The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 12

“Uwaaa-.”

“Mom, I think Yujin is hungry.”

“Aww, let’s feed our baby girl.”

I carefully handed my younger sibling to Mom and went out into the yard.

Mom’s privacy while breastfeeding was important, after all.

‘No smartphone, no computer. I’m bored.’

While I was happy living with my loving family, I also felt a sense of boredom. They say time moves slowly in childhood, and that was true even for a regressor like me. And because I’d already lived through it, it was even more tedious.

‘Ugh, is it because I have nothing to do? It feels even slower.’

Even when I ran around with Janggun to the sea and the reservoir, the clock didn’t budge. Even after going fishing with Dad or picking a basket full of wild strawberries with my neighborhood friend Mikyung, the calendar didn’t turn.

‘I should do my homework and then go see Dad.’

Jinhyuk lay down on the porch, which had become his hideout, and got his vacation homework. My friends would probably cram their diaries on the day before school started or on the morning of the first day. Since my mental age didn’t match theirs, it was also awkward to hang out with the girls in the neighborhood. I decided to just finish today’s diary entry.

「…Indeed, life seems to exist on its own, but without the gentle breath of a mother and the strong embrace of a father, it is not easy to bloom alone. Just looking at my younger sibling, it is such arrogance to think that humans are born and live on their own…」

While writing in his diary, Jinhyuk suddenly came to his senses and frowned.

‘Huh, seriously. There’s no way a ten-year-old would write a diary like this, right?’

No way. Last winter vacation, Mr. Choi Eungmuk had grilled me, though with a smile, about how Dad had written my diary for me. It was an experience that made Jinhyuk feel like the blood was draining from his head.

‘Choi Mikyung got scolded too.’

It was because her handwriting and content were similar. Choi Mikyung’s diary was written with her left hand, but how did he know? Teachers really aren’t just anyone.

Anyway, Mr. Choi Eungmuk was an angel, but the third-grade homeroom teacher was a bit picky. Even though he was kind to Jinhyuk, picky was picky. Jinhyuk tried his best to act like a child.

‘How do kids write their diaries?’

Jinhyuk frowned as he erased.

Scrape-rip-.

“Oh my goodness-”

The diary couldn’t withstand the powerful erasing and tore. Still, I had to finish erasing. As I was diligently erasing the diary written by an old soul, I heard an unfamiliar sound.

*Vroom-.*

While lying on the porch, I turned my body towards the sound.

‘It’s coming to our house? No way!’

Jinhyuk jumped up.

Startled by the sound, Janggun, who had been napping in the shade under the porch, growled.

Jinhyuk narrowed his eyes and glared at the car. In my previous life, wasn’t this around the time I was dragged to the town by my adoptive parents? Was this a repeat of a bad encounter?

That thought was fleeting, as Jinhyuk and Janggun tilted their heads at the same time.

‘It wasn’t a Benz, was it?’

The people who ran the teahouse in town had come in an old sedan.

But that car had a Seoul license plate.

Why is a Benz coming here?

It was a rural area where seeing a car was rare, and even though Jinhyuk wasn’t interested in cars, he wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t recognize the Benz emblem.

Events and time create truly amazing causal relationships.

In my previous life, I was dragged away by someone who was supposed to be my mother’s sister and locked in an attic, but now I was playing with a baby and leisurely doing my vacation homework on the porch. I was even watching a Benz pull into my yard.

‘I’ve lived long enough to see this.’

That was ten-year-old Son Jinhyuk’s sentiment.

But who are those people?

The Benz stopped in the outer yard of Jinhyuk’s house. A man and a woman got out of the driver’s and passenger’s seats, respectively, both wearing sunglasses, proving they were sophisticated modern Seoulites. Actually, I knew that from the Seoul license plate on the car.

The woman opened the back door and helped a girl get out.

The man who got out of the driver’s seat took off his sunglasses and approached Jinhyuk.

Grrr-.

Janggun lowered his body and growled, showing his teeth.

But.

Surprisingly, it was a face Jinhyuk knew.

‘Chairman Hong Gijun?’

The owner of the Sein Group, who had praised Jinhyuk as the group’s real power in my previous life. He was younger now, so his face was more taut than Jinhyuk remembered, but it was definitely Chairman Hong Gijun.

“Janggun, quiet!”

I calmed Janggun down in a low voice. It was strange that the guy who usually wagged his tail at strangers was growling like a wolf. Was it because they were from Seoul? Maybe. Jinhyuk had also lived in Seoul before returning to the past, so maybe that’s why Janggun was wary. I thought it was a reasonable suspicion.

Anyway.

In a short time, Jinhyuk tried to figure out what was going on.

‘Why on earth are they here?’

Although it started with chemicals, the Sein Group had grown through construction in the Middle East and trade based in Hong Kong. Thanks to its solid finances, it had weathered the financial crisis and aggressively expanded into electronics, home appliances, and insurance, becoming one of the top 10 groups in Korea.

‘It rose to third place while I was there.’

Chairman Hong Gijun had called Jinhyuk the group’s real power in recognition of that achievement.

He must have been secretly trying to make me his son-in-law.

Thinking that, Jinhyuk’s heart pounded.

‘Could he recognize me?’

No way. But why on earth were they here?

Unaware of Jinhyuk’s complicated thoughts, Hong Gijun smiled kindly and spoke to Jinhyuk.

“Hello?”

That was how people from Seoul greeted each other.

Hello. People in this town usually say, ‘Have you eaten yet?’ It was refreshing to hear such a greeting after a long time.

I got off the porch. After all, they were guests and adults.

It was the first time I had seen young Hong Gijun in person, but his eyes were unusual. The elderly chairman had a warm and kind gaze, but now he had a sharp look that seemed to see through people. It seemed that not just anyone could become a group chairman.

“Hello.”

“Is the owner of this house your dad?”

“Yes.”

“Is your dad inside?”

“No. He went to the rice paddies.”

“Ah, I see.”

Hong Gijun sat on the porch and crossed his legs. He seemed to be looking at the books spread out on the porch, trying to figure out what Jinhyuk had been doing.

The woman who had come in the car approached.

‘Hong Sujeong?’

No way! Jinhyuk squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. She was a beauty who looked so much like the future Hong Sujeong. When I had met her before, she was over sixty, so I had thought, ‘Hong Sujeong must have taken after her mother.’

‘Chairwoman Yu Sera.’

Hong Gijun’s wife and the granddaughter of the founder of Sein Chemical. She had given the management rights of the group, which she had inherited over her two older brothers, to her husband. And then she had devoted herself to fostering grassroots sports. She must have been in her early thirties now, but anyway, she looked so much alike that Jinhyuk even felt a sense of familiarity.

Then that little kid is.

‘The real Hong Sujeong?’

The Great Sorceress. The woman I thought I would never see again as of yesterday. She was cold to everyone, but she had a hard time dealing with Jinhyuk. That’s why she couldn’t even call Jinhyuk unless she was drunk. Jinhyuk had been her mentor when she was a rookie, and Jinhyuk had been so strict with his work. Besides, no matter how much of a superior he was, he didn’t hesitate to point out when he was wrong.

Anyway.

‘Tens of thousands of employees trembled before this little kid.’

Jinhyuk chuckled inwardly.

The pigtails tied like braids looked like Pippi Longstocking, and she was a cute child who looked good in a yellow dress. Hong Sujeong looked around with wide eyes, as if the rural scenery was unfamiliar. She was adorable as she toddled around in white tights and red shoes.

Yu Sera looked at Jinhyuk carefully and opened her mouth.

“When will your dad come back?”

“Farming work lasts until sunset. It’ll be a while before he comes back.”

“Oh my, you’re still young, but you speak so well? And you don’t use a dialect, do you?”

Everything seemed to be amazing. She didn’t use a dialect either. Oh, right, this lady was from Seoul, so that was natural.

Hong Gijun quickly stepped in and took control of the conversation.

“Then is your mom here? I’d like to say hello before we leave.”

Why would rich people from Seoul want to say hello to people in the countryside?

“She’s inside, but you can’t go in.”

Jinhyuk answered firmly to Hong Gijun’s question.

In my previous life, Jinhyuk had spoken directly to Hong Sujeong and had never bowed or cowered in front of the chairman. Since I was alone anyway, I wouldn’t have been sad even if I had been kicked out of the company.

At other times, Mom would have come out after hearing the car, but Mom was taking care of the newborn. And I thought it wouldn’t be good to expose the baby to outsiders, since it wasn’t a hospital. I had heard that newborns had weak immune systems and should avoid contact with the outside world.

“Can’t? Why? I’m not a bad person.”

Yu Sera smiled.

It was a smile worthy of a strong woman. Refreshing and not bitter.

Still, what wasn’t allowed wasn’t allowed.

“Mom just gave birth, so she’s recovering. Outside air can be bad for the baby.”

“Oh, how can you be so smart?”

Yu Sera looked at Jinhyuk and was genuinely impressed.

She expressed her shock on her face, as if she had never expected to have such a conversation with a boy she had just met.

Jinhyuk also felt strange.

To be facing a past figure, with whom I had hardly ever had any contact outside of work, as an adult and a child.

“Oh no, if you touch that, it’ll hurt.”

Jinhyuk, who had been watching the little Hong Sujeong, suddenly panicked and ran over.

Jinhyuk quickly stopped her because five-year-old Hong Sujeong was about to touch the beggar-ticks growing around the yard.

Hong Sujeong looked up at Jinhyuk with surprised eyes. Her eyes were full of tears. She must have been upset that I suddenly stopped her.

It was a moment that required quick thinking. I had to stop the little one before she burst into tears.

“Here, look.”

Jinhyuk picked a beggar-tick and put it on his shorts, and the plant stuck to his clothes as if by magic. It was a plant with many thorns that were hard to see, and it would scratch the skin if it touched it. It was called ‘tear-thumb’ and was a weed.

There was a background story that a mean mother-in-law who hated her daughter-in-law would pick this thorny plant for her to wipe her bottom with. It was a plant like sandpaper, and it was unbelievable that she would use it to wipe her bottom, but it was a plant with a powerful attack.

“Ah-.”

Hong Sujeong was a smart kid.

She reacted as if she understood why Jinhyuk had stopped her.

And.

“Oppa-”

Hong Sujeong pointed at Jinhyuk and spoke clearly.

It was more like a finger-pointing gesture, but even that was cute. Was it a delusion that I saw her pointing her finger at me when she first saw me smile, and the drunkard who called me ‘oppa’ with a nasal voice? Jinhyuk’s heart started beating unnecessarily fast.

‘This is ridiculous. My heart is racing just because a little kid called me ‘oppa’.’

And I’m an old man.

Jinhyuk thought about Hong Sujeong’s appearance before regression.

A divorcee. Hong Sujeong had married the third son of the owner of the number one group in Korea. I remember that she had broken off the engagement in less than a month. There were many gossips, such as whether it was a broken engagement because they hadn’t registered their marriage, or a divorce because they had held a wedding, but Jinhyuk didn’t care about the truth. Anyway, it was from then on that the cheerful Hong Sujeong seemed depressed.

‘I did have a few drinks with her alone.’

Since she generally had a calm and cold image during work, the image of little Hong Sujeong was a shock to Jinhyuk. Well, how cold could a little kid be?

“Jinhyuk, who came?”

The gate opened and Mom came out, and Hong Gijun and Yu Sera, who had been sitting on the porch watching Jinhyuk and Hong Sujeong, stood up. But my younger sister Yujin, who should have been in Mom’s arms, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Oh, geez! How can you leave the baby alone?’

Weasel! Wildcat!

Jinhyuk hurriedly ran into the house.

It was a situation that could be seen as an overprotective older brother, but to Jinhyuk, his younger sister was that weak and that precious.

“Uh-oh, oppa-”

Well, well.

Little Hong Sujeong followed Jinhyuk into the house.

Janggun was still glaring at Hong Gijun, silently baring his teeth.