smiled and applauded.

No matter how busy they were with farming, they would have an hour or two to swim.

Choi Jang-hwan and Kim Soon-bok had already bought swimsuits.

Yang Kang-wook, shaking his head vigorously to wake himself up, put strength into his vocal cords.

“Now! All SSS members, change into your uniforms and show the guests a martial arts demonstration!”

The sound of a bear roaring echoed throughout the dome.

It was a routine that was ingrained in them as soldiers, but it was a rare event for the villagers. Everyone stood around the mat with sparkling eyes.

Yang Kang-wook, dressed in a white judo uniform, stepped onto the mat, and Myung Hyun-woo appeared on the opposite side.

At that moment, unexpected words came out of Yang Kang-wook’s mouth.

“I am Gyo-dang-.”

Jin-hyuk accepted Yang Kang-wook’s words and muttered to himself.

‘It’s Dian Wei!’

“-It’s Dian Wei!”

Heh. That guy is still the same. It’s not that he’s still the same, but it’s more reasonable to see it as a habit from his youth.

The SSS, who were used to the team leader’s behavior, had a nonchalant expression, and Jin-hyuk was the only one who smiled, knowing Yang Kang-wook’s habit. The neighbors had expressions that said, ‘Why is that guy doing that?’

Yang Kang-wook used to shout like that when he sparred in the past.

One of his subordinates once asked why he was Dian Wei when there were so many other heroes.

– “Dian Wei is the epitome of a soldier. He is the hero of heroes who did not care for his own life and gave it to protect what he had to protect.”

It was an explanation about how he had protected his lodgings and died in battle to save Cao Cao, who was in danger of being attacked by a general in the middle of the night.

No one who heard his interpretation raised any objections.

Because there was no man in Korea who didn’t know the Romance of the Three Kingdoms [a classic Chinese historical novel].

“I, I am Guan Yu from Hadong…”

Myung Hyun-woo muttered in a small voice, looking around at the crowd. His face was red, and he couldn’t help but be embarrassed in front of the villagers.

Woong-!

How many grappling matches had taken place since the sparring began? Myung Hyun-woo spun greatly in the air and fell on his back. The attack was clean, but Myung Hyun-woo’s breakfall, which he performed in an instant, was also close to perfect.

Yang Kang-wook, who had helped Myung Hyun-woo up, shouted.

“Who will face this Dian Wei next!”

Jin-hyuk, deliberately ignoring the ear-splitting sound, quietly lowered his head.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing.’

It must be just my imagination that I’m reminded of the time I caught loaches with my dad that winter.