Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 41

Four months had passed since Woo-jin became twenty-two again.

During that time, Woo-jin was very busy. Because of this, he had built a strong base for his future.

He had achieved a lot of success for someone his age. Even better, he had created WJ Studio as a real company.

In just three months, people knew and respected his company. He also had a reliable source of income that easily paid his employees’ salaries.

This was more valuable than just money. It was something you couldn’t touch, like trust and respect. People now knew the name ‘WJ Studio,’ even though it was new. This was very important for Woo-jin.

‘I thought I would need to be at least twenty-five to have a good start…’

Woo-jin had accomplished a lot, and he had also learned some important things.

The most important thing he learned was how the future he knew could change.

Woo-jin realized that the future could be very different depending on what he did. But he also believed that it wouldn’t change in a strange way.

The future would only change as much as Woo-jin influenced it. To make a big difference, Woo-jin’s influence would need to grow.

For example, when he opened the Cheonwoong Construction Premium Promotion Hall, it made a big impact on the construction business.

But it didn’t create something out of nothing. The premium brand boom, which was supposed to start when Clio Apartment was finished, just happened about two years earlier.

‘I can use what I know from the future, but I shouldn’t trust it completely. As time goes on, and as I get more successful, the future will change even more.’

Because of these thoughts, Woo-jin came to one conclusion.

If he could use his knowledge of the future to understand things early, he could lead the new future that was coming.

That became Woo-jin’s goal.

And so, Woo-jin’s dream was growing bigger.

However, there was one problem.

Something happened that Woo-jin didn’t expect, because he had changed a small thing from the future.

“What? Are you serious?”

[Would I lie to you?]

“Everything is sold out, from the smaller apartments to the larger ones?”

[Yes, you little rascal. It’s a real jackpot. Did you see how many people wanted each type of apartment online? The bosses are very happy.]

……

[The executive director wants to meet you. When can you meet?]

Woo-jin was talking on the phone with Park Kyung-wan and was very surprised.

Like Kyung-wan said, it was a jackpot.

It was a great opportunity for the owner of a twenty-two-year-old start-up to meet with the executive director of Cheonwoong Construction.

It was also great that the Clio Apartment, which they thought wouldn’t sell well, had almost completely sold out.

‘Yes, it’s a jackpot. It really is a jackpot, but…’

For some reason, Woo-jin sighed.

“Haa…”

[Hey, I called to give you good news, but why are you sighing?]

“It’s good, but…”

[But what?]

“My plans have been slightly messed up.”

[What plans?]

“If Clio had apartments that didn’t sell, I was going to buy about three of the smaller or medium-sized ones.”

Park Kyung-wan’s loud voice came from the phone.

[…You crazy little brat.]

He knew that Woo-jin wasn’t joking, which made him even more surprised.

“Are there really none left?”

[I think there are about five very large apartments left. Do you want to buy those?]

“Hmm… Should I do that, even?”

Even though the future had changed, the value of the Mapo Clio Prestige Apartment would still go up a lot.

Just because Woo-jin had changed the future didn’t mean that the apartment’s value would change.

So Woo-jin had planned to use all the money he had to buy three apartments that didn’t sell.

In his past life, the unsold apartments had been sold within a month after the first sale.

He thought that even if the future changed, there would still be a few apartments left for him to buy.

But Woo-jin had created such a great promotion hall that his plans were ruined.

More people wanted to buy the apartments than in his past life, but the people who won the chance to buy them were mostly people who wanted to live there, not investors. So, almost everyone signed the contract, with only a few exceptions.

Even the staff at Cheonwoong Construction couldn’t believe how many people had signed the contracts.

‘Haa, if I’m going to keep it for a long time, buying a very large apartment isn’t a bad idea… But right now, it’s more important for me to have money that I can easily use…’

Woo-jin clicked his tongue in disappointment and spoke into the phone again.

“I think I’ll have to give up on the very large apartment.”

[Yeah. No matter how good you think it is, a very large apartment in that neighborhood is a bit too much.]

“Actually, it’s not that much. I think it’ll be worth at least 400 million more by the time it’s finished.”

[Huh…?]

Woo-jin said that it would be worth 400 million more, which meant that the price would go up by another 400 million.

Park Kyung-wan understood this and was surprised.

[Hey, if it goes up another 400 million, it’s almost 1.3 billion. Who would buy an apartment in that neighborhood for 1.3 billion?]

“If you wait a little longer, it’ll go up to 1.5 billion. If you’re thinking of moving, you should buy one.”

Park Kyung-wan didn’t know if Woo-jin was serious or joking and was speechless.

1. 5 billion was more than 1.5 times the original price.

Also, to buy an apartment before it was built, you only needed to pay 10 percent of the price.

If you invested 90 million won and it went up by 600 million, you would make more than 600 percent on your investment.

If someone else had said it, he would have ignored it, but it was Woo-jin who said it.

Kyung-wan knew that Woo-jin had used investments like this to build his wealth.

‘This guy seems serious.’

Even before Woo-jin spoke, Park Kyung-wan had been interested in the Clio Apartment.

The neighborhood where Clio would be built was close to the Cheonwoong Construction headquarters.

[If it’s sure to go up, why aren’t you buying it?]

“If I was going to live there, I would have bought it without thinking.”

[What?]

Park Kyung-wan was surprised again.

Most people in their early twenties just follow their parents’ advice about housing.

But to talk about living in a very large apartment was strange.

Woo-jin ignored Park Kyung-wan’s reaction and continued to say what he wanted to say.

“But you know that I’m just starting my business, right?”

[That’s right.]

“It’s hard to sell very large apartments quickly. If something goes wrong, I need to be able to sell my rights to buy the apartment, but it won’t be easy to get the full value before it’s finished.”

[Hmm…]

Park Kyung-wan had called Woo-jin to give him good news, but now he was getting real estate investment advice.

“You have three children, right? This place is close to the headquarters, too.”

[Th…that’s true.]

“If I were you and had the money, I would sign the contract without thinking.”

[Is it that good?]

“Are there any good floors left?”

[Well, I think there’s one left…]

“What are you doing? Hang up and go buy it.”

[I, I’ll hang up first?!]

Click-

Woo-jin hung up with Kyung-wan and smiled.

“He’s a nice old man.”

Kyung-wan was one of the people who wanted Woo-jin to succeed.

He was also important for keeping a good relationship with Cheonwoong in the future, as he was a senior member of Cheonwoong Construction.

But they had become close friends.

“Now that it’s like this… I have some extra money to invest…”

Woo-jin was walking home after class and was thinking about what to do with the money.

He had about 300 million won in his bank account because he had paid back the loan for his company and had earned more money.

Woo-jin was thinking hard about what to do with the money as he entered his house.

“I’m home…”

But Woo-jin stopped when he stepped inside his house.

He could hear his mother talking on the phone.

“Ah… Yes, Brother.”

“Now that I’ve sent Woo-jin to school, I need to pay back the money I borrowed from you as soon as possible.”

“You need the money urgently… I understand. I’ll try to get it ready by the end of this month…”

“Interest? Of course. I’ll add a few million won more.”

Woo-jin felt like he had been hit on the head with a hammer as he listened to his mother’s voice.

‘I’m an idiot!’

Woo-jin knew who his mother was talking to.

‘It must be my aunt.’

After his father was tricked by the real estate scam, he had borrowed a lot of money from his aunt.

She was the only person his mother would call ‘Brother’ and talk about money with.

Woo-jin and his mother had a bad relationship with his aunt in his past life.

‘The money Dad borrowed from Aunt was about 60 million, wasn’t it?’

Maybe there was about 20 or 30 million left.

His mother always said that debts to friends and family should be paid off before debts to the bank.

Woo-jin could easily pay off that amount now.

That’s why Woo-jin blamed himself.

He had been helping Park Kyung-wan and trying to take care of others, but he had forgotten about the most important person.

‘I’m a bad son.’

Even if Woo-jin didn’t help, his mother would pay off all her debts in a few years.

It might be better to invest the money and make more instead of paying off his mother’s debts.

But it was more important to make his mother happy right now than to make more money.

That’s what Woo-jin thought.

So Woo-jin knocked on the door where his mother was.

“It’s me, Mom.”

“Oh, Woo-jin, when did you get here?”

He sat down in front of her and told her everything that had happened in the past few months.

“Do you have some time?”

“Yes, I’m free.”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Hmm…?”

Woo-jin put his bag down and told her almost everything, except for the story about going back in time.

“Things have worked out well for me, but I haven’t had a chance to tell you because I’ve been busy.”

“Woo-jin, are you doing anything illegal?”

“You know I wouldn’t do that.”

His mother didn’t believe him at first, but Woo-jin explained calmly.

When Woo-jin finished speaking, she had to believe him.

There was no reason for him to lie.

And his stories seemed too real to be a lie.

“How much debt do we have left?”

“That’s…”

“It’s okay, Mom. I can work better if you’re happy.”

Her son, who had made her happy just by going to a good university, had grown up so much without her realizing it.

Joo-hee cried silently as she looked at her son.