Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 318

318

Hyun-sung’s eyes fell on a white envelope.

He wasn’t naive enough not to know what it was.

The total income from the signage and window tinting of the 24 stores, and Shin Mi-sook’s store interior, was calculated to be a little over 4.2 million won [approximately $3,200 USD]. It was by no means a small amount. Especially in a rural area with not much work, the value of that amount would feel even greater.

Yu Min-chul would know that better than anyone. That’s why he prepared the envelope in this way. Of course, this was a small token of appreciation before starting the construction, and he would prepare another reward after the construction was completed.

As expected, the words Hyun-sung expected came right out of Yu Min-chul’s mouth.

“This is a thank you for your help, and after the construction is finished, 5% of the total income…”

“Yu Min-chul!”

Yu Min-chul was startled. Hyun-sung suddenly called his name seriously. Usually, he would call him ‘Hyung’ [older brother or respected male figure] in a friendly manner. But suddenly calling his name? It was natural for Yu Min-chul, who knew the meaning of that, to be flustered.

“Huh? Why? Did I make a mistake…”

Even as Yu Min-chul spoke, he felt his heart sink.

To be honest, he had some concerns. But after much deliberation, he concluded that Hyun-sung, although young, was no different from other people.

There was no one in the world who would dislike being given money. But what was strange was Hyun-sung’s attitude. He could just pretend not to know and accept the envelope. It wasn’t unfair, and it was common practice in this industry.

But what was this atmosphere?

Hyun-sung continued.

“I think I told you a few days ago.”

“That’s true, but…”

“But what?”

“No, I mean, it’s not unfair, and it’s natural in our industry, and from my point of view, I want to show my gratitude, so just pretend not to know…”

“Stop it. I clearly told you that I don’t like that kind of thing.”

It was a week ago.

Hyun-sung called Yu Min-chul on the day he broke up with Park Young-jin and returned home.

He said that if things went well, a big construction project might come up. The reason he called in advance was to have the sign design prepared in advance.

He thought it was necessary to be fully prepared in case he heard from Park Young-jin.

But at the end of that conversation, Yu Min-chul vaguely mentioned a rebate. He said he would take care of a certain percentage after the construction was completed so that Hyun-sung wouldn’t feel left out.

But the moment he heard that, he refused outright.

He couldn’t morally allow it. These were people who were facing a bleak future due to the decline of the commercial district. It was something he started to help those people as much as he could.

Taking financial gain by exploiting those people was something he couldn’t even imagine. So he strongly refused, and he thought that his thoughts were fully conveyed.

But that wasn’t the case.

Hyun-sung called Yu Min-chul again.

“Hyung!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“Of course, I understand your heart. But I’m not so unscrupulous as to take personal gain by exploiting people in difficult situations.”

“Why are you saying that? Unscrupulous? I know your character well. Thinking about it, I was short-sighted. I honestly didn’t know you would be this uncomfortable. I just thought it would be good for everyone…”

Yu Min-chul’s words stopped there.

The rest was filled with Hyun-sung’s words.

“Yes, I understand. I fully understand your heart. Of course, I know there’s no malice either. So, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor.”

“A favor? What favor? Tell me anything!”

Yu Min-chul’s words quickened. He was mentally uncomfortable with the current atmosphere. He instinctively knew that Hyun-sung asking for a favor meant that he wanted to end the conversation at this point.

Hyun-sung’s words followed immediately.

“About the construction cost…”

“Construction cost?”

“Yes, can you deduct the amount you were going to give me from the construction cost?”

“What, deduct the construction cost?”

Yu Min-chul quickly started tapping on his calculator.

Including Shin Mi-sook’s interior construction cost, it would be roughly 4.2 million won. The amount he was going to give Hyun-sung was 5%, about 200,000 won, plus the 100,000 won he put in the envelope today, for a total of 300,000 won [approximately $230 USD]. What Hyun-sung was asking for was to deduct this 300,000 won from the construction cost. That meant he would reduce the burden on the store owners by that amount.

“Yes, is that possible?”

“Well, since I was going to give it to you anyway, if that’s what you want, there’s no reason I can’t… but honestly, I don’t understand why you need to go that far.”

Yu Min-chul couldn’t understand Hyun-sung’s actions.

Hyun-sung didn’t live in this neighborhood, and he didn’t run a business directly. Moreover, he had only met the store owners here once, just a week ago.

He wondered if it was necessary to take care of the store owners this much.

Hyun-sung continued.

“I want to add my heart.”

“Heart?”

“Yes, of course, I don’t live here, and I’m not going to run a business directly. And I haven’t known these people for a long time either. But I sincerely want to support them.”

“Sincerity? Hmm… it can’t be just a thought, there must be another reason I don’t know about, right?”

“It’s because of the store owners’ aspirations and passion.”

The first person he met today was Kim Myung-soon, the owner of the restaurant.

First of all, he was surprised by Kim Myung-soon’s expression. It wasn’t the same as when he first met her a week ago.

At that time, she looked exhausted at a glance. He only found out later that the reason was the sharp decline in sales due to the shift in the commercial district.

Today without a future.

People who haven’t lived that life don’t know how it feels. But as Hyun-sung had spent more than 20 years in business in his past life and had experienced many difficult times, he could understand that feeling better than anyone else.

That’s why Kim Myung-soon’s deep sigh didn’t feel like someone else’s business.

And today, a week later.

Kim Myung-soon’s expression was completely different.

It wasn’t the look of being oppressed and worn out by the weight of life, but a completely new look. The first thing he noticed was her expression.

Although there were deep wrinkles due to the traces of time, she greeted Hyun-sung with a bright face that made even those wrinkles pale.

He couldn’t find any trace of her appearance from a week ago.

He was able to find out the reason right away while having a few conversations.

Hope, and the desire and passion for that hope.

From giving up and being exhausted by the inevitable reality, she found hope again, and he could immediately see the desire and passion to make that hope a reality in her words and expressions.

So, at that moment, he thought that he would spare no effort to help these people achieve their hope.

And he also wanted to share that heart with them.

Yu Min-chul asked.

“You said aspirations and passion?”

“Yes, the store owners here are now full of hope to start again. And their desire to make that hope a reality is also strong. Besides…”

Hyun-sung began to explain his thoughts to Yu Min-chul.

He started from the first time he came here. And he explained in detail everything from Kim Myung-soon’s story, the story of the signage and window tinting work, and finally the story he had with CEO Lee Woo-seok today, without leaving anything out.

As Hyun-sung’s explanation became longer than expected, Yu Min-chul briefly showed a puzzled expression, but as the story progressed, he nodded and even smiled.

And finally, when Hyun-sung’s explanation was over, he immediately continued.

“So, in the end, you want to build a good relationship with those people, right?”

“Yes, relationships are something you build. Of course, relationships with people you know are important, but I think new relationships are just as important.”

“New relationships?”

“That’s right. We are creating new relationships in the endless life. That’s also our…”

‘Life.’

He said the last word in his mind.

He couldn’t bring himself to say that word out loud. After all, Yu Min-chul was realistically 20 years older than him.

But Yu Min-chul, who couldn’t possibly not know the meaning, smiled and continued.

“That’s what our life is all about, right?”

“Haha, well, that’s right.”

“Hey, Kim Hyun-sung!”

Yu Min-chul suddenly stared at Hyun-sung and called out in a loud voice. Perhaps because it was an empty store, Yu Min-chul’s voice echoed particularly loudly.

“Yes? Why?”

“You’re my hyung from today.”

“Hyung?”

“Yeah, you brat. No matter how I look at it, you’re not 19 years old. You’re at least 50 years old, no, you’re over 60. So, you’ll have to call me hyung from now on.”

“Haha, hyung, you’re too much…”

Hyun-sung burst out laughing.

Then Yu Min-chul also started laughing loudly.

A moment later.

Yu Min-chul, who had stopped laughing, looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“You just need to deduct 300,000 won, right?”

“Don’t do that, just deduct 10,000 won [approximately $7.50 USD] per store. You’re already suffering that much, so no more than that. In fact, you shouldn’t even deduct 10,000 won, but I said it because you said you would give it to me.”

That’s the truth.

When Yu Min-chul first talked about the signage, he was quite surprised when he said 150,000 won [approximately $115 USD] per store.

Of course, there weren’t just one or two stores, but 24, but even so, he thought that 150,000 won was too little to do the window tinting work.

At that time, Yu Min-chul said that it was a battle of labor costs rather than material costs, so he could minimize his profits as much as possible.

He knew that there was consideration for Hyun-sung in those words.

It’s possible that it could be compared to other signage companies in terms of price later.

If that happens, misunderstandings may arise and rumors may spread if it turns out to be even slightly more expensive.

Yu Min-chul didn’t want to give such a pretext from the beginning.

That meant that the amount he was presenting now was the minimum estimate. At that amount, 10,000 won per store is a total of 240,000 won [approximately $185 USD].

It’s by no means a small amount. In the end, it means that Yu Min-chul has given up his share that much.

Hyun-sung continued immediately.

“I know you’ve conceded a lot this time. That’s why I’m even more grateful. I’m grateful for that heart. And that it was all for me.”

“Why are you going so far…”

Yu Min-chul smiled at Hyun-sung.

To be honest, he had some concerns when he first received the estimate request from Hyun-sung.

There is no one who is not greedy for money. But the important thing is how much you let go of that greed.

Normally, for this level of signage maintenance project, it is normal to call for 170,000 won to 200,000 won [approximately $130 – $155 USD] per store. The reason is not just the signage, but also the window tinting work.

Window tinting work takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of time not only to apply it, but also to remove the old tinting from the old building. In the end, that’s all calculated as labor costs, so the work cost has no choice but to increase.

There is only one way to reduce costs.

Reducing labor costs. Of course, in order to do that, you have no choice but to use fewer people and replace them with your own labor.

Hyun-sung continued.

“Anyway, you’re going to have a lot of trouble this time.”

“It’s okay, I’m already prepared. Still, I’m happy to have a lot of work thanks to you. For people like us, the best thing is just having a lot of work.”

“You have a lot of positive aspects when you look at it. That’s why you look even better.”

“No matter how much, can anyone compare to you?”

Yu Min-chul looked at Hyun-sung and smiled.

Looking at Yu Min-chul, Hyun-sung eventually smiled.

After that, the two talked a few more words and left the shopping district.

***

After Shin Mi-sook finished the contract and left for Seomyeong-myeon with Yu Min-chul, Hyun-sung remained in the real estate agency and was talking with Park Young-jin.

Creak!

Someone came in as the door opened.

The man, who appeared to be in his early 40s, was wearing a black suit. His black hair was even more shiny because he had applied mousse to it. It was a rare sight in the countryside.

“Hyung, I’m here.”

“Oh, yeah. Assemblyman Choi. Welcome. I had someone to introduce you to anyway.”

Park Young-jin’s gaze turned to Hyun-sung.

‘Assemblyman Choi?’

Hyun-sung chuckled inwardly. If what Park Young-jin said was true, then the man in front of him was Choi Sung-pil.

The Choi Sung-pil who had even investigated him a while ago.

It was a moment when he was curious about what Choi Sung-pil would say.