The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 316

“Haaah-. Fresh air. It’s really good.”

Hong Gijun stretched, settling his backside onto a small fishing chair. A happy expression naturally spread across his face.

How great it was that he could fly over anytime on a quadron [a type of personal aircraft] whenever he missed his friend.

‘Great my ass, you jerk.’ Son Gwangyeon’s lips twitched, but Hong Gijun didn’t pay him any mind.

Son Gwangyeon spoke to his grinning friend.

“Hey, Sujeong’s dad. You’ve been coming here a lot lately?”

“Why, you don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it…”

Son Gwangyeon trailed off, his eyes fixed on the fishing bobber.

Hong Gijun also just stared at the water’s surface, not pressing his grumbling friend. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking.

‘He probably doesn’t like that he’s a trainee. It’s funny how someone who always valued fairness and accepted losses is now hoping his own kid gets special treatment just because he’s a parent.’

That’s just how parents are, I guess.

Hong Gijun, also a father, could understand Son Gwangyeon’s feelings.

He was secretly pleased when Son Jinhyuk said he wouldn’t go to college.

Was it because he expected help with management? That was a different issue.

It was purely because of his daughter, Hong Sujeong. If a girl got hooked on Son Jinhyuk, with his looks and popularity, how much would Hong Sujeong suffer? Considering his daughter’s taste from her past life, she might go crazy and become an attention seeker like her mother. He just wanted his daughter to grow up to be a normal woman.

It would be even more of a headache if Son Jinhyuk got into a bad relationship with someone else. He was smart and decisive, but you never know with matters of the heart. Besides, he was secretly sensitive and conservative. He might give his heart to the wrong person after a one-night mistake.

A man knows a man, and the father’s blood doesn’t lie.

Son Gwangyeon almost had to take responsibility for a female student who had cut her wrist after chasing him around in college. A woman he hadn’t even held hands with. If Hong Gijun hadn’t stopped him, Son Jinhyuk wouldn’t have been born.

‘That was the era. Somewhere between intellect and decadence, romance and barbarism.’

Anyway.

‘What’s with all the fuss about him being a trainee? This guy’s looking down on Sein [the company].’

Hong Gijun was also upset with his grumbling friend. Couldn’t he just pretend not to notice and go along with it?

“Gwangyeon, don’t worry. I’ll talk to Jinhyuk and sort it out. Do you think I’d ignore your son?”

“Whatever-. Do as you please, Your High and Mighty Chairman.”

Hong Gijun gritted his teeth at his friend’s continued sarcasm.

Ha, that little punk, really.

I’d kick him into the water while pretending to stretch my legs.

Is anyone watching…?

He often looked around whenever he came to the countryside.

He couldn’t do it because he made eye contact with Janggun, who was looking at him with half-closed eyes, followed by three large dogs. But where did one of them go?

*

Carp the size of forearms swam in the clear water, but the fishing bobber didn’t even twitch. His friend Son Gwangyeon’s heart must be like that right now. His son had already established himself as a successful athlete, and his success at Sein was also clear, but he couldn’t easily grasp when or how much success he would achieve.

Son Gwangyeon, chewing gum with a snap, broke the silence. He was still glaring at the fishing bobber.

“What are you going to talk about when you meet him? Do you think my son would argue with you? He’s already feeling indebted and says he’ll do whatever he’s told. Someone who can’t say what he wants should have his superiors reach out first. Isn’t that what consideration is for? It’s about saying what’s hard for them to say. It’s natural for someone with more to be considerate, whether it’s age or money…”

Or power.

“Okay. I’ll be considerate.”

Ha, that little punk.

He’s a robber without a knife. He’s packaging the demand for a good position as consideration. That’s why it’s scarier when educated people speak calmly and shamelessly than when loudmouths do.

“Is my sister-in-law upset with me too?”

“Don’t misunderstand. My wife is so proud of her eldest son. She says a jewel is still a jewel even if it’s buried in mud. She says he’s more capable than his dad even if he’s made the general manager right now, so there’s no need to be obsessed with positions. She says there’s fun in climbing the ladder step by step. She’s actually glad he aimed for the best company from the start. Do you know why she agreed to him not going to college? She said our son is too nice and might get swayed by other people’s requests and ruin his life. Our kids’ mom isn’t an ordinary woman. She’s not the type of mom who projects her own life or sacrifices onto her child’s success. She’s much more mature than me in that regard.”

“Yeah. She’s that kind of person.”

Hong Gijun nodded heavily.

It was obvious, but if it weren’t for Han Yooyoung, Jinhyuk wouldn’t exist.

None of the people in the world would have gotten a second chance.

‘I can’t let her be upset.’

He already had something in mind.

He just hadn’t said it.

It was boring at the company with only employees who were afraid of the chairman, so it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy teasing his friend like this, right?

Tap- Todok-.

Ripples spread around the fishing bobber.

“Huh? Is that a bite?”

“Aish, it’s raining.”

Ha, that guy is still grumbling to the end.

I should have pushed him into the water when I had the chance.

I would have done it if it weren’t for Janggun.

*

If it rained, they would have skipped a few training sessions, but because it was sunny, they had to complete all the training sessions.

After finishing individual combat training, grenade training awaited them.

It was a life-or-death training. Trainees who were clumsy or too scared were excluded from grenade training.

[Grenade Throw.]

“Remove the safety clip! Pull the safety pin! Throw!”

Whoa. I failed to control my strength and threw it too far.

As he crouched after throwing the grenade, an assistant instructor wearing a bulletproof vest covered Jinhyuk’s body with an extra vest.

Kuwang-!

The blast wall and the ground shook.

A water column should have shot up, but a pile of dirt flew up and fell down with a whoosh.

[Trainee number one, submit five penalty points.]

Seriously, penalty points.

This was the humiliation of Son Jinhyuk’s life.

Next was the one-day obstacle course training.

It was called obstacle course training, but it was more like a group physical punishment exercise that would be done in a prisoner-of-war camp.

“Number fifteen, owl!”

“Ack!”

“You’re not doing it straight!”

“Ack!”

“Close formation!”

“Shoulder to shoulder! Execute!”

“Forward, lie down!”

“Backward, lie down!”

“Now, sing a song while thinking of the mothers who raised you!”

I wondered why they hadn’t made us do this yet.

“The song is the heart of a mother! Start singing! One! Two! Three! Four!”

“They forget the pain when they gave birth to us- They worry day and night when raising us-”

The trainees who were lying down with their arms around each other started to sob while singing .

“They change our wet spots for dry ones- They suffer until their hands and feet are worn out-”

This was a dangerous part.

Jinhyuk focused and raised his voice.

“Under the sky-”

But he was outnumbered.

“Aaaah- Thank you- Teacher’s love-. Aaaah- I will repay- hic- Teacher’s gra-kikik-.”

“Are you messing around! Head down!”

Sigh, those damn troublemakers.

He cursed inwardly while putting his head to the ground.

It’s the same for special forces or regular soldiers, if you meet the wrong comrades, you’re in for a rough time.

Yang Gangwook’s words that he chose the special forces to only allow the best warriors by his side weren’t for nothing. Putting combat skills aside, if your comrades are outstanding, you get less punishment.

‘Damn it. I’m getting all the punishment I never got in my life in four weeks.’

Far from being the best warrior, isn’t the whole squad like a bunch of fools?

He felt like he had shrunk by about 3cm from doing so many head-down punishments with his hands behind his back.

His neck was also stiff.

*

“Wow-. Is he really not tired at all?”

The instructors were amazed.

“Athletes are scary. No matter how many push-ups you make them do, they don’t even flinch. I was in charge of a professional baseball player last year, and he was better than the instructors, you know?”

Another instructor who was listening nodded.

It wasn’t for nothing that athletes were treated like superhumans.

That track and field athlete was also better than the instructors.

He stood out from the thugs and nerds with his physique.

A ceremonial guard? Capital Defense Command? Marine Corps? A physique that couldn’t be seen anywhere. He couldn’t help but stand out.

But because the one who stood out was so good, the instructors couldn’t help but watch in awe.

There was another reason why Son Jinhyuk stood out.

“He eats so much…”

“Where does all that food go?”

“His waist is less than twenty-eight inches. But he eats more than those tattooed pigs.”

“When I asked him why he looked unhappy during meal distribution, he said he was sad because they gave him too little rice.”

“Don’t they give athletes as much rice as they want because of their diet?”

“Is military food the same as private food…”

“That’s true.”

The steamed military food disappeared with a single burp.

“During the march- sing a military song-!”

They made them sing at every chance, to the point where it was confusing whether this was the military or a choir.

Maybe that’s why their stomachs emptied faster.

After finishing the march, the last week was already coming to an end.

「To my beloved mother.

I think a trainee can be seen as a kind of intern.

It seems similar to an intermediary in the process of being reborn as a soldier through education and training, shedding the ways of a student and a civilian.

But why do I sigh dozens of times a day?

Is it because I’m a trainee that I sigh? Or is it because I sigh dozens of times that I’m a trainee?

Even if I try not to, I sigh without realizing it.

They say not to hate people, but sometimes I hate my comrades.

I realize how smart Seulchan and Byeongtaek, who used to nag me to study, are.

All my comrades here are troublemakers.

It might be a bit harsh to say this, but it’s a great relief for the country and the people that these people aren’t active-duty soldiers.

Please pray that the enemy doesn’t invade…」

Jinhyuk wrote letters every day.

To his parents, his siblings, his friends, and to the future Hong Sujeong.

What he did today, how much he missed them, and how much he loved them.

‘I understand why guys who had short military service talked about it so happily.’

In his past life, Jinhyuk had never talked about his military service. Although he was suited for military life, what fun episodes would he have to share? Besides, it was like torture to talk about his experiences to those who couldn’t relate. What would be the point of telling stories about jumping with a parachute while carrying a backpack on his thighs to people who had never experienced it?

But on the contrary, his coworkers who had a short military service were always talking about it. What was so great about talking about playing soccer in the military?

He guessed that it was because the memories were so intense due to the short duration.

‘I should tell my siblings about my military service when I get out.’

Hehe-.

*

“Trainee number one seems like he was born for the military.”

The company commander approached him while he was writing his last reflection in the barracks.

“Trainee! Son! Jin! Hyuk! Thank you!”

“Relax, relax.”

Why are you so disciplined when the others are more like reservists than reservists? The company commander smiled kindly.

Jinhyuk also wanted to relax.

No matter how much he tried during the four weeks, he always felt like a turtle retracting its neck whenever he had to say his rank as a trainee. And what about his comrades? They weren’t even reservists, they were just a bunch of lazy bums.

“Can you sign a few autographs?”

Ah, so that’s why he told me to relax?

The reason he was asking now must be because of his position as the company commander.

The other trainees and instructors had already gotten them during the first week.

“Let’s also exchange pens with the company commander. My sister-in-law is taking the college entrance exam this year…”

Okay, take the energy of a perfect scorer on the college entrance exam.

*

After overcoming all the minor incidents, the graduation ceremony was held safely.

“Salute the flag-! Salute!”

“Chung-!”

Ugh-! You troublemakers!

Sigh-. They were so noticeable until the end.

I hope this is the last sigh I take.

*

As he packed his belongings and left the barracks, he looked around the space where he had stayed for four weeks.

‘I see why they have military camps.’

Appropriate exercise, appropriate tension, appropriate meals, appropriate sleep.

What other program could be more beneficial for the mind and body?

Jinhyuk actually had less exercise and more sleep than when he was at home.

It meant that the military was more comfortable. That was similar to his past life. Although the ranks were different.

In his past life, he started as a non-commissioned officer candidate and finished as a sergeant, but this time he was a private first class forever.

An experience he hadn’t had before, this was also a small adventure.

Still, he was a bit disappointed about the rank.

‘It feels like I’m going to be an intern forever.’

Surely, I won’t just be an intern in my work life, right?

They might make me go around to different parts of the group to gain experience. Just like Hong Sujeong did in his past life.

The current Hong Gijun was more than capable of doing that.

Hong Gijun had given Jinhyuk a choice.

「I’ll give you the position you want, whether it’s an important job, a job you want to do, or an easy job.」

– 「I’ll leave it to you.」

It was humility born from the suspicion that it was Hong Gijun’s test.

He thought he would ask again what he wanted to do if possible.

「Then, take the test first. It would be even better if you find areas for improvement. It’s a test designed to evaluate your understanding of the social system and your personal integrity, and although it’s said to be innovative in terms of the hiring test and personnel system, there are many complaints that it’s difficult. As you know, Son Jinhyuk taking the hiring test is just an excuse for the public. I will conduct Son Jinhyuk’s test myself.」

Sigh-.

He had become more blunt than in his past life.

Kiyuuuung-.

A quadron landed on the parade ground, raising a cloud of dust.

“Ooooh-. That’s it!”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it in person!”

A new type of aircraft that was faster than a helicopter and superior in terms of passenger capacity and safety.

“Is the military using that now?”

Jinhyuk shook his head behind the comrades and instructors who were admiring it.

‘Hong Gijun sent it.’

The paint job wasn’t military, it was white.

He already knew from the company commander.

If Sein sent transportation, he was to take it.

It was a fact known to everyone in the world, but Hong Gijun’s power was enormous.

He was probably the only person who could fly a civilian aircraft into a military base just by notifying them.

‘I need that power.’

The landing of a civilian aircraft at a military base. It was a scene that clearly showed Jinhyuk, who had a lot to do, where he needed to be to gain power.

After making eye contact with his comrades and instructors, he headed towards the quadron.

“Where to-”

Jinhyuk closed his mouth as he was about to ask for the destination.

A neatly dressed employee who looked like Hong Gijun’s secretary was standing upright next to the pilot with his hands clasped.

“I’d like to stop by a bathhouse somewhere.”

I need to get rid of this trainee smell.

Sniff-.

Ugh-, the smell of stale dog food.

He sighed again.