Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 87

Slurp.

Hyun-sung took his first taste of the seaweed soup.

“Hmm……”

The initial flavor was savory. It seemed they’d stir-fried the seaweed in sesame oil beforehand. You couldn’t achieve that depth of savoriness without that step.

The next layer was a deep, rich flavor.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Il-soo and inquired,

“Did you make the broth separately?”

“Broth? I just boiled it with rice water.”

No wonder the soup had a milky appearance. Seaweed soup definitely gains a richer taste when boiled with rice water.

He recalled his wife, Yoon Ji-soo, often cooking extra rice specifically when making seaweed soup, all to obtain the rice water.

Then, Grandma Shin Yu-bok, seated beside him, turned to Hyun-sung and said,

“Our Il-soo is a better cook than this old grandma now. Ever since he was a little boy, whenever I made something, he’d always ask how, and then one day, he just started making it himself.”

Hyun-sung nodded and began sampling the other side dishes.

He started with the stir-fried potatoes, then the braised tofu, and finally the rolled omelet.

Hyun-sung looked intently at Kim Il-soo.

Kim Il-soo widened his eyes, asking,

“Why? Is something off?”

“No……”

Hyun-sung slowly shook his head.

‘No, how can this be?’

He felt a pang of guilt toward his wife, Yoon Ji-soo, but Kim Il-soo’s side dishes were undeniably more delicious. He’d always considered Yoon Ji-soo’s cooking skills to be above average.

But compared to what Kim Il-soo had prepared, he felt something was lacking.

Even though they used the same ingredients.

‘Is this what they mean by a special touch?’

Hyun-sung examined Kim Il-soo’s hands again.

Ha!

Hyun-sung couldn’t suppress a chuckle at the thought that these dishes came from those calloused hands. He certainly hadn’t learned to cook in any formal setting.

He’d never imagined Kim Il-soo possessed such a talent.

‘Then……’

The moment an interesting idea sparked in Hyun-sung’s mind.

‘That could be good too.’

After eating his fill, Hyun-sung looked at Kim Il-soo and asked,

“By any chance… do you enjoy cooking?”

“Cooking? I just throw things together.”

“Regardless, do you like it?”

“Well, I don’t particularly dislike it. I just make it roughly, according to what feels right, and I’m happy with it because my grandmother enjoys it.”

Roughly?

According to his feelings?

‘Look at this guy.’

Hyun-sung recognized it as raw, natural talent.

Cooking learned through instruction and cooking with an innate sense are worlds apart.

In layman’s terms, it means you can create something delicious by instinct, even without formal training, as long as you have the ingredients. Of course, the baseline taste has to be above average.

Hyun-sung studied Kim Il-soo.

He was large and imposing, and he’d look quite the part wearing a tall, white chef’s hat.

Having a natural gift meant there was potential, as long as he was guided in the right direction.

‘Hmm……’

Unexpected.

Something he’d never considered was unfolding before his eyes today.

Well, perhaps it was natural.

In his previous life, he’d had no reason to associate with Kim Il-soo. He’d actively avoided him, considering it a toxic relationship.

After dinner, the two went into Kim Il-soo’s room.

A significant change.

Hyun-sung could never have imagined being in Kim Il-soo’s room with him.

Kim Il-soo’s room was clean.

It was a bit unexpected. Hyun-sung realized, once again, that he shouldn’t harbor prejudices.

There was something resembling a closet on one wall, and a desk on the opposite side. That was all.

The blankets were neatly folded on the upper side of the room.

“Haha, hahahaha……”

But Hyun-sung couldn’t help but burst out laughing when he saw that.

It was the way the blankets were folded. It looked like a blanket folded in the military – perfectly square and taut.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Il-soo and said,

“Hey, you’d do well in the military. By the way, why did you fold the blanket like that?”

“It’s good.”

That was the entirety of Kim Il-soo’s answer.

It was about his personal inclination. He had to do it that way to be satisfied, without any other reason.

“That’s a relief.”

“What?”

“That there’s something like that.”

“You’re boring……”

Hyun-sung suddenly thought he wouldn’t have to worry about the kitchen getting dirty. Cleanliness is paramount in the kitchen, from start to finish.

And there was something else that caught Hyun-sung’s attention from the moment he entered the room.

Two potted plants were placed by the window.

Commonly known as bonsai [miniature trees grown in containers]. Both were pine trees.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Il-soo and asked,

“What are these pots?”

“As you can see!”

Hyun-sung detected a strange emotion in Kim Il-soo’s answer. He couldn’t quite place it, but it didn’t seem like he was just making a simple statement.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“When did you become interested in bonsai?”

“Since middle school……”

Hyun-sung tilted his head. He saw Kim Il-soo’s pupils flicker as he answered. He’d wondered if he’d imagined it a moment ago, but there was definitely something going on.

However, it didn’t seem right to press for the reason, so he changed the subject slightly.

“Do you know the word ‘monoecious’?”

“Monoecious? What does that mean?”

“It’s called monoecious when male and female flowers bloom on one tree, like this pine tree.”

“Really? I didn’t know.”

Kim Il-soo glanced at Hyun-sung. He was surprised every time he saw him these days.

It was the third time today.

The first was at the ramen shop. At first, he hadn’t believed it, but as time went on, he realized it was true. Of course, he still didn’t understand how.

And the second was Grandma’s Choco Pie cake.

It may have been childish, but the important thing was that Grandma was so happy.

He was simply amazed at how he’d come up with such an idea.

And finally, Hyun-sung’s explanation of the pine tree now.

He’d been growing pine trees for five years, but he didn’t even know that they had both male and female flowers. He just diligently gave them sunlight and put them outside on rainy days to get rain.

Then, Hyun-sung spoke again.

“And there’s a very important characteristic of pine trees, do you know what it is?”

“What else is there?”

“Pine trees have male and female flowers together, but female flowers only bloom after all the male flowers have fallen. What do you think is the reason for that?”

“I don’t know……”

Kim Il-soo was hearing it for the first time. Hyun-sung continued as Kim Il-soo tilted his head.

“In simple terms, they don’t commit incest. In other words, the reason why female flowers bloom late is to be fertilized with pollen from other trees. That’s why pine trees have different flowering times. It’s a way to breed a more superior species, even though they are plants that can’t speak. Isn’t it amazing?”

Hyun-sung became interested in pine bonsai the year after he met his wife, Yoon Ji-soo.

Yoon Ji-soo liked flowers.

So, she often went to flower shops, especially in the spring.

At that time, various bonsai caught Hyun-sung’s attention. Among them, Hyun-sung liked pine bonsai.

He learned a lot from the flower shop owner at that time.

Kim Il-soo looked at Hyun-sung and said.

“Unexpected. It’s amazing that you know so much about pine trees.”

“Not much, just a little. Anyway, did you shape this tree?”

“Yeah. Just whatever comes to mind at the time.”

This was also a natural sense.

From cooking to pine bonsai.

Hyun-sung felt a strange sense of kinship with Kim Il-soo, who had surprisingly many similarities.

There must be a story about the bonsai, but he decided that was enough for today.

Swish.

Hyun-sung turned his head slightly.

‘Hmm?’

At that moment, a small frame on the desk caught his eye.

It was a black and white family photo.

Hyun-sung looked at Kim Il-soo and asked.

“Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s a picture taken when I was three years old. Next to me are my mom and dad.”

“Your mother was beautiful. Your father was also handsome. But where are they now……”

Oops! He thought.

Kim Il-soo was already sensitive when his parents were mentioned in the potato field last time.

Hyun-sung said immediately.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to……”

“……”

Kim Il-soo, who was lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.

“It was the day of elementary school graduation.”

“Graduation day?”

“Yeah, they said they would definitely come to the graduation ceremony, but they didn’t.”

“Were they far away?”

“Hongje-dong, Seoul. At first, I thought something urgent had happened. But……”

Kim Il-soo began to tell his story.

His mother and father were the same age and lived in the same neighborhood.

They were seventeen at the time.

Of course, there were people who got married at that age, so it wasn’t unheard of.

But his mother and father weren’t like that.

Commonly referred to as playing with fire [engaging in risky behavior].

Was it too much for them to handle at a young age?

The two left a letter with a family photo one day when Kim Il-soo was three years old.

Since then, he was raised by his grandmother.

But his father was killed in a hit-and-run accident while going to work in Seoul a year later. After that, his mother sent living expenses while working at a factory alone.

It wasn’t abundant, but he lived well enough without a father. But the problem was that his mother was also killed in a hit-and-run accident on the way home from working overtime the day before graduation, just like his father.

It was a time when there were few CCTVs [closed-circuit television cameras, or security cameras], so the culprit was never found.

He identified his mother, who was supposed to come to the graduation ceremony, as a corpse at the hospital the day after the graduation ceremony.

Kim Il-soo tried to hold back his tears and wiped his face with his hands before continuing.

“It was from then on.”

“……?”

“I started eating a lot. I gained 20kg [approximately 44 pounds] in three months. Since then, my friends started calling me a fatty.”

“……”

Come to think of it, Hyun-sung seemed to vaguely remember. Kim Il-soo probably changed after the end of the winter vacation in the second year of middle school.

Suddenly, he appeared 20cm [approximately 8 inches] taller than before the vacation.

Then he started beating up the friends who had been teasing him. After a semester, Kim Il-soo had become a monster that no one could touch.

It didn’t end there.

Now, he started bullying weaker friends, perhaps driven by a compensatory mentality.