Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 520

Min Hong-shik and Park Sun-woo.

How could I ever forget their faces?

No matter how much time had passed, I recognized them instantly.

One was the chairman of Movie Heart, and the other was the manager who practically handled all the hands-on work.

[Video World]

That was the name of the monthly magazine.

Of course, it was an informational magazine provided to video rental stores for a fee. The content mainly covered video release dates, featured works, and actors.

But that wasn’t all.

Not every month, but periodically, they would publish articles under the guise of “business consulting.” It was called consulting for good reason, but its core was business advertising.

The main companies that published articles at that time were the chain stores Extora and Movie Heart.

Among them, Movie Heart had the largest presence.

Min Hong-shik and Park Sun-woo, these two were the key figures of Movie Heart.

Their articles and photos were regularly featured in the monthly magazine, so I recognized them instantly when I saw their faces a little while ago.

‘Those bastards came here themselves, huh…….’

Smirk.

Hyun-sung watched the two men, already away from the counter, and gave a bitter smile.

They must have been curious. They were about to open Movie Heart soon, but the closest rental store had opened first.

Maybe, the reason they came here today wasn’t just out of curiosity.

Once Movie Heart opened, the two stores would inevitably be at war.

It would be difficult for two places to coexist in one commercial district.

Their purpose for coming today.

It was probably to spy.

‘Coming here without any fear?’

In my past life, there would have been no need for that. After all, it was just a small store of less than ten *pyeong* [a Korean unit of area, approximately 3.3 square meters]. But this time, they must have known it was definitely different.

Smirk.

Hyun-sung watched Min Hong-shik and Park Sun-woo, who had already disappeared into the corner of the store, and smiled once again. Unlike the bitter smile from before, this time it was a relaxed smile.

It was an expression of confidence.

In my past life, I had no choice but to surrender helplessly, but this time, no matter what Movie Heart did, I was confident.

Just then.

A customer in front of the Shin Pro display case asked at the counter.

“*Sajangnim* [store owner], are all these ‘Hits’ really gone right now?”

“Yes, they’re all gone right now. But our employee went to collect them a little while ago, so if you wait about 10 minutes, they’ll be back soon.”

“Ah, really? Then please let me know as soon as they come in.”

“Yes, *sonnim* [customer].”

The customer nodded, but tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. That’s because all 360 Hit video cases in the Shin Pro display case were placed upside down.

The fact that the video cases were placed upside down meant they were currently rented out.

At that moment, another female customer approached the counter and asked quietly.

“Excuse me…… are there no more ‘Hits’?”

“There aren’t any right now, but the employees went to collect them, so if you wait a little longer, they’ll be back soon. So please wait a little longer. And is there anything else you’re looking for?”

“I’d like to see one more thing, but I don’t know what to watch…….”

“Ah, really? Then have you seen *Love Affair*?”

“*Love Affair*? I haven’t seen it yet. Is it good?”

The female customer looked at Hyun-sung with expectant eyes.

Then Hyun-sung smiled and immediately continued.

“Of course, this movie is a bit old, but you definitely won’t regret it after watching it. The director is Glenn Gordon Caron, and the main actors are Warren Beatty and……”

As Hyun-sung’s movie explanation continued, the female customer nodded repeatedly and smiled. And finally, when Hyun-sung’s explanation ended, she immediately opened her mouth.

“Wow! *Sajangnim* is the best, but how do you know so much about movies?”

“My hobby is watching movies. I watch almost everything regardless of genre.”

“*Hoho* [an expression of amusement], please help me often in the future.”

“Yes, anytime.”

Just then.

Ding-dong!

The store door opened, and an employee, Yoo Young-seok, came in with two videos.

“*Sajangnim*, here are two ‘Hit’ videos.”

“Okay, good job, this time Yujin Villa 201!”

“Yes!”

Yoo Young-seok immediately turned around and disappeared to collect the videos. There was no need for other words.

Beep!

Hyun-sung quickly processed the return with the scanner and immediately put it in the rewinder. The video had to be rewound to the beginning to be rented out again.

Then he looked at Lee Myung-hoon next to him and said.

“Myung-hoon, bring *Love Affair* from the drama display case. It’s probably in the third section.”

“Yes!”

Lee Myung-hoon immediately ran to the display case where the dramas were.

Then Hyun-sung said kindly to the male customer who had been looking for ‘Hit’ a little while ago.

“Excuse me, *sonnim*! ‘Hit’ is back!”

As soon as Hyun-sung finished speaking, the male customer approached the counter and placed a video on the table.

The male customer brought ‘Primal Fear’ starring Richard Gere, which was released two months ago. It was a classic twist movie along with ‘The Usual Suspects’ which was released around the same time.

Hyun-sung took the video out of the video case and continued.

“You’ve chosen a good movie. Have you seen The Usual Suspects?”

“Yes, of course. I saw that movie in the theater last year, but I haven’t seen this movie until now. So I’m going to watch it today. By the way, *sajangnim* seems to know a lot about movies.”

“Haha, it’s not that, I just like movies too. Oh, and please fill out this customer card.”

With those words, Hyun-sung handed a customer card to the male customer.

After a while.

“Here you go.”

Tada dada dada dak.

As the male customer handed over the completed customer card, Hyun-sung quickly finished registering the customer, scanned the two videos, and took a piece of *tteok* [Korean rice cake] with the videos and said.

“This is an opening *tteok*. Enjoy it. And I’m sorry, but can you watch ‘Hit’ first and give us a call? Then our employee will come to pick it up right away. Of course, we’ll return the 500 won at that time. But we’re not forcing you to do it, so don’t feel too pressured.”

“Ah, I read the notice anyway. I’ll do that, I don’t need to keep it after I’m done watching it.”

“Thank you. And if there’s anything else you want to see, please call us. We’ll deliver it right away.”

As Hyun-sung finished speaking, the male customer smiled and continued.

“By the way, I’m envious.”

“Yes?”

“I’m so jealous that your opening is a hit. I was curious, so I counted the ‘Hit’ videos earlier, and there were exactly 360. But they’re all gone at this time.”

“Ah, yes…… Thank you. It’s all thanks to the customers.”

“A young man is even humble…….”

As the male customer smiled, greeted, and left, Hyun-sung looked at the female customer behind him and said.

“*Sonnim*, here’s a customer card……”

“Yes, I know. And it’s so nice that you pick it up right away when I call. *Sajangnim* is so handsome too, *hoho*…….”

“Haha, thank you. But I’m a little embarrassed when you say it so openly.”

Hyun-sung laughed softly as if he was embarrassed.

At that moment, another person was walking towards the counter with a video. At the same time, the store door opened and another customer came in.

“Welcome!”

Hyun-sung’s welcoming voice echoed again in the store.

Meanwhile, two people were watching the scene from afar.

Chairman Min Hong-shik asked Manager Park Sun-woo in a low voice.

“Manager Park, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I’m just dumbfounded right now. This isn’t it…….”

“I think we were too complacent. Looking at that kid, he’s definitely not an amateur. He’s a natural with movies and customer service. And even though there are so many people, he’s not nervous at all. *Heo*, this is something…….”

Chairman Min Hong-shik laughed in disbelief.

The reason for visiting this place today was twofold.

One of them was to confirm Kim Hyun-sung, the kid.

According to the investigation, he was definitely an amateur, but just in case, I wanted to confirm that fact with my own eyes.

But after watching him for about 20 minutes after entering, the conclusion was that it wasn’t true.

It’s impossible for an amateur to talk to customers so naturally.

At first, even greetings don’t come out of their mouths properly.

But this kid had greetings down pat. As soon as the store door opened, greetings came out unconditionally.

That means he has experience in business.

And another surprising thing was his knowledge of movies.

He wasn’t just renting them out, he was recommending movies and talking to customers about movies.

That was impossible without a certain level of knowledge of movies.

And above all, the evidence that he wasn’t an amateur was his ability to handle the rental program.

Of course, the rental program isn’t complicated.

But that doesn’t mean that anyone can easily handle the program by practicing for a day or two.

Moreover, it’s not easy to handle without a certain amount of experience when customers are waiting.

It’s not easy to enter even a simple name.

But that kid was different.

He was too different.

He was so fast that you couldn’t see his hands.

In the end, that means that Kim Hyun-sung is not new to running a rental store.

And the second reason for visiting this place was the curiosity about ‘Hit.’

I heard that 9 boxes of ‘Hit’ were delivered before 9 a.m. this morning. Since there are 40 sheets in one box, that means 360 sheets came in.

And the time when Manager Park and I arrived here was a little after 2 p.m.

In the end, that means that ‘Hit’ has been in the store for 5 hours.

So I was curious.

I wondered how many ‘Hit’ had been rented out now after 5 hours. Maybe that’s the most important issue.

The first place I went to after entering the store was the Shin Pro display case where ‘Hit’ was.

The moment I stood in front of the display case, I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.

A situation had occurred that I had never expected.

Every single ‘Hit’ video case was placed upside down without exception. There was no need to confirm what that meant.

But still, just in case, I shook it. As expected, it was an empty case.

I couldn’t believe it. Not just one or two hundred, but a whopping 360.

But all those videos were rented out without leaving a single one.

In just 5 hours since they were delivered.

But what’s even more surprising is that employees are directly collecting the videos that have already been rented out.

Of course, the collected videos are immediately rented out again, and at this rate, it is calculated that they can be rotated at least 3 or 4 times a day.

When I thought this far, Chairman Min Hong-shik immediately called Park Sun-woo.

“Manager Park.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“At this rate, how many days do you think it will take to recoup the cost of the video?”

“Well, if we rotate them from morning to dawn like this, we’ll rotate them at least three or four times, and since we’re giving back 500 won, let’s say the rental fee is 1,500 won at a time, and if we take at least three times……”

After calculating for a moment, Manager Park Sun-woo looked at Chairman Min Hong-shik with an unbelievable expression.

“Chairman!”

“How many days?”

“Assuming we rotate them three times a day, it comes out to 5 days. The calculation is that we’ll recoup the cost of the video in 5 days.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Yes? Wrong? What does that……”

Manager Park Sun-woo tilted his head and looked at Chairman Min Hong-shik.

Then Chairman Min Hong-shik quietly continued.

“To calculate accurately, we have to calculate with 5,000 won instead of 4,500 won a day. Don’t you know why?”

“Just a moment…….”

After thinking for a moment, Manager Park Sun-woo nodded as if he knew now and immediately continued.

“Ah, so since we’re not giving back 500 won to the last customer, it’s not 4,500 won, but 5,000 won.”

“That’s right, in the end, it means that it takes less than 5 days to recoup the cost of the video. What do you think?”

“Wow! This is completely……”

Manager Park Sun-woo was speechless and could only admire in amazement.

Then Chairman Min Hong-shik, seeing that, made an absurd expression and continued.

“Manager Park, what are you doing now?”

“Yes? It’s just too surprising…….”

“Are you in your right mind? Is this someone else’s business? Did you come out to watch a fire? Huh?”

“No, it’s not that…….”

“What are you going to do now?”

“……”

Manager Park Sun-woo had nothing to say.

Even though he had investigated and found that he was an amateur, he had come lightly with the feeling of simply observing without thinking anything.

But the situation had completely changed.

He could tell that he wasn’t an amateur just by watching him serve customers and handle the program.

But that wasn’t all.

The moment he checked the Shin Pro display case, he felt his head turn white.

Something had happened that he couldn’t have imagined.

He thought that if 20 or 30 sheets went out, it would be a good sale, but all 360 sheets had gone out without leaving a single one.

This doesn’t make sense.

But that unbelievable thing had actually happened. Moreover, what’s even more dumbfounding is that they are rotating the videotape several times a day.

In the end, the calculation came out that they would recoup the cost of the video in less than 5 days. That’s why he couldn’t say anything.

Meanwhile, two people were watching Min Hong-shik and Park Sun-woo from the counter.

“Who are those people? It’s been 30 minutes since they came into the store, and they’ve been talking about something very seriously since earlier. Who are they?”

Lee Myung-hoon asked, tilting his head.

Then Hyun-sung gave a bitter smile and immediately answered.

“Rats.”

“Yes? Rats?”

“Yeah, and very nasty rats at that.”

Hyun-sung finished those words and came out of the counter.

Then Lee Myung-hoon immediately asked.

“Where are you going?”

“To catch rats!”

Thud.

Hyun-sung began to walk relentlessly towards where Min Hong-shik and Park Sun-woo were.