Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 153

All in. Woo-jin thought about the Seonyeong Apartment complex. He felt like he was betting everything, but in a good way. There were no risks left. This investment was almost certain to work.

It was the kind of deal that promised to pay back quickly. He could get all his money back, and make a profit, in just two or three months.

To Woo-jin, right now, buying apartments in the Seonyeong complex felt like the safest bet in the world.

‘Even knowing the future, an opportunity like this won’t come easily again.’

And Woo-jin was not going to waste such a great chance.

Beyond simply seeking a profit from the price difference, it was about achieving the best outcome in the most efficient way.

That was Woo-jin’s goal, and the preparations for it were already complete.

Kwak Hong-shik asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“No, CEO Seo.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Just how much seed money do you have to be saying such things?”

From Hong-shik’s point of view, it was understandable to be curious.

Even though he was the CEO of a company, Woo-jin was only in his twenties.

It was hard to believe that he had billions of won – a huge amount of money – in cash.

Let’s say Woo-jin had almost a billion won. With that money, he could buy maybe two small apartments. He could rent them out.

And if he were to buy both of those properties as part of the Emergency Committee’s holdings.

It would be a great benefit to Woo-jin, but it would be largely meaningless from the Chairman’s perspective.

Currently, among the members of the Seonyeong Apartment Association, only about ten people are identified as being part of the Emergency Committee or related to it.

Some of them owned two units. The Emergency Committee owned at least twelve apartments.

Buying just two of those properties to prevent unfair profit would hardly make a difference.

“You do realize that a plan to buy just one or two units is utterly insufficient, don’t you?”

At Hong-shik’s question, Woo-jin nodded and replied.

“You’re right, Chairman. Of course.”

At Woo-jin’s unwavering answer, Hong-shik’s pupils widened further.

“Does that mean…!”

“Could you tell me how many properties have been identified?”

The identified properties Woo-jin was referring to were the Seonyeong Apartments owned by the Emergency Committee.

After a moment of recollection, Hong-shik said in a cautious voice.

“Twelve for sure. There might be a few more beyond that.”

Woo-jin nodded.

“About what I expected.”

“Heh heh…”

“I think I can buy all of those properties. If I give you this assurance, would you be willing to move forward with it?”

The average cost to buy one Seonyeong Apartment unit is roughly 500 to 700 million won.

Whether buying with a lease in place or taking out a mortgage for up to 70% of the value.

Those figures represent the minimized investment cost.

To buy twelve units like that?

It was a task that required a staggering amount of money, at least six billion won.

After Woo-jin finished speaking, Hong-shik stared at him for a moment without saying anything, then asked with a doubtful look.

“By any chance, CEO Seo, did you inherit a lot of money?”

Woo-jin smiled and shook his head.

“Not at all.”

“But how on earth…”

Hong-shik, being a former banker and a figure in the financial world, had a very accurate sense of money.

Therefore, he knew very well how large a company had to be to mobilize billions of won in cash.

There are more companies with annual sales exceeding six billion won than one might think, but there are few that can mobilize six billion won in cash.

In Hong-shik’s eyes, WJ Studio, even generously appraised, was a company that would struggle to mobilize more than two billion won.

Especially in such a sudden situation.

Woo-jin grinned and opened his mouth.

“Do you think I would bear that entire enormous sum alone?”

“Ah…?!”

“I’m not a chaebol, but I happen to know a lot of wealthy acquaintances.”

At Woo-jin’s answer, Hong-shik’s mind raced.

The first thing that came to his mind was the fact that Woo-jin was appearing on .

If a few famous celebrities lent a hand, it certainly wouldn’t be impossible.

Now understanding, Hong-shik slowly nodded.

“In that case… that certainly is a possible plan.”

“Indeed.”

Of course, having wealthy acquaintances and persuading them to buy Seonyeong Apartments were two different matters.

But at least it seemed like a much more realistic method than Woo-jin buying them all alone.

Considering the results Woo-jin had shown so far, he didn’t seem like someone who would make empty promises.

And one more thing.

If Woo-jin could mobilize sufficient funds, an opportunity would come for Hong-shik to get in on it as well.

“Alright, CEO Seo. Then, as you said… let’s wield the sword we’ve drawn even more boldly.”

“A wise decision.”

At Woo-jin’s sly voice, Hong-shik shook his head and laughed.

“To think you’d use this situation so thoroughly… I’ve learned something.”

“Haha.”

“I don’t know how much capital you’ll be mobilizing directly, but you’ll be making a considerable profit this time.”

Hong-shik’s wrinkled index finger tapped the table rapidly.

And Woo-jin could see right through Hong-shik’s mind.

“Am I the only one who’s going to profit?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not thinking of doing one or two units yourself, Chairman, are you?”

“……!”

“You can’t buy them under your own name, or they’ll notice… so you were thinking of buying them under the names of your children or relatives, weren’t you?”

At Woo-jin’s question, Hong-shik could only shake his head once again.

Because his thoughts had been read so accurately, he felt as if he had been stripped bare.

If someone had told Hong-shik that Woo-jin was actually Dongbangsak* [a mythical figure said to have lived for thousands of years without aging] from Korea.

He might have believed it now.

‘Twenty-three…? He’s younger than my son? Unbelievable.’

Hong-shik thought it was fortunate that Woo-jin was an ally helping the association.

If someone like that had joined the Emergency Committee and tried to harm the association, it would be in ruins now.

“Representative Seo, you understand my thoughts perfectly.”

“Hee hee, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The meeting ended in a friendly way, even if Hong-shik might have been hiding his real feelings.

As the discussion seemed to wrap up, Woo-jin turned to Hong-shik again.

“Shall we go grab a bite, Association President? All this talking has made me quite hungry.”

Hong-shik nodded and rose from his seat.

“Let’s do that. I’ll treat today.”

Woo-jin grinned.

“I won’t refuse.”

While dining, Hong-shik and Woo-jin fleshed out a few more plans.

The first plan was to dig the trap even deeper.

“[So… we’ll aim to lose the first trial.]”

“[You mean you’ll hide the existence of the recording until then?]”

“[Yes. Hiding it until the second trial might be a bit risky… but the first trial should be fine.]”

“[The impact will be considerable once the news of our defeat breaks.]”

And the second plan involved safety measures to minimize the damage to the association members.

“[You should circulate an official notice from the association at the same time as spreading the rumors.]”

“[A notice?]”

“[It should state that these rumors are being spread by the Emergency Committee to stir up trouble and are absolutely false. Tell them not to believe such baseless rumors.]”

“[Hmm.]”

“[Association President, you’ve built up a lot of trust, so most members will believe you.]”

“[That makes sense.]”

“[It would be even better if you contacted each member individually and spoke to them sincerely.]”

“[Except for the fact that we’ve set a trap for them, right?]”

“[Exactly.]”

People naturally believe what they want to believe.

Even if they received the same notice, ordinary members would want to believe the association president.

Facing a devastating lawsuit loss at the final stage of redevelopment, the management disposition…

…they would naturally want to deny it.

But conversely, members of the Emergency Committee would believe the association president’s notice was a lie.

They were already convinced that their trap would succeed.

So, if they received a notice from the association president, they would probably think it was a show to buy time.

This was perfectly natural human psychology, and Woo-jin’s suggestion exploited it appropriately.

Woo-jin had designed the plan meticulously.

“[If there’s anyone who still doesn’t believe you even after you’ve said all that, offer to buy their property.]”

“[Oho…]”

“[You can just put down a deposit and then cancel the contract after winning the lawsuit. Or, if you’re feeling particularly displeased with the members who don’t trust you, you can demand double compensation. This is because if they break the contract themselves, they legally have to pay you back twice the deposit.]”

“[That’s a good idea too. Heh heh.]”

“[This way, we can probably prevent 99 percent of the damage to ordinary members.]”

“[I certainly think so.]”

“[Come to think of it, when buying the Emergency Committee members’ properties, we should set a high deposit and a quick closing date to discourage them from even considering double compensation.]”

“[Ah, that’s right. If the deposit is only around thirty or forty million, they might just pay the penalty and cancel the contract.]”

If there are many deals happening, it’s almost impossible to watch every single one.

But the trading volume in a complex facing such adversities is bound to freeze up.

So, Woo-jin thought this approach was a sufficiently viable safety net.

“[Representative Seo, I’ve really gained a new perspective on you today.]”

“[It was nothing.]”

“[I’ll contact you again once all the measures we discussed today are complete.]”

“[Then, please get home safely.]”

Woo-jin, who had impressed Hong-shik to the very end, was able to return home in good spirits.

After thinking, planning, and studying so much, he felt confident it would all go well.

‘I’ve prepared so thoroughly that there’s not a single gap.’

But even while discussing such detailed plans, Woo-jin had actually hidden one thing from Hong-shik.

He had implied that he would be borrowing most of the funds from external sources to purchase the Emergency Committee’s properties, but that wasn’t the case.

The amount of funds Woo-jin was planning to mobilize was a little over three billion won.

‘Cash held by the company, loans from Kibo (a finance company), plus the money I’ve personally saved up…’

He was planning to ‘all-in’ all this money to secure as many shares as possible.

If the investment period had been more than six months, regardless of how certain the investment was, he would never have been able to mobilize such a large amount.

Even for WJ Studio to keep running, he needed to maintain some cash flow.

But this investment could be exited as soon as the association won the lawsuit against the Emergency Committee.

It wouldn’t take more than three months, even at the longest, so the risk wasn’t significant.

‘How many units can I buy with three billion? If I buy well at the low point… could I get almost ten units?’

An apartment with a sale price of one billion and a lease price of five hundred million requires an initial investment of five hundred million.

But if the price of this apartment drops by 20% and trades at eight hundred million, the initial investment is reduced to three hundred million.

The apartment price has fallen by 20%, but the investment cost has fallen by 40%.

Woo-jin had thought this far, and that’s why he believed he could buy a maximum of ten units with three billion.

If the association president moved decisively as they had discussed today, it was a perfectly achievable price range.

If he even pretended to lose the first trial, like he suggested, the Emergency Committee members who couldn’t sell their properties would become very worried.

He could probably assume that prices of 1.1 to 1.2 billion would fall below 900 million.

‘When we get approval and win the lawsuit, it will be two big pieces of good news together. So, I’ll aim to sell at around 1.3 billion… then I’ll make at least 150% profit on my money.’

If he parked about three billion for about two months, it would return about eight billion.

That was the estimate, even conservatively.

‘Great. Thanks to this unexpected opportunity, I’ll be able to secure quite a bit of money.’

On the way home from dinner with Hong-shik, Woo-jin, lost in his happy thoughts in the car, couldn’t help but grin.

Thanks to this unexpected opportunity, he would be able to achieve one of his dreams a little sooner.

‘If things go well, I might be able to build WJ Studio’s own building by the end of the year.’

Designing and building the headquarters of the company he founded himself.

That day, which any architectural designer would dream of, seemed not so far away after all.