The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 198

As if Yoo Myungseon, with his dumbfounded expression, didn’t even exist, Cheon Gilyong waved his arm.

“I used to go to the elder’s church down the road, hoping to get some noodles.”

As Cheon Gilyong started walking, Yoo Myungseon followed, diligently tapping the ground with the amaranth cane Cheon Gilyong had given him.

‘That senior has a knack for making even the most trivial stories interesting.’ In his old age, when nothing excites or piques his curiosity, this is a good source of entertainment that he can’t give up.

“Ah, at first, they gave me a Bible, hymns, and even a cross.”

“Ah, yes.”

“But starting last year, they stopped serving noodles at lunch. They said they didn’t have enough donations or something.”

“Oh, dear….”

“Well, I can always get noodles at Jinhyuk’s place, so I wasn’t too bothered. That’s when I decided to check out the downtown cathedral.”

“Ah, I see. That’s what happened.”

Huff, huff.

Even though Cheon Gilyong was walking slowly, it wasn’t easy for Yoo Myungseon to keep up, and he was out of breath. Amidst all this, a strange sensation pricked at his temples.

‘Is there something wrong with my body?’

He couldn’t feel his own weight, and the pain in his knees had vanished as if washed away.

It was truly a bizarre experience.

‘Could this be what they mean by walking on clouds?’

“They serve jjajangmyeon [black bean noodles] there. This old man doesn’t even give donations or cash. Aren’t they well-educated people? Haha! And the priest there seems to be in a similar situation as me. A lonely bachelor, they say. Hahahaha!”

“Ah, hahahaha….”

Cheon Gilyong clutched his stomach and laughed at the mention of being a lonely bachelor.

Yoo Myungseon laughed along, feeling like it was his own situation, but he wasn’t really amused.

Still, having Cheon Gilyong around when he came down wouldn’t be lonely. With that in mind, he thought it might be a good idea to conditionally open the training center, as Cheon Gilyong had suggested.

“Um, senior. By any chance… how about a temple instead of a cathedral?”

Yoo Myungseon, whose stomach had weakened with age, didn’t like greasy food.

“Don’t even mention it. There’s a temple called Jaksa halfway up Gubong Mountain over there. I climbed all the way up, and they only gave me noodles. What kind of temple serves only noodles? If you climb all the way up, they should at least give you rice with meat soup. They expect you to climb a mountain after eating just that? Those guys who practice Buddhism and seek enlightenment are a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

‘This senior is so detached that he’s put the laws of the world beneath his feet.’

Unable to argue, Yoo Myungseon kept his mouth shut.

“When are you coming down?”

“Probably around April.”

“When you come, I’ll make you a light and sturdy cane. There’s plenty of good bamboo where this old man lives.”

“Weren’t you giving me this one…?”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

‘That’s a cane that eats people, you know.’ Cheon Gilyong clicked his tongue.

“But, senior, you don’t seem to have any outside events except on weekends.”

“What kind of events would an old man have, just breathing and waiting for the day he dies?”

“Huh….”

He was too healthy to be someone waiting for death, which was baffling, but Yoo Myungseon didn’t bother to argue. Cheon Gilyong’s eyes, as he laughed heartily, looked rather lonely.

Then, Cheon Gilyong’s eyes sparkled.

“Ah, that’s right. I’m going to an initiation ceremony.”

“Oh, an initiation ceremony….”

“There’s a kid named Yujin who’s entering school, and he told me to come.”

‘I must go in person.’

‘It’s Yujin, after all.’

“Ah, that’s Mr. Son’s daughter, so I guess the chairman knows her.”

“Hahaha, of course, I do.”

Wasn’t she the one who slapped the great Yoo Myungseon on both cheeks during their first meeting?

‘That little kid is already going to school; time flies so fast.’

The children grow, and the old grow older.

– “So, how old is Haebiji?”

Hehehehehe.

The thought of that pleasant encounter made him burst into laughter, accompanied by chest pains.

***

“Ooloolooloo-. Peek-a-boo!”

“Cawww-! Hehehe-!”

Just like Yujin, Jungwon also laughs a lot.

When you play peek-a-boo, he laughs so hard that his eyes disappear, and then he looks intently at his brother’s face, giving an expression that says, ‘Do it again’ with his expectant eyes.

‘He wants me to do more tricks.’

Pretty babies are pretty no matter what they do, but especially when they cry. That’s why his mom used to tease Jinhyuk on purpose when he was a baby to make him cry.

Jinhyuk also found it fun to tease and play with his younger siblings. But the best part of playing with babies is teasing them. Like now.

“Ooloolooloo-. Peek-!”

“Caw-.”

But Jungwon was not an easy baby.

When his brother stopped playing peek-a-boo, he was about to laugh but quickly became serious.

“Daddy baboo! Yap-bya-bba!”

Slap, slap-!

“Ouch, ouch-.”

He was randomly hit on the mouth by a fierce baby hand for not doing it properly.

‘That must mean he should do it properly.’

He pouted his throbbing lips, trying to soothe them, when Yujin held out a notebook.

“Oppa-. Why do you write ‘jieut’ [a Korean consonant] here?”

Looking at the notebook Yujin held out, she was practicing writing with clumsy strokes.

It looked more like ancient characters scribbled haphazardly than actual writing, but it was amazing that she was copying just by looking at them without anyone teaching her.

「Sit on the chair」

Why is she using ‘jieut’?

Jinhyuk couldn’t answer right away. Because he didn’t know.

It was a very distant past, but how could he forget that letter?

It was the only letter that eight-year-old Son Jinhyuk got wrong on his dictation test.

“Um. Yujin, I think it’s better to just memorize it.”

“Why don’t you write ‘hieut’ [another Korean consonant]? Ah, ‘hieuh’.”

“When you sit on a chair or the floor, you always use ‘nieun’ [another Korean consonant] and ‘jieut’ together. Oppa also got it wrong once, so I just memorized it.”

“Ooh? Oppa also gets it wrong?”

It wasn’t like someone hit him on the back of the head, but Yujin’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“Oppa also got confused and wrote ‘anhda’ [incorrect way to write ‘sit’] and got it wrong. After getting it wrong once, I memorized it by pronouncing it as ‘anta, antta.’ After that, I never got it wrong. That’s why they say you need to experience failure.”

Even if it wasn’t a failure, sometimes it’s okay to get it wrong.

There are things to be gained from the effort of going down the wrong path and turning back, and you can learn how to fix things from a problem you solved incorrectly. I don’t know if failure is the mother of success, but mistakes might be a collaborator of perfection.

“Yujin, you don’t have to learn too fast. You’ll learn everything in time.”

How great would it have been if he had known before that it was okay to go slowly?

He would have learned how to enjoy life and learned more about the world.

Anyway, when you’re young, it’s okay to walk slowly and enjoy yourself.

Jinhyuk wanted Yujin to grow up playing and having fun without overdoing it.

“I want to learn quickly and write reports like Oppa.”

Since this stubborn one said she would, Jinhyuk didn’t feel like persuading her otherwise.

He just expressed his affection by rubbing his forehead against hers, which both Yujin and Jinhyuk liked.

When they rub their foreheads together like this, Yujin makes a caw-caw sound like a crow and enjoys it.

“Our Yujin, have a good entrance ceremony tomorrow.”

“I wish Oppa could come too….”

Jinhyuk cannot attend his younger sister’s historic and monumental elementary school entrance ceremony.

Because Jinhyuk’s entrance ceremony is also being held on the same day at a different location.

Coincidentally, due to the nine-year age difference, the brother and sister ended up entering high school and elementary school at the same time.

Jinhyuk decided to go to his high school entrance ceremony with Choi Mikyung’s family.

He had already told his parents, who were wondering whose entrance ceremony to attend, that they should take care of Yujin.

No matter how many times he thought about it, there was no need to worry.

‘I want to go too, though.’

He pulled his forehead away and stared at Yujin.

‘Wow-. When did Yujin grow up so much?’

That newborn baby is now entering elementary school.

The renaming to elementary school is next year, so Yujin will be the last student to enter ‘National School’ [old name for elementary school in Korea].

Come to think of it, Jungwon is also three years old by the count of years.

“Daddy-yaaaak! Baboooooo-yaaaak-!”

Thud-!

He was usually quiet, but he was also a very energetic baby boy when he saw the bear doll.

Listening to his shouts, it seemed like he was assuming the bear doll was his dad and scolding him.

“Dad-boo-.”

Jungwon, who had thrown the bear doll down, raised both arms.

He had grown so much that he could win a technical fall in a wrestling match with the bear doll that his sister cherished.

He’s going to tear the bear doll’s side again.

***

Whoosh-.

A black mid-sized sedan with no tinting slowly drove down the country road.

Choi Mikyung, a high school girl wearing a neat dark navy uniform, showed off her nightingale voice from the back seat.

“Mom, why is the entrance ceremony always on March 2nd?”

“Well, what is it… wasn’t yesterday the anniversary of the March 1st Movement [Korean independence movement]? They did the independence movement, so they’re telling the students not to just sit around at home and go to school and study. Isn’t that what it means?”

She had come up with the reason while rolling her eyes, but Kim Soonbok chuckled, finding it ridiculous herself.

“Pfft-, what’s that? I don’t want to go to school. I want to go play at the mole’s house.”

“Don’t be silly and study hard. I don’t expect you to be as good as our Jinhyuk.”

Jinhyuk, who had been listening quietly in the passenger seat, flinched at the mention of his name.

‘Why are you bringing up someone who’s just sitting here? It’s making me feel pressured.’

“Oh my, the car feels so full with our Jinhyuk in it. Jinhyuk, you’re used to riding in good cars, how are you going to manage in this car?”

“Dad, don’t say that. He rides a bicycle, so this is a luxury for him.”

Both Choi Janghwan’s and Choi Mikyung’s words were correct.

He was planning to take the bus, so getting a ride in a car was a blessing.

It was Jinhyuk’s first time riding in Choi Janghwan’s car.

It was a rear-wheel-drive car with a 1900cc engine from the Australian company Holden, and the passenger seat was comfortable and had excellent ride quality.

“The car is really nice. The name ‘Prince’ is well-deserved.”

“Aigoo-, nice, what’s so nice about it. Ah- well, it’s a semi-large car, so it’s okay to ride in. It even has ABS [Anti-lock Braking System].”

As expected, you can’t leave out praising cars when talking to car owners.

Jinhyuk was also someone with that much sense.

“It guzzles gas like crazy. It says 12.8 kilometers on the sticker on the back of the car, but I don’t know if it even gets 10.”

Choi Janghwan groaned as he boasted about his car while shifting the manual 3-speed gear.

‘Men, I tell you.’

If they only list one advantage, they are not Korean men.

“I guess it’s because it’s rear-wheel drive. When the road is completely frozen in the winter, if you just step on a pebble, the rear end sways, and your face turns pale. ABS or SBS, it’s all useless.”

You have to be able to reveal facts that are flaws, even defects.

“If it wasn’t for this father, someone else would have gone to the other world.”

In the end, he finishes with self-praise.

Choi Janghwan laughed as he recalled the time he experienced sliding due to heavy snow and freezing.

Choi Mikyung, the high school girl, grumbled as if she had no interest in men’s adventure stories.

“We had a preliminary meeting, so why do we have to have another entrance ceremony? This is such an inconvenient country.”

When Choi Mikyung grumbled, Kim Soonbok slapped her daughter’s thigh.

“Hey, you brat. If the school tells you to go, just go. Why are you complaining?”

“Mom! Jinhyuk is here, don’t call me a brat!”

“Why does it matter that Jinhyuk is here?”

Jinhyuk’s cheekbones became prominent as he watched Kim Soonbok and Choi Mikyung, who were sitting side by side in the back seat, argue. In the past, he would have been nervous and scared without doing anything wrong, but now he knows that their actions are natural and just part of everyday life.

‘They’re such warm people.’

Choi Mikyung is like a friend to her mom.

They go to the sea and fields together, and they scrub each other’s backs at the public bathhouse.

Even though they don’t have to go to the bathhouse, she said she can’t give up the fun of going back and forth between the hot and cold baths.

‘Will Yujin be like that soon?’

Yujin also has a bath at home, but like Choi Mikyung said, there’s fun in it.

“Mom and Dad will drop you off and go to the medical center, so take the bus home, okay?”

“Yes, thank you for the ride.”

As if they hadn’t just been arguing, Kim Soonbok held Choi Mikyung’s hand and stroked it.

“Oh my, our daughter is now a high school student. How can time pass so quickly? Soon, she’ll be getting married.”

“Don’t say such nonsense. I’m not going to get married. Don’t you know about being a single? I’m going to live with Mom.”

Choi Mikyung’s voice was tearful, as if she was moved.

“You brat, does this mean I’ll be washing your underwear even when I’m old?” Jinhyuk finally burst into laughter at Kim Soonbok’s grumbling.

Cough-.

‘She likes being single. You were married to a banker, you know.’

It’s her life, and she can decide for herself, but I hope she doesn’t meet that snob again.

But it also seems wrong to actively interfere in someone else’s life.

Choi Mikyung, the high school girl, tapped the passenger seat.

“Jinhyuk, you said you’d go to your class after the entrance ceremony, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what I heard.”

It’s called an entrance ceremony, but it’s just a chance to see the homeroom teacher and classmates you met during the preliminary meeting one more time.

“Hah-. If Son Jinhyuk were a girl, we would have gone to middle school together too. We’re like partners.”

A friend who was born in the same neighborhood and went to kindergarten through high school together, except for middle school. They could be called partners.

‘Should I eat a hamburger with my partner Choi Mikyung after the entrance ceremony, or should I eat jjajangmyeon….’

While he was having these small worries, he heard a chuckling sound from behind.

“Hey-. Hehehe. Don’t do anything weird on the first day.”

“Weird things? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember what happened on your first day of elementary school?”

What happened?

Jinhyuk was about to ask, but he bit his lip.

‘Oh, crap-. I remember.’

It’s all Dad’s fault anyway.