Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 528

530

Back to Being a Landlord

“Did you call me?”

Hyun-sung stopped, turning back to Yoo Seung-il.

Yoo Seung-il nodded slightly, as if acknowledging, and then spoke.

“Let me ask you just one thing.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“By any chance… have you ever run a rental store before?”

“Well…”

Hyun-sung trailed off, pausing to consider how to answer. But his hesitation didn’t last long.

After all, he couldn’t talk about his past life here.

Hyun-sung answered directly.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Is that true?”

“Why? Does it not seem like it?”

“That’s…”

Yoo Seung-il started to say something but swallowed his words. His earlier actions had seemed so professional that he had stopped Hyun-sung, but now, trying to confirm it again, he felt pathetic.

Besides, the head office had already investigated him.

A newbie!

That was the head office’s conclusion. They had reinvestigated just in case, but the final verdict was that he definitely had no rental store experience.

They also suggested that someone around him might be helping him. Otherwise, he couldn’t be running the store so skillfully.

“Hmph… Alright, go.”

With a flick of his hand, Yoo Seung-il dismissed Hyun-sung, signaling him to leave.

Whatever the reason, Hyun-sung was his opponent in the war that was starting today. He didn’t want to keep him here, talking, as it would hurt his pride.

Smirk.

Hyun-sung looked at Yoo Seung-il and chuckled lightly, understanding his feelings to some extent.

Hyun-sung turned to leave but then looked back at Yoo Seung-il.

“Let me say one more thing.”

“…?”

“You’ve lived a long life, so you should know. A person should know when to step down.”

“What, step down?”

“Think about it. Why I’m saying this.”

With another flick of his hand, Yoo Seung-il impatiently gestured for him to leave.

But Hyun-sung, showing no intention of leaving, turned and continued speaking.

“I guess you don’t understand. Then let me say one more thing. Now is the time you’ll regret it the least.”

“Regret it the least? What does that mean?”

“Yes, closing the store. Now is your last chance.”

“What are you talking about?”

“From now on, the more time passes, the more your losses will snowball.”

“Ha…”

Yoo Seung-il scoffed, then immediately retorted.

“You’re young, so you speak too…”

“Actually, you were planning to start dumping prices at a thousand won [approximately one US dollar] first, right?”

Hyun-sung interrupted Yoo Seung-il, bringing up the dumping issue first. He wanted to make it clear that he had the upper hand.

“Huh? How did you know…?”

“You probably even had flyers printed but couldn’t distribute them because of me. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

“Since you’re not answering, I’ll take that as a yes.”

In his past life, Yoo Seung-il had plastered the neighborhood with those flyers three days before opening. Even now, thinking about it made him shudder. Back then, those flyers were terrifying.

How could they not be?

His sales had been cut in half overnight because of those flyers.

Yoo Seung-il reacted again.

“So, you started dumping prices first because of that?”

“Do you remember?”

“Huh? What?”

“I think I clearly told you before. I might get fooled once, but not twice.”

Yoo Seung-il stared blankly at Hyun-sung.

Of course, he remembered.

It was what Hyun-sung had said when he came out while Yoo Seung-il was looking at the banner in front of his store. That statement had been incomprehensible to him.

What on earth did it mean?

Of course, he still couldn’t understand it now.

“What are you even talking about…?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if you died and came back to life. Anyway, just think about when you first came to this neighborhood. You came here to destroy the commercial district and monopolize it, right?”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence as an admission. There’s a saying called ‘what goes around comes around.’ You’ve lived long enough, so I don’t need to explain what that means. You were going to dump prices first, so I just did it first. Don’t blame me.”

“…”

Yoo Seung-il was speechless.

Then Hyun-sung spoke again.

“I clearly told you. Now is the time to quit with the least losses. So, everything that happens from now on is the result of your choice.”

“Alright, I got it, so just…”

“I guess there’s no helping it. Fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll do it that way. Well, look forward to what happens, and I’ll be going now…”

Hyun-sung opened the door to leave but spoke one last time.

“Ah! This is the very last thing I’m going to say, but don’t ever trust those head office bastards. Then…”

With those words, Hyun-sung turned and left Movie Heart.

Even after saying all this, not much would change. But he had given the advice about the head office as a final act of goodwill.

He did so because of Yoo Seung-il’s last action in his past life.

In his past life, Yoo Seung-il had endured for four years before finally deciding to relocate. On the night of that decision, Yoo Seung-il had come to see him, having heard about it from somewhere.

His last words were, “I’m sorry.”

He said he had no choice but to do what he did to survive.

I’m sorry!

That one phrase had come to mind as he was about to walk out the door. So, before leaving, he had given the final piece of advice about the head office.

Now, he felt no emotion towards Yoo Seung-il. From now on, all that remained was to repay him for what he had suffered in his past life.

“Heh heh!”

Hyun-sung, having left Movie Heart, started walking again.

Yoo Seung-il was left alone.

‘Don’t trust those head office bastards…’

Yoo Seung-il mulled over Hyun-sung’s last words.

Come to think of it, he had been frustrated by the head office more than once.

At first, when signing the contract, there had been none of that. But as soon as he signed the contract and deposited the money, he could definitely feel their attitude change.

Especially the interior construction, which tested the limits of his patience.

The workers were a problem, but what was even more infuriating was Director Park Sun-woo’s words.

He would constantly bring up the penalty clause as a condition of the contract, subtly pressuring them as if they were in a superior position.

Swish.

Yoo Seung-il looked around the store.

As that kid had said, all the walls were filled with video shelves. But they hadn’t even renovated the ceiling.

Yoo Seung-il’s gaze turned to the floor.

Tap, tap!

He stomped hard on the floor.

It was decorative tile. Just apply glue and stick it on.

Fifty *pyeong* [approximately 1,800 square feet]? No matter how carefully you laid it, it would be finished in a day.

“What on earth did they do for 20 days? Ha…!”

Yoo Seung-il let out a dumbfounded laugh.

His gaze then turned to the videos on the shelves.

Exactly 82,000 videos. 80,000 had been brought in on the first day, and 2,000 had been urgently brought in by the head office yesterday, saying they were essential. Of course, he had immediately deposited the 5 million won [Korean currency] for those videos.

“They pocketed 50 million won?”

That was what that kid had said earlier. But there was another person who had said the same thing. Someone who claimed to be a used video dealer had said something similar to that kid.

He said that this many videos would be enough for 30 million won.

But the head office had taken 80 million won.

So, in the end…

“Hoo…!”

Yoo Seung-il sighed deeply after thinking for a moment.

Thirty minutes later.

“Those bad bastards!”

As soon as Yoo Seung-il returned home, curses burst from his mouth.

Han Mi-sook, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, turned around and immediately asked.

“Why are you cursing like that from the morning?”

“It’s those head office guys.”

“The head office? Why? Did they say something from the morning?”

“No, it’s not that, but it seems like we’ve been scammed.”

“We’ve been scammed? What are you talking about?”

“Actually, a little while ago…”

Yoo Seung-il began to explain what had happened at the store earlier. As his explanation continued, Han Mi-sook’s expression grew darker and darker. And finally, when his explanation ended, she immediately asked.

“That kid said that?”

“Yeah, but the more I think about it, it doesn’t seem like nonsense.”

“How would that kid know that?”

“I don’t know about that, but when I put the situation together, it seems very likely. As you know, even the interior…”

Yoo Seung-il’s words grew longer again. When his explanation ended, Han Mi-sook seemed to think for a moment, then immediately spoke.

“So, in the end, out of the total 200 million won we paid, about 130 million won went into their pockets?”

“It seems like it.”

“No way? No matter how you look at it, not that much…”

Han Mi-sook tilted her head. No matter how she thought about it, she didn’t think it would be that much.

Then Yoo Seung-il’s words continued.

“Actually, someone came last night too.”

“Who was it?”

“He said he was a used video dealer.”

“And? What did he say?”

“He looked at the videos for about 10 minutes and said that this much stuff would be enough for about 30 million won.”

“How much money did we spend on the videos in total?”

“Exactly 80 million won, including the 5 million won for the videos that the head office brought yesterday.”

“We spent 80 million won, and the videos are worth about 30 million won, so in the end…”

The two people’s eyes met in the air, and they both shook their heads from side to side as if they had made a promise.

After a while.

Han Mi-sook spoke first.

“That can’t be. No matter how you look at it, they wouldn’t pocket 50 million won out of 80 million won…”

“Right? This doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“Of course, that used dealer was just saying things.”

“Then, what about that kid?”

“That’s obvious.”

“Obvious?”

Yoo Seung-il looked at Han Mi-sook as if he didn’t understand.

Then Han Mi-sook immediately spoke.

“It’s taunting.”

“Taunting?”

“Yes, as you know, the head office concluded that he’s a newbie. How would a kid like that know the proper price of videos? Don’t you think?”

“So, you’re saying he said that to taunt me on purpose?”

“Of course, now that we have to fight each other from today, he’s just trying to get on our nerves. In my opinion, it’s definitely a ploy to separate us from the head office.”

“A ploy…”

Yoo Seung-il seemed to think for a moment, then nodded and immediately spoke.

“So, that’s why he said that to me at the end.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me not to trust the head office. I thought he said that for my sake, but now that I hear what you’re saying, it’s the opposite. That rascal…”

“From the kid’s perspective, the head office is the most frightening. Anyway, it’s clear that he’s not an ordinary kid. In that sense, let’s keep our wits about us. Now, hurry up and wash up and come out for breakfast.”

“I guess I have to. Hoo… That rascal!”

Yoo Seung-il headed to the bathroom.

Thus, Yoo Seung-il and Han Mi-sook rejected even the last act of goodwill that Hyun-sung had shown.

***

“Yes, then I’ll take that as understood and hang up. Let me say again, Movie Heart is opening today, so you need to work harder to avoid losing your regulars.”

-Yes, I understand. But do you really think Movie Heart will leave this neighborhood in six months?

“They definitely will.”

-No matter how I think about it…

“Don’t worry and just trust me. I’ll make sure it happens. So, just trust me and hold on for six more months.”

-Yes, I understand. Still, I’m so glad that Director Kim is here. If it weren’t for you…

The nearby rental store owner’s words grew longer. She must have been very worried. In his past life, they had actually closed down in less than a year.

“Hoo…”

Hyun-sung sighed deeply after finishing his calls with the owners of the five nearby rental stores.

Their concerns were all about Movie Heart’s withdrawal.

Whether they could really make them leave the neighborhood within six months.

There had been no case anywhere in the country where Movie Heart had been pushed out by existing stores, so it was natural for them to worry.

Moreover, Movie Heart had the backing of the head office, so it was even more so.

But Hyun-sung knew.

That they, too, were helpless in the face of overwhelming capital.

“Heh heh!”

Today was finally the first battle with Movie Heart.

Was that why?

A strange smile spread across Hyun-sung’s face. It was a smile that seemed to enjoy the battle, even feeling relaxed.