Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 10

Hyun-sung looked at Park Hee-chul and quietly asked,

“Uncle, what time is it now?”

He wanted to curse and argue, but he knew it wasn’t the right time. There were plenty of other ways to screw him over later.

Park Hee-chul was taken aback by Hyun-sung’s words.

“What’s your problem? What’s a kid like you doing, sticking your nose into grown-ups’ business without any respect?”

“Are you calling me disrespectful right now?”

Hyun-sung stared directly at Park Hee-chul. His eyes were sharp, but his voice remained calm, suppressing his emotions, so it wasn’t loud.

That seemed to anger Park Hee-chul even more; his face flushed red. He was speechless, just huffing and puffing.

Hyun-sung continued immediately,

“Come back in an hour if you’re looking for respect.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s 7 o’clock now, so come back at 8.”

“Wh, what nonsense is this…?”

Park Hee-chul was dumbfounded.

What kind of crazy talk was this?

Come back in an hour? Is that even a thing? Park Hee-chul couldn’t help but flinch at Hyun-sung’s confident demeanor.

Then, as if he had been waiting for this, Hyun-sung began a lengthy speech.

“Listen carefully. So…”

Hyun-sung began to explain about illegal debt collection. He emphasized that visiting a debtor’s home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. was strictly illegal.

He mentioned a few other things as well.

Of course, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act didn’t exist at this time. But Park Hee-chul had no way of knowing that, so Hyun-sung could speak confidently.

“……”

By the time Hyun-sung’s long speech was over, Park Hee-chul’s face looked like he had just eaten a pile of dung. It was almost too good to be true.

Park Hee-chul wasn’t the only one surprised. His father was too, and even his mother, who had been preparing breakfast in the kitchen, had taken a seat next to his father.

But that was only for a moment.

Who was Park Hee-chul? He wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

“What nonsense are you spouting…”

Hyun-sung took a step back from Park Hee-chul. He didn’t want to get rid of this guy in one go anyway.

He was a fish already caught. So, a little more…

Thanks to his years of experience, a faint smile spread across his face. Of course, he didn’t forget the sense to cover his mouth slightly.

Wiping his mouth with his palm, Hyun-sung asked,

“Uncle, do you have a registration certificate?”

“…What certificate?”

Park Hee-chul felt a pang of guilt. This had happened once before. A guy who had borrowed money suddenly demanded a registration certificate. It turned out his son was attending law school somewhere.

He had managed to get by back then by reducing the interest a bit, but…

To hear those words again from this young punk today was naturally startling.

Registration certificate? Of course, he didn’t have one.

He wasn’t interested in such things. He hated anything complicated. Besides, he was in the neighborhood, and he was lending his own money and receiving interest. What need was there for a registration certificate?

As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.

Park Hee-chul came on strong.

“I’m lending my own money. What’s with the registration certificate? What’s a young punk like you already doing…”

Park Hee-chul stopped mid-sentence. The reason was absurd: he saw Hyun-sung grinning from a distance.

This wasn’t the look of a young punk. It was an expression that couldn’t be made without some life experience. Not laughing out loud, but not *not* laughing either.

In a word, a real jerk.

Confirming Park Hee-chul’s distorted expression, Hyun-sung took a step.

Thud.

As Hyun-sung approached, Park Hee-chul took a step back.

He was pushed back by Hyun-sung’s momentum.

“Huh!”

Park Hee-chul was momentarily dumbfounded.

He had no intention of backing down. But his body was already moving backward.

He would be sixty next year. What a disgrace to be pushed around by a young punk.

He was pushed back by the momentum. He wanted to deny it, but his body was moving on its own.

On the other hand, Hyun-sung didn’t seem fazed at all and stared at Park Hee-chul again.

Then, he raised the intensity a little more.

Ahem, ahem.

He thought the conversation would be long, so he cleared his throat first.

“Mr. Park Hee-chul!”

Hyun-sung called out Park Hee-chul’s name. At that, three pairs of eyes simultaneously lit up.

Park Hee-chul in front of him, of course, and even his father and mother, who had been watching from the side, moved forward and looked at Hyun-sung’s face.

Among them, his mother, who couldn’t stand being curious, opened her mouth first.

“Hyun-sung…”

“Kim Hyun-sung!”

Immediately after, his father called Hyun-sung’s name.

Park Hee-chul seemed to have forgotten what to say and just blinked. He was like a goldfish.

Hyun-sung stared intently at Park Hee-chul and opened his mouth.

“Let’s say you don’t have a registration certificate. Would that be a problem in the same neighborhood?”

“Ahem, ahem…”

Having nothing to say, Park Hee-chul just kept clearing his throat. In fact, he didn’t even know if a registration certificate was necessary, and he even doubted if such a thing existed.

But because he wasn’t confident, he decided to listen to Hyun-sung’s words further.

Then Hyun-sung continued immediately.

“The problem is…”

“Problem? What problem?”

“The problem is your thieving mentality.”

“What, a thief?”

This disrespectful punk was now openly calling him a thief. He was already stunned when he first called his name, but now a thief? If things went on like this, there was no telling when he would start swearing.

Then Hyun-sung called Park Hee-chul’s name again.

“Mr. Park Hee-chul!”

‘This son of a bitch, he was looking down on people too much…’

Park Hee-chul thought he couldn’t take it anymore. If he backed down any further, it would be the end. So, he frowned and shouted. No, that’s what he intended to do.

But he couldn’t. Because Hyun-sung’s mouth opened first.

“What’s with this interest rate? Is this how you act while living in the same neighborhood?”

“What, act?”

“That’s not how people live. Those who have should share and live, and don’t you know the saying that if you make others cry tears of blood, you’ll cry tears of blood yourself?”

Of course, Hyun-sung knew.

That the world wasn’t like that.

He had lived it, and he had suffered enough. Maybe that’s why he was shouting so desperately.

But Park Hee-chul wouldn’t even bat an eye.

He also knew that it was just his own cry.

That’s why he was even angrier.

But he also knew that any further struggle would only be pathetic.

Debt?

He would pay it back.

He just had to pay it back.

He just had to recall his past memories and find the wild ginseng. Then he wouldn’t have to see this kind of person anymore.

‘Yes! Let’s end it now. Any more is just pathetic.’

Hyun-sung raised the promissory note he had received from his father. Then he began to tear it up as if to show Park Hee-chul.

Rip.

Once torn, the promissory note split in half, becoming two pieces. He stacked the two pieces and tore them again. And again, he tore them, folding them in half and tearing them again.

Rip, rip…

He tore it into small pieces until he couldn’t tear it anymore.

It was a resentment and cry against poverty.

“Wh, what is this…”

Park Hee-chul seemed out of his mind. He just opened his mouth, unable to make any sound, and just stared at Hyun-sung.

Whoosh!

Hyun-sung threw his hand up with all his might, as if to show off.

The white scraps of paper scattered into the sky, fluttering around Hyun-sung, Park Hee-chul, and his father and mother.

It was then.

Slap!

Someone slapped Hyun-sung’s cheek.

The person who moved was none other than his father. His father had slapped Hyun-sung’s cheek.

“Kim Hyun-sung!”

His father’s voice calling Hyun-sung trembled slightly. Not only his voice, but also his right hand that had hit Hyun-sung was trembling.

Clench!

His father bit down hard on his lower lip.

A bitter scent was felt.

It was the first time.

To lay a hand on his child’s face.

Did he even have the right?

How desperate must the young one have been to do this?

He hadn’t done anything properly for him…

His father’s pupils were shaking wildly.

Swoosh.

Hyun-sung grabbed his father’s trembling hand with both of his hands.

“Father! I’m okay.”

“Hyun-sung!”

“I’m okay, but how much must it hurt you, Father?”

“Your father is useless…”

Hyun-sung looked into his father’s eyes. He could see himself in his father’s eyes. He didn’t know before. He just took everything for granted.

Only when he reached his father’s age did he realize that it wasn’t something to be taken for granted.

It was his father’s sacrifice.

Hyun-sung released his father’s hand and looked at Park Hee-chul.

Thud.

Hyun-sung approached Park Hee-chul and didn’t say anything for a while. He just stared intently into Park Hee-chul’s eyes.

After a moment.

Hyun-sung’s mouth slowly opened.

“I’ll pay the debt by the end of this month. For sure!”

“Wh, what did you say…”

“I’m telling you that I’ll definitely pay it back.”

“Hmph! When I’m talking nicely…”

Park Hee-chul was dumbfounded and worried about what to do. So, please leave this house quietly. He was troubled about what to say nicely.

The promissory note was already gone.

And it was awkward to demand anything more in this atmosphere right now. If he just endured, he didn’t know what this crazy guy would do, but if he just left, it wouldn’t look good…

Then, Hyun-sung’s cold voice echoed in the yard.

“I won’t be fooled this time.”

“What, this time?”

“I won’t let you take our calf this time. I was fooled once, but not twice.”

Hyun-sung remembered that time.

One day, he came back from school and found that the calf in the barn was gone. Hyun-sung always took care of the calf first when he came back from school.

He asked his father, but he never gave him an answer. His mother was the same.

That calf was special to Hyun-sung. It was hope. It was his college tuition. But that hope was gone.

Only after seeing the promissory note a little while ago did he find out where the calf had gone.

Shiver!

Hyun-sung’s clenched fist trembled involuntarily. Then his mother quickly grabbed Hyun-sung’s arm and pulled him.

This time, he met his mother’s eyes. He saw his mother’s shaking eyes. She was saying with her eyes that it couldn’t go on any longer.

Hyun-sung nodded slightly to his mother. Then he said.

“Don’t worry. He wouldn’t dare hit me, would he?”

Hyun-sung said that on purpose in a slightly louder voice.

Maybe it would be more humiliating than being hit directly. He wanted to take revenge for the past in that way.

Flinch.

Park Hee-chul’s body shrank involuntarily at Hyun-sung’s words. He felt like something would really happen if he stayed any longer.

Hmph.

Park Hee-chul, clearing his throat briefly, looked at his father and said as if to get a promise.

“The end of this month. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes? Ah…, yes.”

Park Hee-chul was still talking to his father until the end.

The moment Hyun-sung’s eyes turned over as he watched that scene.

“Get out!”

“Wh-what…”

“Can’t you hear me? I said I’ll definitely pay it back, so why do you keep talking to my father? What right do you have!”

Hyun-sung said as if screaming.

“Hmph!”

Park Hee-chul was dumbfounded.

How could there be such a ridiculous situation? But he thought that if he said anything more, this crazy guy might really do something.

Park Hee-chul was stuck in a situation where he couldn’t do this or that.

Then Hyun-sung’s mouth opened again.

“If you don’t leave here by the time I count to three, I don’t know what I’ll do from now on either.”

It was the moment Hyun-sung’s ultimatum fell.

Then he immediately started counting.

“One!”

Park Hee-chul flinched.

‘This crazy bastard!’

“Two!”

Hyun-sung’s voice grew louder. He felt like something would definitely happen if he endured any longer.

Park Hee-chul had no choice but to start walking.

He couldn’t admit it, but safety came first.

Shuffle, shuffle.

Park Hee-chul was already leaving the yard.

Hyun-sung, who had been watching Park Hee-chul’s retreating figure for a long time, tilted his head.

“What? Come to think of it, that guy doesn’t have much time left…”