Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 501

“Have you thought about it?”

Hyun-sung asked as soon as he came in. There was no need to think any further. He already knew all the situations from his past life, so there was nothing more to confirm.

However, unlike Hyun-sung, Lee Sung-soo’s expression seemed hesitant.

He seemed to have some lingering attachments.

When Lee Sung-soo hesitated without answering immediately, Hyun-sung asked again.

“Do you need more time?”

“Well, that’s….”

“Why? Is there something else left? I don’t think there’s anything else to talk about.”

“This ledger here.”

Lee Sung-soo held up the ledger and continued.

“As you can see in this ledger….”

“Wait a minute!”

Hyun-sung immediately cut off Lee Sung-soo. He already knew that the current ledger was fake, so he didn’t want to hear any more about it.

“Mr. Lee, I clearly told you that the ledger is meaningless now. I don’t know why you keep mentioning it.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t trust this ledger at all?”

“Of course not. If you were in my shoes, would you trust a ledger that could be easily manipulated?”

“Did you just say manipulated?”

Lee Sung-soo’s voice showed displeasure.

It was a natural reaction for Lee Sung-soo to hear that he could easily manipulate it.

However, Hyun-sung had no intention of backing down. He already knew that Lee Sung-soo had manipulated it.

Perhaps that was why.

Hyun-sung’s voice was confident as he replied.

“Why? Isn’t it?”

“That’s a bit….”

Lee Sung-soo was dumbfounded. Of course, he had manipulated it. But that didn’t mean the other person could know that. How could he just say things so definitively like that?

Lee Sung-soo was bewildered by the situation.

Hyun-sung continued.

“Was I too harsh?”

“Of course, I agree that it lacks objectivity. But that doesn’t mean you can treat people like that….”

Lee Sung-soo’s words dragged on, but what he wanted to say was simple.

He was upset.

So, he was telling Hyun-sung not to make such definitive statements.

Hyun-sung chuckled lightly as he looked at Lee Sung-soo.

He found it amusing that Lee Sung-soo was complaining about being upset when he knew everything. He wanted to say even harsher things if he could.

Meanwhile, Lee Sung-soo couldn’t help but feel absurd.

‘What’s with this guy?’

He clearly said he was upset. But instead of apologizing, Hyun-sung was laughing. Of course, he wasn’t laughing loudly, but the way he slightly turned his head and smiled made him feel even worse.

‘Could it be?’

Did this guy really know that he had manipulated the ledger? Otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting so rude in front of him.

Come to think of it, it had been strange from the beginning.

No matter how much of an expert he was, it was almost impossible to count over ten thousand videos in five minutes. Yet, he had even managed to select the videos that needed to be discarded in that short amount of time.

That was impossible for anyone.

But this guy had done it accurately.

Then there was only one answer.

A complete master.

This guy was beyond a simple expert. Otherwise, he couldn’t explain the current situation.

‘What should I do?’

After pondering for a moment, Lee Sung-soo looked at Hyun-sung and opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“Alright, let’s put this ledger aside since it lacks objectivity anyway.”

That was the conclusion Lee Sung-soo had chosen.

There was no other way. The problem was the lack of time.

If he wasted any more time and the contract fell through, there would be even bigger problems waiting for him.

Movie Heart.

It wasn’t just an individual store, but a large chain store was about to move in.

Competition?

Out of the question.

How could an individual compete against a large chain store?

It was a shame, but Lee Sung-soo decided that it was best to end it here while there was still a buyer.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“Yes, I have personal reasons anyway….”

“Let’s do that then….”

Hyun-sung felt a bit disappointed. Considering what he had suffered in his past life, he wanted to make Lee Sung-soo suffer a bit more, but since the other party was backing down, he had no choice but to end it here.

After that, the contract proceeded smoothly.

Since he already knew everything about running the video store, there was nothing more to take over.

It ended with him receiving the store keys.

There was one problem in the middle.

Lee Sung-soo demanded an additional one million won [approximately $750 USD] at the end. But Hyun-sung refused outright.

Of course, he could have given it to him. But it wasn’t about the money. Considering what he had suffered in his past life, he didn’t want to give him even a single won more.

In any case, he had suffered completely in his past life because he didn’t know anything, but this time, he didn’t lose even a single won.

***

After finishing the contract, Hyun-sung headed to the real estate agency. Now, he had to deal with the contract with the landlord.

Park Sang-jin.

That was the landlord’s name. Coincidentally, if you reversed the name, it sounded like ‘troublemaker’ [in Korean].

People say that people live up to their names. He was the first landlord he had met, but he was such a troublemaker.

He would come to the store as soon as the rent was even a day late, making people tired. Not only that, but he would come by frequently to nag, and he would raise the rent every time the lease was renewed every two years.

In the end, he had no choice but to give up renewing the third time and move to another location because he was such a terrible landlord.

Clang.

As Hyun-sung entered, the real estate agent Yoo Young-chul greeted him happily.

“Welcome, are you the one who called earlier?”

“Yes, that’s right. The landlord hasn’t arrived yet?”

“No, he’ll be here soon. Please have a seat over here. Oh? But….”

As soon as Hyun-sung sat down, Yoo Young-chul tilted his head and asked cautiously.

“Excuse me… are you from Gangwon-do [a province in South Korea]?”

“Oh? Yes, I am, but how did you…?”

Hyun-sung couldn’t help but tilt his head.

He couldn’t understand how Yoo Young-chul recognized him.

Then Yoo Young-chul spoke again.

“Are you perhaps the one who runs a large restaurant in Seo-myeon, Gangwon-do?”

“Oh? Do you know me?”

“I was right? It’s a pleasure to meet you. I saw you on TV once. I never thought I’d see such a famous person here in person.”

Hyun-sung finally understood how Yoo Young-chul had recognized him.

He had been on TV a few times. Since his restaurant was so large, cooking shows had come to film him a few times.

Not only that, but he had also been on ‘6 O’Clock My Hometown’ [a popular Korean TV show] twice.

In the end, Yoo Young-chul had seen Hyun-sung on TV and recognized him now.

But what he couldn’t understand was what Yoo Young-chul had said earlier.

He had clearly said that he had only seen him on TV once.

Recognizing someone right away after only seeing them on TV once?

That didn’t make sense to anyone.

Hyun-sung immediately asked out of curiosity.

“Didn’t you say earlier that you only saw me on TV once? But how did you recognize me right away?”

“My hometown is Hongcheon [a county in Gangwon Province].”

“Hongcheon?”

“Yes, so I naturally became interested when you appeared on TV. I guess I was just happier to hear news from my hometown while being away from home. And actually, I went there once last spring. Of course, I didn’t get to see you then.”

It was completely unexpected.

In his past life, he didn’t even know that Yoo Young-chul’s hometown was Hongcheon. That was natural since he only saw him once when signing the contract and never met him again.

Yoo Young-chul continued.

“You’re really amazing. I like to eat, so my hobby is visiting many restaurants across the country on my days off, but I’ve never seen such a large restaurant. But what was even more surprising was not only the size of the restaurant but also the taste of the food. The food was really the best. I especially loved the Deodeok set meal [a meal featuring Deodeok root, a Korean delicacy].”

“Oh, really? Thank you.”

“And the side dishes were also really neat and delicious. And what about the trail behind the restaurant? Holding a cup of coffee and walking along that trail….”

Yoo Young-chul’s words went on and on.

The world is small, and he could feel that saying anew.

People say you can’t live with sin for that reason. You never know where or how you’ll meet someone.

After a while.

Yoo Young-chul looked at Hyun-sung and asked again.

“By the way, what about the restaurant in Seo-myeon? Are you really thinking of running this small video store while leaving that big restaurant behind?”

“No, that’s right. I’m planning to run it myself.”

“What? Does that make sense?”

Yoo Young-chul was dumbfounded.

Did that make sense? Leaving the biggest restaurant in Korea to run this small video store.

Yoo Young-chul immediately asked out of curiosity.

“Is there any special reason?”

“I like movies.”

That was the only excuse he could make.

He couldn’t say that he was going to run the video store to meet his wife.

“No, even if you like movies, how could you….”

Yoo Young-chul couldn’t easily understand. No matter how much you like movies, how could you leave that big restaurant behind to run a video store?

But he couldn’t ask more since that was what the person himself said….

“Honestly, I don’t understand, but I have nothing to say since that’s what you want to do.”

Yoo Young-chul had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Then Hyun-sung brought up something else.

“How much is that video store building worth right now?”

“What? The video store building?”

“Yes, I’m curious about how much it costs per square meter these days.”

“Why? Are you perhaps going to buy the building?”

“That’s what I’m thinking right now. Since I’m paying rent anyway, I thought it might be better to just buy it.”

He had no choice but to rent in his past life because he didn’t have the money, but now he didn’t think he needed to do that.

And since this neighborhood would be redeveloped in five years anyway, and the land price would increase at least twice as much as it is now, he thought there would be no harm in it.

“Is that really true?”

Yoo Young-chul’s eyes sparkled at that moment. That was because the commission for writing a sales contract was much higher than writing a lease contract.

Perhaps that was why.

Yoo Young-chul suddenly got up from his seat, turned on the power to the coffee pot, and asked.

“Would you like some coffee? I was so busy talking that I forgot to offer you coffee.”

“Yes, I would appreciate it.”

“Yes, please wait a moment. Oh, and about that building you mentioned earlier, it’s a bit more expensive than other places because it’s on the corner. The current market price is about 4 million won per square meter [approximately $3,000 USD], and it’s 50 square meters, so it would be about 200 million won [approximately $150,000 USD].”

“200 million won….”

A smile was already spreading across Hyun-sung’s face.

It was an amount he couldn’t even dream of in his past life, but now it wasn’t a burden at all, so he couldn’t help but smile.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“Do you think the landlord would sell the building?”

“Well, I don’t know about that… The problem would be the amount. That’s the market price, but if you give him a little more, the owner might change his mind.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Actually, there’s no guarantee that this neighborhood will be redeveloped, so the land price isn’t going up. That’s why everyone is reacting lukewarmly. So, if you give him a little more than the market price, he’ll probably change his mind.”

That’s when it happened.

Clang.

The landlord, Park Sang-jin, came in as the door opened.

It had been a while since he had seen Park Sang-jin. But that didn’t mean he was happy to see him. He had refused to renew the contract and left last time, so he couldn’t have good feelings left for him.

“Hyung-nim [a Korean term for older brother or a respectful term for an older male], you’re here?”

Park Sang-jin nodded after Yoo Young-chul greeted him, glanced at Hyun-sung, and continued.

“Is this the friend?”

“Yes, Hyung-nim. Mr. Kim, this is….”

Yoo Young-chul introduced them.

After his introduction, Hyun-sung lightly bowed his head and greeted him.

“Hello, I’m Kim Hyun-sung.”

“Hmm, yes. A young friend is going to run a video store?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask you something first?”

Of course, he already knew what that question was.

It was an absurd request. But in his past life, he had no choice but to accept that absurd request.

Back then, he thought the landlord was absolutely superior.

But it’s different now. Back then, he had nothing, so he had no choice but to bow his head in the position of the weak, but Hyun-sung now is a completely different person from then.

As Hyun-sung slightly nodded his head, the landlord Park Sang-jin slowly opened his mouth.

“Perhaps….”