The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 56

It started raining as soon as they got back from the rice paddy.

Jinhyuk sat on the wooden floor of the mud house with Jo Seulchan, watching the rain.

‘Wow, it’s really coming down hard.’

The mud house’s yard was relatively low-lying and not often trodden, making the ground soft.

The downpour was so heavy that it was hard to see, quickly carving out furrows and creating pools of yellow mud.

The sound of the rain was so loud that they had to raise their voices even when talking right next to each other.

Swaaaaaa-!

“Seulchan-ah! What are you gonna do when the rain stops!”

“What! I can’t hear you-!”

The carefully laid plans were washed away. They couldn’t go into the flooded reservoir to collect water chestnuts, nor could they play in the swollen stream due to the heavy rain.

They needed a Plan B.

“When the rain stops-!”

Kuururung-!

The thunder joined in, further disrupting their communication.

Giving up on talking, Jinhyuk flopped onto the floor. A swallow’s nest under the eaves came into his view.

‘Is it because it’s raining so much? Even the swallows are resting at home.’

He had planned to do indoor physical training in case of rain, but Jinhyuk quickly revised his plan in his head. No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem like it would be a memorable experience for Jo Seulchan.

‘Should I watch a video?’

There were quite a few video tapes on the living room cabinet. Thanks to Hong Gijun, who sent new videos whenever they were released for his dad who loved movies and music.

‘The videos in the master bedroom are kind of… kind of.’

There were also videos in his parents’ room that didn’t have titles or pictures on them. It was probably due to hormones, but he was sometimes curious about what those videos were. It was a relief that he could suppress his curiosity by spending a lot of time exercising and going to bed early.

“Seulcha-.”

Jinhyuk’s mouth dropped open as he was about to suggest watching a video.

It was because Jo Seulchan was sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep.

Kaaa-.

To be able to sleep through this downpour, he was quite something.

There was a limit to white noise, but it was as loud as a battlefield right now, and yet he was even snoring.

‘He must not be sensitive.’

Perhaps it was because of his easygoing nature that Jo Seulchan was able to live without going too far astray or getting hurt. Or maybe he had become so resilient because of the frequent hurts he had experienced in life.

Jinhyuk took out bedding from the mud house’s master bedroom, propped up a pillow, and covered Jo Seulchan with a blanket so he could sleep soundly.

‘If even this becomes a memory for you.’

He had said to Hong Gijun that he would do whatever he could. That was Jinhyuk’s dream of living an ordinary life. Among the things he could do, there would be easy things and difficult things. It wasn’t that only the difficult things that others couldn’t easily do were meaningful and valuable. Every moment was precious.

‘This time won’t come back either.’

Shin Woosung and Lee Seunghoon were in the same class and always together because he tutored them. They sometimes hung out at the wrestling ring and ate lunch together. They were in sports clubs, so they would be in training camps during the vacation, making it hard to see them anyway, but he was keeping in touch with his old friends without being negligent.

‘Right now, maybe being a good friend to Seulchan is something I can do.’

Jinhyuk moved to the kitchen and poured a ladle of water into the cauldron.

He placed a soup bowl upside down inside the pot. He didn’t know why he put the bowl in like that, but that’s how his mom did it.

Now, he just needed to put in the corn according to the number of people.

‘One for Yujin, one for Mom, two for Janggun, two for Seulchan, and three for Dad since he eats a lot. I’ll have twelve since I eat small portions….’

Jinhyuk’s hands were busy counting the corn.

He put firewood and pine needles in and struck a match.

Even though the match was damp from not being used for a long time, as always, it created a large and brilliant flame in Jinhyuk’s hand.

*

Fortunately, the rain stopped before dusk.

Jinhyuk cut four bamboo sticks and trimmed them to be about 2 meters long. Since the bamboo was so thin, it was easier to cut it with a sickle than with a saw.

Jo Seulchan, who had been following him around, munching on boiled corn, blinked his eyes.

“What are you gonna do with that?”

“Let’s go catch catfish.”

Jinhyuk had planned to be a good friend to Jo Seulchan and give him memories. He wanted to give him an experience that was harder to come by than common and easy fishing for crucian carp or mudskippers. The downpour had also played a part in this change of plans.

‘Sometimes, it’s okay to spend leisure time without a purpose.’

“Hoo-,” Jo Seulchan reacted with a sense of wonder.

“I’ve never eaten catfish before. Have you ever caught one?”

“No. It’s my first time too.”

Jinhyuk had also never seen a live catfish.

It was a method he had only heard about from the know-it-all Jo Ilheon.

He said that you could catch catfish at the reservoir dam, which becomes muddy after a cloudy day or rain. You could also catch small catfish called miyugi [a type of small catfish] in the stream, but it was hard to catch them by fishing in the flowing stream, and you had to set up obstacles to catch them. He also explained that in Gangwon-do and the North Korean region, miyugi were called mountain catfish.

Jinhyuk absorbed everything Jo Ilheon said when he came over and told stories like old tales.

“That sounds fun. Is catfish tasty?”

“I don’t know.”

Jinhyuk had also never eaten catfish.

‘I’ve had crucian carp though.’

Sometimes when they caught crucian carp, his mom would make spicy fish stew or braised crucian carp, and the gochujang [Korean chili paste]-based dishes were spicy yet sweet, which he quite liked. Grilled crucian carp, with the scales removed and sprinkled with salt, grilled over charcoal or briquettes, was also good.

“Let’s at least try.”

You had to catch it to eat it or not.

People worried about what to do with the fish before they even caught it. They would prepare the ingredients for spicy fish stew and then go fishing. Then, they would end up empty-handed and buy fish at the market, or so he heard.

He tied fishing lines to the ends of the trimmed bamboo sticks and attached hooks for mudskipper fishing.

It was a simple setup without sinkers or floats.

“Let’s go get bait.”

They didn’t have to go far.

They could prepare enough bait by skimming the pond near the edge of the yard with a net to catch minnows and shrimp.

They only took the ones that were about the size of a thumb and released the rest.

Carrying four 2-meter fishing rods and a can with a few baits, the two friends went down the path leading from the house. It seemed better to go to the waterway that was built not far from the house rather than the reservoir that required crossing the bus route and the mountain. Janggun, who loved to follow Jinhyuk, was unusually just rolling his eyes in his doghouse, probably worried about getting his fur wet.

“Is this a river?”

“It’s a waterway, but it’s a big one like a reservoir.”

Even though his grandmother farmed, Jo Seulchan lived in a farming household near the town. He didn’t farm rice paddies and didn’t have a reason to come to the countryside, so he might call a waterway that was 5 meters wide in some places and 20 meters wide in others a river.

‘If he didn’t use the dialect, he’d be a city bumpkin through and through.’

Where should they fish? If it were a reservoir, they could do it on the stone embankment. The waterway bank was sloped and slippery. It would be even more dangerous because of the rain. After looking around and thinking for a moment, Jinhyuk made a decision.

“We can do it from the bridge.”

“Okay, sure.”

Jinhyuk lightly pierced the minnows and shrimp with the fishing hooks. The key was to adjust it so that the bait wouldn’t die. Jo Seulchan glanced at Jinhyuk and followed his lead.

Jo Seulchan held up the bait he had pierced with the hook, like a student wanting praise.

“Is this how you do it?”

“Yeah, good job.”

The bait, still wriggling after being hooked, looked fresh.

Jinhyuk demonstrated the next step.

“Try it like this.”

Now, they just needed to adjust the length of the fishing line so that the bait moved on the surface of the water, and then hold the fishing rod. They could also put the handle of the fishing rod on the ground and press it down with a rock or step on it. It would hurt their arms if they held it for too long.

Annoying creatures like midges and mosquitoes swarmed them, but they couldn’t live in the countryside if they cared about such uninvited guests.

Smack-! Smack-.

The two friends focused on fishing, swatting at the areas where mosquitoes were attacking, such as their necks, cheeks, and calves.

Looking at the minnows fluttering on the surface of the water, Jo Seulchan said wistfully.

“It’s nice. To be able to do things like this.”

Jinhyuk’s lips curled up slightly at his friend’s reaction.

He had drunk beer with Lee Seunghoon and Shin Woosung after becoming an adult, but they had never done leisure activities like this together. Once you become an adult, you tend to live your own lives.

Fishing with his dad was fun, but spending time with his peers was also a different experience for Jinhyuk. Perhaps the school years were the best time to make memories with friends.

“Yeah, it’s nice.”

Woong- woong-.

About ten minutes later, when the sound of people’s footsteps disappeared, bullfrogs began to croak from all over. The reverberation, amplified by bouncing off the embankment and the water’s surface, hit their eardrums.

“Where did those things come from? Their sound is really scary.”

They were probably brought in from Japan. It had been about 20 years since they were introduced.

He had heard that they were brought in for food purposes, but when the business didn’t do well, the store owners threw them away, and they spread.

“Even if they’re noisy like that now, they’ll become quiet someday.”

“Will they?”

“Yeah. Our country belongs to our people.”

Jo Seulchan nodded, thinking that was probably the case. Well, it was probably right since it was something a smart guy said.

Whenever Jinhyuk visited his hometown with a tent during his vacations, he often had trouble sleeping at night because of the bullfrogs. However, as the years went by, the sound gradually became smaller and disappeared.

‘Cats, raccoons, weasels, otters, herons.’

And he had heard that predators like snakeheads ate the bullfrog tadpoles, which reduced their population.

It was when Jinhyuk was reminiscing about the past.

Puhwak-!

One of them roughly bit at the bait that was fluttering on the surface of the water.

“Ugh-!”

It wasn’t like watching a float in crucian carp fishing; it was a fishing method where they directly confirmed the bait being swallowed. It was a bizarre scene, as if a monster from the water had appeared. He could fully understand why Jo Seulchan was terrified.

Jinhyuk was also startled.

‘I almost peed my pants.’

Anyway, surprisingly, the fishing method that Jo Ilheon had explained was realized.

He had said that when it rained and the day was cloudy, and the water became muddy, making it difficult to breathe and hunt for food, the fish would rise to the surface. It was a condition that even made nocturnal predators, who usually hid in holes or crevices during the day, become active.

“Ugh-!”

“Seulchan-ah! Relax, relax your arm! Just hold on.”

Looking at the yellow mud-colored surface of the water rippling like hot chocolate, it seemed like it was quite a big one.

Jo Seulchan relaxed his arm as Jinhyuk had told him and made the most of the bamboo’s elasticity. He thought it would break at any moment, but the bamboo was swaying and taking the catfish’s strength. Was that why they said that the soft overcomes the strong?

‘Amazing.’

Jinhyuk clicked his tongue inwardly. It wasn’t a glass fishing rod like a club, nor was it a state-of-the-art carbon fishing rod, but that slender grass stalk was withstanding the catfish’s strength. He was newly respectful of the wisdom of their ancestors who had used natural materials.

Then, crack- Jo Seulchan’s fishing rod broke. However, since it was tough bamboo, all he had to do was pull it in.

“Keep the line taut!”

Jinhyuk threw down his fishing rod and pulled the fishing line with his hand to help Jo Seulchan.

The catfish caught on the hook was wriggling in the air, spinning around. No matter how strong it was, it was still a fish, and there was no fish in the world that could withstand Jinhyuk’s strength.

“Hahaha! It’s huge!”

“Wow, Seulchan, you’re awesome.”

“Awesome? What’s that?”

“Ahaha, it means you’re amazing.”

It was a catfish so big that even the Buddha-like Son Jinhyuk couldn’t hide his admiration.

Jo Seulchan, who had caught a catfish on his first fishing trip, calmed his surprised heart. Was this really the fish he had caught? Looking at it from above, its head was the size of a fist, and its body became thinner as it went down, and it also had long whiskers near its mouth.

It looked scary, like the monster catfish in the cartoon 〈The Frog Prince〉.

“It looks like it’s over forty centimeters, right?”

“Yeah, it does.”

Jinhyuk measured the length with his hand at Jo Seulchan’s question.

It was nearly 50 centimeters long, including its long, thin tail.

“But Jinhyuk-ah, what about the broken fishing rod?”

Jo Seulchan looked apologetic, but it wasn’t something to worry about.

He had brought extras, knowing this might happen, and bamboo sticks were disposable fishing rods anyway.

Jo Seulchan grabbed a good bamboo stick instead of the broken one.

Meanwhile, Jinhyuk broke off some reeds.

“What are you gonna do with that?”

“I didn’t bring a container to put the fish in.”

He didn’t think they would actually catch one. Jinhyuk muttered so that he couldn’t hear.

What could he do about the village’s trust in Jo Ilheon?

Anyway.

If they left the catfish on the ground, it might flap around and escape into the water.

Jinhyuk put the long reed through the catfish’s gills and out of its mouth.

“This way, it’ll be easier to carry.”

“Yeah, that’s true. That’s amazing.”

If they put the reed through it, it wouldn’t be able to struggle.

Jinhyuk put the fish he had pierced into a puddle for a moment.

Jo Seulchan was savoring the aftertaste, clenching and unclenching his hands, as if he had felt a jolt.

“Wow-! It’s like my whole body is getting an electric shock.”

Jo Seulchan, who was really thrilled, smiled brightly.

Jinhyuk was also proud because he looked genuinely happy.

“But Jinhyuk-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s your fishing rod?”

“……”

Jinhyuk, who had been looking at the new catfish in wonder, turned his head this way and that, searching the surface of the water.

Jinhyuk’s fishing rod, which he had put down for a moment while Jo Seulchan was catching the fish.

“It’s over there….”

It was floating leisurely in the distance.

Jo Seulchan’s eyes widened as he followed Jinhyuk’s fingertip.

“It’s going really fast? Like it has a motor.”

The two friends stared at the fishing rod being driven by a fish with dumbfounded eyes.

“What thing is taking that?”

“I don’t know….”

Since they had used shrimp bait, it could be the work of a crucian carp. Judging by the strength, it seemed like a snakehead.

They chuckled, watching the fishing rod being tossed this way and that, without knowing who started first.

“Hehehe- it’s funny.”

“Nhehehe-.”

Woof! Woof!

The sound of a mutt barking was heard over the surface of the water, which was beginning to turn red.

The sound of Janggun barking loudly was like a powerful trumpet sound, skipping across the water.