Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 6

A moment later.

Baaang!

A truck zoomed past Hyun-sung.

Dust filled the air. He waited for it to settle, though it felt like a long time, it was only a few seconds.

As the dust cleared, he could see his mother across the street, just as he remembered.

“Okay.”

There was no reason to hesitate.

Thud!

Hyun-sung immediately jumped into the road.

His mother was getting closer, looking at things to buy.

When he tried to call out to her, his throat tightened. Hyun-sung forced his mouth open.

“Mother!”

“Mother!”

He called out twice.

Then, he finally made eye contact with his mother.

“Oh? Hyun-sung, what are you doing here? I thought you went to Gangneung and wouldn’t be back for four days?”

It was a natural reaction for a mother, seeing her son who was supposed to be in Gangneung standing in front of her.

But Hyun-sung couldn’t hear anything else, only his mother’s voice…

Ten years ago, his mother had passed away in a nursing home. At first, his wife, Yoon Ji-soo, took care of her at home.

Then, Yoon Ji-soo also suffered from femoral head necrosis [a condition where the bone tissue in the hip dies due to lack of blood supply] and had artificial joint replacement surgery. At that time, his mother was also suffering from dementia.

After much deliberation, they had no choice but to place her in a nearby nursing home, where she passed away six months later.

That remained a lifelong regret.

The guilt of not being able to care for her at home until the end was deeply ingrained. His wife, Yoon Ji-soo, felt the same way.

That mother was a constant regret.

Step.

He took a step forward. His mother was one step closer.

Step, step.

Hyun-sung’s pace quickened.

“Mother!”

“What is this…”

Whack!

His mother didn’t finish her sentence. Hyun-sung hugged her instead.

His mother’s heart skipped a beat at Hyun-sung’s sudden action. He was usually a man of few words. What was going on?

Something must have happened. There was no other reason for him to act like this.

His mother asked, her voice hurried.

“Hyun-sung, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“Mother!”

No other words were needed.

Hyun-sung simply hugged his mother tightly, replacing words with that embrace.

It was then.

“Kim Hyun-sung, what are you doing?”

His father called out as he came out of the hardware store.

Hyun-sung released his mother and looked at his father.

“Father!”

A father he missed so much, even in his dreams, because he had passed away too early. The father he missed even more as he grew older, seeing himself becoming so similar to him.

It was a hot summer day.

He suddenly received a call that his father wasn’t well. By the time he rushed to the hospital, it was already too late.

That was how his father had left, so suddenly.

He had lived his whole life with the guilt of not being there when he died. That father was now standing right in front of him.

“Fath…er!”

Whack!

Hyun-sung hugged his father with all his might.

“Hey, Kim Hyun-sung. Get a grip, you rascal.”

“Father! I missed you so much. To meet you again like this…”

“This guy, are you sick or something? We saw each other this morning, didn’t we?”

“……!”

Hyun-sung simply burrowed into his father’s arms without a word.

What more words were needed?

Just being in his father’s arms was enough. In his previous life, he had never been in his father’s arms. It wasn’t that difficult, but still.

Hiccup, hiccup!

Hyun-sung’s shoulders trembled.

He didn’t even try to hide it. Hyun-sung was grateful for this moment, being able to shed tears, and hugged his father even tighter.

The father was taken aback by the warm sensation wetting his shoulder.

“This guy…?”

He had been a shy kid since he was young. From high school onwards, he spoke even less. He just thought it was because he was a boy.

But he was acting like this… what on earth was going on?

“……”

The father simply offered his shoulder instead of words.

Tap, tap.

The father gently patted Hyun-sung’s back.

“My son, what’s wrong? It’s okay, tell me.”

“No, Father. Nothing’s wrong. I just want to stay like this for a moment.”

“Well, this is something to see, you rascal.”

The father stroked Hyun-sung’s back a little more without a word.

It was a long time before Hyun-sung released his father. Then, he looked at his father and mother, smiling.

At that moment, the father said to the mother.

“Honey, give me some money. I need to pay here.”

The father had a shovel in his hand.

The mother reached into her pocket several times, then started rummaging through her shopping basket.

“Oh my? Look at my mind. I think I left my wallet at the restaurant after paying. I’ll be right back.”

With those words, the mother straightened her back. The father clicked his tongue as he looked at her.

“Tsk, tsk… what a scatterbrain.”

“It can happen, why are you making such a fuss…”

“It’s not the first time, that’s why I’m saying it. If you’re already this forgetful, what are you going to do later… Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

With those words, the father turned towards the road.

The mother winked at Hyun-sung as if she was used to it. But her smiling expression changed in an instant.

“What?”

Hyun-sung instinctively turned his head.

Flicker, flicker.

A car was rushing towards his father, flashing its high beams.

It was a fleeting moment.

“No!”

Hyun-sung shouted and threw himself forward.

Screech!

At the same time as Hyun-sung’s movement, the sound of brakes filled the air.

For a moment, everything was silent, as if time had stopped.

A moment later.

The mother was frantic.

“Honey! Hyun-sung… !”

People began to gather.

They clicked their tongues and sighed as Hyun-sung couldn’t get up from the floor.

“Oh my, what to do.”

“Oh my! He must be badly hurt.”

“By the way, who is that man?”

“He looks like his father…”

Hyun-sung was in too much pain to move. But he thought of his father.

‘Father…’

His mouth wouldn’t open. He had to speak…

‘Huh?’

At first, he couldn’t hear anything, but then he began to hear the murmuring of the people.

Then, his mother called out to them again.

“Honey! Hyun-sung!”

“Ugh…”

Hyun-sung reacted first. The mother called out even louder.

“Oh! Yes! Hyun-sung, are you coming to your senses?”

He heard his mother’s voice, as if she was about to lose her breath. Only then did Hyun-sung start to come to his senses.

As he became more aware, Hyun-sung felt something was wrong.

Father? Why was his father…? Clearly, the person who was supposed to have the accident was his mother…

But that wasn’t important now. His father’s safety came first.

“F, Father!”

“……”

There was no answer.

Then, shoulder pain rushed in. He seemed to have hurt himself falling, but he had no time to pay attention to that.

His father came first.

Hyun-sung released his father and looked at him.

His father was lying face down on the floor, still.

Flutter.

He could see his father’s shoulders trembling slightly.

“Father! Are you okay?”

“……”

“Father!”

“Ugh…”

The father’s voice was weak. The mother called out urgently.

“Honey! Hyun-sung’s father! Are you okay?”

“Oh…, how’s our Hyun-sung?”

As soon as he came to his senses, the father asked about Hyun-sung’s condition. The mother lifted Hyun-sung’s shoulder slightly and asked.

“Hyun-sung, are you okay? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Father, can you get up?”

The father barely sat up. Hyun-sung quickly checked his father’s condition, starting with his left leg.

In his previous life, his mother had injured her left leg. The target had changed from mother to father, but he checked just in case.

Fortunately, the father had no abnormalities other than a slight bruise.

The father and mother apologized to each other, saying it was their fault.

Hyun-sung’s eyes turned to his mother’s leg, worried that something might have happened. He remembered her suffering for the rest of her life after the accident.

Swish.

Hyun-sung wiped his burst lip and asked his mother.

“Mother, is your leg okay?”

“Me? Of course, I’m fine…”

The mother’s words were hesitant, and she looked apologetic.

He didn’t need an answer. Hyun-sung wanted to check his mother’s safety himself.

His mother was okay.

That was enough.

He looked at his father.

“Father too?”

“I’m sorry, son! I must have been out of my mind. I usually…”

The father’s words trailed off, full of apology.

That was enough.

He confirmed his father’s safety.

Hyun-sung lay down on the spot.

He could see the sky. Because it was summer and the days were long, the sky was clear.

It was his hometown sky. Perhaps because the buildings were low, the sky looked wider.

‘Huh?’

In the western sky, stars were already twinkling.

Hyun-sung, looking at the stars, closed his eyes slightly and muttered to himself.

“Did I change it…”

Fate had shifted slightly from his mother to his father, but his mother’s leg was fine, and so was his father’s.

From now on, he had one less worry about his mother, even when winter came.

That was enough.

A faint smile spread across Hyun-sung’s lips.

***

Four people came into the restaurant.

Fortunately, the accident was prevented.

But he couldn’t understand how the target of the accident had changed from his mother to his father.

It wasn’t simply that the time had changed, but the target of the accident itself had changed.

‘Why?’

Um…

He thought about it, but the doubt remained.

How could that change?

Was it not something to understand…

Well, how could Hyun-sung himself sitting in this seat be explained? The moment the word regression came out of his mouth, his previous life had already gone off course.

In the end, this problem is not a matter of asking, questioning, and understanding.

The problem is the future.

If it’s like this, wouldn’t it be impossible to know how it will change in the future?