Chapter 12. The Happiness Diary Begins Again
The moment the clock hit six, Jinhyeok stood up and walked straight toward Kim Seokhun.
“I’m heading home.”
“...What? You’re already leaving?”
“Yes. It’s six. I have something to take care of.”
Kim Seokhun’s stomach boiled.
It was already unbearable just knowing Jinhyeok had won the lottery.
Now he had successfully completed the director’s assignment and was openly doing whatever he wanted.
“What do you have to do?”
“I’m looking for a house.”
The moment he heard that, Seokhun remembered the lottery confirmation Jinhyeok had shown him.
“...Y-Yeah. Fine.”
He didn’t want to continue the conversation.
It would only make his stomach hurt more.
After Jinhyeok left, Seokhun searched desperately for something to comfort himself.
He remembered countless news articles he had read.
Stories about people whose lottery wins had turned into disasters.
Some had wasted everything on gambling and entertainment before ending up buried in debt.
Some became thieves.
Others lost everything through reckless stock investments or failed businesses and eventually threw themselves into the Han River.
Their suicide notes often contained the same regret.
They wished they had never won.
At least then, they might have lived ordinary lives.
Of course, not every lottery winner became miserable.
But Seokhun desperately hoped Jinhyeok would follow the same path as those who did.
Getting excited over a pathetic 1.3 billion won. Tch.
Despite being an atheist, Seokhun began praying again and again.
Whatever house Jinhyeok bought, please let something go wrong.
Please let him lose every last won.
Meanwhile, Jinhyeok, completely unaware and unconcerned, left the office and headed straight toward Mullae-dong while checking the diary app.
If he wanted to construct a proper building on the Daeyoung Precision site, he also needed to acquire Seongjin Logistics.
But before that, there was something else he needed to do.
“W-W-Why are you here again...?”
The old man at Daebak Realty nearly had a seizure the moment he saw my face.
“Why are you so shocked? I just came to ask for some information. Give me a cold glass of water.”
This was amusing.
The old man who had once insisted water was self-service immediately rushed off and brought me a glass.
I drank it and leaned back against the sofa.
The old man watched me nervously and asked cautiously,
“Did you come because of Seongjin Logistics?”
“No. I can handle Seongjin Logistics myself. Today, I’m asking about that triangular building across the alley. You have the owner’s phone number, right?”
“...”
Asking only for the phone number meant I intended to cut the real estate agency out and deal directly.
Normally, a man with his personality would have cursed me out.
But remembering what had happened last time, he only trembled his lips.
He didn’t take long to decide.
He probably judged that avoiding any more involvement with me was more valuable than earning another brokerage fee.
“Here.”
I easily got the contact information and left.
Behind Seongjin Logistics was a three-story commercial building on a 20-pyeong lot.
It had been forced onto a triangular piece of land as a holdout building for redevelopment.
But redevelopment had been delayed endlessly, and the building had failed completely as a holdout investment.
For me, though, once I bought Seongjin Logistics too, it would become a very useful location.
Together with the two metalworking properties beside it, the combined site would reach around one hundred pyeong.
I needed to buy this building.
There was still no confirmed redevelopment plan.
But I had a feeling I would soon be able to make full use of this failed holdout property.
The biggest reason for that confidence was simple.
I looked at the building and checked the diary app again.
A distant-future entry had appeared when I decided, after seeing the road-view image, that I would buy it.
[XX/XX.
Halbaekase Branch No. 1 opened today.
I can finally taste Dad’s marinated ribs again.
I can see Dad’s happy smile again too.
Only a fragrant flower path lies ahead of our family.]
How could I possibly not buy the building after reading that?
After winning first prize, my father quit his security job and left for a month-long stay in Jeju with Mom.
Would he change his mind there?
Something I had truly hoped for would happen in this building.
That alone was enough reason to buy it.
I didn’t care that the location looked terrible for business.
All I needed was to get Dad to start again.
After that, we could move the business into my new building.
Until then, this place would become our family’s temporary base.
“Are you the person who called?”
A man who looked around fifty approached from behind.
“Yes. I heard the entire building is empty. Is that right?”
The man looked me up and down before straightening his shoulders arrogantly.
“It isn’t empty. I kicked everyone out. I hate dealing with trouble over tiny rents.”
Was he trying to squeeze out a little more money?
I had already researched enough.
There was no need for pointless lies.
“What price are you thinking?”
“Didn’t you hear? One billion won. I already told them I won’t sell for less.”
Apparently, this man didn’t know what kind of relationship I had with the old broker.
“I heard you said you didn’t care what price it sold for as long as you received eight hundred million. Was that wrong?”
“What? Ah... that was five years ago...”
“Exactly. This building has been sitting unsold for five years.”
“...N-No. It’s just that I wasn’t in a hurry to sell...”
What a ridiculous excuse.
Who in the world didn’t want a property to sell quickly?
He wasn’t in a hurry?
Fine.
Just wait.
I’d make him want to sell today.
“Let me look around inside first.”
“...F-Fine. Ahem.”
I followed him inside.
The roughly fifteen-pyeong first floor still had traces of the small grocery store that used to occupy it.
The second and third floors seemed to have been offices.
It looked slightly dirty, but that wasn’t what I cared about.
“I want to see the rooftop too.”
“Why the rooftop?”
“I like rooftop rooms. I want to see if there’s enough space to build a small one.”
“Why would you want a rooftop room? They’re hot in summer and freezing in winter...”
This man clearly didn’t understand the romance of rooftop living.
And I wasn’t in a position anymore where heating and cooling costs mattered.
This building would become my parents’ home and my own temporary residence until my new building was constructed.
“Just show me. I need to check the rooftop waterproofing anyway.”
I followed him upstairs.
It was a narrow empty space.
Building a rooftop room here would probably be inconvenient.
Change of plan.
I would build only a small storage shed.
I could keep the camping equipment that was arriving by delivery there and occasionally grill meat on the roof.
Sleeping downstairs would be enough.
It was only temporary until my building was finished.
Now it was time for the real reason I came to the roof.
I walked over to the railing and looked down at the Daeyoung Precision site.
I could construct something there immediately.
Still, the size felt slightly disappointing.
As expected, buying Seongjin Logistics behind it would create a much better shape.
“Sir, come look over here.”
I called the owner over.
“Do you know the Daeyoung Precision property sold recently?”
“What? That building sold?”
Apparently, the old Daeyoung Precision owner had left without telling anyone.
He was probably embarrassed.
After all, he had gone around shouting that he would never sell below 12.5 billion won.
Now it was my turn to spread the rumor myself.
I needed these people to reconsider the value of the land they owned.
“I heard it sold for five billion won.”
As expected, the man’s mouth fell open.
“F-Five billion? He sold for less than half the asking price?”
“If you don’t believe me, ask the broker. Or check the actual transaction record.”
“But... he wasn’t short on money. Why would he...”
Got him.
His eyes shook uneasily as he started doing the calculation in his head.
Two hundred fifty pyeong sold for five billion won.
That meant twenty million won per pyeong.
At that rate, his building was worth four hundred million at best.
“Apparently, he thought prices would fall even more if he waited.”
“Why? Is there something I don’t know?”
“Who knows? I heard redevelopment was delayed indefinitely again. Maybe that’s why.”
The shoulders he had deliberately raised earlier suddenly sank.
He must have been exhausted too.
The building had stood for ten years.
Redevelopment had been canceled again and again.
His holdout strategy had completely failed.
Because of the inefficient triangular lot, he hadn’t even been able to collect decent rent.
Years had simply passed.
“Tell me again. How much would you sell for?”
The man bit his lip and sighed deeply.
Apparently, he still needed one final push.
“I heard a ten-story building is going up on the Daeyoung Precision site. Once that happens, nobody will buy your property no matter how cheap you list it. Just sell it to me. I’ll give you the same rate as Daeyoung Precision. Twenty million won per pyeong.”
If I really wanted to, I could have bought it even cheaper.
But I decided not to.
This was land that was cheapest today.
It might be useless in his hands.
But once merged with Daeyoung Precision and Seongjin Logistics, its value would change completely.
And honestly, increasing my money wasn’t even the biggest reason I wanted this building.
This was the place that would make my father decide to begin again.
That alone was enough.
After thinking for a long time, the owner finally agreed once he called the real estate agency and confirmed what I had said.
Good.
It looked like I would finally be able to taste my father’s marinated ribs again.
And naturally, a new price level for the surrounding properties had now been created.
At that same time, inside the director’s office of the Integrated Development Division.
Director Baek Kangjin and Future Strategy Office Head Choi Taesik sat across from each other.
[Seongun Group Shows a True Model of Mutual-Growth Management, Following Étoile Sillim Branch with Baristers Janggi Branch.]
Taesik held out his phone after reading the article spread by the Public Relations Office.
“The response is quite strong. Was this what you were aiming for?”
Kangjin smiled with satisfaction.
“I wasn’t specifically aiming for it, but I did believe he would find a way. That young man said something interesting. Mutual growth means giving and receiving, and goodwill eventually comes back around.”
Taesik looked at Kangjin, who made no effort to hide his satisfaction.
“Looks like Manager Kang Jinhyeok passed your test.”
“Isn’t the result speaking for itself? The image Chairman Choi and I always wanted for Seongun is finally beginning to take shape.”
“Isn’t that a bit too much praise? It’s only one article.”
“Does it look that way? This is the first time in twenty years that the Mutual Growth Support Fund created personally by the chairman has truly done what it was meant to do.”
Taesik understood the meaning behind those words.
As a son born outside the chairman’s official family, someone who had spent years struggling for Chairman Choi’s attention, he knew exactly what that meant.
Something Chairman Choi had wanted for twenty years had finally happened.
“Do you think the chairman was happy too?”
“He probably didn’t show it, but I’m sure he was very pleased inside. And thanks to this, he may have started paying a little more attention to you too.”
That was probably true.
Kangjin had packaged the achievements of Étoile and Baristers as results of the Future Strategy Office.
Rather than the two older brothers fiercely competing for succession, Kangjin had chosen Taesik.
He was the only person who openly insisted that Taesik should inherit the group.
“Thank you. I’ve gained credit without doing anything.”
“Haha. Don’t say that. This is only the beginning. The chairman’s expectations will have grown because of this. If you fail to meet them, you’ll fall even deeper than before.”
“You mean the landmark project?”
“Exactly. Is the Future Strategy Office still pushing Yangjae-dong?”
Taesik thought for a moment.
Chairman Choi had ordered them to plan a landmark representing Seongun.
The Future Strategy Office had decided the project would be a massive mixed-use shopping mall.
And they had selected the Yangjae-dong Freight Terminal site as the leading candidate.
“Until now, that was the plan. But after seeing what happened this time, I think we may have overlooked the most important part. If we think about our corporate value of mutual growth, Mullae-dong, like you suggested, may be better.”
Something changed inside Taesik.
Until now, he had chased flashy ideas because he wanted visible achievements.
This incident taught him something.
If something was going to be called Seongun’s landmark, it needed to contain the company’s values and identity.
Kangjin noticed the change and smiled.
“Then let’s do this. I’ll order the Commercial District Analysis Team to analyze both the Yangjae-dong Freight Terminal and the Mullae-dong 4-ga metalworking district. We’ll discuss the details after seeing Manager Kang Jinhyeok’s report.”
“Are you going to give Manager Kang the order directly again? The team leader will resist.”
Director Baek gave a mysterious smile.
“I’ll receive reports from both of them. I’ve watched Deputy Manager Kim Seokhun for a long time, but he seems lacking. This assignment will help me decide who is more suitable to lead Seongun alongside you.”
Lead Seongun.
Those short words made Taesik’s heart race.
For the third son who had spent his life hiding without being able to reveal his identity, it sounded like a dream.
