Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 70

“Let’s do that.”

Clink.

The two men’s glasses lightly touched in the air.

Perhaps because their thoughts differed, not much conversation was heard from them afterward.

***

The next day.

Hyun-sung left home early. He had two places to stop by on his way to school.

The first of which was where he had just arrived.

“Indeed!”

Park Hee-cheol’s eye for locations was excellent. This was the place he had said was his dream to build a house and live in during his old age.

The fields visible in the distance and the river running through the middle.

Because of the high elevation, the scenery elicited admiration the more one looked at it.

Especially since the farmland hadn’t been reorganized yet, it retained its old form in a winding shape.

But even this sight would disappear in a few years.

As the national highway widened to four lanes and was paved, many changes would occur. It was probably about two years after the Seoul Olympics ended, so at most, there were less than five years left.

As the farmland was reorganized neatly like a checkerboard, the fields would completely transform into rice paddies.

Among these, the biggest change would be right here where Hyun-sung was standing.

A garden restaurant.

At one time, it spread like a trend, and a restaurant of enormous size would be built right here.

Of course, at that time, Park Hee-cheol had died, and his children sold this place to outsiders, which led to that development.

Later, he heard that it was sold cheaper than the market price.

The reason was simple: division of property among siblings.

“Hmm……”

But this time, that wouldn’t happen.

Because the owner of this land was now clearly Hyun-sung.

Hyun-sung moved his feet to the edge of the hill.

“As expected, the entrance is……”

Too steep.

It had bothered him since the first time he came here with Park Hee-cheol. Back then, he had no interest, but now it was different.

In the end, the conclusion was that he would have to buy the surrounding land to make the road to the center more gradual.

That was a problem to think about later.

Swish.

Hyun-sung turned his gaze to the back this time.

A low hill came into view.

Not too high, it seemed like a perfect mountain to take a walk around after a meal.

A Dulle-gil trail [a scenic walking trail], which would become popular in the future.

If well-maintained, it seemed like it could take proper shape.

“Hmm……”

It was a place that stirred his greed.

Hyun-sung looked all around.

“It’s quite wide……”

Including the mountain, the area of the surrounding land was quite large. Roughly estimating, it seemed to be about 30,000 pyeong [approximately 24.7 acres].

“30,000 pyeong, that’s not easy.”

Even with a rough calculation, at least 70 to 80 million won [approximately $60,000 to $70,000 USD] would be needed as a base. That price was only possible before development. Once the road expansion started two years after the Olympics, the land price would inevitably rise.

At least five times, or even more than ten times, was possible.

If that was the case, the sooner he bought this area, the better. At the latest, he shouldn’t exceed three years from now.

In his past life, he didn’t know how, but by the time development started, outsiders had already bought up all this land.

Tsk.

Hyun-sung unconsciously licked his lips.

In the end, it all came down to money. If he couldn’t make that money within the next three years, all the land around here would be taken over by outsiders.

If that happened, this hometown land would once again be reduced to a means of making money for outsiders, just like in his past life.

“That can’t happen!”

He couldn’t repeat the same mistake.

If so, the method was…….

“Hmm……, that’s it!”

No matter how he thought about it, there was only one way.

That’s why he had to succeed with the ramen shop this time. However, even if the ramen shop became a huge hit, it would be impossible to raise that money within three years.

What Hyun-sung was aiming for was, in the end, Park Hee-cheol. More precisely, to get an investment from Park Hee-cheol.

That’s why the shop he was going to sign a contract for today was even more important.

“Then, shall we go back?”

Hyun-sung came down the hill and vigorously pedaled his bicycle.

As expected, his physical condition had improved remarkably compared to before. It took at least 10 minutes less than when he first rode his bicycle to school.

Especially when climbing hills, he could clearly feel the change.

The second place Hyun-sung headed to was the real estate agency.

“Hello? Mr. President.”

“Oh? Aren’t you the student who came last time? But what brings you here so early?”

President Park In-soo greeted Hyun-sung with a puzzled expression.

Then Hyun-sung spoke again.

“I’m going to sign the contract after school today. My father will come then too.”

“What? Are you saying you’re signing the contract now?”

President Park In-soo doubted his ears.

To be honest, he hadn’t believed it even when he made the provisional contract a while ago. Just as he was about to refuse, Park Hee-cheol guaranteed it, so he had no choice but to write the contract, but he didn’t think he would actually sign the contract.

But according to this young friend’s words, he was saying that he would sign the contract for that store today.

For him, it was like a painful tooth being pulled out.

It was a store that hadn’t had a single inquiry for two years.

So much so that the landlord had promised to give an additional 50,000 won [approximately $40 USD] on top of the basic commission.

Then Hyun-sung’s words continued.

“Yes. So I came to look around the store before signing the contract.”

“I see. Of course, you should. But what to do?”

“Why? Is there any problem?”

“No, it’s not that, but I have a customer coming early this morning. So I can’t go with you.”

“Ah, is that so? Then just give me the key. I’ll go see it alone.”

“Then will you do that? Wait a moment.”

President Park In-soo took out the key from his desk drawer and handed it to Hyun-sung, saying.

“I’m sorry, I should go with you…….”

“It’s okay. Well…, then I’ll go.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you after class.”

President Park In-soo’s face was full of smiles.

Creak.

It was when Hyun-sung was about to leave the real estate agency.

Someone opened the door and came in first.

‘Huh?’

Hyun-sung’s pupils suddenly widened.

‘Why is this person here?’

Hyun-sung, who came outside, couldn’t easily take his steps. However, he couldn’t go back into the real estate agency either.

The person who came in a little while ago was someone Hyun-sung knew.

It was the person who used to run a business in the store inside the alley in his past life. It was the store that Hyun-sung was trying to sign a contract for right now.

“What?”

Why was this person showing up now?

This person shouldn’t be showing up here right now. Even if he did show up, it should be about 5~6 months later.

That’s because this person started the ramen business when Hyun-sung was a senior in high school, probably around the end of March.

Hyun-sung slightly bit his lower lip.

“Could it be? No way…….”

Hyun-sung felt uneasy, but there was nothing he could do in this situation.

Hyun-sung pedaled his bicycle again.

It was when Hyun-sung was about to enter the alley.

“Hmm?”

A boy who looked about 7 or 8 years old was seen lingering in front of the store. He watched for a while, but he didn’t do anything special and just seemed to be waiting for someone.

Hyun-sung carefully approached the child and asked.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

Instead of answering, the child started running away into the alley as soon as he saw Hyun-sung.

Clank.

Hyun-sung opened the locked padlock and slid the sliding door to the side.

Scrape.

The door barely opened. Perhaps because it hadn’t been used for a long time, the metal on the bottom of the door was rusted red.

Well, it had been closed for two years, so how could it not be?

“Ugh!”

As soon as he opened the door, a musty moldy smell rushed into his nose. Hyun-sung opened the door wide and went inside the store.

Click.

He tried turning on the switch at the entrance, but the electricity didn’t come on. It was a bit dark, but it was morning, so there was no problem looking around the store.

Thump, thump.

Hyun-sung quickly walked across the store and headed to the back of the kitchen.

Because there was something he needed to check.

“It’s here.”

The place Hyun-sung arrived at was in front of the door at the back of the kitchen, which he had watched from outside the glass door last time. If it was as expected, there should be a space behind this door.

Creak.

When Hyun-sung slightly pushed the door, the wooden door opened with a loud noise.

“It opens!”

Hyun-sung put more strength and flung the door wide open.

Clap.

Hyun-sung unconsciously clapped his hands together.

As expected, a space came out to the back.

Hyun-sung slowly walked in.

Hyun-sung’s face began to brighten more and more.

That was because the place Hyun-sung had arrived at was a yard. Not only that, but there were also rooms. Two of them.

“Oh~!”

It was a moment when admiration came out automatically.

Hyun-sung slowly walked towards the rooms.

There was a central wooden floor, and rooms faced each other on both sides. One was a large room, and the other was about 2/3 the size of that. It seemed like there would be no problem receiving guests with this much space.

Two rooms and a wooden floor.

If this space was used well, he thought he could receive at least 25 more guests. Rather, there was more space than the hall.

If that was the case, he could handle almost 45 people at once, including the hall. Since the customer base would be students anyway, they would naturally flock in at certain times.

If so, it was right to maximize the use of space so that many people could be received at once.

“Okay.”

For now, the space problem was solved.

“Huh?”

It was when Hyun-sung was about to leave the room.

Something was dropped on the floor. When he bent down to look, it was a photo covered in a lot of dust.

Swish.

When he wiped the dust off with his hand, the person in the photo appeared clearly. It was obviously a mother and son.

“Oh? This child is…….”

It was that child who was lingering in front of the store a little while ago.

“There was a reason.”

Hyun-sung left the room and headed to the kitchen.

Hoo!

A deep sigh flowed from Hyun-sung’s mouth as he examined the kitchen.

Only then did Hyun-sung know.

He finally understood why he couldn’t use the inner building in his past life and had no choice but to use only this hall.

That was because of the traffic flow.

The structure was such that you had to pass through the kitchen to enter the inner building. That meant that customers would have to pass through the kitchen while food was being prepared, which made no sense to anyone.

There was a reason after all.

If so, there was only one way to use the inner building.

Moving the kitchen.

The answer was out.

He needed to compare the income that could be generated from the inner building with the cost of moving the kitchen and building a new one.

To do that, the first thing to do was to get an estimate of the cost of moving the kitchen. It meant that it was the first thing he had to do after signing the contract anyway.

“Let’s stop here for now…….”

It was when Hyun-sung came out of the store, locked the door, and was about to turn around.

Someone was walking towards the store. But that person was someone Hyun-sung knew.

“Why is that human here?”