Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 687

“What? An inspection?”

“Yes, it will only take a moment. Please cooperate.”

Hyeonseong spoke politely. Even though he suspected the man was a thief, it wasn’t proven yet, so he had to be careful.

“What? Cooperate? Are you messing with me?”

Kang Mansoo immediately shouted in informal language.

At the same time, he reached out to snatch the carrier Hyeonseong was holding.

However, his hand couldn’t reach the carrier because Hyeonseong knocked his hand aside.

Kang Mansoo shouted again,

“What are you doing?”

“I believe I clearly asked for your cooperation.”

Hyeonseong’s eyes sharpened. He immediately continued,

“Don’t make me repeat myself, open this carrier.”

“What?”

At the demand to open the carrier, Kang Mansoo looked at Hyeonseong as if he were looking at someone insane. Hyeonseong continued,

“Are you deaf? I’m telling you to open this carrier right now. If you open it and nothing comes out, I will take full responsibility.”

“Responsibility? How will you take responsibility?”

“Anything!”

Hyeonseong’s voice was full of force, indicating his confidence. He added,

“Anything you want. If you want money, I’ll give you money. If you want me to face the law, I’ll do that too. But!”

Hyeonseong paused, looked at Kang Mansoo, and continued,

“If a video comes out of this carrier, then you will have to take all the responsibility. So, open this carrier now. I’ll say it again, if there’s nothing inside, I’ll give you 100 million, no, 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD]. So open it now!”

“What? 1 billion? Are you kidding me?”

“Do you think I look like I’m kidding right now, Kang Mansoo?”

Hyeonseong deliberately called him by his name, curious to see how he would react.

The effect was immediate.

His eyes shook violently.

“H-How do you know my name?”

“Does the name matter in this situation? What’s important now is this carrier. What could possibly be inside this bag? If there’s nothing inside, you’ll earn 1 billion won. Now, open it.”

With a click, Hyeonseong pushed the carrier towards Kang Mansoo.

Holding the carrier, Kang Mansoo looked utterly lost and flustered.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke,

“What if I refuse?”

“Are you saying you refuse?”

“Yes, after being disrespected like this, do you think I’m crazy enough to do it here?”

“Even if I’m offering you 1 billion won?”

“Do you think I’m a child who would believe that?”

“So, you’re saying you don’t believe me? Then…”

Hyeonseong took out a check from his wallet and immediately held it out to Kang Mansoo.

“Here, is this enough?”

The check Hyeonseong presented was for 1 billion won. It was the money he was supposed to give to the construction businessman, Yoon Taeho, in the afternoon.

‘What is this bastard?’

Kang Mansoo was dumbfounded. He had only said that to get out of this situation, but he never expected a real 1 billion won check to appear.

Who was this guy who carried around a 1 billion won check in his wallet?

It was a natural reaction for Kang Mansoo, who didn’t know who Hyeonseong was.

After hesitating for a moment, Kang Mansoo spoke again,

“This joke is too much.”

From Kang Mansoo’s perspective, he had no choice. He had to get out of this situation somehow.

“A joke? Do you think I look like I’m joking?”

“If not a joke, then what?”

“I’m serious. If there’s nothing in this carrier, this 1 billion won is yours. You’ll be earning 1 billion won in one go. So, open the carrier now.”

“Stop it.”

Kang Mansoo ignored Hyeonseong’s words and tried to leave the store with the carrier. But he couldn’t. Hyeonseong blocked his path again.

Hyeonseong, blocking Kang Mansoo’s path, spoke,

“So, you’re really going to do this. Then I have no choice but to call the police.”

“The police?”

“Yes, I was trying to end this on my own, but since you’re not cooperating, I have no choice.”

“On what grounds are you calling the police?”

Kang Mansoo’s voice sharpened.

He realized the seriousness of the situation.

Hyeonseong’s reply was short.

“Theft.”

“Theft?”

“Yes, video theft. Not just one or two, but 30 of them.”

“What? 30?”

Kang Mansoo couldn’t help but be surprised.

He had been there for over two hours and had taken exactly 30 videos.

The problem was, how did this guy know the exact number?

‘What to do?’

Kang Mansoo was going crazy. If the police were called here, it would all be over.

There was no way out. The evidence was right there in the carrier.

‘I have to prevent the police from coming at all costs.’

At that moment,

Hyeonseong took out his phone and started making a call.

“Hello, police station? I’m here at…”

Whoosh!

Kang Mansoo flew like an arrow and snatched the phone from Hyeonseong, who was on the call.

Hyeonseong was dumbfounded. No matter how urgent it was, he never expected him to snatch the phone while he was talking.

“What are you doing?”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Kang Mansoo grabbed Hyeonseong’s hand and dragged him to the corner of the store.

Hyeonseong, being dragged, was smiling. He clearly understood the situation.

Arriving at the corner of the store, Kang Mansoo suddenly grabbed Hyeonseong’s hand and said,

“Sir, I think I made a mistake without realizing it.”

He was now using polite language, unlike before.

“A mistake?”

“It’s a bit difficult to say this, but I have kleptomania [a recurrent urge to steal, typically without any economic motive].”

In his past life, he was like this too. At first, he would make excuses with kleptomania, and after a while, he would kneel and beg.

It worked in his past life. Hyeonseong had forgiven him after receiving a promise that he would never do it again.

But now, he had no intention of doing so.

He knew his evil intentions after experiencing the incident with Lee Sanghyuk.

He was a man who ignored the fact that the sewer would overflow when it rained heavily for over a year.

An eye for an eye, he had no desire to forgive such a selfish man.

“Did you just say kleptomania?”

“Yes, I have a habit of stealing things like a habit, even if I don’t need them.”

“Are you even saying that right now?”

“I can’t control it as I please, so…”

Thud!

Kang Mansoo immediately knelt. It was the same progression as in his past life. He would probably put his hands together and beg.

As expected,

Kang Mansoo put his hands together and started begging.

“Sir, I was wrong. If you forgive me this once, I will make sure this never happens again.”

Smirk.

Hyeonseong looked at him with amusement. Then he continued,

“I’ll give you money.”

“Did you just say money?”

“Yes, I stole something, so I will pay the corresponding price.”

“Okay, how much are you going to give me?”

It was a different progression from his past life. There was no talk of money back then. He didn’t know why his behavior had changed, but Hyeonseong’s curiosity was piqued by the different progression from his past life.

“I’ll give you one million won [approximately $750 USD].”

“Are you kidding me? You stole someone else’s precious child and you’re offering one million won? What’s wrong with you?”

“Then two million won [approximately $1500 USD].”

“Let’s stop. Do you remember how much I said I would give you earlier? I clearly said 1 billion won, but all you’re talking about is two million? I don’t need that kind of money, so just go to jail. Someone like you needs to eat some prison food and come to your senses.”

With those words, Hyeonseong started making a call again.

“Hello, is this the police station? I’m here at Cinema Heaven, a video store in Bupyeong…”

At that moment,

Kang Mansoo lunged at Hyeonseong again to snatch his phone. It was his attempt to prevent the report at all costs.

But Hyeonseong didn’t stand still this time.

Thwack!

He punched him in the solar plexus.

Ugh!

Kang Mansoo rolled on the floor with a short groan. He couldn’t breathe properly and gasped for air.

Click.

Hyeonseong, having finished reporting, hung up the phone.

Hyeonseong spoke quietly to Kang Mansoo, who was lying on the floor.

“You shouldn’t do that. I told you that the sewer overflows when it rains, but you ignored it? If you rented it out, you should at least do your duty as a landlord.”

“Ugh…”

“Have you ever thought about how much that young child suffered in that smelly place? You shouldn’t do that.”

“…”

“I don’t know how many days you’ll live in jail, but reflect on yourself while you’re in there. At least live as a human being while you’re alive.”

It was then.

Two police officers entered the store.

One of them asked Hyeonseong,

“Theft?”

“Yes, video theft. The items are in this bag.”

Hyeonseong pointed to the carrier on one side. The police officer then said to Kang Mansoo,

“Whose bag is this?”

“It’s mine.”

“Did you really steal the videotapes?”

“…”

Kang Mansoo lowered his head without saying anything. The police officer spoke again,

“Open the bag.”

“…”

After hesitating for a moment, Kang Mansoo started to open the bag.

Ziiip!

Opening the lock and the bag, it was full of videotapes.

“Did you steal all of this?”

Kang Mansoo nodded at the police officer’s question. The police officer immediately took out handcuffs and put them on his hands, saying,

“You are under arrest for being caught in the act. You have the right to remain silent…”

The police officer read the Miranda rights and arrested Kang Mansoo. Then he said to Hyeonseong,

“Sir, please come to the police station to cooperate with the statement.”

“Yes, I understand. I have to go anyway to write the complaint. I’ll go in my car.”

“Yes, I understand. Come to the Bupyeong Police Station.”

The police officer took Kang Mansoo and the carrier, which was the evidence, and left the video store.

Then the employee, Kim Minki, immediately asked,

“What happened, sir?”

“That guy was the culprit. You know the list of videos that have disappeared?”

“Yes, I have it.”

“Bring it.”

Hyeonseong took the video list that Kim Minki brought and headed to the Bupyeong Police Station.

Several hours later,

When Hyeonseong returned to the store, Kim Minki immediately asked,

“How did it go?”

“Don’t even ask. All the videos that had disappeared were in that bastard’s house.”

As soon as he arrived at the police station, the first thing he did was go to Kang Mansoo’s house with two police officers to check if there were any more stolen items.

Sure enough, there were hundreds of videos piled up in Kang Mansoo’s house. Not only were there items from Hyeonseong’s store, but also items from other video stores in Bupyeong.

In the end, he had been going around almost every store in Bupyeong doing that.

“Not only ours but also other video stores’ items were all there. When I added them all up, there were 350 of them.”

“Wow! That guy is a complete thief.”

“I didn’t think it would be that much at first, but I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it. He even installed a video display case on one wall.”

The moment he saw the video display case installed on one wall, he was dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand how he could steal videos from other people’s stores and even think of installing a display case.

“Do you know what that guy’s hobby is?”

“Could it be…?”

“It’s video collecting. I was so dumbfounded…”

“So what’s going to happen to him now?”

“He has to pay the price for his sins. I said I would never settle. Instead, I demanded severe punishment. That kind of inhuman bastard needs to eat some prison food in jail.”

The moment the corner of Hyeonseong’s mouth went up.