What a Customer!
"Taewoong's family—which group are they with?"
"…"
"He said his father is a company executive… but it doesn't seem like an ordinary household."
Ha Taewoong had told them his father was an executive at a small company. Han Soeun, however, did not take the claim at face value. Her instincts insisted he was hiding something.
Ha… Don't tell me!!
Haryun Group—one of the top ten conglomerates in South Korea. The only major family that bore the surname Ha. Yet the youngest of the Ha clan was currently a university student.
"I don't know."
Lee Hyoju kept her gaze fixed out the window, masking the tangle of thoughts, and tossed the words out flatly. Truthfully, she knew nothing about Ha Taewoong. Well—except one thing. Ha Taewoong was a Sabaeja. A scholarship student from a low-income background she had never once paid attention to until now.
"You don't know?"
"We're not as close as you're imagining, Mom."
It was the honest truth.
"You called him a friend."
"…"
Her mother was right. Lee Hyoju could think of nothing to say and simply closed her mouth.
"So you two… are only just getting to know each other?"
"Yeah."
"Is that so?"
The two of them were on their way home after finishing the meal with Ha Taewoong. Inside the moving car, Han Soeun peppered her daughter with every question that came to mind.
"The boy is well-raised. The way he speaks is refined. There's real poise about him."
Han Soeun did not forget another round of praise. Of all the young people she had met lately, he was the one who pleased her most.
Refined? Poise?
Lee Hyoju was privately incredulous. At school, rumors that he was a "rabid dog" had already begun circulating over an incident from just a few days earlier. Still, the Ha Taewoong she had seen today had been different from the one at school.
"He knows so much. Same age as you, yet remarkably well-informed."
Han Soeun was recalling the conversation she had shared with him at the Italian restaurant. They had moved freely from real estate into culture and society at large. Economic terms Lee Hyoju herself did not even know had passed between the two adults. World politics had surfaced in between. Even Han Soeun, who had spoken with him directly, had been more than a little startled by the breadth of his insight. Watching it all, Lee Hyoju had been left with nothing to do but keep quiet.
"Invite him over sometime."
"In—invite him?"
Lee Hyoju was thoroughly flustered by her mother's suggestion. It had never happened before. Han Soeun might appear broad-minded, but she was a far more calculating woman than she seemed. Setting aside the clothes she had bought for Hyoju, she had dropped nearly ten million won on Taewoong alone. All of it was an investment strategy aimed squarely at him. Understanding that much was one thing—but inviting him home?
Lee Hyoju was thrown into confusion. If anyone at school found out, it would be chaos. She had always maintained a lofty distance from her classmates. For her to be associating with a Sabaeja? Among kids who loved to talk, the story would balloon out of all proportion in an instant.
"Get close to him at school. That boy has something."
"…"
Her mother was thoroughly smitten with Ha Taewoong. She seemed to have seen something Hyoju herself had missed.
"All right."
Lee Hyoju turned her eyes to the scenery sliding past the window. Ha Taewoong, who had been injecting a strange vitality into her otherwise dull school life. Today, he had firmly lodged himself in her mind.
"Monthly rent? Fully optioned and available for immediate move-in?"
"Yes."
"…"
A large real-estate office near Lotte Signiel. The other agents who had been handling their own work turned at the words of the young man speaking with the senior broker. Signiel rents were notoriously high—typically a three-hundred-million-won deposit and twenty to thirty million a month. A youth who looked quite young was asking for that kind of lease.
"You don't have any?"
"W-we do."
He had the nerve of someone with real capital behind him. Occasionally troublemakers showed up just to waste staff time for fun, but this young man's aura was different—especially the ease he projected.
A big catch!
The senior broker rose from her seat. She specialized exclusively in prime Jamsil properties, and her nose for money was unmatched. The look she fixed on the young man before her was anything but ordinary; she had already caught the thick scent of wealth rolling off him. The luxury watch, the designer shoes, the wallet he had set on the table—everything already told her the estimate.
"As it happens, an excellent unit just came available. Fifty-seventh floor, a rare 90E type. Unlike the other rooms it's rectangular, and the view is superb."
A radiant smile bloomed across the broker's face.
"Available for immediate move-in?"
"Heh heh. Of course. As soon as the deposit clears, you can move right in."
Lately, existing Signiel residents had been leaving in numbers. Ultra-luxury redevelopment apartments and villas in areas even closer to Gangnam were coming online, and the building's early monopoly on prestige was slowly fading.
"Do you have interior photos?"
"Yes."
"Show me."
"Right here."
The photos on the office computer had been neatly retouched and looked excellent.
"Built-in refrigerator, dryer, washing machine—everything is already there. You just walk in with yourself."
"Looks good."
"Shall we go see it, then?"
Even to the broker's eye the unit was solid. One look in person and he would want to sign on the spot as if under a spell.
"No."
"Pardon??"
What, is he joking?
His face was not the sort that suited verbal games, so when he refused she was momentarily thrown.
"We'll just sign the contract. I'm pressed for time."
"Ah—what? You don't need to check it?"
"No."
"…Right."
The senior broker had never met a client like this. She studied him again with startled eyes.
"What documents do you need?"
"Nothing. Just your resident registration card. The abstract is only for verification; we don't need it as paperwork. The owner has already authorized me to handle the contract."
"Perfect."
The prospective tenant immediately produced his resident registration card.
Ha Taewoong. Wait—nineteen full years old??
In all her years of leasing high-end residences, she had never seen anyone this young walk into an agency looking for this kind of rent.
"Your guardian—I mean, your parents…"
"Are they required?"
"Ah, no. But the deposit alone is three hundred million and the rent is twenty million… Will that be all right?"
The broker waved her hands while failing to hide her fluster. There was no legal problem with the visitor drafting the contract himself; he was of age and contracting for his own residence. Still—three hundred million deposit and twenty million a month was no small sum.
A bit early to call him self-made… Inheritance?
She narrowed her eyes slightly and studied Ha Taewoong with care. Living alone in Signiel on tens of millions in monthly rent? No one his age did that.
An actor? I don't recognize the face.
A few young celebrities did live in Signiel, but even if he were a rookie, the man in front of her was a complete stranger.
"I can transfer the address of record, yes?"
"Of course. With a public certificate you can register it right away through Government24."
"Print the documents. I'll sign and… I have somewhere I need to be."
"What? Yes!!"
Honestly, clients like this were always welcome. Most people simply wore out shoe leather and left without signing. This one delivered a fat commission without any of that trouble.
"Oh, and if a super-penthouse unit ever comes up, contact me immediately."
"Pen—penthouse??"
Time is gold. I finally understood exactly what that meant. Even today alone, the hours had flown past in a blur. I had bought a car, clothes, and a home. Everything finished in half a day. The know-how forged through years of scraping by in my previous life had condensed and revealed itself. When money was scarce, there had been too many things to weigh. Now ample capital minimized the consumption of time. That was the true meaning of equating an upper-class person's hours with gold itself: finding the optimal balance point between time and capital allocation so that wealth could endure.
Looking back on my past life, I had ridden public transit because of money. I had hunted markets for thrifty bargains to save every scrap. The rich, by contrast, took private jets to save time. Without any prior social experience I might have been just as confused about setting priorities.
"Lee Hyoju must have a headache."
I had run into her outside school. To the end she had never revealed my Sabaeja status. Thanks to that I had received free golf clothes and equipment without prejudice. Shopping with the mother and daughter had also given me an indirect lesson in their particular shopping expertise.
"Gu Hyejin—thanks."
My ex-girlfriend from before the regression, Gu Hyejin, had also loved Italian restaurants. The table manners I had absorbed then—however burdensome at the time—had surfaced naturally. Lee Hyoju's mother had watched me closely; her favorability had clearly risen. Into the conversation I had occasionally woven living knowledge from the past I had already lived through. We covered shifting global politics, political issues, a broad range of topics. She had kept exclaiming in admiration.
"Oyang Group and Doa Ilbo are solid."
In the previous timeline I had never even exchanged words with Lee Hyoju at this age. If that single life had been the end of everything, it would have been bitterly unfair. This life after regression was clearly different. I had scored a few points with her mother with an eye toward the future I would soon face. Even with the passage of time, Oyang Group and Doa Ilbo stood apart from run-of-the-mill chaebols. Their history was as long as those of Hyundo, Ilsung, and Haryun.
"She'll be very curious. Heh."
About my parents I had told something close to the truth. My father was currently a director at a company he ran in partnership with a friend. Lee Hyoju's mother had wanted to know many things about me; I had resolved one of her questions while preserving an air of mystery and stoking her curiosity to the extreme.
Screeech.
With housing settled, I sought out one more place to handle the most important task of the day. I stopped temporarily in front of the barrier gate.
"What business do you have?"
A security guard peered through the side door and asked my purpose. Unregistered external vehicles were barred from entry to begin with. A sign standing in clear view caught my eye.
Cho & Jang!
This was the premier legal-service firm in the Republic of Korea—Law Firm Cho & Jang!