The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 154

***

The first week, arguably the most challenging period, had passed without incident.

Even for athletes, waking up unused muscles and pushing lung capacity to the limit was no easy task. Yet, the Taeyang Middle School track team had reached the first milestone without a single dropout.

Jin-hyuk, proud of his friends, wanted to give them a special treat.

‘Make sure you come back. Gather at my place by seven in the evening.’

He would give them a special treat by providing an opportunity to train even harder and stronger…

His words to his friends heading home for the weekend, spoken as if making a promise, were tinged with distrust. It was only natural since the athletes needed to gather to train, but still…

‘Don’t worry! We’ll be back on the bus around Sunday evening!’

‘Will the older girls recognize me? I’ve gotten so tanned.’

‘Chairman, have a nice weekend…’

Watching Yeom Byung-taek and Park Sang-gi’s overly bright expressions, Jin-hyuk felt the fire of his distrust in humanity spreading. So, he added,

‘If you don’t come, I’ll come and get you.’

At that moment, Jin-hyuk saw it.

The two guys’ pupils shaking.

‘So, they were planning to run away.’

They couldn’t escape his grasp, no matter how hard they tried.

‘I’ll make sure to bring them back!’

Jo Seul-chan, who had boarded the bus first, shouted energetically.

Jo Seul-chan, who had been Jin-hyuk’s admirer since elementary school, had shown a willingness to enjoy himself to the fullest during the training camp, despite worrying about his grandmother. A friend who was both dark and bright, Jin-hyuk thought that the light and shadow within a human being might ultimately be inseparable, as he looked at Jo Seul-chan.

‘Like my past and present.’

Unbeknownst to Jin-hyuk, who was waving until the bus disappeared, shaking his hips like a general, Choi Mi-kyung, a teenager, was watching from the second floor of a house near the bus stop.

The friends who had found freedom would chat on the bus, talk about training, and gossip about Jin-hyuk, strengthening their friendship.

Friendship is friendship.

‘Hehehe, try running away if you dare.’

The fun of chasing after the runaway friends would be unique.

It would be as easy and fun as the day he went to find Yoo-jin, who had run away to Choi Mi-kyung’s house after being refused when she begged to wear her older brother’s underwear.

The saying ‘you can’t escape my grasp’ must be used in times like this.

His uncles, ready to mobilize in all directions with a single word, were on standby. And who could catch a flea better than Jin-hyuk?

Hehehe-.

Even now, General was wagging his tail and looking up at him.

He hated baths, but he really liked being brushed.

‘It’s hot, and General has worked so hard helping with training. I’ll catch your fleas when we get home.’

The two of them walked through the quiet field as if taking a stroll.

‘Our General is the best coach.’

Moreover, he was proud of the fact that the dog was still acting like a crazy dog, not intimidated by the newly arrived trained large dog.

He put all his affection into the hand that was brushing him.

It was a rare break.

While attending school, he had taken care of SSS [Sein Security Systems] and Sein Group, and during the vacation, he had trained and tutored.

A man and a wolf sitting side by side in front of a bonfire under a starlit night sky. Being alone with General filled Jin-hyuk with a warm, fantasy-like emotion that only he knew. Well, there was no bonfire, and the sky was cloudy, and General was a mutt, not a wolf, but appearances weren’t important.

‘Our General is the most admirable and beautiful.’

The fact that he had given his heart was special.

Jin-hyuk never held back on praise when he was with General.

Hehehe-.

As if he liked the praise, General showed his belly and lay down on his back.

It was an action he only showed to Son Gwang-yeon and Han Yu-young, and Jin-hyuk.

‘Aigo, you rascal, aren’t you embarrassed? What are you doing showing your nipples?’

The dog would growl, showing his teeth if Yoo-jin tried to touch his belly. Only Jin-hyuk and the adults could guess the hierarchy that General acknowledged.

‘Are you not hurting anywhere?’

Woof-.

It seemed like he was saying no.

Well, maybe Yoo-jin touching him every day was helping him live a healthy dog life.

He had burned through about half of his life, so was this guy middle-aged?

With a rare calm heart, he carefully examined General.

‘Hmm… you look young? You haven’t changed from five years ago.’

Except for the fact that he had gained more muscle, General was still healthy and crazy.

Jin-hyuk was even more pleased with that.

He didn’t like the fact that he lived with fleas, but he figured it was the fate of a hairy beast.

‘Jin-hyuk.’

‘Yes?’

Kim In-rang, fanning himself with a red hat, approached as the season became more humid after the rain, making all living things struggle.

‘Tomorrow is Saturday, why are you resting?’

‘It’s a five-day week.’

‘Right… Then, does that mean I’m also taking a break from training starting tomorrow?’

Kim In-rang scratched his neatly trimmed hair.

‘Yes. Uncle Heon-chang said he’d join us next week. But you’ll still be doing morning exercises with us, right?’

‘Yeah. I will. Then, I have some business in the city…’

‘Do you have a date with Myung-ja noona?’

‘Ahem-!’

Kim In-rang gasped as if he had been caught stealing.

Jin-hyuk’s half-opened eyes narrowed further.

‘Why are you so surprised? You’ve been making calls on the security phone whenever you get a chance during training.’

Not only that.

Kim In-rang drove out every day after training.

Even though he lived nearby.

‘Ahaha-. You’re perceptive. But it’s not with Myung-ja.’

‘Hmm-, someone stuck in the countryside is quite resourceful.’

Even a grub has a mate, and even straw sandals have a way of rolling, so he must have found a partner since he was so diligently making calls and going on night drives.

Jin-hyuk grinned happily.

With that kind of skill, maybe he could learn dating techniques from Uncle In-rang later.

‘Do you have money for the date?’

‘Aish-, you rascal! You have no respect for your elders.’

Thwack-.

‘Ouch-!’

Kim In-rang, who had flicked Jin-hyuk’s head, waved his hat over his head and walked away.

How could a little kid worry about the love life of someone who earned more than three times the salary of an average office worker from Sein Security Systems every month?

Sigh-.

Rubbing his head, Jin-hyuk raised his voice.

‘What do you do when you meet?’

He was genuinely curious.

Where do men and women go besides the Ojagyo Motel, and what do they do besides kissing and arguing?

Jin-hyuk, who lacked emotional and romantic interaction, only knew about the act of reproduction, which was all about instinct. Well, since the world of his past life had completely disappeared, he didn’t have to worry about the D drive [a reference to a hard drive containing adult content]. Son Jin-hyuk was also a vigorous man. But he had a flaw in that he only knew how to relieve his urges through exercise.

‘We’re going to watch a movie!’

‘What movie!’

‘They say Jet Li’s The Bodyguard was released!’

Wouldn’t romance or drama be more appealing to women than action movies?

He had to stop him!

Jin-hyuk, who had picked up a thing or two, jumped up.

‘That won’t do! Watch Free Willy!’

‘She said she wanted to watch a cool action movie!’

That’s strange. He thought women didn’t like action movies.

Reality was different from what the armchair experts on the internet said.

‘Or maybe it’s not about what you do, but how the other person looks…’

Still, a drama would be…

He didn’t know who was worrying about whom, but he was worried for no reason.

Sigh-.

By the way, Uncle In-rang’s hand was very strong.

Even though he had been flicked on the head, he didn’t feel bad at all, but rather felt like he had confirmed their friendship. Jin-hyuk squatted down again and picked up the dog brush.

However, he had to get up quickly at Yoo-jin’s shout from the living room, where she was playing with Jung-won.

‘Oppa! Jung-won pooped!’

‘Okay! I’m coming! Oppa is coming!’

Busy, busy!

While his friends had gone home for a sweet rest, Jin-hyuk still had things to do.

His mom and dad had gone to town on business before his friends, so Jin-hyuk had become the guardian of his younger siblings.

‘Aigoo-, that’s fragrant.’

Jin-hyuk, who had laid Jung-won down in the living room and opened the diaper, let out an old man-like exclamation. His dad made that sound every time he changed Jung-won’s diaper.

‘It’s not fragrant. It’s stinky.’

‘Aebuu-. Arrr-.’

Yoo-jin, who was still clumsy, carefully observed what her older brother was doing and kept interfering, while Jung-won, who had relieved himself comfortably, was in a good mood and rolled his tongue.

‘It’s sarcasm. When Yoo-jin was a baby, Oppa also said it was fragrant.’

‘Oh, really? I don’t remember.’

‘Aebuu-?’

Of course, she wouldn’t remember.

Because he had never said that.

‘I wasn’t breathing, so I don’t remember the smell.’

But Mom and Dad, who had dressed up, were late.

He knew exactly where they had gone and what they were doing, so he considered their lateness a good sign. Myung Hyun-woo and Yu Tae-hwa had gone together, so there was no danger.

It seemed like he would have to eat dinner with his younger siblings.

After washing Jung-won in the bathroom, he dried him thoroughly and even patted him with baby powder.

Hmm-, baby powder smell-.

Jin-hyuk felt calm and happy when he smelled this scent.

After putting on a new diaper, he asked Yoo-jin, who was watching intently.

‘What do you want to eat, Yoo-jin?’

‘Egg mama [a child’s way of saying egg rice].’

Turning on the gas stove and taking out eggs from the refrigerator, Jin-hyuk muttered.

‘I wonder if Mom is doing okay…’

Although Myung Hyun-woo and Yu Tae-hwa were with them, his parents were still a worry to Jin-hyuk, like children left by the water.

His mom had been sighing more often lately, so he had encouraged her to do this, but he was worried that he might have given her false courage.

***

It was a place she had come to with a big heart, encouraged by her son.

Her husband had told her to think of it as a casual stroll, but could a person’s heart be so easily controlled?

Han Yu-young’s eyes, looking at the person sitting in front of her, were red and teary, even moist.

‘Make me egg rice. When I came home from school, you used to make that for me, unnie [older sister]. I want to eat that. Rice with a raw egg on top, with sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds.’

Her voice, filled with moisture, trembled slightly.

However, unlike the content, her voice felt cold.

Kim Eung-nyeo, who had her head down, only crumpled the apron she had taken off, unable to look Han Yu-young in the eye.

When a handsome couple entered the teahouse looking for the owner, Kim Eung-nyeo, who saw them from the kitchen, suppressed her urge to run away.

She bit her lip hard enough to hurt at Han Yu-young’s first greeting.

– ‘Unnie, how have you been?’

It was a shy and awkward greeting, as if they had met after several months.

And so.

She sat across from her stepsister, whom she had met after 18 years.

She had no excuse, even if she was called a thief.

She had not been able to stop her mother’s recklessness, and even when her husband had threatened her sister with a knife, she had been too scared to stop him.

She was a bystander and an accomplice, her conscience pointed out.

‘Memories are funny. I was so scared and shocked back then that I hated everyone until recently. But as I got older and had children, I remembered how much you loved and cared for me when I was little, unnie. I also remembered the day you hugged me to protect me, and we were both trembling… Honestly, when I had our third child, I wished you were there, unnie.’

As the fragments of emotion, spoken softly, as if laughing and crying, dug into her heart, Kim Eung-nyeo cautiously opened her mouth. She still couldn’t lift her head.

‘…I’m… sorry…’

‘What are you sorry for?’

Han Yu-young retorted rather venomously.

‘You were the one who called and hung up without saying anything, right?’

Kim Eung-nyeo couldn’t answer and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Large tears fell from Kim Eung-nyeo’s lowered eyes.

The wrinkled hand trembled, and the tears that flowed along the grooves disappeared between her index and middle fingers.

At that sight, Han Yu-young’s eyes became even more moist, and her anger flared. It was a face that her husband and children had never seen, a face that could even be called scary.

‘If you called because you missed me, you should have said something!’

Son Gwang-yeon flinched at his wife’s shout. He knew he shouldn’t ruin the mood or interrupt his wife, so he quickly changed his expression. He didn’t hold his wife’s hand, but just quietly touched his coffee cup.

‘I don’t have a mom! If I had a baby, you should have been my mom, unnie! If you were going to abandon me like that, you should have at least lived well!’

It was more like a cry.

Tears mixed in with the words she poured out as if spitting blood.

Kim Eung-nyeo, who covered her face with her apron, finally began to sob, her shoulders shaking.

She was the older sister who had watched Han Yu-young from the time she was a baby until she went to high school. Although they were not related by blood, the younger sister had followed her older sister as much as her own mother.

The voice of the child she had seen every day until they parted, who had come back after all those years, was sharper than any knife, as she whined and acted like a spoiled child. The frost, hotter than lava, became a blade and mercilessly pierced her heart.

‘Ugh…’

Kim Eung-nyeo still clenched her trembling fist and pounded her chest.

She wanted to say something, but only a seal-like sound came out like a fool, and her chest pain only intensified.

Han Yu-young, who had gotten up from her seat, approached Kim Eung-nyeo, hugged her, and patted her back.

‘Why are you crying, unnie! What did you do to cry! Did you abandon me to cry!’

‘I’m sorry, unnie is sorry. Unnie is a terrible person…’

Han Yu-young pulled Kim Eung-nyeo’s head into her arms, and Kim Eung-nyeo hugged Han Yu-young’s waist and clung to her.

As if she would never let go again.

*

Son Gwang-yeon, with an awkward expression, only glanced at Myung Hyun-woo and Yu Tae-hwa, who were sitting in the corner, and didn’t say a word. He was a man who enjoyed talking and joking, but he knew that this was not the time to interfere.

‘I need to pee, but I can’t get up…’

He had drunk two cups of coffee, and the diuretic effect was kicking in.

Son Gwang-yeon, who wiped his red eyes, only fiddled with his coffee cup.

It seems like my dear has resolved her misunderstanding, I hope they reconcile soon…