The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 177

< Thieves (2) >

You can’t fight a dog just because it ignored you.

Some idiots might bite back if a dog bites them, but thankfully, Jinhyuk wasn’t an idiot. After giving Janggun a small glare as a petty act of revenge, Jinhyuk resumed his work.

‘Can’t you fix it all at once?’

‘I could.’

‘Then why aren’t you doing it all at once?’

‘I might forget where the holes are.’

Yujin, your brother has an incurable disease where he can’t find holes easily.

Even in his past life, he could never find the right way to plug in a USB cable on the first try, and he had to rotate the power plug of appliances several times to find the socket. His teammates would whisper about how there was something he couldn’t do.

‘I heard everything, you guys.’

Speaking of holes, you can’t leave out pocket billiards. He also remembers getting thoroughly beaten when he went to play pocket billiards with Executive Director Hong Sujeong. Ah, that woman wore professional gloves. She even had her own cue.

‘Oppa? Can’t you mark it with chalk?’

‘Oh, right…’

He’d have to steal some chalk when he went to school on Monday.

He felt like he was losing energy every time he answered a question, but Jinhyuk didn’t miss a single one of his sister’s questions. It was inevitable that he would get more tired than when he exercised.

‘Oh! I think it’s done now!’

‘Yeah. Looks like there aren’t any more holes.’

When he blocked the second hole using the same method and tested it again, no more bubbles came up.

Now, he just had to put the tube inside the tire and fit the tire onto the wheel.

After completely inserting one side into the wheel, he had to press the other side in with the handle of the pliers.

‘Oppa, do you like Mom or Dad more?’

‘Both-.’

Just because he was a powerhouse didn’t mean all tasks were easy.

It wasn’t just about using strength. It was especially true for tasks that required the use of fine muscles and joints.

‘Hey, the answer is to pick just one-.’

‘Still both-.’

He had to move rhythmically, breathing life into his movements. If his concentration wavered at this point, the rhythm would break and he would lose his momentum. He held onto his focus and put more strength into the hand holding the pliers, continuing the work rhythmically.

‘Do you like pretty unnies [older sisters or female friends] or ugly unnies?’

‘Hong Sujeong.’

Without even realizing what answer was coming out of his mouth, Jinhyuk reacted with a spinal reflex, pouring his energy into the task. But it wasn’t like he was answering randomly. Hong Sujeong was the only person who had stolen Jinhyuk’s heart.

‘Do you like tall unnies or short unnies?’

‘Hong Sujeong.’

Sometimes, he would even hold his breath as he focused.

As he worked, Jinhyuk’s brow furrowed and his mouth tightened.

‘Do you like skinny unnies or, or- unnies?’

Jo Ilheon wasn’t the only one who was ruining the neighborhood kids. Yujin was imitating a scene she saw on TV, raising both hands to her chest to express something.

‘Hong-.’

Jinhyuk stopped his spinal reflex and paused his work again.

It was important to focus on the task, but as a devoted brother, he couldn’t give his sister an insincere answer.

‘Let’s see…’

That was a bit of a dilemma.

Jinhyuk grabbed his chin with a serious expression, not even realizing that the soot on his hands was dirtying his face.

‘Hehehe-, I’m going to tell Sujeong unnie that my oppa [older brother] is like this later-.’

Hey.

If he had to pick the invention that contributed the most to world peace, Jinhyuk would choose cola without a second thought. It could prevent tattling and temporarily shut up his talkative sister.

Burp-.

Even though her throat stung from the burp, Yujin looked happy.

‘Hehehe-, cola is good for you.’

It must taste good.

Huff huff-.

While hugging the cola bottle and drinking it sparingly, Yujin kept her eyes on her brother, who was breathing heavily with every exertion.

Watching him slowly turn the wheel of the laid-down bicycle and constantly move his hands was a fascinating sight.

So.

The effect of the cola didn’t last long.

‘Is it harder to take it off or put it on?’

Oh man, I’m losing energy.

The bicycle was taking away Jinhyuk’s time and energy, and so was Yujin.

It was the price of affection, but it was just like Yujin, the energy thief, to be so good at draining her brother’s strength.

‘I’m asking which is harder?’

Oh my-, I praised her for being pretty, and now she doesn’t know when to stop.

He didn’t dislike her chattering by his side, but it would be nice if she could change her tension a bit. She was always at high tension, and being with her drained his energy.

Once again, the flow of his work was interrupted.

Huhuu- A sigh escaped him again.

‘Huh? Oppa, is it easier to take it off or put it on?’

Eventually, Yujin shook her brother’s arm, urging him to answer.

‘Huh? Huh? Which is harder, which is easier-?’

Pop-.

When he paused for a moment, the tire he had barely managed to put on came off again.

Jinhyuk wanted to cry.

When they were young, Choi Mikyung used to do this often.

She would say things that would make people lose their energy without a second thought.

She would open the window of the bus that was passing Jinhyuk as he ran home from school and say:

– ‘Isn’t it tiring to run to school-?’

– ‘Hey! Try to catch me if you can-!’

– ‘Open your mouth! You’ll get dust in it-!’

He was happy to see his friend laughing and enjoying herself, but Jinhyuk thought he had cursed her in his mind every time.

Not because he hated her, but because she was annoying. Was that the same thing?

Yujin wasn’t annoying.

Anyway, he had to answer this curious sister’s question.

‘Hmm? Well… I think it’s a little harder to take it off?’

He had to insert the pliers handle between the tire and the wheel, then pry it open to remove the tire, which was quite a lot of work. He was used to it now, but at first, it was very difficult to hold the wheel that was trying to turn and pry open the gap with the pliers handle at the same time. It was a good thing the bicycle was an inanimate object and was lying still.

‘If it had moved around and resisted, I might have gotten angry and hit the bicycle.’

Huh-.

Jinhyuk, who was busily working with the pliers held upside down, sighed.

‘Come to think of it, I think it’s harder to put it on…’

There was nothing more boring and tiring than doing something you had already done.

Why was it so tight? It was harder to push it in and pull it out than putting a stick into a rice cake hole.

As he continued working with water on the pliers handle, Jinhyuk glanced at his sister and Moon Seokil.

Maybe the work wasn’t going well because his sister was watching.

He was also bothered by Moon Seokil, who was sitting on the porch with his arms crossed, just watching.

‘That guy isn’t helping at all, just grinning.’

Did he get heatstroke from the hot autumn sun?

He replaced the rubber brake pads and adjusted the play. He applied grease and oil to the chain and turned the pedals by hand.

Drrr-.

The sound of the gears and chain meshing perfectly without any error made him feel at peace.

He also squeezed the brakes hard.

Squeak-! The bicycle responded with a soft friction sound.

‘It’s like new, right?’

‘No-?’

‘Oh, okay…’

It was good to only tell the truth. Like his brother.

But she didn’t have to deny it with such wide eyes.

His embarrassment was so extreme that he almost got hurt.

True to its name, ‘Steel TB,’ the paint was peeling and rusting in various places on the frame.

It only had 7 gears. These days, kids rode 21-speed bicycles.

The bicycle Jinhyuk had chosen was an early model with a 7-speed sprocket on the rear wheel only, without a chain gear. A bicycle with a gear lever on only one side of the handlebars.

He didn’t buy this model out of choice. It was the only one in stock at the town’s bicycle shop, so he had no choice but to pick this one.

Maybe it had been waiting there alone to connect with Jinhyuk. He gave it meaning and affection, and rode it for almost three years.

He still had no intention of replacing it.

‘It’s my first bicycle.’

He had thought about buying a new bicycle, but he couldn’t throw it away because he had grown attached to it.

Even Jinhyuk, who had no desire for material things, was full of affection for the things he cared about.

As if it had been waiting for the bicycle repair to be finished, the speaker at the village hall crackled.

[Ah, ah-. This is the announcement from the head of the village, Kim Chunsik, at Dunaeri Village Hall-. The village festival is scheduled to be held tonight as planned. Residents, please make sure to attend, even if you are busy-.]

It was news that they were holding a village festival on Saturday evening.

Everyone in the village had already been informed, and it was an invitation to the festival.

‘Finally!’

It was a celebration to congratulate Jo Ilheon, who was getting married next week, in a big way.

Probably everyone except Choi Taeyang, who was in college, would be there.

He would be able to see Choi Mikyung, as well as other classmates he hadn’t seen often, such as Kim Eunjeong, Lee Jaeyoung, and Park Jeongim, who had gone to girls’ schools.

‘Let’s see…’

Jinhyuk checked his watch.

The older men were already gathering and setting up tents, but it was still daytime and there was plenty of time left.

Jinhyuk waited for the next announcement.

[- Also-, as I have repeatedly emphasized-, there have been a lot of dog thefts recently-, so residents, please make sure to lock your doors well-, and, uh, for households without walls-.]

The message Jinhyuk had requested was also being broadcast.

[- Uh, for households without walls, uh-.]

[Ah-, why do you keep saying ‘uh’!]

[Ah, I’m broadcasting, so please be quiet-. Uh, Jinaek asked me to broadcast this. So, uh, there’s no script-.]

Is he doing a radio show…

He sighed, but he was relieved inside. Even Yujin, who probably didn’t know anything, was shaking her head with her eyes closed.

‘It seems like I’m not the only one who’s embarrassed.’

The embarrassment caused by immature adults was always the children’s burden.

The bickering of village head Kim Chunsik and youth leader Yuk Younggu split the early autumn countryside air. Those free-spirited men didn’t seem to consider how the villagers listening to the broadcast would feel.

[Anyway, uh, for those without walls, uh, leave your dogs at Son Kwangyeon’s house for a day-.]

[Is Son Kwangyeon your friend? How dare you call a big company president by his first name!]

[Uh, we’re about the same age, and, uh, in the local community, we just, uh-.]

Kim Chunsik and Yuk Younggu were three years older than Son Kwangyeon.

They hadn’t had much direct interaction in the first place, and after Son Kwangyeon became successful in society, they had even more difficulty getting along.

[Hurry up and come out!]

[Bang!]

It seemed like Yuk Younggu had closed the door and left.

[That bastard, who doesn’t even have a seed, doesn’t know how scary the village head is, he’s just being a nuisance-. He’s going to get beaten to a pulp-.]

Kim Chunsik, grumbling, continued the broadcast.

[Uh-, uh. Leave your dogs at Jinaek’s house for a day-, uh, they said they’ll provide the food there-, so you don’t have to bring any-.]

[Bang!]

[Just finish it and come out!]

***

The black motorcycle he had witnessed a few days ago would definitely return.

Jinhyuk suspected it.

‘He made eye contact with me and ran away right away.’

He didn’t know what the thief’s mindset was, but it was natural to target a wealthy neighborhood with many dogs, wasn’t it? Since he didn’t know when they would come back, it was natural to be careful when leaving the house. It would be better to bring the dogs into the yard and lock the gate at night when people were sleeping.

Anyway, life was a series of pain and agony, they said.

Now he even had to worry about dog thieves.

‘Oppa, let’s do jump rope before we go to Uncle Jjorong’s house-.’

‘Huh? Should we?’

The siblings’ eyes lit up at the same time.

It was a manifestation of their will to get hungry and eat a lot of delicious food.

They said you can’t hide a seed thief, and you can’t hide blood. It was just like the siblings who had inherited the pig power as a family trait.

‘Hunger is the best seasoning, and moderate exercise stimulates the appetite!’

Therefore, they could deduce that playing jump rope would allow them to eat delicious food until they were full. As expected, there were no loopholes in the genius’s logic.

Jinhyuk put the jump rope on the porch leg and on his calves for his sister. It was the same way he had helped with jump rope whenever Hong Sujeong came to visit.

‘Okay-, shall we start?’

‘If I mess up, don’t laugh too much, I’ll be upset-.’

‘Hehe-. Okay. I’ll laugh just a little.’

He had learned jump rope from Hong Sujeong and Choi Mikyung, but Yujin, who didn’t have any girls her age in the neighborhood, played jump rope alone. Her clumsy skills were both funny and cute to watch, so her mom and Jinhyuk gladly helped her play.

‘Over and over the bodies of our comrades-, forward, forward-. Farewell, Nakdong River- we are advancing-.’

‘Don’t you have any other songs?’

Yujin’s voice was nice to listen to, but the lyrics were a bit too emotional for a child to sing…

Uh, isn’t it a bit much?

‘If you go to LA, please write me a letter-.’

‘Toobydooba- Hi Mart-.’

Ah! That was close.

Jinhyuk quickly inhaled and stopped singing.

He almost sang along without realizing it, and he almost transcended time. Furthermore, it could have been a theft of a later generation’s creation.

‘TV is so scary.’

It wasn’t just a problem with TV, but even the events that had caused a stir in the world were hazy in his memory, yet the lyrics that were repeatedly exposed in the media were unknowingly invading people’s minds and trying to control their consciousness. He could vaguely understand why people who blindly believed cheap and sensational articles acted so stupidly.

‘Yujin, that song is too old. You know a lot of cartoon theme songs, don’t you?’

Hmm-. What would be good?

Yujin, who had been pondering with her chin in her hand for a moment, soon changed her choice of song.

‘Far away in the blue sea- new hope is surging-. High in the sky, high in the sky- cumulus clouds are blooming-.’

Okay, that’s a bit better.

Jinhyuk also liked the song, so he sang along.

‘Here, the reborn Earth opens its eyes. Dawn is opening-!’

He cracked.

Ah, Yujin. The octave is too high, isn’t it? Yujin had a vocal range that even the blue squid alien from the movie The Fifth Element couldn’t match.

Despite her brother’s interference, Yujin showed professionalism by maintaining her tension.

‘Swim through the rough waves-. Run, kicking the ground with all your might-. The beautiful pig is-.’

It’s not a pig, it’s the earth.