Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 596

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The next day.

“No, how could this…”

Lee Se-yi, who was watching TV, couldn’t help but be surprised. The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, who had confidently declared on TV until yesterday that there were no problems with South Korea’s finances, had just stepped down. News of a new Deputy Prime Minister being appointed had just been announced.

“Does this make sense?”

But what was even more surprising was something else: someone had already talked about what had just happened a day before.

They even mentioned the name of the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister accurately.

It was unbelievable unless a ghost had foreseen it.

After a moment of contemplation, Lee Se-yi started making a phone call.

– Hello.

“It’s me, CEO.”

The person Lee Se-yi called was none other than Hyun-sung. He was the very person who had predicted what had just appeared on TV the night before.

Lee Se-yi asked abruptly, “What’s going on?”

– What do you mean?

“Are you not watching TV right now?”

– No, I’m not. Is there something on TV?

“What you talked about last night is happening exactly as you said. I’m talking about the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. Just like you said, Kang Kyung-shik stepped down, and a person named Im Chang-ryeol became the Deputy Prime Minister.”

– Ah, yes…

For Hyun-sung, it was nothing to be surprised about. After all, it was something he already knew.

On the other hand, Lee Se-yi felt differently. She was dumbfounded by Hyun-sung’s response, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

“You don’t seem very surprised?”

– It’s because it’s something I already knew.

“I guess so… But really, what’s going on? How could you know that in advance? This doesn’t make sense!”

– It’s hard for me to explain right now. So, just know that it is what it is.

It was an inevitable answer for Hyun-sung. He couldn’t exactly talk about his past life in this situation.

However, Lee Se-yi’s position was different when she heard that.

“Are you really going to do this?”

– What?

“Aren’t you being too much? How can you answer like that? You should have just not said anything from the beginning. After creating this situation, you’re saying you can’t explain it now… Is it okay to ignore someone like this?”

– It’s not ignoring…

“If it’s not ignoring, then explain it to me. How did you know all of this in advance?”

– Uh, well…

Hyun-sung was at a loss.

The reason he had brought it up yesterday was to make cheaper bread, even if just a little, to ease the burden on people struggling due to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] crisis.

Even though he knew about the IMF crisis in advance, he couldn’t do anything personally, so he wanted to play a role in that way.

That’s why he had told Yoo Seung-il, who ran the bookstore, about it in advance.

But now there was a problem.

While Yoo Seung-il didn’t ask any further and offered to lower the rental fee, Lee Se-yi was now asking him to explain how he knew that fact in advance.

However, it wasn’t easy for Hyun-sung to explain the reason.

It was because it was something he had experienced in his past life. There was no way to explain it in any other way.

‘What should I do?’

After a moment of contemplation, Hyun-sung nodded as if he had made a decision and continued to speak.

– Then I’ll tell you. But you have to believe what I say, no matter what.

“Yes, I understand.”

– I’ve mentioned this before, but I sometimes have dreams. And they’re very unusual dreams.

Hyun-sung had no choice but to sell dreams again. After all, there was no other way to explain the current situation.

“Dreams?”

– Yes, I told you before that I had a dream where Soo-jung was crying and leaving this neighborhood, right?

“Yes, I remember. You said back then that you had a prophetic dream.”

– Yes, that’s right. I had another prophetic dream a few days ago. The content was…

Hyun-sung had no choice but to make up a dream he didn’t have. Hyun-sung also had no choice. He couldn’t explain the current situation without explaining it that way.

Finally, when Hyun-sung’s absurd explanation ended, Lee Se-yi immediately asked.

“So, you’re saying you saw all of this in a dream?”

– Yes, that’s right.

“And you want me to believe that?”

– I told you in advance. You have to believe what I say, no matter what. Otherwise, this problem won’t be solved.

That was true.

Of course, he knew it didn’t make sense, but if he didn’t get past it that way, there was no way to solve this problem.

“So, I have to believe it now?”

– Actually, that’s why I didn’t say it right away from the beginning. I was worried you wouldn’t believe me. But since you were getting angry, I had no choice but to tell you the truth.

“I’m going crazy. I can’t believe it, and I can’t not believe it…”

– Just believe it. Then everything will be easily resolved. The important thing isn’t the prophetic dream, but the things that will happen in the future.

That was Hyun-sung’s purpose. It didn’t matter if it was a dream or not; he wanted to talk about what would happen in the future and take even small actions, even if they couldn’t be called solutions.

However, Lee Se-yi couldn’t easily answer.

Then Hyun-sung spoke again first.

– Where did the person you were calling go? Why aren’t you saying anything?

“Just a moment, let me think about it.”

– What is there to think about? It’s already going the way I said it would, isn’t it?

“Um… okay. Since the situation has already turned out like this, let’s just say that’s how it is. So, what happens now?”

Lee Se-yi had no choice either. Whether the dream was true or not, the situation had already unfolded like this.

– Didn’t I already tell you yesterday?

“That South Korea will go bankrupt? In three days, no, one day has passed, so in two days, the government will officially announce that fact?”

– Yes, that’s right. They will announce it at 10 o’clock. And it won’t be during the day, but at night.”

“What? At 10 PM?”

– Yes, that’s how urgent the situation is. The newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs will officially announce the fact that they are requesting an IMF bailout at 10 PM. It’s like a nuclear bomb is dropping on the South Korean economy.”

“Then what happens now?”

– The official final negotiation results will come out on the 3rd of next month. From then on, our economic sovereignty will be handed over to the IMF. There will be massive restructuring in companies. Of course, there will be a huge number of unemployed people.”

A terrifying wave of layoffs that he never wanted to imagine again was coming.

As public corporations were privatized, 20% of the total workforce in the public sector would be reduced, and general companies would follow suit by implementing voluntary retirement and early retirement programs, leading to large-scale layoffs.

People who were working fine would become unemployed overnight.

“That’s scary.”

– It is scary. For those affected, it will be pure terror.

“So, that’s why you asked if you could make cheaper bread, right?”

– Yes, that’s right. Since I can’t stop the IMF crisis itself, I wanted to help those who are struggling, even if it’s just a little.”

Hyun-sung had no choice either. He wanted to stop the IMF crisis itself if he could, but since that was impossible, he hoped to help unemployed families even in this way.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll make 500-won bread as you said. But I don’t know how much that will actually help those people.”

– I think it will help even a little. When people are struggling, even 100 won [Korean currency] is precious. I will also lower the video rental fee. And Yoo, who runs the bookstore, has also decided to lower the rental fee.”

“Are there any other places?”

– All the video stores in this neighborhood have agreed to do that, but I haven’t told other places. This isn’t a big deal, but since it’s related to money, it’s not easy.”

“I guess so… Yes, I understand. I’ll participate first. By the way, it’s really amazing. That you have such dreams.”

– I feel the same way.

Since Hyun-sung had already lied once, he had no choice but to lie until the end.

“Hey, can I ask you one more thing?”

– Yes, of course.

“Who will be the president this time? I don’t know if you dreamed about this too, but…”

– Yes, of course, I did. It will be DJ [Kim Dae-jung].”

“Really?”

– Yes, that’s what I saw in my dream. It seems that the disappointment in the current regime due to this IMF crisis will be reflected in the vote.”

“I guess that could be the case. Anyway, it’s really amazing. That you have such dreams…”

Lee Se-yi exchanged a few more words and then hung up the phone.

Two days later.

As Hyun-sung had said, the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Im Chang-ryeol, made a national announcement at 10 PM on the 21st. Of course, the content was that they were officially applying for an IMF bailout.

It was the moment when the suffering of countless people due to the IMF crisis began.

At that time.

Another person was watching TV.

“How could this happen…”

Moon Hee-yeol was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t speak.

Several months ago, he had heard a strange story from Hyun-sung, the owner of the video store. It was that a nuclear bomb would drop on the South Korean economy on November 21st.

It was that a foreign exchange crisis would come.

He had heard that story several months ago. But just now, that story had come true. They were officially applying for an IMF bailout.

After thinking for a moment, Moon Hee-yeol immediately picked up the phone and called Hyun-sung.

The phone rang twice before the other person answered.

– Hello.

“Kim, it’s me.”

– Oh? Hee-yeol hyung [older brother/friend], what’s going on at this hour?

“Did you watch TV?”

– Yes, I did. The national announcement, right?

“Yeah, how the hell did this happen?”

– I already told you, didn’t I? That today was the day.

“Of course, I remember that, but I never thought it would actually happen.”

That was true. When he heard that story several months ago, he had doubted it. But that thing had actually happened.

– How’s your factory, hyung?

“It’s hanging by a thread. I tried not to trade bills [promissory notes] as much as possible after hearing you, but that’s not possible in reality.”

– So?

“I did reduce them, but the bills I received kept bouncing. Two bounced just yesterday. The good thing is that we minimized the issuance of bills.”

The story he had heard from Hyun-sung several months ago was to minimize the bill transactions themselves. If a foreign exchange crisis broke out, bankruptcies would occur like dominoes, so he should prepare in advance.

– The critical point will be in January. So, you need to be even more careful from now on.”

“That’s true. The due date for the bills we issued is the most in January.”

– And you can sell the dollars you bought last time in early January. You can use that money to pay the bills.”

“Yeah, I was thinking of doing that anyway. By the way, do you have time after work today?”

– Today?

“Yeah, if you’re okay, let’s meet at the gamjatang [spicy pork bone stew] restaurant after work. I have something to say.”

– Yes, I understand. I’ll see you there after work.”

Click.

As Hyun-sung hung up the phone, his employee, Lee Myung-hoon, immediately asked as if he had been waiting.

“CEO, what will happen to our country in the future?”

“It will be very difficult. Not only for individual business owners but also for people who are paid a salary, there will be a lot of forced layoffs.”

“Forced?”

“Yes, the IMF will demand massive restructuring as a condition for lending money.”

That was obvious. They wouldn’t just lend money for nothing.

“And you said you were going to get another store?”

“Yeah, the real estate agent said they would contact me within 2 or 3 days, so I’ll be hearing from them soon.”

“What kind of business will you do in that store?”

“Business? It’s not a business. I’m going to do something else.”

“What? You’re not going to do business?”

Lee Myung-hoon tilted his head.

Two days ago, he had heard from Hyun-sung that he was going to get another store nearby. So, he thought he was going to open another store.

But when he asked what kind of business he was going to do, he said he wasn’t going to do business.

If he wasn’t going to do business, what was he going to do?

Lee Myung-hoon immediately asked out of curiosity.

“If you’re not going to do business, what are you going to do?”

“A free sharing store.”

“A free sharing store? Do you mean you’re going to give something away for free?”

“That’s right. I’m going to provide food for people who have lost their jobs due to the IMF crisis.”

In his past life, he was so preoccupied with his own problems that he couldn’t do anything even when the IMF crisis broke out. But now it was different from then, so he wanted to help those people in any way he could. So, he chose a free sharing store.

“Will that be properly managed? If people know it’s free, everyone will come and try to take everything.”

“Of course, there may be people like that, but most people won’t be like that.”

“Well, I wonder if that’s true…”

Lee Myung-hoon slowly shook his head. No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think it would be easy to manage.

“Of course, it won’t be easy. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. In that sense, you have to help me.”

“How can I help?”

“You’re going to run that store with me. How about it? Can you do it?”

“Of course, I’ll do it if you tell me to, but I wonder if that will actually work…”

Lee Myung-hoon still tilted his head as if he wasn’t confident.

To be honest, Hyun-sung wasn’t sure either. There’s even a saying that ‘if it’s free, people will even drink poison.’

But he couldn’t just do nothing, so he made a decision after much deliberation.

Hyun-sung was also curious about whether the free sharing store would be run well.