The Genius Decided to Live an Ordinary Life (Novel) Chapter 5

Update 1.0: An improvement was made in the translation of the novel :)

Chapter 5: Three Lives (4)

***

“Dad, I can walk.”

Son Gwangyeon placed a blanket on his shoulder pole and put Jinhyuk on top of it. His mother walked beside him, supporting Jinhyuk’s back for fear of him falling, revealing the depth of their love and care for their child. Jang Gun followed closely behind the three of them, heading towards the sea.

They had successfully set out for the sea together.

But the only way he could think of to get their attention was to shout loud enough for his parents to hear. He had a good voice, so he thought if he yelled as loud as he could, they would hear his voice and come out.

“Jinhyuk, why did you bring that?”

His mother asked, looking at Jinhyuk who was clutching a firecracker can as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

It was the firecracker can his father had made for him on the Lantern Festival. A paint can with holes punched in it with nails, a long wire attached to make a handle, perfect for spinning – a firecracker can for playing with fire.

“To keep warm and to spin when I’m bored.”

His mother smiled warmly and patted his head.

Wasn’t a nine-year-old supposed to be more mature?

‘Spinning it around and around will be a signal.’

There was no better signaling device than a unique and eye-catching signal.

He had even brought a bunch of pine cones and pine needles to start the fire.

Jinhyuk’s heart pounded in his chest.

He regretted not begging them to stay.

‘Maybe that would have been better.’

He understood that he was sent back to the age of nine to save three lives, but biologically he was still a child, and the era was before the digital civilization blossomed. Even if there were digital devices, there wouldn't be much he could do. Anyway.

He had to save his parents. If he couldn't, he would be taken by his mother's half-sister next year and live in the attic. His father’s hard-earned assets would disappear without a trace.

‘I won’t let it happen again.’

The three of them walked along the dark path and reached the beach.

His mother and father followed the local men towards the mudflats, and Jinhyuk didn’t forget to remind them.

“I’ll play with firecrackers, so make sure you come out when you see them!”

"Yes, with our son here, we don't have to worry about getting lost."

Even his mother’s smile, shining like moonlight in the darkness, couldn’t ease Jinhyuk’s worries.

Jang Gun, who had followed them all the way, sat quietly beside Jinhyuk.

***

Quite some time had passed.

While his parents struggled on the mudflats, Jinhyuk fought a battle against sleep. His soul was that of an adult, but his body was that of a child, so it was difficult for him to stay awake late at night. The gentle sea breeze even made him drowsy, and he couldn’t help but close his eyes. He fought hard to shake off the sleep that was clinging to his eyelids.

“Hey, Yeon-gyeong, you caught a lot of abalone.”

As the tide came in, the men started coming out one by one.

The sound of mud-caked boots squelching on the mud chased away Jinhyuk’s sleep. As the salty smell of the sea filled his head, he remembered the most important thing.

‘Where are Mom and Dad?’

They weren’t there.

A cold sea breeze suddenly blew in, carrying an ominous scent.

"Jinhyuk is here too?"

"Yes, his father brought him. He couldn't leave the child alone at home."

"Why haven't they come out yet?"

"Really? The water will come in soon."

The men murmured among themselves.

Jinhyuk blamed himself for not lighting the fire earlier and hurriedly struck a match.

Whoosh-, the strong wind blew out the match.

That’s when it happened.

“Jinhyuk-ah-!”

It wasn’t his name they were calling.

It was his parents’ names the men were calling.

Jinhyuk’s heart sank at the sound.

‘The men have much better voices than me.’

They must have called out like this in his previous life, but they still didn't come out. But that wasn’t the only problem.

Jinhyuk-ah-!

Jinhyuk-ah-!

Echoes. The sea was surrounded by low mountains, making it impossible to locate the source of the sound. Seeing the men heading towards the sea, shouting Jinhyuk-ah at the top of their lungs, Jinhyuk’s face fell.

‘What do I do?’

Had he ever been this desperate in his life?

Although he was nine years old, he had lived past forty in his previous life. This was the most desperate moment of his life. He hadn’t felt this desperate even when taking the college entrance exam or the job interview.

‘That light must be Mom and Dad.’

He saw a light flickering on and off in the middle of the mudflats.

Whoosh- The match went out again. The saltiness in the sea breeze intensified, making him feel even more anxious. The seawater, heavy with salt, was coming in.

“Look, they’re in the water channel.”

“Jinhyuk-ah-!”

Water channel. The mudflats were usually soft, but there were some hard patches that were easy to walk on. They were deeper than the mudflats, forming winding paths, and the water came in fastest and left last. Even during high tide, water flowed through them, and people would wash their boots and hands there. People by the sea called them water channels.

‘It doesn’t matter if I can’t hear them anyway!’

The water channels were sunken terrain, blocking out external light and sound. Not only that. It was a water channel for a reason. It was a path where water flowed. The sound of the water trickling made it impossible to hear calls from afar.

"Turn on your flashlights, quickly!"

Everyone turned on their flashlights and waved them towards Jinhyuk’s parents, but they didn’t seem to see them. The feeble light created by humans was insignificant compared to the deep, dark darkness.

And.

‘There’s more than one light.’

There were lights on the other side and on the sea side where the water was coming in. The winding coastline of the West Sea often trapped people on the mudflats and devoured them.

"Let’s go and call them!"

"Yes, yes. If we don’t, something terrible will happen."

Now even the men were disappearing from sight.

A few oval-shaped lights flickered and disappeared into the dark mudflats.

‘They couldn’t save them even after doing all that?’

Jinhyuk’s heart raced. He had to save them somehow. He was confident that he wouldn’t repeat his previous life with his adoptive parents, thanks to his past life experience. But his mother and father were too young to die already.

‘If I light the fire, everything will be solved!’

He was ready to burn his hair, clutching the can to his chest. He struck a match again.

Whoosh-! The pine needles and pine cones ignited as if they had been waiting for this moment, even without being soaked in oil.

Without time to marvel at it, he stood up and spun the can with all his might.

“Mom-ah-ah-ah! Dad-ah-ah-ah-!”

Woof-woof-! Jang Gun added his voice.

Jinhyuk spun the firecracker can, pouring his desperate heart into it.

Whizz-whizz-whizz-! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The can, riddled with holes, roared with fire, making a terrifying sound.

It was the sound of life.

***

How inaccurate and unreliable are human eyes.

The next day, Jo Ilhun clinked his cup of makgeolli with his neighbors, enjoying seafood as an appetizer. It was a gathering to celebrate the successful completion of the farming season and the end of the year.

"But what kind of magic was that?"

"The tide. Who knows?"

"Don’t talk nonsense and drink your liquor!"

Did he see wrong?

Jo Ilhun spread his arms to capture everyone’s attention.

"I’ll tell you again, so listen carefully."

He had to save the young couple. The man who had come from Seoul but was outgoing and friendly, getting along with everyone in the neighborhood, and the beautiful woman who had been born and raised in a different village. It was obvious that the young boy would be left alone if something happened to them.

Jo Ilhun and Park Daesun, the two men, had gone into the mudflats to find Jinhyuk’s parents.

"Water! The water’s coming in!"

"We have to go!"

"What about Jinhyuk’s family?"

"Oh, I’m going crazy!"

Jo Ilhun didn’t see the golden circle behind him.

But there were two people who clearly recognized Jinhyuk’s firecracker display. It looked like an annular solar eclipse from a distance.

"Oppa! It’s over there, over there!"

"Wow! We’re saved. Let’s go quickly. Our son’s arm must be tired."

Jinhyuk’s parents safely escaped the water channel, and Jo Ilhun turned back towards the shore. When he reached the shore following the light, the light was gone, and a round moon was hanging in the sky. It was the new moon, the kind of moon that only appeared in old folktales told by grandparents. This part caused a stir.

"- That’s what happened."

"Brother, stop drinking. You’ll get drunk and say stupid things."

Jo Ilhun finished his explanation confidently, but Park Daesun, who had been to the sea and was close to him, didn’t believe him either.

"Damn it…"

Jo Ilhun was a heavy drinker. Of course, he had filled his stomach with a jug of makgeolli before going to the sea. That’s why no one who hadn’t been to the sea believed their story.

"My god, damn it. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?"

"I’d rather believe Kim Il-sung! Hahaha!"

"It must have looked like that fire Jinhyuk spun. Your eyes get weird at night, you see ghosts and all that."

"Really?"

He caved in a little. If he kept talking, he would be treated like an idiot. He had been drinking to get through the cold night, so he was unsure, and memories from the dark night were easily distorted.

But humans are stubborn creatures.

Jo Ilhun clung to Son Gwangyeon, drunk with liquor.

"Jinhyuk’s family! Did you see Jinhyuk’s family too?"

"Haha! I was too tired and only looked at the ground, brother. Jinhyuk’s mother didn’t say anything special either."

The new moon, which couldn’t offer any evidence, ended up as a tall tale of Jo Ilhun, who loved drinking.

‘Damn, I must have seen things. Damn it, I should quit drinking.’

Jo Ilhun vowed to stop drinking and gulped down another cup of makgeolli.

It became a story, a product of darkness and light, ignorance and imagination, and a dramatic ending. Stories like this are bound to gain life and become legends through word of mouth.

Even if he was hurt, Jo Ilhun was secretly proud to have a fun story to tell his grandson. After all, wasn’t it a happy ending that would make children clap their hands with joy?

That’s how Jo Ilhun, a forty-five-year-old bachelor, comforted himself.

***

Jinhyuk, after finishing school, was overwhelmed with emotion as he saw his parents in the yard.

‘I changed fate.’

His parents were alive and well.

Jinhyuk’s vision blurred. How could he express this joy? He had cried too much since coming back to the past, but tears of joy were good, weren’t they?

He ducked under Jang Gun, who was growling low to the ground, and went inside.

"Jinhyuk, come eat dinner."

"Yes!"

Clang-clank-.

Slurp-slurp-.

"It’s so delicious."

"Haha, eat up, son."

The boiled octopus with gochujang sauce and the soybean paste stew with crab were delicious. In his previous life, he had simply eaten to fill his stomach, and no matter how expensive the food was, he had never thought it was delicious.

"Mom, is there more rice?"

Jinhyuk stood up with his rice bowl.

"Give it to me, I’ll bring it."

"I can do it."

He had been a child who couldn’t finish even half a bowl of rice, just nibbling at it.

Swoosh-.

The sound of the lid being lifted from the cauldron came from the kitchen.

His mother’s face lit up with happiness as she watched her son eat two bowls of rice.

"I’m going to sleep in the other room from now on."

"Why? You like sleeping with me."

"It’s hard to do my homework because of the TV sound."

That’s strange. He only watched TV occasionally. He used to love watching the news with his father and loved sleeping with his mother’s arm around him, but now he wanted to sleep separately.

His mother tilted her head in confusion.

"Hee-hee."

The Seoul boy smiled innocently like a good fool.

Han Yuyoung blushed as she looked at Son Gwangyeon.

*

A rural house with only two rooms.

Jinhyuk’s room was filled with books that his father had read during his college days. Classical novels, English textbooks, university textbooks, English newspapers, Japanese newspapers, and everything else. There was no book missing from Jinhyuk’s room. In the countryside, even a middle school graduate was considered educated, and a high school graduate was respected as a learned person.

‘Dad went to college.’

Children were only interested in snacks and games, so it was natural that he didn’t know his father’s background until now. It was his father’s graduation certificate from “Korea University, Department of Business Administration.”

‘He’s my alma mater.’

He picked up a Japanese newspaper and read it, then mumbled through an English newspaper, and even read his father’s textbooks. A nine-year-old reading fluently would be more shocking than heartwarming. He preferred reading quietly in his room.

Then he closed the book.

‘Ugh, it’s all stuff I already know. Anyway, the soundproofing is terrible.’

He had decided to sleep in separate rooms to respect his parents, who were still in their prime. But the mud walls of the countryside couldn’t provide complete privacy.

Hee-hee-.

That was the sound his father made when he tickled his mother’s side.

Jinhyuk swallowed his dry saliva and thought back to Lee Haewon, who had tried to flirt with him a few days ago. He couldn’t stop there, and he thought of Choi Mikyeong, who lived across the large field, and then Kim Eunjung, who lived near the community center. There were a lot of girls in the village, and out of thirty students in his class, twenty-three were girls.

But that was it. Jinhyuk’s interest didn’t go any further. They were just kids, after all.

"Ugh, I’m going to sleep."

You grow taller when you sleep.

Hee-hee-.

His mother’s laughter seeped through the wall again.

‘It’s good times…'

The good thing was that he was easily lulled to sleep because he had a child’s body. Jinhyuk hoped time would pass quickly and he would grow up soon.

Jinhyuk, covered in his blanket up to his head, fell fast asleep.

On a moonless night, shadows danced gracefully beyond the paper windows. 

Trial

I like Korean novels (Murim, Dukes, Reincarnation, etc, etc, etc)

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