Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 327

327

It was nearly back at his shop when Hyun-sung, having parted ways with Park Hee-cheol at the meat restaurant, noticed someone lingering.

‘Who are they?’

Not just one person, but two. At first glance, they appeared to be young girls.

Hyun-sung, arriving at the shop, immediately asked,

“Who are you two?”

“Are you perhaps Hyun-sung oppa [an honorific term used by younger women to address older men they are close to]?”

The girl who seemed to be the older of the two looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Yes, I’m Kim Hyun-sung, but who are you?”

“Hello, I’m Lee Soo-min, and this is my younger sister, Soo-yeon. Our mom is Shin Mi-sook.”

“Ah, so you’re Soo-min and Soo-yeon.”

Only then did Hyun-sung realize who the girls were. They were the two daughters of Shin Mi-sook, for whom he had opened a ramen shop in Hongcheon just ten days ago.

Hyun-sung immediately asked,

“Were you waiting for me here by any chance?”

“Yes, we came to see oppa, but the door was closed, so we waited.”

“How long did you wait?”

“Um… about an hour.”

At the word ‘hour,’ Hyun-sung was taken aback. Even though it was late April, it was still quite chilly in Gangwon Province in the evening. He couldn’t help but be surprised that they had waited outside for an hour in this weather.

Hyun-sung opened the shop door right away.

“Come on in. You must be freezing. What if you catch a cold waiting for an hour?”

“No, it wasn’t that cold.”

Lee Soo-min said as she followed him into the shop.

However, contrary to her words, both her cheeks were already flushed red. That meant it was indeed cold.

“Have you two had dinner yet?”

“No, we were just about to go and eat with my sister. Mom won’t be back until around 10, so we eat by ourselves first.”

“Really? Then how about this oppa makes you some ramen?”

“Yes? That’s….”

Lee Soo-min glanced at Lee Soo-yeon and couldn’t answer.

Hyun-sung immediately continued,

“I don’t think that’ll do. You’ve been shivering in the cold for too long. This oppa will quickly make you some ramen, so eat dinner here before you go.”

“……”

The two of them just kept looking at each other, not saying anything.

Hyun-sung looked back and forth between Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon, then headed straight to the kitchen.

A little later.

Hyun-sung came out with two bowls of ramen on a tray.

“Soo-yeon, Soo-min, eat the ramen quickly, you must be cold.”

“Can we eat this?”

Lee Soo-yeon looked at her older sister, Lee Soo-min, and asked in a small voice. Then Lee Soo-min handed her chopsticks and said,

“Yes, since oppa made it for us, let’s thank him and eat.”

As soon as Lee Soo-min finished speaking, the two bowed their heads as if they had made a promise.

“Oppa, we’ll enjoy the meal.”

“……Me too.”

“Okay, eat quickly. Hurry, since it’s cold……”

Hyun-sung wanted to say more, but he stopped himself, thinking that Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon might feel more uncomfortable if he went on.

Slurp.

Lee Soo-min started eating the ramen first, and then Lee Soo-yeon glanced at Lee Soo-min before finally starting to eat as well.

It was when Lee Soo-min had eaten about half of her ramen that she opened her mouth.

“Oppa, it’s delicious.”

“It is?”

“Yes, actually, I wanted to try the ramen that oppa makes. My friends brag about it so much, so I was curious.”

Unlike before, once Lee Soo-min started talking, the words flowed out smoothly.

Looking at Lee Soo-min, Hyun-sung said,

“You should have come sooner.”

“I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Um…, there’s a reason, but I can’t tell you why.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

Hyun-sung couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand why she wanted to come but couldn’t, but he understood even less why she couldn’t tell him the reason.

At that moment, her younger sister, Lee Soo-yeon, looked at Lee Soo-min and said in a small voice,

“Unnie, you can’t tell him.”

“I know, so don’t worry and eat your ramen.”

“If you tell him, you know what’ll happen, right?”

Lee Soo-yeon suddenly shook her fist. The action was a silent threat that she would punch Lee Soo-min if she told.

Hearing the two of them talking, Hyun-sung, out of curiosity, looked at the younger sister, Lee Soo-yeon, and asked,

“Soo-yeon, what’s with the fist?”

“Yes? Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just our way of talking to each other. Oppa doesn’t need to know.”

“What kind of thing is that? You’re making me curious……”

“Hehe, I can’t tell you no matter what. Absolutely.”

Lee Soo-yeon shook her head from side to side severely. That only made Hyun-sung more curious. But it was strange to keep asking a young child. As a result, he unknowingly made a strange expression.

Then Lee Soo-yeon, who was sitting across from him, burst out laughing with a strange sound.

“Hehehe……”

“Lee Soo-yeon, are you really going to do that?”

“Do what?”

Lee Soo-yeon’s eyes, looking at Hyun-sung with a sulky expression, were full of mischief. Then Lee Soo-min, who was sitting next to her, lightly poked her younger sister in the side.

“Lee Soo-yeon, what are you doing to oppa?”

“Huh? What? I was just laughing because oppa looked cute.”

“What?”

Lee Soo-min shook her head, as if she had nothing to say to Lee Soo-yeon’s words that he was cute.

Looking at that, Hyun-sung had nothing more to say. Hyun-sung, who was over 50, had nothing to say after being called cute by a third grader.

Swish.

Hyun-sung got up from his seat and walked towards the water purifier.

As soon as Hyun-sung disappeared, the two children looked at each other as if they had been waiting for it and giggled. Seeing that, Hyun-sung smiled. Whatever the situation, Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon looked cute.

“Here, drink some water.”

Hyun-sung handed the water to the two of them.

Then Lee Soo-min asked,

“Oppa, are you okay?”

“Huh? About what?”

“You’re not upset with us, are you?”

“……”

Hyun-sung was speechless with disbelief. But what was even more absurd was that he couldn’t just stay still in this situation. If he didn’t say anything, it would really seem like he was upset, but he couldn’t find the right words to say.

But then, even more absurd words came out of Lee Soo-yeon’s mouth.

“Unnie! Does our oppa know what a ‘bandaengi’ [a small, easily angered person] is?”

“……”

Hyun-sung had nothing more to say at Lee Soo-yeon’s word ‘bandaengi’.

A little later.

Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon, who had finished eating the ramen, hesitantly approached Hyun-sung. In fact, Hyun-sung had moved his seat a little while ago and was sitting inside the kitchen. He couldn’t bear to sit in that spot the moment the word ‘bandaengi’ came out.

“Oppa, this is for you.”

Lee Soo-min handed a box to Hyun-sung.

“What is this?”

“Soo-yeon and I made it. Actually, we were waiting outside earlier to give you this.”

“What is it?”

“Oppa, please check it yourself.”

“Huh? Really? But why are you giving this to me?”

“Because we’re grateful. That’s what Mom said.”

“Mom? What did Mom say?”

“She said we were saved thanks to oppa. She said that if it weren’t for oppa, we wouldn’t be able to go to school properly. And……”

Lee Soo-min couldn’t finish her sentence.

Of course, he was curious about what she was going to say next. But he couldn’t just ask right away. That’s because this whole situation felt strange to Hyun-sung.

In fact, it was an unexpected part. Of course, he helped Shin Mi-sook because of Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon. But he didn’t think she would say such things to the young children. That meant that Shin Mi-sook’s position was that desperate. Anyway, it was a relief to hear that the business was doing well.

At that time, Lee Soo-min continued to speak.

“Our mom has started smiling again.”

“Mom?”

“Yes, oppa. Actually, our mom used to smile a lot. But after our dad passed away, she lost her smile and didn’t smile.”

“……”

“But since she started the ramen business, she has started smiling again. She used to cry at night without us knowing, but she doesn’t do that at all these days.”

Hyun-sung nodded slightly.

Then, this time, the younger sister, Lee Soo-yeon, opened her small mouth.

“We know that it’s all thanks to oppa.”

“What did I……”

“No. I don’t know what oppa thinks, but we know that we can go to school and that our mom has found her smile again, all thanks to oppa. So, my sister and I worried about it and made this.”

Hyun-sung was already holding a box in his hand.

“Okay, thank you. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll gratefully accept it. And go to school well in the future, and if you have any worries, come and find me anytime. I don’t know if oppa will be of any help, but I’ll listen hard. Got it?”

“Yes, oppa!”

“Yes!”

Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon answered at the same time as if they had made a promise, then looked at each other, nodded, and bowed their heads.

“Oppa! Thank you.”

“Me too. And you don’t have to reply.”

“Huh?”

Hyun-sung wondered what she meant for a moment, but the two children were already turning around and leaving the shop.

“What is this?”

Hyun-sung, left alone, opened the box that Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon had given him.

Inside the box, there was a glass bottle filled with origami cranes. And two letters were placed side by side.

“What did they write?”

Hyun-sung smiled and started reading the pink letter first.

Lee Soo-min and Lee Soo-yeon left Hyun-sung’s shop.

Lee Soo-yeon asked first.

“What did you write, unnie [older sister]?”

“What about you?”

“I asked first. You have to answer first, unnie.”

“Um… I wrote that I’m grateful for helping us, as I said before, and that I’m also grateful for bringing back the smile to Mom.”

“Is that all?”

Lee Soo-yeon looked at Lee Soo-min as if she couldn’t believe it.

Then Lee Soo-min smiled and continued,

“I also wrote that I would study hard, so I’m definitely going to college.”

“College?”

“Yes, that way I can meet oppa later. You know? Our oppa is good at studying, so I’m going to study hard and go to a university in Seoul.”

“Tch! Since when is he our oppa?”

Lee Soo-yeon pouted.

Then Lee Soo-min widened her eyes and said,

“Lee Soo-yeon, you know you cheated earlier, right?”

“Did I?”

“You said ‘our oppa’ in front of oppa earlier. That’s definitely cheating. Isn’t it?”

“Did I? I don’t remember……”

“Are you really going to do that? You definitely said ‘our oppa’ while talking about ‘bandaengi’ earlier.”

“Well…… Why can’t I remember……?”

Lee Soo-yeon shook her head on purpose, as if she was trying to tease her.

Then Lee Soo-min glared at Lee Soo-yeon for a moment and immediately asked.

“Then what did you write to oppa?”

“Um…… Secret!”

“What? What kind of thing is that? I told you everything?”

“Who told you to tell me? Unnie, let’s go quickly. We have to hurry to finish cleaning before Mom comes. We wasted too much time waiting for our oppa earlier.”

With those words, Lee Soo-yeon started to rush out of the alley.

Then Lee Soo-min stared at Lee Soo-yeon’s back as if she was dumbfounded.

Only for a moment.

“Hey, you sly fox. Won’t you stop there?”

Lee Soo-min started chasing after Lee Soo-yeon.

At that time.

Hyun-sung was holding a white piece of paper.

Hyun-sung couldn’t help but burst out laughing as he read the letter.

“Haha, hahaha……”

The reason why Hyun-sung couldn’t help but laugh was because of the phrase written on the last line.

– Oppa, a 9-year age difference is just a number.