Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 375

Swish, swish.

The rain that started in the morning continued into the afternoon.

Hyeonseong was on the phone.

“Yes, I understand. I was planning to go home next week anyway because of the general election. Let’s talk more about that issue when I go.”

-Okay, I understand. Then, see you then. Always take care of yourself and eat well.

“Yes, Father.”

He chuckled.

A light smile spread across Hyeonseong’s face after he hung up the phone.

The reason for the call with his father was Jun-chi. It was a wild boar piglet he had found in a rock crevice while digging for wild ginseng two years ago.

That piglet had grown up and was now doing its part in the village.

Stud service.

That’s exactly what Jun-chi was doing these days. The condition for stud service was receiving a piglet for each litter. And this was already the third piglet. So, they needed to build a bigger pigpen.

Jun-chi was also a connection he had made since his regression. If he hadn’t gone there that day, Jun-chi’s life would have ended there.

But strangely, that bond was getting longer and longer. In just a few more years, Jun-chi’s genes would be quite prevalent throughout the village.

He thought that maybe Jun-chi would play a big role when he runs a restaurant later.

“That rascal!”

Just as a smile spread across Hyeonseong’s face again,

Knock knock.

He heard someone knocking on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

The voice belonged to Park Min-seok, the son of the boarding house owner.

Hyeonseong greeted Park Min-seok with pleasure.

“Ah, Min-seok hyung [older brother/friend], come on in. But didn’t you go to prepare your thesis today?”

“For some reason, books don’t catch my eye on rainy days.”

“Haha, right? On days like this, kimchi pancakes and makgeolli [Korean rice wine] are the best…”

“You know what’s up. That’s why I prepared this, you know?”

Park Min-seok took out two bottles of makgeolli from the black plastic bag he was carrying. Hyeonseong jumped up from his seat as if he had been waiting for it.

“Okay, wait a minute. I’ll make kimchi pancakes as a snack quickly.”

“Kimchi pancakes? You know how to make those?”

“Hyung, didn’t you know? I’m quite the cook.”

Just in time, the kimchi that Lee Hye-seon’s mother had given him last time was perfectly ripe. Hyeonseong started slicing the kimchi first.

Slice, slice…

It was the moment when Hyeonseong’s specialty, his knife skills, spread out evenly.

Then, Park Min-seok said, surprised.

“What? Where did you learn those knife skills? Did you learn how to cook?”

“I didn’t learn it specifically, I just like it.”

“Really? But for just liking it, your knife skills are no joke.”

“Haha, really? Okay, now it’s time for the batter.”

Hyeonseong then added pancake mix, sugar, and eggs to the finely sliced kimchi and started stirring, and the batter began to take shape.

Park Min-seok, who was watching the scene, said again.

“Kim Hyeonseong, when I think about it, you’re a man of many talents. Studying, cooking, what can’t you do?”

“Hyung, come on… It’s just making kimchi pancakes, why are you making such a fuss…?”

“What are you talking about? I have a hard time even making ramen. It’s hard to control the water, and sometimes it’s undercooked, and sometimes it’s overcooked and bloated. Anyway, cooking is too hard.”

Hyeonseong chuckled as he looked at Park Min-seok saying that.

Sizzle.

When Hyeonseong put the batter on the oiled frying pan, an amazing sound echoed in the room.

“Hyung, did you know that the sound waves of rain and the sound of making kimchi pancakes are the same?”

“Really?”

“Yes, that’s why you think of kimchi pancakes or savory pancakes on rainy days.”

“Now that you mention it, the sounds seem the same. That’s really amazing.”

Park Min-seok listened to the sound of the rain and the sound of the kimchi pancakes alternately, repeating the action as if he was amazed.

Then, as if something came to mind, Hyeonseong asked.

“By the way, has the date for the graduation trip been set?”

“Yeah, they originally said they were going in the fall, but suddenly they said they were going next month because of the Olympics. It seems like the room rates are no joke in the fall because of the Olympic tourists.”

The reason for the change in the graduation trip was the cost. But Hyeonseong’s interest was not in that. Hyeonseong’s interest was only in the date.

Perhaps that’s why his question followed immediately.

“When is the date?”

“The second Thursday of the month. The exact date is May 12th, and everyone will gather at the front gate of the school at 6 a.m. to depart together.”

Park Min-seok was talking about the departure time accurately even though he wasn’t asked. From his expression, you could already feel the excitement about the graduation trip.

Today is April 20th, so there are exactly 23 days left. In 23 days, Park Min-seok will be leaving on a graduation trip from which he will never return.

It was a meaningless question, but Hyeonseong asked with a hopeful heart.

“Are you going, hyung?”

“Of course, I have to go! It’s once in a lifetime!”

Park Min-seok’s voice was full of energy as he answered.

Then, Hyeonseong’s gaze naturally turned to him. Seeing him happy without knowing what was going to happen, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Sigh!”

Park Min-seok was taken aback. He asked if he was going on the graduation trip, and he answered with a happy heart. But the only thing that came back was a sigh, so how could he not be taken aback?

“Hey, Kim Hyeonseong. What’s wrong with you? Your hyung is going on a once-in-a-lifetime graduation trip, does that look so pathetic to you?”

“Huh? Ah… No, it’s not that…”

Hyeonseong was momentarily surprised. He couldn’t help but feel pathetic about Park Min-seok going to his death, but it was expressed outwardly against his will, which made the situation even more embarrassing.

But that was only for a moment.

Hyeonseong quickly regained his composure.

“I was just thinking about something else for a moment… Haha.”

Hyeonseong knew that just laughing when things were awkward was one way to get through the situation.

Was that why?

Park Min-seok looked at the frying pan as if nothing had happened and asked.

“Isn’t it done yet?”

“No, it’s almost done. Kimchi pancakes are originally more delicious when the outside is a bit crispy…”

Hyeonseong suddenly became talkative.

And after a while.

“Hyung, let’s toast.”

“Okay, the sound of the rain is good, and there’s makgeolli and kimchi pancakes, the atmosphere is totally awesome today. Let’s drink.”

Park Min-seok raised the glass of makgeolli in front of him high.

There’s nothing he can do right now anyway. Instead of worrying about nothing on a day like today, Hyeonseong also raised his glass high, thinking that it would be better to enjoy it. The two people’s glasses clinked happily in the air, and the two began to enjoy their own atmosphere while listening to the sound of the rain.

How much time had passed?

Park Min-seok suddenly said something out of the blue.

“What will happen?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the general election results. How many seats do you think the ruling party will get this time?”

Things usually get twisted in strange places. But on the other hand, when things are going to work out, you can find the clue in unexpected places. This was exactly the case.

April 26, 1988, was the day of the 13th general election. But the important thing is that the date is 6 days away. But more importantly, Hyeonseong already knows the results.

General election results?

He doesn’t care about that. It’s already past history for Hyeonseong. But he thought that if he used the known results well, he could make Park Min-seok absolutely believe in his words in the future. Of course, the purpose was one, to prevent Park Min-seok from going on the graduation trip no matter what.

Hyeonseong smiled and answered confidently.

“Of course, the Democratic Justice Party will take the first party, but they will never get a majority.”

Everyone could have predicted that the Democratic Justice Party would become the first party in the next general election after the three Kims each ran for president in the 1987 presidential election and lost.

However, it was not easy to predict that the Democratic Justice Party would not secure a majority. The reason is that if that were to happen, it would be an unprecedented situation in constitutional history called ‘a minority ruling party’.

“Absolutely?”

As expected, Park Min-seok reacted immediately. In fact, he deliberately emphasized the word ‘absolutely’ while speaking a little while ago. The reason is that the more Park Min-seok shows interest in the general election results, the closer he can get to achieving his goal.

Hyeonseong said in a stronger voice as if he was sure.

“Yes, I think they will 100% fail to get a majority.”

“100%? Well… I think the people will still vote for the ruling party no matter what? It’s a different issue from the presidential election. Even for the smooth running of state affairs. And we’ve never had a minority ruling party in our country so far, have we?”

“Wanna bet?”

It was childish, but Hyeonseong couldn’t help it. He had no choice but to do this to prevent Park Min-seok from going on the graduation trip no matter what.

Then, Park Min-seok reacted immediately as if it was fun.

“A bet?”

“Yes, it’s fun. That way, it’s fun to watch the general election coverage. Anyway, this is my first time voting.”

“Ah, I see. This is your first time, right?”

“Yes, so I’m honestly curious. How accurate my predictions will be. In fact, I don’t think they’ll be able to get even 100 seats out of 224 districts in my judgment.”

Hyeonseong mentioned specific numbers to draw Park Min-seok’s attention. In fact, the Democratic Justice Party only won 87 districts in the 13th general election. Including the national constituency, they received a poor report card of 125 seats.

As a result, the Democratic Justice Party won the first party in the 13th general election, but failed to secure a majority, and a minority ruling party parliament appeared for the first time in 38 years since the 1950 general election.

In other words, it foreshadowed that the future political situation of the Roh Tae-woo administration would be difficult.

In addition, the Party for Peace and Democracy, which was 4.5% behind the Democratic Unification Party in the vote rate, was expected to have a more intense confrontation between the two Kims by becoming the first opposition party with 11 more seats in the number of seats, unlike Hyeonseong, Park Min-seok, who had no way of knowing that fact, had no choice but to be dumbfounded.

“How many seats? Did you just say 100 seats?”

“Yes, 100 seats. In my judgment, they won’t even get 100 seats, let alone a majority.”

“No matter what, 100 seats is too much, isn’t it? I saw on TV the other day that their goal was 150 seats…”

“That’s their wishful thinking.”

“What? Wishful thinking… Haha.”

Park Min-seok laughed out loud as if he was dumbfounded.

Then, Hyeonseong followed suit. The two laughed together, but their thoughts were completely different.

After a while.

Hyeonseong, who had emptied the glass in front of him, looked at Park Min-seok and asked.

“How much do you expect, hyung?”

“Honestly, I also think it will be a bit difficult for the Democratic Justice Party to get a majority. But no matter what, I think they will get more than 110 seats in the districts.”

“Hmm… Okay. Then let’s set it at 90 seats for the districts, excluding the national constituency. If it exceeds 90 seats, you win, and if it doesn’t, I win.”

Hyeonseong already knows the results. He wants to set it at 87 districts, 38 national constituencies, and a total of 125 seats, but he thought that it might cause Park Min-seok’s antipathy even later, so he suggested a bet with 90 seats close to 87 seats. He judged that this was enough.

Then, Park Min-seok just laughed in vain without saying anything.

“Huh…!”

“Why? Do you think this is not right?”

“Now it’s not 100 seats, but 90 seats?”

“Actually, I’ve been analyzing this general election in my own way. But this is the result that came out. To be honest, I was so dumbfounded at first that I ignored it, but no matter how much I recalculate it, it doesn’t exceed 90 seats. But a little while ago, you were talking about the general election, so I jokingly suggested a bet.”

Hyeonseong spoke in a serious voice on purpose. The purpose was still one, to arouse Park Min-seok’s curiosity.

As expected.

The expression that had been dumbfounded a little while ago disappeared, and Park Min-seok’s expression returned to a serious one.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I can’t help but do it if you talk that much. What’s the condition?”

“Condition?”

“Yes, if you want to make a bet, there must be a condition. What do you want?”

Finally, he was caught. It was the moment when one corner of Hyeonseong’s mouth slightly went up.