The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 249

That’s how it seemed on the surface. In the past, he lived like a statue with his mouth shut, and in his current life, he was a guy who only worked out until he tasted metal in his mouth. Even in such a life, the existence of friends adds shape to it.

Knock knock-.

“Oppa-, Seulchan oppa is here. Eunjeong unnie is here too-. Mikyeong unnie is here toooo-.”

At Yujin’s call, I neatly folded the test paper I was studying and put it in the drawer.

It’s good to have friends living nearby.

Because you can meet them anytime and laugh while chatting about trivial things.

The good things about Jo Seulchan living right next door are that I no longer have to worry about him like a child left by the water, and that I’ve come to understand and become friends with Kim Eunjeong, whom I had dismissed as a strange person due to our distant relationship.

There were other advantages as well.

Jo Seulchan’s eyes widened when he saw the blueprint spread out in Jinhyuk’s room.

“Jineok, what is this?”

“Um-, this is-.”

“It’s a boat-. Our oppa is going to make a boat for us. Ack-! Cough! Aigoo-.”

Yujin, who was sitting on the bed eating a boiled sweet potato, chimed in.

As if speaking was so urgent, Yujin patted her chest after speaking to get the sweet potato stuck in her throat down.

“A boat? Can Jinhyuk even make a boat?”

“No. I haven’t made one yet.”

“Hmph-. There’s a first time for everyone.”

Kim Eunjeong, who was holding and soothing Jeongwon, pretended to know.

“The first time is difficult, but it’s easy from the second time. So, Jinhyuk. Make a boat first. Then it will be easy from the next time.”

What the hell is this nonsense······.

I think I should cancel what I said about understanding Kim Eunjeong.

“Eunjeong is right. I also had a hard time drawing, but now I kind of get it.”

Even Choi Mikyeong has become strange.

“Jinhyuk, should I try drawing it?”

“Would you? Seulchan is more skilled in design than I am, anyway.”

“Hey, it’s not that I’m better than you-. You can’t overcome what you’re born with.”

He’s a bit of a windbag, but he also knows how to be humble. As always, Jo Seulchan seems to regard Jinhyuk as more than just a friend.

I could guess why Kim Eunjeong was so into Jo Seulchan.

She must have been living among friends who subtly ignored her, and then she discovered a new world of relationships when she met a man who listened to her and was humble in front of her.

“Let’s see-. Is the boat our Yujin wants a rowboat?”

“Keuk-. Yes, ehehe-.”

Yujin laughed, hitting her chest again, as if she had another sweet potato stuck in her throat.

“Rowboats are not cool. Yachts are cool.”

“Eunjeong unnie, what is a yacht?”

“A yacht is······.”

Kim Eunjeong lightly frowned, like a sage on the verge of enlightenment.

She’s a person who constantly blabbers about the appearance and performance of UFOs, but it seems like a yacht is difficult to explain.

“I know that. I saw it in a magazine, it looks like a shoe.”

As Choi Mikyeong joined in, the conversation became increasingly strange.

But it wasn’t wrong either, so Jinhyuk nodded.

There are also shoes called yacht shoes.

So, a yacht is a boat that looks like a yacht shoe.

No, what am I even saying?

‘I think I’m getting weird hanging out with these guys!’

While some were talking nonsense and others were daydreaming, Jo Seulchan, holding a 2B pencil, sketched on his sketchbook.

“Oh-.”

“Oooo-.”

“Wow-, Seulchan is really good at drawing.”

It was a talent of Jo Seulchan’s that I hadn’t known before.

Jinhyuk was also quite good at drawing, but since being reborn, he had only drawn for grades, in a textbook manner. But Jo Seulchan was expressing his imagination with his hands while listening to his friends’ explanations.

“So-, is this what Eunjeong was talking about when she said yacht?”

It was a boat that looked like a shoe.

It had a windshield in the front and a roof.

“That’s right. That’s not what I was thinking, but that’s also right.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what you mean, but I understand.”

Even though both of them have strange ways of speaking, they understand each other······.

Maybe these two are aliens after all.

It’s not an unreasonable guess. There’s also that guy named Dugu Elil, even though I don’t know what he is. He hasn’t appeared because I haven’t been desperately looking for him, but he’ll probably show up whenever he feels like it.

“Like this, like this-.”

Jo Seulchan added a sketch under the roof.

He placed the driver’s seat and steering wheel in the center, and seats on the left and right, with a texture that made them look like sofas, which caught the eye.

“Jo Seul. You’re good at drawing. Draw a UFO too.”

“Let’s do it one by one. Today is about the yacht.”

“Okay.”

Jinhyuk was secretly surprised.

Jo Seulchan rejected Kim Eunjeong’s request, had their relationship become equal at some point?

Not only that.

“Seulchan, can we make that with our own hands?”

“Later, when we have time.”

Yeah······. Jinhyuk was pleased.

It felt like the person asking the question and the person answering had switched.

It felt like Jo Seulchan and Jinhyuk, who had been in a dependent relationship, had finally become friends.

Jo Seulchan looked at Jinhyuk, who was grinning like a fool, with a puzzled expression.

“The competition is less than twenty days away, can you be goofing off like this?”

“Ah······.”

Look at this guy?

He’s even nagging now that he’s grown a bit.

***

Although it was an unofficial practice record, it was a month ago that I broke the 10-second barrier.

After that, Jinhyuk shortened his time by 0.01 seconds every other day for two weeks.

“Hmm······.”

Yu Sera, who received Jinhyuk’s practice record from Min Yongrak, had sleepless nights for several days. She was even proud of herself for not going to the hospital. The sound of her heart pounding was so loud that it felt like it would burst out of her throat.

‘It’s time to make a gamble with the heart of Nongae [a famous Korean gisaeng who sacrificed herself to kill a general] throwing herself into the Indang Sea [a sea known for its treacherous currents].’

Yu Sera picked up the phone with a determined expression.

Hem hem-.

Ring ring-.

She turned her head this way and that to look at herself in the mirror······.

She’s perfect no matter when she looks at herself.

– Hello.

Alright, he picked up.

“Jinhyuk’s record is unusual.”

– It’s a pleasure to hear your voice, but I’m a bit busy.

Oh, Jesus. He’s businesslike yet romantic.

How many men in Korea can say such sweet nothings? Honey dripped from Yu Sera’s eyes, who was even more captivated by Hong Gijun than when they were dating.

But why did I call, what was I going to say······?

Ah, that’s right.

“It seems like the guy who said he would live an ordinary life has become more daring.”

– He should. He’s grown enough, so he should come to his senses now, shouldn’t he?

“Wouldn’t it be better to prepare in advance?”

– Of course.

At this pace, it was clear that he would pass the standard record before May, when the Olympic qualification was decided. If only the weather and the federation’s stubbornness didn’t get in the way. The weather is beyond human control, but changing the federation is within Hong Gijun’s ability.

More than enough.

“So, what I mean is-.”

– You mean, instead of rushing around after qualifying, we should prepare in advance.

“Hehehe-.”

I couldn’t help but laugh like a fool.

It was a relief that he saved me the trouble of speaking.

– Why, are you not confident?

Oh, come on-.

He never lets anything go easily.

Let’s just play dumb for now.

“Uhh-, I called to a, ask how to do it-.”

– Why don’t you go visit the federation? You haven’t met them yet, have you?

That sharp bastard.

He’s like an old man who not only knows what’s inside people but also monitors what they’re doing. Did he put a mole on me? Yu Sera looked around the empty office.

“What for?”

– You have to negotiate.

“What kind of negotiation?”

– Ha, Yu Sera······.

“Just tell me, please-. Huh? Oppa.”

Even the ultimate weapon, a nasal voice, came out.

If he doesn’t tell me even now, I’ll have to ask a high school student.

‘Maybe I should have asked Jinhyuk first.’

He didn’t sigh, though.

Sometimes, I can’t hear anything from the phone.

– Make a deal with the record you’ll make at the competition. It’s easy.

“And?”

– ······.

That’s strange.

He doesn’t sigh, but I can’t hear anything?

Isn’t it time to explain what, how, why, to whom, when, and where is easy?

***

「Tae Yang Group」

There could be many meanings to a uniform with a regional name printed on it, but Jinhyuk only thought of one important meaning.

‘I am a professional. I am a professional.’

A person who represents.

That’s how he defined himself as a professional.

Buzzing, buzzing-.

The noise of people, which I wanted to avoid so much, is now familiar.

If the noise made by the audience were removed from the stadium, the athletes would be the most disappointed. Even if the noise interferes with their concentration.

[Your back, now hidden by the endlessly falling white snow, I can never see again-]

Even though winter is over and spring has come, the background music is still a winter story.

There’s nothing better than a dance song to liven up the atmosphere.

Click-.

[Beep-.]

Finally, the music stopped.

Whoosh-.

Not a high school division, but a general division.

Except for Jinhyuk, the other athletes were all from city hall or corporate teams. Among the athletes who were shaking their hands and ankles to warm up, those in the nearby lanes turned their heads towards Jinhyuk.

“Yo-, celebrity.”

Everyone smiled and said a word, so Jinhyuk also nodded and responded with a smile.

“Please take care of me.”

Yeah, sure.

“Why are you doing track and field? There are so many other sports like basketball, volleyball, and what else?”

Go away.

“Jinhyuk, you have to be humble in this field.”

Be humble. You first.

“Wow-, what did you eat to grow so well?”

My mom’s food.

As expected of adult athletes, they were relaxed.

However, the smiles were only temporary, and the athletes, like professionals, immediately entered their mind control routines.

Stretching and warming up are not the only routines. They take deep breaths, again and again, and compose their minds. It’s a process of self-hypnosis that they can do it and sharpening their hearing to be able to jump out faster than anyone else.

[Lane four, Tae Yang Group, Son Jinhyuk.]

In the semi-finals, he had already broken the Korean record and obtained a lottery ticket given to the top three semi-finalists. And he drew the lane that was known to be the best.

He raised his clenched fist.

Wow-!

When Jinhyuk’s name was called, cheers of support came from one corner of the audience.

It was the support from his family, friends, and juniors who had come all the way to Busan on a chartered bus sponsored by the Sein Group. It was a fairly large crowd.

“Oppaahhhhhhh-!”

Kyaaaaaa-!

Is that cheering, or is it a trick to make people lose their minds?

Even Jinhyuk flinched at Yujin’s lion’s roar, which instantly suppressed the buzzing.

Jeongwon, who was waving his hands, seemed to be saying something like, ‘Ung, you’re a fool, daddy-.’

And.

‘Look at those guys?’

I could see Jo Seulchan and Kim Eunjeong sitting together and shaking their fists.

Choi Mikyeong and Lee Seunghoon were also there, of course. Those bastards came all the way here to make love.

Those students aren’t studying, they’re supposed to be······. Ah, that’s not it.

Anyway, this is the first time so many people have come to cheer me on at a competition.

While competing in this competition, I kept thinking about the words of Choi Mikyeong, who is both my friend and mentor.

– “It’s a bit of a jerk thing to say, but you’re not running alone, you know. Do you see those kids running around the track? Do you see the fire in those little punks’ eyes? Who do you think lit the fire in their hearts?”

Anyone could see that he was bigger and darker than Choi Mikyeong, so it was a bit of a stretch to call him a punk, but Jinhyuk tends to listen quietly whenever Choi Mikyeong has something to say. Even though she has a nasty personality, she often says things that are good for you. After all, they say that a friend is a mentor in life.

– “If you’re a guy with balls, you have to take responsibility for your actions.”

What kind of nonsense is that, giving an exemption to people without balls?

Still, what Choi Mikyeong meant was not that people with congenital ball deficiency are not responsible for their crimes.

– “Seeing our blockhead oppa collapse during training, and then get up and train until he collapses again. I felt something. I don’t want to regret it later, and maybe it’s because I’ve come too far to give up, but isn’t it because of those chubby juniors who are crazy about the name Choi Taeyang that you’re gritting your teeth? You too, man, do it until you think you can’t do it anymore. There’s no greater lesson for them than that.”

Well, it seems like she wanted to give some golden advice now that she’s grown up a bit.

Choi Mikyeong is sometimes like a sly fox who sees into Jinhyuk’s heart.

Whenever he tries to live comfortably by himself, she treats him like a coward and leads him to set an example.

– “History isn’t just written between men and women-. Write history like Choi Taeyang.”

Whatever you say.

As expected of someone who is obsessed with her oppa, the end of her sermon was about bragging about her oppa.

After glancing at the juniors sitting quietly in one corner of the cheering squad, I placed my feet on the starting block.

[On your marks-.]

The headwind was blowing, but it was laughable.

I didn’t do my best in the semi-finals, and I slowed down at the end.

It wasn’t about saving energy for the finals.

It was just a way to announce my leisure.