The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 119

< Family's Special Mission (6) >

***

Jin-hyuk still vividly remembers the day Yu-jin was born. The emotion etched into his heart was too profound and vivid to be captured by the dry word ‘memory.’ Yu-jin, born in their humble but cozy mud house, cried so loudly it seemed the whole village could hear. Sharing in that miraculous birth was an experience unlike any other older brother could easily have.

That baby was already six years old. She would read the numbers on the wall calendar and be happy that blue meant Saturday, when her brother came home early from school, and red meant Sunday, when her brother didn’t go to school. She was a child who liked even the black days, saying that blue would return after the black days passed, a child who didn’t dislike anything.

She was also learning Chinese characters from Grandpa Cheon Gil-ryong, who often visited their house. It was a stretch to say she was ‘learning’ since she recognized the characters as pictures rather than letters, but she could distinguish between ‘day’ and ‘month’.

‘Attention, salute to the teacher.’ After finishing the closing remarks, Jin-hyuk packed his schoolbag.

‘Class president, aren’t you going to play basketball?’

‘Basketball, my foot.’

A friend who played basketball every day after school, wanting to be as tall as Jin-hyuk, called out to him, but Jin-hyuk left the classroom without looking back.

It was still early summer, but the season had arrived in a rush, and it was very hot.

As soon as school was over, Jin-hyuk pedaled his bicycle towards the only obstetrics and gynecology clinic in town. He was worried about his mother, and there was also the little one he was going to meet.

‘Wahhhh! Baby! Baby!’

If he hadn’t had the palm-sized secure phone he got through Moon Seok-il, he wouldn’t have known the results. He had been secretly making calls every break time, and he got the news just before the last class.

Finally, Jin-hyuk and Yu-jin’s younger sibling, Son Jeong-won, was born.

‘I should have just skipped school!’

He was able to take care of his mother when Yu-jin was born, but this time the timing wasn’t right. He said he would leave early because his mother was in labor, but he only got a scolding, ‘Are you the one giving birth?’ Well, it was the expected result. His second-grade homeroom teacher didn’t like Jin-hyuk very much. There was a rumor that Lee Byung-se had scolded him after he brought Yu-jin to school after last year’s Chuseok holiday [Korean Thanksgiving], so that was probably why.

Han Yu-young, who had adapted to the rapidly changing world, did not insist this time and gave birth in the hospital. Han Yu-young was thirty-four years old. The expansion and development of the town, with various hospitals being built, also helped her decision.

After speeding through alleys and roads, overtaking cars and motorcycles, he quickly reached the hospital.

Of course, his father and Yu-jin were already there.

‘How’s Mom?’

Jin-hyuk, his face flushed from the heat and the rush, asked about his mother.

Son Gwang-yeon nodded with a bright smile. He said that both the mother and the baby were healthy.

‘Ah, that’s a relief.’

It was truly a relief.

It was the happiest news. He had heard it from Moon Seok-il, but he had to confirm it himself to be satisfied. Jin-hyuk vividly remembered his mother’s near-death experience when she gave birth to Yu-jin. A wave of relief washed over him, and he almost collapsed.

Pulled by Yu-jin’s hand, who grabbed his, he entered a single-person room with heated floors.

It was when a team member who had worked with him on the SeinBio establishment project gave birth.

That was Jin-hyuk’s first and last visit to a postpartum care center. This was a hospital, not a care center, but anyway. Back then, he had hesitated to go in, but after the team member, with a swollen face, smiled brightly and gestured, he had finally stepped inside.

The team member’s face overlapped with his mother’s slightly swollen face. Of course, his mother’s smile was much brighter and more beautiful, but there was no need to compare. Everyone was special and precious.

‘Mom…’

‘Welcome, my eldest son.’

Han Yu-young greeted her grown son with her usual smile, holding the newborn baby in her arms.

‘Eldest son.’ Why did those words touch his manly heart so much? Jin-hyuk’s face, trying to smile, turned into that of a shy country boy.

‘Brother, baby, baby-. It’s my sibling.’

‘Yes, Yu-jin. This is Yu-jin’s sibling, Jeong-won.’

He stroked Yu-jin’s small head as she proudly showed off her sibling.

It wasn’t as overwhelming as when he saw Yu-jin right after she was born in the main room, but the birth of a new life was still touching.

‘Ha, you little rascal. Your brother’s here, you should open your eyes.’

Looking at his sibling squirming in his mother’s arms, Jin-hyuk wrinkled his nose. For some reason, he had become more tearful since he came back.

Anyway, a fourteen-year age gap, it’s practically like a niece or nephew.

Son Gwang-yeon, Jin-hyuk, and Yu-jin. The three Sons sat side by side, as if protecting the baby. While sending loving glances to the baby and the mother, no one dared to reach out and touch the baby. It was because the baby was too small and young, so they were being careful. As if they weren’t family, they even acted alike.

After a while, there was a knock on the hospital room door.

‘Who is it?’

Yu-jin, worried that her sibling might be startled, jumped up. When she opened the door, Moon Seok-il was standing there with a fruit basket. Behind him, Yang Kang-wook was sniffing like a bear, peering into the hospital room.

‘Congratulations, sir. Congratulations, ma’am, you’ve worked hard.’

‘Congratulations, President.’

‘Thank you, Team Leader Yang, thank you.’

It was the day of the delivery. For the sake of the exhausted mother, Moon Seok-il and Yang Kang-wook briefly greeted them and left the hospital room. Son Gwang-yeon, who had shaken hands with the two of them, also went out into the hallway. Since they had visitors to congratulate them, it was only polite to greet them. His steps were reluctant, showing his consideration for his wife to rest.

Jin-hyuk stroked Yu-jin’s head and said softly,

‘Yu-jin, Jeong-won is a weak and small baby, so now Yu-jin has to protect and take care of her.’

‘Like you, Brother?’

Son Yu-jin looked up at her brother with sparkling eyes.

Unlike his sister, who was smiling happily, the giant’s eyes were moist and tearful.

‘Yes. Like your brother…’

Just like her brother did, now it was Yu-jin’s turn to play with her and protect her.

Because her brother had to go to school.

***

Han Yu-young didn’t stay in the hospital for many days and was discharged. She felt suffocated being trapped inside the concrete building. And more than anything, the food didn’t suit her taste. Kim Soon-bok had been urging her, saying she had cooked a whole pot of beef seaweed soup.

‘You have a good house, what are you doing lying there! Come home right now!’

‘Okay.’

A laugh burst out, making her nasal passages tingle.

To someone who didn’t know them, it might seem like she was angry, but Han Yu-young knew Kim Soon-bok’s heart, they had known each other for more than a year or two. Kim Soon-bok had often visited to check on her when she gave birth to Yu-jin, and now that she had more financial freedom than before, she would naturally be the first to help.

The baby would also be better off in a house finished with loess [a type of soil] than in a hospital, and if the mother’s condition wasn’t good, she could have a steam bath in the mud house. Jang Jin-nam, who was clumsy with words but skilled with her hands, was also eager to help with postpartum care, so Son Gwang-yeon and Han Yu-young didn’t hesitate for long.

As her brother had instructed, Yu-jin guarded her sibling like a guardian angel.

‘Sleep, sleep- our baby-. Our baby sleeps so well-.’

‘Ehhh-.’

Jeong-won didn’t seem to like lullabies very much. With a scrunched-up face, she flailed her limbs like a crab.

Even six-year-old Yu-jin knew that she had to offer a different menu.

‘Three bears are sitting on the hearth and crying-.’

‘Giggle-.’

It seemed that Jeong-won and Yu-jin were on the same wavelength.

Listening to her daughter’s strange song, Han Yu-young sighed lightly.

‘Did the kids all take after their father?’

I don’t have that kind of quirkiness. She thought, tilting her head to her daughter’s song.

***

A few days later, Hong Su-jeong’s younger brother was born in Seoul.

Hong Ki-joon, who was carrying out an important schedule, received an urgent call and headed to the hospital. There had been no signs of labor until the morning, so he was shocked that she had suddenly been rushed there.

Bodyguards disguised as secretarial staff were guarding the hospital room like a fortress. Their expressions were somewhat dark, and their eyes were filled with heavy tension. Hong Ki-joon tried to ignore the tingling sensation in his cheeks and entered the hospital room.

‘You’ve worked hard. You’ve really worked hard, Yoo Se-ra!’

‘Oppa…’

Yoo Se-ra, lying on the bed, moved her lips with difficulty. Her unfocused eyes were staring at the ceiling. Her dry, chapped lips and the dried tears around her eyes suggested the mother’s condition.

Hong Ki-joon’s heart sank. He knew that time could be short, but he couldn’t be consumed by his own emotions. He suppressed the tears that were welling up and carefully took his wife’s hand.

‘Yes, okay.’

‘….per.’

Hong Ki-joon quickly put his ear closer. Was it just the sound of air coming from his wife’s mouth? His heart, gripped by a bad feeling, couldn’t be strong, but he thought he shouldn’t miss any important words.

‘I…’

Hong Ki-joon nodded slightly. Keep talking. I’m listening. I’ll take care of our children-.

‘Jokbal…’

Is that German?

Hong Ki-joon, closing his eyes tightly, spoke softly but clearly.

‘Say it again. Don’t lose consciousness.’

‘I want to eat jokbal- [braised pig’s trotters].’

Ah, this idiot, really.

Hong Ki-joon, sitting up abruptly, couldn’t laugh or cry as he met Yoo Se-ra’s gaze. He wanted to get angry, but he couldn’t. Because a tear was rolling down Yoo Se-ra’s eye.

‘Waaah-, Dad wouldn’t buy it for me…’

Yoo Se-ra covered her eyes with her arm and began to sob. Repeating ‘jokbal, jokbal’.

‘So that’s why she was crying…’

Well, she had eaten everything she wanted under the guise of the baby, so she must have felt sad that her treatment had changed after giving birth. Haaa-. It wasn’t something he should do in front of the mother, but he couldn’t help but sigh.

‘Where did Father go?’

‘Ahem-. With Su-jeong in the newborn nursery.’

‘But is it okay to eat jokbal?’

Hong Ki-joon, wiping the tears from his wife’s eyes with his thumb, asked.

Yoo Se-ra grinned, stretching her mouth wide. He must be going to buy jokbal. My husband is the best after all.

Even though it wasn’t a malicious smile, Hong Ki-joon’s neck shrank.

‘She’s like a demon king.’

*

‘She didn’t suffer much. She had a smooth delivery as soon as she arrived at the hospital. It’s almost as if she held back to give birth at the hospital, she gave birth so easily-.’

The doctor explained that she seemed to be in better physical condition and health than any other man, even right after giving birth, thanks to her regular exercise, and Hong Ki-joon sighed in relief.

‘Chomp chomp-.’

Look at her now. She’s holding a pig’s leg bone and tearing into it fiercely.

It’s like a living pig eating a dead pig.

Kim Cheol-min had gone all the way to Namdaemun [a large traditional market in Seoul] to buy the jokbal. He said it was okay for the mother to eat because it didn’t have any additives.

The baby was lying in the bed, staring blankly with its eyes open. A nurse had brought the baby using a mobile bed for the family meeting, and it was so robust and bright-eyed that it was hard to believe it was a newborn.

Hong Su-jeong, who was touching the baby’s hand with her finger, asked,

‘Mom, but why is Su-hyeok’s name Su-hyeok?’

‘Chomp chomp-, they named him similarly to Jin-hyuk oppa, so he would be like him.’

Hong Su-jeong’s mouth dropped open.

Is she stupid? Why would she want him to be like someone else’s son?

My mom and dad are weird people after all.

When she looked up at her maternal grandfather, Yoo Myung-sun, to raise an issue, her mother added,

‘Grandpa named him that. He said it was a good name.’

Yoo Myung-sun closed his eyes and nodded with a smiling gaze. Then, he picked up some radish salad with his chopsticks and placed it on his daughter’s plate.

He was refraining from speaking, saying that he wasn’t the main character and that he was afraid he would start nagging like an old man if he opened his mouth.

It was a family that made her sigh.

Looking at the baby with her eyes slightly narrowed, Hong Su-jeong warned clearly,

‘Su-hyeok, you have to listen to your older sister. This older sister is nine years older than you-.’

‘Ahahaha-! Su-jeong, you can’t make Mom laugh. My stomach still hurts.’

Yoo Se-ra, holding a pig bone in one hand, grabbed her stomach with the other and laughed.

Hong Ki-joon, who was making eye contact with his son, mumbled, glancing at his wife.

‘We won’t be able to go to Jin-hyuk’s place for a while, should we make a sibling for our Su-hyeok…’

What?

Furious, Yoo Se-ra raised the pig bone like a club. Whether Yoo Myung-sun saw it or not. But she held back the curse for her father’s sake. She glared at him with eyes that couldn’t utter the curse.

That bastard, really….