Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 358

358

Finally, the first day of school.

Hyun-sung stopped in front of the school gate.

His gaze was fixed on one spot.

“Still as tall as ever.”

Hyun-sung muttered, looking at the tall tower erected in the center of the gate. The structure, which looked to be at least 10 meters tall, stretched towards the sky.

Just like in his past life, it stood firmly in its place. He later found out that it was one of the most impressive sculptures among universities nationwide, ranking in the top five.

Thud!

Hyun-sung strode confidently through the gate.

Room 402.

Arriving at the classroom, Hyun-sung took a seat in the middle.

Looking around, he saw familiar faces. However, he couldn’t act like he knew them all. He knew them, of course, but from the other students’ perspective, they were meeting for the first time.

Thump.

Just then, someone sat down next to Hyun-sung.

Hyun-sung turned his gaze to the side.

A smirk.

A subtle smile spread across Hyun-sung’s lips without him even realizing it. Perhaps it was because of his past life memories, but he felt a mix of joy and sorrow.

It was him.

Oh Jung-soo.

The very person who made Hyun-sung give up Korea University and come to Kangsung University. He was the closest friend he had in his freshman year. However, it wasn’t just because they were close that he gave up Korea University.

There was another reason.

An accident.

A major accident, at that.

It was a distant memory from his past life, but he remembered it clearly.

It was the day the second semester final exams ended. The end of the exams also meant the end of the semester. Unlike high school, there was no separate graduation ceremony; the freshman year was simply over.

As such, it was common to have an end-of-semester party on the day the final exams finished. That in itself wasn’t a problem, as it was a normal occurrence.

The problem came after that.

On the way home from the end-of-semester party, he was involved in an accident.

A minor collision. A collision between a car and a motorcycle.

Oh Jung-soo lived in Sacheon, Gangneung, so he commuted by motorcycle. Until the end-of-semester party, no one had imagined that Oh Jung-soo would attend the party on his motorcycle.

Because drinking was a given at end-of-semester parties.

But he later found out that Oh Jung-soo had attended the end-of-semester party on his motorcycle. And it wasn’t until a day later that he heard the news of Oh Jung-soo’s accident.

There wasn’t even a chance to do anything. If he had known that Oh Jung-soo had attended the end-of-semester party on his motorcycle, he would have forcibly stopped him from riding home, but he didn’t even have that chance.

In the accident, Oh Jung-soo lost his left leg.

It was said that motorcycle accidents usually resulted in one of two outcomes: death or a disability. A head-on collision meant death, while a side collision meant losing a leg. That’s how dangerous motorcycle accidents were.

In Oh Jung-soo’s case, the left side of the car’s bumper collided with the motorcycle. As a result, the area just below his left knee was caught between the car and the motorcycle.

For a week, they tried everything to save his left leg, but the problem was the severed blood vessels. They could fix the shattered bones with metal rods, but they couldn’t repair the severed blood vessels.

The reason they couldn’t repair the severed blood vessels was that there was a significant delay in transporting the patient. After the accident, he was taken to Gangneung Medical Center, but it wasn’t enough. He was then transferred to Wonju Christian Hospital, but surgery was impossible there as well. In the end, the last place they chose was Korea University Hospital.

As a result, they spent the whole night on the road, and the time to reconnect the severed blood vessels was delayed.

Eventually, a week passed, and on the eighth day, they had no choice but to perform an amputation. Because blood wasn’t circulating properly, necrosis began from the end of his leg.

Oh Jung-soo was forced to live the rest of his life relying on a prosthetic leg due to that day’s mistake. Of course, it was Oh Jung-soo’s mistake, but Hyun-sung, knowing this, couldn’t stand idly by.

That’s why Hyun-sung gave up Korea University and chose Kangsung University.

Hyun-sung reached out his hand to Oh Jung-soo.

“Hi, I’m Kim Hyun-sung.”

Out of joy, Hyun-sung reached out his hand first. Whatever the reason, he was naturally happy to see Oh Jung-soo again before the accident.

But that was only from Hyun-sung’s perspective, and Oh Jung-soo couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

But only for a moment, Oh Jung-soo also reached out his hand.

“Oh? Yeah. I’m Oh Jung-soo.”

“Nice to meet you, Oh Jung-soo. Let’s get along well in the future.”

“Oh? Yeah, sure…”

Slightly flustered, Oh Jung-soo had an awkward expression as he replied.

Just then.

Slide.

The front door opened, and teaching assistant Min Soo-yeon entered. She was a senior from the class of ’83.

She was exactly as he remembered. She was a bit short, but her short haircut and confident demeanor were the same as ever.

Back then, teaching assistant Min Soo-yeon was extremely popular among the male students. The first reason was her beautiful appearance. There wasn’t a female student in the entire department who could compare to her.

The next was her alcohol tolerance. It was astonishing how much alcohol she could endlessly consume with her small frame. So much so that no one had ever won against her in a drinking match.

And lastly, her cheerful personality. Wherever she was, there was always laughter and energy. That’s why she was so popular.

“Okay, everyone, pay attention!”

Min Soo-yeon started by selecting a temporary class representative.

Swish.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Myung-woo, who was sitting in the back. He was the class representative in his past life.

“Anyone want to be class representative?”

When Min Soo-yeon asked, the classroom fell silent. Everyone lowered their heads, and as if she had expected it, Min Soo-yeon scanned the classroom and pointed at someone with her finger.

“You there, what’s your name?”

Min Soo-yeon pointed at Kim Myung-woo and asked.

He later found out that Min Soo-yeon chose Kim Myung-woo for one reason: he looked the oldest.

Because Kim Myung-woo’s forehead was wider than others.

Pfft.

Hyun-sung momentarily covered his mouth with his hand. Because he remembered how much he had complained when he found out why he had become the class representative later on.

In the end, Kim Myung-woo became the temporary class representative. Of course, the class representative position remained unchanged until the end of the freshman year.

Min Soo-yeon briefly introduced herself and explained how to register for courses before leaving the classroom.

Then, Kim Myung-woo went to the front of the podium.

“You all know there’s an opening party tonight after course registration, right? Everyone has to attend!”

Slide.

As soon as Kim Myung-woo finished speaking, the front door of the classroom opened.

And two people entered. They were the class representatives from the 2nd and 3rd years.

Hyun-sung looked at the two of them. Back then, they seemed like lofty seniors, but now that he saw them again, their youthful appearance was even cute.

As soon as the two finished their introductions and greetings, Hyun-sung applauded louder than anyone else. He was happy to see them, and they were seniors who had worked harder for the department than anyone else.

Course registration was simple.

Most of them were liberal arts courses, and except for one or two subjects, they were almost all common classes, so it ended without much difficulty.

The department friends who came out of the classroom gathered in front of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building.

Swish.

Hyun-sung glanced at Kim Myung-woo.

If his past life memories were correct, it was Kim Myung-woo’s turn to step up.

Kim Myung-woo would suggest that they all drink makgeolli [Korean rice wine] together. Drinking makgeolli from broad daylight seemed strange to anyone, but back then, it was a natural atmosphere.

Perhaps it was felt like the romance of campus.

On the lawn, there were already several teams that seemed to be from other departments having makgeolli parties.

Sure enough.

As Hyun-sung remembered, Kim Myung-woo was stepping forward.

“Hey…….”

“Wait a minute!”

Hyun-sung quickly interrupted Kim Myung-woo.

Then, Kim Myung-woo pointed to his chest with his finger and asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah, let’s talk for a moment.”

Hyun-sung took Kim Myung-woo and moved to a place slightly away from his friends.

Then he immediately started talking.

“By any chance, a makgeolli party?”

“Oh? How did you know?”

As expected, his prediction was correct. Even though it was an old memory from his past life, he remembered in detail what had happened on the first day of school.

Because that day’s nightmare started from Kim Myung-woo’s mouth.

Hyun-sung took a moment to catch his breath and then continued.

“Instead of makgeolli, let’s all just have lunch together. How about that?”

“What are you talking about? It’s the first day, so we drink makgeolli and get to know each other!”

Kim Myung-woo’s intention was firm.

Looking at it, it wasn’t wrong.

But the problem was that this action today would cause the first button of his college life to be buttoned up wrong [to start off on the wrong foot].

If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t know, but he couldn’t just pass it by because he already knew the result.

The reason Hyun-sung wanted to stop this was because of Kim Myung-woo, the class representative, and a few other friends. They were guys who liked to drink so much.

The problem was that people had to drink alcohol, but on the contrary, alcohol was eating people. So how could there be no mistakes?

The drinking party that started from the afternoon continued until the evening, eventually leading to the result of ruining the opening party.

Because of that day’s mistake, the image of the Department of Business Administration’s class of ’88 was collectively passed on, and they were ignored by the department professors for a whole year.

Everyone regretted it later, but it was already in the past.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Myung-woo and said again.

“Then how about we eat lunch first and then gather on the lawn?”

“Lunch first? If I’m full, my appetite for alcohol will drop…….”

“Appetite for alcohol?”

‘A young punk talking about appetite for alcohol?’

Hyun-sung was about to swear at Kim Myung-woo’s talk about alcohol. But he couldn’t do that.

Hyun-sung immediately continued.

“Then let’s do it by majority vote.”

“Majority vote?”

“Yeah, we have to think about the female students too. Let’s ask them and decide, how about that?”

It was a situation where he couldn’t just push ahead, so Hyun-sung took a step back and decided to do it by majority vote.

Then Kim Myung-woo nodded as if he couldn’t help it and continued.

“Majority vote…… so it’s democracy, right? Okay, I got it. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Me? Kim Hyun-sung.”

“Oh! You’re Kim Hyun-sung?”

As soon as Kim Myung-woo heard Hyun-sung’s name, he said in a loud voice as if he was surprised. Then the eyes of the department friends around him all turned to Hyun-sung.

It was Hyun-sung who was dumbfounded.

“Hey, Kim Myung-woo. What’s with that reaction?”

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

“Of course I’m asking because I don’t know. Why are you doing that?”

Hyun-sung couldn’t understand why Kim Myung-woo was so surprised.

Then Kim Myung-woo immediately said.

“You’re the famous Kim Hyun-sung. Kim Hyun-sung, who was the top student in the entire Kangsung University. Kim Hyun-sung, who had the grades to go to Korea University but gave it up and came to our Kangsung University!”

“Oh, I thought it was something else…….”

Only then did Hyun-sung realize why Kim Myung-woo had such a surprised expression when he heard his name a little while ago.

Then suddenly, something strange happened.

The department friends had already started to surround Hyun-sung. It was an action they showed after hearing Kim Myung-woo’s words a little while ago.

Hyun-sung was just embarrassed by the sudden reaction of his friends.

Then Kim Myung-woo looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Hey, Kim Hyun-sung. How about you treat us to lunch today in celebration of being the top student?”

“Lunch? Me? So suddenly?”

“Why? Can’t you?”

“It’s not that I can’t…… it’s just too sudden.”

As soon as Hyun-sung finished speaking, Kim Myung-woo raised both hands high towards his department friends. Then he raised his voice as if he was making some important announcement.

“Guys! Kim Hyun-sung, who is the top student in our department, no, our Kangsung University, is treating us to lunch today. How about that?”

“Good!”

“Wow!”

As soon as Kim Myung-woo finished speaking, the department friends clapped their hands and cheered.

Although the atmosphere suddenly turned strange, Hyun-sung’s mood wasn’t bad. It wasn’t that he didn’t have enough money, and he was willing to spend that much for his department friends.

This was also the economic abundance he had gained from regressing. He wouldn’t have even dared to think about it if that wasn’t the case.

Whoosh!

Hyun-sung raised his hand high.

Then everyone’s attention was focused on Hyun-sung.

“Somehow the atmosphere has become like this, but since we’re eating anyway, let’s go to Manri Jangsung instead of the school cafeteria.”

Manri Jangsung was a Chinese restaurant located behind the gymnasium. It was a restaurant in the form of a wooden prefabricated building, and it was quite famous as a *matjib* [popular, well-known restaurant] back then.

Of course, the food was more expensive than the school cafeteria, so Hyun-sung himself had only been there a few times in his past life when he was short on money.

“Manri Jangsung? Where is that?”

“It’s a Chinese restaurant behind the gymnasium. Let’s go there.”

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

Kim Myung-woo tapped Hyun-sung on the shoulder and asked.

Then Hyun-sung smiled and said.

“If it’s not enough, you take responsibility.”

“Me? Are you crazy? You’re exempt from tuition until you graduate, but you shouldn’t say that to someone like me who pays tuition every time. This is against fairness!”

“Okay, okay. I was just joking, but you’re attacking me like you’re going to die. Just eat a lot and please take good care of our department for a year.”

“A year? What are you talking about? I’m only doing it temporarily?”

Kim Myung-woo is the class representative for a year anyway. It suits his constitution, and he will finish the year safely with his smooth personality. The problem was that he had buttoned up the first button wrong today. But now that he has corrected the beginning, Kim Myung-woo’s year, and by extension, the entire Department of Business Administration’s class of ’88, will not be ignored by the department professors.

Hyun-sung’s words continued.

“What are you talking about? Once a class representative, always a class representative. You’ll do well.”

“Where is that?”

“Enough, let’s go eat lunch quickly.”

The two followed their friends to the Chinese restaurant.

Whatever the reason, he was able to prevent Kim Myung-woo’s mistake of drinking makgeolli from broad daylight and becoming a dog [acting disgracefully drunk], like in his past life. Then that’s it for now. From now on, other things will happen, but he can think about that then.

But there was something Hyun-sung didn’t know.

The dogs weren’t just one or two.