Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 14

The shrill whirring of his alarm clock blasted beside his head, making Woojin groan. He slapped his hand blindly at the bedside table until his fingers found the snooze button, and silence crashed back into the room. He pried open his heavy eyelids, blinking against the bright sunlight that streamed through a gap in his curtains.

“Ugh… already?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep. He felt like he had barely closed his eyes.

Woojin had returned home after three in the morning, having enjoyed drinks with his seniors and classmates.

He was tired. He had stayed up all night before.

“Woojin, are you awake?”

At his mother’s voice from outside the door, Woojin forced his heavy body up.

Woojin had set his alarm for noon.

Still, he had managed to sleep for more than eight hours.

“Yes, I’m awake!”

“I made sujebi. Come out and eat.”

“Okay, just a moment!”

Woojin ran a hand through his disheveled hair and headed out the door.

Even though he was tired, just thinking about sujebi made his mouth water.

His mother, Lee Joohee, had been running a sujebi and kalguksu restaurant for over a decade, even back in 2010.

In his past life, Woojin had always soothed his hangovers with his mother’s sujebi.

‘Wait, now that I think about it… Why isn’t Mom at work?’

Woojin glanced at the clock showing 12 PM, tilting his head in confusion before quickly realizing the reason.

His mother’s sujebi kalguksu restaurant was always closed on Mondays, and Woojin’s weekend had vanished in an instant.

“Whew. I’m so out of it.”

Leaving the warm electric blanket, Woojin felt his mind clearing somewhat.

The memory of yesterday’s drinking session surfaced, and he chuckled to himself.

‘Still, yesterday was much more fun than I expected.’

Having lived an additional 20 years in his previous life, Woojin didn’t hold much excitement for university life itself.

He didn’t have big dreams about university, except for studying design.

However, after yesterday’s drinking session, Woojin’s perspective had shifted slightly.

The drinking sessions Woojin had experienced in his past life were mostly with rough construction site workers or business entertainment with construction companies.

Being around young, new students, especially so many girls, was different from his past.

He was surprised he had lived to forty in his past life and never had fun like this. Woojin felt a little sad he had missed out.

Slurp—

As Woojin gulped down the sujebi soup, his mother, Lee Joohee, opened her mouth with a worried expression.

“Hey, eat slowly, slowly. You’ll burn your palate.”

“Don’t worry. I’m good at eating hot things, you know.”

“Still.”

Not one or two things had changed since his regression, but the most profound was his feelings toward his mother.

Like most sons.

Woojin in his past life had been an indifferent son.

‘Mom, I’ll make sure you live in luxury no matter what in this life.’

It was a line that seemed straight out of a cliché drama, but Woojin’s heart was sincere.

In fact, he wished for everyone around him, not just his mother, to prosper in this life.

“Mom, I’m heading out!”

“Goodness, reeking of alcohol, where are you off to again?”

“I have some plans with friends. I won’t be late.”

“That rascal, he’s got good stamina.”

Woojin, having devoured the spicy sujebi down to the last drop of soup, quickly changed his clothes and left the house.

It wasn’t a lie that he had plans with friends.

He was scheduled to meet Kang Seokhyun, a friend from childhood, in the evening.

However, he simply hadn’t mentioned that he had something else to do before meeting his friend.

“Let’s see, I have plenty of time…”

Woojin glanced at the cheap leather watch on his wrist.

The place he headed to by bus was Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu.

The real estate market in the Seoul metropolitan area in 2010 was, in a word, stagnant.

After an unprecedented period of rapid real estate appreciation that began in 2006.

It was a time when the fervor for real estate investment had burned so brightly that it had turned to ash.

Large apartments in Gangnam-gu, which had been jumping by hundreds of millions of won in just a few months, were now dropping by hundreds of millions at a time, and articles related to real estate were plastered with negative headlines.

[‘Lights Off’ Apartments Increasing in Seoul and the Metropolitan Area.]

[xxx Reconstruction Apartment Offers Discounted Pre-Sale Prices.]

However, even in such times, there were definitely investment opportunities, and Woojin knew of several sure bets.

Even with the small sum of a few million won that he possessed, he could invest sufficiently in such excellent opportunities.

Screech—

The bus stopped, and Woojin got off at the Rodeo Street in Munjeong-dong.

Woojin got off at the stop and headed straight into a large model house on the main street without hesitation.

At the entrance of the model house, a large banner was hung with the following phrases:

[○○○ Lakeville Apartment Special Discount Pre-Sale!]

[Fixed Down Payment of 1 Million Won! 3% Discount on Pre-Sale Price When Contracting Undersold Units!]

Normally, getting chosen to buy a new apartment was like winning the lottery. People could make a lot of money quickly. It was so popular, hundreds of people would try to buy just one apartment.

But in such a downturn, pre-sales were something to worry about losing money on, conversely.

That’s why there were even banners like those, advertising ‘Discount Pre-Sales,’ just like items at a discount mart.

However, just because an apartment was being discounted didn’t mean it was all dangerous.

Just like how you could contract a ‘Lotto Pre-Sale’ and still lose money.

And Woojin had an eye for distinguishing the wheat from the chaff.

‘I’ve come to the right place.’

Woojin, confirming the name of the apartment ‘○○○ Lakeville,’ grinned and entered the sales office.

Dust motes danced in the silent office. The air conditioning hummed softly, the only sound in the room where five empty consultation tables stood waiting. Only one consultant, a woman with tired eyes and neatly tied-back hair, sat at her table, flipping through a brochure with a bored expression.

A young man walked confidently into the quiet space. Without pausing, he went straight to the consultant’s table and sat down opposite her.

“I’m here for a consultation,” he said, his voice clear and direct.

The consultant looked up, slightly surprised.

She should have been pleased to see a customer, but Woo-jin’s youthful face made her doubt if he was a serious buyer.

Woo-jin looked, at best, to be in his mid-twenties.

She had never seen anyone so young come for an apartment pre-sale consultation during her time as a consultant.

“Um… you’re here for an apartment pre-sale… consultation, is that right?”

Sensing the consultant’s nervousness, Woo-jin chuckled and replied.

“What other kind of consultation would I be getting here?”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment. Let me show you the floor plan types first.”

The consultant was a little confused but quickly regained her calm and began to explain.

After all, she needed to sell at least one more unsold apartment.

If this young man was a customer who could help clear out this dead stock, his age was of no concern.

She was explaining, but she had to stop quickly. She was only halfway through.

Woo-jin interrupted her and spoke.

“Well, I understand the gist of it.”

“But I haven’t explained the options yet…”

“I’ve already read through all the pamphlets.”

“Oh, have you?”

“I’ll take two units of the 59A type.”

“E-excuse me?!”

The consultant couldn’t hide her very confused expression upon hearing Woo-jin’s words.

It wasn’t easy to find buyers for unsold units in this real estate slump.

Yet, a young man who had walked in just five minutes ago was suddenly saying he would buy two units.

The 59A type was a medium-sized apartment.

It would be strange if she weren’t surprised by a young man saying he would buy two medium-sized apartments.

Moreover, Woo-jin’s next words were even more astonishing.

“The down payment is a fixed amount, right? One million won, a small amount of money?”

“Yes, y-yes, it is. The second down payment of approximately 39 million won is due by May…”

“Since these are unsold units, there won’t be any restrictions on resales, will there?”

“Th-that’s right.”

“Are there any units left in the best buildings and on the best floors, what people call ‘Royal Dong, Royal Floor’?”

“There probably are. I’ll check.”

Despite his young age, seemingly in his twenties, Woo-jin rattled off investment technical terms like a seasoned investor.

Watching him, the consultant was beyond confused; she was speechless.

“Oh, and there aren’t any taxes when you buy or register property on pre-sale rights until the final payment, right?”

“That’s… correct. You’re very knowledgeable.”

But even so…

How old are you, are you really going to buy, this might end up with a ‘negative premium’ – meaning the price might go down after he buys it…

She couldn’t say such things to a customer, could she?

So, as if possessed, the consultant, who had been talking with Woo-jin, quickly signed him up for two medium-sized apartments under his name.

Of course, after seeing Woo-jin’s ID card during the contract process, she couldn’t help but be even more surprised.

‘Born in ’89… twenty-two years old? Is he some kind of silver spoon?’

It was true that with the fixed down payment, he could sign contracts for two apartments with just a small amount of money, but additional costs were sure to happen.

The total pre-sale price of the apartments Woo-jin contracted for was a large sum of money, and he had to pay 10% of that by May.

If he took out a mortgage for the interim payment, he wouldn’t have to pay the remaining amount until completion, but either way, signing contracts for two units meant he had a good amount of money on hand.

Moreover, to be able to spend that kind of money without a second thought, he had to be from a wealthy family.

“Is everything done?”

“The procedure is… all finished.”

“Thank you for your trouble. I’ll be going then.”

“Thank you, sir. Please come again.”

The consultant looked very confused even as Woo-jin stood up. Woo-jin laughed inside.

‘What kind of face would she make if she knew I don’t even have much money left in my account now?’

From the start, Woo-jin had signed contracts for two apartments with the intention of selling the contract to buy an apartment before the second down payment date.

‘Well, if I sell them before May, I’ll make at most a small amount of money… but that’s excellent.’

If he sold the two unsold apartments he bought with a small down payment with a premium, he would earn money in two months with a small investment.

Moreover, since he had signed contracts for discounted pre-sales, he would additionally profit a percentage of the total price.

Since he had signed contracts for two units, this also amounted to a profit.

Even considering the brokerage fee, the total expected profit was around a good amount of money.

‘Let’s see. The stopping of the pre-sale price cap will be announced soon, and land compensation money will already be flowing out because of new development projects in the area… maybe I can get a little more.’

This was a truly extreme investment method that Woo-jin could choose because he knew the future.

Moreover, it was an apartment that Chief Kwon Jong-woo, who had been his superior in his previous life, had often talked about based on his investment skills.

It was safe to say that his memory wouldn’t be wrong.

‘Ah, I suddenly miss Chief Kwon.’

Chief Kwon Jong-woo, whom he had worked with until the day he returned to the past.

Woo-jin, briefly recalling his playful face, chuckled and put the enclosed contract in his bag.

He was pleased with the fact that he had secured a large amount of capital, but that was all.

He didn’t intend to increase his assets solely through stock or real estate investments just because he knew the future.

There weren’t many such certain and good investment opportunities in a recession, and Woo-jin’s goal wasn’t just ‘money.’

However, the work he intended to do required capital, and he just happened to think of a way to create that capital in a short period.

“To get to the courthouse… which bus do I need to take?”

Woo-jin’s next destination was the court registry office in Seocho-gu.

Now that the capital was roughly secured, it was time to register his business.

There were many businesses he wanted to do, and he was confident he could do them all well, but at this point, the business Woo-jin intended to do was clearly decided.

About a small amount of money of the money remaining in his account would be used to establish a corporate business.

Golden Print