“Kill him. That bastard……”
Choi Hyeok-chan ground his teeth.
A kid he knew who worked at Pizza Hot contacted him.
He said the girl Choi Hyeok-chan loved had officially started dating Jang Tae-san.
He had just finished training at the ssireum club and stepped outside.
He had no ambition.
He was in his third year of high school, but after graduation he had nowhere to go.
His skill had sharply declined lately.
He didn’t even dare think about applying to Yongin University, the famous school for ssireum.
And he had learned nothing from the school he attended in the past that everyone called a “pushover school.”
His family wasn’t wealthy either.
He had lived like a king for years using his fists, but now the only things left were the army and a life of petty delinquency.
Back in his first year, he had once gained some attention, but the only sport he ever remembered being first place in was ssireum.
Because he lacked exercise lately, his muscle mass had decreased, and the cigarettes he smoked to relieve stress were dragging down his lung capacity.
For someone like Choi Hyeok-chan, Ye-rin was a dream.
Something he could never have, which made her an even more heartbreaking longing.
Four years ago, Ye-rin transferred to the same middle school.
Back then, Choi Hyeok-chan saw her as if a goddess had descended sparkling with light.
He couldn’t dare tell her he liked her.
With her fair skin and presence that crushed the countryside middle-school girls, her academic performance was a wall he could never climb.
Even so, Hyeok-chan liked her.
Just seeing her made him happy.
Even after entering high school, Hyeok-chan kept watch over Ye-rin.
No one on the commuting bus ever dared speak to her.
Hyeok-chan had spread those rumors, so no one stepped forward.
Just watching her from a distance was enough.
He spread rumors throughout the whole district.
All the troublemakers who acted tough would report to Hyeok-chan whenever they saw Ye-rin.
But today, an incident exploded.
“Jang Tae-san……”
Choi Hyeok-chan ground his teeth.
He gathered information about the guy.
And then learned an astonishing fact.
The guy had done something during vacation and quietly organized a group of Jangju High School delinquents.
Rumors said he had money and influential people behind him.
Choi Hyeok-chan also knew about Hong Seong-hyun from Jangju High School.
He liked guys who were good at studying and also strong in fights.
They acknowledged each other enough to at least exchange a greeting when they ran into each other downtown.
Such Hong Seong-hyun had been taken down.
“Hyeok-chan.”
One of Hyeok-chan’s friends entered the karaoke room they used as their hideout.
“What?”
Hyeok-chan stepped out irritably.
Today he was in a mood where if anyone crossed him, he’d beat them to death.
“Hyung wants you.”
“What hyung?”
“Gi-dong hyung said to bring you.”
“Gi-dong hyung?”
Choi Hyeok-chan was startled.
The “Gi-dong hyung” they spoke of was the action captain of a syndicate that dominated the city’s underworld.
To kids like Choi Hyeok-chan, he was like a being from the heavens.
“What’s going on?”
“No idea. He just said bring you.”
“All right.”
Hyeok-chan stood up from his seat.
He didn’t know what it was, but it was an opportunity.
Since he would have to give up sports anyway, he had nowhere else to go.
Becoming a gangster didn’t sound so bad.
He didn’t want to go to the army either.
If he carried out a knife job or two as ordered by the organization and came back after doing time, that would be enough.
Plus, he was still a year younger on his resident registration.
Choi Hyeok-chan was classified as a juvenile offender whose punishment would still be light.
* * *
“Father, Mother. I think we should purchase a house in the city.”
“A house?”
“In the city?”
It was a slightly late morning.
The pizza incident had wrapped up yesterday.
His pig-like friends had eaten roughly 980,000 won worth of cheese.
The drinks were treated as service, so that much was saved.
It was nearly one large pizza per person.
But he didn’t mind.
He paid for Ye-rin sunbae’s pizza and Seo-ryeon’s pizza neatly with his debit card.
He even rang the golden bells for the people who had eaten pizza there.
It wasn’t like money was pouring in endlessly, but he wanted to do it.
After returning home, it was the first time since regression that he felt truly satisfied — a commemorative party of sorts.
There was the joy of having <right side Ye-rin, left side Seo-ryeon>.
For the first time ever, he also received a text message from Ye-rin sunbae yesterday.
She said she ate the pizza well, and after exams ended she would treat him in return.
How happy that made him.
Seo-ryeon also sent a text.
She asked about his hobbies, which idols he liked, said she was a trainee preparing for debut so he should look kindly on her, etc.
The level of the messages was undeniably different.
Seo-ryeon was exactly like modern kids.
Compared to that, Ye-rin sunbae had the air of a refined young lady.
And the day was bright.
A resting Saturday — he woke up early in the morning and finished his training.
His younger sisters had gone to school today again for supplementary lessons.
He made ssam from chamnamul he picked from the garden, dipping pumpkin doenjang stew from the bubbling pot into fresh lettuce from the backyard and sesame leaves.
As always, Mom’s cooking was the best.
“Next year I think commuting for the twins will be unreasonable. I mean, I’m a guy so it wasn’t as bad, but for the girls I think they should go somewhere closer at that time. After doing the commute myself, I realized how much time it wastes.”
It was based on my own experience.
Other than listening to music, there was nothing I could really do.
There was no such thing as stuffing a girl’s backpack under your arm and studying on the bus.
Sometimes the bus was late.
When it rained or snowed, buses would get delayed.
There were many risks of accidents.
And decisively — the twins were girls.
For their dreams, they would need a quieter place to study.
“I get what you’re saying, but you know our household income. We’re not at that level. Tae-san, we barely got through that crisis thanks to your turnaround, but can we keep living like this?”
Father’s words sounded reasonable.
But Father only knew one thing — and not the other two, three, four… none of that.
He had steadily deposited money into Mother’s bank account through strict cooperation.
There is gift tax even within the family.
The twenty million won I sent into Mom’s account had become the seed money for investment at a class-J level.
Later, no one could question the source of my assets.
I would be free from the biggest tax problem of all — the source-of-funds issue.
That is why the wealthy invest in stable corporate stocks.
Of course, just because the account existed didn’t mean Mother could manage it.
Both my parents were weak to emotions.
I loved my mother, but I couldn’t trust her with economic matters.
She had studied fine arts just to keep herself alive.
I needed to be the one to manage it.
Even in my past life, I had never handled this kind of large amount before.
But strangely, I felt relaxed about money.
It was certain — the Taeguk Five-Elements Dual-Intent Internal Method had given me courage.
After training it, a kind of cold rationality was governing me.
Oddly enough, I didn’t feel emotional about it.
“I made another transfer this time.”
The bank notification had arrived.
A lot more had accumulated than I expected.
It seemed the early investment had paid off.
“Hmm……”
Father let out a short sigh as if he had nothing to say.
“And also, we need to repair this house.”
“House repairs?”
“The pillars are all ruined. From the mold on the wall of the storage room, it’s proof moisture is seeping in. If it gets worse, it could collapse. And it’s time to change Mother’s flooring too. It’s better to make it comfortable while she’s still relatively young. My room also needs to be fixed.”
“Tae-san, are you really sure?”
Mother asked in surprise.
Even my mother, who only knew housekeeping, could tell this was excessive.
She would understand when she went to the bank and checked her own account.
“You both have time, right?”
“Right now?”
“Yes. It’s Saturday. These things are best handled quickly. I’ve already been checking house-repair information online so don’t worry.”
He searched for a professional old-house repair company.
He wouldn’t know until he got a quote, but it would probably cost quite a bit.
Still, compared to doing nothing and letting mold grow in Mother’s bankbook day by day, it was cheap.
“Winter is coming. It has to be handled before then.”
His room was better than he expected.
He didn’t care, but the younger sisters were the problem.
Cold air seeped all the way into the rooms and the twins often caught colds during winter.
“Okay, I understand.”
Father nodded.
He was a reasonable person who understood reality.
Most other parents in his situation would have first asked how much of his savings he put into Mother’s account and then meddled in its management.
Father, however, was different.
He knew his own situation, but he was not pessimistic.
That was why I liked my father — he believed in me.
“Our son, sometimes when I look at him, he looks like a goblin~ Jang Tae-san. You’re my son, right?”
Please, even that goblin couldn’t compare to me.
A goblin… honestly, I feel sorry for them.
They walk around with a club stuck in their heart.
They can’t even love the woman they want to love as they want to love her~.
They can’t do that.
A goblin is a pitiful being with money.
“Yes. I am not a goblin but the distinguished lady’s eldest son, Jang Tae-san!”
* * *
“It’s quiet today again……”
Yoo Gil-tae, the president of Happy Real Estate, smacked his lips inside an office where not a single customer had come.
The metropolitan-area real estate market was chaos right now.
Once the new-town subscription craze swept through Pangyo, house prices had exploded in the aftermath.
The government selected regions suffering from speculative frenzy and rolled out various real-estate countermeasures.
Controversy was also raging over luxury apartments over 15 million won per pyeong.
But the issue had not yet reached the provinces.
House prices had risen only slightly — just that level.
Ddalang.
At that moment, the real-estate office door opened.
A middle-aged couple and a young man who looked like their son entered, shuffling their feet.
“Welcome.”
Having lived thirty years in the real-estate business, Yoo Gil-tae could tell the couple was not wealthy.
The middle-aged man’s dark tanned face and rough hands revealed he was a farmer.
Even so, since business was slow, he at least wanted to secure a monthly-rental contract.
“We came because we’d like to see some houses.”
The son, who looked like a high-school student, had a good build and a handsome face.
In contrast, the parents said nothing.
What? This kid… seems like there’s something about him?
Yoo Gil-tae, who had seen countless people, felt something strange when he looked at Tae-san.
An ease, the composure of someone who owned things, flowed from him.
“What kind of house are you looking for? We have stand-alone homes and apartments. These days listings are a bit limited, but there are plenty of jeonse and monthly rentals. Tell me what you’d like and I’ll find it immediately.”
Even closing a single deal would bring in commissions worth tens of millions of won.
Yoo Gil-tae did not miss the customers’ expressions.
“Please show us apartments.”
“What size pyeong are you looking for? We have a variety of small and medium sizes.”
The high-school-boy-looking son spoke up, while the couple remained quiet.
Yoo Gil-tae felt something strange again but continued the conversation.
“How about that apartment over there? It’s close to a large mart, and about a ten-minute walk to the school.”
“I like it. Son.”
“I’m fine with it too.”
“Then let’s go with this one.”
Tae-san pointed to the apartment across the street.
Yoo Gil-tae was startled by Tae-san’s words.
The apartment Tae-san pointed to was one Yoo Gil-tae Real Estate primarily handled — one that had recently been fully completed, located right in front of Budongsan.
It was a complex of one thousand households, built by Ojeong Group. Although it was newly constructed, its completion had been delayed after presales.
One unit remained unsold.
And it was a large-sized unit.
“I heard there was a 65-pyeong unit left? Is that true?”
“Huh? 6—65 pyeong?”
It was a 65-pyeong apartment with only one hundred units presold.
At 8 million won per pyeong, it had been the highest-tier presale in this city in 2006.
It was a price unimaginable for local residents — a shocking presale.
“Is there none left?”
“There is! And in various options, even from the top floors!”
Yoo Gil-tae’s mind flipped.
Selling an unsold unit meant massive commission.
Unofficially, up to 20 percent could be allocated as incentive.
One sale could bring him nearly one hundred million won in profit.
“Is the 25th floor available?”
“Of course. You can pick anything starting from the 25th floor, the highest floor.”
“How much of a discount can you give?”
“…What?”
Tae-san lightly smiled.
“Come on, why act like that with me? I already know. Please deduct 19 percent from the presale price.”
“Wh—!”
Yoo Gil-tae let out a gasp.
His age was young, but his eyes held the sharpness of someone who had walked through the battlefield of real-estate wars.
Yoo Gil-tae didn’t know.
He didn’t know that Tae-san was a rascal who had peeked at the future once already.
A monstrous rascal.