Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 116

116

Several days later.

The fundraising for the bathroom construction went smoothly. The students’ reactions were explosive. In particular, the female students showed relatively more interest than the male students.

It was almost like a festival atmosphere.

“How much is it?”

Hyun-sung asked Shin Mi-sun, the treasurer.

“Just a moment… let’s see.”

Shin Mi-sun counted all the remaining coins and then opened her mouth.

“It’s more than I thought, exactly 315,320 won.”

Considering there were a little less than 600 students in the entire school, this was not a small amount. Especially since it was a rural area, and they didn’t have much pocket money.

Usually, when collecting donations for neighbors in need, it barely exceeded 100,000 won, so this was a considerable sum.

At that moment, the vice president, Lee Eun-young, pointed to the rice sacks on the desk and said.

“If we sell those too, we’ll get more than 20,000 won.”

It was rice that friends who didn’t have cash had brought. At least this time, there were no eggs. Other times, they would bring eggs instead of cash or rice.

Swish.

Then, the president, Na Min-soo, took out a few envelopes from his pocket and said.

“This is from the principal, this is from the vice-principal, and this is what the other teachers collected. I haven’t counted it yet, but it seems like quite a bit.”

Shin Mi-sun, the treasurer next to him, checked the envelope from the principal first.

“Wow!”

Shin Mi-sun spread out all ten fingers as if amazed.

“100,000 won?”

Hyun-sung and the other two people there also shouted in surprise.

It was a moment where the principal’s heart could be felt.

Because 100,000 won was by no means a small amount back then.

After checking the remaining envelopes, it totaled 130,000 won.

“So, how much is it in total?”

When the president, Na Min-soo, asked, the treasurer, Shin Mi-sun, said as if she had finished calculating.

“Including the rice, it’s 565,320 won. Wow, more than I thought…”

In this way, the fundraising for the bathroom construction was successfully completed. Now, if they sell food next week, the students will have done everything they can.

After some tidying up, the president, Na Min-soo, said.

“Let’s go, everyone deserves lunch after all that hard work, right?”

***

After having lunch with his seniors, Hyun-sung boarded a bus to Wonju.

It was to go to the Nongshim branch. He had already spoken with the branch manager a few days ago.

Because it was already after school hours, there weren’t many people on the bus.

Just as Hyun-sung was about to move to the back of the bus.

“Where are you going?”

It was his homeroom teacher, Shin Min-ho.

Hyun-sung had no choice but to sit next to his homeroom teacher and said.

“To the Nongshim branch in Wonju.”

“Why there?”

“I have to prepare for the opening.”

Only then did the homeroom teacher nod as if he understood and said again.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’ve been so out of it lately because of my mother… So, the opening preparations are going well, right?”

“Yes, the interior of the store is already finished, and next week we just need to do some more work on the main house. And once we bring in the furniture, it’ll be mostly done.”

“Wow! The more I think about it, the more amazing it is.”

The homeroom teacher, Shin Min-ho, shook his head slightly and glanced at Hyun-sung.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand it. No matter how he looked at him, he was definitely a student, but the things he did made him seem like an old man.

Even if it’s a small ramen store, it’s still a business. Opening that business is not an easy task.

Yet, this kid is doing it so naturally.

It’s something that would be impossible without experience.

“How is your mother doing?”

There are less than two weeks left. However, Hyun-sung’s position, where he couldn’t even mention that fact, was equally painful.

Hoo!

When Hyun-sung asked, Shin Min-ho sighed.

Then Hyun-sung asked again.

“Did you go to Namyangju?”

Shin Min-ho’s father’s grave was in Namyangju, a place that Shin Min-ho’s mother had so wanted to visit.

Hyun-sung was asking about that now.

“Yeah, I went last week as you said.”

“Your mother must have been happy?”

“What should I say… it felt like finishing the last homework.”

Hyun-sung nodded.

He thought it was fortunate that he had finished it that way. Anyway, Hyun-sung had already realized how important it is to finish things well in life.

Then Shin Min-ho opened his mouth again.

“She said thank you.”

“Your mother?”

“No.”

Hyun-sung looked at Shin Min-ho.

Then Shin Min-ho smiled and continued.

“I had a dream.”

Only then did Hyun-sung understand what he meant and nodded, continuing.

“Your father came and went?”

“He appeared in front of me with a bright smile. Then he took my hand, nodded, and said thank you…”

“…”

Hyun-sung just nodded silently.

The two of them spent time talking about this and that until the bus arrived in Wonju. But what was strange was that even though they talked for a long time, there was no sense of burden at all.

In his past life, Shin Min-ho was the homeroom teacher he wanted to avoid at all costs.

This was also a change.

After parting with Shin Min-ho, Hyun-sung left the terminal and walked towards the Dangye intersection.

After walking for about 20 minutes.

The building that the branch manager had mentioned came into view, and as he turned the corner, the Nongshim branch office was on the first floor.

Hyun-sung carefully opened the door and entered, and a female employee sitting near the entrance greeted Hyun-sung.

“Welcome.”

“Yes, hello. But it seems the manager is out.”

“He just stepped out for a moment, he’ll be back soon. But how can I help you…?”

Seeing that Hyun-sung looked like a student, the female employee’s eyes changed to a sharper expression than before.

She probably thought that a student wouldn’t have any business here.

“I’ve already spoken with the manager. So, you don’t have to be so wary.”

Hyun-sung deliberately mentioned the manager to ease the female employee’s wariness.

It seemed to work, as the female employee smiled slightly.

“Ah, yes… Would you like a drink or something?”

“If you would, I’d appreciate it.”

“Please wait a moment.”

At that moment, a man who appeared to be the manager entered the office. Then the female employee immediately said.

“Manager, there’s a guest here…”

The employee pointed to Hyun-sung and spoke, and the manager approached Hyun-sung, extended his hand, and said.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yoo Sung-il. You’re the one who called, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m Kim Hyun-sung. Nice to meet you.”

Hyun-sung quickly extended his hand and shook hands with Manager Yoo Sung-il.

“Please sit down. Miss Choi, please bring some cold drinks here.”

Manager Yoo Sung-il seemed to have a straightforward personality and looked to be in his early 40s. His voice on the phone sounded quite old, but he looked younger in person.

As soon as the two sat down, the female employee placed drinks in front of Hyun-sung and Manager Yoo Sung-il.

“Thank you.”

Hyun-sung lightly greeted the female employee.

Then Manager Yoo Sung-il looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Excuse me, but how old are you…?”

In fact, he hadn’t revealed his age during the phone call. The reason for not revealing his age was simple. He thought that they might refuse to meet him just because he was young.

He had already said that he would talk about the details once they met.

Thud.

Hyun-sung placed the documents he had brought on the table.

“This is the business registration certificate. Please take a look.”

Yoo Sung-il, who was examining the business registration certificate that Hyun-sung had handed over, glanced at Hyun-sung and opened his mouth.

“Born in ’69, so you’re a sophomore in high school now… is that right?”

“Yes, as you can see. As you can see in the documents, there won’t be any problems with doing business just because I’m young.”

Click.

Yoo Sung-il nodded instead of answering.

He had received a phone call a few days ago. The gist was that he wanted to open a ramen store and wanted to receive ramen directly from them.

This was the first time this had happened, so he was hesitant. Then the other person said something strange. It was about the new product.

Of course, he was curious.

Of course, he knew about the new product. But it was strictly confidential, and he had only been notified a few days ago.

In fact, he had a headache because of that problem, and then he received a call like a ghost.

The reason for the headache was obvious.

It was because of performance.

When a new product is released, it is natural for the company to focus all its capabilities on the new product. The company’s position is determined by how much performance it achieves within three months.

Yoo Sung-il put down the business registration certificate and stroked his chin.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed.

Even though he was in a difficult position, the very fact that he was talking to a sophomore in high school felt uncomfortable.

As if Hyun-sung had read Yoo Sung-il’s mind, he spoke first.

“Why, does it seem strange because I’m too young?”

“Hmm, it’s not exactly that, but honestly, a little…”

Hyun-sung also nodded. That’s why he didn’t reveal his age from the beginning when he was on the phone.

“Then I’ll start first.”

At Hyun-sung’s words, Yoo Sung-il looked at Hyun-sung.

He was curious.

What would this young friend say?

“Shall we start with Shin Ramyun [a popular brand of instant noodles]?”

“Wait a minute!”

Yoo Sung-il doubted his ears. If he hadn’t misheard, this friend had clearly said ‘Shin Ramyun’.

This is impossible.

It’s even internal information that only the heads of each department at headquarters know. He himself had only received the name of the next new product directly by fax yesterday morning.

Even Miss Choi, who handles the accounting, doesn’t know this confidential information.

After stopping Hyun-sung, Yoo Sung-il looked at the female employee and said.

“Miss Choi, you can leave work now.”

“Yes? No, the manager hasn’t…”

“I’ll meet this guest and leave work, so you can leave first. See you on Monday.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll be going.”