Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 377

The next morning.

[Democratic Justice Party, 87 district seats, 38 proportional representation seats, total 125 seats. A National Assembly with a majority held by the opposition party for the first time in 38 years since the 1950 general election]

“How could this happen…….”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh, watching the TV news, couldn’t believe his eyes. In fact, several sources had presented skeptical predictions that it would be difficult to secure a majority. However, those numbers weren’t significant enough to cause alarm. The general sentiment was that even if the opposition party was strong, people would still support the ruling party, for better or worse, to ensure smooth state affairs.

“Even so, this is too much.”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh shook his head. Of course, some predicted the ruling party’s downfall, but not to this extent. He had expected to secure at least 100 district seats. No one had predicted they would win less than 100 seats anywhere. In other words, 100 seats was the assumed minimum.

However, only one person, Hyun-sung, had suggested they wouldn’t even get 90 seats.

At first, he thought it was absurd, but he began to worry when he heard that Shinseong’s funds were flowing into Ilsan. Eventually, after much deliberation, he decided to trust Hyun-sung’s insight. He judged that gaining information a year ahead of Shinseong’s intelligence was worth the risk.

However, it would be a lie to say he had no anxiety at all. He couldn’t help but be anxious even while believing, because it was such a sensitive issue for the company.

But Hyun-sung proved that all those worries were unfounded.

Now, the problem is what comes next. The current ruling party is finished anyway. So now there are only two people left: YS [Kim Young-sam] and DJ [Kim Dae-jung], who will take that position?

After a moment of contemplation, Chairman Shin Chun-oh began to make a phone call.

The phone rang twice before the other party answered.

– Hello.

“Kim Gun, is that you?”

– Oh? Chairman? What brings you here at this hour?

The person who answered the phone was none other than Hyun-sung. Chairman Shin Chun-oh called Hyun-sung to gauge the future changes in the political world.

“Did you see the news?”

– Are you talking about the general election results? Just a moment.

Hyun-sung immediately turned on the TV. The results of the general election filled the screen. He looked closely, just in case, but the results were no different from his past life.

– Yes, I just checked. But is that why you called so early in the morning?

“You just checked now?”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh couldn’t understand. Hyun-sung was the only one who predicted that the ruling party wouldn’t get 90 seats, so he thought he would be more curious about the election results than anyone else. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t even checked the results yet.

However, he couldn’t ask the reason. He couldn’t let Hyun-sung know that he knew about the election results he had predicted.

If he couldn’t throw a fastball, there was only one way: a curveball.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked indirectly.

“Are you not interested in the general election?”

– No, that’s not it, but it was obvious anyway, so I didn’t bother…….

“What? Obvious? So you already predicted that the ruling party wouldn’t even get 90 seats?”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked again about what he already knew. This was to make the next conversation flow naturally. And he also wanted to hear those amazing words directly from Hyun-sung’s mouth.

– Yes, of course.

“Of course? How can you say that so confidently? Of course, there was talk that it would be difficult for the ruling party to win a majority, but no research institute predicted less than 100 seats. But how could only you make such a prediction? And not even 100 seats, but 90 seats.”

– Just because.

“Just because?”

– Yes.

Hyun-sung deliberately didn’t say anything else. After all, he hadn’t done any analysis himself, but only knew the facts because of his memories of his past life.

However, Chairman Shin Chun-oh was frustrated.

He was hoping for a great answer, but the answer he heard was ‘just because.’ But it was difficult to ask more.

And what’s important is the next 5 years anyway. The question of who will take power out of the two. In fact, when you think about it, that was the purpose of the call.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh opened his mouth to ask what he was most curious about.

“Can I ask you just one thing?”

– Yes, please.

“Perhaps… Who do you think it will be next time?”

– Are you talking about 5 years from now?

“That’s right. In fact, if the two had unified this time, it would have been a game where they would win no matter who came out. So, I think that based on this experience, the two will unite next time. What do you think?”

– That will never happen.

“Never?”

– Yes.

“Hmm……?”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh tilted his head. He thought that the two would have realized something from this experience: that they couldn’t win without unification. What he was curious about was who would be first. But Hyun-sung said without thinking that it would never happen, so he tilted his head.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked again.

“Do you have a reason for being so sure?”

– Isn’t that the nature of power?

“The nature of power?”

– Yes, that’s right. Power is not to be shared.

“Power is not to be shared? Haha…….”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh laughed without realizing it. In a way, it was obvious. Even looking at the Joseon Dynasty [Korea’s last dynastic kingdom] in the past, there was no example of sharing power. Sometimes father and son, and sometimes brother and sister, only death awaited at the end of the power struggle. That was the nature of power.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh nodded and continued.

“Listening to you, I think you’re right. Then I’ll ask directly. Who do you think will be next?”

– YS.

“YS… Can I ask the reason?”

– Just because.

Hyun-sung again replaced it with the word ‘just because’ without any other explanation. After all, what Chairman Shin Chun-oh is curious about is the next regime. As a person doing business, it was an unavoidable necessity, so he was giving the information he wanted to know.

And frankly, almost no one at the time expected YS to merge the three parties. Hyun-sung himself was the same. He was just talking based on his memories of his past life. In that situation, he didn’t want to give unnecessary explanations. So he blocked Chairman Shin Chun-oh’s next question with the word ‘just because.’

“Just because… That means don’t ask any more.”

– Both this general election and my standards are nothing special. I speak with a feeling from time to time. I’m sorry, but there is no reason.

“Haha, you speak with a feeling…? I see. What does it matter, what’s important is the result, isn’t it? So, according to your feeling, the next one is YS?”

– Yes, that’s right.

As the saying goes, greed begets greed.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh suddenly had another thought in his head. Now that it has come to this, he was also curious about the regime after YS. But it was also true that he was too embarrassed to ask about that. That’s why the words had to be prolonged.

“That’s… you know, I mean…….”

– DJ. Is that enough?

A smile spread across Hyun-sung’s lips without him realizing it. After all, Chairman Shin Chun-oh is also a person. It would be stranger if he wasn’t curious. And what’s important is that even if he says this, whether he believes it or not is up to Chairman Shin Chun-oh.

It won’t be easy. You never know what will happen in the world. But it’s 5 years, 10 years later. No matter how much Chairman Shin Chun-oh trusts him, he probably wouldn’t believe his words as they are. So he was able to talk with a comfortable heart.

But that’s just Hyun-sung’s thought.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh hung up the phone.

…….

He was silent as if lost in thought.

The first was Ilsan, and the second was the result of the general election. Hyun-sung moved a year ahead of Shinseong and accurately predicted the results of the general election that no one had expected. That’s not some information or analysis, but a feeling. What does that mean? That’s what insight is: the ability to see through the world. Although he is a young man of twenty, it is a scary ability he has.

There is no more room for doubt.

A smile spread across Chairman Shin Chun-oh’s face.

“Next is YS, and then DJ…….”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh picked up the receiver and began to make a phone call somewhere.

***

“How could this happen…….”

There was another person who couldn’t close his mouth as much as Chairman Shin Chun-oh. That was Park Min-seok, the son of the landlord where Hyun-sung was living.

He was usually very interested in politics, so he had talked about the general election while drinking makgeolli [Korean rice wine] on a rainy day a few days ago.

At that time, he heard something absurd.

That was that the Democratic Justice Party would not be able to secure even 90 seats. Of course, it was true that the majority was threatened due to the strength of the opposition party, but he thought it was absurd to say that they would not be able to take even 90 seats, not even 100 seats.

In the end, because their opinions differed, they even talked about making a bet.

Thinking that he would definitely not lose, they decided to grant each other whatever they wanted.

But the thing that he thought was absurd really happened. So how could he not be surprised?

“This is not the time for me to be doing this.”

Park Min-seok jumped up from his seat and headed to Hyun-sung’s room.

At that time.

Hyun-sung, who had hung up the phone with Chairman Shin Chun-oh, was preparing breakfast. The TV was still noisy with news about the general election results.

It was then.

Knock knock knock!

Someone knocked hard on the door.

Hyun-sung tilted his head, wondering if it was too early, and asked.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. I’ll come in for a moment.”

The person who opened the door and came in as soon as he finished speaking was none other than Park Min-seok, the son of the landlord.

“What’s going on so early in the morning?”

“Did you see the news?”

“The news? Ah…… that.”

Hyun-sung finally knew why Park Min-seok had come to visit early in the morning. It was because of the curiosity about the results of this general election, just like Chairman Shin Chun-oh had called a little while ago. Of course, the curiosity would be about how he had made such a prediction.

As expected, the question came out of his mouth right away.

“What happened?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Since I don’t support the Democratic Justice Party anyway, I don’t care if they get 150 seats or 100 seats. What I want to ask is about the 90 seats you mentioned.”

Hyun-sung nodded. He thought that such a reaction was fully expected, so he thought that was it. Then he continued to pour out similar questions to Chairman Shin Chun-oh again. Hyun-sung was still just listening.

Then, at some point, he opened his mouth.

“Actually, I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yes, I don’t usually dream, but a week ago…….”

Hyun-sung began to bring out the words he had planned from the beginning. After all, the purpose of bringing in the general election from the beginning was one: to create an excuse to somehow stop Park Min-seok’s graduation trip.

When Hyun-sung’s explanation was over, Park Min-seok asked again as if he was dumbfounded.

“So, what you’re saying now is that you saw the results of the general election in advance in a dream?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“It happened, didn’t it? Was I wrong?”

“Huh? That’s…….”

Park Min-seok had nothing to say. That’s because Hyun-sung’s words are true anyway. Does this make sense? Of course, if you watch TV sometimes, there are things in the world that cannot be explained in words. One of them is a prophetic dream.

A dream that shows in advance what will happen in reality, but is this even possible?

But the problem is that the unbelievable thing is happening right in front of his eyes, not to someone else.

Park Min-seok asked again with a serious expression.

“Is that real?”

“If not, how can you explain this situation? Frankly, what ability do I have to predict the results of the general election that even political research institutes did not expect? This doesn’t make sense. Don’t you think so?”

“…….”

“Actually, there are times when I’m scared of myself. Sometimes from a very young age…….”

Hyun-sung inevitably began to tell another lie to gain Park Min-seok’s trust: that this had happened occasionally since before. As Hyun-sung’s story got longer, Park Min-seok’s expression began to change more and more strangely. And finally, when Hyun-sung’s story was over, Park Min-seok asked again with the same words.

“Is it real?”

“Think as you like. It’s your freedom whether you believe it or not.”

“It’s really amazing. I’ve seen it in movies too. But it’s so amazing that this really exists. And it’s you of all people…….”

Park Min-seok’s expression had definitely changed. Such an expression full of suspicion could not be found anywhere. Rather, it was an expression as if he was worried about Hyun-sung.

‘Now is the time.’

Hyun-sung looked at Park Min-seok with the most worried expression possible and opened his mouth.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], but what should I do?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“About that graduation trip…….”