Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 655

A few days later.

Hyun-sung received a phone call.

“Hello.”

-Hey, Mr. Kim. How are you?

The caller was Yoo Young-chul, the president of the real estate office.

“Yes, President. What’s going on?”

-Are you free right now?

“Yes, I am. But what’s the matter?”

-I have a guest here.

“A guest?”

Hyun-sung tilted his head at the word ‘guest.’ The guest Yoo Young-chul was talking about must be someone who came to see Hyun-sung himself. That’s why he would have called.

The problem was why that guest didn’t come to see him directly and went to the real estate office.

“Do you know who it is?”

-You’ll know when you come. It’s nothing bad, so I’d like you to come here quickly…….

“Yes, I understand. I’ll go right away.”

Click.

Even after hanging up, Hyun-sung was still wondering. Why would they look for him at the real estate office instead of coming directly?

“I’ll know when I go.”

Hyun-sung left the store and headed to the real estate office.

A little later.

Hyun-sung arrived at the real estate office and went straight inside.

“Welcome, Mr. Kim.”

“Yes, but…….”

Hyun-sung was about to greet him but noticed the person sitting on the sofa. If Yoo Young-chul was telling the truth, the person who came to see him must be the person sitting on the sofa. After all, there was no one else in the office.

“Mr. Kim, why are you so surprised? Come this way.”

The person who spoke was not Yoo Young-chul but the person sitting on the sofa. Of course, that person was someone Hyun-sung already knew well.

“Oh, Elder!”

The person Hyun-sung called Elder was quite famous in this neighborhood.

His name is Kim Han-joong, he is over 70 years old, and he owns several commercial buildings.

Most of the commercial buildings in this neighborhood were bought by Hyun-sung, but he owns 5% of the remaining buildings, making him an influential person in this neighborhood.

In his previous life, Kim Han-joong was someone who never sold his buildings to construction companies until the end. So, from the beginning, Hyun-sung was giving up on those buildings. After all, he didn’t sell them in his previous life, so there was no way he would sell them this time.

“Are you the one who wanted to see me, Elder?”

“Yes, I asked to see Mr. Kim.”

Then Yoo Young-chul put a cup of coffee on the table where Hyun-sung was sitting and said,

“The Elder said he had something to confirm with you, so I called you here.”

“Confirm?”

Hyun-sung tilted his head at the word ‘confirm’ and looked at Kim Han-joong. Then Kim Han-joong smiled slightly and immediately opened his mouth.

“It’s nothing much, so you don’t need to be too nervous.”

He was more curious than nervous. He wondered what it was that he wanted to confirm with Hyun-sung.

Hyun-sung took a sip of coffee and opened his mouth.

“Elder, please tell me now. I’m honestly curious about what you want to confirm with me.”

“Alright, then I’ll ask you directly. Why are you buying up all the commercial buildings in this neighborhood?”

“Is that what you’re curious about, Elder?”

“Yes, no matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand it. In my opinion, this neighborhood doesn’t have that much investment value, but you’re buying up all the commercial buildings.”

Kim Han-joong’s expression was quite serious. That meant he had been seriously thinking about that part.

That’s why he came all the way to the real estate office to find Hyun-sung.

Hyun-sung seemed to think for a moment and then immediately opened his mouth.

“There are two purposes.”

“Two purposes?”

“Yes, that’s right. First of all, one of them is for investment purposes. You may think it’s not worth much, but my judgment is different.”

“Different? Does that mean Mr. Kim thinks it has investment value?”

That’s obvious.

The biggest advantage of this place is that it is close to Bupyeong Station. Moreover, in about 10 years, a subway station will be built in this neighborhood.

When that happens, the value of the buildings and land will naturally increase. He had already confirmed that in his previous life.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What’s the basis?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Hyun-sung couldn’t help it. It was information he knew because he had lived in the future. He didn’t think he needed to explain that to him.

“Hmm…….”

Kim Han-joong seemed to think for a moment and then immediately continued.

“Alright, that’s Mr. Kim’s judgment anyway, so I can’t force you to do that. Then what’s the second reason?”

“It’s because of the parking lot.”

“Huh? Parking lot? What are you talking about?”

“I want to prepare for the upcoming parking war in advance. In a few years…….”

Hyun-sung continued to explain about the parking war he had experienced in his previous life.

A little later.

After Hyun-sung’s explanation, Kim Han-joong immediately asked.

“So, Mr. Kim is buying up the buildings to prevent the parking war in this neighborhood?”

“Yes, that’s right. I think that’s the best way I can help this neighborhood right now.”

That’s true.

After all, construction companies are done once they build and sell the buildings. They don’t care if the people who buy them later fight with their neighbors over parking issues.

So, the method Hyun-sung chose was to build the buildings himself. That was the only way to solve the parking problem.

After Hyun-sung finished speaking, Kim Han-joong, who had been silent as if he was thinking for a while, suddenly started laughing.

“Hehehe…….”

Then he opened his mouth again.

“This is unexpected. I didn’t know Mr. Kim was so attached to this neighborhood. I didn’t know the reason for buying the buildings was ultimately for the future of this neighborhood…….”

Kim Han-joong’s words continued immediately.

“I was born here and have lived in this neighborhood for over 70 years. I didn’t know you would care more about this neighborhood than I do.”

“That’s not true. Of course, your heart is…….”

“No, honestly, even though I’ve lived in this neighborhood, I’ve never even thought about that. But you’re really amazing. You bought commercial buildings for that reason.”

Kim Han-joong couldn’t help but be surprised.

One day, he became curious about why one person was buying up all the buildings in the neighborhood. At the same time, he was also anxious. The reason was that the neighborhood could change completely depending on what that one person was thinking.

So, he held on to his buildings and persevered until the end. He thought that was the only way to protect the neighborhood.

But today, he realized that it was just his own delusion.

He smiled and continued.

“I’ve been misunderstanding you all this time.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“Yes, I thought you might harm our neighborhood in some way.”

“Me?”

“Yes, so I didn’t sell my buildings to you until the end. I thought that was the way for me to protect this neighborhood.”

That’s a new fact.

He didn’t know that Kim Han-joong wasn’t selling the buildings for that reason.

Kim Han-joong’s words continued again.

“Is buying up general houses for the same reason?”

“Yes, that’s right. In the future, this neighborhood will also have a villa boom [a period of rapid construction of villas or townhouses] like other places. If that happens, construction companies will only be busy building buildings. Of course, they will only create a certain percentage of parking spaces for the number of households. That’s the reality of the building code.”

“That’s right.”

“Then what will happen?”

“Hmm, that would be a parking war, just like Mr. Kim said.”

“I predict that every evening after work, you’ll have to drive around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes to park. Of course, in the end, the roadside will inevitably turn into a parking lot.”

It wasn’t a prediction but the actual scene from his previous life. Some people even sold their cars because of the parking problem.

“It’ll be quite a sight.”

“It’ll be a living hell.”

“A living hell…….”

Kim Han-joong seemed to think for a moment and then immediately opened his mouth.

“It’s a problem that can’t be solved until the building code changes.”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I stepped in myself.”

“You’re going to build the buildings yourself?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m going to create 100% parking spaces for the number of households, not only for commercial buildings but also for general villas.”

“Is that possible?”

Kim Han-joong tilted his head. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t help but think that it would be too much for an individual, not a company, to do that.

The biggest problem was money.

The key would be how much financial power this young friend had.

Kim Han-joong looked at Hyun-sung and carefully opened his mouth.

“Can I ask you one more question?”

“Yes, of course. Please speak.”

“If you build the buildings, how much money do you think it will cost?”

“I expect about 500 billion won [approximately $375 million USD].”

“500 billion?”

Kim Han-joong doubted his ears even as he heard it directly. 500 billion won was an unimaginable amount of money that came out of his mouth.

But the really important thing was this young friend’s ability. Whether he could handle that amount of money.

Kim Han-joong carefully asked again.

“By any chance… can you handle that 500 billion won?”

“Yes, of course.”

Hyun-sung’s answer came right away. It was so quick that Kim Han-joong’s careful question was almost embarrassing.

Of course, Kim Han-joong was surprised.

“You can handle that?”

“Yes, of course. If I wasn’t confident from the beginning, I wouldn’t have started.”

That’s obvious. He wouldn’t have started working without preparation.

But Kim Han-joong, who had no idea about Hyun-sung’s abilities, still had an expression of disbelief.

That’s when it happened.

President Yoo Young-chul, who had been quiet until now, looked at Kim Han-joong and opened his mouth.

“Mr. Kim is on a different level from the average person we think of.”

“Different? What do you mean?”

“I mean Mr. Kim is capable enough to do that. Of course, this is just my guess, but he probably has 3 or 4 trillion won [approximately $2.25 – $3 billion USD] in his account.”

“What? 3 or 4 trillion? Huh…….”

Kim Han-joong was so surprised that he couldn’t speak.

Was this even possible? That an individual could have trillions of won?

Kim Han-joong’s gaze turned to Hyun-sung. It was a meaning to ask him to confirm directly.

Hyun-sung couldn’t possibly not know that meaning.

Nod.

Hyun-sung nodded lightly to answer. Then Kim Han-joong’s pupils suddenly widened, and he immediately opened his mouth again.

“Mr. Kim, is that true?”

“It just happened that way. Anyway, I think it’s time for you to answer, Elder.”

“Me?”

“Yes, that’s right. I think there must have been a good reason why you called me all the way here, don’t you think?”

Hyun-sung thought that the reason he was called here was not just to confirm the reason for buying the buildings.

Kim Han-joong nodded and continued.

“That’s right, I also had a separate reason for calling Mr. Kim all the way here.”

“Yes, please tell me.”

“It’s this.”

Kim Han-joong handed a document envelope to Hyun-sung.

“What is this?”

“Mr. Kim, please check it yourself.”

Hyun-sung immediately checked the document envelope. Inside was a building register [official document listing property ownership] under Kim Han-joong’s name.

“This is……?”

“Yes, those are the buildings I have. I’ve been holding on to them because I misunderstood Mr. Kim, but from now on, I don’t think I need to do that. There aren’t many, but please use them for the development of this neighborhood in the future.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Now that I know Mr. Kim’s purpose, it’s okay. Of course, I’m sure Mr. Kim will take care of it, but I have one last request. This is where I was born and where I will finish. Please make this neighborhood a good place to live.”

“Yes, I understand. Elder!”

Hyun-sung bowed to Kim Han-joong.

In his previous life, Kim Han-joong stubbornly insisted until the end, so his building was excluded from development and remained like an eyesore.

Today was the moment when that problem was neatly resolved.