The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 51

Jinhyuk sat alone in the principal’s office.

He didn’t know how to handle such an unpleasant incident at school, nor did he have any experience with it, so he had no choice but to do as he was told.

‘I wasn’t taught what to do in these situations.’

No one had ever taught him. It was the kind of school violence he’d only seen on the news. He never dreamed he’d be involved in such a thing. Jinhyuk was an ordinary person, after all.

He couldn’t just go to the police station and turn himself in, and there wasn’t even a police station in Taeyang County. He remembered there were only two police substations in the town. There was a coast guard station, but it wasn’t their jurisdiction.

The war on crime was a city thing.

There was a shortage of law enforcement personnel, so the volunteer patrol took over night patrols. It was practically an island if there were no roads connecting it to neighboring cities. Taking advantage of this, murderers and other violent criminals would disguise themselves as sailors and hide, causing unrest in some fishing villages. Meanwhile, to avoid arrest, gang members would also flow into the fishing villages, temporarily increasing the number of able-bodied workers.

Anyway, Jinhyuk was very uncomfortable.

‘Should I have held back?’

Was it because of hormones, or had his personality changed since returning to the past?

He remembered Yoon Seongdong, who had been gasping for air and spitting out teeth. With his nose smashed and teeth gone, he had said something unintelligible, but it sounded like he had said ‘Dad.’ Seeing him look for his dad, even a seventeen-year-old was still a kid.

‘What’s going to happen to me?’

Actually, worrying about what would happen to him wasn’t important. He had caused an incident, and he thought he should take responsibility for it. That’s what he had learned was the difference between an adult and a child. He was only a minor in body.

‘Still, I won’t forgive anyone who insults my family.’

Jinhyuk clenched his fist.

Even after all that commotion, there wasn’t a single scratch on his fist.

Chaegyuho would be worried, and wouldn’t Shin Woosung and Lee Seunghoon be skipping class?

Even in the midst of all this, the fact that he was thinking about his friends made him realize how much he had changed.

‘Will I get expelled?’

He had never experienced the GED [General Educational Development test, an alternative to a high school diploma], but maybe this was a good opportunity to try it. Apart from his slightly uneasy feelings, a corner of his mind was curious. His heart was beating surprisingly slowly.

However, he couldn’t help but feel gloomy at the thought of his parents.

‘How can I face Mom and Dad?’

He was about to tear at his hair when-

*Creak*.

The principal’s office door opened, and the vice-principal entered.

Jinhyuk, who had been sitting on the sofa, awkwardly stood up and bowed his head.

“Oh, sit down. Sit down.”

The vice-principal sat down opposite him.

He had a rather serious expression, but his face wasn’t dark or angry.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s the school’s fault for not preventing it, even though we knew. So, how much did they take from you that made you explode?”

The vice-principal seemed to have misunderstood something.

It wasn’t about the money.

After a moment of hesitation, the vice-principal nodded as if he understood.

“Those guys are good at keeping their mouths shut. We haven’t even received a single report. The vice-principal here happened to discover what they were doing, but we don’t have enough staff.”

It sounded like he was trying to defend the school’s position, but Jinhyuk just nodded in response. He could understand it to some extent.

There were over a thousand students, but the number of teachers was ridiculously low.

Middle schools didn’t even have a student guidance committee. Even if they did, it would be hard to expect them to serve their purpose. It would be a blessing if they didn’t just go around showing off their strength.

“It’s also important who threw the first punch. Considering the numbers, I don’t think you provoked them first. We also need to figure out exactly why you fought. It would be good if you could tell the vice-principal.”

That bastard will kill Woosung in 20 years! Jinhyuk held back the urge to shout. It wasn’t Minority Report [a science fiction film about a police unit that can arrest people for crimes they haven’t committed yet], so he couldn’t say that.

Since it would come out in the investigation anyway, he decided to tell the truth.

“The fight started because they were trying to collect money from Chaegyuho. He’s the vice-class president of our class and my desk mate. I went to stop them, and then the seniors-”

Jinhyuk paused to wet his lips.

He felt sick at the thought of calling them seniors.

“I went to stop them, but they grabbed my clothes as if they had been waiting for me, so I followed them.”

“Hmm… those guys have only learned bad things.”

The vice-principal looked grim.

His face also showed a sense of certainty that it was not unexpected.

“Yoon Seongdong touched my forehead first, but I lost it when he insulted my mother.”

“Insulted your mother?”

Thinking back to that moment, Jinhyuk clenched his teeth. His jaw and cheek muscles protruded.

The vice-principal sighed. It seemed like he understood.

“Do you happen to know anyone in the police?”

Jinhyuk shook his head. He was watching the vice-principal’s expression.

The vice-principal nodded as if that was to be expected, but there was a hint of distrust in his eyes.

For Jinhyuk, the vice-principal’s question itself was strange. It didn’t sound like a simple question about whether he had any acquaintances working in the police.

‘How would the police know and come?’

***

The rumors spread to the high school classrooms as well.

The same was true for Class 7 of the 3rd grade, where Choi Taeyang was.

“Hey, hey! Did you hear the rumor? There was a brawl at the middle school!”

“A brawl? How many against how many?”

“Oh my, those were the days. Young guys are full of energy!”

“Ah, I should have gone to watch, but I missed it. Past perfect conditional!”

“You should say it in English, you crazy bastard!”

It was the same in any era, but students who were good at studying weren’t necessarily mentally sound.

Choi Taeyang and Park Mansoo, who were lying face down on their desks trying to sleep, frowned in annoyance. It was a natural reaction, as the classroom had suddenly become noisy.

At nineteen, the athletes on the sports team didn’t get enough rest compared to their training. They had to wake up early to run around the field and do hard training, and then attend classes.

Regardless, the chatter of the nineteen-year-old boys continued.

“Was it seven against one, or eight against one?”

“One person? Oh, he must be badly hurt.”

“It was a mess. One ambulance wasn’t enough. They even said detectives came?”

“Why would one person need more than one ambulance?”

One person? That’s not a brawl.

Choi Taeyang raised his head, feeling a throbbing sensation in his temples.

His brow was furrowed.

He called out to his friend in a gentle and subtle tone.

“Hey, you over there.”

“Huh? Ah, Taeyang, sorry. Was it noisy?”

The classmate, seeing Choi Taeyang’s bulging biceps even though he was wearing a school uniform, hesitated.

As Choi Taeyang was trying to find the words to say, Park Mansoo spoke. His head was heavy, and he was still leaning his face on his arm, only turning his head to the side.

“What’s the name of that one person?”

“I don’t know his name, but they said he’s a first-year middle schooler…”

At that moment, another friend shouted as if he had made a great discovery.

“Son, what?”

Park Mansoo patted Choi Taeyang’s shoulder to calm him down.

It meant to ignore it and go back to sleep.

Choi Taeyang nodded and gently growled.

“Hey, stop playing Seo Taiji’s [a famous Korean musician] songs so much. Don’t you have any Shin Seung-hoon [another famous Korean ballad singer]?”

Ballads are good for sleeping.

The two giants lay back down to sleep.

‘It makes sense that they needed more than one ambulance,’ they muttered.

Choi Taeyang mumbled as if he was sleep-talking.

“Even if there were seven Park Mansoos, they couldn’t beat Jinhyuk.”

“What about seven Choi Taeyangs?”

“Well, first of all… it wouldn’t work in ssireum [Korean wrestling].”

He would catch up in height soon, and he could win with age. Hehehe- Choi Taeyang smiled like a fool.

The two giants’ shoulders shook with chuckles.

***

Lee Byungse couldn’t go to the hospital.

It was because a detective from the police station came, ignoring Lee Byungse’s wishes. It wasn’t from the police substation, but from the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency’s Mobile Investigation Unit. However, instead of investigating the victims or perpetrators, they wanted to see the student who was at the scene, and they investigated Park Yongseok.

“Are you Park Yongseok?”

“Yes? Yes, yes.”

Park Yongseok answered, trembling.

Detective Kang Junseong sat facing Park Yongseok in the student counseling room.

Lee Byungse was present as the student’s temporary guardian.

“Can you tell me what you know?”

Park Yongseok, who had been nervously rolling his eyes, spewed out information as if he had been waiting for Detective Kang’s question.

“Those hyungs [older male friends or brothers] are from a circle, and they gather the juniors two or three times a week to toughen them up, and they beat them. That’s why my eardrum was once damaged. We have to give them a carton of cigarettes and ten bottles of soju every week. The circle’s name is Sixteen, and Sixteen means the number sixteen, you know? Like the sixteen in the military’s M16 rifle. Anyway, there are seven of those hyungs. They said that the class president of Class 1’s house is super rich, so they were going to work on him, like a preliminary operation? So they made me collect money from his desk mate, and they said they’d give me 20,000 won, but I haven’t received the money yet. And Seongdong hyung is a year behind, so he’s three years older than me. He said his dad is a gangster and that he’s killed people, and if we don’t listen to him, he’ll have his dad kill us. Ugh-uh-huh-.”

Park Yongseok was like a creature that didn’t breathe. He poured out words without taking a breath.

Kang Junseong bit his lip to hold back his laughter.

“I won’t let anyone kill you. Don’t cry. But how did the fight happen?”

“I went to collect money from the desk mate of the class president of Class 1, and- ugh! ugh! Seongdong hyung insulted the class president’s mom, and he got beat up- ugh! ugh! He deserved it! Ugh! ugh! Am I going to jail? Ugh! ugh!”

Park Yongseok lost his composure and mixed crying with his words.

“Hahaha-! Why would you go to jail, man?”

“I have to go to jail? Ugh-huh-.”

“Why?”

“The grim reaper- is going to kill me, ugh-uh-huh-.”

He seemed to be in very bad shape.

Lee Byungse, unable to watch any longer, stepped in.

“Detective, I’m sorry, but the student seems to be in shock. It would be better to interview him again after he’s calmed down a bit-”

“Yes. I’ve heard everything I needed to hear. Can I see the records of the other students?”

“Yes, please follow me.”

Lee Byungse had another teacher take care of Park Yongseok and then led the way to the administrative office.

But something was strange.

Why did they come from the Mobile Investigation Unit? Taeyang County was quiet even during the war on crime.

Lee Byungse, who had once aspired to be a police officer, couldn’t understand it, but he didn’t question it.

He just hoped that Kang Junseong wouldn’t report it to the education office.

‘But how did they know and come in less than two hours?’

Is it what they call a one-day living zone [a term referring to a place that is easily accessible within a day]?

No one at the school reported it, but wasn’t it too fast?

***

At Jinhyuk’s house, Hong Gijun was struggling.

It was said that children’s fights often escalated into adult fights, and problems with teenagers were more troublesome than problems between adults, which could be handled according to the law.

‘I’m about to become a boss, but I’m doing errands in the countryside.’

It was like being the neighborhood fool. He sighed repeatedly.

Still, he couldn’t ignore his friend’s trouble. I’ll help you.

If Son Jinhyuk had been hurt, he would have done anything to teach those bad guys a lesson.

“Sister-in-law, please have a glass of water first.”

After shaking like an aspen tree and drinking two cups of cold water, Han Yooyoung finally spoke.

“It seems like our Jinhyuk was beaten by some kids. The homeroom teacher called crying- ugh-uh-huh-.”

Again, tears like chicken droppings fell.

“Sister-in-law, calm down. What exactly did she say? Hey! Son Kwangyeon! What are you doing with that knife!”

“I’ll kill those bastards who hurt my precious son!”

What is that guy saying! He had to calm down Son Kwangyeon, who was crying and looking for a knife in the kitchen. Then, Hong Gijun called the school to find out what had happened.

And he made a few phone calls.

‘Son Jinhyuk, what are you trying to do?’

Han Yooyoung was so distraught that he thought Jinhyuk had been assaulted, but it was the opposite.

Hong Gijun even searched Son Kwangyeon’s pockets to check for weapons.

“Why do you have pebbles in your pocket, man!”

“I carry them around to skip stones when I’m bored-”

“That’s ridiculous!”

What kind of man carries fist-sized pebbles in his pants pocket?

Hong Gijun threw the pebbles into the pond and calmed Han Yooyoung down before putting her in the car. Han Yooyoung seemed to calm down a bit when she held her daughter.

Hong Gijun said as he focused on driving.

“Sister-in-law, Jinhyuk isn’t hurt and is in the principal’s office. Let’s go to the school first.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Those bastards hurt our son-. Oh, ugh-uh-huh-.”

“Jinhyuk isn’t hurt, man!”

He could understand to some extent since it was about his own child, but wasn’t this friend being too emotional? He was more sensitive than his wife. It was the other students who were hurt.

Hong Gijun briefly stopped the car and looked back at his friend, his friend’s wife, and their daughter in the back seat. Son Yoojin was sitting on her mother’s lap, smiling brightly, and Son Kwangyeon had subtly turned his head away. He seemed to have come to his senses, seeing as he was avoiding Hong Gijun’s gaze. He must be embarrassed to have shown such a pathetic side in front of his friend.

Before starting again, Hong Gijun bit his lip as he looked at the passenger seat.

‘Ah, this is annoying.’

When did the dog get in?

Janggun was sitting in Yuse Ra’s seat.

Hong Gijun, the great, was going through all this trouble for a piece of fried chicken.

Hehe-.

Janggun smiled brightly, oblivious to the situation.

The car is a Benz after all.

Son Yoojin, who was even more clueless than the dog, pointed forward and shouted energetically.

“Let’s go!”