The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 175

The scorching summer had retreated, and the season where crickets chirped every night had arrived.

For Jinhyuk, no two days were the same.

Every day was still new, and even the seasons, which subtly changed their clothes while mocking human ignorance, were caught red-handed by Jinhyuk. It was like feeling the end of summer with the temperature of the groundwater and sensing the start of autumn with the smell of the wind.

‘The smell of dust is gone.’

The humid breeze tickled his heart.

Squeak-.

He arrived home and squeezed both the front and rear brakes, but a sound that made him shrink his neck rose up. He needed to fix his bicycle brakes again.

‘The brakes wear out too quickly.’

It was a bicycle he had bought when he entered middle school, and it had gone through many seasons, crying out in pain here and there. He had replaced the brake pads about ten times, and after patching tire punctures more than twenty times, he gave up counting. He had even reattached the chain with pliers more than ten times.

“Did I ride it too hard?”

He had just held the handlebars and pedaled. It was a bicycle, after all.

Perhaps a bicycle was a more complex machine than he thought. It wasn’t like a car where the coolant would run out or the cylinder gasket would wear out, but sometimes smoke would come out of it.

He decided that he would thoroughly fix it this coming weekend, and if it still caused trouble, he would buy a new bicycle.

Even the grating sound seemed welcome, as Yujin greeted her brother with a smile.

“Oppa, you’re home early today too-.”

“Yeah. Did our little one have a good day at kindergarten? What were you doing?”

“I ate ground cherries with Jeongwon-.”

Looking into the living room from the yard, Jeongwon was putting her hands into a tray and kneading something. She seemed to be making juice with black nightshade [a type of berry].

“Ah- ah- ba-ba-ba-! Kahaha-!”

She was also slapping the tray with her palm as if she was hitting it, and although the tray was full of purple liquid due to the baby’s mischief, her mother was just smiling and knitting. It was a generosity that was admirable no matter how many times he saw it.

“Oppa, are you going to exercise-?”

Turning his head at the question, he finally noticed his sister’s appearance.

Yujin’s face and hands were stained purple, and her clothes had yellowish stains on them.

“Oh my, you clumsy thing.”

Even though she was a mess, he couldn’t help but smile like a proud father.

Jinhyuk hugged Yujin and rubbed his cheek against hers.

“Giggle-.”

A life that was lovable just by existing.

She was pretty when she was clean and radiant, and she was pretty when she was messy and rustic.

That’s why her mother didn’t scold her siblings for being dirty.

– “It’s okay. Jinhyuk was worse.”

Back then, they lived in a shabby house, so he thought it was natural, but it was just a cowardly excuse and a pathetic justification. If appearances had to be determined by wealth, it would only reinforce a world where social class was divided by assets.

Anyway, this older brother will upgrade your messy look.

“Shall we go pick ground cherries, my little one?”

“Let’s pick ground cherries and ride our bikes too!”

Yujin jumped up and down with her arms raised in the air.

Hehehe-.

Let’s go.

If my little sister wants to go.

Jinhyuk picked up a dipper from the water tap.

‘When did that little poop become so big? How admirable.’

Yujin had entered a part of daily life that Choi Mi-kyung used to occupy.

*

Even after school ended, he wanted to hang out with his friends while preparing for the midterm exams, but it was a difficult situation in reality. It was because of the people who came to see him after his face and name were plastered all over the newspaper.

Students from Taeyang High School, students from Taeyang Girls’ Middle School, and coaches from high schools with sports teams, all wanted to see him.

Since he had experienced this in the first year of high school, he was less flustered, and the SSS [Special Security Service] in the neighborhood gave him some breathing room. Yesterday, a reporter from a certain daily newspaper came, but ran away after Yu Tae-hwa’s polite warning.

“Yujin, why do they call ground cherries ‘ground cherries’?”

Black nightshade has a strong vitality.

The moment you break off a leaf or stem, a bitter smell rises up, and you could feel a vitality that a weak edible crop could not dare to approach.

“Um-, Mom says it’s because they’re a ‘fruit from the ground’.”

That’s how her older brother learned it when he was young too.

It was a grateful fruit that helped poor, foodless rural children survive the autumn harvest season.

Whatever the origin, it was a grateful fact. It was a good snack for rural children who had no other treats.

When Jinhyuk was young, he used to carry a rice bowl and harvest black nightshade.

Looking at the piles of black nightshade, he learned the joy of harvesting and could feel like he was becoming rich.

“You shouldn’t eat stink bugs.”

“I know that much. You shouldn’t eat centipedes either.”

Yes, you know a lot.

That kid who knew so much took an unripe black nightshade and put it in her mouth.

“Eeeeee! Etu-tu-! The green ones taste bitter.”

“Yujin, look here. If you pluck it like this, this part is black, right?”

“Ooh-? Only that part is black.”

The fruit was green, but the part that was attached to the stem had turned black like a thin line.

“Shall we compare it to another one?”

He picked another green fruit that was clearly unripe and compared it.

“If you compare this one and this one, it’s definitely different, right?”

“Yes. This one has a black belly button, and this one is green.”

Yujin, who was squatting next to her brother and observing, had shining eyes. Every time her older brother showed her something, she learned something new, so Yujin couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Jinhyuk put the fruit he had picked earlier in his mouth and slurped it.

“This one isn’t bitter at all?”

“Then me too-. Ooh-, this one has a black belly button too.”

Watching Yujin pick a similar fruit and put it in her mouth, Jinhyuk thought.

She believes people so easily, it would be fun to tease her.

Of course, it’s not that Jinhyuk was lying right now.

“Ooh? It’s really not bitter! But it’s a little sour.”

“That’s right. The ones that are completely black are sweet.”

Her mother and father knew that Jinhyuk liked black nightshade since he was young, so they carefully preserved only the black nightshade when removing weeds. They were careful not to break the stems when they were cutting the grass, and they even left the weeds that were close to the black nightshade so that it wouldn’t fall over.

“Janggun, come here. You like ground cherries too, right?”

Hehehe-.

If they shared the black nightshade that survived like that with Janggun, black nightshade would grow here and there near the house the following year. The following year, more would grow, and the year after that, even more would sprout. The embankment that was difficult to cultivate and was left unattended became a black nightshade field.

“Janggun made this ground cherry field.”

“Really-?”

No one had considered it or systematically researched it, but Janggun’s theory of farming dogs was being proven here and there. As if it was natural, without anyone interfering or leading.

“If it’s too sour, you can sprinkle sugar on it.”

“Sugar is bad for your body.”

She was talking back as if she had grown quite a bit.

She was at an age where she liked sweets, but what could be more heartwarming to her older brother than this?

‘That rascal.’

Indeed, Yujin hated putting sugar on tomatoes or watermelons.

She said her stomach hurt if she ate too much sweet stuff?

“Coke is good for your body.”

It was also fun that she would lose her mind like Janggun when she saw Coke.

*

Swish swish swish- splish splish!

“Why are you washing it in the yard?”

“Just because, it’s more comfortable that way.”

Yujin seemed curious about even washing the dipper full of black nightshade.

“The yard is groundwater. Go inside and wash it.”

“That······.”

What was she talking about? It was the same groundwater here and there.

Would Yujin believe it if she heard the sound of the groundwater pump working near the outer wall of the utility room when doing the dishes?

“If you wash it in the yard, you don’t have to clean the kitchen even if the water splashes everywhere.”

“Ooh-, that’s true.”

She really believed it well.

While the SSS agents who had become addicted to fishing were out at the sea and reservoirs, Jinhyuk was engrossed in something he had recently found fun.

“Yujin, let’s go ride our bikes now.”

His younger sister came before exercise.

“When will Jeongwon ride?”

“Jeongwon is still too young to ride a tricycle. I think I bought it too early.”

Her feet didn’t even reach the pedals, and Jeongwon was more obsessed with tasting the handlebars than sitting on the seat. There was no choice but to wrap the tricycle in vinyl and put it in the storage room.

“You have to wear a helmet.”

“Yes!”

Although the risk of capsizing was significantly lower than with a regular bicycle, it wasn’t like a four-wheeled bicycle was unconditionally safe. Jinhyuk put a child’s helmet on Yujin. Elbow and knee pads were also essential.

“Bear with it even if it’s stuffy.”

“Yes!”

No matter how much healing ability she had, if she suffered an injury that caused her to lose consciousness, who could guarantee her safety? Safety first, second, and third.

With the helmet on and the chin strap fastened, she was as cute as a cartoon character. Jinhyuk grabbed his sister’s chubby cheeks and smiled like a fool.

“Hehehehehe- my baby! How can you be so pretty.”

“Let’s go!”

On the bus route, Son Yujin vigorously pedaled.

The four-wheeled bicycle with a frame that resembled the autumn sky and a beige basket was dashing along against the autumn sunset, looking cheerful.

Clatter clatter clatter-.

Perhaps she was anxious because she couldn’t hear her brother’s footsteps over the sound of the training wheels, Yujin raised her voice while keeping her eyes fixed on the front.

“Oppa-, are you following me?”

“Of course!”

As if jogging lightly, Jinhyuk closely followed Yujin within arm’s reach.

Although it was an open road, you never knew when a car would come, and there were tractors and trucks parked on the side of the road during the harvest season, so you had to be careful.

They could just ride on the track along the waterway, but her older brother was accommodating his sister, who especially liked to ride on the road and look around the village.

“Eunjeong unnie is already harvesting ginger.”

“Yeah. They say the roots grew early because it was hot this year, so they’re harvesting earlier than last year.”

“Isn’t it because it’s an early-maturing variety?”

Where did you learn such words? Kids these days are really fast.

“Jjorongi ajusshi said that over there was Mr. Park Dae-soon’s field.”

“Yeah. That’s the land he used to farm.”

Before leaving his hometown, Park Dae-soon cultivated medicinal crops.

On hot days, the smell of angelica would come wafting in the wind, making his head throb.

Young Jinhyuk hated that smell a lot.

‘Why do I miss it?’

Human emotions are cunning.

The heart that started with suspicion changed to resentment, and the emotion that was precariously walking a tightrope between resentment and pity tilted towards compassion.

Perhaps it was because nothing had happened.

Anyway, he thought it was complicated and cunning.

Jinhyuk’s heart, that is.

“Shall we go to the mill today too?”

“Yeah. The more I run, the better.”

Although Yujin, who had been running around the fields and mountains since she was young, had strong legs, she was as slow as a chick to Jinhyuk. The exercise effect wasn’t much, but this moment with his sister was the most anticipated time of the day for Jinhyuk.

It was the same for Son Yujin. The early evening when she rode her bike and talked with her brother, her heart pounding, was the happiest.

“I ate curry rice at kindergarten today, and it was a little spicy.”

Ah, the stain on Yujin’s clothes was curry sauce.

“How was the taste?”

“It was really, really delicious! I ate it twice.”

A cafeteria was built in the small school.

A nutritionist was hired, and a few housewives from nearby farms were hired as cooks. According to Jinhyuk’s opinion, it was conducted after a prior public contest, so everyone who applied was qualified.

“Um-um-, you know. They say they’re going to make our school two stories during winter vacation.”

“Yeah. That’s really great.”

The number of students had increased, and Eodong Elementary School was planning to expand to operate after-school care classes.

Without being closed down like before, Yujin would also graduate from the school her brother had graduated from, and they would take a commemorative photo together at the main gate. That day would come soon. There was nothing faster than time.

They arrived at the mill, and while watching the sparrows making a fuss in the granary, he gave Yujin time to catch her breath. Exercising without rest was as boring as simple repetitive labor. Even to maintain the interest of children who easily got bored, a short break was essential.

For his sister, who was panting with a flushed face, Jinhyuk rummaged through his pockets.

“Ta-da-.”

“Ooh-! It’s a picnic!”

“Wait a minute, I’ll put the straw in for you.”

Drinks to quench thirst also had to be supplied on time so that the engine called a child wouldn’t get tired.

For times like this, apple juice with a picnic flavor was the best.

Like the earth that had been suffering from drought and was now sucking up water, Yujin sucked up the drink without even breathing. Her eyes were fixed on her brother.

While smoothing his sister’s disheveled hair, he prayed in his heart.

‘I hope it never changes.’

Just like she had been since she was a baby, he hoped she would look at her brother with sparkling eyes.