The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 92

Yujin ate everything well, unlike most children.

She devoured even things Jinhyuk disliked, like catfish and sea squirts, in the blink of an eye.

“Mommy! Give me sea squirts!”

“We don’t have any sea squirts right now.”

“Then give me catfish!”

“Oppa hasn’t caught any catfish, so we don’t have any.”

“Really? Oppa! Please catch me some catfish!”

Jinhyuk, who had only seen catfish once after catching them with Jo Seulchan by chance, hadn’t seen them since.

“It’s not like they’re easy to catch just because you want to.”

“Why not?”

“Well…”

A five-year-old had left him speechless.

Jinhyuk thought it was a stroke of luck that he was still a student. If not, he would have been forced to become a fisherman, his heart weakened by Yujin’s eyes.

Yujin also liked other seafood, especially octopus and crabs. He was worried that she might be a picky eater, but Yoo Se-ra assured him that they were good for children with high body temperatures, so Han Yu-young was relieved and made sure to provide them whenever possible.

One early Sunday afternoon, Yujin was looking at a picture book and drooled at the sight of an octopus.

“Mommy, Yujin wants to eat octopus.”

“Octopus?”

Now that summer was over, they would have to go to the town market to buy octopus. Han Yu-young was dreading going to the cramped town. Although she would go out for family meals or outings because of her son’s nagging, she was hesitant to go because she was afraid of running into people she didn’t want to see, so they usually went to other areas. She could ask her husband, but he was busy with various things these days.

Hoping for the best, she picked up the phone.

“Oh, really? You went octopus hunting?”

She called the neighbors in An Village to see if anyone was catching octopus today. Several households said they had gone out to catch octopus. They also mentioned that the mudflat octopus season would be longer this year because the days were long and the sun was hot.

“I’ll go buy some from Seulchan’s place.”

Her brother couldn’t just sit still when his sister wanted something. Jinhyuk usually did the errands anyway, but from the moment his mother started talking to the people in An Village, he had already decided that he would be the one to go.

Jinhyuk tied his shoelaces, put on his small backpack, and got on his bicycle.

Smart Janggun didn’t follow Jinhyuk when he got on his bicycle.

Woof-. He just barked once to see him off.

‘I barely had any memories of Seulchan. Maybe it’s because I didn’t transfer schools, but I’m meeting him often.’

In his previous life, he was a friend who disappeared from his memory after they parted ways in childhood. Even if they were in different classes in middle school, there were only about 400 students in the first grade, and since they were from the same hometown, he would have recognized him if they had met by chance.

Thanks to the well-paved road, he arrived at Yuk Sungchan’s house in 10 minutes by bicycle.

“Sungchan didn’t go to church?”

“Eey, the middle schoolers don’t get snacks.”

It seemed that snacks were only given to elementary school students. Yuk Sungchan used to bow his head and pray before eating his lunch during elementary school. He thought he was a devout believer because he went to church every Sunday, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“I thought Sungchan was a devout churchgoer?”

“Oh my, what do you mean by devout? Praying is a bit… I pray before going to bed, but it’s been scary lately.”

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer.

“Scary? Why?”

Yuk Sungchan spread his arms out to make a cross, closed his eyes, and put on a benevolent smile. But it soon changed to a playful expression.

“Jesus is coming out. Hee hee hee-.”

Heh heh-.

Jinhyuk laughed without a care with his friend for the first time in a while. He thought Sungchan would do well as a comedian.

While he was laughing and chatting with his friend, Yuk Young-gu, dressed in his going-out clothes, came out of the gate.

“Hello, would you sell me ten octopuses?”

“Eey, sure. Jinhyuk’s here. Hey, Sungchan. Give Jinhyuk plenty of octopus, okay? I’m going to the town police station with your father. The rest, sell the big ones when the truck comes. Those damn swindlers don’t even give a fair price for the small ones and just take them all.”

“Yes, Father.”

Yuk Young-gu patted Jinhyuk’s back, who had grown much taller than him, with a grin and headed towards his 125cc motorcycle. His steps were cheerful.

Jinhyuk followed him with his eyes and saw an object tied with a rope on the back seat of the motorcycle.

‘What is that?’

It was fixed with two wooden planks on either side to prevent it from shaking, and it didn’t take long for him to recall what it was.

It was about a hand span long, with a reddish rust, and several fins at the rear.

‘A high-explosive shell?’

Judging by the size, it was probably a 60mm high-explosive shell. Jinhyuk quickly recalled its specifications and performance. Its lethal radius was 27 meters, wasn’t it?

He was going to the police station with that thing on his motorcycle?

Even if it wouldn’t explode unless certain conditions were met, accidents didn’t always happen within the bounds of common sense.

“Mister-!”

“Jinhyuk, here.”

Bada-da-da-da-.

It was almost simultaneous. The moment he reached out to call Yuk Young-gu and the moment Yuk Sungchan handed Jinhyuk the octopus. In the blink of an eye, Yuk Young-gu had already started and was about 20 meters away.

It seemed okay on the surface. Seeing it sitting quietly on the motorcycle with its stiff suspension, maybe it didn’t intend to explode.

Still, safety meant checking multiple times and being endlessly cautious. Jinhyuk thought he had to stop Yuk Young-gu. But the motorcycle quickly sped away, crossing the steel pipe across the road.

There were steel pipes across the rural roads to protect the water hoses. The water hoses were passed through the steel pipes to water the fields, and sometimes cement was laid on top of them to ensure safety even if cars drove over them.

Anyway, that pipe also acted as a speed bump…

And now, it was affecting the high-explosive shell.

Thud- Whoosh-.

At the same time as the sound, Jinhyuk grabbed Yuk Sungchan by the collar and threw himself out of the gate. It was something that would have been impossible without the help of his senses, which had already surpassed human limits. Seeing the high-explosive shell being launched from the motorcycle towards him, while rolling with Yuk Sungchan by the collar, Jinhyuk realized in a split second.

‘It wasn’t a dud!’

Where did Sungchan’s father pick that up? Why was an unused shell in the village? If it was just a dud, the mister would have died. How did I find my everyday life, I can’t die here.

‘I have so much to do.’

He had to help his dad’s business, teach Lee Seung-hoon and Shin Woo-sung how to wrestle and help them study. He had to correct Yeom Byeong-taek and Jo Seulchan’s posture, and he had promised to send Chae Gyu-ho to science high school. There were also many things to do when Moon Seok-il returned after recovering.

The sense of determination was fleeting.

The gate of Yuk Sungchan’s house was not just a simple wall. One side was a shed for storing farming tools, and the other was a shed for storing grains. The gate was structured to be more than a meter inside the outer wall, with the sheds on either side. That structure unexpectedly acted as a disposal for the high-explosive shell.

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-ANG-!

The sky cried out, and the ground shook.

He heard the sound of wood cracking, and the sound of weak cement bricks collapsing. The wall of one of the sheds, including the gate, collapsed, and the rice sacks in the shed burst, and rice grains poured out like rain.

“Uwaaaaaaa-!”

Yuk Sungchan covered his ears and wailed.

Jinhyuk’s ears were ringing, but he checked on Yuk Sungchan, who was lying on the ground, first.

“Hey! Sungchan! Take your hands off!”

“Uwaaaaaaa-!”

Fortunately, he didn’t see any other injuries, but blood was flowing from his ear.

Yuk Young-gu, with his eyes wide open, knocked over his motorcycle and rushed into the house, pushing through the debris at Jinhyuk’s shout.

***

In the distance, an ambulance left the village with a loud siren.

A live fish truck that was entering the village stopped briefly to the side, and the ambulance quickly drove away without slowing down.

“It’s not me, you guys. I’m going to live to be 100 years old.”

Cheon Gil-ryong muttered, watching the commotion.

He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, holding a pipe, and fanning himself with one hand.

“Hoo-hoo-, it’s been a while since Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving], why is it so hot?”

Cheon Gil-ryong folded his fan irritably as he entered the house.

Then, he yelled towards the bamboo forest.

“I didn’t say a word! I didn’t know either!”

The bamboo forest, which had been swaying busily from side to side, became quiet. Cheon Gil-ryong stared at the bamboo forest for a while before finally stepping inside. As the bamboo forest became quiet, the colorful flags that had been fluttering also drooped.

“He’s a strange one. He finds them like a ghost and saves them.”

A gust of wind was heard from the bamboo forest.

Cheon Gil-ryong, who knew the meaning of the wind, yelled.

“Don’t fight, you guys, get along!”

The ghosts and grim reapers were always fighting. The ghosts fought among themselves, and the grim reapers argued about who died earlier, who had guided more souls, and who had more experience.

As Cheon Gil-ryong entered the house, he heard a virgin ghost arguing with a bachelor ghost. “So-and-so senior, don’t live your life like that.”

“What life are you talking about when you’re dead?”

Despite Cheon Gil-ryong’s scolding, the virgin ghost kept saying, “Don’t come near me, I hate ugly ghosts.”

As soon as Cheon Gil-ryong entered the room, the bamboo forest became quiet as if it were a lie.

“They’re the kind who don’t get hungry even when they’re dead, but they seem to crave attention…”

Cheon Gil-ryong clicked his tongue as he entered the room, put a wooden pillow under his head, and lay down on his back.

It was the same with ghosts and people, they only seemed to make a fuss when someone was around to pay attention to them.

***

“Sungchan, can you hear me?”

“Ugh-ugh-ugh-. Ugh-.”

Yuk Sungchan even gagged.

He heard the paramedic’s words comforting Yuk Young-gu. His folksy tone was full of kindness.

“Mister, it’ll be okay. It’s just because your eardrum is hurt and you’re dizzy.”

“Y-yes. Okay.”

Yuk Young-gu cried as he stroked his son’s face.

While talking to the person in the driver’s seat, the paramedic checked on Yuk Sungchan’s condition and comforted Yuk Young-gu.

“He’s young, so he’ll recover well. And these days, if you get surgery, you can recover completely.”

“Yes, yes. Oh my, I almost killed my son like an idiot.”

Yuk Young-gu finally wiped away his tears with his fist, which was as big as a pot lid. How could those damn bastards have managed the ammunition so poorly that they had to see this?

Jinhyuk’s ears weren’t ringing, and he wasn’t dizzy. He could hear the paramedic and Yuk Young-gu’s conversation clearly.

“I’ll hold it for you.”

Jinhyuk took the gauze from Yuk Young-gu’s hand and placed it on Yuk Sungchan’s ear. Yuk Young-gu’s hand was shaking too much because he was overwhelmed with emotion.

Would Sungchan have been safe if he hadn’t gone to buy octopus, or did Sungchan live because of him? Jinhyuk’s mind was complicated.

Then, Yuk Young-gu, who had been crying his eyes out, leaned his head on Jinhyuk’s shoulder.

“Mmm-mm-mm-.”

Yuk Young-gu, with his face contorted, cried and strongly patted Jinhyuk’s back. He could feel the calluses on his skin, like elephant hide, even through his clothes.

Jinhyuk knew without being told. It was a sign of gratitude.

“You saved him.”

Yuk Young-gu finally opened his mouth, as if his shocked heart had calmed down.

When he turned around in shock at the loud noise, the image of Jinhyuk hugging his son and lying on the ground was strongly imprinted in Yuk Young-gu’s mind.

The ambulance, judging that they couldn’t receive proper treatment at the town hospital, went straight to Beomsan City Medical Center.

“Sungchan, you’ll be okay.”

Jinhyuk covered Yuk Sungchan’s ears with both hands until the paramedic changed shifts.

Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped.

In his previous life, there was a snippet of news like this in the newspaper.

「Middle school student dies in mortar shell explosion. Presumed to be unexploded ordnance lost from coastal unit during the rainy season.」

Of course, Jinhyuk had also seen the article while delivering newspapers. But he had forgotten who it was and when it was because his current life was too much to handle. He had barely spoken to anyone, and he had lived his life shut off from the world, so he had lost interest in worldly affairs. However, he remembered that it was during a time when it was hot, like the weather these days, even though it was autumn, and he had been running and walking repeatedly while delivering newspapers.

‘Could that have been Sungchan?’

You might ask how he couldn’t know, but that was how autistic Jinhyuk’s school days were.

Was it a coincidence that the newspaper article came to mind while he was being carried in the ambulance with Yuk Sungchan?

He didn’t know. He just hoped he wouldn’t see that article in this life.

He remembered his grandmother’s words.

– “…Come to think of it, I didn’t deliver our Jinhyuk and Young-gu’s son. A shaman told me that if I delivered them, they would live well, so I went around acting as a midwife.”

Ah, Yuk Sungchan’s father’s name was Young-gu.

It wasn’t easy for children to know the names of adults who didn’t interact much with them. Parents were usually called by their children’s names. The only person in the neighborhood who was called by his own name was the old bachelor, Jo Il-heon.

If his grandmother’s words were true, it was an incredible coincidence.

But they say that coincidences gather to become fate.

The ambulance slowed down, and the paramedic raised his voice.

“We’re here at the medical center!”

Jinhyuk held the bed firmly so that it wouldn’t move while the paramedics moved Yuk Sungchan.

There was someone watching Jinhyuk from afar.