Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 233

One month later.

Hyunsung left his shop and headed to the real estate agency.

He had just received a call from Park In-soo, the owner of the real estate agency.

Creak.

As Hyunsung opened the door and entered, Park In-soo greeted him warmly.

“Welcome, Mr. Kim.”

Hyunsung bowed and sat down, saying,

“Is it true that Owner Oh lowered the building price?”

“As you predicted, he lowered it by 20 million won [approximately $15,000 USD].”

“That’s unexpected. I thought he would at least wait until next spring to lower the price.”

Hyunsung had expected it to be next spring. He thought Owner Oh would hold out for at least three or four more months. But the fact that he lowered the price by 20 million won in just one month meant he wanted to get out of this neighborhood as quickly as possible.

Of course, Hyunsung understood how he felt. Once you’ve decided to leave, you want to wrap things up as soon as possible.

Park In-soo said,

“I feel the same way. That *hyung* [older brother/male friend] is proud and wouldn’t lower the building price so easily under normal circumstances, so I was a bit surprised.”

“Maybe it just means he wants to leave this neighborhood as soon as possible?”

“Well, that could be it. Since he’s lost the goodwill of the neighborhood, he probably wants to leave as soon as possible. But even so, lowering the price by 20 million won in just one month is too much. As you know, the commercial district isn’t bad.”

“That’s true. Could there be another reason we don’t know about?”

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

He had already put the building on the market for 15 million won less than the market price. But to lower it again by 20 million won in just one month was an incomprehensible action to anyone.

Park In-soo continued,

“We can’t know the inside story, so there’s nothing we can do. The important thing is that the price has gone down.”

“That’s right.”

“And by the way, you know there are two shops there, right?”

“Of course. One is a beauty salon, and the other is a restaurant that Owner Oh used to run himself, right?”

“So, I was wondering, if you buy the building, are you thinking of raising the rent?”

Hyunsung tilted his head.

It was a little strange to be talking about rent before even buying the building.

“What do you mean? Why are you suddenly talking about rent at this point?”

“Of course, it’s ridiculous to say this before you even buy the building, but Ms. Yoon, the owner of the beauty salon, is very worried, so I’m asking. She came by this afternoon.”

“How much is the rent there?”

“It’s currently 1 million won for the deposit and 100,000 won for the monthly rent.”

“100,000 won? That’s expensive?”

Hyunsung was surprised. He didn’t expect it to be that expensive.

Park In-soo spoke again.

“Frankly, it’s expensive compared to other places.”

“I know Ms. Yoon has been there for a long time, but how has she been able to run her business with that rent?”

“That’s why Ms. Yoon is so sensitive right now. She’s worried that the new building owner will raise the rent again. In fact, Sang-cheol *hyung* has been raising the rent every time he renewed the contract every two years.”

“Seriously, how much business can you do in the countryside to raise the rent every time you renew the contract? Anyway, you can tell everything from one thing. Owner Oh is really something.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Isn’t that why it ended up like this?”

Park In-soo clicked his tongue.

Hyunsung had nothing to say.

What more could he say when Owner Oh had lost the goodwill of his hometown and was leaving?

Park In-soo spoke again.

“So, will you buy the building under these conditions?”

“Of course. There’s no need to hesitate any longer. Call Owner Oh right now.”

“Alright. Then I’ll call Sang-cheol *hyung* and tell him to write the contract today.”

“Okay. Let’s just write the contract today and pay the balance tomorrow to complete the contract. Since my father has to be here for the contract, I’ll see you again tomorrow afternoon.”

Park In-soo nodded and got up to make a call.

Soon after.

Oh Sang-cheol arrived at the real estate agency and said to Hyunsung,

“In the end, it’s you?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

“You’ve probably heard about the building price from Mr. Park here. The remaining problem is the restaurant I used to run…”

“The restaurant?”

Hyunsung tilted his head.

It was a closed shop anyway. There was no key money, so he didn’t think there was anything to say about the restaurant.

Then Oh Sang-cheol said,

“As you know, I only ran the business there for two months, right?”

“So?”

“Actually, I spent 1 million won preparing for that.”

“If you bought everything new, it would have cost that much.”

“So, I was wondering if you could calculate at least half of that value?”

“Excuse me?”

Hyunsung was dumbfounded.

Of course, he knew what Oh Sang-cheol was talking about. But that was Oh Sang-cheol’s personal situation.

There was no reason for Hyunsung to bear that burden.

Oh Sang-cheol spoke again.

“Is there no way?”

“Of course, I understand your situation, but there’s nothing I can do. And haven’t you forgotten what you did to the *ajumma* [middle-aged or older woman] last time?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When Shin Myung-soon *ajumma* was leaving the store, she asked you to buy her equipment at a low price so she could get at least something. What did you do then?”

“That’s…”

Oh Sang-cheol had nothing to say.

Shin Myung-soon had clearly pleaded with him at the time. She asked him to buy her equipment at a low price since he was going to run a restaurant anyway. Oh Sang-cheol himself had ignored her and refused.

Hyunsung said,

“If you remember that, I don’t think you would ask me for this favor. What do you think?”

“…”

“Why were you so cruel back then?”

“…”

Oh Sang-cheol couldn’t say anything.

Looking at Oh Sang-cheol, Hyunsung spoke again.

“How do you feel?”

“Stop it.”

“I don’t want to say any more either. But I want to make one thing clear. Money isn’t everything in human relationships.”

“…”

Oh Sang-cheol was still silent.

Then Park In-soo stepped between them.

“Alright, alright, stop it and sit down over here. Let’s write the contract.”

The contract was completed smoothly.

Shortly after.

Hyunsung looked at Oh Sang-cheol and said,

“You can move out slowly.”

“Is this pity?”

“Is that how it looks to you?”

“In my eyes…”

“If you accept people’s kindness like that, I have nothing to say. I just feel sorry for you.”

Hyunsung felt bitter but had nothing more to say.

He didn’t know where things had gone wrong, but he didn’t want to resolve it in this situation.

As Oh Sang-cheol left, Park In-soo looked at Hyunsung and said,

“Don’t worry too much about it.”

“I’m not worried. I’m just feeling sorry for him. Look at him just now. I thought about him and told him he could move out slowly, but what did he say?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know why he’s acting like that when he’s leaving anyway.”

“Anyway, are you still looking for land?”

“Of course. I spend all my time over there these days whenever I have time.”

“Okay. Keep up the good work. Then I’ll be on my way…”

Hyunsung left the real estate agency and headed to his shop.

***

A few days later.

Hyunsung headed to the building he had just purchased.

“Heh heh!”

He felt strange standing in front of the building.

Building owner!

Although it was a two-story building, it was the moment his dream of becoming a building owner came true.

The first floor was a beauty salon and a restaurant, and the second floor was a space that could be used as a home.

Hyunsung’s steps headed to the second floor.

Click.

As he opened the door and entered, a spacious living room appeared.

“Nice.”

Now that he thought of it as his own building, he felt different than when he came to see the building a month ago.

He walked past the living room to the kitchen.

“This isn’t good.”

The kitchen needed a lot of work. The sink and the shelves on the wall were very old.

He had already expected it when he came last time. Oh Sang-cheol said it was the same as when the building was first built. That meant he had to remodel the whole thing.

Hyunsung was about to move back to the living room when.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

When he opened the door, Yoo Min-cheol, a plumbing contractor, was standing outside. Hyunsung had called Yoo Min-cheol in advance when he was leaving the ramen shop. He needed Yoo Min-cheol to remodel the entire building anyway.

Hyunsung greeted Yoo Min-cheol warmly.

“*Hyung*, welcome.”

“Oh, yeah. But what are you doing in someone else’s building?”

“It’s my building now.”

“What? Is that true?”

Hyunsung smiled and nodded.

Then Yoo Min-cheol asked again with an unbelievable expression.

“This was Sang-cheol *hyung*’s building, right?”

“I took it over a few days ago.”

“No, how is that possible? How could you?”

Yoo Min-cheol still looked incredulous.

Perhaps it was a natural reaction. How many people would believe that a high school sophomore bought a building?

Hyunsung said again.

“You can believe it or not, it’s up to you. I need to do some construction here starting tomorrow. Is that possible?”

“Huh? Is it real?”

“*Hyung*, do you think I’m the kind of person who makes jokes like that? Anyway, is construction possible?”

“Of course. But what kind of construction are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to repair it entirely. Everything from the ceiling to the floor. And I’m going to replace the sink and shelves in the kitchen.”

“You’re going to completely renovate it?”

Yoo Min-cheol finally believed Hyunsung.

Hyunsung continued,

“The building is old, so I can’t use it as it is. After the interior work is finished, I’m going to paint the exterior walls. How long will that take?”

“If I use one more person, it will take about two weeks.”

“Okay. Then please start construction tomorrow.”

“Alright. I’ll start tomorrow morning.”

Even after answering, Yoo Min-cheol checked the ownership of the building several times before leaving.

After Yoo Min-cheol left, Hyunsung came down from the second floor and headed to the beauty salon on the first floor.

As Hyunsung opened the door and entered, Yoon Ji-young, the owner, greeted Hyunsung.

“Oh my! Welcome, Mr. Kim.”

“Please speak comfortably. I feel uncomfortable.”

“What are you saying? Even though you’re young, you’re the new building owner, so I can’t do that.”

“Then do as you please. Anyway, how’s business these days?”

“It’s originally the off-season in winter, so it’s been tough these days.”

Yoon Ji-young’s face darkened, unlike before. It was probably because business was slow in the winter.

Hyunsung continued,

“I see? Then is there anything I can do to help you?”

“There’s only one thing. That is…”

Yoon Ji-young was just moving her lips and couldn’t continue.

Then Hyunsung chuckled.

He had been in business for over 20 years in his past life. When a tenant is having a hard time, there is only one thing they want from the building owner.

That’s the rent. Even if it’s just a little, if they reduce it even a little, there’s nothing more they could ask for. But that’s just a hope, and in reality, it’s always the opposite.

But now it’s different.

He’s not a tenant, but a building owner.

It’s what he had been hoping for in his past life.

Hyunsung looked at Yoon Ji-young and opened his mouth.

“Ms. Yoon, I…”