Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 123

123

It made sense, considering his father’s thoughts mirrored his own.

“Father, what do you think of this idea?”

“Hmm? Is there another way?”

“Remember that land I received from Mr. Park? We should plant angelica [a medicinal herb] there. That way, there won’t be much risk. What do you think?”

“Ah! You mean that land on the mid-slope of Samgeori Mountain? The land you mentioned receiving from Hee-cheol [a respectful way to refer to someone older] last time?”

“Yes, Father.”

Either way, the land wasn’t being used for anything at the moment.

Of course, I have no intention of actually farming there. Eventually, I plan to build a restaurant on that spot. But I don’t have the resources yet, so it’s just sitting idle.

For now, though, there’s no better place for this.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes? Where are we going?”

“Where else? We need to strike while the iron is hot—let’s head to that land in Samgeori.”

“Ah… yes.”

The two of them turned in the same direction, as if they had planned it in advance.

The next day.

Hyun-sung hurried to school early. He was scheduled to sell tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes] and fish cakes for three days, starting today.

The timing had also been adjusted.

The initial plan was to sell during lunch break, but that seemed too short, and various problems were likely to arise. So, the plan was changed to selling during morning school hours.

The place Hyun-sung arrived at was Lee Jung-woo’s snack shop.

He decided to enlist the help of Lee Jung-woo’s mother, Shin Myung-soon. He figured it would be impossible to manage the preparation in time, no matter how early he arrived in the morning.

Creak.

When Hyun-sung opened the door and went inside, Shin Myung-soon was preparing everything alone.

“Mother, hello.”

“Oh, hello, Hyun-sung. You’re here early. Did you eat breakfast?”

“Yes, I ate early and came out. I feel bad making you work so hard.”

“You’re saying all sorts of things. It’s what I always do,” Shin Myung-soon said casually. Watching her, Hyun-sung was impressed by her dedication.

Soon after, the store door opened, and Kim Il-soo and class president Lee Young-min came in.

Then, seniors from the 3rd grade and juniors from the 1st grade also arrived.

After greeting each other, they each took their assigned share by grade and headed for the school gate.

Arriving at the main gate, Hyun-sung hung up the prepared banner first. The banner’s message was simple:

– Let’s build the bathroom with our own hands!

First, student council president Na Min-soo spoke.

“Thank you all for participating, and let’s have fun while we’re doing this, okay?”

Perhaps fueled by their desire for a new bathroom, their eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm.

The stalls were set up in three different locations. It seemed best to sell by grade level.

The reaction was even better than expected.

“Hey, are we really building the bathroom?”

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Hey, try this tteokbokki. It tastes amazing.”

“The fish cake here is also delicious.”

Almost every student passing by stopped. The sight of students holding tteokbokki and fish cakes in paper cups was quite something.

Some students were even eating with paper cups in both hands.

About 30 minutes passed.

“You’re working hard. Hyun-sung, I’ll have a fish cake too.”

It was homeroom teacher Shin Min-ho.

“How is your mother doing?”

Shin Min-ho shook his head instead of answering. It was clear she wasn’t doing well. Well, there were less than ten days left. So, of course, there wouldn’t be any improvement.

But I can’t tell Shin Min-ho, or rather, it’s better if he doesn’t know. If he knows in advance, it will be even harder to bear.

After Shin Min-ho left, principal Park Sang-hyun walked over.

“Hello, Principal.”

When student council president Na Min-soo greeted him cheerfully, Principal Park Sang-hyun took out a 10,000 won bill from his wallet and handed it over.

“Use this for a meal later.”

“Thank you, Principal!”

Student council president Na Min-soo bowed and conveyed his greetings in a loud voice.

In that way, the first day of business ended smoothly amidst the enthusiastic response of students and teachers.

***

At that time.

Two people were talking at Rose Dabang [a Korean-style coffee shop].

The two people were Oh Sang-cheol, the landlord of Lee Jung-woo’s snack shop, and his lackey, Choi Min-sung.

“Is the investigation complete?”

“Who do you think I am? I’ve investigated Kim Hyun-sung from A to Z.”

“Any special notes?”

“First, take a look at this.”

Choi Min-sung handed Oh Sang-cheol a piece of A4 paper.

Oh Sang-cheol’s eyebrows twitched as he carefully examined it, then he looked at Choi Min-sung and said.

“He’s not on normal terms with Park Hee-cheol.”

“Yes, as you can see there, he even donated land. The stingy old man, that is.”

“That’s right, Park Hee-cheol, the stingy old man, gives land to Kim Hyun-sung, who has nothing to do with him? What do you think is the reason?”

“So I investigated further, and something strange came out.”

“What is it?”

Gulp.

Oh Sang-cheol showed interest, swallowing hard as if he were curious. Then Choi Min-sung continued.

“Hyung [a respectful way to address an older male friend or brother], do you know about the tour bus accident that happened recently?”

“You mean the one that happened in Hange Pass?”

“Yes, that’s right. But at that time, Park Hee-cheol was originally supposed to go on a tour with that bus.”

“But?”

“He didn’t go.”

“That’s right! So he must still be alive.”

Oh Sang-cheol nodded in agreement.

Then Choi Min-sung took a sip of water in front of him, as if he was thirsty, and continued to speak. The longer Choi Min-sung spoke, the more Oh Sang-cheol nodded.

After a while.

Finally, when Choi Min-sung’s explanation was over, Oh Sang-cheol asked again as if he couldn’t believe it.

“So you’re saying that young friend Kim Hyun-sung saved Park Hee-cheol? So Park Hee-cheol gave that young friend that land in return?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The person who forcibly dragged Park Hee-cheol out of the bus that morning so he couldn’t go on the tour was that young friend?”

“Yes.”

Heo!

A look of disbelief escaped from Oh Sang-cheol’s mouth.

After thinking for a moment, Oh Sang-cheol asked again.

“Does that make sense now?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I was very surprised while investigating. But that’s all true. I didn’t just confirm it with one or two people.”

“Heh heh, that means that young fellow knew about the accident in advance… does that make sense?”

“I don’t know if he knew about the accident or not, but the important thing is that Park Hee-cheol survived thanks to it.”

Oh Sang-cheol nodded and couldn’t say anything, just spinning his interlocked thumbs around and around.

No matter how much Oh Sang-cheol thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

How could such a thing happen?

How could he know in advance that an accident would happen and prevent it?

But the problem was that no matter how much he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t help but believe the current situation.

Hew!

Only a deep sigh was representing Oh Sang-cheol’s feelings.

After a while.

Oh Sang-cheol looked at Choi Min-sung and opened his mouth again.

“Anyway, did you find out when the ramen shop is opening?”

“It’s on October 3rd, National Foundation Day.”

“Isn’t that a school holiday?”

“I think they deliberately chose a holiday. Otherwise, they would have to go to school.”

“That could be.”

Oh Sang-cheol nodded and asked again.

“And did you find out about that Shin Ramyun [a popular brand of instant noodles]?”

“A younger sibling is at the Nongshim [a Korean food and beverage company] branch in Wonju, so I tried to find out, but that’s…”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“It’s not that, but I heard something strange that’s hard to believe.”

Oh Sang-cheol’s curiosity seemed to have reached its peak at Choi Min-sung’s words ‘strange story’.

“Strange story? What are you talking about?”

“That’s…”

Choi Min-sung began to explain to Oh Sang-cheol what he had heard from Yoo Seong-il, the head of the Nongshim branch. When Choi Min-sung’s explanation was over, Oh Sang-cheol had an unbelievable expression.

“Is that really true?”

“It’s a story that’s hard to believe, but it’s true. They’ve already ordered 100 boxes of ramen and received 500,000 won as a deposit.”

“No, does this make sense? How did he know that the ramen would be released, and more importantly, how did he know the taste and order so much?”

Oh Sang-cheol thought that this didn’t make sense at all, even as he asked.

He asked for an investigation just in case.

But every sound he heard was unbelievable, so it was natural for Oh Sang-cheol to be surprised.

Oh Sang-cheol drank the water in front of him as if he was burning inside, and then asked again.

“What the hell is this guy doing? How can I only hear unbelievable things from every word I hear?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Saving Park Hee-cheol and buying ramen in advance, I’m also out of my mind. But there are commonalities in both of those things.”

“Commonalities? What is it?”

“It’s about knowing the future in advance.”

Hoo!

Oh Sang-cheol took a deep breath and asked again.

“Knowing the future?”

“Yes, otherwise all the events cannot be explained.”

“So you’re saying that this young friend knows the future? So he was able to save Park Hee-cheol and the ramen as well.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Oh Sang-cheol put a cigarette in his mouth.

Knowing the future?

It doesn’t make sense at all. But that impossible thing is happening now.

A situation where he doesn’t want to admit it but has to, now is exactly that point.

Hoo!

Oh Sang-cheol exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.

“Let’s just say that’s the case, is there anything else?”

“I was so amazed that I looked into the young friend’s personal life.”

“Personal life?”

“Yes, but there’s something interesting there too.”

It was only natural for Oh Sang-cheol to show interest.

“What is it?”

“It’s divided into before and after summer vacation.”

“Divided? What are you talking about?”

“Before summer vacation, he was an insignificant existence. But when the vacation ended, he appeared as a completely different person.”

“No, does that make sense?”

Oh Sang-cheol was dumbfounded. It’s not like a person can change just because they want to. But suddenly, how much can they change in at most a month?

Oh Sang-cheol asked again.

“Tell me in detail.”

“In common terms, he crushed the bullies. Before the vacation, he was a guy who was beaten up every chance he got, but as soon as the vacation ended, he stepped on those bullies as if he had been waiting.”

“Is that true?”

“Do you know what’s even funnier?”

Oh Sang-cheol stared at Choi Min-sung’s face. Then he nodded. It meant to continue speaking.

Then Choi Min-sung said again.

“That bully is a student named Kim Il-soo, and from then on, he became best friends with this Hyun-sung friend. Does this make sense?”

“So you’re saying that the two of them became friends after fighting?”

“Yes, that’s what happened in conclusion. But the problem is that’s not all.”

“If that’s not all, what else is there?”

“Now they’re going to build a school bathroom and sell fish cakes and tteokbokki from today.”

Oh Sang-cheol was dumbfounded as he listened.

It didn’t make sense that a guy who was always getting beaten up suddenly changed, and he couldn’t understand why he became friends with a friend he fought with at that young age, but now he’s even trying to build a bathroom, so he couldn’t believe it.

Oh Sang-cheol shook his head and continued.

“It’s not like that can be done with a few pennies, why would he do that unless he’s crazy?”

“So I looked into it a little more, and it seems to be related to the principal.”

“The principal? Why the principal? Tell me in detail what you mean.”

“The principal recently conducted a survey of all students. But it seems that the bathroom story came up at that time.”

“What, are you saying that there’s a principal behind that young bastard?”