Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 128

128

Park Hee-cheol, having gotten into his car, arrived at Hyun-sung’s house.

“Is Hyun-sung here?”

Hyun-sung, who was in his room, opened the door and came out upon hearing his name called.

“Uncle, what brings you here?”

“What are you doing right now?”

“I was resting after lunch, but…”

“Come with me for a bit. Hurry up and come out.”

The car carrying Hyun-sung left his house and sped towards the location of Hyun-sung’s store.

About five minutes passed.

Park Hee-cheol slowed down and glanced at the passenger seat where Hyun-sung was sitting. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Now, say something.”

“Are you doing this because of the advertisement?”

“Why ask something you already know? Tell me in detail what exactly happened.”

Hyun-sung chuckled.

He had already anticipated this to some extent.

From Park Hee-cheol’s perspective, it would be absurd. No matter how much he had been told in advance, anyone would react with disbelief if that content actually appeared on TV.

Hyun-sung looked at Park Hee-cheol and spoke casually, as if it were nothing.

“I told you everything in advance. I said the advertisement would be on TV after Chuseok [Korean harvest festival]. Don’t you remember?”

“Why wouldn’t I remember? But even so, I never thought it would actually happen…”

“I clearly told you accurately back then. But I don’t have anything more to say specifically.”

“Ha! Even so, this is really…”

Park Hee-cheol didn’t have anything specific to say either. Hyun-sung had clearly mentioned it several times since he put up the sign.

Still, he had his doubts.

The moment the Ssin Ramyeon advertisement came on TV, he felt like his heart stopped.

“Even now, can’t you believe in my dream?”

“You mean that precognitive dream or whatever?”

“Yes.”

“That’s… not as easy as it sounds.”

Park Hee-cheol still sounded skeptical. Looking at the result alone, he should believe it. But until he saw the result, he couldn’t believe it no matter how much he thought about it.

Hyun-sung looked at Park Hee-cheol and nodded as if he understood, then spoke again.

“It’s still early. That’s how it is. I told you before, I won’t force you to believe me, so don’t worry. You’ll be surprised every time anyway.”

“No, it’s just that… when I see the result, I should believe it, but honestly, it’s hard to do.”

Park Hee-cheol couldn’t help but reveal his honest feelings.

“So, where are we going now?”

“To the store.”

“Why the store?”

“I want to see it with my own eyes one more time. I didn’t look closely at the sign before. But today, I’m going to take a close look and see how accurate your dream is.”

Hyun-sung looked at Park Hee-cheol as he answered and smiled. He couldn’t help but smile, thinking about how surprised he must have been to run out of the house while watching TV.

“So, you’re saying you’re going to compare the sign image with the TV advertisement content?”

“I need to see with my own eyes how detailed that dream really is.”

“If, hypothetically, the comparison shows they’re almost identical?”

“I’ll tell you then.”

Park Hee-cheol bit his lower lip slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

The car soon arrived in front of Hyun-sung’s store.

“Get out.”

“Yes.”

Hyun-sung followed Park Hee-cheol out of the car. Park Hee-cheol got out of the car and walked towards the store without looking back.

A moment later.

Park Hee-cheol stood in front of the store for a long time. Of course, his gaze was fixed on the sign.

‘This can’t be!’

This doesn’t make sense.

Even when he was watching TV at home, he didn’t think it would be this identical.

He vaguely thought the images were similar. But now that he compared them, they weren’t just similar, they were almost exactly the same.

How can this be possible?

Park Hee-cheol looked at Hyun-sung, who was standing next to him.

“It’s not just similar, it’s the same.”

“I just made it according to what I saw in my dream.”

“It’s so amazing no matter how much I look at it. How…”

“If we’re talking about amazing things, shouldn’t you be talking about you being in this spot? If I hadn’t forcibly dragged you off the bus back then, what would have happened?”

When Hyun-sung brought up the old story, Park Hee-cheol shuddered as if his whole body was cringing.

“Hey, don’t even mention that story. Just thinking about it still makes me shudder.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to believe me now.”

“So, about that… didn’t your dream say this store would be a huge success in advance?”

“It did.”

To be exact, it was six months later. Back then, the ramen shop owner opened this place six months after the spicy flavor craze had already started nationwide.

That’s what Hyun-sung is worried about now.

Unlike then, the spicy flavor craze hasn’t started yet.

There’s a six-month difference in timing. He needs to watch a little longer to see if this place will be as successful as it was then.

Fear?

Honestly, it wasn’t completely absent.

But if he had delayed starting because of that fear, this place wouldn’t have been Hyun-sung’s. Strangely, the previous owner, Min Doo-sik, showed up first last time.

He was definitely someone who shouldn’t have appeared. But for some reason, the previous owner, Min Doo-sik, appeared. Hyun-sung was just dumbfounded when he thought about it.

That troublemaker, thankfully, he hasn’t been seen since he was dragged away by the police officer.

But it’s still too early to relax. According to his memories from his past life, he can’t relax until at least March of next year.

Then Park Hee-cheol spoke again.

“Do you remember what I said at first?”

“At first…?”

“When we first signed the contract for this store. I said that if this store becomes as successful as you dreamed, I would invest all my assets in you.”

“Of course, I remember. That’s why I’m paying more attention to it, isn’t it?”

That’s true.

There’s a limit to how much money you can make from a ramen shop, no matter how successful it is.

Since he’s living a second life, the first priority to live properly is economic ability.

No matter how you sugarcoat it, that’s the truth.

After living for so long, he realized that necessity more desperately than anyone else.

If that’s not fundamentally supported, what’s the point of knowing the future?

So, the primary goal is to save the store first. Then, the ultimate goal is to save the store and receive investment from Park Hee-cheol.

Investment destination?

Even now, if he had the capital, there are plenty of investment opportunities. He can roughly remember a few in his head. And the important thing is that he doesn’t need many investment opportunities. Hyun-sung thinks that he only needs to break through one place properly.

Initial capital, that’s the most urgent problem right now.

The person who will solve that is Park Hee-cheol.

Of course, he didn’t intend to do this from the beginning. That’s not why he saved Park Hee-cheol either.

But as he kept getting involved with Park Hee-cheol, he came this far.

Now he won’t miss this opportunity.

Greed, if it’s greed.

He admits it.

If a person has no greed, that would be a lie.

He doesn’t want to wear a mask [hide his true feelings].

But it’s not just his own greed.

Park Hee-cheol.

A connection he gained again in his second life. He wants both that person and himself to live well together.

Then Park Hee-cheol spoke again.

“If I really invest, are you confident?”

“Are you still anxious?”

“Can I trust you 100%?”

“Of course, it won’t be easy. But I’ll make it clear, I’ll definitely make this ramen shop a huge success and prove that my dream is correct. Please believe me then.”

This is the clear reason why Hyun-sung must succeed with the ramen shop.

Park Hee-cheol nodded as if he understood and asked.

“You definitely have an investment destination?”

It goes without saying. He’s lived one life already, wouldn’t he have that much?

But he can’t say that right now.

“My dream will tell me in advance.”

“It’s a dream again.”

“Of course. Has my dream ever been wrong even once? I believe in my dream 100%.”

“Well… that’s why it’s amazing.”

Park Hee-cheol nodded once again.

Then he continued immediately.

“Speaking of dreams, although it’s different from that dream, what is your future dream? I suddenly became curious.”

“My dream?”

“Looking at you now, it seems like there’s nothing you can’t do.”

“My dream is to be a building owner. I said it in class once, but I will definitely become a building owner.”

Ha ha, ha ha ha…

Park Hee-cheol suddenly burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, Park Hee-cheol stopped laughing and asked again.

“A building owner is your dream, that’s a funny thing to say.”

“What could be better than that in the world? Some kids want to be doctors or lawyers, but I wouldn’t do that even if they asked me to. Why go through all that trouble? If I could, I think being a building owner is the best.”

“Haha, now that I hear it, that makes sense too. A building owner…”

Park Hee-cheol just laughed it off.

Park Hee-cheol may think whatever he wants, but Hyun-sung’s thoughts haven’t changed. That’s why Hyun-sung must first succeed with the ramen shop.

***

Miso Restaurant.

Oh Sang-cheol and Choi Min-sung were eating a late lunch.

Oh Sang-cheol was the first to notice the advertisement.

“Hey, what, what is that?”

“That’s the ramen that was on the sign of that kid’s ramen shop.”

“Are you sure?”

“That’s right. It’s that Ssin Ramyeon that Nongshim is releasing.”

Oh Sang-cheol shook his head in disbelief, even though he was seeing it with his own eyes.

Of course, he had heard from Choi Min-sung’s junior that Hyun-sung had ordered the ramen in advance a few days ago.

That was also hard to believe, but he had no choice but to believe it. He had already confirmed that the order had been placed and the deposit had been exchanged.

But he hadn’t even anticipated the advertisement.

But what was amazing was the advertisement image.

The sign image and the advertisement image were so identical.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes in advance, it wouldn’t have been possible to copy it.

This doesn’t make sense…

“Huh!”

Oh Sang-cheol let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

Then Choi Min-sung looked at Oh Sang-cheol and asked.

“Hyung-nim [term for older brother or respected male figure], how did the store go?”

“As expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said he’s taking it out today. He’s only taking the necessary equipment and leaving the rest.”

“I feel a little sorry that he’s actually leaving.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? He’s been running the business for 10 years, that’s enough. Don’t say useless things and keep a close watch on that kid.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

Choi Min-sung immediately backed down. He thought there might be some guilt in kicking him out of the store he had been in for 10 years. But he realized that it was just his own delusion.

Choi Min-sung just started eating his rice again.

Hyun-sung, having parted ways with Park Hee-cheol, headed to Shin Myung-soon’s snack shop.

He had to pack his moving stuff today anyway.

Shin Myung-soon eventually decided to do business at Hyun-sung’s store from tomorrow. However, she said she would not use the hall until the end.

She decided to only put tables in front of the store and sell tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes] and fish cakes in paper cups on top of them. She said that was the last line she could keep her conscience.

Hyun-sung couldn’t help it anymore when she said that much.

Creak.

Shin Myung-soon was alone in the store.