Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 148

148

“To make contact with the air.”

“Contact with the air? What are you talking about?”

“It makes the noodles chewier.”

Hyeonseong had learned it from watching TV in his past life. He vaguely remembered Yoo Mun-sang doing it on some show, but he couldn’t remember which one.

He had tried it at home back then. It was a subtle difference, but there was definitely an effect.

Kim Il-soo asked again.

“Really?”

“If you doubt it, try experimenting yourself.”

“No, come to think of it, it makes sense. I learned something new today.”

Kim Il-soo smiled at Hyeonseong.

With that, they succeeded in finding the ultimate chewiness.

Now all the preparations were complete. All that was left was the opening in two days.

Hyeonseong and Kim Il-soo sat facing each other at the table.

Hyeonseong spoke first.

“Thanks for suffering through eating all that ramen.”

“I thought I was going to explode earlier. But I’m glad we found it in the end. What would have happened if we hadn’t?”

“What do you mean, what would have happened? Il-soo would have exploded today. Right?”

“Hey, don’t even joke about that. Honestly, I wanted to run away when you started boiling ramen again at the end.”

Hyeonseong smiled at Kim Il-soo.

It was a relief.

In a way, it was just a fleeting connection. They were on such bad terms in his past life that he never even thought about him in this life.

But somehow, he had come this far, and now they were sitting face to face like this.

People’s relationships are truly mysterious.

Hyeonseong smiled once again at Kim Il-soo.

***

The next day.

Lee Jeong-woo’s house.

“Mom, I’m off to school.”

“Okay, study hard today and come back safe. I’m going to check out Hyeonseong’s store in the afternoon. If you come home and I’m not here, there’s rice in the rice cooker, so help yourself.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Lee Jeong-woo left home and headed to school.

The road was quiet.

The time was 7 a.m. It was a bit early to go to school, but he had decided to do so from today. It was to go to school early and study.

Until two days ago, they had been gathering at Hyeonseong’s store in the morning to study. But as it became October, they couldn’t do that anymore.

From now on, they had to start doing business in earnest.

Hoo!

The morning air was refreshing. Come to think of it, he didn’t sway as much as he used to when walking.

Step, step.

Even if he quickened his pace a little, there was nothing wrong with his walking. It was all thanks to exercising. At first, he started climbing the mountain behind the school.

Of course, he wasn’t alone. It was possible because Hyeonseong helped him.

At first, just reaching the top was difficult. But he persevered and exercised steadily. After a week, his thighs started to develop muscles little by little.

As time passed, the time it took to reach the top gradually decreased. At the same time, he also did upper body strength training.

He could now do twenty pull-ups easily, whereas he used to struggle with just five. That’s how much strength he had gained.

And not only physical changes, but also mentally, he was very different from before these days.

Above all, he had a goal.

A civil servant.

Moreover, as a person with a disability, there was no better job than this. Of course, Hyeonseong’s efforts were absolute in making the decision.

Perhaps that’s why he studied differently from before these days. He realized that the difference between having a goal and not having one was much greater than he thought.

Lee Jeong-woo arrived at school and took a seat in the front row.

Because he was short, his seat was always in the front row.

Tap, tap.

Lee Jeong-woo tapped the desk lightly.

“So what if I’m short?”

He comforted himself and took out his textbooks and study guides from his bag and started studying.

How much time had passed?

When classmates began to arrive one or two at a time and filled more than half of the classroom.

Thump.

Someone touched the back of Lee Jeong-woo’s head.

When he turned around, it was Choi Sang-cheol, who sat right behind him.

He felt bad, but Lee Jeong-woo endured it for now because he sometimes did that.

“Are you studying?”

When Lee Jeong-woo remained silent, Choi Sang-cheol kicked his chair as if he was bored and started picking a fight again.

“Stop it.”

Lee Jeong-woo turned around and frowned at Choi Sang-cheol as if he was displeased.

Then Choi Sang-cheol grinned and said again.

“What if I want to keep doing it?”

“I’m studying, so don’t bother me.”

“You’re studying? What are you talking about, you loser?”

Choi Sang-cheol was openly teasing Lee Jeong-woo.

When Lee Jeong-woo said nothing, Choi Sang-cheol got up from his seat and approached Lee Jeong-woo.

Whack!

He struck the back of Lee Jeong-woo’s head. The sound echoed quite loudly in the classroom.

At that time, there were two people watching the scene from afar.

It was Hyeonseong and Kim Il-soo.

A little while ago.

Hyeonseong and Kim Il-soo had just entered the classroom.

The two people’s eyes were drawn to one place at the same time. It was where Lee Jeong-woo was sitting.

They saw Choi Sang-cheol, who was sitting right behind him, bullying Lee Jeong-woo.

At first, they thought it would stop. But as time passed, the level of bullying gradually increased.

The final blow was when Choi Sang-cheol ruthlessly hit the back of Lee Jeong-woo’s head.

Kim Il-soo, who was next to him, couldn’t stand it anymore and started to move towards Lee Jeong-woo. No, it was when he was about to take a step.

“Wait!”

Hyeonseong raised his hand and blocked Kim Il-soo’s path.

“Not yet.”

“Are you just going to stand there and watch?”

“Watch a little longer.”

“Hey, Kim Hyeonseong.”

Kim Il-soo looked at Hyeonseong as if he didn’t understand. But Hyeonseong was still blocking Kim Il-soo’s approach.

As if he was expecting something from Lee Jeong-woo.

“What?”

Lee Jeong-woo also jumped up from his seat.

“Oh, look at this bastard. What are you going to do if I glare at you? You cripple!”

Choi Sang-cheol was openly ignoring Lee Jeong-woo.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time Choi Sang-cheol had bullied Lee Jeong-woo. If Kim Il-soo had openly bullied Lee Jeong-woo in the past, Choi Sang-cheol had been sitting in the back seat and bullying him from time to time without being obvious.

Lee Jeong-woo glared at Choi Sang-cheol and continued.

“You cripple?”

“Yeah, you bastard. I didn’t say anything wrong, so what’s wrong with that?”

“You’re a really bad guy.”

“Why are you acting up like this today? I heard you’ve been working out lately, so why aren’t you scared of anything anymore?”

Choi Sang-cheol was now sneering and teasing Lee Jeong-woo.

The more he did, the more Lee Jeong-woo’s eyes began to shine as he looked at Choi Sang-cheol. No matter how you looked at it, he was too different from the usual Lee Jeong-woo.

Then Choi Sang-cheol touched Lee Sang-cheol’s cheek.

Slap.

It was just a light touch, but it was a very unpleasant action for the person being touched.

Smirk.

Lee Jeong-woo looked at Choi Sang-cheol and laughed mockingly.

The reason for laughing was simple.

When Choi Sang-cheol reached out his hand a little while ago, the movement of that hand came into his eyes. It was something he couldn’t have imagined in the past.

A few days ago.

He had gone to Hyeonseong’s house with Kim Il-soo to go fishing.

That night, while they were talking in the room, the topic of fighting came up.

Lee Jeong-woo started first.

“Hey, how do you fight?”

“Why the sudden interest in fighting?”

“Shouldn’t I be able to protect myself? I wouldn’t intentionally fight, but if someone picks a fight with me, I shouldn’t just get hit.”

Hyeonseong nodded.

He was right. Since they were boys, all sorts of things would happen in school. Especially in Lee Jeong-woo’s case, there would be more than one or two guys bullying him.

Then Kim Il-soo, who was watching the scene, suddenly spoke up.

“Should I teach you something?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s not difficult, but you have to practice a lot.”

“What is it?”

It was the moment Lee Jeong-woo’s eyes sparkled. Then Kim Il-soo smiled and continued.

“Just don’t close your eyes.”

“Eyes?”

“Yeah, usually when a fist comes flying, you close your eyes. Real fighters never close their eyes, even if they get hit.”

“Is that easy?”

“That’s why you need practice. Okay, I’m going to hit you, so don’t close your eyes and dodge the punch with your eyes open.”

That’s how the two people’s practice continued for a long time after that. Hyeonseong, who was watching the scene, was just dumbfounded.

It was funny to see the guy who used to bully him at the drop of a hat was now teaching him how to fight.

The two of them continued to practice during breaks while studying at Hyeonseong’s store.

Choi Sang-cheol was just dumbfounded when Lee Jeong-woo laughed.

“Are you laughing?”

“Yeah, it’s funny. I can’t help but laugh when I think about how I’ve always been beaten by a bastard like you, you son of a bitch.”

“Is this bastard really crazy? I was already in a bad mood today, but you’re in for it today. Taste this.”

With those words, Choi Sang-cheol threw his right fist.

Whoosh!

‘I can see it.’

Lee Jeong-woo felt a thrill at that moment. He had only practiced with Kim Il-soo for a short period of time for the past few days, but Choi Sang-cheol’s fist was clearly visible.

That was proof that Choi Sang-cheol’s fist was slow. It was so slow that he could see it after practicing for a few days.

Swoosh!

Lee Jeong-woo tilted his head to the side and dodged Choi Sang-cheol’s fist.

Choi Sang-cheol was naturally surprised.

“He dodged it?”

“Is that what you call a punch? Is that all you’ve got?”

“What, is that all?”

Choi Sang-cheol was dumbfounded. Something that could never happen had happened.

Who was Lee Jeong-woo?

Until now, he was, in a common saying, his meal. He was just a toy to play with when he was bored, like a peanut.

But how…….

It wasn’t just Choi Sang-cheol who was dumbfounded. The reaction of the classmates who were watching the fight was the same.

“What? What’s wrong with Lee Jeong-woo?”

“Did he get some kind of special training?”

“Choi Sang-cheol is completely screwed today.”

Among them, it was the moment when the eyes of the two people were particularly shining.

Hyeonseong looked at Kim Il-soo and said.

“Is the teacher great, or is the student great?”

“Hehe, of course, in this case, it’s Jeong-woo. He’s only practiced for a few days, but if he’s at this level, he’ll be able to handle anyone who comes at him if he practices for a month.”

“That’s how desperate Jeong-woo was.”

“Maybe…….”

Kim Il-soo nodded.

People’s abilities have limits. But Lee Jeong-woo was now surpassing those limits. Perhaps it was the human ability created by desperation.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to come at me anymore?”

This time, Lee Jeong-woo spoke to Choi Sang-cheol first.

Then Choi Sang-cheol became angry again.

“You bastard, you got lucky and dodged it, so you’re showing off?”

“You crazy bastard. You don’t even know your place and you’ve been acting up until now, and you still don’t understand the situation?”

“This bastard is really asking for it.”

Choi Sang-cheol threw another punch. Anyone could see that he was putting a lot more strength into it than before.

Whoosh!

A fist flying in a straight line.

Lee Jeong-woo’s eyes sparkled once again. Perhaps because the opponent’s fist had too much force in it, it was even clearer than before.

“Not so fast.”

First, he slightly twisted his body to the left. Then, at the same time, he put strength into his right foot and threw his right fist towards the opponent’s temple.

Thud!

With a dull sound, Choi Sang-cheol fell to the floor.

Is this the feeling?

Lee Jeong-woo could feel it.

The feeling of exhilarating impact that was transmitted the moment his fist touched the opponent’s head. It was a feeling that all the stuffiness that had been blocked until now was going down at once.

Was that why?

Lee Jeong-woo’s voice was full of strength.

“You’re nothing!”

Step.

Lee Jeong-woo walked towards Choi Sang-cheol, who was lying on the floor.

Then, he kicked Choi Sang-cheol, who was barely groaning, in the side once more.

“You son of a bitch, die!”

Lee Jeong-woo moved a moment later.

Step, step.

Lee Jeong-woo’s steps were more forceful than ever.

The place where Lee Jeong-woo’s steps stopped was in front of Hyeonseong and Kim Il-soo.

“It’s thanks to you.”

Lee Jeong-woo reached out his hand to Kim Il-soo. Then Kim Il-soo also grabbed Lee Jeong-woo’s hand and continued.

“Not bad.”

“I could really see it. And I hit the temple accurately as you said.”

“You’re a fighter now that I see it.”

“Hehe, maybe.”

The two people smiled at each other.

Lee Jeong-woo looked at Hyeonseong this time and said.

“The pull-ups definitely had an effect. Look at that bastard go down in one hit.”

“Good job. Now, at least there won’t be anyone bullying you in our class.”

“I’m confident now too. Anyway, I feel like I’m living like a human being these days because of you two.”

Hyeonseong just smiled.

Then Lee Jeong-woo smiled shyly and headed to his seat. But the back view of him turning around was a confident figure that he had never seen before.

149

Building Owner After Regression