The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 276

Silva from Brazil, who had advanced from the preliminary round in the 9th group alongside Jin Seon-gyu, was in lane 3, and Zisimides from the Republic of Cyprus was in lane 8.

Jinhyuk, warming up far behind the starting blocks, noticed their glances and felt a surge of superiority.

‘Is it because we’re both Korean, or is it because I’m Son Jinhyuk?’

It wasn’t just Jinhyuk’s imagination that these top-tier athletes seemed ordinary. He was receiving the same level of attention from his competitors on the Olympic stage as he did in domestic competitions.

*Whoosh-.*

He bent down, pressed his palms against the track, and stretched his knees. It was a routine to tense and relax his soleus and hamstrings, muscles prone to tightening at the start.

The sensation of the cool air against his muscles, forcibly stretched by his steel-like tendons, was exhilarating.

‘Let’s see, to avoid meeting my senior in the semi-finals…’

If Jin Seon-gyu had performed exceptionally well, he wouldn’t need to worry about this. But since he had to consider both rankings and times, the calculations became complex.

Fredericks and Boldon had consistently taken 1st and 2nd place so far, so their groups would be separated. Linford, who had recorded 3rd place, would face Boldon…

‘It depends on how the 5th group turns out, but Marsh will likely run at least as well as Linford, if not better. So, the 1st place in the 5th group goes to Group A, and the 2nd place goes to Group B…’

He glanced at the other athletes.

Only Jinhyuk and Marsh had the potential to surpass Jin Seon-gyu’s 10.10.

‘Senior is in Group A.’

He quickly finished his calculations and nodded. For Jinhyuk, nothing calmed his mind like using his intellect.

‘I need to send Marsh to Group A.’

The plan to ensure Michael Marsh ended up in Group A, thus avoiding a semi-final clash with Jin Seon-gyu, was complete.

[On your mark.]

Okay, here I go-.

***

[Bang-!]

Wow-!

The final race of the quarter-finals began, as bright as midday.

In lane 5, another Korean was charging down the track with his red and blue spikes.

“Huh?”

Seo Pil-gu, who was waiting for the starting gun, jumped up.

“Is he frozen too?”

“No, he’s not running. He’s trying to avoid meeting Seon-gyu.”

Kim Hyung-tak said nonchalantly, as if it were obvious.

While other coaches would have been restless and focused, Kim Hyung-tak and Seo Pil-gu remained calm because they expected Jinhyuk to advance.

[Bang-!]

While they were exchanging a few words, the athletes had already crossed the finish line.

“Is that even possible?”

Seo Pil-gu tilted his head. Was it possible to run while making such calculations?

“I was calculating too, so why wouldn’t they be able to? Anyone can be a coach, you know-”

Kim Hyung-tak, speaking as if scolding him, smiled broadly and clapped his hands.

He was watching Son Jinhyuk shake hands with Michael Marsh after the race.

“Every athlete has their own characteristics. He’s calm, you know. You need to understand each person’s traits and capitalize on their strengths. That’s what a coach does, you know-”

Kim Hyung-tak, the white-haired old man, spoke casually, but his eyes were full of spirit.

Quarter 5.

1. Marsh. USA. 10.04s

2. Son. KOR. 10.06s

3. Surin. CAN. 10.13s

4. Mackie. GBR. 10.25s

…

…

[Today’s races are all over. Spectators, please leave in an orderly and safe manner-.]

Kim Hyung-tak’s applause continued as he stood up until Jinhyuk approached.

‘Chairman Yoo Se-ra is right.’

There’s no guarantee that another athlete like him won’t appear.

Already, a track and field boom was sweeping the nation, and exceptional athletes were emerging in middle school. Some of them were over 180cm tall but refused to play basketball or baseball, insisting on track and field.

Not only that.

There was also a newspaper article stating that running shoes had surpassed basketball shoes to become the top seller in the professional sports shoe category.

‘The desire to imitate their idols.’

Track and field is a sport that parents can easily recommend.

You only need to buy shoes.

Frankly, you can do track and field even in your underwear.

‘But you can’t go without them, or it’ll be dangling.’

When the athlete from the private foundation smiled freely at the national team coaching staff, Kim Hyung-tak and Seo Pil-gu stood up to greet him.

Seo Pil-gu patted Jinhyuk’s back hard.

“Good job! You did great! Don’t tell Seon-gyu that you saved your strength.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was surprising to Seo Pil-gu that he had conserved his energy even while running at that speed, but since his chest wasn’t even heaving, there was no reason to doubt it.

“The semi-finals are tomorrow morning, so don’t do anything else and go to bed early today!”

“Yes, sir.”

“What are you talking about, you old man? He’s still a kid!”

Seo Pil-gu flared up at Kim Hyung-tak’s order. What do you mean, ‘don’t do anything else’?

However, Kim Hyung-tak’s expression remained calm.

“Seon-gyu is a kid, you know.”

Ah.

Seo Pil-gu soon agreed.

He was secretly relieved that Jin Seon-gyu wasn’t staying in the Olympic Village.

‘They’re full of energy, so it’s easy for them to get into trouble.’

It’s no secret that condoms are the most used item among the athletes in the village. Oh my, free love global village.

*Kkyaaaa-!*

Kim Hyung-tak asked Seo Pil-gu, watching Jinhyuk wave his hand towards the source of the roar. He was still clapping his hands.

“You’re going to do it, right?”

“I have to.”

The subject was omitted, but there was no need for explanation.

“I should try being a coach too, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t go sniffing around baseball teams again, and stay in track and field.”

Kkol-something Giants.

After retiring from active duty, Seo Pil-gu had once worked as a player-coach for a baseball team.

He was selected purely for his speed, but he couldn’t play in actual games because he lacked the base-stealing sense, despite his fast legs.

“What’s wrong with the baseball team, you old man? We even won the championship when I was there.”

He didn’t play in the games, but a championship is a championship.

“It’s better for a coach to stand out with one good player than with a bunch of inconsistent ones. There are a lot of geniuses among individual athletes.”

Seo Pil-gu nodded his head strongly. Like Kim Hyung-tak, he was clapping his hands.

“It’s easier for loners like us to work with individual sports.”

They didn’t know why they kept clapping, but the two men’s applause continued until Jinhyuk disappeared into the waiting room.

***

Semi-Finals.

Semi A.

L1. Asahara. JPN. 10.19s

L2. Tuffuor. GHA. 10.18s

L3. Bailey. CAN. 10.05s

L4. Jin. KOR. 10.10s

L5. Fredericks. NAM. 9.93s

L6. Marsh. USA. 10.04s

L7. Markoullides. CYP. 10.23s

L8. Thompson. BAR. 10.14s

Back at the mansion, after finishing his cool-down exercises, shower, sauna, and another shower.

Jinhyuk and Jin Seon-gyu, who had completed their recovery routine for the day, sat facing each other at a table set up in one corner of the room and unfolded the schedule.

*Kuh-.*

Jin Seon-gyu, munching on a banana, shook his head like a general.

“I met that Japanese guy again. What a bad fate. And in lane 2 is Tuffuor…”

“It’s Tuffuor.”

“Ah, so he’s Tuffuor. Bailey is Donovan, and Jin… oh, that’s me.”

Jin Seon-gyu scratched the back of his head.

These darn alphabets.

Jinhyuk, swirling the orange juice in his mouth to warm it before swallowing, chuckled. He was relieved to see that Jin Seon-gyu was a bit out of it.

“You almost ended up in an outer lane.”

“I know. It’s surprising that Thompson, of all people, is in lane 8.”

Obadele Thompson.

He was only 21 years old, a law student from the small nation of Barbados with a population of 250,000, and a rising star who had caused a stir in the world of track and field before Son Jinhyuk.

Like Jinhyuk, he had already broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m during his junior years, and he was the best in the early sprint, holding the world record in the indoor 55m.

Separately, Jinhyuk, who had met Thompson on the track, remembered him with a toothy smile.

“Senior, you’re now the ‘Jin’ of the world.”

Jin Seon-gyu nodded silently.

Posture correction, mind control, and shoes.

He thought he was a complete athlete, even by his own standards.

“If you do as you did today, you’ll make it to the finals.”

The average record for the World Championships final and the Olympic final still hovers around 10 seconds flat. At the current rate, reaching the finals was no longer a dream for Jin Seon-gyu.

“Yeah! I just have to do it!”

He looked a bit tired, but Jin Seon-gyu’s eyes were clear and full of motivation.

Now, all he had to do was not be too down when he woke up in the morning…

“Wow-. It’s brutal, brutal.”

Jin Seon-gyu, looking at the lineup for Group B, where Jinhyuk was assigned, clicked his tongue.

Semi B.

L1. Surin. CAN. 10.13s

L2. Drummond. USA. 10.17s

L3. Boldon. TRI. 9.95s

L4. Ezinwa. NGR. 10.08s

L5. Son. KOR. 10.06s

L6. Christie. GBR. 10.04s

L7. Mitchell. USA. 10.09s

L8. Green. JAM. 10.11s

Two American athletes, Great Britain, Jamaica, Canada, and Nigeria. Even the tyrant Ato Boldon from Trinidad and Tobago.

Compared to that, Group A, with athletes from Barbados, Japan, Namibia, and the Republic of Cyprus, looked like a preliminary round. Of course, that was just an impression based on the country names; if you looked at the athletes’ names…

…Still, Group B was fierce.

“Hyah-! Is that the last place record? That’s crazy. I’d believe it if you told me it was the final list.”

Jin Seon-gyu knew all the names.

“I’m proud. To think my junior is among them…”

*Cough-.*

Jinhyuk found Jin Seon-gyu funny because he would suddenly express nationalistic pride like this.

“The records are even more brutal. There’s a bit of a difference compared to Group A.”

“It’s probably just the numbers.”

Oh, I guess so. Jin Seon-gyu nodded.

At first glance, Group B’s results seemed far superior, but the difference between 1st and 8th place in Group A was also within 0.2 seconds.

*Udadadad-!*

Jin Seon-gyu stretched languidly.

“It’s late. Should we wrap it up for today?”

“Yeah! Let’s get some sleep!”

Jin Seon-gyu, who answered cheerfully, finished the remaining orange juice in one gulp.

“Ah, but…”

“Huh? What is it?”

***

“Mr. Jjorong said that if you start talking, you have to finish it-”

You want a hamburger. A hamburger…

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen, Son Yu-jin, who had come down to the living room on the first floor, put down the glass of white milk she had drunk.

“Oh my, I can’t open my eyes.”

She blinked her swollen eyes and unfolded the paper.

You want a hamburger right now. You want a hamburger…

Someone kept urging her to eat a hamburger, but Son Yu-jin didn’t look around. She knew that no one was around.

*Sip-.*

She smoothed out the frown she had briefly made because she wasn’t feeling well and read the letters printed on the paper. As if for someone to hear.

“Okay, look-. Today’s breakfast is brown rice with fried eggs, kimchi bean sprout soup, spinach salad, and braised short ribs-”

*Slurp-.*

Son Yu-jin, who was reading the menu, wiped the drool from her mouth. She wanted to mix rice with the bean sprout salad her mom made.

“Yu-jin, are you studying reading?”

“Nuna, byaa-”

Min Yong-rak, holding Hong Su-hyuk, came down from the second floor, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Min Yong-rak had come along as an Olympic administrative support staff member and was now acting as Hong Su-hyuk’s nanny. It wasn’t something anyone had asked him to do; he had volunteered. He was more comfortable with children, as it was something he was used to from his hometown.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. You need to wash up and get ready to go to the stadium, right?”

“Yes. Oppa and Uncle Kkyu went to eat first.”

Son Yu-jin, who answered like that, put a towel around her neck and stood up.

“Nuna, mama-”

“Su-hyuk, go wash your face too. Let’s see each other when we eat, okay-”

You want a hamburger…

“The morning sun has risen- get out of bed-”

She hummed a song she had learned in kindergarten and opened the bathroom door.

‘I’ve eaten too many hamburgers-.’

For the first few days after arriving in the United States, Son Yu-jin suffered from severe headaches.

Her chest felt like someone was sitting on it.

Even surrounding herself with the energy of recovery didn’t help, and the pain worsened the more she used her power for treatment.

Fortunately, the headaches and stuffy symptoms had disappeared, but the habit of unconsciously seeking out hamburgers remained.

Her belly had also become round.

You want a hambur-.

The silent cry subsided.

It was because Son Yu-jin, who had stopped abruptly, was staring blankly at the mirror with a blank face.

*Sip-.*

Son Yu-jin, who made a hissing sound like a cat, brought her face closer to the mirror.

She looked clearly into her own eyes in the mirror and warned, clearly and distinctly.

“I like rice.”

Do. You. Under. Stand?

*Flitch-.*

The other Son Yu-jin inside was startled.

“Eee-gug-! Did you understand?”

Son Yu-jin pointed her finger at the mirror and demanded an answer. It was the same behavior she used when teaching manners to Geomma, who was a dog.

【……】

The shadow held its breath. It had no choice but to breathe along with Son Yu-jin, but anyway, that’s how tense it was.

How did she find out when it was hiding in a corner of her subconscious?

“Um…, I’m Son Yu-jin-. Um, um, a person-, Son Yu-jin should be one person-. I am a Son Yu-jin. It means Son Yu-jin is one person, you know? Answer me-”

Ah, this is a clever child doing a leading question just in case.

You can’t answer.

You can’t fall for it.

“Hmph! I should stop eating hamburgers. There are so many hamburger trucks outside the stadium-”

Ah! Th, that’s a bit…

The eyes in the mirror, unable to do anything, wavered.