The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 5

“Dad, I can walk.”

Sohn Kwang-yeon carefully laid a blanket on the A-frame carrier [a traditional Korean backpack carrier] and gently placed Jinhyuk on it. His mother walked beside him, supporting Jinhyuk’s back to prevent him from falling. It was clear how much the parents cherished and loved their child. The three of them headed towards the sea, with Janggun, their dog, following closely behind.

Successfully heading to the sea together was the first step.

But the only method that came to mind was to shout so that his mom and dad could hear him. He had a good voice, so he thought if he yelled loudly, they might hear him and come out.

“Jinhyuk, why did you bring that?” his mother asked, looking at Jinhyuk, who was holding the fire can as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

It was the fire can his dad had made for him during the Great Full Moon Festival [a traditional Korean festival]. A paint can with holes punched in it, a long wire attached as a handle, making it easy to spin for the rat-fire game [a traditional Korean game where a can with fire is spun around].

“I’ll use it to make a fire when it’s cold, and spin it when I’m bored.”

His mother, with a pleased expression, patted Jinhyuk’s head once.

Wasn’t he too mature for a nine-year-old?

‘If I spin it around really fast, it’ll be a signal.’

There was no signal equipment as reliable as a unique and noticeable signal.

He had also brought a lot of pine cones and pine needles to start a fire.

Jinhyuk’s heart pounded heavily.

He even felt a little regretful, wondering if he should have just begged them not to go.

‘Would that have been better?’

He understood that he was sent back to the age of nine to save three lives, but biologically, he was too young, and the era was before the dawn of digital civilization. Well, even with a lot of digital devices, there might not be a solution. Anyway.

He had to save his parents no matter what. If he didn’t, he would be dragged to his mother’s half-sister’s place next year and live in the attic. And the wealth his father had built would disappear without a trace.

‘I won’t let it happen again.’

The three of them walked along the dark night road and arrived at the beach.

His mom and dad followed the neighborhood men towards the mudflat, and Jinhyuk didn’t forget to emphasize his request.

“I’m going to play with the fire can, so you have to come out when you see it!”

“Okay, with our son here, we don’t have to worry about getting lost.”

Even with his mother’s smile shining like moonlight in the darkness, Jinhyuk couldn’t relax.

Janggun, who had followed them all the way, sat quietly beside Jinhyuk.

***

Quite some time had passed.

While his parents were struggling in the mudflat, Jinhyuk was fighting against the overwhelming sleepiness. Although his soul was that of an adult, his body was that of a child, so it wasn’t easy for a child to stay awake late at night. The gentle sea breeze even made his eyes close involuntarily. He struggled, with great difficulty, to shake off the drowsiness clinging to his eyelids.

“Aheoi-, Yeon-kyung, you’ve caught a lot!”

The tide was coming in, and the men began to come out one by one.

The sound of their boots squishing in the mud woke Jinhyuk up. The fishy smell of the sea filled his head, and he remembered the most important thing.

‘Where are Mom and Dad?’

They hadn’t come out yet.

A sudden, chilly sea breeze carried an ominous scent.

“Oh, Jinhyuk’s here too?”

“Yeah, his father brought him. Said he couldn’t leave the kid home alone.”

“But why aren’t they out yet?”

“Really? The water’s gonna come in soon.”

The men murmured.

Jinhyuk blamed himself for not lighting the fire earlier and hurriedly struck a match.

Whoosh-, a strong gust of wind took the match flame away.

That’s when it happened.

“Jinhyukaaaaa-!”

It wasn’t a call for Jinhyuk.

It was the men calling for Jinhyuk’s parents.

Jinhyuk’s heart sank at the sound.

‘The men’s voices are much louder than mine.’

They must have called like that in his previous life, but they still didn’t come out. But that wasn’t the only problem.

Jinhyukaaaaa-.

Jinhyukaaaaa-.

Echoes. Because the sea was surrounded by low mountains, it was impossible to find the origin of the sound. Jinhyuk was on the verge of tears as he watched the men, each trying to outshout the other, heading towards the sea while calling his name.

‘What should I do?’

Had he ever been this desperate in his life?

Although he was nine years old, he had lived over forty years in his previous life. Jinhyuk was facing the most desperate moment of his life. Even when he took the college entrance exam or went for job interviews, he had never been this desperate.

‘That light must be Mom and Dad.’

Far away, in the middle of the mudflat, a light appeared and disappeared repeatedly.

Whoosh- the match went out again. As the salty smell mixed with the sea breeze grew stronger, his heart became more troubled. The salty seawater was rushing in.

“There, they’re in the water channel.”

“Jinhyukaaaaa-!”

Water channel. The mudflat was usually soft, but there were also places that were firm and easy to step on. It was a winding path, deeper than the mudflat, where water flowed in the fastest and out the slowest. Even during the spring tide, water flowed there, and people would wash their boots or hands there. The people by the sea called it the water channel.

‘Either way, they can’t hear me!’

The water channel was a sunken area, so it was blocked from external light and sound. Moreover, it was called a water channel for a reason. It was a path where water flowed. The sound of the water flowing made it impossible to hear calls from afar.

“Turn on the flashlight, the flashlight! Hurry!”

Everyone turned on their flashlights and waved them towards Jinhyuk’s parents, but it seemed they couldn’t see them. Compared to the deep, dark night, the crude light made by humans was insignificant.

And.

‘There’s more than one light like that.’

There were lights on the opposite side and towards the sea where the water was coming in. The winding coastline of the West Sea often trapped and devoured people in the mudflat.

“Let’s go call them!”

“Yeah, yeah. This could turn into a big problem.”

Now, even the men were out of sight.

Several oval lights flickered and moved away on the dark mudflat.

‘They couldn’t save them even after going that far?’

Jinhyuk’s heart grew urgent. He had to save them no matter what. He had the experience from his previous life, so he was confident he wouldn’t be dragged to his adoptive parents and repeat the same life. But his mom and dad were too young to end their lives already.

‘If I can just light the fire, everything will be solved!’

He hugged the can, determined to burn his hair if necessary. He struck the match again.

Whoosh-! Without even adding oil, the pine needles curled up as if they had been waiting, and the pine cones glowed red with fire.

Without time to be amazed, he jumped up and spun the can vigorously.

“Mommmmmmm! Dadddddddd!”

Woof woof-! Janggun added his voice.

Jinhyuk spun the fire can with a desperate heart.

Whirr-whirr-whirr-! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The can with holes made a terrifying sound as it held the fire.

It was the sound of life.

***

How inaccurate and unreliable human eyes were.

The next day, Jo Il-heon was clinking glasses of makgeolli [Korean rice wine] with other neighbors, using seafood as a side dish. It was a gathering to celebrate the end of the busy farming season and the year.

“But what kind of magic was that?”

“Who knows?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, just drink!”

Did he see it wrong?

Jo Il-heon waved his arms to draw attention.

“I’ll tell you again, so listen carefully-?”

He had to save the young couple. The man who came from Seoul but was friendly and roamed the whole neighborhood, and the beautiful woman who was born and raised in another village. If something happened to them, it was obvious that the young boy would be left alone.

Jo Il-heon and Park Dae-soon had entered the mudflat to find Jinhyuk’s parents.

“Water! The water’s coming in!”

“We have to get out!”

“What about Jinhyuk’s family!”

“Oh, this is crazy-!”

Jo Il-heon didn’t see the golden circle behind him.

But there were two people who clearly recognized Jinhyuk’s rat-fire game. A light that looked like a golden annular eclipse at first glance.

“Honey! It’s over there, over there!”

“Wow! We’re saved. Let’s go quickly. Our son’s arms must be hurting.”

As soon as Jinhyuk’s parents safely escaped the water channel, Jo Il-heon also turned back to the shore. When he reached the shore following the light, the light was gone, and the moon was floating in the sky. It was the moon that appeared during the new moon, which only appeared in the old stories told by grandfathers and grandmothers. This part caused a stir.

“-That’s what happened!”

“Hyung, stop drinking so much. If you don’t want to get cursed for talking nonsense.”

Jo Il-heon confidently finished his explanation, but even Park Dae-soon, who had gone to the sea with him and was usually close to him, didn’t believe him.

“You son of a bitch…”

Jo Il-heon was a heavy drinker. Of course, he had filled his stomach with a jug of makgeolli before going to the sea yesterday. That was why none of those who hadn’t gone to the sea believed their words.

“Hooigu-, this is so frustrating. Why doesn’t anyone believe me-.”

“I’d rather believe Kim Il-sung, you! Hahahaha!”

“Maybe that fire Jinhyuk was spinning just looked like that-. At night, your eyes get weird, and you see ghosts and stuff.”

“Is that so-?”

He lowered his tail slightly. It was obvious that he would be treated like a fool if he brought it up any further. He had relied on alcohol because he was working in the cold night, so he was unsure, and the memories of the dark night were easily distorted.

Still, it was human nature to not easily let go of regrets.

Jo Il-heon, drunk, clung to Sohn Kwang-yeon.

“Jinhyuk’s family! You saw it too, right?”

“Ahaha! I was too tired, so I only looked at the ground, hyung. Jinhyuk’s mom didn’t say anything special either?”

The moon that appeared during the new moon ended as a tall tale of Jo Il-heon, who liked to drink, without presenting any witnesses.

‘Heo-, I saw something that wasn’t there. Damn it-, should I quit drinking-.’

Jo Il-heon vowed to abstain from alcohol and drank makgeolli in quick succession.

The happenings created by darkness and light, ignorance and imagination, and a dramatic ending usually became stories. Stories gained life and were passed down orally, eventually becoming legends.

Although he had suffered some internal damage, Jo Il-heon was secretly proud that he had a fun story to tell his grandchildren. After all, it was a happy ending that the children would clap their hands and rejoice at.

That was how Jo Il-heon, a forty-five-year-old bachelor, comforted himself.

***

After school, Jinhyuk was overwhelmed with emotion as he saw his parents in the yard.

‘I changed fate.’

His parents were alive and well.

Jinhyuk’s vision blurred. How could he express this joy in words? He had become too tearful since returning to the past, but tears of emotion were a good thing, weren’t they?

He avoided Janggun, who was growling low to the ground, and went into the house.

“Jinhyuk-, let’s have dinner.”

“Yes-!”

Clatter- clatter-.

Slurp-.

“It’s so delicious.”

“Haha. Eat a lot, our son.”

Boiled octopus dipped in vinegar-gochujang sauce [a spicy Korean chili paste], and soybean paste stew with crab were so delicious. In his previous life, he had just filled his stomach to satisfy his hunger, and no matter how expensive the food was, he hadn’t thought it was delicious.

“Mom, is there more rice?”

Jinhyuk got up holding his rice bowl.

“Give it here, I’ll bring it to you.”

“I can do it myself.”

He was a child who couldn’t even finish half a bowl of rice and just picked at his food.

Swoosh-.

The sound of the cauldron lid opening came from the kitchen.

His mother’s face was filled with happiness as she watched her child eat two bowls of dinner.

“I’m going to sleep in the next room from today.”

“Why? You like sleeping with Mom.”

“It’s hard to do my homework because of the TV noise.”

That was strange. It was a television he rarely watched. The child who liked watching the news with his dad, the child who liked sleeping with his head on his mom’s arm, was going to sleep separately.

His mother tilted her head.

“Hehe-.”

The country bumpkin from Seoul smiled like a kind fool.

Han Yu-young blushed as she looked at Sohn Kwang-yeon.

*

A country house with only two rooms.

The books that his dad had read in college were piled up in Jinhyuk’s room. Classic novels, English originals, college textbooks, English newspapers, and even Japanese newspapers. There wasn’t a book that wasn’t in Jinhyuk’s room. In the countryside, just graduating from middle school was considered average, and graduating from high school was considered educated.

‘Dad even went to college.’

Since the only things that interested young children were snacks and things to play with, it was natural that he didn’t know about his dad’s background until now. ‘Korea University, Department of Business Administration’ was his dad’s diploma.

‘I’m an alumnus of the same university?’

He picked up a Japanese newspaper to read to digest his food, then mumbled through an English newspaper, and even read a textbook. If a nine-year-old picked it up and read it fluently, it would be more shocking than impressive. It was better to read quietly in his own room.

Then he closed the book.

‘Sigh-, I know all of this. Anyway, the soundproofing isn’t great.’

He had decided to use separate rooms out of consideration for his still-passionate parents. The mud walls of the countryside didn’t perfectly protect privacy.

Hehe-.

That was the sound his dad made when he tickled his mom’s side.

Jinhyuk swallowed hard, then thought of Lee Hae-won, who had been flirting a few days ago. He didn’t stop there, and he thought of Choi Mi-kyung, who lived across the big field, and then even Kim Eun-jung, who lived near the village hall. Come to think of it, there were a lot of girls in the neighborhood, and there were twenty-three female students out of thirty in his class.

But that was it, Jinhyuk’s interest didn’t grow any further. They were just kids, after all.

“Ugh-, let’s just sleep.”

You had to sleep to grow.

Hehe-.

His mother’s laughter broke through the wall again.

‘They’re having a good time…’

The good thing was that he was a child, so he fell asleep easily. Jinhyuk only wished that time would pass quickly so he could grow up soon.

Jinhyuk, who had covered himself up to his head with the blanket, quickly fell into a deep sleep.

On a moonless night, the night shadows swayed serenely beyond the paper window.