Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 79

Shin Min-ho’s eyes widened as if they would pop out any second.

“That crazy bastard is me.”

“Did this punk suddenly get heatstroke? If you keep messing with your teacher…….”

Shin Min-ho had to stop mid-sentence.

It was because Hyun-sung was unlocking the store’s door.

Click.

Hyun-sung, who opened the store door, looked at Shin Min-ho and said,

“Is this okay?”

“…….”

Step.

Shin Min-ho walked into the store without a word.

Looking around the store, Shin Min-ho turned around and slowly opened his mouth.

“You’re really crazy.”

“Hey, isn’t that too much to say?”

“What kind of business are you going to run in this small place? And what about school?”

“I’ve decided to use the inner quarters for space, and someone else will mainly run the store. I’ll just help out a bit after class.”

Hoo!

Shin Min-ho let out a long sigh as if he was dumbfounded.

Then he continued.

“Kim Hyun-sung! Do you think running a business is child’s play? Have you ever run a business? Do you know how hard it is to deal with people…….”

Of course, I have. For over 20 years.

It was really hard at first.

I had to greet them, but I couldn’t open my mouth.

Even when I did, it took more time for the words to come out.

When a customer actually came in, I wasn’t happy, but scared. It was bearable if only one person came in at a time.

But when more than three or six people came in at once, I just wanted to run away from the spot, business or not.

I endured day by day, and before I knew it, I had been doing it for over 20 years.

Later, even when more than 50 people came to the cafe on weekends, I could smile and do business without any problems.

I knew that experience was scary.

But the real problem is that there’s no way to explain this to Shin Min-ho right now.

“I have to work hard.”

It was the best sincere answer Hyun-sung could give.

Then Shin Min-ho shook his head and looked at Hyun-sung with strange eyes.

“Do you think the world works just by working hard?”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“This punk, I’m giving you advice as a teacher, what do you want me to do?”

“Do you know what?”

Shin Min-ho stared at Hyun-sung.

Then Hyun-sung immediately continued.

“Right now, I don’t need advice, I need encouragement. What do you want me to do when I’ve already got the store? Of course, I know you’re worried, but you have to do it in moderation.”

“This guy…….”

Shin Min-ho remembered the past.

It must have been before winter vacation in the first year of high school.

His mother suddenly opened a restaurant. But that was it.

In the end, she couldn’t last a year.

At first, people around her used to say that she was good at cooking and should open a restaurant.

Believing only those words was the root of the problem.

In the end, she realized when she closed the restaurant.

That those people only liked the taste of her food when they got it for free.

Shin Min-ho said again.

“I went too far, didn’t I?”

“A little bit. It wasn’t an easy decision for me either.”

“It was perhaps the biggest trauma for me. When I was in the first year of high school, my mother…….”

Shin Min-ho began to talk about his past.

After listening to Shin Min-ho’s story, Hyun-sung said.

“So that’s what happened? That’s why your mother collapsed.”

“Our family had a hard time since then. My mother couldn’t speak properly at first due to the shock, and everything disappeared while she was in the hospital for about 10 months. Money, house…….”

“Ah, yes.”

“In the end, I dropped out of school…….”

Shin Min-ho couldn’t continue speaking as if he couldn’t bear the old memories.

“…….”

Hyun-sung also shared his feelings with silence.

Silence flowed between the two.

After a while.

Hyun-sung spoke first.

“Thank you.”

“No. I think I remembered that time without realizing it. I had forgotten about it all this time.”

“Still, you’re amazing, teacher. To be in this position now.”

“One day, my mother, who had been lying down, suddenly got up from her seat.”

“Yes?”

Hyun-sung looked at Shin Min-ho.

Then Shin Min-ho continued.

“She took me to the hair salon.”

“Why suddenly to the hair salon?”

“I was curious too. But my mother suddenly cut her hair.”

Gulp.

Hyun-sung swallowed hard without realizing it.

“And then?”

“She cut it short. With a razor.”

“…….”

Hyun-sung couldn’t find anything to say.

Then Shin Min-ho’s words continued again.

“Do you know where my mother took me for the first time after that?”

“I don’t know…….”

“The Han River!”

“The Han River?”

Hyun-sung was speechless at the word Han River.

He was more curious than ever about Shin Min-ho’s next words.

Shin Min-ho seemed to be gathering his emotions without saying anything.

After a while.

Shin Min-ho opened his mouth again.

“She told me to decide.”

“Decide what?”

“Actually, I had been learning boxing since I was young. After dropping out of school, I met my old friends again. You know. I was acting like a thug in the neighborhood.”

“Teacher?”

Hyun-sung couldn’t imagine it even as he listened.

Come to think of it, he thought that the way he threw a jab earlier was unusual. But he never thought that Shin Min-ho would have such a past.

Shin Min-ho’s words continued again.

“Either start studying again or die here together.”

Gulp.

Hyun-sung’s mouth was parched.

“And then?”

“At first, I thought she was just saying that to scare me.”

“You mean…….”

“When I couldn’t answer and hesitated, my mother suddenly went into the Han River.”

“She was trying to scare the teacher by going to the extreme.”

Shaking, shaking.

Shin Min-ho shook his head.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“If not, then what……?”

“It wasn’t just to scare me. She knew that I wouldn’t change that way.”

“Then…….”

Shin Min-ho nodded and said again.

“That’s right. It wasn’t a show.”

“Then really?”

“At some point, my mother disappeared before my eyes. That’s when I realized that this wasn’t a joke. But do you know what’s even funnier?”

“What else is there?”

“There was something I was most afraid of, and that was water.”

Huck!

Hyun-sung felt like he was suffocating for a moment. It was as if he could see the scene right in front of him.

Hyun-sung even stuttered.

“Th-then?”

“But my body was already going into the water.”

“In the end, you overcame your fear of water and saved your mother.”

“No.”

“No?”

What is this again?

Then the story doesn’t connect. Either way, Shin Min-ho’s mother is still alive, isn’t she?

Even after thinking about it for a while, he couldn’t connect it at all.

Hyun-sung asked again in a hurry.

“Then what did you do in the water, teacher?”

“I fainted.”

“Yes?”

“I went into the water without realizing it, but my body was already paralyzed. I thought at that time.”

“What?”

“This is what it’s like to die.”

Hyun-sung was now curious about the end of this drama.

“Is there a twist?”

“A twist?”

“With the situation so far, neither you nor your mother should be alive.”

Shin Min-ho looked at Hyun-sung and continued calmly.

“When I came to my senses, I was in the hospital. My mother was on the next bed with a respirator.”

This means that both of them lost consciousness.

Then…….

Hyun-sung looked at Shin Min-ho and completed the last puzzle.

“Someone must have reported it.”

“That’s right.”

Shin Min-ho nodded.

Then he immediately continued.

“My mother was truly not afraid of even death for me. She knew that I wouldn’t change unless she did this.”

“That’s right.”

“It was from then on.”

“Studying?”

“Yes, I passed the high school equivalency exam in two years, and I went to college that year. This thug, I mean. My mother made that possible.”

It was like a movie.

I didn’t know that Shin Min-ho had such a hidden past.

He looked different.

Then, Shin Min-ho’s words continued again.

“That mother is now going far away. So, honestly, I’m scared these days. I’m also afraid.”

“…… Yes.”

“She was such a strong person…….”

Shin Min-ho’s eyes sparkled.

Hoo!

A long breath came out of Hyun-sung’s mouth.

I realized once again that people live with their own past. It’s just that they don’t express it and just bury it in one side of their heart.

“Hey, how did the story flow like this?”

Shin Min-ho, who came to his senses, said.

Then Hyun-sung patted Shin Min-ho’s shoulder instead of speaking.

Tap, tap.

Then Shin Min-ho looked at Hyun-sung, taking his shoulder away.

“Hey, I’m your teacher.”

Hyun-sung could only nod his head while looking at Shin Min-ho and couldn’t say anything.

He was just too ashamed of himself for being upset over a trivial misunderstanding.

What’s fortunate is that he can now completely shake off that feeling. From now on, his memories of Shin Min-ho will only be filled with the things that will happen later.

The first of which is visiting Lee Soo-hyuk in the hospital tomorrow.

Then, Shin Min-ho said again.

“Anyway, since you’re starting, do it right. Never underestimate the world.”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Honestly, I’m just anxious, but I’ll still look forward to it.”

“I’ll work hard so that I don’t disappoint that expectation.”

The feeling of waiting while hoping that the other person will be as you want them to be, I realized once again that the word expectation (期待) [expectation in Japanese/Korean, often implying anticipation and hope] can make people’s hearts warm like this, especially today.

Shin Min-ho asked again.

“When is the opening?”

“The second week of next month.”

“There’s still some time left. Is there any reason why you have to do it then?”

Hyun-sung smiled and nodded his head.

Then Shin Min-ho shrugged his shoulders.

He’s asking for the reason.

“It’s coming out then.”

“What?”

“Shin Ramyun.”

“What kind of ramen?”

“Shin Ramyun is a new product from Nongshim [a South Korean food and beverage company]. There will be a big TV commercial at that time. I’ll start from then.”

Shin Min-ho looked at Hyun-sung as if he was dumbfounded.

“You want me to believe that now?”

“Yes.”

“There will be commercials on TV too?”

“Yes.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Ha ha, ha ha ha…….

Hyun-sung just laughed out loud instead of answering.

Whether he’s crazy or it’s true, time will solve it anyway. The construction will start the day after tomorrow, and the word of mouth will gradually spread when the sign is put up the next day.

That’s why Hyun-sung’s laughter is so loud.

***

Shin Min-ho kept urging Hyun-sung, saying that he couldn’t believe it until the end, but Hyun-sung had no choice but to replace it with laughter because he couldn’t do anything right now.

After forcibly sending Shin Min-ho away, Hyun-sung came out of the alley and headed to Lee Jung-woo’s snack shop.

Now, all that’s left is to find someone to work.

Click.

“Mother!”

Hyun-sung called Lee Jung-woo’s mother, Shin Myung-soon.

Then Shin Myung-soon, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, greeted Hyun-sung.

“Welcome.”

“Where’s Jung-woo?”

“He went to exercise with a friend.”

“A friend?”

Hyun-sung tilted his head.

‘Is it that guy?’

Then Shin Myung-soon said.

“I think his name was something Cheol…….”

“Could it be Park Cheol-min?”

“Ah! That’s right. He said Cheol-min.”

He had asked Park Cheol-min in passing.

If it’s okay, could you exercise with Lee Jung-woo after class?

He was using his head in his own way because he would be getting busier and busier in the future. Fortunately, Park Cheol-min granted Hyun-sung’s request.

Park Cheol-min was the first of the three to open his heart.

Slide.

Hyun-sung handed a document envelope to Shin Myung-soon.

“What is this?”

“Check it yourself.”

Shin Myung-soon, who was checking the documents, stared at Hyun-sung.

Then she said with a dumbfounded expression.

“You finally…….”

“Yes.”

“You’re crazy. What kind of place is that…….”

Shin Myung-soon could only shake her head left and right as if she couldn’t understand.