Chapter 37

Chapter 37. Halbaekase (2)

Sunday morning.

I went up to the rooftop of the newly remodeled Halbaekase building and looked down over Mullae-dong.

Today was moving day.

My parents’ belongings would arrive.

It was also the day I had to persuade Father.

The Meat Gangster owner had shared one concern with me after last night’s tasting.

Father had created a course easily worth 150,000 won.

Yet he stubbornly refused to charge more than 70,000 won.

How am I supposed to convince him?

Leaning against the rooftop railing, I thought back to my conversation with the Meat Gangster owner.

Even though the menu used pork, duck, and chicken instead of Korean beef, 70,000 won left far too little profit for the effort involved.

And Father wanted to operate from eleven in the morning until nine at night without even a proper break.

I could already imagine what would happen.

The first sign Father would hang on Halbaekase’s glass door would probably read:

[OPEN EVERY DAY]

He had spent weeks worrying that his stamina might not be good enough.

But after returning to the kitchen, his motivation had gone completely out of control.

If preparation and closing time were included, he would be working more than twelve hours a day.

No matter how I thought about it, that was wrong.

Pssht. Click.

Frustrated, I opened a beer and wet my throat.

I would be home all day anyway.

A moving truck soon entered the alley.

My parents and the president of Jeongseok Construction arrived at almost the same time.

I poured the more-than-half-full beer down the drain and quickly went downstairs.

“President, what brings you here?”

“Hahaha. I heard your parents were moving in today. I also need to ask your father how he wants the restaurant interior finished.”

Unlike the second and third floors, which had been completely transformed into a new home, only the basic construction had been completed on the first-floor restaurant.

Could I really leave the final interior entirely to Father?

If I did, it might end up looking like an ordinary barbecue restaurant filled with round metal tables.

I shook my head and warned the Jeongseok Construction president.

We should discuss that separately when Father wasn’t around.

Sure enough...

The moment Father stepped out of the car and saw the first floor, his eyes filled with the challenge-loving spirit of a young employee starting his first job.

Fortunately, Mom was beside him.

“What are you doing? Come upstairs already.”

Mom was more interested in seeing the new house than the restaurant.

She dragged Father up to the second floor.

“Isn’t this flooring really expensive? The wallpaper is silk too! Silk! Oh my! What is that?”

The materials weren’t the only premium things.

There was custom furniture designed to maximize every inch of space.

Mom entered the specially built kitchen and couldn’t close her mouth while examining all the unfamiliar equipment.

“Mom! Why don’t you go get coffee nearby? If we stay here, we’ll just get in the movers’ way.”

“Huh? Still, one of us should stay. I’ll stay here. You go with your father.”

“Hmm. Fine. We won’t go far, so call me if you need anything.”

“You think this is my first move? Stop worrying and go. I’ll handle everything.”

That was true.

After Father’s restaurant failed, we had been forced to move three times.

Something that would never happen again.

If my parents wanted, I could buy them a house far better than this immediately.

Though they would probably refuse and say they didn’t need it.

We appointed Mom as the supervisor and went to the nearest café.

I needed to find a good moment to discuss Halbaekase’s pricing.

But doing that in front of the president of Jeongseok Construction didn’t feel right.

Father thanked him the moment we sat down.

He seemed just as happy as Mom.

“You worked very hard, President. The building looks completely different from when I saw it a month ago. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, it was nothing. I was paid to do the work. Still, I did treat it like my own house. Your son is practically my benefactor.”

I was still terrible at receiving praise.

I awkwardly sucked on my iced Americano while the president of Jeongseok Construction changed the topic.

“Ah! Team Leader Kang! About the Daeyoung Precision building, I got word that construction can begin next Wednesday. They said all the paperwork is complete.”

“Yes. I heard too. Your friend is both meticulous and fast.”

“Right? I almost never work in partnership with anyone, but you can trust that man. Hahaha.”

To prevent delays, the two construction companies would build the building together.

Jeongseok Construction had shifted its focus toward remodeling and didn’t have enough workers for a large new project alone.

“Are you talking about the land across the road?”

Father, who had quietly been listening, finally asked.

“Yes. The building I told you about before. We’re finally starting construction.”

“Haha. I still can’t believe it. My son is building something that big. But tell me... are you planning to rebuild the building we’re moving into today too?”

Originally, no.

The biggest reason I had bought the triangular building was because of one photograph from the diary app.

Our family standing in front of a sign that said [Halbaekase], all smiling brightly.

There was no need to calculate investment value for a picture like that.

Though now, my thoughts had changed slightly.

“Why do you ask? Don’t tell me you’ve become interested in real estate. Like I told you before, the money in your account is for your retirement. Don’t touch it for investments.”

“Investments? Nothing like that. I’m just curious. The factories next to the building look like they’ve been empty for quite a while. I was wondering if they were waiting for redevelopment.”

The president of Jeongseok Construction smiled as if to reassure him.

“Whew. People have been talking about Mullae-dong redevelopment for decades, sir. Nothing changes. The buildings beside yours are the same, and there are plenty of empty ones elsewhere. The owners are simply exhausted. They don’t have a business worth running themselves, and almost nobody wants to rent the spaces.”

It was something everyone knew.

And something only I saw differently.

The redevelopment that had stalled for decades would soon accelerate.

Seongun’s Creative Village project would soon be announced officially.

Team Leader Geum Seokcheol had said that seventy percent of the purchase contracts were completed within a month.

Rumors that someone was buying land around Creative Village had probably already started spreading.

Before that happened, I wanted to buy the two empty factory buildings on both sides of Halbaekase.

But recently, the Audit Team Leader rejected my request.

I understood why.

I was currently the person most deeply involved in the Creative Village project.

Still, it was disappointing.

Those two buildings, which were cheapest today, were supposed to be my final investments before resigning.

I needed another method.

But first, I had to fix Halbaekase’s pricing problem.

At that same time.

A pavilion inside Chairman Choi Hyuntae’s favorite ecological park.

President Baek Kangjin entered after being summoned and bowed.

“You called for me, Chairman?”

“Yes. Sit. It’s been a while since we played a game of Go.”

Kangjin, who was no match for Chairman Choi at Go, reluctantly picked up the black stones.

About ten minutes later...

As expected, Kangjin began taking longer and longer to decide each move.

Chairman Choi had been waiting for exactly that.

“You still think too much. It’s not as though you’re going to find some brilliant move anyway.”

“...”

“We have plenty of time. Tell me. How is Taesik doing? Is he starting to settle into his position?”

It was always like this.

First, Chairman Choi occupied part of Kangjin’s mind.

Then he suddenly attacked with a question.

Kangjin couldn’t play carelessly against the chairman.

That meant he had little room left to read Chairman Choi’s intentions and prepare an answer.

Tap.

After thinking hard, Kangjin found what seemed like a decent position and placed a black stone.

“He has become much more motivated since putting me in this seat. The Creative Village new business briefing was also completed very successfully.”

Tap.

Chairman Choi immediately placed a white stone as though he had already predicted Kangjin’s move.

Once again, Kangjin’s thoughts became tangled.

Chairman Choi asked another question.

“I heard about that too. I told them to locate sites for additional gateways, and apparently he assigned another task on top of it. Was that Taesik’s idea as well?”

“Yes, Chairman. He did tell them to prioritize the gateway locations you ordered. Team Leader Kang handled both assignments at the same time.”

“I see. What kind of business plan was it?”

Kangjin explained the new business concepts led by Jinhyeok in detail.

The black stone never left Kangjin’s fingers.

Meanwhile, Chairman Choi’s face steadily brightened.

“Hahaha! He really is an interesting man. A business that can exist only inside Creative Village? That’s a clever move. But Taesik was the one who led him toward it?”

“Yes. I heard he even used his personal card to support them without hesitation.”

“Hahaha! Interesting. Very interesting. Looks like Taesik is finally beginning to understand things. Exactly. Talented people should be worked without rest.”

Hearing Chairman Choi’s hearty laughter, Kangjin resumed the game with a slightly more relaxed mind.

“Taesik is drawing a large picture. He plans to use Team Leader Kang’s business proposal as justification to transfer new business planning from the Future Strategy Office into Seongun Development. However...”

“However?”

“The very Team Leader Kang who led the project rejected the idea immediately.”

“Why?”

“He said other teams’ experience would also help with new business planning, but I believe his real reason is that he wants to focus on commercial district analysis.”

“So what did you decide?”

“We decided to reward him for this project first. The compensation will be a large-scale hiring increase for his team and a team vacation.”

Chairman Choi’s hand froze in midair over the board.

“Hahaha. You and Taesik... This is why you’re still lacking.”

“...What do you mean?”

“If you’re giving someone a gift, you should give them what they need most. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can win a hundred battles. You’re still the same. I’ve told you countless times. If you want to lead a group, you should know everything about the people beneath you, even how many spoons they own. Tch.”

Kangjin looked at him in surprise.

“Don’t tell me, Chairman, that you personally...”

“That’s right. The moment I heard the Creative Village proposal, I gave the order. I had that man investigated.”

It was truly surprising.

Chairman Choi personally ordering a background investigation was exceptionally rare.

“I didn’t realize you were watching him that closely.”

“Haha. Weren’t you the same? At first, I was simply curious. Did you truly accept the president position only for Taesik? It didn’t look that way to me.”

Chairman Choi was seeing straight through him.

He was right.

Kangjin had accepted the presidency partly to help Taesik.

But he had also wanted to watch Jinhyeok a little longer.

That young employee kept stirring the ideals Kangjin himself had almost forgotten.

“...You knew everything.”

“Yes. Yet it seems there is plenty you don’t know. Do you know he owns property in Mullae-dong?”

“Yes. I heard he bought one small building. He reported it to the Audit Team before proceeding, and because the group had no interest in Mullae-dong at the time, there were no regulatory issues...”

“Correct. Then do you know that building is Daeyoung Precision?”

“...D-Daeyoung Precision?”

Kangjin’s calm eyes trembled.

It was in 4-ga rather than Creative Village.

Still, depending on how someone viewed it, it was exactly the kind of property that could create suspicion.

Chairman Choi watched Kangjin’s shocked expression with amusement while rolling a Go stone between his fingers.

“That isn’t all. He bought the Seongjin Logistics site attached behind it too and is about to begin construction.”

“Huh... I didn’t know that. I’ll have the Audit Team investigate immediately and confirm whether there’s any possible issue.”

Chairman Choi clicked his tongue at Kangjin’s attempt to make a bad move.

“Tch, tch. That isn’t what I mean. Like you said, there is no problem. He completed every document and ownership transfer before being assigned the Mullae-dong project. He left no possible weakness anyone could use against him.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“I’m telling you to think properly about his gift. There is no employee harder to control than one with money. He’s already earned enough to take care of himself. Doesn’t that mean he could submit his resignation and disappear whenever he feels like it?”

“That’s true. Financially, he has nothing to regret.”

Chairman Choi’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

“But we need that man for Taesik’s sake too. That’s why I summoned you. Make sure you keep him here.”

Kangjin’s hand trembled.

Chairman Choi rarely blinked even when a talented executive resigned.

Yet he was speaking this seriously about an ordinary employee.

“Tch. Why are you so surprised? I should at least do this much for Taesik. Go see the Audit Team Leader tomorrow. You’ll find out what kind of gift that young man truly needs.”

Understanding how deeply Chairman Choi was thinking about Taesik, President Baek bowed.

“Thank you, Chairman.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

Tap.

Chairman Choi placed a white stone on the board and smiled broadly.

“Atari. Atari. Everything’s dead. All of it. Hahahahaha.”

Amid all the confusion, he had placed a brilliant move.

Even Kangjin, who had survived every kind of corporate battle, could only be dragged along by the veteran chairman.