The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 260

Son Yu-jin, with Hongsi and Gwangma [names of dogs] in tow, went around the neighborhood.

It wasn’t her intention to show off.

“Cheon Gil-ryong, Heavy G! I’m going to America! America is a huge, huge country, and they even hold the Olympics there!”

America is this big!

It wasn’t her intention to show off, but without realizing it, her arms spread wide open.

“Ahem, ahem—can you even speak the language of those foreigners? If you can’t speak it, you might get snatched by a Western ghost without even knowing it.”

“I am Son Yu-jin!”

“Yes, yes. You’re doing well. Don’t even think about buying things like foreign liquor or chocolate. Oh my, these work boots are so worn out, the heels are all gone.”

“Yes! I won’t buy anything!”

Son Yu-jin is good at listening to what adults say.

After leaving Cheon Gil-ryong’s house, she stopped by Yuk Seong-chan’s house.

“Young-gu Ajusshi [a respectful term for an older man]! I’m going to America! If you kiss too much, your lips will go ‘pop-!’ I bet Yuk Seong-chan oppa [older brother or male friend] knows that too, right?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

She also said goodbye at Lee Hae-won’s store.

It was the anniversary of the girls’ high school, so Lee Hae-won was home.

“Hae-won unnie [older sister or female friend]! I’m going to America! Yesterday, in the training center’s backyard, Yuk Seong-chan oppa and I kissed—oops!”

Lee Hae-won quickly covered Son Yu-jin’s mouth.

“Here, take this. It’s a gift from me.”

She also unexpectedly received a bottle of soju [Korean rice wine].

This unnie must have been in a hurry, giving it to me secretly from her aunt.

She was looking around like a squirrel eating acorns.

She couldn’t leave out Kim Ho-jin’s house either. Lee Dong-ho’s house was far, but Kim Ho-jin lived in An Village, so she had to stop by.

“I’m going to America the day after tomorrow!”

“Whoa—, I’m jealous.”

“Aww—, it’s nothing. Hehe—.”

“But why are you carrying soju around?”

“I got this as a gift. Lee Hae-won unnie gave it to me.”

It wasn’t her intention to show off her trip to America or the soju.

She was just saying goodbye to her neighbors.

“But, class president, can you speak American?”

“Of course! I am Son Yu-jin! I speak English.”

“Why do you speak English when you’re going to America? I heard English is British.”

Kim Ho-jin was sometimes sharp, and Son Yu-jin sometimes got stuck.

In times like this, she just had to run away.

“See you when I get back!”

And then she went to the training center far away.

“Heavy G! I’m going to America!”

“What’s with the soju?”

“This is called a gift—.”

She wanted to give it to Yu Myeong-seon, but it felt like she would be ignoring the giver’s feelings, so she held it close to her chest.

“Ohoho—, yes. If our Yu-jin isn’t here, who will massage this old man?”

“Um…”

A question she hadn’t prepared for made her feel awkward.

Her oppa, who often studied for exams, said that the reason he solved practice problems in advance was to anticipate the questions and prepare the answers, but Son Yu-jin hadn’t reached that level yet.

“Ahehe—, it’s okay. Have a good trip.”

“I will!”

She bowed deeply and left An Village.

Below the bus route, she could see the mud houses and the three-story houses. She passed by the scenery that always made her happy and warmed her heart and went to Kim In-rang’s house.

“Grandma!”

“Oh my, you startled me! This old woman can hear just fine, you rascal—.”

Kim In-rang’s mother, who had been hard of hearing, had her hearing improve after living in the countryside.

It wasn’t due to aging but because of a small wound in her eardrum, and Son Yu-jin’s eyes had spotted a small heart beating in her eardrum. She had met Son Yu-jin after coming to the countryside, so it was also true that it was thanks to her life in the countryside. Just like Yu Myeong-seon said.

“Kim Chun-shik Ajusshi!”

“I’m Chun-sam—.”

She also stopped by Kim Eun-jeong’s house to say goodbye and got some beef bones.

Holding a bottle of soju and beef bones tied with a string, she stopped by Jo Il-heon’s house. Jo Il-heon wasn’t home, so she said goodbye to Gwak Hyang-rim.

“I’m going to America!”

“Have a good trip—.”

She visited the village chief’s house, the class president’s house, the youth association president’s house, the senior citizens’ association president’s house, and Choi Mi-kyung’s house.

After a few hours of saying goodbye, she collapsed on the porch. Her hair, which her mom had styled so nicely, was a mess.

“Haaigo—, I’m tired.”

They say you have to be good at saying hello to become a president later, but I can’t just do it half-heartedly, and this is not an easy task.

But she had to accomplish her goal.

She jumped up and headed to the garden to replenish her energy.

‘I should eat a tomato!’

Slurp—.

There’s nothing better than a tomato to quench thirst and hunger.

“Ah—, sour—.”

It was still early for tomatoes to ripen, and even though she picked one that was slightly orange, it was very acidic.

But she couldn’t throw away the precious tomatoes that her mom, dad, and oppa had grown.

“Janggun? Hongsi? Geomma? Cheonma? Gwangma? You don’t like it?”

The dog friends all turned away from the tomato.

“You guys are really full.”

Then she had no choice but to take responsibility herself.

She had learned from her oppa to be a person who takes full responsibility for their actions.

Crunch, crunch—she chewed and headed to the next house!

It was nice that it was next door.

“Grandma! I’m going to America!”

“Yes, yes. Our Yu-jin is going to see the world thanks to her oppa—.”

“Yes, ehehe—.”

She felt sorry that she was the only one going to see the world.

Son Yu-jin was a generous child, so she knew that too.

That’s why she also said sorry in front of her friends who were jealous when she told them at school.

She went back to her room and opened the window.

In the small nest on the windowsill, there were four baby birds with their mouths wide open.

Chirp, chirp, chirp—.

When will she come?

Flap—! Oh, she’s here.

“Haeng-un, Mom is going to America—.”

Chirp, chirp, chirp—.

“I’m going to ride something called an airplane. An airplane is a bird that’s much bigger and faster than Haeng-un—.”

Chirp, chirp, chirp—.

Every time Haeng-un came to the nest with a bug to feed her babies, she started talking, but Haeng-un seemed too busy to listen to Son Yu-jin.

“Haeng-un, where did Haeng-sun go?”

Come to think of it, Haeng-un’s partner was nowhere to be seen.

Did Haeng-un’s wife run away?

She was there this morning?

Maybe she goes to work at the township office in the morning and comes home in the evening, like Mr. Jjorong’s unnie.

“I should study English.”

She massaged her heavy legs to spread warmth and turned the pages of a book.

It was a book with pictures and English words on each page, which Hong Su-jeong had used when she was in kindergarten.

“Airplane—.”

“I am a boy—.”

“I am Son Yu-jin—.”

“This is bicycle—, ahh…?”

Ah, I should have ridden my bike when I was saying goodbye.

Haigo, my legs—.

Since some time ago, the effect of her magic touch had started to weaken, and even though she massaged them while saying goodbye, it wasn’t very effective.

– [Talent is a contract of the soul. What the head forgets, the body remembers, and what the body forgets, the soul remembers. I realized this by seeing the soul that lived another life blooming its talent in another world. But, my dear, this is your first life.]

It was a story she had heard in her dreams when she was a baby.

She didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded like talent and soul had decided to be friends.

– “I think it’s rather fortunate, oppa. I was always nervous that someone would notice it someday.”

If her oppa said so, Son Yu-jin wasn’t too upset.

Um! She bit her lip and nodded.

“I am Son Yu-jin!”

***

Son Yu-jin had a restless sleep because of Haeng-sun’s disappearance.

Creak—when she opened the window, Haeng-un, who had been sleeping with her babies under her wings, lifted her head.

“Haiguu—, my baby is having a hard time protecting her babies alone—.”

From the little girl’s mouth came a more natural and folksy dialect than her oppa’s.

Her dialect had become more fluent as she spent time with Jo Seul-chan’s grandmother.

Tweet, tweet—.

She didn’t know what she was saying, but Haeng-un greeted Son Yu-jin like that every morning.

Flap, flap—.

Then she would fly away. She probably went to catch bugs to feed her babies.

“Yu-jin, you need to wash up and get ready to leave, right?”

“Yes—.”

Her mom and dad, who had come to Son Yu-jin’s room, just stroked their daughter’s hair to comfort her. What words would she hear when she hadn’t even eaten dinner properly last night, worrying about the missing Haeng-sun?

“But Haeng-un is a great dad. He’s working hard to feed his babies all by himself.”

“He’s so mature, Yu-jin, he wouldn’t want you to be sad. You’re Haeng-un’s mom.”

“It’s not because of Haeng-un.”

“Then?”

“I’m worried about Haeng-sun. Mom and Dad would be sad if they didn’t see me, right?”

The parents fell silent.

Jin-hyeok, who was standing in front of the door, also held his breath.

“Mom and Dad told me when I was in kindergarten. Even if Mom and Dad get old and become grandmas and grandpas, you should take care of your children more than your parents.”

Jin-hyeok also remembered.

That the parents’ hard work and sacrifice were not done in the hope of reward. That those who raise their children for some gain are not qualified to be parents.

That since parents are people whose learning has stopped, rather than trying to learn from them, they should learn from the changing and growing world and become people who teach their parents.

Whatever the true intentions of the parents who said those words, it was a message to help their children who would live in the future rather than being sad about their parents getting old.

“Haeng-sun doesn’t come to me, and she doesn’t say hello, but I’m worried because she’s like my baby.”

Jin-hyeok quietly stepped back so that his footsteps wouldn’t be heard.

They say that young children grow a lot when they are away from home for a long time, but Yu-jin seemed to have grown enough before leaving.

‘She’s more mature than me.’

He was ashamed of himself for wanting to go home and see his mom every time he left home for a competition that was only three nights and four days long. Well, it wasn’t necessarily something to be ashamed of, but it was an unavoidable human nature to be compared to Yu-jin, who was much younger than him.

Come to think of it, it was also the first time Jin-hyeok was leaving home for almost a month.

He had stayed home during the vacations, and he had only gone on family trips. The school trip for two nights and three days, and the training camp for the class president and vice president, were only three days long.

‘You need practice to say goodbye.’

The day to leave his beloved home and his parents’ arms was really not far away.

***

“Don’t worry about home and have a good trip—!”

“Oppa—! Noona—! Bye-bye-bye—!”

She left home with her family, the SSS uncles, and the neighbors seeing her off.

Woof! Woof woof!

She couldn’t leave out Janggun’s family either.

On the way to Seoul, riding in the same car with her oppa, Yang Gang-wook, and Min Yong-rak, Son Yu-jin found it hard to suppress her excitement.

[Please come again to the home of Ssireum [Korean wrestling], Tae-yang]

She waved her hand at the sign that was set up like a hurdle at the border of the administrative district.

I’ll be back in a month!

It was a phrase she had seen many times while going on picnics, amusement parks, and moving to other cities to cheer on her oppa, but this time, her feelings were new.

‘Goodbye—.’

She put both hands on the car window and kept waving outside.

The weeds that had grown tall along the road were saying hello to Son Yu-jin.

The airport was hard to explain simply.

Its enormous size, its complex appearance, the numerous cars and people.

‘What should I write in my diary—.’

They could go to the runway in the car, but they decided to go through something called a gate because there were players, federation staff, and reporters waiting for her oppa.

‘I don’t know what that means—.’

The airport was an exciting place.

It was difficult to explain its appearance, but her feelings could be expressed simply.

In the unfamiliar air and the hustle and bustle, the various expressions mixed like a dissonance gave Son Yu-jin a lot of inspiration.

‘Owaa—, I would really want to cry if I got lost.’

How reassuring it was to have Yang Gang-wook with her, instead of her busy oppa.

Holding Hong Su-jeong’s hand tightly, whom she had met at the airport, she looked around with her mouth wide open.

“Yu-jin, look, there’s an airplane flying.”

“Owaa—.”

Where would she go if she rode that airplane? Are there any airplanes that go to the moon? They say rabbits live on the moon, but the rabbit lost the race with the turtle. That’s why her oppa seemed to dislike the word rabbit—.

“Mom told me to wait inside. Let’s go that way.”

“Yes!”

At the end of the endless fantasy, her oppa was standing there.

He was standing tall in front of the reporters who used to come to her house and school, but he looked like an alien because he was so confident and calm.

“Unnie! That’s my oppa over there!”

“Ahaha! I know. How could I not recognize him?”

He was much taller than the reporters, and his body and appearance were different.

Was her oppa really an alien?

His eyes, which were wide open despite the constant flashes, were calm, and his way of speaking was still clear. He was much more relaxed and cool than the men in suits who held press conferences on TV news.

She couldn’t hear what he was saying because he was far away, but her oppa would know what to do.

‘I am Son Yu-jin.’

Even if I get lost, I can find my oppa somehow if I say this.

It was called a family name. A name that proves family.

“I am Son Yu-jin!”

Clack—!

She gave a clumsy salute to her oppa.

[Ding-dong-ding-dong—.]

Oh! I saluted, and it went ding-dong!

Son Yu-jin’s eyes turned round like pearls.

[Passengers on the Air Pacific special flight to Atlanta via Hawaii—.]

Hong Su-jeong, who had been watching her do embarrassing things and smiling happily, grabbed Son Yu-jin’s hand.

“Let’s go. Oppa will come when it’s time.”