Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 407

Park Hee-cheol’s second son, Park Beom-soo.

It had already been a month since he came to Korea and started living with his father, Park Hee-cheol.

The two faced each other at the breakfast table.

“Father…”

“What?”

“Do I really have to eat this?”

In front of Park Beom-soo was a small plate with three pieces of kimchi. His expression was so dark, he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

That was because he had to eat three pieces of kimchi with every meal, three times a day. The reason was simple: if he didn’t, his father wouldn’t give him living expenses.

A month ago, when he said he would return to Korea, Park Hee-cheol’s condition was just one thing.

‘Do whatever I tell you.’

Of course, he had no choice but to accept. The business he had been running in Japan had completely failed, leaving him with nothing to his name.

There was a time when he was doing well, but reckless investments eventually caught up with him. He was on the verge of bankruptcy, and just when he was about to give up everything, he received a call from his father and was able to regain his courage.

That’s how he returned to Korea and started living with his father. But the problem was his eating habits.

Because he had moved to Japan at such a young age, Korean food didn’t suit his taste. Especially kimchi. And the problem was that he had to eat that kimchi to receive living expenses from his father.

“Do as you please. The choice is yours. You don’t have to eat it.”

Unlike Park Beom-soo, Park Hee-cheol’s expression was relaxed.

Of course, he knew it was childish to set conditions on eating. But he had no choice but to do so because he thought it would be difficult to cultivate a Korean taste in his son otherwise.

And no matter how long he lived abroad, Park Hee-cheol believed that as a Korean, he should at least be able to eat kimchi.

“Father, are you really going to be so petty?”

“Haha, really. I told you, you don’t have to eat it.”

“Ugh…”

Park Beom-soo reluctantly put a piece of kimchi in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

‘Huh?’

Park Beom-soo, who was chewing the kimchi against his will, tilted his head.

Until last night, he couldn’t stand the texture of the kimchi, and the spicy taste was so strong that he had to drink water several times to finish just one piece.

But today, the taste of the kimchi felt definitely different compared to yesterday.

“Father?”

“What is it now?”

“It’s strange.”

“There you go again. It’s not like it’s the first or second time. It’s been about a month now, so just eat quietly. Are you three or four years old? Do I have to hear the same thing every time?”

“No, that’s not it. The taste of the kimchi is different from yesterday. Until yesterday, the texture wasn’t good and it was hard to eat because of the fish sauce smell, but today…”

Park Beom-soo’s words grew longer. The conclusion was that the kimchi was edible, unlike yesterday. When Park Beom-soo finished speaking, Park Hee-cheol smiled and asked immediately.

“Haha, is that true?”

“Yes, I was definitely forcing myself to eat it until last night. But today, strangely, I don’t think the taste of kimchi is that strong.”

Park Beom-soo couldn’t help but be amazed as he thought about it. He couldn’t believe that his taste would change so much in just one day.

Crunch, crunch.

Park Beom-soo put another piece of kimchi in his mouth and started chewing. But as expected, his taste was definitely different from yesterday. Of course, it wasn’t that he had no aversion to it at all, but it wasn’t to the point where he had to cover his nose because of the fish sauce smell. At this point, he felt like he could eat more than three pieces.

“Haha, hahahaha…”

Park Beom-soo suddenly started laughing.

30 minutes later.

Park Beom-soo, who had finished washing the dishes, sat confidently in front of Park Hee-cheol.

“Father, now it’s your turn. For a month, I…”

“Here you go.”

Park Hee-cheol handed over an envelope before Park Beom-soo could finish speaking. It was the living expenses he had promised to give him if he ate kimchi for a month.

Park Beom-soo, who received the envelope, smiled gleefully like a child.

Park Hee-cheol, who was watching him, asked.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yes, I feel like I’ve gone back to the old days.”

“The old days?”

“Yes, I don’t know if you remember, Father, but it was when I was in the first grade of elementary school. I took a dictation test for the first time that day, and I got a perfect score. That day, you gave me a thousand won, saying I did a good job.”

Park Hee-cheol nodded.

Of course, he remembered. But the problem was that it was the beginning.

He was greedy. He wanted to raise his children better than others no matter what. So, he chose to send him to study in Japan as soon as he finished the first grade of elementary school.

But he realized it was a mistake too late. Even if he hadn’t adapted for the first few years, if he had brought him back right away, that young child wouldn’t have suffered in a foreign country.

Later, after a lot of time had passed, he felt like his heart was breaking when he realized that fact. So, from then on, he tried to solve everything with money to compensate him. At that time, he thought that was the only compensation he could give as a parent.

A bad move calls for another bad move.

That was the case with him. Because he tried to solve everything with money out of guilt, the thought that money was the best thing took root in his head at some point. In the end, the harm came back to Park Hee-cheol himself. Money was more important to him than his father.

Park Hee-cheol looked at Park Beom-soo and continued.

“I’m sorry. If only I could turn back time…”

“I was so happy back then. It wasn’t just the money, but my parents were so happy, so I worked harder…”

Park Beom-soo stopped talking and tilted his head back.

As time passed, the thing he regretted the most was when he got a perfect score for the first time. He thought that if he hadn’t gotten a perfect score back then, he wouldn’t have come to Japan, where he couldn’t even communicate, at such a young age.

Because of that, he had no choice but to spend a lot of time resenting his father.

But he didn’t realize that his thinking was wrong until a lot of time had passed.

He realized that sending him to Japan was not his father’s greed, but his father’s great love to give him the opportunity to learn in a wider world.

Too late to regret.

By the time he realized that fact, everything was already over.

Park Hee-cheol continued.

“It’s no use regretting it now, but I’m sorry.”

“No, Father. Don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault. I realized it after time passed. It was all because I was lacking. You just wanted me to do well no matter what…”

“Beom-soo!”

Before Park Beom-soo could finish speaking, Park Hee-cheol called his son’s name in a soft voice.

Then Park Beom-soo looked at Park Hee-cheol.

“Yes, Father.”

“No, I was too greedy. I thought it was for you back then, but looking back, it wasn’t for you, but for myself…”

“Father, don’t say that…”

“No, no. I was too foolish…”

“Father, that’s…”

The two were interrupting each other, blaming themselves. That’s how the two people’s conversation was repeated.

Then, at some point, Park Beom-soo called Park Hee-cheol.

“Father!”

“Huh? Uh…”

“Father, let’s do this!”

“Huh? Do what…”

Park Hee-cheol looked at him at Park Beom-soo’s firm voice.

But then, strange words came out of Park Beom-soo’s mouth.

“Mutual fault.”

“Mutual fault?”

“Yes, like you said, Father, you are at fault and I am also at fault, so let’s not blame each other. Instead, let’s admit our mistakes first and look back on them. Okay? Father?”

“……”

“I resented you at first, but after a lot of time passed, I realized that it wasn’t your fault, but that I was very lacking. You must have been upset with me too. But now we…”

Park Beom-soo’s expression was more serious than ever. His words continued for a long time after that. Park Hee-cheol, who was listening to him, closed his eyes tightly at some point.

That’s how the two people’s conversation continued, with one person continuing to talk and the other listening to him with his eyes closed. It was the first time in their lives that the two of them were having so much conversation.

How much time had passed?

The first to shed tears was Park Hee-cheol, who had his eyes closed. A stream of tears flowed sideways along the wrinkles from his closed eyes, and at some point, they started flowing straight down under his eyes.

Park Beom-soo, who was watching him, was also crying. At first, it seemed like he was just shedding tears, but at some point, he started crying with his mouth open.

“Sniff, sniff, waaa…”

His crying grew louder and louder. As his crying grew louder, Park Hee-cheol bit his lip even harder.

That’s how the two were breaking down the emotional rift that they hadn’t been able to resolve for 25 years.

***

About 30 minutes had passed.

The sound of crying in the room seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, and then Park Hee-cheol’s voice was heard first.

“Thank you.”

“I’m thankful too.”

“And you’ve had a lot of heartache so far. But can I ask you just one thing?”

“Yes, please do.”

Park Beom-soo looked at Park Hee-cheol and nodded.

Then Park Hee-cheol asked immediately.

“Since when?”

Park Hee-cheol was asking about the timing of Park Beom-soo’s change of heart. Park Beom-soo was always resenting him. But in the conversation a little while ago, he realized that wasn’t the case. So, he was asking when the change of heart occurred.

“What do you mean?”

“As far as I know…”

Park Hee-cheol began to explain the point of the question. When Park Hee-cheol’s explanation was over, Park Beom-soo immediately continued.

“That day.”

“That day?”

“Yes, April 27th. That was the day I called you first and hung up after the call, and then you called me back a little later, that day.”

“April 27th?”

April 27th was also a special day for Park Hee-cheol himself. That was the day when Ilsan [a planned satellite city of Seoul] was announced as a new city.

Of course, he remembered. As soon as the breaking news was over that day, he got up to go to Hyun-sung, but the phone rang. It was a call from his second son, Park Beom-soo.

At that moment, he naturally thought that he had seen the breaking news on TV and made the call. Even when he hung up, he thought that he had smelled the money and made the call. But he didn’t realize that wasn’t the case until after talking to his eldest son, Park Min-soo.

He felt strange. So, he called him back right away.

Park Hee-cheol asked again.

“Why that day?”

“Do you remember what you said to me that day?”

“Me? Hmm… I don’t know.”

“That day, you told me to just come back to Korea without asking me anything and without worrying about anything. Do you remember?”

Of course, he remembered. He knew something was wrong through his eldest son, so there was no need to ask why. So, he just told him to come back right away.

When Park Hee-cheol nodded, Park Beom-soo continued.

“Actually, that was the last call.”

“The last call?”

Park Hee-cheol suddenly felt his heart sink at the word ‘last’.

“You, don’t tell me…?”

“…… That’s right. That was the day before I went bankrupt.”

“Hey, you rascal. Then you should have said so…”

“Hehe.”

Before Park Hee-cheol could finish speaking, Park Beom-soo started laughing like a child. Then he immediately continued.

“I gained courage. I thought, ‘I have a father who I can always go back to.’ So, that day, I sold everything I could sell urgently and blocked the bankruptcy first. And I started to liquidate the business.”

“……”

“That day, I realized that all the reasons for my life’s failures were with me. Until then, I had only resented you. But I realized that it was my ugly behavior to find excuses. And then the past days looked new.”

“New?”

“Yes, the reason why I was sent to study abroad at a young age also looked different from what I had thought, and not only that…”

Park Beom-soo’s words continued for a long time again. Park Hee-cheol quietly began to listen to his words again this time. And finally, when his words were over, he asked immediately.

“So?”

“Yes?”

“So, what are you going to do in the future?”

“I’m going to start again. I made one mistake, but I won’t make two mistakes. And I learned a new fact while eating kimchi.”

Park Beom-soo smiled at the end of his words and immediately continued.

“My body is still Korean. To be honest, I thought I would never be able to eat kimchi in my life. But I adapted in just one month. If this continues, I might not be able to eat without kimchi in a few months.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, I’m surprised too. So, I want to learn other things besides food now.”

“Haha, is that so…”

Park Hee-cheol smiled, got up from his seat, went into the room, and brought something out.

Park Beom-soo asked immediately.

“Isn’t that a calendar?”

“Look at the back.”

Sharrrk [onomatopoeia for a ripping sound].

Park Beom-soo’s eyes widened as he turned the calendar over and checked the back. That’s because the back of the large calendar was densely filled with writing.

And at the top, it was written ‘National Education Charter’ [a declaration of educational goals and principles in South Korea].

Park Beom-soo asked again.

“Are you… going to write all of this?”

Park Hee-cheol shook his head slightly. Then he immediately continued.

“I’m going to memorize it.”