Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 166

166

“Are you both heading straight to the store?”

“I think we have to. What about you?”

“I’m going home to have lunch and then head to the mountain in the afternoon. I’m planning to climb a bit higher today.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Of course. I’ve been exercising consistently lately, so it’s nothing to me now.”

Hyun-sung nodded. Even at a glance, Lee Jung-woo looked completely different from when he first started exercising.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Jung-woo and said,

“Don’t overdo it, and remember that safety is the most important thing, even more than exercise, okay?”

“Jeez, you’re acting like my older brother again. I got it, man.”

Just then, Kim Il-soo looked at the two of them and urged,

“Hey, stop chatting and let’s go. Lee Jung-woo, don’t forget to be careful like Hyun-sung said.”

Even in the midst of all that, Kim Il-soo was still looking after Lee Jung-woo.

The three of them left the classroom and were just stepping out of the main gate when some middle school students were handing out flyers to students.

“What’s this?”

Kim Il-soo took a flyer and began to examine it closely.

After a moment,

Kim Il-soo’s expression suddenly twisted. Hyun-sung, who was watching him, asked,

“Why? What is it?”

“This son of a bitch has nothing better to do…”

A curse word burst from Kim Il-soo’s mouth.

Thump.

Lee Jung-woo snatched the flyer from Kim Il-soo’s hand and began to examine it.

“This is that bastard, isn’t it?”

Another curse word immediately came out of Lee Jung-woo’s mouth.

Whisk.

Lee Jung-woo handed the flyer to Hyun-sung.

Hyun-sung’s expression instantly distorted as he looked at the flyer.

The flyer advertised a discount on ramen prices.

Kim Il-soo looked at Hyun-sung and asked, “So, he’s saying he’s going to lower the ramen price to 250 won now?”

“Yeah, he’s saying he’ll lower it by 50 won, but in the case of Ssin Ramen [a popular brand of spicy instant noodles], after paying the rent and labor costs, there won’t be much left. What is he thinking…”

It was hard to understand logically. If it were Samyoung Ramen or Ansung Tangmyun [other brands of instant noodles], it would be a different story. Those ramens have low purchase prices anyway, so it doesn’t matter if they receive them at that price.

But Ssin Ramen is different. The regular consumer price is 300 won. That’s a difference of 100 won compared to Samyoung Ramen.

It’s an unreasonable price from a logical standpoint.

With this, the other party’s purpose became clear. They’re trying to disrupt Hyun-sung’s business by shaking up the prices.

Furthermore, in Oh Sang-cheol’s case, even if he lowers the ramen price, it won’t hurt him much because ramen isn’t his main menu.

On the other hand, Hyun-sung’s case is different.

Lowering the price of ramen, which is a single menu item, will directly affect total sales. He’ll be hit immediately.

That’s what Oh Sang-cheol is aiming for.

“What are you going to do?”

Kim Il-soo looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“For now, we have no choice but to go along with it. If we lower the price together here, we’ll suffer too much damage compared to them.”

“That’s right. They have other menu items, after all. That’s what they were aiming for…”

Kim Il-soo was also contemplating the same things that Hyun-sung had been worrying about.

Hyun-sung said again,

“Let’s go to the store quickly for now. And let’s think about how to respond later.”

The two of them parted ways with Lee Jung-woo and hurried to the ramen shop.

They had just reached the alley when…

“Hey, Hyun-sung. What’s going on here?”

“I know, right? Is that… a line?”

The two of them looked at each other, surprised. That’s because there was a long line inside the alley.

Tada-dak.

Without a second thought, the two of them ran towards the store.

When they arrived at the store, they were greeted by none other than Hyun-sung’s younger sister, Kim Ji-yeon.

“Why are you guys so late?”

“Oh? Ji-yeon. We’re just coming from finishing up. But what’s going on here?”

“I came to eat ramen with these kids, but there’s such a long line.”

“Kids?”

“Yeah, I mean the Jandi group that I study with. Today is our study day, you know.”

As soon as Kim Ji-yeon finished speaking, Han Myung-soo approached.

But Han Myung-soo was already wearing an apron.

Hyun-sung immediately asked,

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean? Since you’re not here, I’m serving ramen instead. What are you doing? Are you just going to stand here when we’re busy?”

“Oh? Oh, right.”

Hyun-sung, having regained his senses, headed straight to the kitchen.

Shin Myung-soon was busy cooking ramen.

“Mother, we’re here.”

“Ah, yes. The boss is here?”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Students started coming around 12 o’clock, and it’s been crowded like this for an hour now. It seems like the Ssin Ramen rumors have spread throughout the school. And more and more students are looking for spicier flavors.”

Just a moment ago, when he was checking the flyer at the main gate, he couldn’t express how uneasy he felt. He thought that students would naturally be sensitive to prices.

But the result was unexpectedly the opposite.

‘What could be the reason…’

Just as Hyun-sung’s worries were about to deepen,

Shin Myung-soon came out of the kitchen with ramen and called out to Hyun-sung.

“Boss, this is for table number 3.”

“Yes? Ah… yes.”

Hyun-sung quickly took the ramen and headed to table number 3. Even while serving, Hyun-sung couldn’t help but be amazed by the inexplicable situation.

At that moment.

Bang!

Oh Sang-cheol slammed his fist on the table.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I know, right? I don’t understand at all.”

“You definitely handed out the flyers, right?”

“Without a doubt, I definitely handed them out. I mobilized three kids and had them hand them out to every kid who came out. I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“But why the hell…?”

Oh Sang-cheol couldn’t understand.

As expected, the store should be full of students right now. But the reality is that it’s empty, and he’s on the verge of going crazy.

He definitely handed out the flyers. He lowered the ramen price drastically, even though he knew it was unreasonable.

It’s not that he didn’t have concerns.

The reason he was concerned was because of the price of Ssin Ramen. The cost price is 100 won more expensive than Samyoung Ramen, so he had to be careful with the cost calculation.

But he was able to lower it because it wasn’t his main menu.

But the problem is the students’ reaction.

They’re not budging at all.

His expectations were completely off.

Oh Sang-cheol looked at Choi Min-sung and asked again,

“How’s it going over there?”

“That’s…”

Choi Min-sung couldn’t answer right away. Then Oh Sang-cheol frowned at Choi Min-sung.

“Why? Don’t tell me all the students went over there?”

“…They did.”

“What?”

It was natural for Oh Sang-cheol’s voice to rise.

“That’s from 12 o’clock…”

Choi Min-sung began to explain the situation at Hyun-sung’s store. As the explanation lengthened, Oh Sang-cheol’s expression began to distort more and more.

When Choi Min-sung’s explanation was over, Oh Sang-cheol asked again,

“Did they lower the price over there too?”

“No. The price is the same as before. They can’t lower the price even if they die and come back to life.”

“Then that doesn’t make sense. How can there be a line in front of the store when they didn’t lower the price?”

“I know, right? I don’t understand it either.”

Oh Sang-cheol was just dumbfounded.

The ramen is the same Ssin Ramen. The spiciness may be different, but it’s all the same. On the other hand, the price is 50 won cheaper.

No matter how much he thought about it, Oh Sang-cheol couldn’t understand why the students were flocking there.

There was something Oh Sang-cheol didn’t know. The spicy flavor craze had already begun, and that the taste couldn’t be replaced with regular Cheongyang peppers [a type of Korean chili pepper].

And Oh Sang-cheol couldn’t know that students were more sensitive to the spicy flavor than the 50 won price difference.

“Hoo!”

Hyun-sung let out a long sigh.

He looked at the clock and it was just past 3 p.m.

“Mother, take a break. You too, Auntie, and Il-soo, come over here and take a break.”

Hyun-sung called everyone who was working.

Then Shin Myung-soon and Kim Ji-sook, who were in the kitchen, and Kim Il-soo came out to the hall and sat down.

Hyun-sung looked at Shin Myung-soon and asked,

“Mother, are you tired?”

“No. It’s fun. I’ve been running a business for over 10 years, but this is the first time I’ve cooked so much ramen like today. But instead of being tired, I’m actually excited.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was really surprised today too. Even though it’s Saturday, I didn’t expect so many people to come at once.”

“Since elementary school to high school ends at almost the same time, it seems like everyone came at once. And what I definitely felt today is that there are definitely more students looking for spicy flavors.”

That was something Hyun-sung also felt while taking orders.

Just yesterday, only about 30% of the orders were for spicy flavors. But today, almost 50% or more of the orders were for spicy flavors.

But what was unique was that the students looking for that spicy flavor were mainly female students.

In his past life, the spicy flavor craze started after the Asian Games ended. Come to think of it, tomorrow is the last day of the Asian Games.

Korea will win 93 gold medals, following China, and decorate the Asian Games in 2nd place overall. More than anything, beating Japan made the festival even brighter.

‘Is it time…’

Hyun-sung nodded and continued,

“The trend of spicy flavors will probably only increase in the future, and it won’t be *kkeokkeuji* [꺾이지 – a Korean word meaning ‘broken’ or ‘stopped,’ implying the trend will not diminish].”

“Is it because of the TV commercials?”

“Maybe that public service advertisement can’t be ignored either. The government’s ‘Let’s show the world the spicy taste of Koreans’ advertisement will continue until the Olympics end two years later. The original intention of the spicy flavor wasn’t that, but it will spread as a food culture anyway.”

Kim Ji-sook, who was listening to Hyun-sung’s story, looked at Hyun-sung and said,

“Oh my! How did you know that in advance and choose spicy ramen, boss?”

“Hehe, I was lucky.”

“Lucky?”

Kim Ji-sook glared at Hyun-sung. Then she immediately continued,

“Are you telling me to believe that now? What’s wrong with you? I’ve heard a story too…”

“Heard a story?”

“I heard it all from this sister here. You even knew the launch date of Ssin Ramen in advance. My sister said you had a dream, is that true?”

Hyun-sung had no choice but to smile and nod.

Then Kim Ji-sook immediately asked again,

“I didn’t expect it, but that was true. How can such a thing happen? This doesn’t make sense…”

“That’s why I said I was lucky.”

Even with Hyun-sung’s words, Kim Ji-sook tilted her head as if she couldn’t believe it. But Hyun-sung had nothing more to say, so he pretended not to notice Kim Ji-sook’s reaction.

Fortunately, Kim Ji-sook didn’t ask any more questions.

After a while, Hyun-sung placed a crumpled flyer on the table from his pocket.

Then Shin Myung-soon asked,

“What is this?”

“It’s a flyer that Sangmi Restaurant handed out in front of the school today.”

“Sangmi Restaurant?”

Shin Myung-soon reacted sensitively to the word Sangmi Restaurant. That’s because Oh Sang-cheol and Oh Sang-mi, who took over the snack bar she used to run and changed the sign of the store, are the ones who run Sangmi Restaurant.

Shin Myung-soon’s expression instantly distorted as she checked the contents of the flyer, and then a curse word immediately came out.

“These crazy bastards!”

“Sister…”

Kim Ji-sook, who was next to her, was surprised by Shin Myung-soon’s rough reaction.

But ignoring Kim Ji-sook’s reaction, Shin Myung-soon looked at Hyun-sung and said again,

“Why do these people keep doing this to the end?”

“I know, right? I can’t understand why people who have enough to eat and live have to do this.”

“Are these guys really trying to kill us by lowering the ramen price?”

“It seems like they’re determined to do so.”

“Haa!”

A sigh flowed from Shin Myung-soon’s mouth.

It was then.