Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 567

569

Returning as a Building Owner

As Executive Director Park Sun-woo left the hospital room, Yoo Seung-il went to the lounge and made a call. After two rings, the other party answered.

-Hello.

“It’s me, Mr. Kim.”

The person Yoo Seung-il called was none other than Hyun-sung.

-Yes, sir.

“Is it okay to talk right now?”

It was a change, if anything. From some point on, he had developed a habit of asking the other person if they were available before calling. This probably meant that Yoo Seung-il had developed a sense of consideration for others.

-Yes, it’s fine. But what’s going on?

“Well, it’s nothing like that, but Executive Director Park from headquarters visited a little while ago.”

-Is it because of the videos?

“That’s right, they were ultimately after the merchandise.”

-How much did they offer?

“He mentioned the same amount he initially offered. So, today I decided to make up my mind…”

Yoo Seung-il began to explain what had happened with Executive Director Park Sun-woo.

A little later.

After Yoo Seung-il’s explanation, Hyun-sung immediately spoke.

-So, you’re saying you mentioned 5 million won [approximately $3,700 USD]?

“Yes, and he immediately asked who the dealer was.”

-And then?

“What do you mean, ‘And then?’ Of course, I said I couldn’t reveal it.”

-And then?

“He left without a word. You should have seen his face, Mr. Kim. Haha…”

Yoo Seung-il laughed heartily, as if he felt good. It seemed like he was relieving his pent-up frustrations in that way.

A little later.

Yoo Seung-il spoke again.

“So, I was wondering if you could properly assess the value now?”

-Me?

“Yes, since I can’t trust those guys at headquarters anymore, you’re the only one I can ask.”

-Didn’t you say there was a used dealer before?

“I called him, but he said he couldn’t handle the Movie Heart 폐업 [Pee-up, meaning business closure] items. So, I asked him why, and he said that if Movie Heart headquarters found out, they would kill him.”

-Kill him?

“I didn’t know, but apparently, there’s something like that. They won’t let him operate in the video industry anymore.”

Hyun-sung nodded.

He had vaguely heard about it in his past life. When Movie Heart closed down, ordinary dealers couldn’t touch the items. If they did, they would pay the corresponding price.

In the end, they were building their own territory by using numerous chain stores across the country.

By doing so, the headquarters monopolized all the Movie Heart items nationwide, and as a result, the 폐업 [Pee-up] items were inevitably traded at ridiculously low prices. Of course, the damage was borne by the store owners.

-So, that’s why they were lowballing the price so much?

“That’s right, they had something to rely on. It turns out the headquarters guys are the worst of the worst.”

-So, that’s why you’re asking me now?

“Yes, it’s not just about the money, but other dealers won’t come even if I call them. And the important thing is that the headquarters guys can’t treat you carelessly.”

-Excuse me? What do you mean by that?

Hyun-sung couldn’t quite understand. For what reason would Movie Heart headquarters not be able to treat him carelessly?

“They know it too.”

-Yes? What are you talking about?

“About your wealth, Mr. Kim.”

-My wealth?

“Yes, when I talked to them last time, they knew that you run the biggest restaurant in Korea. So, from their perspective, they can’t do anything even if you step in to take my items. They can’t dare to touch you. If they did, and you declared war against Movie Heart, Movie Heart would be finished.”

Smirk.

A smile spread across Hyun-sung’s face as he quietly listened to Yoo Seung-il’s story.

To be honest, Yoo Seung-il’s words weren’t wrong. If he wanted to, he could declare war against Movie Heart nationwide.

After all, they wouldn’t be able to do anything in the face of capital.

It wouldn’t take long.

If he dumped prices at 100 won [less than $0.10 USD] for just three months, all Movie Hearts would be 정리 [Jeong-ri, meaning liquidated or cleared out]. Just like the Movie Heart in Bupyeong. Then, at some point, Movie Hearts across the country would disappear without a trace.

But that wasn’t what Hyun-sung wanted.

Normalization of rental fees.

If he could just stop the dumping rental fees that were happening nationwide, he wouldn’t want anything more. He was always thinking of negotiating with Movie Heart about that issue anyway.

After organizing his thoughts, Hyun-sung immediately spoke.

-Yes, I understand. I’ll look into it.

“Thank you, I won’t forget this favor.”

-But isn’t there a bigger problem?

“A bigger problem?”

-Yes, the lease period. It’s only been five months, so there’s a lot of time left. What are you going to do about the monthly rent?

“You really are different from other people.”

Yoo Seung-il couldn’t help but acknowledge Hyun-sung once again.

In fact, that was what he had been upset about with Executive Director Park Sun-woo from headquarters a little while ago.

It wasn’t just about taking out the videos; the aftermath was a bigger problem. The issue was how to handle the monthly rent burden for the remaining lease period.

The headquarters hadn’t said a word about that.

That’s what Yoo Seung-il was upset about. But Hyun-sung was talking about that issue right now.

On the other hand, Hyun-sung couldn’t understand why Yoo Seung-il said he was different. So, he couldn’t help but ask again.

-Different? I don’t quite understand what you mean.

“The headquarters didn’t even care about that issue. That’s the biggest burden for me. That’s why I was so upset with Executive Director Park.”

-Ah, I see…

Hyun-sung finally understood the meaning of what Yoo Seung-il had said a little while ago.

Perhaps that was the true nature of the headquarters. Even at the last moment, they were only looking out for their own interests, not thinking about the store owners.

“2428.”

-Excuse me? What’s that number?

“It’s the store’s door password.”

-Password? But why are you telling me that?

“To give an accurate estimate, you’ll have to see the items in person, right? Go in and check whenever you have time. And the light switch is on the right as soon as you enter.”

Hyun-sung felt a strange feeling as he listened to Yoo Seung-il’s story.

Giving him the password?

What did that mean?

It meant he completely trusted him.

Yoo Seung-il from his past life?

It was a bad relationship. And now he was giving him the password to the store.

Yoo Seung-il spoke again.

“And when I get discharged from the hospital, I’m sorry to ask, but could you gather the rental store owners in the neighborhood in one place?”

-Why the owners?

“I want to apologize.”

-Excuse me? Apologize?

Hyun-sung’s voice involuntarily rose at the word “apologize.” That meant he hadn’t expected it at all.

Then Yoo Seung-il’s voice was heard again.

“I’ve been thinking a lot while in the hospital. But what you said to me before kept coming to mind.”

-Excuse me? What did I…

“About the purpose of coming to this neighborhood. I don’t know if you remember, but there was a time when I asked you to raise the rental fees. At that time, you told me that I had been trying to kill everyone else and live alone from the beginning, didn’t you?”

-Ah, yes. I remember.

“That was true. I opened in that neighborhood with that thought from the beginning. At the time, I thought it was natural to do that in order to survive, but after thinking about it while in the hospital, I realized how selfish and bad that thought was.”

Yoo Seung-il paused for a moment before continuing.

“So, when I leave the hospital this time, I want to ask for their forgiveness. A person shouldn’t do that. Now that I’ve experienced it myself, I know how bad that behavior is.”

Repentance (悔改) [Huigai, meaning repentance or remorse].

Yoo Seung-il sincerely regretted his past actions and meant to ask for forgiveness.

He hadn’t believed that people could change at first.

Why else would there be a saying that people can’t be fixed?

But he had already experienced that that saying was wrong.

The main character was Park Hee-cheol, who had been a loan shark.

He, who had done all sorts of bad things in his past life, had changed.

And now Yoo Seung-il was also saying that he would ask for forgiveness for his actions.

The common point between the two was that they had repented.

Of course, there was a trigger for that.

In Park Hee-cheol’s case, he had avoided death, and in Yoo Seung-il’s case, he was being treated for liver cancer, although it was in its early stages.

In the end, it was about life. People could change if they almost died or contracted a deadly disease.

-Is that really true?

Hyun-sung’s eyes sparkled as he asked. That meant that Hyun-sung was also happy about Yoo Seung-il’s change.

“It’s true. I’ve been thinking a lot while receiving treatment from you. To be honest, I can say this now…”

Yoo Seung-il’s words became longer. The fact that his words were long meant that he had a lot to say, and the fact that he had a lot to say meant that he had thought a lot.

A little later.

Yoo Seung-il called out to Hyun-sung as he finished speaking for the last time.

“Mr. Kim!”

-Yes, sir.

“Thank you so much. I’ve lived for over 50 years, but I didn’t realize what I hadn’t realized until I met you. The world is not meant to be lived alone. I’ve been thinking a lot about living together, which you talked about last time, for the past few days.”

Yoo Seung-il paused before continuing.

“The conclusion is that you were right. People are meant to live together. I was wrong to think that I had to trample on others in order to survive.”

-…

“So, I was wondering if there’s a way for me to live together with you in that neighborhood?”

-In Bupyeong?

“Yes, I want to do that. I’ve been struggling to live alone until now, but from now on, I want to greet the people in the neighborhood and live together.”

-Hmm…

Hyun-sung seemed to be thinking for a moment before opening his mouth.

-Yes, I understand.

“Huh? Is there a way?”

-I don’t know right now, but I’ll look for one.

“Is that really true?”

-Yes, let’s 정리 [Jeong-ri] the videos first and then find a way.

“Thank you so much, I’ll trust you. But can I ask you one thing?”

-Yes? What…?

Hyun-sung tilted his head. He was curious about what he was suddenly going to ask now.

“Didn’t you say I couldn’t do it last time?”

-Excuse me? What do you mean? What are you saying I couldn’t do…

“Living together. When I talked about it last time, you clearly said I couldn’t do it, but this time you readily said I could.”

-Well, haven’t you changed? I don’t know if I can use this expression, but I don’t like being a pushover either.

“What? A pushover?”

-Yes, that’s right. Fortunately, unlike before, you’re admitting your mistakes and saying you’ll ask for forgiveness from the other rental store owners, so I’ve changed my mind too. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have granted your request either.

“Haha, so you’re saying that I changed, so you changed too?”

-If you think about it, that’s how it is. I don’t want to be a pushover either.

That was his honest feeling. If Yoo Seung-il hadn’t changed, Hyun-sung wouldn’t have helped either.

Of course, he could have roughly disposed of the videos, but Hyun-sung wouldn’t have moved beyond that. But he had changed his mind when he said he would apologize to the other video rental store owners a little while ago.

After exchanging a few more words, he hung up the phone with Yoo Seung-il.

As Hyun-sung hung up the phone, Lee Myung-hoon, who was next to him, asked slyly.

“Is that the Movie Heart owner?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“But what’s with the pushover talk all of a sudden?”

“You know what a pushover is, right?”

“Of course.”

“I was saying that I don’t want to be a pushover either. I won’t be a pushover unilaterally.”

“Who’s calling you a pushover, boss?”

“It’s not that… There’s just something like that. Don’t let anyone call you a pushover either. As you live your life…”

Hyun-sung’s explanation became longer than expected.

After living in the world for a while, he realized that unilaterally giving and giving eventually leads to being a pushover. Being too calculating is a problem, but unilaterally giving is also a problem.

There needs to be a certain amount of give and take in the world.

As Hyun-sung finished speaking, Lee Myung-hoon opened his mouth again.

“So, you’re saying to give and take appropriately?”

“That’s right, that’s how you live in the world without being ignored. But if you live too calculatingly, that’s also unpleasant. In the end, ‘appropriately’ seems to be the answer.”

“The problem is the word ‘appropriately.’ It seems difficult.”

“So, appropriately…”

“That’s right, that’s what’s difficult. Haha…”

Lee Myung-hoon laughed. Then Hyun-sung also chuckled. It was clear that the word ‘appropriately’ wasn’t easy.

A little later.

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Myung-hoon and said.

“I’m going to Movie Heart for a while, so take good care of the store.”

“Why are you going there?”

“To finish up.”

“Finish up?”

“Yeah, I’m going to give a final estimate.”

“Is Movie Heart Bupyeong finally disappearing into history?”

Hyun-sung nodded instead of answering and left the store. Then he headed straight for Movie Heart.

Five minutes later.

Beep beep beep beep.

Hyun-sung, who had arrived at Movie Heart, began to enter the password without hesitation.

It was just then.

“Who the hell is that?”

Executive Director Park Sun-woo, who was watching from across Movie Heart, immediately cursed.

570

Returning as a Building Owner