Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 41

Lee Young-min was left alone in the hallway.

“What is going on…?”

It felt like a sudden downpour had swept through.

Watching Hyun-sung’s retreating figure, Lee Young-min felt bewildered, dumbfounded, and a bit empty.

It was as if his soul had been momentarily consumed.

– You shouldn’t have done that.

Hyun-sung’s last words lingered in his mind.

It was an evaluation of his actions. To put it precisely, he was being told he was wrong.

But he couldn’t argue.

He couldn’t even make excuses because Hyun-sung was right.

Friends.

They *were* friends… but hadn’t he just been a bystander all this time? Like Hyun-sung said, he had been pathetic, rushing around with a half-baked sense of duty, offering reports that lacked solutions.

Sigh!

Lee Young-min’s sigh stretched out long.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of the fifth period.

After that, all the classes ended without incident.

It was unexpected.

Kim Il-soo remained silent all day, for some reason.

His silence was actually more unsettling.

Everyone has expectations, whether good or bad.

But Kim Il-soo defied those expectations today. Well, maybe it was natural, considering he had been utterly humiliated in front of everyone.

When the sixth period ended, homeroom teacher Shin Min-ho came in.

It was time for the after-school meeting.

There were no special announcements.

Looking at times like these, school back then was quite mild. If it were these days, the school would already be noisy with “School Violence Committee” meetings and whatnot.

“That’s all!”

As Shin Min-ho finished his last comment, class president Lee Young-min immediately stood up.

“Attention, bow!”

“Thank you!”

The young students expressed their sense of liberation with loud voices.

But then, Shin Min-ho, who was about to leave, turned back.

“Jung-woo, can I see you for a moment!”

It wasn’t Shin Min-ho’s usual tone.

Seeing that, Hyun-sung chuckled. He was grateful that the teacher was showing some sincerity, even if it was just that much. It seemed that the look he had given him at the end wasn’t meaningless after all.

Hyun-sung was waiting for Lee Jung-woo.

Just then, someone approached Hyun-sung. It was class president Lee Young-min.

“Waiting for Jung-woo?”

“Yeah.”

“Hyun-sung!”

The way he called out his name didn’t sound good. Instead of answering, Hyun-sung looked at Lee Young-min.

Lee Young-min immediately continued.

“I’ve been thinking hard, and I realized what I’ve been doing all this time.”

“Are you saying that because of what I said during lunch?”

“Yeah, like you said, all I’ve been doing is snitching to the teacher. Running to him every time something happens.”

That was true.

But how could it be Lee Young-min’s fault as the class president? He was just running around trying his best, so there was no point in blaming him.

Honestly, Hyun-sung only thought that way because he had regressed [returned to an earlier stage of development or a previous state]. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been any different from Lee Young-min.

Besides, it was too much to expect Lee Young-min to make judgments on his own when the teacher wasn’t saying anything.

Looking back, it was his mistake.

At that age, that kind of behavior was perhaps natural.

Hyun-sung now realized his mistake.

Hyun-sung called out to Lee Young-min.

“Lee Young-min.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“It’s not your fault. I misspoke earlier. You were doing your best in your own way.”

“No, I think you’re right. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it.”

Lee Young-min tapped his head, looking regretful.

Then, Lee Young-min said in disbelief.

“But what’s even funnier is that I was acting up like that with the title, even though I couldn’t even do my job properly. The more I think about it, the more embarrassed I get.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not your fault. So don’t blame yourself anymore. It’s my mistake, man.”

“How much did the others laugh at me inside? All I did was snitch. And…”

Lee Young-min’s self-reproach continued for a while.

Then Hyun-sung had a thought.

*This could go on forever.*

He couldn’t keep having the same conversation with no conclusion.

Hyun-sung called out to Lee Young-min again.

“Lee Young-min!”

“What?”

“I’ll ask you again.”

“What?”

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Young-min and said.

“What about the future?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to do the same thing in the future?”

The important thing was the future.

The past?

Of course, it was important. There can’t be today without yesterday, so it goes without saying.

But Hyun-sung thought it wasn’t right to be held back by the past and not be able to move forward.

But suddenly, strange words came out of Lee Young-min’s mouth.

“Hey, I’m also human. I’ve been living without thinking until now, but I’ll never do that again. The teacher? I don’t trust that guy anymore.”

“Don’t trust him?”

What was that supposed to mean?

The atmosphere was strangely changing.

That wasn’t Hyun-sung’s intention. He just said that to end the conversation because he thought the two of them would keep repeating the same conversation.

Lee Young-min kept blaming himself, so he was going to acknowledge his mistake and conclude that he shouldn’t do that in the future.

He thought that would naturally end the conversation.

But suddenly, Lee Young-min started talking about the teacher.

「He says he doesn’t trust that guy.」

Somehow, he had become a despicable person who drove a wedge between Lee Young-min and teacher Shin Min-ho.

Ha.

Hyun-sung couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Then Lee Young-min said again.

“I’m not going to report anymore!”

Huh!

What’s wrong with this guy all of a sudden?

He says he’s not going to report?

Lee Young-min was rebelling as if he suddenly had a case of middle school syndrome [a phase of emotional and behavioral changes common in middle school students].

As things were flowing in a direction that was too different from his intention, Hyun-sung was now getting impatient.

“Hey, that’s not right.”

“He made me a fool, why would I do that? I won’t do it anymore! Never!”

Ah! He realized.

He had forgotten.

Lee Young-min’s hot temper.

Being pure was good, but if it went too far, it would become a terrible hot temper. It was too long ago, so it was definitely impossible to remember that.

But the important thing was that the situation was already in progress.

Hyun-sung looked into Lee Young-min’s eyes.

A glint in his eyes.

It was too late.

But if he left it like this, he wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath. He had to stop him no matter what.

“Young-min, …”

Before Hyun-sung could finish, Lee Young-min’s mouth opened and closed first.

“I’m going!”

What was that supposed to mean?

Even a mudfish wouldn’t do this much [a Korean idiom referring to someone who is slippery and hard to catch].

Stomp.

Lee Young-min was already moving.

He was dumbfounded, but he had to know his destination first. It didn’t seem like he was just going home.

Hyun-sung asked Lee Young-min’s back.

“Where are you going?”

“To the teacher!”

Huh!

He’s crazy.

Purity?

Cancel that. He really didn’t know he was such a stubborn jerk.

Hyun-sung urgently called out to Lee Young-min.

“Hey, hey Lee Young-min!”

“See you tomorrow.”

With those words, Lee Young-min strode towards the back door of the classroom.

He was like a dog chasing a chicken [acting rashly and single-mindedly].

After staring blankly for a while, Hyun-sung’s mouth slowly opened.

“Damn it, do whatever you want. I don’t know either.”

Come to think of it, he used to be really passionate when he was hooked on something. By the way, he always made a big fuss about going to Yonsei University [a prestigious university in South Korea], but I heard he couldn’t even go to a late university and had to retake the exam…

“You too…”

Hyun-sung shook his head from side to side.

A moment later, Lee Jung-woo returned to the classroom.

Hyun-sung immediately asked.

“Did you see Young-min?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“He was just going into the faculty office a little while ago.”

He didn’t think he would, but he really went to the teacher.

Tsk.

Hyun-sung had nothing to say.

As Hyun-sung stood there blankly, Lee Jung-woo called out to Hyun-sung.