Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 40

Hyun-sung arrived at the counseling room.

His homeroom teacher, Shin Min-ho, looked at Hyun-sung and asked abruptly,

“What happened?”

“I simply made them pay for their sins.”

“What, sins?”

Shin Min-ho was dumbfounded by Hyun-sung’s answer.

Sins?

It wasn’t just a fight between boys; the word ‘sins’ made Shin Min-ho question the situation.

But what was even stranger was Hyun-sung’s demeanor.

He was too confident.

Usually, students become timid when they come to the counseling room. Moreover, in Hyun-sung’s case, regardless of who was at fault, it was an incident involving assault.

Yet, he was confident?

He thought about it for a moment, but it didn’t make sense according to common sense.

Shin Min-ho asked again.

“Did you just say sins?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s hear what sins you’re talking about.”

Shin Min-ho knew about Kim Il-soo to some extent through the class president. But he had overlooked it because such things were common among boys.

Of course, if it had been serious, the issue would have been different, but he judged that it wasn’t that serious.

And he had only called him in today as a formality, intending to wrap things up quickly and move on. But strange words came out of Hyun-sung’s mouth.

“Do you really not know?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Well, it would be a problem if you didn’t know, and an even bigger problem if you pretended not to know.”

“You little…”

He was speechless.

He couldn’t find a way to dodge the blow that came as if he already knew everything.

Because it was true.

He definitely knew. But he had just overlooked it because he didn’t think it was a big deal. There had been no problems until now.

But if someone were to question it, Shin Min-ho would have nothing to say. It was neglect, no matter who looked at it. A sin of turning a blind eye even though he knew.

Then Hyun-sung spoke again.

“Dereliction of duty or neglect, right? In my opinion, it seems more like the latter.”

A direct hit. A fastball right down the middle [a baseball term for a pitch thrown straight and powerfully].

It was like saying, ‘Accuse me if you dare.’ That’s how confident he was.

“Are you threatening me now?”

“If you feel threatened, does that mean you admit it?”

“What?”

‘What is this kid?’

Hyun-sung was right.

If he hadn’t done anything wrong, he wouldn’t have a problem no matter what the other person said. On the other hand, if he felt even a little threatened, it meant he admitted his wrongdoing.

Shin Min-ho was in a difficult situation, unable to do anything.

Hyun-sung spoke again.

“Do you admit it?”

“Admit what?”

“Shall I call the class president?”

Hyun-sung didn’t back down. It was a situation he wouldn’t have dared to imagine in the past. Back then, he was scared even to say anything.

But it was different now.

There was no reason to back down when he was confident in his logic.

When Shin Min-ho didn’t answer, Hyun-sung spoke again.

“Why did you do that?”

“Well…”

“You should have called us in at least once to check, right? Do you know how miserable we were? It’s a lifelong regret.”

“…”

Shin Min-ho was silent. Hyun-sung continued.

“You’re a teacher, right? A teacher who’s supposed to protect us. Right?”

“Yeah…”

Hyun-sung turned his head for a moment. He felt that his emotions had become intense as he spoke, overwhelmed by his past feelings.

Hyun-sung composed himself.

Going any further wouldn’t look good.

Anything in excess is as bad as deficiency.

And when he thought about it, his own fault was also significant.

If he didn’t have the strength to stand up to them, he should have asked for help from those around him. But he didn’t. That was because he was more afraid of retaliation.

Whatever the reason, it was clearly Hyun-sung’s fault. That meant Hyun-sung also had some responsibility.

Hyun-sung looked at Shin Min-ho and spoke again.

“I didn’t do well either. I admit it.”

“What? What are you talking about now?”

Shin Min-ho was once again taken aback by Hyun-sung’s sudden words.

He had been pushing relentlessly, but now he was suddenly blaming himself…

Then Hyun-sung continued.

“I was afraid of retaliation. In short, I was a coward. I should have been brave, but I couldn’t.”

It was true.

If they were to assign blame, Hyun-sung could not be entirely free from it. Shin Min-ho had heard about it through the class president, Lee Young-min, but he had been directly affected and had seen it with his own eyes.

It was his cowardly self.

Hyun-sung slowly opened his mouth again.

“I won’t do that again. I will stand up to them with dignity, and if I don’t have enough strength, I will ask the teacher for help. Please take my hand then.”

“Okay, okay… But Hyun-sung!”

Shin Min-ho suddenly called Hyun-sung’s name.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I feel like I’ve been possessed by a goblin [a mischievous spirit or imp], so I can’t say much, but let me ask you just one thing.”

“Yes.”

“What on earth happened during the vacation?”

“Nothing like that happened.”

Hyun-sung flatly denied it.

He hated making up stories and getting tired.

Then the homeroom teacher didn’t ask any further questions.

Hyun-sung left, and Shin Min-ho was left alone.

“What on earth…”

No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible.

He was too different.

Before and after the vacation.

Last time, he caught a pickpocket and even received an award for being a brave citizen. He thought, ‘Okay, that’s that.’ But today, he had cornered him like a rat.

He wished he could crawl into a rat hole.

Anyway, the important thing was what Hyun-sung had said so far.

He had thought that such things were not a big deal because they were just boys. But he realized that he was mistaken.

He came to his senses only after hearing the word ‘neglect’ from Hyun-sung a little while ago.

He realized how lazy a person could become.

He had just thought that he only needed to get through the remaining semester safely. That’s because he was transferring to another school in half a year.

So, he might have been more passive and complacent in everything he did.

How excited and nervous he was when he first started teaching. No matter how much time dulls emotions, he didn’t think it should be like this.

Original intention (初心) [the initial passion and drive one has when starting something new].

The two words suddenly came to his mind.

Hyun-sung came out of the counseling room and headed to the classroom on the second floor.

Anyway, this matter would just be quietly passed over. The homeroom teacher was not free from responsibility, so he would have no choice.

And judging from his last look, he seemed to have a lot on his mind. He would see what he was thinking in the future.

The problem was the troublemaker, Kim Il-soo…

It would be nice if it ended here, but Hyun-sung judged that Kim Il-soo was not someone who would collapse so easily.

Ding-dong.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

Kim Il-soo came out of the infirmary during the break after the first period.

“Il-soo, are you okay?”

“…”

Park Cheol-min asked, but Kim Il-soo didn’t answer and quietly returned to his seat.

Whew.

Hyun-sung relaxed for now.

A little while ago, the classroom had suddenly become quiet, and he had a feeling. As expected, he turned around and saw Kim Il-soo entering through the back door.

For a moment, he clenched his fist without realizing it. He was ready to fight again if necessary. But Kim Il-soo didn’t move from his seat.

Was it because the break was short?

Then lunchtime…?!

It was a subtly tense moment. That was because today’s match would determine his future school life.

The fourth period ended, and it was lunchtime.

Swoosh.

Kim Il-soo got up from his seat.

‘Okay! Let’s finish this.’

Hyun-sung also tensed up.

But what was strange was Kim Il-soo’s next action.

“What?”

Hyun-sung was almost dumbfounded. That’s because Kim Il-soo quietly disappeared through the back door. Park Cheol-min and Lee Soo-cheol, his lackeys, were seen following him.

Then complaints erupted from here and there.

“What?” “I know, what’s with setting the mood and then this? Is Kim Il-soo really done for?”

“Hey, why is it so anticlimactic?”

Everyone looked disappointed.

Hyun-sung was about to swear.

What do you mean, anticlimactic?

To these guys, it was just a spectacle. Not a single one of them came up to him and asked if he was okay.

Well.

Who could he blame?

It was bitter, but it was a glimpse of how terrible Hyun-sung’s past life had been.

“Let’s try to do better from now on.”

Hyun-sung muttered to himself and sat down.

It was then.

“Drink this.”

It was a soymilk drink. Of course, the owner of the hand that offered the soymilk was Lee Jung-woo.

“Why soymilk?”

“Can you eat rice with a sore mouth? Drink this instead.”

“You…”

It hadn’t even been 10 minutes since lunchtime started. That meant he had run to the store in front of the school as soon as the fourth period ended.

Of course, the main gate would have been closed, so he would have used the hole in the fence.

Was that why?

Lee Jung-woo’s forehead was covered in sweat.

At times like this, the best thing to do is to pretend not to know and just accept it.

“Jung-woo, thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”

“Thanks? I’m more grateful. Hurry up and drink it.”

Looking at Lee Jung-woo made him feel even more sorry. In his past life, he hadn’t been able to protect him even once until he graduated from high school.

It was only after a long time that he had said he was sorry. And that was with the help of alcohol.

In the end, the two of them had replaced their feelings with tears.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Jung-woo.

“Jung-woo, I’m sorry for everything.”

“What are you talking about?” “But that will never happen again. Really…”

“Stop saying strange things and hurry up and eat.”

Hyun-sung was saying things that Lee Jung-woo couldn’t understand. He wanted to sincerely convey his apology for his past life, even if it was just like that.

In the end, he couldn’t eat his lunch. The wound on the inside of his molars was more severe than he thought.

If it hadn’t been for Lee Jung-woo, Hyun-sung would have starved.

That’s how lunchtime passed quietly.

Then someone nudged Hyun-sung.

“Let’s talk.”

It was the class president, Lee Young-min.

The two of them went out into the hallway.

Lee Young-min looked at Hyun-sung and asked abruptly,

“What did you mean by what you said to me this morning?”

“Me?”

“Don’t you remember? You called me a dog?”

Ah!

Now that he thought about it, he remembered. It was when he was going to the counseling room and turned back to approach Kim Il-soo. The class president, Lee Young-min, had blocked his way, and that’s what he had said to Lee Young-min at that time.

“Yeah, I remember now.”

“Explain.”

Lee Young-min’s expression was serious. It looked like a fist would fly at any moment.

Hyun-sung replied.

“It’s the truth. You ran to the homeroom teacher whenever something happened, right? Or am I wrong?”

“What?”

“Okay, now that we’re on the topic, let’s say reporting to the homeroom teacher is your duty. What’s next?”

“Next?”

Lee Young-min didn’t understand what Hyun-sung was saying now. Whether he liked it or not, reporting to the homeroom teacher was basic. Sometimes, he honestly felt a sense of futility.

But it wasn’t a matter of choice.

But now Hyun-sung was asking ‘what’s next.’

He didn’t understand what he was talking about at all.

Hyun-sung spoke again.

“You can’t understand what I’m saying?”

“Stop joking around and say it in a way that’s easy to understand.”

“Okay, then let me ask you just one thing. You’ve told the homeroom teacher everything about Kim Il-soo, right?”

Lee Young-min nodded instead of answering. Then Hyun-sung continued.

“That was the end, right?”

“If it’s not the end, what should there be?”

“That’s why you’re bad, you son of a bitch!”

A curse word came right out of Hyun-sung’s mouth. Then Lee Young-min was dumbfounded.

“Kim Hyun-sung, you’ve got nothing to lose today, do you?”

“Yeah, you son of a bitch, if that’s the case, why do you report it? If you reported it, there should have been follow-up measures, right? You pathetic bastard.”

“Follow-up measures?”

“Yeah, a solution. What did you do every time my friends and I got beat up, even though it’s embarrassing to say? You just ran to the homeroom teacher and told him, right? Is that a report? That’s tattling.”

Lee Young-min was momentarily speechless.

It was something he had never thought about. He had just thought it was okay because the homeroom teacher hadn’t said anything. But now Hyun-sung was saying that it was wrong.

“I thought the homeroom teacher…”

“Of course, if we’re going to argue about it, the homeroom teacher has more responsibility. But you should have thought about it at least once. You’re the class president, and you’re our friend. Right?”

“Th-that’s…”

Lee Young-min had nothing to say.

Hyun-sung continued.

“I don’t want to hold you responsible now, but it shouldn’t have been like that.”

“…”

“Let’s stop. You, me, and the homeroom teacher, we’re all accomplices. Oh, and I’m sorry for calling you a dog. I made a mistake without realizing it because I was angry earlier.”

With those words, Hyun-sung disappeared into the classroom.