Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 532

534

“He must have known from the start.”

“From the start? Known what?”

Lee Myung-hoon stared blankly at Hyun-sung, as if he didn’t understand.

Hyun-sung immediately responded.

“That the videos sent from all over the country would be useless to CEO Yoo of Movie Heart, the person they were intended for.”

“What? Does that make sense?”

“Of course, it doesn’t make sense logically. But Movie Heart headquarters is openly doing that very thing.”

He had heard this from a former Movie Heart store owner who had gone out of business.

At first, he was a victim himself, and later he found out that he wasn’t the only one who had been treated that way.

Lee Myung-hoon spoke again with a disbelieving expression.

“Surely not?”

“Why? Don’t you believe it?”

“No, it doesn’t make sense, does it? In the end, it only hurts the headquarters’ image. Why would they do that?”

“What if it’s the opposite?”

“Huh? The opposite? What are you talking about?”

“Okay, listen carefully. Here’s how it works…”

Hyun-sung began to explain what he had heard in his past life. As Hyun-sung continued his explanation, Lee Myung-hoon’s expression gradually changed.

At first, he looked disbelieving, but as time passed, his expression turned to disbelief.

And finally, when Hyun-sung finished his explanation, he immediately asked,

“So, the headquarters claims they were also trying to help with good intentions and didn’t expect these videos to come?”

“That’s right. That way, the store owner won’t have anything to say.”

“And then, as a final gesture, they offer to dispose of the old videos, taking some money for gas instead of a disposal fee. But of course, the videos are moved to the Movie Heart warehouse instead of a waste disposal site?”

When Hyun-sung nodded, Lee Myung-hoon immediately continued,

“The videos moved to the warehouse are cleaned up and mixed with new items when opening other Movie Heart stores, increasing the quantity and making money that way?”

“Of course.”

“In the end, they make money without spending a dime. And they act like they’re not even charging the store owner a disposal fee, so the store owner feels grateful to the headquarters?”

“Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

“Wow! They’re a bunch of crooks. How could they do that…?”

Lee Myung-hoon shook his head from side to side in disbelief.

Watching him, Hyun-sung spoke again.

“Do you remember the two men who came in suits on our opening day in the afternoon?”

“Ah, the two guys the boss called rats?”

“Yeah, those guys are the heads of Movie Heart headquarters. The older one is Chairman Min, and the guy next to him is Manager Park.”

“I knew they looked unlucky. So, in the end, only the Movie Heart CEO got scammed?”

“That’s right, but the funny thing is that the CEO will probably be grateful to the headquarters right now. After all, they got rid of the troublesome trash.”

From Movie Heart’s perspective, it’s a no-brainer.

They got rid of a whole truckload of old videos, not a small amount, without charging a disposal fee, just taking some money for gas.

“So, in the end, only the Movie Heart CEO is getting played.”

“But the important thing is that this isn’t the end.”

“What else is there?”

“One month.”

“One month? What happens in a month?”

“The headquarters’ real work will begin after the first month’s settlement.”

“Real work?”

Lee Myung-hoon tilted his head, looking at Hyun-sung as if he didn’t understand.

Hyun-sung immediately responded.

“Yeah, I heard from the salesperson yesterday that Movie Heart’s sales average only about 20. If that’s true, I guarantee you’ll be at least 400 in the red after a month’s settlement.”

“What? 400?”

“Yeah, CEO Yoo will probably be out of his mind. How would he feel after working 17 hours a day for a month without rest and still losing 400?”

“Of course, he’ll be out of his mind.”

Lee Myung-hoon said matter-of-factly.

Hyun-sung immediately picked up on that.

“So, who will be by CEO Yoo’s side then? He must have thought he couldn’t manage it alone anyway.”

“Oh? Are you talking about… the headquarters?”

“Bingo, that’s it. CEO Yoo will have no choice but to ask the headquarters for help.”

“But those guys are just crooks, aren’t they?”

“That’s what we think, but CEO Yoo will think of the headquarters as his savior, unlike us.”

“So, in the end, he’s entrusting the fish to the cat…?” [Entrusting something valuable to someone untrustworthy.]

Lee Myung-hoon’s eyes changed subtly. It meant that he was fully aware of what was going to happen.

He then spoke again.

“There’s no solution to this, is there?”

“That’s why I mentioned six months from the start. By then, Movie Heart will be completely down to the bottom.”

“Well, I don’t think they can last six months. No matter how much the headquarters gets involved, it won’t be a match for the boss anyway, and the deficit will only increase. How can they survive?”

“The final blow will be in three months.”

“Is there something else in three months?”

Lee Myung-hoon looked at Hyun-sung with curiosity and asked.

Hyun-sung seemed to think for a moment and then immediately opened his mouth.

“100 won!” [Approximately $0.08 USD, an extremely low price.]

“What? 100 won?”

“Yeah, in three months, we’ll charge 100 won. That’s the final blow. If we drag it out like that for three months, Movie Heart won’t be able to last any longer.”

“……”

Lee Myung-hoon simply shook his head from side to side instead of speaking. It meant that the game was already over in his mind.

Just then,

Clang!

A person entered as the store door opened.

At that moment, Hyun-sung’s eyes sparkled. The reason was that Hyun-sung was also waiting for that person.

“Hyung, welcome!” [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to address older brothers or close male friends.]

The person Hyun-sung greeted as “hyung” was Moon Hee-yeol.

He came almost every day, so they were close, but it was more because of their past life’s connection.

When he first opened and didn’t know much about videos, he received a lot of help from him.

He even organized videos with him several times after closing in the early morning. Anyway, he was the person who helped him the most when he was having a hard time.

“How are the customers today?”

Moon Hee-yeol’s first greeting. He always took care of things as if they were his own, just like in his past life.

Hyun-sung nodded and replied.

“It was okay.”

“That’s a relief. Well, there’s no other place that has such a good selection, so it would be strange if business wasn’t good. By the way, what about Movie Heart up there?”

“Why?”

“I was wondering, so I watched for about 30 minutes on the way here, but not a single customer went in. The owner was just guarding the counter in that big store.”

“Ah, yes……”

He already knew to some extent, so there was nothing else to say. He heard that the number of customers seemed to decrease gradually after the first three days of opening.

But the important thing here is not whether Movie Heart has customers or not, but that Moon Hee-yeol watches in front of someone else’s store for 30 minutes.

Who would go to such trouble, no matter how close they were to their younger brother?

He is still showing that kind of heart this time, just like he did in his past life.

“Take this.”

Moon Hee-yeol casually handed over a paper bag.

He knew what it was, of course. He had received it several times in his past life.

But he immediately asked, pretending not to know.

“Oh? What is this?”

“It’s sushi. I bought it on the way home. I bought plenty, so you can eat it with your staff.”

In his past life, he used to buy him food like this, saying that he couldn’t eat properly when he was alone. The types of food were also diverse. Kimbap [Korean seaweed rice rolls] and sundae [Korean blood sausage] were basic, and he sometimes bought sushi like today.

“Hyung, I don’t know how to thank you every time.”

“Don’t mention it. By the way, is there anything new that came out today?”

“Of course, I’ve set it aside here.”

Hyun-sung took out two videos from under the counter and handed them to Moon Hee-yeol. They were the videos that came out today. He knew that he would come on his way home at this time every day, so he had set them aside in advance.

“Oh! Broken Arrow and Georgia.”

“It’s a movie with all the actors that hyung likes. John Travolta is in Broken Arrow, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is in Georgia.”

“Oh! Really? Thank you! I needed a couple since I’m off tomorrow.”

“You’re off tomorrow?”

“Yeah, there’s something to fix at the factory, so I decided to take a day off tomorrow.”

“Hmm……”

After thinking for a moment, Hyun-sung suddenly called Moon Hee-yeol for some reason.

“Hee-yeol hyung!”

“Huh? Why?”

“How about having a drink with me after closing today?”

“Soju [Korean distilled spirit]? I’m always up for it if my younger brother wants to. But why all of a sudden?”

“I have something to tell hyung.”

“Something to say? What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later. It’s not something I can just say here……”

“Oh, okay. Then I’ll come here when I finish. By the way, I’m curious about what you want to say.”

Moon Hee-yeol looked at Hyun-sung with curiosity and tilted his head slightly.

Watching that, Hyun-sung smiled as if it was nothing. Then Moon Hee-yeol nodded as if he understood and left the store with the videos.

It’s the end of April now, so in a few more months, a nuclear bomb will drop on Korea.

It is the foreign exchange crisis that occurred in 1997. The so-called IMF crisis [International Monetary Fund bailout].

The crisis had already begun in January.

Hanbo Group bankruptcy.

Hanbo Group, the 18th largest conglomerate in the business world, went bankrupt with a debt of 5.7 trillion won [approximately $4.7 billion USD].

The impact immediately spread to the banks. Banks that failed to recover huge amounts of funds began to go bankrupt, leading to a chain of bankruptcies of large and small businesses.

Today, the news reported that two more small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt.

Today, Hyun-sung’s purpose in meeting Moon Hee-yeol is this.

In his past life, Moon Hee-yeol could not avoid the IMF crisis either. Eventually, the government applied for an IMF bailout, and he went bankrupt six months later.

His father collapsed from the shock and passed away a week later.

The villa where he lived was also taken over by the bank, and his family was ruined. That’s how his relationship with him ended.

But now the situation has changed.

For whatever reason, Hyun-sung knows about the IMF crisis.

He can’t change the fate of the country with his individual power, but he can at least change things for the people around him to some extent.

He wanted to talk to him from the first time he met him, but there were too few connections to do so, so he had no choice but to wait until they became close.

‘Hyung, let’s not get hurt this time.’

Hyun-sung stared at the door where Moon Hee-yeol had disappeared for a long time.

***

Tak!

Yoo Seung-il entered the date and pressed the enter key to check today’s sales before closing.

Then, after a while, the number appeared at the bottom of the monitor screen.

[150,500 won] [Approximately $125 USD]

“Haa……!”

Yoo Seung-il sighed after checking the number. He felt his mind go blank. It was the lowest amount today while doing business for a week.

Just then,

Beep!

The cell phone rang. It’s probably Manager Park Sun-woo. He must have called to check today’s sales.

Yoo Seung-il answered the phone with a weak voice.

“Hello……”

-Honey, it’s me.

The person who called was not Manager Park Sun-woo but his wife, Han Mi-sook.

“Oh? What’s wrong with you at this hour?”

-I called because I thought you might be done.

“I’m just about to finish.”

-How was it today?

“Oh? That’s……”

Yoo Seung-il was momentarily speechless. If he told his wife today’s sales as they were, her disappointment would be too great.

“I made 25.” [Referring to 250,000 won.]

He had no choice but to lie in a hurry. He wanted to ease his wife’s worries even if it was like that.

But a sigh came from the other side of the receiver without any reward for lying.

-Sigh…….

“What? Why are you sighing?”

-I’m sorry, I did it without knowing it…….

Han Mi-sook was taken aback. That’s not why she called. Actually, she was worried because it had been raining little by little since a while ago, so she called, but she asked about sales because she was curious.

Han Mi-sook quickly continued.

-Do you have an umbrella in the store?

“Umbrella? Is it raining now?”

-Yes, it started raining little by little a while ago. Actually, that’s why I called…… I’m sorry, I bothered someone who had a hard time since morning…….

“No, it’s okay. There’s nothing to be sorry about. I have an umbrella, so don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.”

-Yes, I understand. And I put a bottle of makgeolli [Korean rice wine] in the refrigerator because it’s raining. I’ll make your favorite tofu kimchi [Tofu with stir-fried kimchi], so come quickly.

“Okay, I got it. And honey…… no, it’s nothing. I’ll go in soon, so wait a little.”

Yoo Seung-il stopped talking about something. He decided that it wasn’t something to talk about on the phone at this time anyway.

Yoo Seung-il started to end the rental program after hanging up the phone.

Right then, the cell phone rang again.

Beep!

This time, it must be Manager Park Sun-woo from the headquarters.

Anyway, Yoo Seung-il answered the phone right away, thinking that the only place he could trust in this situation was the headquarters.

“Hello.”

-Boss, it’s me. How was it today?

As expected, it was Manager Park Sun-woo.

“It’s 150,500 won.”

Unlike lying to his wife a little while ago, Yoo Seung-il answered honestly. It was to convey the seriousness of the current situation to the headquarters as it was.

The effect appeared immediately.

Manager Park Sun-woo’s voice gained strength.

-What? Is that real?

“Yes, it’s serious. It’s only been a week, but at this rate, I don’t think I’ll be able to live my life. I can’t even tell my wife the truth. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

-Hmm…….

Manager Park Sun-woo’s voice, who seemed to be contemplating for a while, was heard again from the other side of the receiver.

-Let’s watch a little more for now.

“Watch more? How much more?”

Yoo Seung-il was going crazy. It’s only been a week, but it feels like seven years have passed. That’s how scary every day is. But he’s telling me to watch a little more, so I’m going crazy.

“How much more are you going to watch?”

Yoo Seung-il asked again in a hurry.

Then, an absurd sound was heard from the other side of the receiver.