Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Manager Kang gave a report to Gun-Ho on the vacant lot in Gangdong District after he had visited the land.

“There are two people who have ownership interests in the property. One of them defaulted on a debt, and that’s why the property appeared on the auction market.”

“Do you think it is possible that they might cancel the auction?”

“There are many creditors including secured creditors, and there is a lawsuit against one of the owners to seize the land to pay the debt. So, I believe it would be very difficult to cancel the auction.”

“Hmm, I see. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the owner of the land is a 80 years old man.”

“Do you want me to find and meet him?”

“No, not yet. We can contact him after we get the property by the auction, well if we could get the property.”

“Okay.”

“Is there a tenant?”

“Yes. There is one who is running a parking lot there. Running a parking lot is understandable because if the owner leaves a good location land on the main road for example without use, the owner has to pay a high tax, called the Idle Land Tax. So, many vacant lots in a city are being used as a parking lot. That’s common and recommended by the government.”

“I see. Is there any other tenant?”

“Yes, there are some people who built a temporary building on the lot and operate a fruit store, and there is another one who is running a tented cart, serving food. But those people can easily be evicted once we get the land.”

“When is the first auction date?”

“It would be next Thursday.”

“Okay. Let me know the result of the first auction.”

Manager Kang was about to sit at his desk when he asked Gun-Ho.

“Umm, sir.”

“Yes, is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“Our company, GH Development has 300 million capital, and it has assets of three OneRoomTels. Since the OneRoomTels are running in the leased buildings, we can’t get a loan from a bank with these OneRoomTels because a bank doesn’t consider the premium our company is holding on a OneRoomTel as collateral for a loan.”

“Are you worried about how we are going to participate in the auction to acquire that expensive land without being able to lend money from a bank?”

“That’s right. I’m just concerned.”

“Haha. You don’t have to worry about money, Manager Kang. You just need to do your best in your work.”

“Okay, sir.”

Gun-Ho received a call from his mother.

“Gun-Ho? Is it a good time to talk or are you busy?”

“It’s okay. How are you, mom?”

“I think you need to start thinking about your marriage. Someone wanted to introduce a very nice lady to you. That’s why I’m calling you.”

“No, mom. I am not interested in marrying anyone yet.”

“You have to have children. You are getting old, son. Your dad wants to have grandkids.”

“You have Jeong-Ah.”

“Jeong-Ah is your sister’s daughter. It’s different. We want a grandchild from you, son. The girl I was talking about is the daughter of an elder of a church I’m attending. She is a nurse. I saw her picture. She looks cultured and classy. She is 32 years old.”

“Mom, I’m busy now. I will talk to you later, okay?”

“Gun-Ho, hold on a second! Whew, did he already hang up?”

Gun-Ho received another phone call. This time, it was from his aunt.

“Gun-Ho? I heard you are doing very well these days.”

“I’m doing okay. How’s Jae-Woong? Is he doing fine with his government job?”

Jae-Woong was Gun-Ho’s cousin who was two years younger than Gun-Ho. He got a level-9 government job a few years ago at the Department of Labor. Gun-Ho’s aunt was so proud of him.

“Yeah, he is doing fine. He has a girlfriend, and he will marry her next year. She is working in the same department as him.”

“Really? That’s nice.”

“Speaking of which, you need to get married too, Gun-Ho. There is a really nice girl I want to introduce to you. She’s the niece of someone I know. She works at a credit union. Why don’t you meet her?”

“No, aunt. I’m not interested.”

“You will lose your opportunity to meet a nice girl, Gun-Ho. This girl is a bit old; she is 38 years old. She said she would take care of all house chores once she gets married.”

“Aunt, I gotta go. I have a client waiting for me. I will talk to you later.”

Gun-Ho hung up the phone and sighed.

Professor Wang called Gun-Ho. He said he would attend a northeast Asia economic forum on coming Tuesday, held in Intercontinental Hotel located in Samgsung Town, Gangnam.

“Why don’t you come to the forum as a guest? It will be at Diamond Hall in the hotel. You will see and meet a lot of journalists and business people there.”

Gun-Ho thought it would be boring for him.

“Let’s meet once your schedule is free so we can have fun, okay? When would that be?”

“According to the schedule sent by the forum organizer, I have no schedule on Thursday. I will do a quick shopping in the morning that day, so let’s meet in the afternoon on Thursday.”

“Sounds good. I really want to see you, friend.”

Gun-Ho received another call. It was his sister.

“I hope it’s not about marriage again.”

Gun-Ho was reluctant to take the call but he did anyway.

“Gun-Ho? I’m sorry if I’m bothering you.”

Gun-Ho’s sister sounded down. Her voice was feeble.”

“It’s okay, sister. What’s up?”

“I will have to move.”

“Again? You just moved to a new place not long ago.”

“I know. The landlord is asking us to vacate the apartment. Their son recently got married and their son wanted to move to the apartment we are renting.”

“I see.”

“So, umm… I’m not sure if I can ask you this…”

“Just say it, sister.”

“Whew…”

“Just say it, sister! I’m busy.”

“The apartment I’m renting right now, its monthly rent is 500,000 won with 10 million security deposit. It’s really hard to find an apartment with the same price.”

“Hmm.”

“I can find an apartment with 500,000 won monthly rent, but they all are asking the security deposit of 20 million won.”

Gun-Ho thought that her sister was telling him all these details to ask him to lend her money.

Gun-Ho’s sister continued talking.

“So, since Jeong-Ah is living with our parents right now, is it okay with you if we move into our parents’ condo in Guweol Town just for a while? The condo has four bedrooms and some of them are not being used. I think it is better for Jeong-Ah as well to live with her parents.”

“What is your husband doing these days?”

“He is still driving a truck.”

“I told you this before. That condo is our parents’ home. You need to ask them.”

“I asked them already, and they are okay with us moving in with them. But they told me that I need to discuss it with you because you are the owner of the condo.”

“I’m okay as long as our parents are okay.”

“Thank you, brother. As soon as we recover our financial situation, we will find our own place.”

“I don’t mind sister. You can stay there as long as our parents are okay with it. I gotta go now.”

Gun-Ho thought over his sister’s situation for a moment.

“Well, maybe it’s better that way. The condo was too big for three people. My parents are getting old and they could be sick anytime soon. So, if my sister is living with them, she can take care of them. That’s nice. I can now focus on my business.”

Manager Kang told Gun-Ho that the first auction for the vacant lot in Gangdong District had failed as expected.

“What is the starting price for the second auction?”

“The price drops by 20%, so that would be 3.6 billion won.”

“Keep an eye on it.”

“And, sir…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been visiting and checking the three OneRoomTels. I think we need to get fire insurance for them.”

“Oh, I haven’t thought of it. I heard the news that there was a major fire accident in a sauna and many people died.”

“That’s right.”

Someone crossed Gun-Ho’s mind when he was thinking about fire insurance. Gun-Ho’s sister had a friend named Seung-Hee Park. She used to come to Gun-Ho’s home to spend time with his sister and eat together sometimes. She was neat and cheerful.

“I heard she was divorced, and she was doing insurance sales.”

Gun-Ho called his sister.

“Sister, does your friend, Seung-Hee still doing the insurance thing?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Ask her to come to my office tomorrow. If I am not in the office, she can talk with Ji-Young Jeong here. I will buy fire insurance from her.”

“Thank you. She will be very excited. I will call her right away.”