Real Man

At that moment, two men were sitting side by side on a sofa in a real estate building.

The real estate agent, Byun Il-hong, spoke to the man who was looking over the contract information.

“Didn’t I tell you? You can sell the building at a high price in the end.”

“It’s not like Starbucks moved in, as you said.”

“It would have been possible if you had given up the third floor gym. There’s still room for negotiation.”

“Those guys are not ordinary. They withstand all kinds of threats, and they’re persistent. They still keep contacting me.”

The building owner, Seo Wang-sik, stuck out his tongue in annoyance, and Byun Il-hong showed some color.

“Well, anyway, thanks to kicking out the first and second floors as I said, you’re selling a 700 million won building for 1.2 billion. You know you missed the redevelopment, right? If you don’t sell it now, that building will be worthless.”

“That’s why I said I’d give you a lot of commission. But are you sure they’re buying it?”

“Huh. Young guys are bold.”

“They’re nouveau riche who hit the jackpot in stocks. They’re immature and rich, so they’re perfect to pass on.”

“Yeah. Let’s have a drink when it’s over.”

It was when Seo Wang-sik finally smiled.

Clang.

“Oh, they must be here.”

Byun Il-hong got up from his seat at the sound of the door opening.

The first one to open the door and enter was Yoo-hyun.

He had never seen him before, but he had no trouble recognizing him, as he had heard enough explanation from Park Young-hoon.

“Oh, my. Mr. President, you’re here.”

“Yes. Hello. I’m Han Yoo-hyun from Double Y.”

Yoo-hyun greeted Byun Il-hong, who had a chubby face and a bald head, and met eyes with the building owner next to him.

He had a rather thin face and snake-like eyes, and he spoke to Yoo-hyun right away.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Wang-sik.”

“I’ve been wanting to see you.”

“What’s the reason for that?”

“I wanted to buy the building as soon as possible, but I couldn’t reach you.”

Yoo-hyun made a pointed remark, but Seo Wang-sik didn’t notice at all and shrugged his shoulders.

“Hehe. You’re very impatient. Sit down.”

“Yes. Thank you. Mr. Park, sit down too.”

“Yeah, Mr. Han.”

As Yoo-hyun and Park Young-hoon called each other president and sat down, Byun Il-hong’s mouth curled up.

He hid his smile and spoke to the two people who were acting young.

“You must have had a hard time coming all this way. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you. Time is money for us. Let’s talk about the building right away.”

“Sure.”

Byun Il-hong agreed with Yoo-hyun’s words and sat down.

He handed over the documents he had prepared in advance and said.

“As you asked last time, the building price is 1.2 billion won. The location is so good that the price is what you call here.”

“There must be a reason why the price is higher than the surrounding buildings.”

“Of course. It’s better to buy a reliable building than to spend money on a cheap one. You made an excellent choice.”

Byun Il-hong responded to Yoo-hyun with a relaxed look.

Seo Wang-sik also looked confident, as if they had agreed on what to say beforehand.

Yoo-hyun prepared to give them a twist.

“I agree. But since it’s our company’s first building, we looked into some other aspects.”

“Of course. Please ask me anything you’re curious about.”

“Mr. Park, go ahead.”

Park Young-hoon rolled up his sleeves, following Yoo-hyun’s cue.

“Now, don’t misunderstand and listen.”

“What is there to misunderstand?”

The answer came not from Byun Il-hong, who had met Park Young-hoon several times, but from Seo Wang-sik, who spoke for him.

He was so impatient that he flared up at the word misunderstanding.

Park Young-hoon didn’t care and poked at the sore spot.

“First of all, there was too much debt on the building.”

“I have more than one building, you know.”

“By the way, when you buy a building, you usually take out a loan for the leverage effect. The rental income is higher than the interest on the loan. And of course, the building value also goes up every day.”

Byun Il-hong wrapped up Seo Wang-sik’s excuse and even taught him.

Park Young-hoon held back a laugh at the poor financial knowledge and naturally moved on to the next topic.

“Speaking of rental income, what about the third floor gym?”

“Oh, the gym? They’re very nice people. Right, Mr. Seo?”

Byun Il-hong winked exaggeratedly, and Seo Wang-sik relaxed his stiff face and nodded.

Since the condition for the building acquisition that Park Young-hoon proposed was to keep the third floor rented and vacate the first and second floors, he had no choice but to comply.

“They’ve been paying the rent without fail for seven years. Never late.”

“I was worried, but they seem to be good people.”

“There aren’t many tenants like that. Ahem.”

Why did you bully those tenants so much?

Yoo-hyun suppressed a smirk and winked at Park Young-hoon before stepping in himself.

“But the third floor contract expires in a month, right?”

“Don’t worry. I ordered the remodeling myself. They won’t leave.”

“Oh, I didn’t see that in the contract.”

“Well, you don’t write that in the contract. That’s something you do with trust.”

Trust my ass.

Yoo-hyun tilted his head with a clumsy act, looking at the heavily armed Seo Wang-sik.

“I see. But there was something strange.”

“What is it?”

“I heard that the electricity went out in the building due to unpaid bills.”

“Ha ha. That was a happening.”

“It seemed like the electricity was out for quite a long time, though?”

As Yoo-hyun kept scratching, Byun Il-hong noticed something strange and narrowed his eyes.

But Seo Wang-sik, who was impatient, snapped back.

“I said no, didn’t I? Those bastards were so stubborn to stay…”

“So you tried to kick them out. Go on.”

As Yoo-hyun gestured, Seo Wang-sik, who came to his senses, blurted out.

“Who are you guys? What are you asking about things that don’t matter?”

“Mr. Park, show them who you are.”

“I was suffocating anyway.”

It was the moment when Park Young-hoon took off his sunglasses.

Seo Wang-sik’s eyes widened as he recognized his face.

“Could it be… the gym manager who was chased by…”

“To be exact, I’m Park Young-hoon, the president of Double Y.”

Seo Wang-sik grabbed the back of his neck, looking at Park Young-hoon who spoke confidently.

“Ouch, you bastards. Now you’re doing this kind of scumbag thing?”

“Scumbags are those who bring thugs and interfere with business.”

As Yoo-hyun retorted bluntly, Seo Wang-sik clenched his jaw.

“Do you have any evidence? Do you have any evidence?”

“Don’t you have a witness?”

Yoo-hyun pointed to Park Young-hoon, who had followed the manager when Seo Wang-sik brought the thugs.

Seo Wang-sik sneered at him.

“So what if you saw it? Tsk tsk. Young kids are like that. They don’t make it. I have everything you said to me when your manager threatened me.”

“Who threatened you first?”

Park Young-hoon, who replied in an awkward tone, made Seo Wang-sik glare.

His nature, which was rooted in thuggery, showed through.

“You threatened me. So what?”

“What did you say?”

“Kid, the truth doesn’t matter. Who do you think will believe you without any evidence?”

Seo Wang-sik scowled and glared, but Yoo-hyun looked infinitely pathetic in his eyes.

Yoo-hyun chuckled and responded leisurely.

“Isn’t it evidence that you took the electricity bill and didn’t pay it? You clearly made them fix the defects during the remodeling, and you say there’s no evidence?”

“Oh, really? Are you going to report me?”

“Let’s see. Let’s see how it goes.”

Seo Wang-sik raised his eyes and challenged him.

He had the reason why the manager couldn’t hit the decisive blow even though he was bullied.

Yoo-hyun said what he wanted to say as if he had expected it.

“That’s what I’m saying. ‘A gym with a champion, bullied by the building owner.’, how do you think it would look like if this came out as an article?”

“So what? We’ll both get dirty. Let’s go all the way.”

“Fine. Sue me. Then you can’t get Starbucks in.”

It was the moment when Yoo-hyun opened his mouth.

Finally, Seo Wang-sik’s pupils shook.

“What, what did you say?”

“Starbucks gave you a negotiation deadline of less than two months, right? If you sue, the gym can stay even after the contract is over. Let’s keep going, since we started.”

“How, how did you…”

Byun Il-hong couldn’t close his mouth as the secret deal was exposed.

Yoo-hyun calmly pushed the opponent to the corner with an indifferent expression.

“I heard a rumor that this area couldn’t even make it to the redevelopment list among the city hall staff. You knew that, right?”

“…”

“A place with no vision, a building with vacancies and a bad reputation. Who would buy this building?”

Byun Il-hong’s eyes rolled fast.

He had to assume that he knew everything with that level of information.

But should he give up?

He couldn’t miss a penny of commission after all the trouble he had gone through.

Byun Il-hong tried to reason with him, thinking that he had to sell it somehow.

“But you need an office, don’t you? There’s no vacancy on the first and second floors around here.”

“That’s true.”

“It may not be attractive right now, but it’s Seoul. It’ll go up someday.”

“Hmm…”

“Yeah. It’s good for you to buy it and solve the gym problem cleanly, isn’t it?”

Byun Il-hong’s voice got louder, thinking that his words were working.

Yoo-hyun, who faced the situation he wanted, deliberately put on a brake.

“You’re right, but the price has to match. I don’t want to be fooled knowing it.”

“How much do you think?”

“You tell me first.”

Yoo-hyun gestured casually, but Byun Il-hong felt a lot of pressure.

He could ruin the deal if he made a mistake.

He made his mouth light with the thought that he had to sell it anyway.

“900 million. This is the price with the surrounding buildings…”

“That’s it for me.”

Swish.

As Yoo-hyun tried to get up, Byun Il-hong quickly reached out his palm.

“Hey, wait. 800 million. I can’t go below that.”

“650 million. This is the price based on the building appraisal value and the ratio of the surrounding building sales prices. I’ll sign it right away if you say okay.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Seo Wang-sik’s face twisted at Yoo-hyun’s provocative offer, but not Byun Il-hong.

He grabbed Seo Wang-sik, who was about to rush in, and stepped in again.

“Brother, you have to think calmly at times like this. Anyway, you’re getting rid of a headache, aren’t you?”

“Is that what you’re saying now?”

“Anyway, it’s the right price. You won’t get another chance. You’re still paying interest, aren’t you?”

“Ugh…”

He had endured the interest, dreaming of Starbucks moving in, but he was reaching his limit.

He put his hand on his forehead and Byun Il-hong summed up the situation.

“You have no problem with the funds, right? I’d appreciate it if you could write the contract and finish it quickly.”

“Of course. But I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Apologize sincerely to the manager, and I’ll pay you right away.”

“You bastard. What are you saying?”

Seo Wang-sik’s eyes rolled at Yoo-hyun’s words.

But it was too late for the fish that had been caught.