The Swallow That Repays Kindness - 2
Just a one-minute walk from Hyehwa Station, right at a prime intersection in an ultra-station-area location, I bought a building with two basement levels and five stories above ground for 18.7 billion won.
I paid 27 percent—higher than the 20 percent I had proposed—but within a few hours I was the owner.
A real-estate slump might come later and leave the place empty, but I could always sell before that happened. Until then the building’s value would keep climbing. Even without pure profit, once I factored in the rent I would at least break even.
"Aigoo… Is there anything else I can help you with… Hahaha…"
For real-estate brokerage fees on properties over 900 million won, the maximum is 0.9 percent. On an 18.7-billion-won building that would have been up to 160 million, but because I had paid him a separate 2 percent he walked away with a little over 500 million in commission.
Maybe the real windfall wasn’t mine as the new landlord—it was that middle-aged realtor’s.
"I’ll call you if I need anything else."
"Please call anytime! Even on Chuseok I’ll come running!"
"You should spend the holiday with your family."
"Aigoo~ I see them every day. What’s the big deal if I skip one day? Hahahahaha!!!"
"All right, take care. Thanks to you the deal went smoothly."
"Go carefully, boss!!!"
I left the realtor’s office and crossed the street to a café. By pure coincidence it was the same place where I had met Geum Gangsan yesterday—and the same café where Eunsol and Lee Naye worked part-time.
"Sunwoo~~~"
"Hey, Eunsol! This is where we work."
"Ah… Welcome~ How may I take your order~ Heheh"
"One iced americano, please."
"In this cold weather??"
"I’m an iced-americano-even-in-winter guy."
"Uuung… Okay! Go sit down~ Sol will bring it to you herself~ Hehe"
"You still have to take payment..!"
"Oh, right… Sunwoo, give me your card~"
"Here."
After paying I found an empty seat. Then the stares started to prickle.
What the hell?
"……"
"……"
"……"
"……"
Eyes locked on me from every direction—wariness, jealousy, anger, irritation all mixed together. No rumor should have spread yet, so why already?
Were Eunsol and Naye really that much of a big deal…
"What?"
"Hehe~ Sol’s making it herself! Look forward to it~~"
I had to admit it. They were that much of a big deal. Inside this café they shone the brightest. I was used to having them beside me, but Lee Naye and Eunsol were pretty and cute enough that people handed them business cards on the street. Not quite girl-group center material, but pretty enough to raise the average looks of any group they joined.
"Here’s the iced americano you ordered~~"
"Thanks. Why are you sitting down?"
"I want to watch Sunwoo drink his coffee."
"And your work?"
"Naye’s here, so— Aah!! That hurts, Naye..!!"
"Drink it fast and leave. You’re getting in the way of work."
"Yes~ Yes~"
Eunsol was dragged off by the ear by Lee Naye. I stuck the straw in my mouth and checked my phone.
Miu Company, 513.68%↑
Aitroigen, 612.40%↑
Rosno Chemical, 498.01%↑
Monison, 186.03%↑
Henos, 33.33%↑
Towung Pharma, 144.57%↑
Ecrop, 227.39%↑
These were the stocks I had bought at the start of 2017. Aside from the top three, the returns were pathetic. I already knew that. Whether my memory was off or the future had shifted the way crypto had, not every stock succeeded the way I remembered.
Ecrop I had planned to hold until 2023, so the low return made sense. The other three, though, were just plain disastrous.
Sluuuurp!!!
Staring at stocks really does make time disappear. Before I knew it the full cup of coffee was gone and I was sucking up nothing but melted ice water.
"Hmm… Is this one still okay?"
Tesola, 122.14%↑
Early 2016, when the stock was only about ten dollars, I had bought a hundred million dollars’ worth. All told, more than 130 billion won was sitting in that position. At the time it was 65 percent of everything I owned. That was why the money I could move in the Korean market had suddenly shrunk.
Not anymore, of course. Which was exactly why I was looking forward to it even more. Expected return: roughly three thousand percent or higher. Conservatively, by the time I graduated college I should be looking at around two trillion in profit.
But what if even this one changed the way crypto had?
It didn’t matter. I could lose every last won of it and still be fine. Even if every stock I owned got delisted on the same day, I had enough safely parked in the bank to live on for the rest of my life. Buying the building had used up a fair chunk, but I could sell that too—or not—and still have more than enough. I lived more frugally than people expected.
"Hm? Who is it?? Hello?"
"Boss, how are you~ This is Gangdol Realty."
"Ah~ Yes, sir. How have you been?"
"It’s about the house you listed."
"Is there a buyer?"
"You put it out so cheap they’re fighting over who gets to buy it~"
"That’s good news. So why the call?"
"Well… to sell the place you’ll need to move the cars in the parking lot…"
"Ah, right… How soon do you need them gone?"
"The sooner the better~ Once the cars are out we can stamp the contract today if you want."
"Could you give me a little time? I don’t have a good place to put them yet."
"Of course~ Move them whenever you can and just give me a call."
"Got it~"
The sixty-five-pyeong house was already selling. I had listed it under market, so that made sense… The problem was my cars in the parking lot. I didn’t drive them every day—I had bought a few just for the fun of looking at them—but now I had nowhere to leave them. Should I just dump them in some paid parking garage?
"Ah! There’s an expert for this, right? Let’s see, the business card… Eh, forget it, I’ll just go. I’m leaving~~"
"Okay~ See you at home~~~"
"Go."
I left the café and headed straight back to the realtor’s office.
"Aigoo~ Boss~! Did you leave something behind?"
"Not that. Could you look around for a house near here?"
"A house—what size are you thinking? I’ll check apartments, detached houses, villas, everything!"
"Size doesn’t matter. Thinking long-term… hmm… Something with a private parking space or garage that can hold about six cars would be ideal. Four or five would be fine too if six is impossible."
"……"
"Hello??"
"Yes?? Ah! I’ll definitely find one by the end of this week! So this time, how much over market are you willing to pay… and, this is a bit mercenary, but my commission…"
"Market price."
"Ah… Yes…"
"Should I ask somewhere else?"
"Aigoo! No need! End of the week? Give me three days! If nothing exists I’ll build one and deliver it!"
"Then I’ll leave it to you~"
"Take care!!"
It really paid to keep experts on speed dial. Of course even experts ran into problems they couldn’t solve.
"Here we are."
"What’s the special occasion for raw fish tonight? You don’t usually like the raw stuff."
"Suddenly craved it. You’re okay with it, right?"
"Of course I am~"
Over dinner with Lawyer Choi Myeonghun I paired tuna sashimi with sake that went perfectly with it.
"So why did you want to meet?"
"Hmm… About Yun Jiyeon’s case… It looks like we’re going to have a hard time winning."
"Why?"
"I got the documents from that lawyer and reviewed them. Yun Jiyeon’s name is in the company ownership structure. Filthy and petty as it is, she holds 0.01 percent."
"What??"
It had been deliberate. When the two failed companies were founded they had put Yun Jiyeon’s name on the list of original shareholders. With that 0.01 percent, a woman who had spent her whole life raising a child was now listed as an investor—and therefore fully liable for every won her husband had siphoned off.
"That bastard..!"
"Bastard is right."
"Huu… Then what about me paying the debt for her?"
"Under civil law, as a third party you’d have to assume Yun Jiyeon’s debt and repay it yourself. Or you could gift her the money—paying gift tax—and let her settle it, but the real question is whether she’ll accept it. You just met the boarding-house landlady and have no real connection, right? Helping someone over a bond that thin for that kind of money… I know you’re loaded, but this isn’t it."
"So without the principal’s consent I can’t pay the debt for her."
"Exactly."
"She’s going to refuse…"
"If you really want to help, at least ask once. When a house is about to be seized, not many people can turn down free help."
The side dishes were excellent. Chewing over Kim Jinsu, Yun Jiyeon’s husband, made the alcohol go down far too smoothly. By the time I reached the boarding house I was properly drunk and tried to sneak upstairs as quietly as possible…
"Haaa…"
Yun Jiyeon’s sigh, sitting alone at the table with soju, stopped me cold. She must have already gotten the call that they were unlikely to win.
"Drinking?"
"Ah… Sunwoo’s back..?"
"Did you hear from the lawyer?"
"…Thank you for helping…"
"What did he say?"
"Well… it didn’t work out~"
Suddenly her face brightened—or rather, she was forcing a bright expression to hide the sad one. That only made her look more pitiful and heartbreaking.
"Once you’ve lived a little longer you’ll understand, Sunwoo. Life doesn’t always go the way you want~ Still, I have to keep going! Sua only has me… And it’s nothing big, so don’t worry too much. Thanks for helping today, heh.."
I couldn’t just walk upstairs. The least I could do was keep her company over drinks.
"Mind if I have a glass too?"
"You sure? With an ajumma like me?"
"It’s an honor to share a drink with a beauty like you."
"Pfft..! Be honest. You’re a player, aren’t you, Sunwoo?"
"Me~? Embarrassing as it is, I’m not the player—I’m the sucker who gets dumped by his girlfriend."
"Ah…. Sorry… I was just…"
"If you’re sorry, pour me a glass."
"Then we’re even with this..?"
"Even."
"Pfft!"
"Haha~"
I have no idea how much we drank. We must have emptied every bottle in the house, and I think we even made a convenience-store run in the middle. So why was I lying on a bed?
Soft breathing tickled my ear. I turned my head.
Yun Jiyeon’s sleeping face was right in front of mine.
This was a bed. Not a tiny single. Which meant it was almost certainly Yun Jiyeon’s bed. We were lying together. One of her thighs was draped over mine, and one of her hands was resting right on top of my crotch.
How the hell did this happen…
"Mmngh…!"
"……"
Don’t wake up. Please don’t wake up. Not now.
"Mmngh…"
"Ahh..!"
Wait a second! If you keep rubbing there like that..! This is bad… J-just a little gentler…. Higher….! Yes! Right there…!
"……"
"Sunwoo..?"
Damn it.
I was going to have to explain this situation, and I had no idea what to say.
"Mom.."
"……"
Mom??
W-wait a minute..!
"Mom, you awake..? I’m coming in.."
"……"
"……"
Wide eyes, pupils darting. The face Yun Jiyeon was making as she stared at me was probably the exact same face I was making.
Click—
The door opened. And then the blanket was yanked up over me. Yun Jiyeon’s full, soft ass covered my face.
Pressss—
Heavy. Soft. Was that her panties? My nose felt like it had sunk in a little…
"Euk..!"
"Does something hurt..?"
"N-no… Why? Can’t sleep??"
"I dreamed about my trainer and woke up… Ugh!! You reek of alcohol…"
"Sorry… Mom drank a lot…"
"You’ve been drinking this whole time instead of sleeping?"
"No! I lay down to sleep and then woke up too…"
"Then go back to sleep. I’ll sleep in my room. And don’t drink so much, Mom."
"Okay, sorry… Good night, Sua."
"Night, Mom~"
Click—
The door closed. Then I heard it—Yun Jiyeon’s soft moan.
"Hngh..! S-Sunwoo… Are you okay??"
She lifted the ass that had flinched at my breath and knelt beside me on the bed.
I was fine, for the moment. Nothing hurt. The lower half of me, however, was very much not fine.
"Ah…."
"I’m sorry…"
I squeezed my eyes shut. Because Yun Jiyeon had clearly seen the single, unmistakable tent in the blanket.
Why does it feel like all I do since regressing is collect black history?
And was that my drool…? Her panties had felt a little damp…