Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 101

101

“What are you all doing here instead of working?”

The person who opened the door and came in was the loan shark, Park Hee-cheol.

“It’s an honor to see you here, Elder!”

Yoo Min-cheol also rose from his seat to greet Park Hee-cheol.

Not all greetings are the same. Yoo Min-cheol’s voice was so respectful that you could feel the weight he placed on Park Hee-cheol.

“I can sit with you, right?”

Park Hee-cheol’s natural approach revealed a casualness that was never seen before. It made me think that people do change, contrary to the saying.

Hyeonseong looked at Park Hee-cheol and asked,

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“What brings me? I have an empty house to go home to, so I thought I’d grab a quick dinner here before heading in.”

“Hehe, it seems you’re feeling lonely.”

“Haha, you’ll see when you get older. Nothing is as bad as being alone…”

The next words were Park Hee-cheol’s predictable lament about his situation. Perhaps it was because of the years he had lived, but I felt like I understood his feelings a little.

At that moment, Yoo Min-cheol, who was next to me, looked at Park Hee-cheol and said,

“Do you happen to know President Oh well?”

“President Oh… are you talking about Oh Sang-cheol?”

“Yes, President Oh seems to know you very well, Elder.”

“Hmm… I know him.”

Park Hee-cheol paused for a moment.

When they were young, they were friends who got along reasonably well without any major problems. But somehow, their emotional rift deepened. They were the same age.

It was because of his wife, Yoo Young-sook, who is no longer in this world. Love came before friendship.

Even if the same situation were to happen again, he would make the same choice.

Of course, there are no regrets.

After that, it was perhaps a natural consequence that the relationship between the two became estranged.

Park Hee-cheol, who had briefly recalled a very old memory, opened his mouth again.

“But why are you asking about President Oh?”

“Ah, he came to the store while I was working today.”

“To Hyeonseong’s store? Why there?”

“He asked about President Kim, so I just replied that I came because you introduced me…”

“And then?”

Hyeonseong looked at Yoo Min-cheol for a moment.

Even at a glance, he could tell that the person he was talking about was the landlord of Shin Myeong-soon’s snack shop, who was Lee Jeong-woo’s mother.

For now, I decided to listen to Yoo Min-cheol’s story further.

At that time, Yoo Min-cheol continued to speak.

“Suddenly, he asked about the relationship between President Kim and you?”

“Our relationship?”

Park Hee-cheol looked at Hyeonseong and continued. Then Yoo Min-cheol nodded and immediately continued his answer.

“Yes, so I answered honestly.”

“What did you say?”

Hyeonseong couldn’t stand it any longer and joined the conversation between the two.

The fact that Oh Sang-cheol had come to the store in the first place was unpleasant. Even today, he had confirmed that he was a man who felt no remorse for taking away a store that someone else had worked so hard to build.

He was probably curious.

Hyeonseong had spoken, but he probably wanted to confirm it himself. And since he had brought up Park Hee-cheol’s name, Oh Sang-cheol would have been even more curious about the relationship between the two.

Yoo Min-cheol’s words continued again.

“I said it didn’t seem like a normal relationship.”

“We don’t?”

Hyeonseong and Park Hee-cheol asked Yoo Min-cheol the same question as if they had made a promise. Then Yoo Min-cheol looked at the two of them, surprised, as if he had done something wrong.

Then he looked at Park Hee-cheol and asked cautiously.

“Did I make some kind of mistake…”

“Haha, what mistake… you saw it right. Next time President Oh asks, just tell him I’ve adopted him as my grandson.”

Hyeonseong was dumbfounded by Park Hee-cheol’s words.

“Uncle…”

“Just let it go without arguing at times like this. It’s just that’s what I want to do.”

Park Hee-cheol was serious.

If it hadn’t been for Hyeonseong, he would have already been wandering around in the afterlife. Just thinking about it made him jump out of bed in the middle of the night, so what wouldn’t he do for him?

That’s how precious Hyeonseong was to Park Hee-cheol, in his honest feelings.

Hyeonseong smiled and said,

“Should I change my surname then?”

“Would you do that? If you would, I would…”

“Uncle, I can’t say anything. Don’t forget that I’m the eldest grandson of our family, and don’t say that again… you know? My father will be upset if he hears that.”

Hyeonseong knows.

That Park Hee-cheol is joking. But it’s not all a joke.

Anyway, it’s not because he’s doing well, but because he happened to regress and knew about the accident in advance.

He simply reached out because it was a precious life. And he didn’t know he would form such a relationship. Of course, it was a relationship that was fortunately obtained due to Park Hee-cheol’s change.

At first, it was just a simple thought.

He just hoped that if he saved a dying person, he wouldn’t harm others. But fortunately, Park Hee-cheol crossed that dimension and lived a completely different life, which changed Hyeonseong’s mind as well.

Yoo Min-cheol, who was slightly surprised by the conversation between the two, looked at Park Hee-cheol and asked,

“I’m really curious, what kind of relationship is it?”

“It’s a special relationship. A very special one… He’s someone I think of as my sky.”

“Your sky?”

“That’s how precious he is to me.”

“Ah, yes…”

Yoo Min-cheol answered, but his doubts remained. Even at a glance, it was perhaps natural that the relationship was unbelievable.

Who would easily accept a 60-year-old calling a young high school student his sky?

It was hard for Hyeonseong to understand as well.

He didn’t know he was thinking that much of him. Of course, Park Hee-cheol had definitely said that the morning after he avoided the accident, when he came to his house with beef.

– You are my sky from now on.

At that time, he just thought he was saying it because he was excited, but he never thought that he would still have the same thought without changing until now.

Something felt strange.

At first, he honestly didn’t have high expectations. He just hoped that he wouldn’t harm others. But as time passed, rumors began to spread about Park Hee-cheol’s changed appearance.

He was relieved, and he gradually began to have expectations.

But fortunately, Park Hee-cheol did not disappoint those expectations.

As time went by, he saw Park Hee-cheol’s changed life and thought that a person could change like this.

And today, when he heard those words again, he realized that Park Hee-cheol was different from other people.

It was a relationship that could have ended in a bad way.

But it didn’t.

Seeing that he could meet him in such a developed state today made him think that it was not just something that was obtained.

When the pork belly was cooked to some extent, Hyeonseong looked at Park Hee-cheol and said,

“Uncle, let’s all toast together. Please give us a great toast.”

“But I can’t drink because of driving, so I don’t feel good.”

“Or you can drink and take a taxi.”

Of course, there was no designated driver service in this era, so there was no choice. He could leave the car and take a taxi, or he could simply not drink.

But Park Hee-cheol was a mood person [someone who acts on impulse and feelings].

“That’s right! There was such a way. I could leave the car and take a taxi. You’re quick-witted.”

“Are you really going to drink?”

“I was just coming a little while ago and saw a few raindrops falling. When it rains, people have to set the mood. Isn’t that right? Min-cheol.”

“Yes? Ah, that’s good.”

Sigh.

Only Hyeonseong’s expression was dark as he looked at the two.

Park Hee-cheol couldn’t just stand by and watch that.

“Why? Are you going to be the only one left out?”

“Of course. I’m a student… and I have things to do at home today.”

“Well, will that be possible…”

Park Hee-cheol’s expression was one of disbelief.

Shortly after.

“Okay, now that all three of us have filled up with alcohol, shall we toast?”

In the end, Hyeonseong decided to only drink the first glass for the toast.

But until then, there was something Hyeonseong didn’t know.

That the price for that one glass would be considerable.

‘Hmm… a student openly drinking alcohol in a restaurant… I can’t stand to see that.’

It was the moment when Oh Sang-cheol’s lips curled up to one side while he was eating with someone else in a room, not in the restaurant hall.

***

That night.

Hyeonseong returned home and lay down on his bed.

Tap tap.

It was a wooden bed made by his father, but every time he lay down, he felt that it was more comfortable than any bed in the world.

Trickle trickle.

The sound of rain was especially loud. Perhaps that’s why Hyeonseong’s heart was unusually sentimental today.

It was because he especially liked rain.

For no reason, when it rained, he would want to see the sea and go somewhere. So, even in college, he sometimes skipped classes when it rained.

If you walked from school on a rainy day for about two hours, you would reach the sea. It was right at Gyeongpo Beach.

The university Hyeonseong attended was Gangneung National University.

At first, he chose to go there because it was a national university and the tuition was low, but later he liked it because the sea was close.

If you walk along Gyeongpo Beach on a rainy day, you will come to Anmok Port. Of course, it later changed to a large Gangneung Port Passenger Terminal, but at that time, it was a very small port.

Perhaps that’s why he felt more attached to it.

It wasn’t like there was anything special. It wasn’t like there was a coffee street like later, but if he happened to go there on a rainy day and have a plate of seafood pancakes and a glass of makgeolli [Korean rice wine] at a street stall, it was so good.

“It was good…”

Hyeonseong smiled involuntarily as he thought about that time.

And now there is another person who comes to mind whenever it rains.

It was his wife, Yoon Ji-soo.

People of a kind flock together, and that was the case with Hyeonseong.

Yoon Ji-soo also liked rain very much.

It was raining the day Hyeonseong first met Yoon Ji-soo.

The first time they met meant the first day they felt romantic feelings for each other.

Hyeonseong was running a combined rental store at the time. It was a medium-sized rental store with a certain range of videos, DVDs, and books, which was commonly seen in the neighborhood at the time.

On the other hand, Yoon Ji-soo was a customer of the rental store run by Hyeonseong. She was not an ordinary customer, but a VIP customer, the best customer who hardly distinguished between movies and books.

After finishing work, Hyeonseong headed to a street stall near his house because it was raining. He usually doesn’t drink near his house.

The reason was simple.

Because he was running a business, he was uncomfortable meeting people in the neighborhood.

But that day, because it was raining, he went to a nearby street stall thinking of having a simple drink. But he met Yoon Ji-soo there.

“Oh my! President [store owner]…”

Yoon Ji-soo, who was drinking alone, greeted Hyeonseong happily.

Hyeonseong was also happy. She contributed that much to the sales, so there was no reason not to be happy. Of course, he said in a bright voice.

“Who is this, what brings Ji-soo here at this hour?”

“It’s raining, so just… what brings you here at this hour, leaving your wife and rabbit-like children at home?”

Hyeonseong was dumbfounded by the word ‘wife’.

Because Hyeonseong was unmarried until then. He was 33 years old at the time. It wasn’t like that later, but at that time, 33 years old was considered an old bachelor.

Hyeonseong was naturally taken aback and dumbfounded when he heard about his wife from an old bachelor who hadn’t even gotten married.

“No, is there anyone trying to block my marriage? What is a wife, and what are rabbit-like children?”

“Oh my! This president is really going to be in trouble, what are you talking about?”

It turned out that Yoon Ji-soo had been mistaken all along.

In short, she thought Hyeonseong was a married man. That’s because there was an aunt in the neighborhood who came to the store almost every day.

Besides, she always brought a four-year-old girl with her, so she naturally thought she was his wife and child.