Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 703

After ending the call with Hyun-sung, Lee Soo-hyuk couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.

-Just focus on getting better, don’t worry about the money.

Those were Hyun-sung’s last words as he hung up the phone.

‘This isn’t something you can say just because you have a lot of money. Who in the world would say such a thing to a friend?’

But the important thing is that he’s not just saying it; he’s actually doing it.

He only found out today that one vial of the new drug costs 200 million won [approximately $150,000 USD].

And the bigger problem is that he needs to use that drug at least five times.

The cost of the drug alone is 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD]. Add to that the hospital bills and a private room. It was an amount he couldn’t even imagine.

2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD]!

That was the amount he had deposited with the hospital for his treatment.

He only found out all of this today.

That’s why he called today. Yet, he didn’t mention the money at all, telling him not to worry about anything and to focus solely on treatment.

How could he not cry?

Sniff.

He was wiping the tears from his eyes when…

Creak!

The hospital room door opened and his mother, Yoo Soo-min, came in.

As soon as Yoo Soo-min saw Lee Soo-hyuk’s eyes, she immediately asked,

“What happened? Why are your eyes so red?”

“I was talking to Hyun-sung.”

“Hyun-sung?”

“Yes, while I was talking about receiving the new drug treatment today, I couldn’t help but cry.”

Yoo Soo-min nodded and continued,

“There’s no friend like that in the world.”

“That’s what I’m saying. He told me not to worry about the money and just focus on getting treatment. Who in the world would…”

Lee Soo-hyuk stopped talking and turned his head away. Otherwise, he felt like he would cry again in front of his mother.

Seeing this, Yoo Soo-min came to the bed, put her hand on Lee Soo-hyuk’s shoulder, and said,

“I’m sorry.”

“Why, Mom? Don’t say that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m not being a good parent…”

“No, why do you think that way? It’s not like Dad did it on purpose; he was just unlucky. So, don’t even think about that.”

“Still, I’m sorry. And…”

Yoo Soo-min paused for a moment before speaking again.

“I’m also ashamed in front of Hyun-sung.”

“…”

Lee Soo-hyuk had nothing to say. For whatever reason, whenever Hyun-sung’s name came up, he also had nothing to say.

Treatment is money.

No matter how much you want to receive treatment, it’s over if you don’t have money.

In simple terms, if you don’t have money, you have no choice but to face death.

There are no exceptions.

Not even a few days ago, he himself was in that situation.

When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in Wonju, he thought it was the end of his entire life.

So, he called him, wanting to hear his voice one last time.

But from that moment on, his fate began to change.

He received the call and immediately came down to Wonju, and that night he was transferred to Seoul.

And today, he finally started treatment with the new drug for the first time.

Of course, the results are still unknown.

He was told that he would only know after checking the condition of the tumor in a week.

But the fact that he can even have expectations like this is actually a miracle.

The one who created that miracle is Hyun-sung.

If it weren’t for him, he would just be trembling in the face of death, fighting against time.

But now it’s different.

There is hope.

Although it’s in the United States, there are already clinical trial results that show a complete cure.

That’s why he is now receiving treatment with hope.

The person who created that hope.

He can’t just sit still like this for his sake.

‘What could I do?’

After a while.

After contemplating, Lee Soo-hyuk took out a notebook from the locker. Seeing this, Yoo Soo-min immediately asked.

“What are you going to do?”

“I can’t just sit still like this, thinking about Hyun-sung. I’m going to start writing my novel again, starting today.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine if I do it little by little without overdoing it. I have to do this at least…”

Lee Soo-hyuk said, opening the notebook. Then, he began to skim through the content he had written before.

Seeing this, Yoo Soo-min lightly patted his shoulder and headed to her bed.

***

Hyun-sung, having finished his call with Lee Soo-hyuk, moved towards his office.

“Uncle!”

As Hyun-sung was about to go up to the second floor of the office, he heard someone calling him from behind. Turning around, he saw that the voice belonged to Yoon Soo-jung, the bakery owner’s daughter.

“Soo-jung, are you renting a video?”

“Yeah, I rented ‘Baby Dinosaur Dooly’.”

“Haven’t you watched that more than twenty times already?”

“But it’s still fun. This is the most fun for me.”

Hyun-sung smiled at her.

Indeed, she rents the same video almost once or twice a week.

That video is ‘Baby Dinosaur Dooly’.

He even offered to buy her the video.

But strangely, she doesn’t want that.

So, one day he deliberately asked.

Why she refuses to buy it and only wants to rent it.

But her answer was quite something.

She said that her uncle also has to make a living.

After that, he didn’t ask the same question again.

Yoon Soo-jung called Hyun-sung again.

“Uncle.”

“Yeah, why?”

“My mom said that you’re the one doing the construction in our neighborhood, is that true?”

“Oh? Yeah, that’s right. But why?”

It was unexpected that such words would come out of that young child’s mouth.

“Are you rich, Uncle?”

“Oh? Why did you suddenly think that?”

“You’re doing such a big construction because you’re rich, right? Am I right?”

“Well…”

Hyun-sung was in a situation where he couldn’t say anything.

It was ambiguous to say yes, and it was equally ambiguous to say no. So, he couldn’t say anything and could only hesitate for a moment.

When Hyun-sung didn’t answer, Yoon Soo-jung suddenly started laughing.

“Hehe.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I don’t think it’s a difficult question, but you can’t answer it.”

“Is that so.”

Hyun-sung smiled slightly. Then, he immediately asked.

“But why did you ask such a question?”

“I was going to ask you for a favor if you were rich.”

“A favor? What kind of favor?”

“But that’s…”

Yoon Soo-jung couldn’t continue her words for some reason.

She was someone who said everything directly. The fact that she couldn’t continue her words made Hyun-sung even more curious about the reason.

“What kind of favor is it that our Soo-jung can’t say?”

“It’s a big favor…”

“A big favor? Tell me what it is. I’ll grant it if I can.”

After hesitating for a moment, Yoon Soo-jung opened her mouth with difficulty.

“…Do you know?”

“Huh? Know what?”

“That there’s no children’s playground in our neighborhood right now.”

“Of course, I know.”

“So, what I’m saying is…”

Yoon Soo-jung paused for a moment before continuing.

“Please build a playground.”

“A playground?”

“Yeah, I went to another neighborhood and they had a playground there. But our neighborhood doesn’t have one. So, I was very upset.”

Yoon Soo-jung suddenly made a sad expression.

Hyun-sung looked at her for a moment. Then, he smiled and said.

“Okay. I’ll build it for you.”

“Really?”

Yoon Soo-jung’s expression suddenly brightened. It was a completely different look from the sad expression she had a moment ago.

“Uncle, are you really going to build a children’s playground?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

From the beginning, he had planned to build a children’s playground while creating the park. So, Hyun-sung was able to answer confidently.

From the beginning, the goal was to create a space where children could run around freely.

Hyun-sung called Yoon Soo-jung’s name.

“Soo-jung.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“I’m going to build not just one playground, but four.”

“Four?”

“Yeah, so play with your friends as much as you want. Got it?”

As soon as Hyun-sung finished speaking, Yoon Soo-jung ran over and hugged him. Then, she immediately continued.

“Thank you, Uncle. Now, when I go to daycare tomorrow, I’m going to brag to my friends that our neighborhood is building four playgrounds. And…”

Yoon Soo-jung began to pour out words as if she had made up her mind.

Hyun-sung could only smile as he listened to her words.

In his past life, he didn’t even have the chance to see this side of her. Her mother’s bakery closed down in six months after Paris Baguette [a popular bakery franchise] came in.

Whatever the reason, Hyun-sung couldn’t be happier to see her happy.

***

Hyun-sung, having parted ways with Yoon Soo-jung, went up to the second-floor office.

Lee Sang-hyuk, who was in the office, got up from his seat and greeted Hyun-sung.

“Have you looked around the site?”

“Yeah, but the construction is progressing faster than I thought.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I also took a look around this morning, and it seemed to be progressing faster than the scheduled date.”

“That’s right. Yoon was right after all.”

From the beginning, Yoon Tae-ho had said that he would do the construction on a contract basis [meaning he’s paid based on completing the project, not by the hour].

At first, he wondered if there would be such a difference. But as time went by, he could feel the effect.

And it wasn’t just about speed.

Even though construction was taking place simultaneously in seven locations, there were no safety accidents in any of them.

This proves that they are paying attention to safety.

Well, he had just seen how Yoon Tae-ho was managing and supervising the site.

Yoon Tae-ho was deducting 20,000 won [approximately $15 USD] from the daily wage for briefly taking off the safety helmet.

Since he manages the site so strictly, there are no safety accidents.

Hyun-sung nodded and asked Lee Sang-hyuk.

“By the way, how is your studying going these days?”

“It’s going well. Thanks to you, I moved here, and since I’m out of the basement, my head doesn’t hurt, and I can concentrate well.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So, what time do you go to bed these days?”

“I go to bed at 2 AM.”

“2 AM? Then what time do you wake up?”

“5 AM.”

“What? 5 AM?”

Hyun-sung turned his head and looked at Lee Sang-hyuk.

If what he said was true, he was only sleeping three hours a day.

Does that make sense?

Hyun-sung immediately asked.

“Are you okay with only sleeping three hours a day?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes, there’s no problem. I’ve been living like that for two months now, and there’s no problem.”

Hyun-sung found it hard to believe.

Of course, Hyun-sung also slept about 4 hours a day and studied when he was in high school.

But that was only for about a week during the exam period.

He couldn’t do that normally.

But Lee Sang-hyuk is saying that he only sleeps 3 hours a day even normally.

“Is there a special reason for doing that?”

“That’s…”

Lee Sang-hyuk couldn’t answer right away for some reason. So, Hyun-sung immediately asked.

“What’s the reason that you can’t answer right away? Is it something I shouldn’t know?”

“It’s not that; it’s actually because of you…”

“What? Because of me?”

Hyun-sung found it hard to understand. He had never said anything about his personal life to him. He wasn’t a one or two-year-old, so there was no reason to do that, and he had no intention of doing so. But suddenly, he said it was because of him; what is this all about?

Hyun-sung asked again.

“What are you talking about? Because of me? I haven’t said anything to you.”

“I want to repay you.”

“Repay?”

“Yes, to be honest, the reason why I’m working here so comfortably and living in such a nice house is all thanks to you, isn’t it? So, I thought I should repay you in some way, and I thought that the only thing I can do right now is to pass the civil service exam as soon as possible. So, I made that decision.”

Pfft.

Hyun-sung smiled as soon as he finished speaking.

It was something he hadn’t even thought of. He didn’t know that he was thinking so deeply.

Hyun-sung was just grateful to him.

Hyun-sung looked at his watch and said to Lee Sang-hyuk.

“It’s lunchtime, is there anything you want to eat?”

“I’m fine with just jajangmyeon [black bean noodles].”

“Tell me if there’s anything else you want to eat besides that.”

“Then… sweet and sour pork…”

Lee Sang-hyuk scratched his head awkwardly and spoke cautiously. Seeing this, Hyun-sung smiled and immediately started making a phone call to order.

After a while.

Hyun-sung, having finished ordering, said to Lee Sang-hyuk again.