The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 232

Choice (6)

Did I hear wrong?

Sigh-, Jinhyuk tilted his head, closed his eyes again, and pressed his forehead against the back of his hand.

“Hide well, hide well-. Don’t let your hair show-”

How many times did he repeat the song? The sound of the wind died down, and only Janggun’s breathing was heard as he tilted his head, as if asking what he was doing.

Hehehek-.

“Did you hide?”

“Yeeees-.”

Hearing the answer again, it seemed like it would be the same no matter how many times he repeated it.

Hey, you little rascal.

Jinhyuk bit his lip to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out.

She’s such a good little sister who always answers so well.

“I’m coming to find youuu-.”

“Yeeees-.”

“······.”

At this point, he had to accept it.

Even if it wasn’t for Yujin’s voice, he could have found her easily.

At first, he guessed that she might be hiding in the ditch of the waterway track, but there was no need to go that far.

Beep-.

‘Lucky, shhh. Be quiet.’

It was also fun to whisper to Lucky while answering her brother in a loud voice.

Beep-.

‘Ah, please. It’s all ruined because of Lucky-.’

Beep beep-.

At this point, it wasn’t Lucky but a snitch.

Well, since she’s not secretly but openly reporting, she’s just a snitch, right?

Anyway.

‘Should I find her, or not.’

Why am I even worrying about this?

Is this also a choice?

It would be better to just play along.

“Aigoo-, I can’t find youuu-?”

“Hehehe-.”

Yujin giggled, not knowing what was so good.

Inside the doghouse.

“Hongsi, Cheonma, Gwangma, and Geomma, why are you outside when it’s cold-?”

“Hehehe-.”

The loyal dog friends stood like stone statues in front of the doghouse, pretending not to notice, as if trying to hide Yujin. What a sight. If the dogs, who were ignoring Jinhyuk, had even whistled, he would have been completely fooled.

Beep-.

Jinhyuk, following Lucky’s cry, circled the doghouse about ten times and shouted that he couldn’t find her.

Only then did Yujin crawl out, brush off the dirt from her knees, and point at her brother as if scolding him.

“I’m going to hide again.”

“Isn’t it my turn?”

“You didn’t find me-.”

Yujin, with a pathetic look, crossed her arms.

Isn’t this a pose that girls usually make when they fight?

“Uh-, okay. Hide.”

She might not know the rules. She’s being too harsh, not knowing how difficult it is to play hide-and-seek after 50 years. Jinhyuk grumbled inwardly and closed his eyes again, pressing his forehead against the zelkova tree.

“Hide well, hide well-. If you get caught, I’ll yank your hair-.”

Jinhyuk and Yujin hid and sought diligently.

Jinhyuk wandered around busily but deliberately didn’t find her, and Yujin found her brother no matter where he hid.

‘When am I going to work out······.’

Still, it was a fun and precious time.

Knowing that this was also a moment that would never come again.

The warmth of the siblings, which even the cold wind at the end of winter couldn’t cool down, continued until the family, who had gone to the hospital, returned with the sunset.

Jinhyuk picked up Jungwon, who was getting out of the car.

“Eetchya-! Did our little brother have a good visit to the hospital?”

“Oh my, don’t even ask. He was running around the medical center, and the doctors were asking, ‘What exactly is wrong with him?'”

Han Yu-young shook her head like she was chasing away flies.

“It’s a relief that Jungwon is okay, even though Mom must have been more sick.”

It must be something you know without being told.

Even now, her mother’s face is full of worry.

It must be because of her guilt as a mother who couldn’t take care of her baby.

“It’s enough if Jungwon is okay. Sigh-. I feel like I’ve aged ten years.”

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s go inside. Yujin, let’s go in and have dinner.”

“Yes-. Ehehe-.”

It must be because her mind is exhausted.

That’s why even Dad looks so tired.

I know what’s needed in times like this.

I should skip working out today.

***

“Ouch! I got pinched-.”

“Aigoo-. Jinhyuk, be careful-. The pincers of a box crab are really strong-.”

They call it ‘box crab’.

It’s a dialect for a stone crab, just like calling a mudskipper ‘thunder’ or ‘thunderbolt’. In some regions, they call mudskippers ‘woongeo’. The real ‘woongeo’ [a type of fish] is different, and that one would be sad if it heard that.

Anyway.

Yuk Sung-chan was chatting non-stop, enjoying the clam digging with his friend.

“These guys are really fierce. About fifteen days ago, I got pinched, and my finger almost got a hole in it, you know?”

It’s not like Jinhyuk came to the sea only today.

He goes to the night sea for clam digging once a month, and it’s so common that he doesn’t remember it specifically.

“Whoa-, look at this octopus-. It’s huge-.”

He picked up turban shells and clams for his mother, saying they were good for women, and he was tempted to catch anything, saying they were good for men. Of course, following his father’s wishes, he released the young ones unconditionally. The standard for measuring size was Jinhyuk’s hand, and in the case of box crabs, if the size of their pincers fully spread was smaller than his hand, he ignored them. In the end, it meant that Jinhyuk couldn’t catch many compared to the effort he put in.

“Hoo-, I’m tired. Sungchan, aren’t you thirsty? Let’s drink some water and go.”

It’s about passing through the mudflat, crossing the waterway, and turning over rocks bigger than an adult’s head.

The rocks are covered with barnacles, so it’s easy to get hurt by the sharp barnacle shells, and you shouldn’t rush in relying only on your strength.

“It’s unusual for Jinhyuk to say he’s tired-.”

Even if he has physical strength, it’s inevitable that his stamina gradually decreases. Because he had dried up his stamina well, Jinhyuk had no choice but to control his stamina. He knew how scary it was to run out of stamina in the mudflat.

Watching Yuk Sung-chan, who was faster than him in the mudflat, he once again understood why the great wrestler Choi Tae-yang was so weak in the mudflat or mountains.

‘Labor and exercise are different.’

Since the posture and breathing are different, the timing of using strength is also different, and the rate at which stamina decreases is also different.

Yuk Sung-chan, who lives in a house where he can reach the mudflat just five steps out of the gate, has been doing this since he was young, so he must be more skilled at sea work than exercise.

“Aigoo-, look at my mind.”

Yuk Sung-chan, opening the icebox, was flustered.

“Jinhyuk called me out of the blue to go clam digging, so I was in such a hurry that I didn’t even bring water-.”

It was clam digging that he chose to comfort his mother, who was depressed after the incident where Jungwon almost suffocated. There’s nothing better for a change of mood than eating delicious food together. Of course, the food that Mom makes is delicious, and Jang Jin-nam’s cooking is also top-notch, but what better ingredient is there than freshly caught seafood?

“I brought plenty. Drink.”

It’s the winter sea, where you don’t even sweat, but strangely, I’m thirstier.

Yuk Sung-chan laughed, saying that it was probably because of the salty sea breeze.

“How’s it going with Haewon?”

“Cough-! Hehehe-. Ah, why even talk about it-.”

Yuk Sung-chan, who was drinking water, laughed slyly at the sudden question about his girlfriend.

Yuk Sung-chan went to an industrial high school in another region where Jo Seul-chan was attending, and Lee Haewon went to a commercial high school for girls in the town.

They grew up in the same village since they were young and saw everything about each other, so there were two options. They either fell in love or became enemies. Fortunately or unfortunately, Jinhyuk’s friends became such a couple.

“Every morning, I take her on my motorcycle, and Haewon waits at school until I pick her up-.”

“That’s good.”

Hearing about his friends’ fresh romance, his heart fluttered, and he smiled naturally.

His face wasn’t clearly visible because of the darkness, but Yuk Sung-chan seemed to be happy, giggling continuously.

“It’s all thanks to Ilheon-.”

“Why him?”

“I did everything Ilheon told me to do-. What do I know?”

A man who got married in his late forties giving dating advice.

Indeed, the human world is a place where you shouldn’t just look at what you know.

“Oh, oh, how did you do it?”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Did Jinhyuk get a girlfriend that you’re stuttering?”

Hey, shut up and explain first. Before I bury you in the mudflat.

“So, what I mean is-.”

Splish-.

Yuk Sung-chan began to tell his story, matching the rhythm of his steps.

“Just, treat her like a princess unconditionally. But that doesn’t mean you have to obey her, but treat her preciously. And then, the thing is, the woman should make the choice for a comfortable relationship. A man shouldn’t act up just because he’s a man, you know?”

Even so, if you treat her too well, wouldn’t the man look too easy?

It was very different from what Jinhyuk had heard.

“Once, Haewon said she was too sorry and wanted to stop seeing me, you know?”

Ah, so that happened.

Yuk Sung-chan, who had been devoted since elementary school, must have been very hurt.

“Turns out, there’s a church in Jaedong Village, you know? The one I used to go to-.”

“There is.”

“It seems like a guy from that church seduced her.”

That son of a bitch, seducing someone else’s girlfriend······.

“But after about a week? She came back, saying she was sorry.”

“Oh······. So?”

Amazing.

He’s a capable man who can make a woman who left come back in less than two weeks.

“Well, what can I do? But I was curious, so I asked her.”

“Why did you come back?”

“Yeah, right. Is there anything else to ask?”

And then?

What did she say?

Tell me quickly. Before I bury you upside down in the mudflat.

“When she talked to another guy, she only thought about how preciously I treated her. That guy was just showing off and didn’t listen to Haewon at all? I mean, even if he’s good, is he better at studying or sports than Son Jinhyuk?”

What, why are you praising a random person?

Jinhyuk was slightly embarrassed, but he seemed to know what Yuk Sung-chan was trying to say.

“Would he listen to her as patiently as I do, would he smile at Haewon as much as I do? Even if my accent is country, I’m always there for her, you know? I mean, I treat her preciously, you know? I bought her an expensive helmet and a protector jacket so that Haewon wouldn’t get hurt.”

“Hmm-.”

It seems like I understand.

“That guy called Haewon’s house, saying it was a betrayal of faith, and I went there with a shovel and chased him away.”

“Haewon won’t go to church anymore, right?”

“Yeah, right? Haewon has some sense. Now she’s scared just passing by the church. She says the preacher will come after her, calling her a devil.”

He had heard a similar story from his neighborhood friend, Kim Eun-jung.

Her aunt, who was a Christian, came to visit from the city, and she went to the village church holding her aunt’s hand. On the way back from church, her aunt suddenly said something strange. She pointed at the farmers working in the fields and called them devils.

Jinhyuk inwardly called her a fool, but Kim Eun-jung didn’t go to church because of the shock that day. She only went because she liked to get snacks and play with her friends on the wide, cool floor of the chapel. But an adult from the city said scary things, so Kim Eun-jung’s reaction was understandable.

But then, a preacher or something kept coming to her house, asking why she wasn’t coming to church, and Kim Chun-sik grabbed him by the collar and chased him away.

‘The world of people is noisy and incomprehensible.’

While Jinhyuk was clicking his tongue, Yuk Sung-chan’s grumbling continued.

“Isn’t God our father? Then aren’t we all the same children? Whether we go to church or not, he’ll take care of his children. Surely he wouldn’t discriminate?”

After saying something similar to Kim Eun-jung, Yuk Sung-chan took off his hat and scratched his head.

The sound of scratching his buzz cut was louder than the sound of the mudflat water droplets popping.

“Hey, Jinhyuk. Let’s stop and go home since we’ve caught enough.”

“Already?”

Yuk Sung-chan’s icebox, illuminated by the flashlight, contained only four stone crabs and three fist-sized turban shells.

“Now that we’re talking about it, I want to see Haewon, and also······.”

“Also?”

Yuk Sung-chan sighed deeply.

“It’s scary at night. Jesus might come out······.”

Ah, that’s right.

This bastard Sungchan, he has a record of quitting church because they didn’t give him snacks.

So that’s why the Bible says that humans are sinful beings.

Kim Eun-jung, Yuk Sung-chan, who else is there? Anyway, Jinhyuk is surrounded by ex-convicts.

Even though he said that, Yuk Sung-chan seemed to be bothered by returning with a light icebox.

“Should we catch a little more? Since we’re out, Haewon would like it too, right?”

“Why even talk about it-.”

“Ehehehe-.”

Yuk Sung-chan laughed like a seal at Jinhyuk’s clumsy dialect.

The two friends, one in front and one behind, were increasing their harvest when they encountered a large rock.

“Sungchan, move aside. I’ll turn it over.”

“Aigoo-, the barnacles are so well-formed-. Give me your hand, be careful-.”

This is a job for a strongman. If you try to lift it recklessly, you can hurt your back or, in severe cases, severely injure your knee on the rock.

“Chunsik’s uncle’s younger brother died around here when he was our age-.”

“Yeah, I heard about it too.”

Now there are three brothers, but Kim Chun-sik was originally the eldest of four brothers.

Below him was a younger brother named Kim Chun-oh.

Below that were Kim Chun-sam and Kim Chun-seop.

Kim Chun-oh went out to the night sea in late winter, when spring was coming, and never returned.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the villagers went out to look for him, and they found him dead with his eyes open, his leg crushed under a large rock.

“You shouldn’t take the mudflat lightly-. You should only take as much as you’re given, and you should only use as much strength as you have-. Hoo-, look at this rock? If you push it a little, it moves like this, you know? Even though it’s such a big rock, there’ll be a lot of things to catch underneath, you know? But then greed brings disaster.”

“Guh! Let!”

Thud-! Splish-.

When he turned over the huge rock like a bear, the creatures that lived in the comfortable world below were in an uproar.

Clatter-.

Hoo-. Jinhyuk, who had used his energy, didn’t even get a chance to catch his breath.

“Heehee-! It’s amazing! Shh shh-. Hurry, shh-!”

At Yuk Sung-chan’s cry, which was like a cheer, Jinhyuk, who was about to stretch his back, bent down again and frantically picked things up.

From the quickly moving box crabs to the slow octopuses and the immobile turban shells.

It was as if the icebox was sucking them in, and the creatures were being shot inside.

“Oh my-, Jinhyuk’s energy is really something-.”

Yuk Sung-chan put his hands on his waist and puffed out his chest.

Jinhyuk bit his lip tightly.