Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 150

The most terrifying thing for people who invest in fixing old buildings is not when house prices go down.

Investing in rebuilding projects isn’t like buying stocks where you can quickly sell and make a profit.

Usually, house prices go up over time, just like inflation.

If you follow the project and wait for a few years, you’re almost sure to make money.

Experienced investors don’t worry too much about short-term changes in house prices.

However, there’s one thing that can scare even the most experienced investor: when the project fails because of something unexpected.

This could be because someone in the association is caught doing something wrong, or because the association loses a legal case and can’t continue.

These unexpected problems can make even experienced investors panic.

When a project fails because of an accident, it’s a disaster that has nothing to do with whether the investor made a good decision.

In this case, the profits that have been building up for years, or even more than ten years, can disappear before they can be earned.

This is why Jae-yeop was so worried when he got a call from his mother.

“Son, we’re in big trouble.”

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

“You know Professor Park who lives upstairs from us, right?”

“Yes, I know him well.”

“I saw him while I was out shopping, and he told me that there’s a big problem in the association.”

“The association? You mean the Cheongdam Seonyeong Association?” (The Cheongdam Seonyeong Association was the group in charge of rebuilding their neighborhood.)

“Yes. Where else are you a member?”

Professor Park, a neighbor who had been close to Jae-yeop’s parents for a long time, was also a member of the Cheongdam Seonyeong Association.

He had lived in Cheongdam Seonyeong for a long time and knew many of the association leaders.

Jae-yeop’s mother had heard a shocking rumor from Professor Park about the rebuilding project.

“Mom didn’t understand everything, but it sounds like the rebuilding might be stopped because of a legal case.”

“So, you’re saying there was corruption in how they decided who got which size apartment in the new buildings?” (The 평형 application was how they decided who got which size apartment in the new buildings. Corruption meant someone might have been taking bribes or unfairly giving bigger apartments to their friends.)

“That’s what they say. The emergency committee is planning to file a lawsuit about it, and it seems like they have a strong case.”

“How big is this corruption?”

“Call the association, Jae-yeop. Mom’s really worried.”

Jae-yeop was confused.

This was his first time investing in a rebuilding project, so he didn’t really understand how much money he could lose if the project was canceled.

Even though he was a famous and well-paid celebrity, he was worried about a property worth over a billion won having problems.

That’s why he looked worried when he hung up the phone and came back.

“Why is this happening now?”

Luckily for Jae-yeop, he was meeting Woo-jin that day.

When Woo-jin appeared, it was like he was a savior.

So, Jae-yeop told Woo-jin everything his mother had told him.

“So, Professor Park said all this…”

“Yeah. So?”

“This is a big problem that could stop the whole project…”

“Hmm. It’s definitely a dangerous situation.”

Woo-jin, who had just arrived, suddenly found himself giving Jae-yeop advice about real estate.

After explaining everything, Jae-yeop sighed and said to himself,

“Ha, what am I going to do…? I can’t call the association now to check…”

Sooha, who was listening, didn’t understand what they were talking about and just blinked.

But Woo-jin didn’t seem too worried.

In fact, Woo-jin looked like he was enjoying an interesting story.

“The association is probably closed for the day anyway.”

“I guess so.”

Jae-yeop scratched his head and asked Woo-jin again,

“What do you think? Is this really serious?”

Woo-jin shook his head slightly and said,

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know…?”

“I need to check a few things first.”

“Really? Well, it’s just a rumor, so until it’s confirmed…”

Woo-jin smiled when he saw Jae-yeop looking worried.

He thought that Jae-yeop must have been one of the people who suffered from this problem in his past life, and he felt strange.

“Wait a minute, 형.”

Woo-jin took out his phone.

He checked the time and then started looking for a phone number and typing a message.

[To the head of the Cheongdam Seonyeong Association]

It was after seven o’clock, so it was late.

But he thought a text message would be okay.

[Hello, this is Seo Woo-jin, CEO of WJ Studio. I heard a story and wanted to ask you about it.]

[Please contact me when you are available.]

After sending the message, Woo-jin sat down on the sofa across from Jae-yeop.

‘It’ll take a while for a reply,’ he thought.

Now that he had sent a message to the association head, it was time to calm Jae-yeop down.

In fact, Woo-jin had predicted this situation several months ago.

The solution he had given to the association head was not to prevent the problem, but to use it to their advantage.

[There’s no need to try to stop this, Association Head.]

[I know you want to get rid of the risks, but you should wait until next year and use it as a trap.]

[Just make sure you have good audio recordings. If they file a lawsuit first, you can use the recordings against them.]

Woo-jin’s solution was simple.

Secretly record a few association members, who were working for the emergency committee, pretending to give in during the apartment size application process.

Then, use the recordings as evidence when they filed a lawsuit.

The emergency committee was trying to trick the association by making their concessions look like unfair management.

But with the recordings, they could fight back in court.

[The emergency committee will probably lose the lawsuit and have to pay the association for the legal fees and business delays.]

[Then they might even have to give up their shares in the Cheongdam Seonyeong commercial district to the association.]

So, the fact that this lawsuit was happening was normal, because of the solution Woo-jin had given the association head last year.

However, Woo-jin was surprised that the rumor had spread so quickly, even before the lawsuit had started properly.

Even ordinary association members knew about it, not just the leaders.

‘It wasn’t like this in my past life. Ordinary members didn’t know about it until the lawsuit was well underway… It wasn’t until they lost the first trial that there was a commotion,’ he thought.

If it wasn’t for this question, Woo-jin wouldn’t have sent a message to the association head.

It was normal for the members of Cheongdam Seonyeong to be worried.

‘Something seems different from my past life… But it shouldn’t be a problem,’ he thought.

Woo-jin explained the situation to Jae-yeop.

He didn’t explain all the details, because he hadn’t completely defeated the emergency committee yet.

It wasn’t that Jae-yeop would tell anyone, but his parents might talk to their friends in the association.

If Woo-jin and Association Head Hong-shik’s plan was revealed to the emergency committee before the lawsuit started, the plan would fail.

“So, Woo-jin, there’s nothing to worry about?”

“Probably.”

“Probably! It has to be certain. This is a lot of money.”

Woo-jin chuckled and said again,

“It’s almost certain. I’ll talk to the association head, find out what’s happening, and then tell you again.”

After hearing Woo-jin’s explanation, Jae-yeop was able to calm down.

He wasn’t completely relieved, but he was less worried.

“So, Oppa, everything’s okay?”

“According to Woo-jin?”

“That’s a relief. You looked so worried, I thought something really bad had happened.”

“Something pretty bad almost happened.”

Woo-jin, Jae-yeop, and Sooha left Cafe Fresco in a better mood.

They went to a nearby bar that Jae-yeop had booked.

He was still a little worried, but he didn’t want to cancel the appointment because of this.

He wanted to change his mood.

But before they arrived at the bar, Woo-jin’s phone rang.

It was a text message from Association Head Kwak Hong-shik.

[Ah, hello, CEO Seo. Can you talk now?]

Woo-jin immediately called him.

[The rumor has already spread that far, it’s fast.]

As soon as he heard those words, Woo-jin knew.

“So, there wasn’t any problem with the plan?”

[Haha, that’s right. I wouldn’t be careless with something so important.]

When he heard his cheerful voice, he knew there was no problem.

‘I knew it,’ he thought.

But Woo-jin was still curious about why the rumor had spread so quickly.

It was almost time for the emergency committee to start moving.

“The lawsuit hasn’t started yet, right?”

[That’s right. It seems like the complaint will be filed soon… These guys are slow. Heh heh.]

Woo-jin asked about the thing he was most curious about.

“Then… why did the rumor spread like this?”

Kwak Hong-shik laughed and said,

[Well, that’s because we did some work on our end.]

“You did some work?”

[To make sure the emergency committee couldn’t escape.]

Hong-shik excitedly told Woo-jin what had happened over the past few days, as if he wanted Woo-jin to praise him.

After hearing everything, Woo-jin was surprised.

‘I knew it… This 아저씨 is no ordinary person,’ he thought.

Even if the emergency committee filed a lawsuit, not everyone who opposed the project would participate.

Some people opposed the project but didn’t want to get involved in a lawsuit because they might lose.

Hong-shik deliberately created a situation to force all the opposition to get involved so he could deal with them.

First, he spread rumors to give the emergency committee a reason to act.

Second, he pretended not to care about the rumors, which made the emergency committee feel confident.

He made them think that the association wasn’t taking the issue seriously and didn’t have any plans to stop them.

As a result, even Jae-yeop’s mother, who was an ordinary resident, heard the story.

And that’s why Woo-jin ended up giving Jae-yeop advice that day.

“Association Head, you’re more scary than I thought.”

[Heh heh, how can you say that when you’re the one who told us about this method?]

“Haha, that’s true.”

[Anyway, it looks like the lawsuit will be starting soon.]

“It’s a month earlier than I expected.”

[I’ll contact you again after the complaint is filed and I’ve checked the list of plaintiffs.]

“Thank you for your hard work…!”

When the call with Hong-shik ended, Woo-jin felt much better.

Everything he was wondering about had been answered.

‘Jae-yeop 형 will be happy,’ he thought.

But just as Woo-jin was about to hang up the phone and tell Jae-yeop the story, he had a thought.

‘Wait. Now that I think about it, this…’

He realized that he might be able to use this situation to make a lot of money.