The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 17

Choi Mikyung, who had been glaring with narrowed eyes, thinking she was about to be cursed at, turned pale at the sudden change in Jinhyuk’s complexion. Though she grumbled inwardly about him being an old man, wasn’t he her childhood friend? Jinhyuk was someone who always took care of her, more like an older brother than her actual brother, and they had never once fought.

“Why! What is it! Hey! Yuk Seongchan! You little punk, come here. What did you say to Jinhyuk?”

“Ah, no! It’s nothing like that!”

“What do you mean it’s nothing! Are you not going to talk?”

“I said no! You stay back, you little brat!”

It was a fork in the road. Yuk Seongchan quickly pushed his bike and ran away along the path leading to the inner village. He should have just ridden the bike, but he was probably afraid of getting caught the moment he got on.

Inside Yuk Seongchan’s bag, a spoon rattled in the empty lunchbox. Even though there was no afternoon class, Yuk Seongchan had brought his lunch and still managed to forget it. The hollow sound spread far across the empty field, casting a shadow over Jinhyuk’s heart as well.

Choi Mikyung looked at Jinhyuk with worried eyes, trying to gauge his mood.

“Jinhyuk, what’s wrong?”

You don’t need to know.

Listen to what Seongchan said. There’s nothing good for you to know-.

Jinhyuk silently started walking. His neck felt cold, so he turned up his collar.

“Jinhyuk, what is it? Huh? I’m dying of curiosity.”

Kids, go away.

You don’t understand a man’s heart.

***

After breakfast, he put Yujin on his shoulders.

They say babies are afraid of heights, but Yujin really likes piggyback rides. Maybe it’s because she likes her older brother.

“Gahahaha-”

Slap-slap-!

Yujin, excited, kept hitting his head with her palms, but Jinhyuk didn’t mind. He just thought, ‘Are baby hands always this strong?’ In life, you get bumps and bruises, right? You grow as much as you hurt. She’s a truly angelic younger sister, helping her older brother develop.

‘Hit me hard! This older brother is strong!’

Anyway, his parents sitting on the living room sofa, drinking tea, were suspicious.

They were having a conversation, rustling like insects gnawing on leaves. They usually spoke clearly. Even when he focused and maximized his hearing, all he could hear was rustling. Had they become herbivores?

“Jinhyuk-”

His father’s gentle voice.

His mother just put her teacup to her lips and sent him a subtle look. Her eyes were slightly curved, so it didn’t seem like she was upset. What on earth was this feeling of unease? Even though the boiler was running full blast, the wind seeping into his heart was cold.

Could it be what Yuk Seongchan was talking about?

“Do you want to go eat pork cutlet with Dad for lunch?”

Thump-!

His heart dropped. Oh my god, it was coming.

If this were his first life, he would have been excited about going to a fancy restaurant in town in a new luxury car to eat Western-style pork cutlet. He would have written about eating pork cutlet in his diary and been thrilled to brag to his friends.

But no way. Son Jinhyuk was not a naive 12-year-old.

‘What should I do?’

His mother and father’s kind expressions remained unchanged.

Yet, it was chilling. A dagger flew and pierced his heart.

He carefully put Yujin down on the floor.

“Uh-buh-buh- Oppa! Opp! Pa!”

Yujin’s big eyes rolled as she stretched out her arms. She wiggled her bottom and bounced up and down. Jinhyuk felt like he was shedding tears of blood at her struggling not to be separated from her older brother. He bit his lip.

‘I’m sorry, Yujin, now is not a good time.’

Jinhyuk slipped backward towards the front door. He was as skilled as Michael Jackson. His toes felt the slippers. No, this wasn’t right, he couldn’t rush.

He fumbled again and his big toe caught on a sneaker. That’s it.

I don’t like pork cutlet, I don’t like pork cutlet.

It might be delicious, but I don’t like it anyway.

He practiced his lines countless times in his hot and confused mind.

His father asked with a puzzled expression.

“Jinhyuk, where are you going? Pork cut-.”

“I don’t want to get cut!”

It was his first act of rebellion.

You could say it was the command of hormones.

He ran out quickly, afraid of being caught by his father, and Janggun, who had been waiting, followed behind him. Janggun was the best, as always.

“Let’s go! Janggun!”

To find freedom. No, to find freedom!

He climbed the hill with all his might. He flailed his arms and legs, engraving a cool image resembling the winter wind in his heart. It seemed to be the influence of the sensitivity that had bloomed rapidly during the summer vacation. Aha! He understood the sensitivity of poets. This was how they left behind famous lines with such intense feelings.

「Title: Pork Cutlet.

Son Jinhyuk, No. 15, Class 1, 5th Grade.

I wash every day

I don’t need to get cut

If you leave it, it’ll get cut on its own

It was like that before

I didn’t even need it

Why are you hunting whales when you’re over eighty?

Dad doesn’t know my heart at all」

Whoosh-.

The sea breeze, the reservoir breeze, the mountain breeze, the wind blowing across the empty field.

For Jinhyuk, who ran every day, the wind was not an obstacle. Rather, it was a grateful presence that helped him breathe and gave wings to his meditation.

Achoo!

It was a bit cold in the winter, but he could endure it.

No way, he couldn’t trade a plate of pork cutlet for the freedom to run. And it was embarrassing. How much would his mother laugh if she saw him walking awkwardly? Lee Haewon and Kim Eunjeong would come and tease him, asking to see it just once. Choi Mikyung, being his childhood friend, might ask to see it twice. Those cheeky kids. Had Yuk Seongchan gotten it cut well? Was it very painful?

‘When Kang Jinsu got it cut, the classroom was in an uproar…’

Was it early last year?

Jinhyuk shook his head, recalling the children in his class rushing towards Kang Jinsu. His eyes were closed tightly. There were twenty-four girls in a class of thirty. One boy had transferred out, and a girl had transferred in, which was how it had become like that.

‘If you get it cut, you’re really screwed…’

They were the type of kids who would apply a strange logic of fairness, saying that since Kang Jinsu had shown it, he had to show it too.

Whine, whine-. Janggun let out a pitiful dog cry.

Even the dog was cold, but Jinhyuk bravely endured. He was glad he had dressed warmly. Still, his butt was cold, so he decided to stop meditating for now.

It was when he was dusting off his butt and getting up.

Jinhyukaaaaa-.

An echo. It was his mother’s voice.

Hearing the echo reminded him of the night at the beach when he was nine years old.

‘Ah, Mom… Our Mom.’

His throat tightened and his chest fluttered.

They were such precious people. Should he just give in and get it cut?

He walked the path he always ran, with his hands deep in his pockets. Was fate so cruel to a lonely winter man?

A wind blew in Jinhyuk’s heart as he transitioned from a child to a teenager.

‘I’ll just close my eyes and pull down my pants once.’

Was this how a condemned man felt?

People with homes were the best, after all. If it were summer, he would have held out as long as possible. Ah, so was that why they cut it in the winter? They preferred winter because of infections and such, but maybe it was a ploy by adults to minimize runaways.

The effect of meditation was truly insignificant for a soul engulfed in worries more chilling than starlight.

His steps towards home were heavy.

***

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“Oh my! Ohohohohohoho!”

His parents were laughing with tears in their eyes.

Jinhyuk was serious, but weren’t they laughing too much? He was about to get upset.

“Ha, you rascal. We were just going to buy you warm pork cutlet, but you misunderstood?”

“Because you said you were going just the two of you…”

“Mom has to watch Yujin. She’s still young, so we didn’t want her to catch a cold.”

Ah, was that it? He nodded as if he understood. Still, he didn’t let his guard down.

In the end, his father went to the town restaurant alone and brought back pork cutlet to go.

The food was cold, but it was fun to eat together as a family of four, and most of all, he was relieved that the misunderstanding was resolved.

His mother didn’t usually eat much, and his father also said he was full and got up first. Jinhyuk scraped up every last bit of pork cutlet that his mother and father had left. The Western-style pork cutlet with the sauce was so delicious.

He heard the rustling sound of insects somewhere, but Jinhyuk didn’t hear it because he was busy licking the plate clean.

‘I should try it again next time.’

‘Yes. Our son is too clever.’

‘Ah, this kid is too fast, I wonder if we can catch him.’

‘Isn’t Oppa faster?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Just in case, we can catch him before he runs away.’

‘Jinhyuk is also strong.’

‘Oppa, should we just call a doctor to the house?’

It seemed like his mother was more proactive.

However, Son Kwangyeon and Han Yooyoung’s schemes all came to naught.

It was because of Jinhyuk’s fast feet.

He must have run so much since his past life to avoid getting it cut. The cuckoo must have cried like that since spring to warn him of today’s danger. Ideas were flooding his mind.

For a week, Jinhyuk’s desperate cries stretched like contrails across the winter sky of the countryside, morning and evening.

“I’m telling you, if you leave it, it’ll get cut on its own!”

***

Rustle, rustle-.

Just hearing that sound made Jinhyuk’s hair stand on end. It was the sound of Yujin gnawing on an apple with her baby teeth, but it made him want to curl up his legs.

The couple’s worries deepened.

It was natural, as they were already late, and it would be even harder as Jinhyuk grew older.

‘Oppa, but does it really get cut on its own?’

‘Ah, well, it kind of does…’

‘Shouldn’t we go to the hospital? You got it cut too, didn’t you?’

Ah, now that he thought about it.

Son Kwangyeon also didn’t have anyone to take him to the hospital.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t go to the hospital either.’

‘Oh? Really? How did it get cut?’

Then, maybe you don’t have to go, and you don’t have to get it cut.

They were a strangely serious couple, even though he didn’t know why they were blushing while talking.

Brum-brum-brum-.

The sound of a motorcycle entering the yard was heard.

The male insect, who had been rustling sweetly, opened the front door.

It was Yuk Seongchan’s father, who lived in the inner village.

“Jinhyuk’s dad, have you seen our Seongchan?”

“Seongchan? I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he came to play during Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving]. Is something wrong, Seongchan’s dad?”

“Ha, that rascal ran away when I told him to go eat pork cutlet. It’s cold, where did he go, that rotten kid?”

As Yuk Younggu took out a cigarette, Son Kwangyeon closed the front door and went out into the yard.

“But Jinhyuk’s dad, about that Jinhyuk-”

“Yes.”

After a pause to exhale cigarette smoke, Yuk Younggu continued.

“Did he get it cut?”

“Hahaha, we’re just going to leave it. Jinhyuk washes well in the morning and evening…”

Dad, hooray!

Jinhyuk, who was listening to his fathers’ conversation from his room on the second floor, cheered inwardly. It was the moment he was celebrating his victory in the seven-day war, where fierce tactical battles had taken place.

‘It is done.’

Soon, Hong Gijun’s family would come down for vacation. Since the two couples shared stories about their children’s growth, it was obvious that the tale of the whale hunt would reach the ears of the people in Seoul. If that happened, Hong Sujeong would have begged him to show her. She was the type of kid who would do that. Just thinking about Hong Sujeong grabbing his pants and begging him to show her made Jinhyuk feel like he was losing his mind.

‘I feel dizzy.’

Jinhyuk had won.

Now he could let go of all his worries and breathe easily.

Jinhyuk quietly closed the window.

“Ah, that rascal doesn’t even wash well. He needs to get it cut, where did he go?”

Yuk Younggu, who had been rambling for a while, got on his motorcycle and started the engine.

“I’ll be going now?”

“Yes. Be careful on your way. Don’t worry too much. He’ll be back soon, it’s cold.”

The sound of the motorcycle faded into the distance.

Jindo dog mode deactivated.

“Friend, your father went.”

“Ahyoo-, I’ve been through a lot.”

Yuk Seongchan, who had been hiding in the corner of the bedside with shoes in his chest, wriggled out.

Yuk Seongchan was hungry, so he grabbed a handful of snacks from the desk and put them in his mouth.

“Wow, Jinhyuk’s room is so nice. You even have a computer. When did you buy this?”

“My uncle who lives in Seoul bought it for me last year.”

It was an XT-class desktop PC that Hong Gijun had gifted him.

That model, the Pro Elite, was heavily advertised on TV as being faster than a taking-off airplane. When you pressed the power button, it would shake and fire off beeps as it started up.

Prince of Persia, Invaders, Neoguri, and so on. He had put in a diskette that a classmate named Im Hyungseop had given him, thinking he would try playing a game, but he only ended up fighting the Jerusalem virus. It was embedded in every diskette, to the point where he suspected that the guy who made the vaccine was the one who made and spread the virus.

Why did the crusader grandpas make such a fuss when they couldn’t even catch a virus?

Yuk Seongchan looked at Jinhyuk, tapping on the keyboard. He looked like he wanted to play a game.

“Can I come play here every day?”

“Yeah. Come play.”

Anyway, Jinhyuk hardly used the slow PC. It would be good to let his friends play and gain some goodwill. He didn’t eat snacks either, so he should tell his friends to eat them. He was so happy to know this kind of fun again since he had been reborn.

Yuk Seongchan went out to the terrace through the window, then quietly disappeared down the outdoor stairs, so as not to be caught by Jinhyuk’s parents.

…And he couldn’t come to play for more than ten days.

Little Yuk Seongchan had become a ‘kkandol’ [slang term for someone who has had their foreskin removed].

He received a sad phone call saying that he had been caught by his father and had it cut.

Yuk Seongchan also added that he couldn’t sit on his bicycle seat.

– Jinhyuk, a man cries three times in his life. Sniffle-. When peeling onions, when peeling garlic…

Kkandol Yuk Seongchan couldn’t finish his sentence.

Even without hearing it, Jinhyuk knew the rest.

‘And when getting his foreskin cut.’

That sad echo was colder than the winter wind for Jinhyuk.

Even though he was inside, a cold wind brushed against his neck.

The winter man, Son Jinhyuk, turned up his collar.

He put his hands in his pockets and firmly resolved.

‘I’ll only cry twice.’

He carefully locked the door and window. It was a watertight state of alert. It was because he remembered what Kang Jinsu had said, that he had woken up one day and found himself a ‘kkandol’.

The sobbing of Kkandol Yuk Seongchan wouldn’t leave him, like the cries of an evil spirit.

He turned his gaze to the sound of something tapping on the window.

A particularly warm winter, the sky was crying too.