Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 555

“That crazy bastard!”

The moment Hyun-sung left the store, those words burst from Yoo Seung-il’s mouth.

Running the biggest restaurant in Korea, yet claiming his video store was for meeting his wife and because of me? It was absurd.

His wife was irrelevant to me, so that was beside the point. The problem was the second reason.

What’s even more ridiculous is that he’s retaliating for what I did to him in a past life. Does that even make sense? No wonder I blurted out ‘crazy bastard’ the moment he left.

“Whatever….”

Such nonsense doesn’t matter anyway.

The real issue isn’t why he runs the video store, but that I have to compete with someone making over 600 million won [approximately $450,000 USD] in pure profit daily. That’s the core problem.

This morning, I heard from Yoo Young-chul, the real estate agent, that Hyun-sung was running a restaurant, and I couldn’t believe it. The restaurant is supposedly the biggest in Korea, so of course, I couldn’t believe it.

That’s why I met Hyun-sung to confirm it myself.

And now, the unbelievable has become reality.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

This is a losing game. How can I compete with someone making over 600 million won in pure profit every day?

I’ve barely managed to survive by charging 500 won [approximately $0.37 USD] for rentals, but if the price drops any further, I won’t be able to hold on.

And it seems that day is fast approaching.

Because of what Hyun-sung said before he left.

The fight starts now.

“Haaah…!”

Yoo Seung-il couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

***

“Honey, come here for a second….”

Returning home, Yoo Seung-il called his wife, Han Mi-sook. There was no point in hiding it, and it seemed like they needed to open up and discuss everything.

Meanwhile, Han Mi-sook, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, felt her heart sink. She had been worried sick since he left early in the morning, wondering if something was wrong. Being called as soon as he got back meant something had happened.

Han Mi-sook sat at the dining table, trying to stay calm.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Actually, I met that friend from Cinema Paradise a little while ago.”

“This early in the morning?”

“Yeah, there was something I needed to confirm.”

“Confirm? Confirm what?”

Han Mi-sook couldn’t help but feel nervous at the word ‘confirm.’ Confirming something meant it was the final stage of some issue.

Just then, Yoo Seung-il placed a newspaper he was holding on the table and said,

“Take a look at this.”

“What’s this?”

Han Mi-sook glanced at the newspaper Yoo Seung-il handed her. It featured a cherry blossom festival announcement with the phrase ‘largest in Korea’ and a photo of a restaurant.

But what was strange was that the ad was already a month old.

Han Mi-sook immediately asked,

“Why are you showing me this? And from the looks of it, the date is already a month old….”

“That all belongs to that friend.”

“Huh? That friend?”

“Yeah, Kim, the owner of Cinema Paradise.”

“Huh? No, what….”

Han Mi-sook was utterly dumbfounded.

It was an unbelievable story. Not just a small restaurant, but the largest in the country, belonging to that kid?

Han Mi-sook stared intently at Yoo Seung-il, signaling for more explanation.

Yoo Seung-il continued,

“Actually, I went out early this morning to confirm that. I know Kim always exercises at that time.”

“So that kid—wait, come to think of it, you’re not calling him ‘kid’ today?”

“I don’t think I should call him that anymore….”

“Okay, fine. Anyway, that’s not important right now. So, you’re saying that this restaurant here belongs to Kim, the owner of Cinema Paradise?”

Han Mi-sook pointed to the restaurant in the newspaper.

Yoo Seung-il nodded in response.

“Yeah, that ad is from him, and that 1 million pyeong [approximately 3.3 million square meters] cherry blossom area and the seven-story restaurant in the picture all belong to him.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, it is. Actually, before I left work yesterday….”

Yoo Seung-il began to explain everything that had happened. As his explanation continued, Han Mi-sook’s face grew paler and paler.

At one point, Han Mi-sook suddenly clutched her chest with both hands. Her chronic heart condition had flared up.

Seeing this, Yoo Seung-il jumped up from his seat and headed to the bedroom.

“Take this quickly.”

Yoo Seung-il held a white pill in his hand. He seemed to have anticipated this to some extent.

About five minutes passed.

Han Mi-sook, having regained her senses, barely managed to speak again.

“Does that… make sense?”

“Don’t talk now. Rest for a bit….”

“No, I’m okay now. But how could such a thing happen? This doesn’t make sense!”

“That’s why I went to confirm it myself.”

“And that kid admitted it was his?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“……”

Han Mi-sook was speechless.

She had actually asked Park Sun-woo, the director at headquarters, to investigate the kid’s background two months ago. Of course, she had immediately transferred the 3 million won [approximately $2,250 USD] investigation fee.

But she still hadn’t heard back.

She had called several times, but they kept repeating that they were still looking into it, without any other updates.

And today, his entire identity was revealed.

Han Mi-sook cautiously spoke again.

“Do you happen to know how much the restaurant makes in sales?”

This might be the most important part. His financial power could be assessed based on that.

Yoo Seung-il immediately replied,

“Over 200 billion won [approximately $150 million USD] a year.”

“200 billion won?”

“But the important thing is that 200 billion is net profit, not sales. Sales are naturally double that.”

“……”

Han Mi-sook had nothing more to say.

200 billion in net profit alone?

It was an unimaginable amount. That’s why she couldn’t say anything.

Yoo Seung-il was equally speechless. The two of them sat in silence for a long time.

About ten minutes passed.

Han Mi-sook spoke first.

“So, what’s the biggest problem right now?”

“The rental fees. If they go any lower, we’re done for. But I’m worried about what that friend said at the end.”

“What did he say?”

“He said the fight starts now. I don’t know what that means, but I think it can only mean one thing.”

“The rental fees?”

“Right, one hit with that and we’re….”

Yoo Seung-il couldn’t bring himself to say the next words.

Then Han Mi-sook spoke again.

“What about headquarters….”

“What do those bastards know?”

Yoo Seung-il cursed as soon as the topic of headquarters came up. He immediately continued,

“What have those guys even done? Honestly, now that I’m saying it, those bastards have taken a whopping 40 million won [approximately $30,000 USD] from us over the past three months. But what have they actually done?”

Yoo Seung-il continued, agitated.

“And they didn’t even know the sales figures for Cinema Paradise last time. No, now that I think about it, I think they might have deliberately deceived us.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Think about it, even if it’s just in name, it’s still the headquarters of Movie Heart, so wouldn’t they have that much information? I just let it go at the time, but maybe this was all that guy’s plan from the start.”

“That guy?”

“That bastard, Park Sun-woo, the director!”

Yoo Seung-il’s voice was full of force. That meant he was very angry right now. He continued,

“In the end, it seems like those guys’ goal wasn’t us from the start.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was money from the beginning. We were just cash cows providing the money. Now that I think about it, it seems like everything that friend Hyun-sung said was right. And….”

Yoo Seung-il began to vent his pent-up frustrations as if he had made up his mind. As his story grew longer, Han Mi-sook began to nod in agreement.

And finally, when Yoo Seung-il finished speaking, Han Mi-sook immediately continued,

“Actually, I also asked them to investigate that kid’s background two months ago.”

“What, investigate?”

“Yes, I was curious, and if we’re going to compete, we need to know how strong the opponent is.”

“Did you give them money too?”

“3 million won [approximately $2,250 USD].”

“3 million?”

Yoo Seung-il was dumbfounded at the mention of 3 million won. It wasn’t like they were catching someone in an affair; they were just briefly investigating a regular person, and they took 3 million won?

“Now that I think about it, I think I did something really stupid. I was just curious at the time….”

“Was it that bastard?”

“Yes, Director Park.”

“That bat-like bastard, he has to leech off even something like that?”

“But that’s….”

Han Mi-sook’s voice suddenly grew smaller. Yoo Seung-il immediately asked,

“Why? What else is there?”

“No, it’s not that, but actually, I gave that money first, not because Director Park asked for it….”

“So, you’re saying Director Park didn’t ask for that 3 million won first?”

“Yes, I just assumed that’s how much it would cost….”

“What does that matter?”

“Huh?”

Han Mi-sook stared at Yoo Seung-il with a surprised expression. She couldn’t understand exactly what he meant.

Yoo Seung-il continued,

“That bastard is the bad guy for taking all 3 million won when I offered it. What kind of big investigation requires that much money? Right?”

“Now that I think about it, that’s true too. It’s not like he’s doing anything illegal. Especially when he’s advertising in the newspaper like this….”

“So, those guys are just a bunch of money-grubbers. We’ve been trusting those guys and leaving the store to them all this time. And maybe those guys already knew that Kim was running a restaurant.”

“Surely not?”

“It’s not ‘surely not,’ those guys are capable of anything. That’s why they did the entrusted management for three months, trying to squeeze us dry. I knew it….”

Yoo Seung-il’s words grew longer. That meant he had a lot of complaints about headquarters.

After a while,

Han Mi-sook asked,

“So, what are you going to do with headquarters from now on?”

“We shouldn’t be fooled anymore.”

“Are you sure it’ll be okay?”

“It’s all or nothing now anyway.”

Yoo Seung-il bit his lower lip tightly. It was an expression of his determination not to be fooled twice.

But there was something Yoo Seung-il didn’t know. Headquarters wouldn’t let him go so easily.

***

Click.

Director Park Sun-woo’s expression twisted.

Seeing this, Chairman Min Hong-shik immediately asked,

“Who were you talking to that made you look so bad?”

“Yoo, the owner of Bupyeong.”

“Why Yoo?”

“It seems he’s caught on. He says he won’t do the entrusted management anymore.”

“Hmm….”

Chairman Min Hong-shik was silent, as if deep in thought.

After a moment,

He spoke again.

“Did he say anything else?”

“He asked about that kid.”

“What did he say?”

“He heard a strange rumor.”

“A strange rumor? What is it?”

“He mentioned a restaurant. Then he asked if headquarters knew anything about it.”

“And?”

“Of course, I said I didn’t know. Yoo shouldn’t know about that anyway.”

“And then?”

Chairman Min Hong-shik’s eyes gleamed particularly brightly. That meant it would be troublesome if Yoo Seung-il of Bupyeong found out about that fact.

“He said something ridiculous.”

“Something ridiculous? What is it?”

“He asked what the reason for headquarters’ existence was. Then he said he couldn’t do the entrusted management anymore.”

“Heh, so you’re saying Yoo dared to ignore us?”

The expression on Chairman Min Hong-shik’s face was clearly one of amusement. Park Sun-woo, who was listening, felt the same way.

“That’s the result. So, I’m thinking of taking this opportunity to teach him the reason for headquarters’ existence.”

“How?”

“Leave it to me. A guy like that just needs….”

It was the moment when one corner of Park Sun-woo’s mouth twisted severely. Seeing that, Chairman Min Hong-shik also seemed to get the gist and began to wear a bitter smile.

Only Yoo Seung-il, who knew nothing, was to be pitied.