Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 115

The conversation with Kyung-wan continued quite late.

Woo-jin, of course, knew the clear answer, but he needed quite a few excuses to explain it indirectly to Kyung-wan.

So, after a discussion that lasted until almost eleven o’clock at night, Woo-jin presented his solution.

It was a conclusion he had thought about carefully.

Woo-jin leaned forward, tapping the table for emphasis. “First, we need a big marketing campaign. We must try everything to sell all the apartments. No unsold units, remember?”

Kyung-wan nodded slowly. “Marketing, yes. That’s the obvious first step.”

“But what if marketing isn’t enough?” Woo-jin continued, his voice dropping slightly. “What if we still have unsold apartments at the end? Then, our group of companies needs to agree that Chunwoong will take responsibility for them.”

Kyung-wan’s eyebrows shot up. “Chunwoong *takes them on*? You mean… buys them?” He frowned, thinking hard.

“Exactly,” Woo-jin confirmed. “The association members – they don’t care about unsold apartments. They just want to pay less extra money, right? Less ‘additional contributions’ as they call it.”

“Right,” Kyung-wan agreed, still looking a little worried. “They just want to keep their costs down.”

Woo-jin took a deep breath and summarized his plan in a calm voice. “So, when we set the rules for the bidding war, we will say we must sell the apartments for a certain price or more. This will cover the building costs.”

Woo-jin tapped the table with his index finger.

“We will do our best to prevent unsold units, but if there are inevitably any remaining units, we will specify in the contract that Chunwoong will somehow take care of them all.”

“You’re going to specify that in the contract?”

“What’s the point if it’s not written in the contract? I think the construction company will definitely change its mind later.”

“That’s true.”

“There are actually many dishonest construction companies.”

“Hmm…”

Deep lines were etched on Kyung-wan’s forehead. *This is risky,* he thought. *But it could also be brilliant.*

If they did as Woo-jin said, they could definitely make up for the disadvantage in the bidding war.

The design is as luxurious as possible, and the construction company bears most of the construction cost risk, so there is no reconstruction association that would refuse.

It is even a way to turn the disadvantage into an advantage that would make them choose Chunwoong.

However, the problem with this is whether Chunwoong can bear the risk.

Kyung-wan said again, his voice tight. “Our company’s financial condition is good, but… if dozens of units are left unsold, I’ll have to resign immediately, you rascal.”

“We have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Woo-jin replied confidently.

“It’s easy for you to say, since it’s someone else’s problem?”

Woo-jin leaned forward, his eyes bright with enthusiasm. “Don’t worry. If there are unsold units, I’ll be the first to snap up about five of them.”

At Woo-jin’s answer, Kyung-wan looked dumbfounded.

It’s not just an ordinary apartment, but a premium apartment in the best location in Gangnam, the most expensive area in Seoul, like Beverly Hills in Los Angeles or Mayfair in London. He couldn’t help but doubt his ears when he said he would take five of them.

“What? Five units?”

But Woo-jin went even further.

“I’ll take about ten units under the name of WJ Studio Corporation and five units under my personal name. How about that?”

Woo-jin’s incredible story, which was hard to tell whether it was a joke or serious.

“Do you even know how much the sale price is?” Kyung-wan asked hesitantly.

“You can buy them as long as you have a 10 percent down payment anyway, right? The interim payment will be an interest-free loan.”

But Woo-jin was serious.

‘The sale price will be about 1.3 billion won (approximately $1 million USD) based on 34 pyeong (about 113 square meters or 1200 square feet). Then the down payment will be 130 million won per unit, so even if I buy ten units, it’s only 1.3 billion won… which is the price of one unit. The general sale will be in the summer of next year at the earliest, so it’s definitely possible to make about 1.3 billion won by then.’

Woo-jin thought this was a stroke of genius in some ways.

By 2015, the premium apartments with Han River views in Cheongdam-dong will be up to at least 1.7 billion won.

So, if you leave 400 million won per unit, you’ll earn 4 billion won for ten units.

It’s an amazing investment opportunity where you can tie up 1.3 billion won and get 4 billion won.

The interim payment and final payment that must be paid when completed can be mostly resolved by renting out the units.

The sale price is 1.3 billion won now, but around 2013-2014, when it is completed, the lease price alone will be well over 1 billion won.

And one more thing.

If you contract for unsold apartments, they are not included in the number of houses and you can get various tax benefits, such as exemption from capital gains tax.

From the government’s point of view, it’s like becoming a good investor who solves the troublesome unsold units.

It’s good for Chunwoong to reduce the risk, it’s good for Woo-jin to make money.

It’s good for the members of the association to reduce additional contributions.

And it doesn’t hurt anyone…

It’s a perfect proposal that everyone can smile at.

Of course, it looked like Woo-jin was taking a huge loss right away, but…

“Hey, you don’t have to go that far,” Kyung-wan said, surprised.

“Go that far?” Woo-jin asked, tilting his head.

“You don’t have to share that much risk.”

Woo-jin chuckled. “Risk? It’s an investment.”

“What?”

Woo-jin pointed to the map he had spread out in advance while talking to Kyung-wan.

“This place. As I said before, it’s the best location in Cheongdam-dong that’s hard to find again. You’ll get a proper Han River view, top-notch surrounding infrastructure, and the Kyunggi High School district to the south… It’s a bit far from the station, but that’s not a big flaw in Cheongdam-dong, not to this extent.”

“So?”

“I see Cheongdam Seonyeong, no, Cheongdam Clio, at least double in exactly 10 years.”

“Double…? Then 2.6 billion won?!”

“I honestly see it going up to 3 billion won, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Crazy…” Kyung-wan muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Woo-jin spoke as if he was predicting it, but it was true that the price of a 30-pyeong unit in Cheongdam Artia Riverview, which was originally built here, was 3 billion won in 2020.

So, Woo-jin was just talking about what he knew.

‘If Chunwoong builds it with my design and the Clio brand… it’ll be a more luxurious design than Artia… It wouldn’t be strange if it went up even higher than 3 billion won.’

I don’t know what the liquid assets of Woo-jin and WJ Studio will be in the future, but it’s an investment that’s worth holding for 10 years if possible.

But unlike Woo-jin, Kyung-wan, who doesn’t know the future, couldn’t help but lose his words at his bold words.

Woo-jin added a few words to him.

“Of course, you can just think of what I said as an additional option.”

Kyung-wan still had a confused expression, but Woo-jin continued calmly.

“First of all, Chunwoong should win the bidding war even if it means bearing the increased construction costs, and put the Clio brand in the middle of Cheongdam-dong… You can put the plan I suggested in the construction contract.”

Silence for a moment.

Kyung-wan, lost in thought, was mulling over Woo-jin’s story in his head, and Woo-jin waited quietly until his worries were over.

Kyung-wan thought this was a very unconventional proposal, but at the same time, it was quite tempting.

‘Yeah. Rather than just bearing the construction costs, it would be a much better option to raise the sale price and bear the costs in the form of taking responsibility for the unsold units. Maybe I can even persuade the CEO…’

Woo-jin said that he would take more than ten unsold units, but he just thought it was an empty word to emphasize that he was that confident.

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed too crazy to take it seriously.

Kyung-wan’s mouth slowly opened again after he finished thinking.

“Hoo, good. Calling Seo Woo-jin today was a good choice after all.”

“I guess you’re done calculating?” Woo-jin asked with a smile.

“I’m getting there.”

“I knew you would. I’m not that frivolous of a person. Haha.”

“I don’t know if you’re frivolous or not, but there’s one thing for sure,” Kyung-wan chuckled, relieved.

“What is it?”

“You’re crazy.”

“Haha.”

After that, Woo-jin added a few more tips that would appeal to the higher-ups, and Kyung-wan carefully organized them and wrote them down in his notebook.

And when the two went outside to go home.

They sat in Kyung-wan’s car, the city lights twinkling outside the large window. The air was thick with the smell of coffee and the tension of their important discussion. It was already late at night, close to midnight.

“Ugh, it’s already twelve o’clock,” Woo-jin murmured, stretching.

At Woo-jin’s murmur, Kyung-wan also sighed deeply. “I’m going to get some nagging from my wife.”

“Try spreading some bait that you’ll be promoted to executive soon. Then your sister-in-law will forgive you,” Woo-jin joked.

“Hehe, it’s kind of funny that a twenty-two-year-old is calling my wife sister-in-law?”

“Then should I call you Madam?”

At Woo-jin’s words, Kyung-wan shook his head, pretending to vomit. “Hey, that’s disgusting. Just call me sister-in-law.”

“Hehe, look at that.”

“It’s okay to call you Madam if you’re really twenty-two, but you’re not.”

“What do you mean I’m not? I’m twenty-two!”

“Anyway, you’re not.”

“Should I show you my ID again?”

“I told you it’s illegal to carry a fake ID, Seo Woo-jin,” Kyung-wan said, chuckling.

“Ha, should I take this old man to the community center sometime…?”

Woo-jin and Kyung-wan laughed cheerfully until the end and parted ways.

After sending Kyung-wan away first, Woo-jin started to step on the accelerator with a lighter expression.

Vroom-

There was no one on the road because it was late at night, so Woo-jin was able to get to his house in Gaepo-dong in no time.

‘Hoo, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well today…’

According to what he heard from Kyung-wan, the results of the contest will be almost certainly out tomorrow.

Chun Jong-geol, the CEO of Chunwoong Construction, was said to not be the type to drag out the time, so it was only natural that Woo-jin was nervous about how the results would turn out tomorrow.

“I’m home,” Woo-jin announced as he entered his house.

“Woo-jin is here?” His mother called out.

“Yes, Mom.”

“Why are you so late again today?”

“I had a meeting.”

“Okay, you worked hard. Go wash up and go to bed.”

“You should go to bed soon, too, Mom.”

“Okay.”

Even while taking a shower before going to bed after greeting his mother, Woo-jin’s head was complicated with thoughts about Cheongdam Seonyeong.

‘The results of the contest are the results, but the bidding war will be a real bloodbath.’

Swoosh-

‘If I fail in the contest, I’ll have to prepare for the next project right away, right? Should I prepare to send proposals to various business sites…’

Woo-jin, who was lost in all sorts of thoughts, couldn’t fall asleep until dawn even after lying in bed.

“Haaahm…”

So, the time Woo-jin finally fell asleep was four o’clock in the morning, just before dawn.

The only good thing was that he didn’t have any scheduled appointments on Wednesday morning.

Chirp- Chirp-!

So, Woo-jin was sleeping soundly in bed until the morning birds chirped and the sun rose high in the sky.

He turned off all the alarms and was sleeping so soundly that his mother, Joo-hee, didn’t wake him up either.

And while Woo-jin was sleeping in so late.

Messages began to arrive on Woo-jin’s cell phone with a series of short vibrations.

Whirr-!

The sender of the message was as follows.

[Sender: Manager Park Kyung-wan]

The content of the message was exactly what Woo-jin had been so eagerly hoping for.

[Seo Woo-jin, get ready. Let’s get properly shredded for a month in November. (AM 10:09)]

[I’ve done this much for you, so if you don’t win the bidding war, you know what that means, right? You die and I die, you rascal. (AM 10:12)]

[Hey, CEO Seo! What’s wrong, did you go into hiding? (AM 11:41)]

[If you go into hiding, I’m going to find you at school? (AM 11:45)]

But until more than five of Kyung-wan’s messages piled up, Woo-jin was just sleeping soundly with an expression of not knowing the world.