The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 87

Cheon Gilyong ate with the hearty appetite of a young man, and Choi Janghwan watched him with a pleased expression. Jinhyuk, knowing his personality, could guess what he was thinking, and Choi Janghwan spoke in a subtle and slow tone.

“Elder, it must be lonely living alone, and there must be many things you need help with, so why don’t you live with us?”

“Hahaha-. That wouldn’t do. I have a guest at my house… Instead, if your wife doesn’t kick me out, I’ll come visit often.”

“Of course, it’s fine. Why even ask? If there’s anything you want to eat, just say the word.”

Jinhyuk knew that Kim Sunbok’s words were sincere.

‘Since they are such kind people, they must have embraced me like a son in my past life.’

Kim Sunbok didn’t forget to ask Jinhyuk for a favor.

“Come to our house for meals until your mom comes back. Don’t work too hard taking care of your sister.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Being with his sister was fun, but Jinhyuk was secretly longing for someone to talk to. When he was young, it was his joy to confide in Janggun, but after going to school and making friends, he discovered the pleasure of talking to people.

In fact, he realized while interrogating Moon Seokil how enjoyable it was to talk to someone with a similar mental age. There was no one like his parents or the neighborhood adults for such conversations, but his family and neighbors still saw him as a child, so it felt like there wasn’t an equal exchange. It was like the limitations of conversation due to social relationships. You know how it is. There are things you can say freely to a coworker that you can’t say to your family…

It felt like he was being reborn as a social animal, as if he had only now come to understand the meaning of human words.

After the meal, they headed to Gubong Mountain in Choi Janghwan’s double-cab truck. Jinhyuk asked Choi Mikyung to take care of Yujin, fastening her seatbelt, and he rode in the truck bed with Janggun. The cool breeze refreshed not only his breathing but also his mind. If Choi Taeyang had been there, he would have ridden with them, but Choi Taeyang had a match scheduled for Chuseok day [Korean Thanksgiving] and didn’t come from Seoul.

They arrived at Seonnyeo Rock, spread out a mat, and bowed together. It was as if it were yesterday; Jinhyuk still vividly remembered the day his grandmother passed away. Her words to protect the family and take care of his siblings, even her playful smile.

He had followed along for ancestral rites and memorial services before, but this time, with Cheon Gilyong joining them, it felt different.

Cheon Gilyong placed his hand on the rock and mumbled something, but no matter how hard Jinhyuk strained his ears, he couldn’t understand a word. It was as if he was speaking a different language, his words were so fast and his intonation so unique. ‘Did he learn to speak in tongues after going to church?’

After visiting the graves and finishing the ancestral rites, they heard a loud commotion coming from the village hall near Choi Mikyung’s house. It was the sound of laughter as neighbors shared their joy during the holiday.

“Yujin, it seems like something’s going on at the village hall. Shall we go take a look?”

“Yes, hehehe-. Let’s go. Watching is fun, right?”

At the village hall, they were playing Yut Nori [a traditional Korean board game] with a brand-new TV as the grand prize.

“Isn’t Yut Nori supposed to be played on New Year’s Day…?”

“Well, the neighbors need to get together, and it’s hard to play Go-Stop [a Korean card game] with so many people, so we’re just throwing Yut sticks, something easy.”

Jo Ilheon, who had approached unnoticed, patted Jinhyuk on the back.

He raised his voice to attract people’s attention.

“Hey-, Jinhyuk’s here! Since Jinhyuk’s family isn’t here, let Jinhyuk play instead.”

It was a competition held with the neighborhood association’s funds, but thanks to Jo Ilheon’s interference, Jinhyuk was able to participate in his father’s place.

However, he was eliminated in the first round against Kim Eunjeong’s father without even putting up a fight.

Kim Eunjeong’s father had a routine of drinking a glass of makgeolli [Korean rice wine] before throwing the Yut sticks, and judging by how he never skipped it even while staggering, he could truly be called a Yut pro.

Anyway, his dad often won prizes, but Son Jinhyuk was completely hopeless.

‘Hehe, it’s still fun.’

Jinhyuk awkwardly smiled and left with a cooking oil gift set, the participation prize.

“Kyahaha-! Oppa lost, right? But you got a prize, right?”

Yujin, who had been watching while eating sikhye [sweet rice drink], rice cakes, and pancakes, cheered even though her brother had lost. She was a sister who liked seeing her brother smile, regardless of the outcome.

“Oh my-, what’s with our Yujin’s face? Nehehe-.”

She had smeared her whole face with oil from eating by herself without anyone to help her.

Jinhyuk, Yujin, and Janggun practically lived at Choi Mikyung’s house for the rest of the holiday. Kim Sunbok and Choi Janghwan had actively encouraged it, so it was hard to refuse. They only went home to sleep, and Choi Taeyang and Choi Mikyung, who liked Yujin, welcomed them, and it seemed like Yujin and Janggun also liked it since there were more people.

Since there wasn’t much to do, the holiday events consisted of taking walks around the neighborhood or reading books together. It didn’t seem right to leave his sister and go exercise alone, so Jinhyuk, though restless, also took this opportunity to laze around and take naps.

The adults went from house to house eating and drinking, while the minors toasted with sikhye and played Yut Nori.

They drew a Yut Nori board on the back of a wall calendar with a pesticide company’s name on it, and used Go pieces and buttons as markers for a match between the Choi siblings and the Son siblings. It was a game with the family’s honor at stake, and an inexplicable tension filled Choi Mikyung’s house.

However, it was a tension without reason.

“Ehehe-, you lost again, right? Hyung won, right?”

Like her brother, Son Yujin was also hopeless.

Every time she threw, she got a ‘Do’ [one of the Yut sticks’ outcomes], and Jinhyuk seriously analyzed that it must be because his sister liked pigs. Well, by the same logic, Jinhyuk must have liked Janggun, since he threw a ‘Gae’ [another Yut stick outcome] every time.

“Hey, this won’t do. Let’s switch teams again.”

At Choi Taeyang’s suggestion, they divided into boys versus girls.

It was a close match, but the boys’ team mostly won.

After all, ‘Gae’ was more advantageous than ‘Do’.

“Ehehe-. Oppa and Hyung won, right?”

As always, Yujin was happy as if she had won, no matter who actually won.

Thanks to Choi Mikyung’s family, and Choi Mikyung’s family thanks to Jinhyuk and Yujin, they were able to have a more harmonious holiday.

Even if there wasn’t much to do, the holidays were a welcome time for students since they didn’t have to go to school the next day.

It was late at night, while enjoying the leisure of the holidays at his childhood friend’s house.

As he was holding and soothing Yujin, who had started to doze off, Choi Mikyung approached with a serious face.

“Jinhyuk, do you know the secret of Yu Gwan-sun?” [Korean independence activist]

‘What is she talking about all of a sudden?’ He had known since she asked him to ghostwrite her diary, but Choi Mikyung was a bit eccentric.

“No? What secret does she have?”

“All the friends in town know it.”

Choi Mikyung, with a serious face, stroked the back of Yujin, who was in Jinhyuk’s arms. Her eyes were filled with fear, as if she was thinking about something.

“Ugh-, I don’t know if I should say it, it’s scary.”

‘Your eyes are scarier right now.’ Jinhyuk held back what he wanted to say.

“They say that if you open the window at midnight, sing the Yu Gwan-sun song, and then say twelve secrets of Yu Gwan-sun, you’ll die. Ughhh-!”

Choi Mikyung shuddered as if she was really scared.

Jinhyuk now knew what to do in these situations. He knew that if he just stayed quiet, the person who brought it up would feel awkward.

“Oh… I see.”

‘That’s really amazing.’ Jinhyuk mumbled like a robot.

It seemed like his expression of empathy had worked. For some reason, Choi Mikyung didn’t sigh. Instead, she looked at Jinhyuk with curious eyes.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“What’s there to be scared of? I don’t know any of Yu Gwan-sun’s secrets.”

‘How can I say secrets I don’t even know?’ Jinhyuk shrugged his shoulders.

“Mikyung, do you know them? I only know the song.”

“Ah, that’s right?”

He was about to say that the act of sticking your head out the window at midnight and singing didn’t seem normal, but he stopped himself. In his past life, Jinhyuk had heard many scary stories from the Hwang Gayoung sisters to scare him. Thanks to that, there was a time when he was afraid of the darkness that hid him. Darkness itself was something that created endless imagination and fear.

Anyway, the manly Son Jinhyuk wouldn’t be fooled by such childish pranks.

Choi Mikyung seemed excited to be with her friend during the holidays. The adults were playing Go-Stop noisily until late at night, and the children had nothing to enjoy except watching Chuseok special movies.

“My grandmother used to tell me a story, do you know that there’s an old military outpost at the end of the village?”

“I know.”

There were many outposts built by the army to monitor spy ships right after the Korean War. The outposts were connected by narrow trenches, and their forms still remained intact.

“She said that she saw an Imoogi [a mythical Korean serpent] while picking wild greens near there.”

‘Seriously, not a dragon, but an Imoogi?’ Jinhyuk blinked like a calf, not wanting to interrupt his excited friend.

“She said that there was a huge jar, bigger than a bull, and when she went closer, it wasn’t a jar but a snake coiled up. But this snake slowly uncoiled and stared at my grandmother. And the snake had ears.”

Choi Mikyung spread her arms wide to emphasize the large jar.

Jinhyuk briefly imagined a large snake with ears. But, proving his lack of creativity, he imagined a snake with human ears, which was the problem.

‘Keuk-!’

“Hey, Son Jinhyuk. Are you laughing? My grandmother doesn’t lie.”

“Ah, I believe you. Grandmother.”

No one believed his grandmother as much as Jinhyuk did. He had seen the spirits of the departed, after all.

He should have imagined more plausible ears, but he was only scolded for scoffing.

“So, my grandmother ran to the outpost and told the soldier there that there was a huge snake. So the soldier shot the Imoogi with his gun, bang bang bang-.”

Watching his friend imitate running and shooting, Jinhyuk unknowingly swallowed hard. The addition of actions to the explanation made it incredibly immersive.

“So? What happened to the Imoogi?”

“It died. Isn’t it obvious since it was shot?”

‘Ah, I guess so.’ It ended with a rather bland story. A giant snake with ears was shot and died. The end. Choi Mikyung always had trouble with endings.

But it seemed like it wasn’t the end.

“But that soldier couldn’t sleep because he heard strange noises every night, and after a few days of talking nonsense, he went into the sea and disappeared.”

‘Oh, was it the Imoogi’s curse?’

Interest was added to the bland story. It was the fun of the narrative.

“After that, my grandmother had nightmares and sleep paralysis for days. When she went to the field, she felt like someone was watching her, and her back would tingle.”

While telling the story, Choi Mikyung looked behind her.

Jinhyuk also tightened his grip on his sister and turned away from the window. It felt like the Imoogi was staring from somewhere in the darkness outside the window. The story began to dominate reality. The boundary between fantasy and reality was bound to collapse without warning.

“Jinhyuk, Yujin fell asleep.”

“Yeah. I should sleep here tonight.”

“Not going home? You said you sleep at home.”

“Yeah. Yujin fell asleep, and I think it would be nice to sleep in your room for the first time in a while.”

“For the first time in a while? You’ve never slept at our house.”

…Was that so? In his past life, he had lived in Mikyung’s room until he was taken to the town. Perhaps this family had been considerate so that he wouldn’t be lonely.

“Anyway, can you spread out a blanket next to your bed?”

Before Jinhyuk could finish speaking, Choi Mikyung spread out a blanket with an excited face. Even if they were friends, it was difficult to stay in the same space until late at night. Their houses were far away, and there was a distinction between boys and girls.

Anyway, the manly Jinhyuk wasn’t scared of the dark.

Listening to Choi Mikyung’s story, he felt a tingling sensation on the back of his head and a chill down his spine, but he wasn’t scared. He hugged his sister and covered himself with the blanket up to his head.

‘I’m not scared. I just don’t like scary stories.’

After returning to the past, stories didn’t feel like just made-up tales to Jinhyuk. He had heard from his friends that cousins gathered to tell scary stories during the holidays. This Chuseok, which he had spent with only his family without relatives, had given Jinhyuk many new experiences. ‘I hope I don’t wet the bed today.’

Choi Mikyung sat on the bed and looked down at Jinhyuk. The cowardly childhood friend was shivering under the blanket, not living up to his size. ‘Is he so scared because he’s so weak?’

She clicked her tongue silently and turned off the light.

The blanket flinched once at the sudden darkness.

‘Does he not know the basics of unity?’ The blanket muttered.

‘Mikyung, you should say something when you turn off the lights.’

He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to sleep because he had taken a nap, but he naturally listened to Yujin’s sleep talking and his eyes slowly closed.

‘I’m not scared, but it’s really a relief.’