Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 286

286

A few days later.

Hyun-sung arrived at the Nonghyup [National Agricultural Cooperative Federation] bank and handed his bankbook to a female employee.

“Hello. I’d like to update my bankbook, please.”

These days, you can check your bank statement with just a smartphone, but back then, you had to go to the bank in person to check your deposit history.

“Yes, just a moment. Oh? Hello. I was wondering who it was, but you’re the ramen shop owner.”

The female employee, Shin Mi-ae, recognized Hyun-sung belatedly and greeted him happily.

He was a customer who came almost every day on her way home from work, so Hyun-sung knew her face well.

“Hello, Miss. And please, speak comfortably. I feel uncomfortable.”

“You’re our customer, so I can’t do that. And you’re a respectable owner of a store…”

“Oh, come on, Miss…”

Hyun-sung smiled, as if he couldn’t help it.

Then Shin Mi-ae immediately continued.

“I was actually planning to visit you and discuss something. Would it be okay if I visit you soon?”

“Pardon? Me?”

Hyun-sung tilted his head. He couldn’t think of anything a Nonghyup employee like Shin Mi-ae would need to discuss with him.

Then Shin Mi-ae immediately opened her mouth.

“I’ll tell you the details when I visit. I’ll visit you with my sister after you close up shop in a few days.”

“Sister?”

“Yes, the person who’s been coming to eat ramen with me these days is my older sister.”

“Ah, yes… But why your sister?”

Of course, he knew who her older sister was. She was the person who had been coming to the store with Shin Mi-ae every day for the past few days. But what Hyun-sung was curious about was Shin Mi-ae’s words about coming with her sister. That meant the person who had something to discuss with Hyun-sung was not Shin Mi-ae, but her older sister.

Shin Mi-ae said.

“I’ll tell you everything in detail then.”

“Ah, yes, I understand.”

Hyun-sung nodded for now. He was curious about what was going on, but he couldn’t keep asking.

A little later.

Hyun-sung, who received his bankbook, checked the statement first.

‘That’s strange.’

Hyun-sung tilted his head.

The reason was that the money that should have been deposited into his account hadn’t been. It was the monthly rent. It had been fifteen days since the due date. But the rent hadn’t been deposited yet.

Shin Young-hoon.

He was the person who said he would run a knife-cut noodle restaurant in Hyun-sung’s building a while ago. But in less than three months, his rent was already fifteen days overdue.

‘What’s going on?’

What Hyun-sung was worried about now wasn’t just the rent. The fact that the rent was overdue meant that something was likely wrong with Shin Young-hoon.

Until last week, he had just thought it wasn’t a big deal. He just thought, ‘Maybe he has some personal circumstances.’

But after checking his bank statement today, he couldn’t help but be concerned.

Hyun-sung was about to leave Nonghyup when.

“Hey, Hyun-sung!”

He heard someone calling him from behind. When he turned around, it was the union leader, Lee Man-soo.

Hyun-sung quickly bowed his head.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello. Are you done with your business?”

“Yes, I had something to check.”

“If you’re not busy, would you mind giving me some time? I have something to say.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Hyun-sung followed Lee Man-soo to the union leader’s office.

As soon as they entered the union leader’s office, Lee Man-soo looked at Hyun-sung and asked in a soft voice.

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“If you’d give me one, I’d appreciate it.”

As soon as Hyun-sung finished speaking, Lee Man-soo turned on the coffee pot and asked again.

“How do you like your coffee?”

“Just black, please, and light.”

“Black? I can’t drink that because it’s bitter. Coffee is best with plenty of cream and sugar.”

“It’s a habit.”

It was a habit from his past life. Hyun-sung himself used to drink mostly instant coffee mixes at first. But at some point, many people started drinking Americano [a type of coffee] like a trend, saying that cream and sugar were bad for their health. He had no choice but to go along with the trend and drink it a few times, and he naturally became accustomed to the clean taste.

Moreover, since moderate coffee was said to be good for health, he had become accustomed to drinking three or four cups a day.

Lee Man-soo handed a teacup to Hyun-sung.

“Here, drink up.”

“Thank you. But what is it that you wanted to tell me?”

“Have you talked to our Soo-hyuk lately?”

“No, since we’re in different classes, I don’t see him often. I just see him occasionally when passing by.”

They were in the same class until the second grade. But they were separated in the third grade. As a result, the time they met naturally decreased.

At Hyun-sung’s answer, Lee Man-soo nodded as if he had expected it and continued.

“Hmm… I see. It’s only natural since you’re in different classes.”

“Is something wrong with Soo-hyuk?”

“Well, you see…, Haa!”

Lee Man-soo sighed deeply in the middle of his words.

Hyun-sung could instantly tell that something had happened to Lee Soo-hyuk. Otherwise, Lee Man-soo wouldn’t have such a serious expression.

‘Could it be?’

The mock exam he had seen a few days ago came to Hyun-sung’s mind.

The mock exam, which was conducted for the first time in the third grade, was bound to be important. This test would be the basic score to estimate which university you could go to in the future.

But the problem was Lee Soo-hyuk’s score.

198 out of 320. He couldn’t even pass 200 points. Lee Soo-hyuk had always said that he would go to Yonsei University [a prestigious university in South Korea].

But with this score, he couldn’t go to Yonsei University, let alone a local national university.

Come to think of it, Lee Soo-hyuk didn’t go to university in his past life. He only heard that he went to the army after retaking the exam. Hyun-sung didn’t know what happened after that.

If there was a problem with Lee Soo-hyuk now, it must be because of his grades.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Man-soo, pretending not to know, and asked carefully.

“Is something wrong with Soo-hyuk?”

“Well, this guy suddenly says he’s going to leave home…, What should I do about this?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

Hyun-sung was just dumbfounded at Lee Man-soo’s answer.

If there was a problem with Lee Soo-hyuk now, he thought it would be a problem with his grades. But Lee Man-soo said something he had never expected.

Hyun-sung asked again in a hurry.

“Soo-hyuk is going to leave home? What are you talking about?”

“I’m so dumbfounded that I can’t even speak.”

“When did he say that?”

“It was two days ago. He suddenly said he had something to say in the middle of the night, and then he said that. Not only me, but Soo-hyuk’s mother is now because of that…”

Lee Man-soo couldn’t finish his words. But it was more than enough to guess what the situation was.

How dumbfounded would he be? His only son, who had been going to school well until now, suddenly said he was going to leave home.

Especially at this time, which is the most important time for high school seniors.

But why two days ago?

Two days ago was the day after the mock exam.
The grades must have already come out, so Lee Soo-hyuk’s mother, Yoo Soo-min, would have known the grades.

She was the one who even hired a tutor in this rural area. If that was the case, she would have known right away that Lee Soo-hyuk’s score wouldn’t even allow him to go to a local national university.

Then there must have been something between Yoo Soo-min and Lee Soo-hyuk.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Man-soo and asked again.

“Was there anything going on at home?”

“That’s…”

Lee Man-soo couldn’t speak easily.

That meant that something had happened as expected.

But Hyun-sung didn’t ask any more questions this time. He thought that Lee Man-soo’s hesitation to speak meant that there was a reason why he couldn’t speak.

He judged that it would be better to wait for a while in this case.

Then Lee Man-soo took a sip of coffee and seemed to think for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“Do you know our Soo-hyuk’s mock exam score this time?”

“Yes, roughly…”

“Exactly 198 points.”

The moment the mock exam score came out of Lee Man-soo’s mouth, Hyun-sung knew that his prediction was correct.

The reason why Lee Soo-hyuk said he would leave home and the mock exam score would not be separate.

As Hyun-sung nodded and said nothing, Lee Man-soo said again.

“Do you think you can go anywhere with that score?”

“That’s…”

Hyun-sung couldn’t say anything.

Because he knew very well that there was nowhere to go with that score.

“Since you don’t answer, you know it too. There’s no choice with that score. Only retaking the exam…”

“…”

“So, would Soo-hyuk’s mother have stayed still?”

As expected, there is no smoke without fire [an idiom meaning there’s no rumor without a cause].

Now the cause has been revealed.

But what he didn’t understand was Lee Soo-hyuk’s actions. If he received that score on the first mock exam, he would have fully expected that his mother, Yoo Soo-min, would not stay still.

But in that situation, he would leave home?

This doesn’t make sense.

How could such a thing come out in that situation?

Hyun-sung said.

“I can’t easily understand the situation, so I can’t say anything…”

“You think this is an absurd situation too, right?”

“That’s…”

Hyun-sung couldn’t answer easily.

Of course, it is true that he doesn’t understand Lee Soo-hyuk’s actions now. But he hasn’t heard Lee Soo-hyuk’s position at all.

In that situation, he couldn’t unconditionally agree with Lee Man-soo’s words.

Hyun-sung continued.

“Maybe…”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Have you heard the reason why Soo-hyuk is going to leave home?”

“Reason?”

“Yes, as you know, Soo-hyuk is not a thoughtless guy. If he said that, I think there must be a good reason.”

“He doesn’t say it.”

“Pardon?”

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Man-soo.

Then Lee Man-soo immediately continued.

“I asked him last night, but he doesn’t tell me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like something happened with his mother…”

Lee Man-soo drank the remaining coffee in one gulp as if he was frustrated and continued.

“So I asked my wife if anything happened, but my wife said she didn’t say anything.”

“Your mother said that?”

“That’s right. So I’m frustrated.”

Hyun-sung tilted his head.

Of course, Lee Soo-hyuk himself would have been the most disappointed with the mock exam score. But the person who was shocked no less than that was Lee Soo-hyuk’s mother, Yoo Soo-min.

Hyun-sung couldn’t easily agree with the words that such a person didn’t say anything.

Hyun-sung continued again.

“I’m sorry, but did your mother really not say anything?”

“Actually, I’m a little uneasy about that. On the one hand, I wonder if Soo-hyuk would have said he would leave home if it wasn’t too much.”

“Hmm…”

Hyun-sung was in a situation where it was ambiguous to say anything.

He doesn’t know now. What Lee Soo-hyuk’s mother, Yoo Soo-min, said, and why Lee Soo-hyuk said he would leave home.

First of all, it would be a priority to meet Lee Soo-hyuk and listen to his story.

Then Lee Man-soo looked at Hyun-sung and said.

“Hyun-sung, please help me.”

“Well, I don’t know if Soo-hyuk will tell me his honest feelings.”

“No, he will definitely tell you. He said something about you last time.”