Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 470

472

Clatter!

Baek Du-sun, after leaving Hyun-sung’s house, rushed to the public phone booth in front of the restaurant.

He had thought it would take ten years to bring his mother here, but now it seemed he could bring her in as little as a year, or two at the latest.

While away from home, his biggest worry had always been his mother, who lived alone. Because she had a disability and used a wheelchair, his concern was even greater.

So, his plan was to earn money quickly, build a house here, and bring his mother to live with him. He had thought that would take about ten years.

But a little while ago, he heard something unimaginable from Hyun-sung.

Construction would start this fall. That meant building a wild vegetable factory, and to operate the factory, they would need wild vegetables, so they would create a farm to grow them.

Moreover, they would build separate houses for the employees to live in.

Of course, there were conditions. After moving in, they would cover the construction cost over 30 years.

It was literally the construction cost. Excluding the land price, only the construction cost. That meant they wouldn’t be profiting from the employees by selling them houses.

If that were the case, there would be no problem bringing his mother here. Furthermore, they would provide opportunities for disabled people to work at the factory.

There couldn’t be better conditions than this. Hyun-sung, a private individual, was doing something even the government couldn’t do.

The person who would be happiest to hear this news was none other than his mother.

That’s why Baek Du-sun rushed to the public phone booth.

Di-di-di-dick!

Baek Du-sun hurriedly put in the coins and dialed the phone number. After two rings, his mother answered the phone.

-Hello?

“Mom!”

-Du-sun? Is that you, Du-sun?

Lee Soo-jin, Baek Du-sun’s mother, couldn’t help but be surprised. It was just a little past 7:30 AM.

In fact, when the phone rang a little while ago, she never imagined it would be a call from her son.

He had called occasionally before, but he had never called this early in the morning.

“Yes, Mom. It’s me, Du-sun.”

-What’s wrong? Did something happen?

“It’s done.”

-Done? What’s done?

“I can live with Mom now.”

-What are you talking about? What do you mean you can live with me? Explain slowly so I can understand.

“Mom, listen carefully to what I’m about to say. A little while ago, our boss……”

Baek Du-sun began to explain to his mother, Lee Soo-jin, what he had discussed with Hyun-sung. As Baek Du-sun continued his explanation, Lee Soo-jin listened intently, barely breathing.

And finally, when Baek Du-sun finished his explanation, Lee Soo-jin immediately asked in a trembling voice.

-Is that…… real?

“Yes, Mom. So, please bear with it a little longer.”

-No, how can such a thing happen? They’re building a house and giving someone like me a job?

“Yes, Mom. So, from now on, don’t worry about anything, eat well, and……”

Baek Du-sun’s words continued at length.

At that moment, Lee Soo-jin was already covering her mouth. Otherwise, her sobbing would be heard by her son over the receiver.

After a while.

Baek Du-sun, noticing something was wrong, urgently called out to Lee Soo-jin.

“Mom!”

-…… Yes, yes, okay.

“Maybe…… No, it’s nothing.”

Baek Du-sun stopped himself from saying something else. From the faint voice he could hear over the receiver, he could tell what situation his mother was in.

After exchanging a few simple greetings, Baek Du-sun hung up the phone, his eyes already red and bloodshot.

His gaze turned to the three-story building next to the restaurant. It was the place where he had eaten breakfast with Hyun-sung a little while ago.

“Thank you, Hyun-sung.”

With those words, Baek Du-sun headed towards the dormitory.

***

11 AM.

Two men in suits were pacing back and forth in front of the restaurant, rubbing their hands nervously.

Those two men were none other than the owner, Hyun-sung, and the general manager, Han Min-gu.

Han Min-gu spoke first.

“It seems like you’re nervous too, Mr. President.”

“Haha, you can say that again. I’m only human. To be honest, I’m very nervous.”

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t just any day, but the first Sunday after starting the business with all the conditions perfectly in place, so he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

In any case, today’s performance would be the most important indicator for operating the restaurant in the future.

A quick glance.

Hyun-sung checked his wristwatch.

It was then.

“Mr. President!”

Han Min-gu’s voice sounded urgent. At the same time, his finger was pointing in one direction. It was towards the restaurant entrance.

“They’re finally here!”

“Yes, I’ve confirmed it too.”

A car was entering the restaurant entrance.

“Mr. President, another one is coming!”

Han Min-gu’s excited voice grew louder. As he said, starting with the first car, cars were entering one after another.

-Parking lot, cars are coming in soon. Stand by!

Han Min-gu turned on the walkie-talkie he was holding and spoke in a tense voice.

The tool for communication between employees here was the walkie-talkie.

All employees carried walkie-talkies, so when one person spoke, it was communicated to all employees.

-Basement 1 parking lot, stand by!

A reply was heard immediately from the basement 1 parking lot.

From the voice of the employee in charge, it was clear that he was also nervous.

That was probably because of the special significance of today.

Hyun-sung checked his watch again.

The time was already pointing to 11:30 AM.

Hyun-sung’s gaze, after checking the time, turned towards the entrance of the village.

Han Min-gu immediately asked.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

“Why? Does it look like it?”

“Yes, you’ve been checking the time since a while ago, so it seems like you’re waiting for someone.”

“It’s not a person, it’s a vehicle.”

“Yes? A vehicle?”

Han Min-gu looked at Hyun-sung as if curious about the reason.

Hyun-sung’s reply followed immediately.

“It’s a bus.”

“A bus, you mean……”

“Yes, I’m waiting for a tour bus. A car has a capacity of 4 or 5 people at most, but a bus has a minimum of 40 people, right?”

The place Hyun-sung had been visiting whenever he had time for the past year was travel agencies. He had visited Gangneung, Wonju, Chuncheon, and even the Seoul metropolitan area.

The reason was obvious.

It was a plan to attract group customers. To operate the restaurant in the future, individual customers were important, but he knew very well that group customers were just as important.

It was then.

Chik-chik.

The parking attendant’s voice flowed from the walkie-talkie.

-Basement 1 parking lot, 5 cars entering.

-Basement 1, Zone 1, stand by.

The cars would naturally be guided to Zone 1 in the basement 1 parking lot by the parking staff. All communication between employees was done in this way.

After a while.

Again, a voice flowed from the walkie-talkie.

-10 customers, 1st floor Korean food.

-1st floor, stand by.

It was communication between the employee guarding the elevator entrance and the manager in charge of the 1st floor. That way, the Korean food corner on the 1st floor would be ready to welcome the customers.

Hyun-sung checked his watch again.

At that very moment.

Chik-chik!

Finally, the voice Hyun-sung had been waiting for so eagerly was heard from the walkie-talkie.

-2 buses arrived at the village entrance.

The moment he heard those words, Hyun-sung’s gaze automatically turned towards the village entrance. The tour buses he had been waiting for so eagerly were finally entering the village entrance.

Hyun-sung immediately turned on the walkie-talkie.

-Bus, please confirm the region.

-It’s Seoul.

Snap.

Hyun-sung snapped his thumb and middle finger. It was the moment that proved that his efforts over the past year had not been in vain.

Hyun-sung turned on the walkie-talkie again and said.

-4th floor manager, three people will be going up soon. Please prepare.

-Yes, understood. 4th floor reception complete.

The two bus drivers and one guide would be guided to the 4th floor. It was a service provided by the restaurant. Of course, the meals were free.

-2 buses arrived at the ground parking lot.

Hyun-sung could also see the large tour buses parking in the ground parking lot.

Han Min-gu, who was next to him, immediately asked.

“How many people are on board?”

“Wouldn’t there be at least 40 people on each bus?”

“It’s definitely comparable to a car. You’re amazing, Mr. President. How did you even think of advertising to travel agencies? You’re really amazing.”

It was then.

Chik-chik!

-50 people per bus, 100 people disembarking. Including the drivers and guide, a total of 103 people.

As soon as Han Min-gu heard that sound from the walkie-talkie, he looked at Hyun-sung and immediately opened his mouth.

“This is what you were aiming for, Mr. President, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s definitely worth a hundred. I’m glad.”

He had expected it to some extent, but seeing over 100 people walking towards the restaurant, Hyun-sung couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Scribble, scribble.

At that moment, Han Min-gu began to write something in his notebook.

Hyun-sung immediately asked.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a separate note of the tour buses. It’s a hard-earned achievement for you, Mr. President, so we can’t just use it once and throw it away, can we? I’ll take special care of it from now on.”

“You’re always on the mark. That’s why I enjoy working with you, General Manager.”

Hyun-sung smiled as he looked at Han Min-gu.

If he had to give instructions one by one, it would be tiring for both the person giving the instructions and the person receiving them. But in Han Min-gu’s case, there was no need for that, so Hyun-sung smiled happily.

“Welcome.”

After warmly greeting the general customers, Hyun-sung approached the bus drivers who were walking at the very back and greeted them.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. I’ll take you to the 4th floor.”

“The 4th floor?”

“Yes, if you go up to the 4th floor, everything will be ready. Please enjoy your meal comfortably……”

Hyun-sung continued to explain kindly. After Hyun-sung’s explanation, one of the bus drivers looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Are you perhaps CEO Kim Hyun-sung?”

“Oh? Do you know my name?”

“Don’t even mention it. Do you know how much our travel agency’s CEO praised you?”

“Yes? Me?”

Hyun-sung couldn’t easily understand. All he had done was visit them for the restaurant’s business. But to hear that he had been praised, he naturally couldn’t understand.

“He said the young CEO is amazing. He said you’re the first person he’s seen come to a travel agency for restaurant 영업 [business development/sales]. But after coming here, I think I know why.”

“Yes? The reason?”

“The scale. We go all over the country, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a big restaurant. Anyway, it’s amazing for someone so young. And you even take care of our drivers like this. To be honest, there are hardly any places that take care of us when we go to restaurants. Anyway, we’re just grateful that you treat us so well. I hope we can come back again next time. To think I’d be eating 회 [raw fish dish] here…… Haha.”

The bus driver laughed loudly, seemingly in a good mood as he moved his feet.

Hyun-sung was just grateful to them. Of course, the purpose was 영업, but that wasn’t everything.

They were also the heads of their households and one of the professions that suffered from early mornings to late nights. So, he had planned it with the hope that they would at least have a proper meal.

It was a kind of consolation. He already knew what the weight of the head of a household was like.

Chik-chik!

The voice started flowing from the walkie-talkie again. But this time, the tone of the voice was definitely different from before.

-Another bus arrived at the village entrance. But I can’t tell how many there are.

-What do you mean?

Han Min-gu immediately asked.

At that moment, Hyun-sung’s gaze was already directed towards the village entrance. Hyun-sung’s eyes widened.

Then, the voice was heard again from the walkie-talkie.

-I can’t see the end of the buses.

Hyun-sung couldn’t believe it even though he was seeing it with his own eyes. It was definitely a bus, but he couldn’t see the end of it.

Gulp!

Hyun-sung swallowed dryly without realizing it.