Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 214

214

A few days later.

Hyun-sung arrived at the classroom.

“What’s with this atmosphere?”

Hyun-sung tilted his head, noticing the unusually gloomy mood in the class.

Just then, class president Lee Young-min approached him.

Hyun-sung asked first.

“Hey, what’s with the class atmosphere?”

“Wait, let me talk to you for a second.”

Lee Young-min took Hyun-sung out into the hallway.

The two of them stepped into the hallway.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“What’s going on?”

“Young-seok lost his money.”

“Money?”

“Yeah, even the homeroom teacher came by a little while ago.”

Only then did Hyun-sung realize why the class atmosphere was so downcast.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“How much did he lose that even the homeroom teacher came?”

“Ten thousand won [approximately $8.50 USD].”

“Ten thousand won? Seriously, how did Young-seok have so much money on him?”

“I think it was money to buy medicine for his mom. That’s why he was crying so much earlier.”

Hyun-sung nodded. It wasn’t just a few pennies, but a whole ten thousand won. It was a lot of money from a student’s perspective. Moreover, it was said to be money to buy medicine for his mother. That meant that if he couldn’t find the money, he wouldn’t be able to buy his mother’s medicine.

So, it was perhaps natural for Park Young-seok to cry.

“What did the homeroom teacher say?”

“He said that if the culprit doesn’t confess before we go home, no one will be able to go home today.”

“This is going to be a headache. But seriously, which bastard…….”

It was then.

A very old memory flashed through Hyun-sung’s mind.

It was today’s incident.

Park Young-seok lost his money, and the culprit never appeared. That day, the entire class couldn’t go home until after 6 PM.

But the culprit was caught a week later. The same thing happened again, and the homeroom teacher, thinking it wouldn’t work, started searching everyone one by one. He searched not only their bags but also their pockets and even the insoles of their shoes, finally catching the culprit.

Lee Min-woo.

He was the culprit.

Hyun-sung returned to his seat.

He looked at Lee Min-woo. Seeing him sitting there as if nothing was wrong, Hyun-sung felt a surge of anger.

‘What should I do?’

He couldn’t just pretend he didn’t know. He had to reveal it in some way.

But the problem was the method. Should he reveal it publicly in front of everyone, or should he call him out quietly and resolve it?

After a moment of contemplation, Hyun-sung checked the time.

It was five minutes before the start of class. At least for now, he had no choice but to postpone either method.

After the fourth period, it was lunchtime.

Before eating his lunch, Hyun-sung got up from his seat. He felt he had reached the limit of his patience to wait any longer.

Step.

Hyun-sung walked to Lee Min-woo’s seat.

Hyun-sung spoke to Lee Min-woo, who was about to eat his lunch.

“Hey, let me talk to you for a second.”

Hyun-sung chose the second method. Of course, theft itself was bad, but he couldn’t just expose it in front of everyone.

First of all, confirmation was the priority.

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

Hyun-sung nodded and went outside.

Then, Lee Min-woo, tilting his head, got up from his seat and followed Hyun-sung.

The two of them came outside.

Lee Min-woo asked first.

“Hyun-sung, what’s going on?”

“Lee Min-woo, how can you be so relaxed and eat right now?”

Hyun-sung’s words were harsh. Regardless of the reason, it was theft. He couldn’t say anything nice.

It was Lee Min-woo who was surprised by Hyun-sung’s attitude.

“Hey, what’s with your words?”

“Why did you do it?”

“What the hell are you talking about right now?”

Lee Min-woo’s voice grew louder.

Then, Hyun-sung chuckled and continued.

“So, you’re saying you’ll only admit it if I say it myself?”

“Are you really going to keep talking nonsense?”

Lee Min-woo’s voice was filled with annoyance.

Then Hyun-sung spoke again.

“About Young-seok’s money.”

“What?”

“Surely you’re not going to pretend you don’t know even after I’ve said this much?”

“No, you…….”

Lee Min-woo was so surprised that he couldn’t even close his open mouth as he stared at Hyun-sung.

Then Hyun-sung’s words continued again.

“Do you have nothing better to do than to steal a friend’s money? And money to buy medicine for his mother, at that.”

“Wh, what are you talking about?”

“What? Are you trying to deny it now?”

“Do……, do you have any proof?”

Lee Min-woo’s expression had completely changed. Yet, he still didn’t admit it.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Min-woo with a dumbfounded expression.

“Are you talking about proof right now?”

“Yeah, what proof do you have that I took Young-seok’s money?”

“This bastard is really going to go all the way…….”

It was the moment when Hyun-sung’s fist clenched.

Of course, he didn’t expect him to admit it himself. But he didn’t expect him to come out so confidently until the end.

Hyun-sung’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Shoes.”

“What?”

“Take off your shoes, you bastard!”

Hyun-sung’s voice grew louder.

Then, Lee Min-woo looked at Hyun-sung with a flustered look.

“Wh, why the shoes…….”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“…….”

Lee Min-woo couldn’t say anything as Hyun-sung shouted.

A moment later.

“……How did you know?”

Lee Min-woo asked Hyun-sung, handing him the money.

“Does that even matter right now, you bastard?”

“Hy, Hyun-sung, don’t tell the others…….”

“Why? Are you afraid the others will find out now?”

“…….”

Lee Min-woo couldn’t say anything, hanging his head low.

Hyun-sung sighed as he looked at Lee Min-woo.

“Why did you do it?”

After a moment of hesitation, Lee Min-woo opened his mouth with difficulty.

“……My younger sibling is sick.”

“What are you talking about? Your younger sibling is sick? Where, how are they sick?”

“Actually…….”

Lee Min-woo’s explanation followed.

He said his younger sibling had been sick for a few days. But the problem was that they had nothing to eat, let alone medicine. So, he stole the money to buy food.

After Lee Min-woo’s explanation ended, Hyun-sung asked.

“What about your parents?”

“They’re gone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My father passed away when I was in the third grade of middle school [approximately 9-10 years old].”

“So, you two have been living alone since then?”

Lee Min-woo nodded.

It was a fact he had never known. He wasn’t very close to Lee Min-woo in his past life, so he never had the chance to know.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“How have you been living until now?”

“We used to get a small amount of sponsorship money every month, but it stopped last month.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know. One day, it suddenly stopped without any notice.”

“…….”

Hyun-sung had nothing to say.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“Is there anything you get from the government?”

“There’s nothing like that. We don’t even qualify as low-income citizens because we have a house and a little bit of land. The sponsorship money was also sent by some individual.”

“The sponsorship money used to come in your mom’s name?”

“Thirty thousand won [approximately $25 USD] a month.”

“You two lived on that?”

“Yeah, if we saved, we could manage to eat. But when that stopped, we had no choice.”

Hoo.

A sigh came out of Hyun-sung’s mouth involuntarily.

Then Lee Min-woo asked.

“What are you going to do?”

“Of course, I understand your situation, but I can’t just let it go. I have to go to the homeroom teacher and talk about it.”

“What about the others?”

“The homeroom teacher will decide. Anyway, what are you going to do today?”

“I don’t know either.”

Lee Min-woo shook his head from side to side.

Hyun-sung sighed again as he looked at him.

Now that he knew, he couldn’t help but be concerned.

Leaving Lee Min-woo behind, Hyun-sung headed to the faculty office.

Hyun-sung arrived at the faculty office.

“Teacher, here you go.”

Hyun-sung handed the ten thousand won bill he had received from Lee Min-woo to homeroom teacher Shin Min-ho.

“What is this?”

“It’s Young-seok’s money.”

“Young-seok’s money? Does that mean you caught the culprit?”

“I caught him, but, well…….”

Hyun-sung began to tell Shin Min-ho what had happened a little while ago. When Hyun-sung finished speaking, Shin Min-ho looked at Hyun-sung with a serious expression.

“What do you think we should do?”

“In my opinion, we should return the money to Young-seok first, and keep Min-woo’s situation a secret from our friends. From what I heard, his situation isn’t very good either.”

“Hmm……, I agree. It’s not difficult to keep it a secret from the kids, but the problem is I’m worried about Min-woo’s future. But there’s no special way to help…….”

Shin Min-ho looked at Hyun-sung with a worried expression.

Then Hyun-sung asked.

“Did you know about Min-woo’s situation, teacher?”

“I knew he didn’t have parents, but I honestly didn’t know his living situation was that difficult.”

“Is there any way we can help?”

“Well, there’s no special way the school can help…….”

Shin Min-ho could only sigh in frustration.

Hyun-sung was just as frustrated.

After a moment of silence, Hyun-sung spoke again.

“Do you have time this evening?”

“I was supposed to meet someone today, why?”

“No, I can’t just stay still like this, and I think I should go to Min-woo’s house once.”

“Go to Min-woo’s house?”

“Yes, now that I know the situation, how can I just stay still?”

“Hmm…….”

Shin Min-ho seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

After a moment.

Shin Min-ho spoke again.

“Let’s go together later.”

“You said you had an appointment?”

“It’s not an important appointment, so I can postpone it. I can’t just stay still, even though I’m the homeroom teacher.”

“Yes, then let’s meet at the school gate at 7:10 PM. I’ll finish up at the store and come out to the gate by then.”

“Okay, I understand. Then I’ll see you later.”

Hyun-sung said goodbye and left the faculty office.

Hyun-sung returned to the classroom.

He saw Lee Min-woo lying face down on his desk.

He didn’t know he was in such a difficult situation. He didn’t have the chance to know in his past life, so he just passed it by, but this time it was different.

If he looked for it, there would be a way to help in some way.

Hyun-sung returned to his seat and began to eat his late lunch.

That evening.

After finishing work, Hyun-sung carried a box of ramen from the warehouse and left the store.

When he arrived at the school gate, Shin Min-ho was waiting. But he was holding something in his hand.

“Teacher, what’s that?”

“Ah, I bought some rice. I don’t know the situation, so I thought I’d bring at least some rice. What’s that you have?”

“It’s ramen [instant noodles]. I thought I’d bring at least some ramen too.”

The two looked at each other and smiled, then started walking.

About 30 minutes passed.

“I think it’s around here…….”

“I think so too, according to the address, this must be the place.”

It was then.

The door opened and Lee Min-woo came out.

Hyun-sung quickly called out to Lee Min-woo.

“Min-woo.”

“Oh? Hyun-sung, you came, and the teacher too.”

Lee Min-woo quickly led the two into the room.

“It’s very humble, but this way…….”

Inside the room, Lee Min-woo’s younger sibling, Lee Jin-woo, was lying down.

When the two entered, Lee Jin-woo quickly got up from his seat and bowed his head.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Min-woo and asked.

“How’s your sibling doing?”

“The fever has gone down a little since I gave him the cold medicine you gave me money for.”

“That’s a relief.”

Then Shin Min-ho asked.

“Have you had dinner?”

“Well…….”

Lee Min-woo scratched his head and couldn’t finish his sentence.

Then Shin Min-ho handed over the bag of rice and continued.

“It’s not much, but it’s rice. Let’s feed your sibling first.”

It was then.

Lee Jin-woo looked at the ramen that Hyun-sung had brought and continued.

“Hyung [older brother], can’t I eat that?”

Then Hyun-sung chuckled and said.

“What’s your name?”

“Lee Jin-woo.”

“That’s a good name……, Jin-woo, should this hyung [term of endearment for an older male figure] cook you some ramen?”

Lee Jin-woo smiled brightly and nodded his head.