The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 84

Based on Moon Seokil’s explanation, Jinhyuk could guess the identity of the ‘land grabbers’.

With the financial power to employ such people, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that Hong Gijun was behind them.

The problem was these guys.

Who on earth sent them?

Without time to think, Moon Seokil continued his explanation.

“Since they know your address so well, even if we give up, they’ll just send other guys after you.”

Jinhyuk shook his head as he listened to Moon Seokil’s words.

His mind grew cold as he pulled out all the suspicious information he had previously set aside.

‘They must have already sent others.’

It was reasonable to assume that they had disappeared silently at the hands of the land grabbers. Their fate was unknown, but given Hong Gijun’s nature, he wouldn’t have harmed anyone, even if he hadn’t.

His mind cleared, and he understood the cause and effect of why he had lived that way in his past life. Like drafting a proposal, he mapped out the occurrence and progress of events over time in his mind.

And he identified a suspicious person even on that day when he was nine years old.

‘It wasn’t a mudflat accident.’

Jinhyuk’s face twisted horribly.

The dark silhouette of his face contorting in a grimace was reflected in Moon Seokil’s eyes. Startled, Moon Seokil quickly added,

“They might have tried before. There’s no proof, but considering we got the request…”

Jinhyuk wasn’t listening.

He was thinking about it anyway.

Jinhyuk once again realized the world he was standing in.

An era of greed and savagery.

Even in the 21st century, greed disguised as freedom and justice was rampant, so it couldn’t be said to be a problem unique to this era.

However, the weight of being a party involved made his legs wobble even amidst the common noise of the times.

‘Is that why they told me to protect my family?’

His grandmother, and even Grandpa Cheon Gilyong.

He seemed to understand why his father and Hong Gijun contacted each other so often and had secret conversations. The resentment he felt towards his father subsided somewhat. His father had been even more tight-lipped because he was worried about his family.

The shadows he had mistaken for spies and the land grabbers were definitely people Hong Gijun had sent. To protect his father.

He almost messed up by going after the wrong uncles.

Jinhyuk reached out his arm towards Moon Seokil. As he watched Moon Seokil take his hand and stand up, he asked with a hopeful heart,

“Any more information you can share?”

【Any more information you can share?】

“Ah, well, just a moment…”

Moon Seokil rummaged through his jacket pocket and handed over a neatly folded piece of paper.

‘If only he had given it to me sooner,’ Jinhyuk thought, feeling sorry for Moon Seokil’s swollen face. It was because he had a strong sense of compassion by nature.

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened as he unfolded the paper Moon Seokil had given him.

‘They moved to the current address when I was nine?’

According to the handwritten investigation report and map, Son Gwangyeon’s previous address was a seaside village about 20km southwest. Even by car, it would take at least 40 minutes along the winding roads.

It was a place where no one lived now, but Jinhyuk knew the address.

‘Mom’s old house.’

Back in the old days without transportation, his parents must have walked for a whole day to get there.

His parents had moved to their current address when Jinhyuk was nine years old. So, before that, they must have registered their address at his mother’s family home after their marriage registration.

‘That’s why the mail came to Migyeong’s house when I was little.’

The recipient was also listed as Choi Janghwan. His father had made excuses, saying it was because they had temporarily registered their address before building their house. In those days when they were using borrowed-name accounts, false address registrations would have been considered errors rather than intentional violations. Since he wasn’t a candidate for a high-ranking public office, there was no one to care about it.

Jinhyuk nodded as if he had finally accepted it.

‘I should be grateful to this guy.’

Thwack-! Thwack-!

Moon Seokil repeatedly hit his temple with his healthy palm. It was with relief that he had overcome a dangerous hurdle. He had noticed that the aura of hostility that had been emanating from Jinhyuk had subsided.

His eyes gradually regained focus. As his mind cleared, the silhouette surrounding the young man also disappeared.

“What about information about my dad? Didn’t they say anything about what kind of person he is?”

“Huh? Your dad?”

This time, Moon Seokil’s eyes widened.

‘A son born at twenty? Then is he twenty too?’

Moon Seokil couldn’t even ask, swallowing hard under Jinhyuk’s gaze.

“The client wouldn’t tell us that kind of thing, and I did some separate investigations, but there were no special circumstances regarding his identity…”

Looking at him calmly again, he didn’t seem to be an adult. Moon Seokil trailed off, tilting his head.

“But you know,”

Jinhyuk said lightly, as if exhaling.

“I still can’t decide what to do with you guys.”

“Please hold me responsible and show mercy to these friends…”

Moon Seokil, whose cheekbones seemed to have collapsed, his face severely bruised, and his eyes swollen, lowered his head pitifully.

‘Damn it.’

Jinhyuk clicked his tongue.

Leaving aside the desire to recruit them, why did they look so pitiful even though they were the ones he had defined as villains? It was partly because he felt a glimmer of goodwill towards the man who was taking responsibility alone.

He looked at the fallen men. He felt their necks for a pulse, and turned their eyelids back to check their pupils. He also checked to see if they had defecated like boars.

‘They won’t die if I leave them like this.’

They weren’t going to die anyway. The recoil he felt when he hit them, like hitting a solid rock, emphasized their toughness. He had only knocked them out to find a way to use them.

Whew-, he sighed deeply.

Looking at Moon Seokil, who had changed to save his colleagues, and the sprawled-out men, Jinhyuk felt sorry for them.

‘People who are slower and less tough than boars…’

Although they had gotten into this situation because they had made a mistake from the start, they hadn’t done any harm to his parents yet. Protecting his family was important, but didn’t they also have extenuating circumstances?

‘My family comes first, but…’

He felt bad seeing them just barely breathing.

He had thought that there was no need for a narrative for villains.

If a narrative that could potentially excuse wrongdoings was given to those who committed evil deeds, someone might even sympathize with a murderer. Then what about the people who were victimized by the murderer? Therefore, Jinhyuk originally didn’t want to know the inner workings of villains.

Jinhyuk was the type who would curse at the judge even when he heard about things like ‘intoxication mitigation’ or ‘mental weakness’ on the news.

‘If I can control the situation, wouldn’t it be okay to save the villains?’

Jinhyuk stood with his chin in his hand, pacing back and forth. How could he keep them tied down, what method should he use to recruit them as Hong Gijun had instructed?

After a moment of contemplation, Jinhyuk, who had been watching Moon Seokil’s eyes, finally nodded.

He found paper and a pen in the men’s car and threw them in front of Moon Seokil.

As Moon Seokil looked up, not knowing what was going on, Jinhyuk said coldly,

“Write down the price of your lives.”

There was still not enough fear. He had heard that a cold-blooded person was more effective at instilling fear than a hot-tempered one. Jinhyuk faithfully followed the theory that Hong Gijun had taught him.

He added his own improvisation to that theory.

‘Wouldn’t it be okay to listen to their stories?’

‘Wouldn’t it be okay to give them a way to live?’ While thinking that, he needed to make sure they didn’t have any ulterior motives.

Jinhyuk willingly decided to become an even greater villain himself and listen to their stories.

“Personal information, family details, address, and contact information. Write it all down. No need for long explanations.”

As Moon Seokil picked up the pen with trembling hands, Jinhyuk began to wake up the unconscious men. He pressed their philtrums [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip] with his thumb and pressed their temples with his index finger, and the eyelids of the men in normal condition twitched.

***

“Oppa, what time is it in Korea?”

“It’s probably around evening. The time difference is about nineteen hours, so if you think about it the other way around, it’s about five hours different.”

Son Gwangyeon explained, counting on his fingers like Son Yujin.

It was a hot dog shop located across the street from Waikiki Beach, and it was said to be famous in Hawaii. It was Son Gwangyeon’s first trip to Hawaii, but he wanted his wife, Han Yuyoung, to enjoy every moment, so they had come late at night.

Travel had a way of making people’s hearts flutter, and even Son Gwangyeon, who didn’t usually drink when Hong Gijun wasn’t around, was completely immersed in the refreshing feeling of the cold draft beer hitting his throat.

“Are you worried about Yujin? Our son is there, so he’ll be fine. Migyeong and Eunjeong said they would take care of him.”

“I feel strangely uneasy.”

“Is it because you feel sorry that we came on a trip just the two of us?”

“That too.”

“We didn’t even go on a honeymoon, and we haven’t been able to fly because we’ve been so busy. At times like this, let’s shake off our worries and enjoy ourselves.”

“Yes. Jinhyuk is there, so it’ll be okay.”

Only then did Han Yuyoung manage a smile.

Whether it was the nature of a mother’s heart, or because it was the first time she had left her children at home, she didn’t want her uneasy feelings to make her husband uncomfortable, so she tried to focus on the trip.

‘Worrying won’t change anything here.’

Just as Hong Gijun and Yu Sera, who had said they would go back to the hotel to wash up, joined them, Han Yuyoung put her worries aside.

Hong Gijun, wearing a Hawaiian shirt with white background and orange and green flowers and white shorts, took a seat next to Son Gwangyeon, and Yu Sera, wearing a dress with a similar design to Hong Gijun’s shirt, sat facing Hong Gijun.

“Hey, Gwangyeon. Did you have a drink first?”

“What are you guys doing? Go sit somewhere else. We’re going on a date. We had dinner together, do we have to be together until this late hour?”

Yu Sera narrowed her eyes and smiled at Son Gwangyeon’s teasing.

“Tsk-, is Gwangyeon oppa going to have a third child?”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like that, unnie [older sister].”

“Gwangyeon oppa is really amazing. He had two children with Yuyoung, who is so shy.”

“Ah, really.”

Han Yuyoung finally covered her cheeks with both hands.

Hahaha-!

Yu Sera teased Han Yuyoung, whose face had turned red even though she hadn’t drunk any alcohol, and the men laughed at the sight.

“You’re so mean.”

Perhaps annoyed by their laughter, Han Yuyoung glared at her husband and took a big gulp of her beer. It was definitely a cold draft beer, but it felt hot and tingling as it went down her esophagus. The refreshing feeling that instantly relieved her worries and tension was amazing.

***

Jinhyuk sent the remaining tension away with the wind.

He put the men in the car and sat in the driver’s seat.

“You guys know why I did this, right?”

‘If you do anything stupid, your families won’t be safe either.’ Jinhyuk’s eyes were saying that.

His true feelings were different.

‘Ah, I can’t do this. How do robbers hurt people who they don’t even have a grudge against?’

He could understand his past self, who had never strayed down the wrong path no matter how hard and painful it was.

Moon Seokil and Kim Inrang, who were crammed into the car, reluctantly nodded, and Jeong Sangtae, who was sitting in the passenger seat, stared blankly out the window. Kang Heonchang, whose ribs were broken, was barely breathing with a pale face and closed eyes.

Moon Seokil, whose fingers were broken and face was swollen, lifted Kang Heonchang’s shirt. A dark shadow of death was cast over his right abdomen and chest.

“Um-, this guy seems to be in danger-”

“He won’t die from that.”

Jinhyuk, sitting in the driver’s seat, glared at Moon Seokil through the rearview mirror. He had something to say, but he decided to hold back. Since he had decided to let them off the hook anyway, pushing them further would only be a way to vent his anger.

“I will absolutely not- go.”

Whether it was because his colleagues had woken up, Moon Seokil, who had been bowing and using honorifics, was gone. He was still putting his hands together and begging, though.

Jeong Sangtae and Kim Inrang, who couldn’t move their jaws, didn’t even dare to open their mouths. They just wanted to get out of the clutches of the monster sitting in the driver’s seat as soon as possible.

“You don’t know who ordered you, right?”

“Really. We just get paid.”

“Hmm-, that’s strange.”

Jinhyuk narrowed his eyes and tapped the car door with his finger.

The tapping sound grew louder and the rhythm gradually quickened.

He didn’t doubt that what they were saying was true. However, they hadn’t yet given Jinhyuk the answer he wanted.

It was easier to force compliance by making them volunteer rather than forcing them. It meant that he could restrict their movements. Knowing that, Jinhyuk had always received volunteers rather than assigning them when distributing tasks to his team members.

Toc-toc-.

“Hmm-. Does your military service end if you don’t know…”

Well, he knew they were all reservists, but he just muttered it because it came to mind.

Jinhyuk’s muttering didn’t stop there.

“Make it happen if it doesn’t work…”

It was a slogan he had shouted every day during his military service.