Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 673

676

***

“Sujeong-ah, Sujeong-ah!”

Lee Se-i searched the village, calling out her daughter’s name until she was hoarse. But she couldn’t find a trace of her daughter anywhere.

She had been wandering around the village for an hour now.

Where on earth could she have gone?

“Hoo.”

Lee Se-i took a deep breath and stepped out of the bakery to head in the opposite direction.

Just then.

“What happened?”

Hyeonseong rushed into the store, asking.

“No, why are you here, Manager? Didn’t you say you were in Seoul?”

“I just turned back midway. I couldn’t stay still after hearing that Sujeong went missing. Anyway, where is Sujeong?”

“She’s gone. I can’t find her no matter how much I look.”

Tears were about to spill from Lee Se-i’s eyes.

How could she not be? Her precious child had disappeared.

Hyeonseong asked again.

“Did you report it to the police?”

“The police?”

“Yes, shouldn’t you file a missing person report first?”

“Ah, I didn’t even think of that. I was just too busy looking around…”

It’s common for people to not think straight when they’re panicking. She must have been the same. That’s why she hadn’t even thought of reporting it, which was the most basic thing to do.

“Let’s go to the police station first. Let’s report it and then look for Sujeong again.”

“Yes, okay.”

Only then did Lee Se-i head to the police station with Hyeonseong.

Fortunately, the police station was located just 10 minutes away.

Soon after.

Just as the two arrived in front of the police station.

*Beep beep!*

Lee Se-i’s phone rang.

“Manager, just a moment. Let me take this call.”

Lee Se-i answered the phone right away.

Hyeonseong stood there for a moment, watching Lee Se-i answer the phone.

At that moment, Lee Se-i’s expression changed.

The color drained from her face as she was on the phone.

Hyeonseong knew immediately. Something had happened.

Then, Lee Se-i put down the phone she was holding. The call had ended.

“What is it? What’s wrong? What kind of call made you so surprised?”

Hyeonseong fired off questions in a hurry.

“Our Sujeong…”

“Sujeong, what about her?”

“I think… I think our Sujeong… has been kidnapped.”

Lee Se-i couldn’t even speak properly. Her eyes looked like she was out of her mind.

“What was that call about just now?”

“A man called and said… he has our Sujeong. But… he told me not to even think about reporting it to the police. If I do, I might never see Sujeong again. What should I do about our Sujeong? …Sob.”

Lee Se-i finally broke down in tears as she barely managed to speak.

Hyeonseong was just as dumbfounded.

He never even imagined that she would be kidnapped. He had only seen it on TV news; he never dreamed that something like this would happen to him directly.

“Did he say anything else?”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, if he kidnapped her, he must have mentioned some conditions, right? Like asking for money…”

That’s the basic and obvious thing. The fact that he kidnapped her and made a call means he has some kind of purpose.

Lee Se-i shook her head and said.

“No, he didn’t say anything else. He just told me to wait quietly in the bakery…”

“Wait a minute!”

Hyeonseong interrupted Lee Se-i. Then he immediately asked again.

“Did you just say the bakery?”

“Yes, he definitely said that. He said to wait quietly in the bakery and he would call again.”

“That means he knows that Sujeong is your daughter, right?”

“Come to think of it…”

Lee Se-i stopped talking and didn’t say anything, as if she was thinking about something. It was after some time that she opened her mouth again.

“But his voice…”

“What about his voice?”

“I was too out of it earlier to notice, but now that I think about it, it sounds like a voice I’ve heard somewhere before. It’s not unfamiliar.”

“Is that true?”

Hyeonseong’s eyes sparkled. If she could just figure out who the voice belonged to, finding Yoon Sujeong would be a matter of time, so he couldn’t help but be intrigued by her words.

“Yes, but I don’t know who it is yet. It’s just a voice that I think I’ve heard somewhere…”

“Think carefully. This is a very important matter.”

“It sounded like he had slightly distorted his voice.”

“Distorted?”

“Yes, it felt a little awkward somewhere. But it still felt familiar. If I had talked to him a little longer, I might have been able to figure it out, but he only said what he had to say and hung up quickly…”

Lee Se-i gripped the phone in her hand as if she was disappointed. Hyeonseong watched her and seemed to be thinking for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“Maybe, just maybe, Sujeong already knew that guy’s face.”

“Our Sujeong?”

“Yes, of course, this is just my opinion, but he probably didn’t take her away by force in broad daylight, especially on a main street.”

“Are you saying that our Sujeong went with him willingly?”

“That’s what I think. In the end, both you and Sujeong probably know that guy. In other words, it’s someone you know.”

The time when he parted ways with Yoon Sujeong was 2 PM. Even when he watched the child’s back view for the last time, there were several people walking around. Hyeonseong judged that a stranger wouldn’t have taken her away by force in that situation.

“So, you’re saying that someone we know lured our Sujeong away?”

“That’s what I think. No matter how I think about it, he wouldn’t have taken a 7-year-old child away by force in broad daylight, especially on a main street where people are coming and going.”

“I guess so…”

Lee Se-i nodded slowly as if she agreed. Then she turned around and continued.

“I don’t think I can report it after all.”

“Are you just going back?”

“He said I would never see her again if I reported it.”

“Still…”

Hyeonseong was about to say more but stopped. If he were in her shoes, he wouldn’t be able to report it after receiving such a call.

The two had no choice but to turn their backs on the police station and return to the bakery.

***

Hyeonseong and Lee Se-i were just staring at the phone on the table.

It had already been two hours. After returning from the police station, the two couldn’t do anything but sit there.

It felt like their hearts were burning up.

“Why isn’t he calling?”

Eventually, it was Hyeonseong who broke the silence first.

“I know, right? It’s already been two hours…”

She was restless and didn’t know what to do.

Hyeonseong was just as anxious. It was Yoon Sujeong, no less. Because he felt so special about her, this situation was too difficult for Hyeonseong. But the problem was that there was nothing he could do in this situation.

All he could do was wait for the phone to ring.

“I’ll get that bastard if he gets caught!”

A curse came out of Hyeonseong’s mouth. Then he clenched his fist and shook it.

Just then.

*Beep beep!*

Lee Se-i’s phone rang.

The two looked at each other as if they had made a promise.

Lee Se-i grabbed the phone. Her hands were trembling.

Hyeonseong nodded at her. Then she immediately answered the phone.

“Hello.”

-Did you report it?

Lee Se-i tilted her head slightly after hearing the voice. The reason was that the voice was different from when they had talked earlier. It seemed like he had distorted it even more than before.

“No, I didn’t. Is our Sujeong okay?”

-She’s fine, so don’t worry.

“Can I at least hear Sujeong’s voice…”

-She’s sleeping.

“Sleeping?”

Lee Se-i felt her heart sink at the word ‘sleeping’. Even if it was someone she knew, she couldn’t understand how she could be sleeping in this situation.

‘Could it be?’

Something flashed through her mind at that moment.

“Did you give her sleeping pills?”

-Stop asking questions. From now on, just do as I say. Then Sujeong will be safe. I’ll give you an hour. Prepare ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD] within an hour.”

“Ten million won?”

-If I have to say the same thing twice, you’ll regret it.

“Yes? Ah, yes, I understand. I’ll prepare ten million won right away within an hour. Just our Sujeong…”

-One hour!

*Click.*

The call ended before Lee Se-i could finish speaking. Then Hyeonseong immediately asked.

“Did he just say ten million won?”

“Yes, he said to prepare ten million won within an hour.”

Hyeonseong immediately tilted his head. The reason was that the amount the other party wanted was too small.

He had expected at least 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD]. Of course, he had also considered more than that.

Ten million won!

Of course, it’s not a small amount. But it’s not that much to ask for after kidnapping someone.

Why ten million won of all things?

Hyeonseong pondered for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I don’t know who it is, but I don’t think his goal is money.”

“I think so too. If money was the goal, he wouldn’t have asked for only ten million won.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Then what is his goal right now?”

“I don’t know, if it’s not money…”

The two didn’t say anything for a while, as if they were pondering.

After a while.

Hyeonseong spoke first.

“I don’t know who that guy is, but it seems like he needs ten million won right now.”

“So, that’s why he only asked for ten million won?”

“Yes, that’s right. He’s just going to use as much as he needs. Of course, that guy probably knows you or Sujeong.”

“Someone who knows us?”

“Yes, that’s right. That guy probably targeted you in a situation where he needed money right away. He must have thought that you could get that amount right away.”

“Who on earth… Oh, I can’t be doing this.”

Lee Se-i jumped up from her seat and tried to leave the store. Then Hyeonseong immediately asked.

“Where are you going?”

“To the bank. I have to go get the money.”

“It’s already late. Look at the clock.”

The clock on the wall was already past six o’clock.

“What should I do?”

Lee Se-i looked at Hyeonseong with a flustered expression. Then Hyeonseong immediately pushed his bag in front of her.

“I prepared it in advance. Just in case. It’s 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD]. You can just take ten million won from this.”

On the way back from the police station, Hyeonseong had stopped by the office to prepare the money. He thought that the kidnapper was aiming for money anyway.

“Oh my! Manager!”

Lee Se-i looked at Hyeonseong with an expression as if she had met a savior. Then she immediately continued.

“You’re really something, Manager. Then I’ll just borrow ten million won for now.”

Lee Se-i took the money out of the bag and started wrapping it in newspaper.

At that time.

Bupyeong St. Mary’s Hospital.

Lee Sang-hyeok, who came out of the public telephone booth, headed to the 5th floor ward. His steps seemed heavy for some reason.

‘I’m sorry, Sujeong. Just bear with it a little longer. I’ll pay for my sins later.’

Lee Sang-hyeok got off the elevator and entered room 503.

“Where have you been?”

As Lee Sang-hyeok entered the ward, his grandmother, Ahn Soon-rye, asked in a weak voice. Then Lee Sang-hyeok said in a deliberately bright voice.

“I was just talking to someone for a while. Grandma, you’ll be able to have surgery tomorrow.”

“Surgery?”

“Yeah, the manager I used to work for said he would lend me the money. If I get that money, I can pay the overdue hospital bills and have surgery tomorrow. So, even if it hurts, just bear with it a little longer. Okay?”

He had received a call from the hospital in the morning. If he didn’t pay the overdue hospital bills by 10 AM tomorrow, there would be no more treatment, and at the same time, they would have no choice but to forcibly discharge her.

It was his grandmother who raised him, not someone else.

When he was young, he thought she was his mother.

It was when he was in the third grade of elementary school that his grandmother revealed that she was not his mother.

At first, he was so surprised that he couldn’t eat properly for days.

But as time went by, he realized that it didn’t matter.

Whether she was his grandmother or his mother, the person who raised him was the same person. Once he realized that, it was no longer a problem.

Although they weren’t well-off, he lived happily because his grandmother was always by his side.

Then, a year ago, his grandmother was hospitalized.

It was lung cancer.

The money he had saved up had run out three months ago. After that, he borrowed money from people he knew and endured for two more months.

But that was the limit.

Eventually, he started falling behind on hospital bills a month ago.

Then, this morning, he received a final notice from the hospital.

They said they couldn’t do it anymore.

But he couldn’t give up. So, the last method he chose was to use the manager he used to work for.

Of course, he knows that the method is wrong.

But there is no other way.

He’ll pay for his sins later. First, it’s his grandmother first. He has never thought about a world without his grandmother.

Just once, just this once…….

“You don’t have to go that far…….”

“No, Grandma. If you get treatment this time, you’ll get a lot better. So, just bear with it a little longer.”

Lee Sang-hyeok looked at his watch.

It was 7 o’clock, 10 minutes ago.

“Grandma, I’ll be back for a while.”

“Okay, don’t work too hard because of this old woman…….”

“Don’t say that, Grandma. I can’t live without you.”

Lee Sang-hyeok left the ward after saying those words and headed back to the public telephone booth.