The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 208

< Luck (5) >

The fact that Hong Gijun and Yuseora were backing him meant he was enjoying privileges that no one else in the world received. The world would already be looking at him with prejudiced eyes, so it was shameful to call himself a victim.

Jinhyuk, still catching his breath, spoke clearly.

“This time, it would be good if there was just enough noise to not be too loud. Even if it’s for the sake of the athletes, the egg should be cracked slowly.”

If you suddenly break a hard egg, the world that has sprouted inside will also die.

If it were exposed to noise and pollution and disappeared, how much of a shock would it be to the dreamers who only looked at that one world? Like Park Jibeom, or those friends who only knew sports, whom he met during the Gongju training camp.

It didn’t matter who was in the Federation or what they did.

He had no intention of blaming them, nor did he wish for them to change.

Jinhyuk was also just one of the common people, unable to understand the rigid administration.

‘They must lack the will. Or they’re sitting in positions they’re not suited for.’

Min Yongrak, who was holding his chin, nodded. He seemed to understand what Jinhyuk was trying to say.

“There are many competitions left, and if we keep clashing and antagonizing each other like this, we’ll only harm each other.”

“That’s right. The Federation will be criticized for valuing outdated regulations more than the athletes…”

SI Sports would be criticized for ignoring the nation.

The criticism of the Federation would be limited to a few and would be short-lived. That’s how public opinion is.

However, the Seyin Sports Foundation could not ignore the possibility of being buried forever. There was no guarantee that the criticism would not spread to the Seyin Group.

Jinhyuk didn’t want things to get noisy in a bad way.

He just wanted his demands to be accepted.

“Don’t push for free participation, and only take action after the competition is over.”

“If we don’t push for it?”

“The rumors will gain strength if I don’t participate in this competition at all.”

“That’s true. We can just leak it to a few reporters, right?”

Fuuuuh-.

Jinhyuk, who took a long breath to calm himself, grinned.

Just like in the past, they understood each other well.

In the past, he thought it was thanks to the experience of going through overseas branch managers, but it seemed to be a natural talent. Since he didn’t have any tricks, it would be unreasonable to call him a schemer, and it would be more appropriate to see him as a staff member.

‘Let’s leak the rumor that the Federation and the athletes are out of sync….’

He wondered if there was anything else he needed to do, if there were any missing pieces, but it seemed like that would be enough. There was no weapon as powerful as being known to the world.

He would be satisfied just by fixing the regulations that seemed to exist for the Federation rather than the athletes.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work out in the end, I can just quit being an athlete. Someone will benefit.’

He desperately wanted to fit in as a human being in the world, but that world was just the human world, not limited to the small sports world. It was fortunate that Jinhyuk and Yuseora’s aims coincided. It would be difficult if the partners had different intentions.

Finally, after organizing his thoughts, he nodded.

“I think we can proceed as planned.”

“Okay.”

Jinhyuk looked at the empty gym and changed the subject.

“But, even Manager Min doesn’t know?”

“I don’t know SSS internal secrets either.”

These people were being called away everywhere, and they had been frequently absent for months. Just when they seemed to return, they would stay for a day or two and then disappear again, sometimes for 3 or 4 days, and sometimes for more than a week.

“But there’s always a minimum number left, so it’s okay, right?”

“I’m not worried about safety, I’m just curious.”

Mun Seokil also didn’t tell him.

The only answer he got from him was that they were often away for training.

Even Jinhyuk, who hated speculation, had no choice but to speculate about their whereabouts.

Perhaps they were moving to prevent the past accident that he had told Hong Gijun about. Looking at the quiet media without any special news of accidents, it was a reasonable assumption.

Sometimes, when members of Sakdo [a fictional organization] were being called away, it seemed like there were things that Hong Gijun was secretly pushing forward, like the New Boss faction.

Anyway, even though you don’t know when someone is there, you know when they’re gone, and he felt a little sad that the SSS uncles he had grown fond of had been gone for months.

“I feel like I’ve become a duck out of water….”

“Me too. I feel like my speech is getting weird because I only play with Jin-nam hyung.”

Yujin, who was taking a break from swimming with Lee Dongho on Saturday, chimed in.

“I know that. Duck eggs are delicious when boiled.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

That’s true, but what should he say in this situation?

As Jinhyuk scratched his forehead, Yujin clapped her hands.

“Ah, that’s right! Since we’re talking about eggs, I remembered I have something to show you, oppa!”

It seemed like today’s workout had to end here.

***

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in late April.

Jinhyuk, who had finished his workout early, was guarding the living room.

“Eung-ah, eung-ah-. Daddy is a ba-boo-boo-boob-.”

He was holding Jeongwon, who was fussing and whining.

Yujin had told him to wait without moving.

Jeongwon, who had eaten two bowls of lunch, also finished a snack of beef porridge and then made his diaper heavy.

Jinhyuk changed the diaper and washed the baby clean with water.

Jeongwon, feeling refreshed and drowsy, nestled in his brother’s arms, his arms and legs limp.

“Lullaby- lullaby-. Our baby-.”

As he rocked his almost two-year-old brother from side to side, Yujin appeared with something in her hands.

“Oppa, this is it.”

“Hmm….”

What is this thing for?

Jinhyuk’s eyes, looking at the object Yujin was holding as she came out of the utility room, seemed to be saying that.

In the old days, rural mothers would roll up straw or towels to make a coil and put it on their heads when they went to the fields. Some people called the coil ‘ttodae,’ but anyway, the towel that Yujin brought was rolled up like that coil.

And on top of it.

“Yujin-ah, where did you get that?”

A turquoise? Jade? A small egg that resembled that blue color.

The shape and size were generally similar to a quail egg. It seemed a little bigger….

“Yesterday, Janggun, Hongsi, Cheonma, Gwangma, and Geomma- heh heh-.”

It was hard to name all the dogs, so Yujin stuck out her tongue like Janggun.

“I met it when I went to the reservoir.”

“I see….”

Right, she went to the reservoir with the dogs and found an egg.

“Oppa, you know-. Yesterday, what happened was….”

Yujin put the coil down in front of her brother, and then knelt down cutely in front of it, and began to tell the story of yesterday’s adventure.

*

The spring breeze blows not only in the hearts of adults but also in the hearts of children. It is only natural that when the lungs are filled with the spring breeze, it is oxidized using physical strength as a catalyst. Son Yujin finished school and went on an adventure alone. It would be difficult to see it as a complete single play since five dogs were escorting her.

She walked along the wide cosmos path next to the bus route.

It was the path she used to take with her father on his back and holding her brother’s hand.

“Geomma-yah-. The cosmos are still babies. When autumn comes, they will grow this- much taller and bloom.”

She didn’t forget to educate Geomma, who was sniffing the tender cosmos leaves.

She met the forest where her brother used to meditate and went down the forest path leading to the reservoir.

It was the path that her brother, who climbed Gubong Mountain every day, ran every day.

“Eugh- I’m scared of the caterpillars.”

It was still April, but the furry friends, the harbingers of early summer, were occupying the leaves.

But she couldn’t go back like this. She followed Janggun, who seemed to be showing off that he knew the way, and walked bravely.

“Janggun-ah, oppa said he’ll take me to Gubong Mountain next year.”

Heh heh-?

Janggun, who looked back for a moment, tilted his head and walked ahead again.

When the downhill ended and she reached a flat area, the forest path ended and a square rice paddy appeared. The rice paddies, which had been leveled and filled with water in preparation for rice planting, reflected the sky. Like a giant mirror.

“Caww-. There are many clouds in the rice paddy! The clouds are moving!”

She sat on a large rock that had been guarding the rice paddy path since before Son Yujin was born and shared dried mudskippers with the dogs. It tasted a little fishy to Son Yujin, but it was an essential food for adventures.

“Should I have grilled them? Chop chop.”

When she reached the reservoir, the wind carrying the smell of water ruffled her bangs.

“Wow-! There’s a lot of water!”

It had been two seasons since she last visited in late autumn last year.

The reeds and reeds that had withered in the autumn wind and melted in the water were showing off their green life in the full bloom of spring.

A strange sight was caught in her large eyes that held the sky and water.

“Janggun-ah, what is that?”

Heh heh?

Janggun only tilted his head, looking at where Yujin’s finger was pointing.

In the middle of the reed forest, where the yellow soil and green were harmoniously mixed, a large bird was holding a jewel in its mouth. At first glance, it looked like a hawk, but its body was white except for its wings, and its beak and eyes resembled a seagull. What the bird was holding in its mouth was not a jewel, but a turquoise egg.

“Uh-? Hey!”

Son Yujin shouted.

She had learned that nature should be left as it is, but this didn’t seem to be the case.

The large bird was trying to swallow the egg.

Whether it was the mother, aunt, or cousin, how could it swallow an egg!

What was the fault of the baby bird that hadn’t even been born yet!

“Don’t eat it!”

Cawwwww-!

The reed forest shook violently from the shockwave of the shout, as if a typhoon had struck.

Woof woof! Woof woof woof!

Following Yujin’s shout, Janggun began to bark fiercely.

Flap! Splash-!

At the sudden appearance of the intruder, the bird dropped the egg and flew away.

*

Jinhyuk listened to his sister’s story from yesterday with a serious expression.

Because of his sister, who was worried that she had done something unnecessary.

“Yujin didn’t do anything wrong.”

She was a commendable kid.

She wasn’t honest with her brother, even though she thought she wasn’t being righteous.

Well, she didn’t feel good because she seemed to have interfered with the natural ecosystem, but wasn’t Yujin also a part of nature? In Jinhyuk’s eyes, it was just a coincidence that Yujin was there at that time, and she had acted according to her conscience. She wasn’t a documentary director, so what if she intervened?

“Yujin brought it after it fell into the water?”

“I told Hongsi to bring it. Oppa told me not to go into the water because it’s dangerous.”

“You did a really good job not going in.”

He stroked Yujin’s head and looked closely at the egg.

The color was similar to a cuckoo egg, but the size was smaller.

‘It’s not a cuckoo egg.’

The one who tried to swallow it must have been a cuckoo.

Judging from the appearance and actions that Yujin described, he couldn’t think of any other suspects. The moorhen only stirs up the rice paddies, and it wasn’t a bird that stole and ate other birds’ eggs.

His father, a city bumpkin from Seoul, used to take young Jinhyuk around and tell him about the things that happened in the neighborhood like a tour guide, and among them was the story of the cuckoo.

The cuckoo lays its eggs between April, when spring is in full bloom, and June, when it starts to get hot. Even now, if you go outside, you can hear the cuckoo’s cry all day long.

The cuckoo is cunning and lays its eggs in other birds’ nests, because it passes on the trouble of incubating and raising them to others. He remembered his father telling him that in the process of brood parasitism, they swallow the eggs that were already in the nest to match the number and reduce the suspicion of the original owner. He probably heard this story when he went to the rice paddies in the spring when he was ten years old.

“Oppa, but what kind of egg is this?”

“Maybe it’s a titmouse egg.”

Yujin, who had gained a lot of courage from her brother who was comforting her instead of scolding her, turned her attention to the egg.

As far as Jinhyuk knew, the only bird in this neighborhood that laid such small, patternless, turquoise eggs was the titmouse.

“Isn’t it a sparrow egg? A flock of sparrows was flying and landing nearby.”

“That must be a titmouse. They look like sparrows.”

Yeah, but what should he do with this?

He couldn’t put it back.

There wasn’t just one or two nests, and even if he returned it properly, if the mother smelled human scent, she would abandon the nest and the other eggs would also be abandoned.

“But is this alive?”

He closed one eye and held the egg up to the living room window where the sunlight was coming in.

But there was no way he could see inside.

“Hmm… I can’t tell like this.”

“It’s alive. Its heart is beating.”

“Ah, is that so?”

If Yujin said so, then it was so.

She had the eyes to recognize her brother’s heart beating on the bus, so who would he trust at this moment?

Should he secretly mix it in with the chicken coop eggs, or should he incubate it like Edison?

He was holding the sleeping Jeongwon in one arm and the egg in the other, lost in thought.

“What if I carry it around?”

“What if it breaks?”

Son Yujin, who was clumsy, would carry an egg to school?

It would be a miracle if she didn’t forget that it was an egg rescued from a cuckoo and swallow it whole.

Last time, she went to the kitchen to get milk for her brother, and didn’t she come back with milk on her mouth? Only holding an empty cup.

“Oppa, what if we ask a hen? They’re good at incubating eggs.”

“I’ve thought about that too, but I’m worried about the Silkie chickens.”

Is the current leader Chicken Johnson Jr. 23rd or 24th? Anyway, the Chicken Johnson guys wouldn’t just let it go. They even ate their own mates’ eggs and caught mice and snakes, so there was no guarantee that the bird egg would be safe.

“Ah-, if oppa doesn’t know either, are you a woodchuck? Our Lucky won’t be able to hatch from the egg.”

“Is its name Lucky?”

Yujin, who was already naming a bird that hadn’t even hatched yet, was really something.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s a name I just came up with. I thought it was a bluebird because it’s blue-. Lucky bluebird. And um, um. Because I found it by luck. So, Lucky.”

“That’s a good name. I hope this egg brings luck to Yujin.”

This egg was going to bring luck to our Yujin, so he couldn’t just let it rot!

He carefully put Jeongwon down on the blanket and moved on his knees to where the phone was.