The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 14

Yoo Sera decisively won the arm wrestling match against Han Young. It wasn’t an easy battle for Yoo Sera either; her back was soaked with sweat. She was cooling off in the breeze from the wall-mounted fan when she spoke,

“Gwangyeon oppa?”

Yoo Sera, who had been wearing a motherly smile while holding the nursing Son Yujin, suddenly looked as if she’d experienced an earthquake when she saw Son Gwangyeon. She seemed utterly dazed, like someone who had seen a ghost.

Han Young’s reaction to the Seoul woman calling Son Gwangyeon ‘oppa’ [an affectionate term for older brother or close male friend] was no different. Without realizing it, she gripped her fan like an axe. ‘If she says one wrong word, I’ll chop her down. How dare a Seoul woman use that whiny voice with my husband?’

The tension rose and fell in an instant.

The taut rubber band of tension seemed to loosen at Son Gwangyeon’s greeting.

Jinhyuk would never forget the scene of his father and Hong Gijun’s reunion.

Hong Gijun had splashed into the rice paddy, unconcerned about his shoes and pants getting wet.

– “Hey! Son Gwangyeon! You’re alive! Oh, sob!”

– “Hong Gijun, you rascal! Oh, you rascal! Oh, my!”

It was the first time Jinhyuk had seen his father use such crude language, and it was also strange to see Hong Gijun hugging someone and crying.

‘I’m more curious about Dad’s identity than the reason I came back to the past.’

If his parents had passed away as in his previous life, he would never have had such a question.

During holidays, his friends would wear new clothes and go to their grandparents’ or relatives’ houses, but Jinhyuk had no relatives, except for the aunt who had abused him in his previous life.

In this life, besides politicians, heads of various associations, a sales director from a fertilizer company, and neighbors, no guests visited Jinhyuk’s house during holidays.

‘This is what it feels like when the future changes.’

The feeling of knowing a hidden truth must be similar.

To think that Chairman Hong Gijun and his dad were such close friends.

An unreal feeling washed over Jinhyuk.

‘This is chaos.’

The fathers went to the town and came back with a load of makgeolli [Korean rice wine] and snacks. Sundae [Korean blood sausage], fried foods, dried fish, and squid. And even snacks for the children. An impromptu drinking party started in the middle of the day. It was even more surprising because his dad never drank.

“It’s humble, but stay the night.”

“Of course! Humble? I could sleep in the yard!”

They lit a mosquito fire in the inner yard and spread out mats. It wasn’t too hot, even in the summer, and there weren’t many mosquitoes. The tropical nights were a city problem, and global warming was someone else’s story.

The drinking continued until dusk. Yoo Sera, with tears in her eyes, held Han Young’s hand and chatted away. Would it be this affectionate if you met a sister you were separated from by fate? They were that close.

“Gwangyeon oppa is the one who introduced me to Sujeong’s dad. We were like siblings when we were young.”

“Ah, I heard you had friends you cherished more than siblings, but I didn’t expect to meet them so suddenly.”

The only sibling Han Young remembered her husband, Son Gwangyeon, having was the sister who had come before their marriage and spewed venom. That woman was scary and rude. Just thinking about it made Han Young’s neck stiffen.

Wahaha-!

To Jinhyuk, it was nothing special, but the fathers burst into loud laughter. Jinhyuk just nodded and watched. ‘As expected, they’re young men, so they laugh easily.’

Then, as they began to have a more mature conversation, Jinhyuk started to listen carefully.

“I came to check out the land for the training center while the land prices are low. Our company has grown a lot, and we have more employees. Not many companies invest in employee training.”

Listening to Hong Gijun’s words, Jinhyuk nodded inwardly.

‘This must be the time when corporate culture began to take root, systematically training and nurturing employees under the name of a human resources development center.’

“I don’t know whose idea the training center was, but it’s a good one. Young talent will lead the world in the future. We need to reject the world where group owners decide everything, like Chairman Wang, and the culture of passing management rights to the eldest son. That’s how companies can stay healthy.”

“Sera strongly insisted on it to her father-in-law. Her perspective on the world changed drastically after studying abroad. I respect my wife. It’s also surprising that Gwangyeon can have such thoughts while being stuck in the countryside.”

“I’m still disgusted by the old ways of chaebol [family-owned conglomerate] games, like succession of management rights. They can’t live for a thousand years, so why do they create factions and accumulate wealth? Money is the strongest power in the world, but it’s a sandcastle made of capital that can be blown away by a single word from a powerful person who holds public authority.”

Would Jinhyuk, at around thirty-five in his previous life, have had these thoughts?

Jinhyuk perked up his ears and tuned into his fathers’ conversation. Mid-30s. It was an ambiguous age in his previous life. Most of his peers were managers or assistant managers. Jinhyuk, with the backing of the chairman’s daughter, was just beginning to spread his wings.

‘Chairman Hong Gijun is amazing, but so is Dad.’

When talk of succession of management rights and old ways came up, his dad felt distant. To Jinhyuk, he was just a kind farmer dad. There were no business people from the Son family who would later dominate the business world, so his dad didn’t seem to be a direct descendant of a chaebol. He was probably someone who graduated from a prestigious university with a degree in business administration and felt skeptical about the Korean owner culture.

‘It would have been nice if there were some dried gobies left.’ They were a favorite snack for the whole family, and hundreds of gobies didn’t last through the winter.

‘This is pretty good too.’

Jinhyuk picked up some boiled pork and dried fish, ate a piece, and cut small pieces for Hong Sujeong. Because of the annoying little girl who wouldn’t leave him alone since they first met, Jinhyuk couldn’t even stretch his legs.

‘Is this really her?’

Jinhyuk was smiling at Hong Sujeong without realizing it.

Hong Sujeong ate everything Jinhyuk gave her like a baby bird, rubbed her bulging belly, and fell asleep on Jinhyuk’s lap. Jinhyuk had no choice but to hold Hong Sujeong and pat her back. Thanks to Jinhyuk, Yoo Sera was able to talk comfortably with Han Young.

Chirp-chirp-.

Even as the night sky filled with stars and insects like crickets began to take over the countryside, the adults’ conversation showed no signs of stopping. It was summer vacation anyway, and Jinhyuk liked that the house was filled with voices and laughter, so he stayed with them, still listening intently.

“Anyway, I won’t sell the land. Even if I do, now is not the time.”

“I know your stubbornness, so I won’t push you any further. Hahaha!”

‘The roads aren’t even paved well, and the person who came all this way to see the land is giving up too easily.’ But that thought was fleeting. Remembering Hong Gijun jumping into the muddy rice paddy with his shoes on to meet his long-lost friend, it didn’t matter what his original purpose was.

‘Anyway, you can’t sell it, Dad-.’

In a few years, a boom in West Coast tourism development would cause land prices to skyrocket more than 100 times. Land near the sea would be worth even more, so the sandy land that Jinhyuk’s dad had bought at a low price, ridiculed by the local youth association, would be worth well over 500,000 won per pyeong [a traditional Korean unit of area].

‘This area is also near the sea, so it will increase 200 times when the road is built.’

It would be laughable compared to the expensive land in Seoul. But the unit was tens of thousands of pyeong. This meant that Jinhyuk’s dad would soon become a real estate tycoon. And even if he sold it at the current market price, he would still make several times the profit. Land prices were already starting to stir.

It was something that even Jinhyuk, who was ignorant and uninterested in real estate, could foresee. He had worked in the Future Strategy Division of the Sein Group, analyzing past economic trends, current trends, and planning future strategies. He had a rough idea of the flow in his head.

‘That wealth, those lands that should have been mine, were all squandered by my uncle.’

He knew why his uncle had tormented and beaten him so much. He had probably taken it all when it wasn’t worth much, and he could clearly picture him drinking and gambling away that wealth.

In his previous life, the Sein Group’s human resources development center was located on the coast of a different township. Seeing that Hong Gijun had come around this time, he must have just gone back in his previous life because no one was home. It was right after Jinhyuk had been dragged to the town. Jinhyuk compared and organized each of his lives.

‘Just you wait.’

If they became enemies again, he would crush them more thoroughly than in his previous life.

Jinhyuk sharpened his blade against his adoptive parents.

*

Hong Gijun was fine even after drinking so much makgeolli. ‘He’s young, so I guess that’s normal.’ His dad was the same. Well, Jinhyuk, who took after his dad, would have been fine even after emptying a bottle of whiskey instead of Hong Sujeong.

As he was grinding his teeth thinking about his adoptive parents, Hong Gijun gently grabbed Jinhyuk’s shoulder.

“Jinhyuk, what’s your dream?”

‘I was wondering when you’d ask.’ He let out a snort, suppressing the words that were about to come out.

Wasn’t this the future dream attack that existed even before the holiday repertoire of getting a job and getting married? Jinhyuk thought Hong Gijun’s eyes were unusually bright, but anyone’s eyes would look intense and bright after having a few drinks.

‘Is a dream something that can be easily explained?’

As Jinhyuk couldn’t bring himself to speak while patting the sleeping Hong Sujeong’s bottom, his dad stepped in.

“Our son will do well no matter what he does. He always gets perfect scores on his tests. He’s never missed first place.”

“Oh, so the son of a genius is also a genius?”

Hong Gijun’s eyes lit up.

Even though they were his fathers, it wasn’t pleasant to have them talk about him like this in front of him. It wasn’t about pride. He just felt uncomfortable being the center of attention.

‘I’m not a kid.’

Fortunately, Hong Gijun shifted the topic to Son Gwangyeon.

‘I wondered if he recognized me from my previous life and asked that question. But I guess that’s a ridiculous assumption.’ If Jinhyuk were Hong Gijun, he would have hugged him and been happy.

‘It’s a bit of a shame. I wanted to ask what he was going to say back then. Sujeong, what was your dad going to say back then?’

He turned his gaze back to the sleeping Hong Sujeong’s face.

The mothers’ conversation and the fathers’ conversation began to fade into the distance.

Slurp-.

“Kuh- good! But why did the land become so expensive?”

Hong Gijun asked after gulping down another bowl of makgeolli.

“Because it was cheap.”

Son Gwangyeon’s answer was short and clear.

Hong Gijun nodded seriously without asking any further questions. Jinhyuk, who was fighting off sleep, also felt like he understood his dad’s personality.

‘Dad is a born businessman. He’s the complete opposite of me.’

He was amazed by his dad’s boldness.

Some people buy stocks or coins just because they’re cheap and end up going to the Han River [a metaphor for financial ruin], but his dad had put all his money into land. Just because it was cheap.

“People just complain that things are unfair, unjust, and difficult. It’s the same no matter what you do. They just curse the law, the country, and the politicians. They should know how to use the system. Even though they can borrow or get free use of expensive farming equipment like rice transplanters, combines, and tractors, they try to buy them with government subsidies.”

His dad’s thoughts, which he had never heard before, flowed out as he drank more.

“It’s all because of greed. They want to work on the day and time they want. That’s how they become debtors and curse the country. They end up using all the money they made from a year of farming to pay off their debts.”

“So my friend bought all the land at a low price with the money he earned instead of taking out loans to buy farming equipment?”

“That’s right. There’s a time for everything in farming, but it’s not like the harvest will fail if it’s delayed by a day or two. In a way, the crop may be more important than the timing in farming as a business.”

A crop that others don’t grow.

That was why Son Gwangyeon stubbornly grew the crops he had predicted, despite the ridicule of his neighbors. The crops he chose changed every year and were always sold at high prices.

Farmers grew similar crops every year. It was as if they were possessed. Last year it was cabbage, this year it was radish, and next year it would be corn.

Of course, there were exaggerations, but it was as if the whole neighborhood, all the farmers in the country, had conspired together. The result was plowing up the fields in the fall and burning the crops.

Even though growing crops that were in short supply was the shortcut to making money in farming, farmers all grew the same crops as if they refused to think for themselves. It was as if they had all decided to die together.

“A genius is a genius no matter where they go or what they do?”

It was Hong Gijun’s words.

Jinhyuk was amazed.

‘The ability to read the market’s needs is more important than the technology to make and sell things.’ It wasn’t exact, but it was what Chairman Hong Gijun had said in a lecture at the marketing strategy division. It seemed that friends even shared their management mindsets.

‘Yes, you can succeed even without knowing future knowledge.’

That was the thought he had while looking at his dad. Jinhyuk also had no intention of accumulating wealth cowardly by using the future information he vaguely knew. Perhaps that nature was similar to his dad’s.

“Oh my? Honey, look at Sujeong.”

“Huh-, that’s unusual. That picky one.”

It was surprising to see their picky daughter sleeping in the arms of an older brother she had just met, but Hong Gijun, who was quite drunk, looked at the two children with a pleased expression.

Hong Sujeong, who was in Jinhyuk’s arms, was sleeping with her legs wrapped around Jinhyuk’s waist.

“Jinhyuk, aren’t you heavy?”

“Jinhyuk?”

It was late at night, and the warm body temperature of the little Hong Sujeong, who was hugging him tightly and sleeping, made him feel dizzy. The sounds of insects, the fathers’ conversations, and the mothers’ laughter were heard intermittently.

Jinhyuk also fell asleep while sitting, resting his chin on the little girl’s shoulder.

It had been too long of a day for a ten-year-old’s body to endure.

Should I ask him if he also regressed? If so, should I ask him to tell me what he was going to say back then? I’m a child, so it’s okay to whine a little, right?

Tell me.

What were you going to say to me?

Why were you so nice to me?

Was it because you felt sorry for me?

Did you know I was our dad’s son?

The words he couldn’t even utter in his sleep flew into the night sky along with the mosquito fire.

Was he dreaming of the past, or was he being comforted by the little girl’s body temperature?

Jinhyuk, who had sobbed once, trembled slightly.