Ch 84
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 84
When I entered the president's office, I saw a thin man with graying hair.
"Sit over there."
The sudden informal speech was a bit irritating, but I couldn't handle him right away like those bastards from before.
Though it was a shabby building, there were CCTVs at the entrance and elevator when I came in, and there were employees outside right now.
For now, receiving Kim Do-hyun’s mother's debt documents was the priority, so I obediently sat down as instructed.
"How much do you want to borrow?"
"I didn't come to borrow, but to repay."
"To repay? Hey, young man, you sure don't talk much."
"Weren't you the one who started speaking informally first?"
"What? Anyway, young people these days have no fear. If you keep that up, you'll get... Well. Since you said you came to repay money, I'll just let it slide. Whose debt did you come to pay?"
"Yoon Mi-jeong."
"Mi-jeong? I know Mi-jeong well. Are you her boyfriend?"
What boyfriend, damn it.
I did approach her to become close with Kim Do-hyun, but I have no intention of becoming a new father.
Not wanting to drag this out, I took out the Hunter license I had prepared from my wallet.
"A... A-rank Hunter Kang Shin-hyeok? Hey, if you were a Hunter, you should have said so from the start."
His attitude changed, but it seemed to change after seeing the rank, not the name.
The employee from earlier was the same, so it seems I'm not as famous as I thought.
Well, even though I got some media coverage, I'm not a famous celebrity, and it's already been over two weeks since the WHCU ended.
Still, perhaps because I'm an A-rank Hunter, he brought the documents without complaint, saying he'd only take the principal.
"The principal is 400 million? From what I know, she was paying 500,000 in interest each month, but that doesn't add up."
"Ah, that's... Mi-jeong said she couldn't afford it, so we only took 500,000 won. The unpaid interest kept being added to the principal."
"So you're saying 400 million isn't the real principal? Hey, old man, as I said before, I have no intention of paying illegal interest."
"When... When we first took it over from the savings bank, the amount was 80 million."
Ha, this is really ridiculous.
From Do-hyun's mother's story, I heard that Do-hyun's father died 5 years ago.
Looking at the date on the documents, this bastard acquired the debt about 3 years ago.
In 3 years, he turned an 80 million debt into 5 times that at 400 million... No wait, considering the interest paid during that time, it's more than 5 times. Even Satan would cry at this rate.
"If it's 80 million, then 8 million should be enough, right?"
"8 million? No, even if you're haggling, that's... 10% is too much, isn't it?"
"Where do you get off with this nonsense? Do you think I don't know that you guys don't pay full price when you buy these from banks?"
Loan sharks are a common subject that frequently appears as villains in various media, from web novels to webtoons, dramas, and movies.
In my previous life, I had looked into their methods when I tried to write, so I roughly knew how they operated.
Of course, this might be a different world, but seeing his flustered expression, it doesn't seem too different.
"We also paid 20% when we bought it."
"Even so, that's 16 million, right? The interest you bastards have been collecting for 3 years is probably more than that. When you put it that way, even 8 million is too much. I'll give you cash, so let's make it 5 million."
"No..."
"If you don't like it, let's do it according to the law."
In the end, I paid 5 million and obtained Kim Do-hyun’s mother's debt documents.
I could have transferred the money, but I deliberately used cash to avoid leaving a trace.
I did severely undercut a 400 million debt to 5 million, but I have no intention of just letting this slide.
Since the hotel and this place are quite far apart, and it would be annoying to come back, I planned to wait and handle them as soon as they came out.
I sat in the car watching the entrance and called Kim Do-hyun’s mother.
—Teacher Kang? Ah, I couldn't even greet you properly earlier... I'm really sorry.
"It's fine. Did you resolve the urgent matter well?"
—Ah... It's okay. Thank you for your concern.
She doesn't seem to have a talent for lying, as I can clearly feel her voice trembling even over the phone.
"Um... Ms. Yoon Mi-jeong, actually there's something I couldn't tell you earlier. After visiting the school yesterday, I thought you might not contact me, so I asked an acquaintance to look into it for me."
—What do you mean... Did you do a background check on me?
"It wasn't with bad intentions, I just really wanted to help... I should have canceled it when you contacted me, but I forgot about it and just remembered when they contacted me. I'm sorry."
—It's a bit surprising, but since you didn't mean anything bad by it, it's fine.
"Thank you for understanding. Um, but what I asked my acquaintance to find was just your phone number and address, but they seemed to have misunderstood and investigated a bit more deeply."
—What?
"They said you have loan shark debt. I didn't hear anything about that from you earlier..."
—Ah... My husband borrowed money from a bank for business, but after my husband passed away and the bank failed, the debt was transferred to those people...
"If something like that happened, you should have told me earlier."
—I thought it wouldn't be proper to mention such things to someone I was meeting for the first time... I'll somehow resolve it myself, so you don't need to worry about it.
"That would be quite difficult. I've already taken care of it."
—Taken care of it? What do you mean...
"I met with them a little while ago and settled the debt."
—Really? That's not a small amount of money, so why would you, Teacher...
"I said I would help you."
—You already gave me 2 million, I never thought you would help me this much...
"Um, you might think this sounds a bit cocky, but I have more money than it looks. I felt sorry for asking for that background check, and you mentioned a much smaller amount than I expected, so when I found out about this while thinking about how I could help you more, I decided to help. So please don't feel too burdened."
—Thank you, really... I don't know how I can ever repay this kindness... Thank you so much.
I can hear the moisture in her voice, she seems quite moved.
"As I said before, it's enough if you and your son help others when you have the means to do so. And the loan sharks had added ridiculous interest, so the actual principal wasn't that much. I negotiated well and settled it, so you won't hear from them anymore."
—Thank you. Thank you so much.
"It's fine. Oh, and my acquaintance said the place where you're currently living is scheduled for redevelopment, so you'll need to move soon. I think I can help with that too."
I had already thought it all through since I overheard earlier.
I could buy a house and since I don't go home much because I'm living at school, I could ask them to live there and manage it.
Would it be too much to give some money monthly as a management fee?
If I definitely give money, they might feel a bit burdened, so it would be better to find them a job.
Since she said she worked at a cleaning company, it might be good to get her a job at the cleaning company for our building.
Even though the bank manages it through a trust, I'm still the building owner, so I should be able to do that much, right?
If that doesn't work, at worst I could set up a convenience store or something in a good location.
—That's true, but it's fine. You've already resolved the debt, so we have some dignity too. How could we ask you for that as well? It's fine.
"You don't need to feel burdened. This is... Huh? Um, Ms. Yoon Mi-jeong, something just came up. Anyway, I need to deliver the debt documents to you, so I'll visit your home tomorrow at lunch time. Let's talk then."
—You're coming to the house? No, really, you don't need to go that far...
I hung up without listening to the end of her response.
Partly because I thought she would refuse, but also because the loan shark bastard came out of the building.
***
"You already distributed all of them? You didn't just throw them away somewhere, did you?"
"No. I distributed them all."
"It's hard to believe you distributed a thousand flyers in less than five hours."
"I'm attending Hunter School, so I have good stamina. If you don't believe me, you can go check."
"Did you put them up at Miseong Apartments? When I went to deliver earlier, I didn't see any."
"That can't be right. I put them up there first."
"Honey, did you see them anywhere else?"
"I think I saw some at Geumhwa Apartments and Hoseong Apartments, but I didn't look carefully so I'm not sure."
"Really? So you didn't throw them all away. Here."
"Why is it 30,000 won? You said 50 won per flyer earlier."
"My husband said he didn't see any when he went to deliver. It doesn't seem like you threw them all away, so I'm giving you this much."
"No, I really put them all up..."
"Then you should have taken pictures of all of them. Take it or leave it."
It was so unfair, but I had no choice but to take the 30,000 won.
I wanted to help my mother who was struggling alone even a little, so I looked for part-time jobs as soon as I turned 16.
The internet said it was possible from age 16 with parental consent.
But everywhere I called said 16 was too young and rejected me, and even when I visited in person, things seemed to go well until I revealed my age, then they all said I was too young.
At least flyer distribution work was possible, so I do it whenever it's available, but maybe because I'm young, there are quite often cases like this where they pay me less after I finish distributing them all.
Still, I was lucky to get paid properly for the 300 flyers I handed out on the street this morning.
What I earned today was 45,000 won.
Subtracting the cup noodles I bought for lunch and transportation costs, I have 40,000 won left. I think I can save up about 1 million won to give to my mother before the new semester starts.
I took the bus home.
On the way, I noticed there seemed to be more houses marked with red circles indicating they had moved out.
Mother said she was looking into it and that we're still okay for now, but...
Actually, a few days ago I overheard Mother talking to the landlord on the phone.
Asking why we haven't moved out even though we received moving expenses...
I opened the door and entered the house, and I saw Yeon-ji sleeping soundly.
I think I saw Mother's shoes when I came in... Is she in the kitchen?
I covered Yeon-ji with a blanket and headed toward the kitchen when I heard Mother's voice.
"You're coming to the house? No, really, you don't need to go that far... Teacher?"
It seemed like the call ended, so I opened the kitchen door, and Mother was crying.
"Mom!"
"Son? When did you come home?"
She quickly wiped around her eyes with her hands, but I already saw everything.
It must have been a call with those bad people who came recently.
"Don't cry. It's those bad people who came a few days ago, right? Did they threaten to come again?"
"How do you know... No, it's not that."
"What do you mean it's not that? I heard everything from Yeon-ji. She said those bad people from before came recently."
A few days ago, when I came home after part-time work, Yeon-ji was awake but wouldn't come out from under the blanket.
I thought she had fought with kids at daycare, but Yeon-ji told me that scary men came while Mother was taking her to daycare and bothered Mother, saying something about money.
Although Yeon-ji didn't tell the story properly, I immediately understood what she meant.
Debt collectors had come to our house and caused trouble several times before.
"Do-hyun, it's really not that. There's no need to worry anymore."
She said while stroking my head.
"I'm not a child anymore, so don't try to brush it off with words like that. I'll protect you mom."
"Our son has grown up. But it's really okay now. Mother wasn't crying because she was sad, but because she was happy."
"What? You cried because you were happy? Then who was the person you just talked to on the phone?"