Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 578

580

“What’s going on?”

Hyun-sung asked Isei as soon as he entered the bakery. Isei quickly wiped away her tears and immediately replied.

“It’s nothing.”

Hyun-sung was at a loss. Yoon-sujeong had come in because she heard her mom crying, but Isei, the person in question, said she was fine.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“I understand. Then, I’ll be going…….”

Hyun-sung couldn’t ask any further and was about to leave after saying goodbye.

But at that moment!

Tug, tug.

Yoon-sujeong was pulling on Hyun-sung’s pants.

“Sujeong, why?”

“If you just leave, Mom will cry again.”

“Huh?”

“Mom has been crying since earlier.”

“Oh, okay…….”

Hyun-sung was still at a loss. Something had definitely happened, but the person involved wasn’t saying anything, and her daughter was holding him back because she was worried about her mom.

Then, Isei opened her mouth.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Yes? Oh, yes, I’d appreciate it if you would.”

A few moments later.

The two sat facing each other at the table.

Hyun-sung quietly drank his coffee, waiting for Isei to speak first. He knew from experience that it was better to wait patiently than to press her in situations like this.

“…… Excuse me.”

Isei, who was drinking her coffee, finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Actually, I ran into the real estate agent on my way to work earlier.”

“Ah, yes, and?”

“They signed the contract yesterday.”

“Contract? What contract?”

“Paris Baguette. That building across the street.”

Isei turned her gaze and pointed to the building across the window.

Hyun-sung immediately understood what she meant. The thing he had been worried about had finally happened. He had been worried because he didn’t know the exact date.

“They said the interior construction will start tomorrow.”

“…….”

Hyun-sung couldn’t say anything. He knew it was coming, but now that Paris Baguette was actually moving in, he didn’t know what to say first.

Isei spoke again.

“Can I survive?”

“…….”

“Can an individual like me compete against a large franchise? When I heard that this morning, I just couldn’t help but cry…….”

Isei wiped her eyes again, as if she was about to cry again. Then, she immediately continued.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Well…….”

“You won against Cinema Heart, which is a franchise, right? So, isn’t there something I can do too? I have to survive here, even for Sujeong’s sake.”

“…….”

Hyun-sung had nothing to say. He had experience with video stores in his past life, and he had enough funds, so he was able to easily beat Cinema Heart, but Isei’s situation was different.

Just then.

Yoon-sujeong came from the room and said to Isei.

“Mom, are you not crying anymore?”

“Yeah, I’m not crying. I won’t cry, even for our Sujeong.”

Isei hugged Yoon-sujeong tightly. Her eyes turned red again.

Hyun-sung still had nothing to say.

He could only recall the image of Yoon-sujeong crying as they parted in his past life. He couldn’t do anything back then. It was hard enough just to survive on his own.

Hyun-sung quietly called out to Yoon-sujeong.

“Sujeong!”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“Does Sujeong like this neighborhood?”

“Yes, I like it. I like it because I have friends and teachers at daycare. And I like Video Uncle. You like me too, right, Uncle?”

Instead of answering, Hyun-sung stroked Yoon-sujeong’s hair. Then, he looked at Isei and continued.

“You have to survive, even for Sujeong’s sake.”

“I have to…….”

“There must be a way. They must have weaknesses too. We still have time, so let’s find a way. I’ll start thinking about it from today too.”

“Thank you for just saying that.”

“It’s not just words, I’m serious. Sujeong says she likes Video Uncle. I’ll definitely find a way to make sure Sujeong can stay in this neighborhood and run her business until she graduates high school. So, you need to be strong and not cry anymore.”

“…… Yes.”

Isei nodded slowly, as if she understood.

Then, Hyun-sung nodded firmly at Isei and clenched his fist, saying.

“Fighting, Boss.”

“Yes, okay. Fighting for our Sujeong.”

Isei smiled slightly and shook her fist.

Her expression was much better than before.

“Sujeong, Uncle’s going to go now, see you next time.”

“Okay, Uncle!”

Yoon-sujeong waved her hand with a bright smile. Until recently, she couldn’t pronounce it well and called him ‘Ssamchon,’ but now she was pronouncing ‘Uncle’ correctly at the end of every sentence.

Hyun-sung came outside and immediately made a phone call to someone. The phone rang twice before the other person answered.

-Hello.

“Boss, it’s me.”

The person Hyun-sung called was Yoo Young-cheol, the real estate agent.

-Hey, Mr. Kim, what’s going on at this hour?

“I have something to confirm. About that building that Paris Baguette signed a contract for yesterday, do you know how much the monthly rent is?”

-Why do you want to know that?

“There’s a reason.”

He was calling to confirm the most basic information in order to compete.

-It’s two million won [approximately $1,500 USD].

“How many square feet is it?”

-According to the registry, it’s 38 pyeong [approximately 1,358 square feet], but after deducting the stairs, the actual square footage is a little less than 35 pyeong [approximately 1,253 square feet].”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you.”

Click.

Hyun-sung hung up the phone and headed towards the building where Paris Baguette would be located.

In fact, he had already inquired about purchasing this building a few months ago. However, the building owner was from Seoul and stubbornly refused to sell it, so he couldn’t buy it.

“Let’s think about it a little more for now.”

After examining the inside of the building for about 5 minutes, Hyun-sung turned around and headed towards his store.

In his past life, he was too busy just trying to survive on his own, so he couldn’t provide any help.

In the end, Isei had no choice but to close her store 6 months after the franchise moved in.

It was impossible to compete against a franchise right across the street, not even a long distance away.

But now, the situation is different from then. He will be able to provide help in some way. He won’t let young Yoon-sujeong’s eyes fill with tears again.

***

That evening.

It was around 8 o’clock.

Ding-dong!

The phone rang.

“Hello.”

-Sniff…….

The other person was just crying without saying anything. Hyun-sung called out to the other person again.

“Hello? Who is this?”

-It’s…… Young-seok’s father.

The person who called was Yoo Sang-hyuk, Yoo Young-seok’s father, who had left for Nonsan in the morning to join the army.

Hyun-sung felt his heart drop for a moment. Him crying meant something had happened.

“Father! What’s wrong?”

-That’s…… Sniff.

Yoo Sang-hyuk couldn’t say what was wrong and just cried again. Hyun-sung knew instantly that something big had happened.

“Where are you now?”

-I’m in Incheon right now. At Joongang Gil Hospital.”

“Yes? Gil Hospital?”

He had definitely left for Nonsan in the morning. The fact that he was in Incheon at this hour meant that the accident was not a small one. And the target was Yoo Young-seok.

“Did Young-seok have an accident?”

“Yes, he was hit while crossing the street…….”

“What’s his condition now?”

“It’s serious. The doctor said maybe…….”

Yoo Sang-hyuk couldn’t continue speaking. That meant Yoo Young-seok’s condition was not good.

“I’ll go there now.”

Hyun-sung hung up the phone and immediately ran to the parking lot.

For some reason, he had felt strangely uneasy when Yoo Young-seok visited in the morning. He would normally just pass it by, but today, his ‘last’ word had strangely bothered him.

Arriving at the parking lot, Hyun-sung immediately left for Gil Hospital.

30 minutes later.

Arriving at Gil Hospital, Hyun-sung headed to the waiting room.

“President!”

Yoo Sang-hyuk immediately approached as Hyun-sung entered. His eyes were swollen from crying so much. His wife, Han So-young, next to him, was the same.

“What happened?”

“That’s…… Sniff.”

Yoo Sang-hyuk couldn’t speak and started crying again.

After a while.

Yoo Sang-hyuk, who had stopped crying, slowly opened his mouth.

“Actually, this afternoon…….”

He said he arrived in Nonsan around 3 p.m. He was having a late lunch and was hit by a car while crossing the street. But the accident was so big that the local hospital couldn’t perform the surgery, so he came straight up to Incheon.

“Then is he in surgery now?”

“Yes, they said it will take at least 5 hours…….”

“What are they operating on?”

“His arms and legs. But the problem is that the blood vessels in his leg are severed, so they might have to amputate his leg.”

“Amputate?”

Hyun-sung was stunned by the word ‘amputate’.

Then Yoo Sang-hyuk spoke again.

“Actually, I wasn’t going to contact you, but even in the midst of the accident, he kept looking for you.”

“Young-seok did?”

It was hard for Hyun-sung to understand. Usually, when people have an accident, they look for their mom or dad. But Yoo Young-seok was looking for Hyun-sung even in the midst of it.

“Yes, he was looking for you until he went into surgery a little while ago. So I had no choice but to contact you.”

“You did a good job. Of course, I should know.”

Just then.

Han So-young, who had been uneasy next to him, approached Hyun-sung and bowed slightly, saying.

“So, this is how we meet. I’ve heard a lot about you from Young-seok’s father. Thank you for taking good care of our Young-seok.”

“No, I’ve received a lot of help from Young-seok.”

“…….”

Han So-young, who had barely finished greeting, covered her mouth again and turned her head. She seemed to be crying again.

It was only natural. Which parent wouldn’t cry when their only child is in surgery after a traffic accident?

A few hours later.

“Have a cup of this, at least.”

Hyun-sung pulled out two cups of coffee from the vending machine and handed them to Yoo Sang-hyuk and Han So-young.

Then the two nodded and started drinking coffee.

“Yoo Young-seok’s guardian!”

A doctor approached. It seemed that he had finished the surgery to some extent.

“Yes, Doctor.”

“We’ve finished the urgent surgery for now, and we’ll have to watch the progress a little more.”

“Is my son’s leg okay?”

Han So-young asked about his leg first. Then the doctor immediately opened his mouth.

“That’s probably…….”

“Why? Is it impossible?”

“As I told you before the surgery, the blood vessels are completely severed, so it won’t be easy. But we’ve done our best, so we’ll have to wait and see for a few days.”

“Please, my son…… Sniff.”

Han So-young started crying again.

“Let’s wait and see for now. Then I’ll be going…….”

As the doctor disappeared, Han So-young looked at Yoo Sang-hyuk and said.

“Honey, what are we going to do about our Young-seok?”

“The doctor said to wait and see, so let’s wait a little longer.”

“Our Young-seok…….”

Toc toc [knock knock sound].

Yoo Sang-hyuk lightly tapped Han So-young’s shoulder, who was crying. Then Han So-young couldn’t hold back and started crying even louder.

A few moments later.

Sreureuk [sound of a door sliding open].

The door to the recovery room opened and a stretcher car came out.