Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 65

Huff, huff!

Lee Jung-woo’s breathing grew rough.

“Are you okay? If it’s too hard, let’s rest for a bit,” Hyun-sung said, following behind Lee Jung-woo.

Lee Jung-woo wiped sweat from his forehead and replied, “No, I can still walk. I need to do this much.”

His strong will was evident in his voice.

If I had thought about it a little, it would have been obvious…

It’s something I didn’t realize before.

He hadn’t said anything, but that meant he was hurting a lot. He just didn’t show it.

Thud!

Lee Jung-woo didn’t stop walking. He gripped his trembling legs and took another step toward the summit.

Hyun-sung, watching him, didn’t say anything more.

He just silently followed behind Lee Jung-woo. For now, that was the only way he could help Lee Jung-woo.

I couldn’t see it before.

No, to be more precise, I saw it, but I didn’t think much of it.

The reason was simple.

Of course, I felt sorry for his uncomfortable body, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do. I just thought Lee Jung-woo had to bear it all himself.

So, I didn’t do anything.

Standing by.

Because I thought it was someone else’s problem, I just watched like a fire across the river [remaining uninvolved in a conflict or issue].

That’s how it was before.

But now my thinking has changed.

Maybe it’s because my perspective has broadened with the years I’ve lived, but my viewpoint has changed.

I saw potential.

Of course, I couldn’t make drastic changes, but I thought I could change his life to some extent, depending on his efforts.

That was what exercising together was all about.

Living life, I realized what a true friend is.

I understood when things got really tough.

I received enough in my past life. So now it’s my turn.

One thing at a time, starting with what I can do.

Some time later.

Hyun-sung shouted loudly, “Jung-woo, cheer up! Just a little further and we’re at the top.”

It’s a shallow mountain that others can climb in less than an hour. But Lee Jung-woo has been struggling for over two hours.

Huff, huff!

Lee Jung-woo said, gasping for breath, “Yeah, just a little more…”

Lee Jung-woo was squeezing out his last bit of strength.

I wanted to push him from behind, but Hyun-sung held back. He knew too well that it wouldn’t help Lee Jung-woo.

It must be painful, and he must want to collapse right away.

But Lee Jung-woo was tenaciously holding on.

Lee Jung-woo already knows. That the pain of this moment will not be in vain.

Finally, a powerful roar burst from his mouth.

“Ughhhhh…”

Thump!

Lee Jung-woo triumphantly placed his last step on the summit.

Then he collapsed on the summit, almost falling over.

Haa!

Lee Jung-woo’s breathing came out in short bursts, as if he were about to pass out.

He struggled to open his mouth again.

“Hyun-sung!”

“Yeah, you rascal,” Hyun-sung nodded, looking down at Lee Jung-woo.

Then Lee Jung-woo looked up at Hyun-sung and said again, “We did it, right?”

“No, you did it. As you know, I didn’t lift a finger. You climbed to the top here yourself.”

“You rascal, I had strength because you were standing right behind me.”

Lee Jung-woo looked at Hyun-sung.

That’s how he honestly felt.

He wanted to give up so many times. Every time, he could hear Hyun-sung’s breathing behind him. He couldn’t give up in front of such a friend.

If Hyun-sung hadn’t been there to support him until the last moment, he would never have made it to this point.

Lee Jung-woo smiled at Hyun-sung.

“Thanks!”

“You son of a gun, I’m grateful too.”

Hyun-sung nodded and smiled slightly.

Then he lay down next to Lee Jung-woo.

The blue sky was visible through the pine trees.

Hyun-sung looked at the sky and asked, “Do you like it?”

“I like it!”

“Then that’s good. I… like it too!”

The two of them looked at the blue sky in silence for a long time.

Today it took more than two hours, but if they keep doing it, that time will definitely be shortened. Lee Jung-woo’s leg strength will improve, and as his strength improves, his confidence will also grow.

Hyun-sung judged that Lee Jung-woo’s life would change little by little.

***

“Well, I’ll be back.”

Hyun-sung bowed to his father and mother.

Then his mother’s expression slightly distorted as if she was displeased.

“So, you’re finally going to Incheon to see your future bride?”

“Yes, I already told you.”

“Yes, I heard. I heard, but no matter how much I think about it, it’s absurd. I want to go with you and see it with my own eyes, but I can’t…”

Is it because she’s sensitive because she’s a potential daughter-in-law?

When he first said he was going to Incheon to see his wife the day before yesterday, she didn’t say anything, but as time went by, his mother’s attitude began to change.

Even last night, while he was studying with his younger sister, she came in and disturbed their studying for 30 minutes, saying, ‘Does that make sense?’

Of course, he understands her feelings.

What parent in the world would believe that they saw their future bride in a dream?

But the problem is that Hyun-sung has no way to explain it other than a dream. If he said even one word that he had regressed, he would be considered mentally ill.

It’s unfair, but Hyun-sung had to endure it.

As his mother kept saying different things, his father, who was watching from the side, stepped in.

“Hyun-sung will be late for the bus. Stop it and send him off. Isn’t he meeting our new daughter-in-law?”

“New daughter-in-law? You’re so naive…”

“Hey, you can’t say that in front of the kids.”

Hehe….

Then his younger sister, Kim Ji-yeon, who was listening next to him, burst into laughter.

Then she said to Hyun-sung, “Oppa [term used by younger females to address older males], go quickly if you’re going. It’s no help having you here.”

He was grateful for Kim Ji-yeon’s quick wit at times like this.

After all, the more he stays, the more his mother’s suspicion will grow, and the more difficult it will be for Hyun-sung himself.

“Right? I think so too. Then I’m going. Father, Mother, I’m really going this time.”

With those words, Hyun-sung bowed and left the house.

His mother still seemed to be saying something behind him, but Hyun-sung pretended not to hear and headed towards the new road at a fast pace.

Thump, thump.

As soon as he left the house, his heart started to flutter.

The reason was obvious.

Thinking about meeting his wife Yoon Ji-soo in her 20s, his heart started racing without him realizing it.

In his previous life, he met his wife Yoon Ji-soo when Hyun-sung was 33 years old. She was 7 years older, so his wife was 40 years old.

But the wife Yoon Ji-soo he will see today is 25 years old.

It would be strange if his heart didn’t race.

Hehe.

“What will she look like…”

It was the moment when a smile naturally spread across Hyun-sung’s face.

That’s when the first bus came into view.

That afternoon.

As soon as Hyun-sung got off at the Incheon Terminal, he took a taxi straight to Bupyeong.

“It’s here…”

Hyun-sung’s steps stopped in front of a villa.

[Buyoung Art Villa]

This is where Hyun-sung lived with his wife Yoon Ji-soo for the last time.

There are A and B buildings, and Hyun-sung lived in building A. Room 301.

It was the first house he had bought in 15 years while running a video store. At that time, of course, he felt like he had gained the whole world.

It’s where he and his wife hung the curtains together, and where they both liked flowers and grew a lot of plants.

Thud.

Hyun-sung moved his steps into the villa.

Then he went straight up to the 3rd floor.

Of course, his wife is not here now. But the reason he came up here is because of the memories of his wife Yoon Ji-soo that remain in Hyun-sung’s memory.

She was the wife who always waved her hand from the window when he went to work. And she was the wife who packed a lunch box and walked to the store every day, saying she was exercising.

Hyun-sung’s steps stopped in front of room 301.

It’s a house he always went in and out of.

So, his hand moved naturally.

“Ah!”

Hyun-sung’s finger stopped in front of the doorbell.

This is not his house where he used to live.

If someone comes out after ringing the doorbell, what will he say?

He can’t say nonsense like ‘I’m the person who lived here in the future’.

Then why bother….

Hyun-sung turned his steps.

No one will come out if he calls for someone who is not there, and he didn’t want to cause trouble to other people’s houses, so he turned away.

Thud.

He took a few steps back towards the stairs.

“But I came all the way here…”

Is it lingering feelings?

Hyun-sung stopped walking.

Anyway, it’s the last place of memories with his wife Yoon Ji-soo. People are gone, but the space itself has not disappeared.

Whoosh.

Hyun-sung turned his steps again.

If he leaves this place now, he may never come back here again. Or maybe he will never come back again.

Unless he reopens the video store like in his previous life, he will probably never come to this neighborhood. That means it could be the last time.

It’s a place where the last memories with his wife Yoon Ji-soo remain. He wanted to see the space with his own eyes, even for a moment.

Hyun-sung boldly pressed the bell.

Ding-dong.

“…”

“What?”

It was quiet.

Hyun-sung pressed the bell again.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

It was then.

Squeak.

Someone came out of the house. But the door that opened was not room 301, but room 302 on the opposite side.

“Huh?”

Hyun-sung doubted his eyes.

The person who opened the door from room 302 was someone he knew.

Moon Hee-yeol.

He first met this person when he came to this neighborhood and started a video store.

Of course, he first met him as a customer and owner.

He was 3 years older than Hyun-sung. As he became a regular, they became close, and one day they started calling each other hyung [term used by younger males to address older males] and dongsaeng [term used to address younger sibling or friend].

Then, about 2 years later, he suddenly lost contact.

That was the winter of 1997 when the IMF crisis [International Monetary Fund crisis, a period of financial instability in Asia] broke out.

And a few years later, he came to the store once. He heard that the factory he was running with his father went bankrupt due to the IMF crisis and even the house he was living in was taken over by a court auction.

That was the end.

“How did you get here?” Moon Hee-yeol asked, looking at Hyun-sung.

“Yes? That’s…”