Chapter 38: Land Falls from the Sky

From early morning, the house in Hannam-dong was bustling with people.

Elites from Taesung Group arrived, each carrying hefty stacks of documents.

Thanks to this, Grandma was busy preparing food, while Mother fussed about needing to go grocery shopping.

Even so, there weren’t enough hands, so Secretary Kim arranged for a few more helpers.

Our house was running at full tilt in utter chaos.

In the midst of it all, I got into the car, accompanied by Uncle Chul-gu and Yoo Jong-tae.

Yoo Jong-tae sat in the driver’s seat, Uncle Chul-gu in the passenger seat, and the back seat was mine.

“Where shall I take you, Young Master?”

“Hyunmu Construction.”

My objective was clear.

To obtain an invitation from the president of Hyunmu Construction.

To send that invitation to the titans of the underground finance world.

That would suffice to prepare for the Year-End Night event.

---

The car arrived at our destination.

Uncle Chul-gu smoked a cigarette in the parking lot, and Yoo Jong-tae returned holding a black plastic bag.

“Young Master?”

“Just a moment. I just need to finish writing this.”

I sprawled out on the back seat and continued writing on a white sheet of paper with a Montblanc fountain pen.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Yoo Jong-tae, seated in the driver’s seat, peeked over at me.

“What are you writing so neatly and carefully, sir?”

“It’s a note for President Oh of Hyunmu Construction.”

“As expected of our Young Master! Sending a greeting note to President Oh?”

“It’s not a greeting note, though.”

“Pardon? Then what is it?”

“...A business proposal?”

Well, as long as it’s not a threatening letter, who cares.

“A business proposal?”

“A business proposal, you say?”

Yoo Jong-tae and Uncle Chul-gu looked at me with expressions full of curiosity.

But I paid them no mind.

I was too busy moving my fountain pen.

“All done!”

I blew on the paper to make sure the ink dried well.

Once it was completely dry, I folded it neatly and wrote a number on the outside.

“Young Master, why are you writing numbers on the outside of the note?”

“To make the errand easier. Just hand the notes to President Oh of Hyunmu Construction in the order the numbers are written.”

“Ah, I see.”

Yoo Jong-tae readily took the notes.

But he still looked like he was dying of curiosity.

“May I ask what these are?”

“Of course. But you’ll have to choose—will you earn my trust, or satisfy your curiosity? The choice is yours, Team Leader Yoo.”

One reason I brought Yoo Jong-tae along this time was to see if he was worthy of becoming my right-hand man.

Yoo Jong-tae snapped a salute and grinned.

“I’ve gotten this far on intuition. I’ll choose trust over curiosity.”

I grinned as I handed him an envelope of documents.

“There are only three notes. If you don’t check their contents beforehand, you’ll have to handle everything else by intuition. Won’t that be tough?”

“I’ll just wing it! It’s not like I’ll die from lacking intuition, right?”

“I don’t care if you get kicked out for being clueless, but it’ll be a problem if you don’t get the invitation.”

“Ahem, I’ll do whatever it takes to get it done! I, Yoo Jong-tae, have at least that much know-how! Please leave it to me!”

I sure like a capable guy!

Yoo Jong-tae, noticing there was no number on the envelope, subtly asked.

“There’s no number on this one. May I check it?”

“Of course. But since you’re checking in advance, you absolutely must bring back President Oh’s signature and seal.”

“I’ll make it happen, even if it kills me!”

Actually, there was a special reason why Yoo Jong-tae, a Taesung Group bodyguard, had to run this errand.

‘To cause a ruckus at the Year-End Night, I definitely need the hotel owner as a solid ally.’

And one more thing.

It was also a chance to win favor with President Oh of Hyunmu Construction in the name of Taesung.

“Have a good trip.”

I waved with a smile.

“Wait a second, Young Master.”

Yoo Jong-tae rummaged in the black plastic bag and pulled something out.

“I had a feeling you’d have me go inside alone and wait in the cold out here, so I bought this.”

It was steaming-hot steamed buns and a bottle of warm soy milk.

Ah, nothing beats hot steamed buns and warm soy milk in winter!

Yoo Jong-tae winked at Uncle Chul-gu.

“Well then, please take good care of our Young Master until I return. Colonel Park—no, Mr. Park Chul-gu.”

“Huh…”

“And this one’s for you, Mr. Park Chul-gu!”

Yoo Jong-tae slyly handed him some hardtack.

“…”

“I’m sure there are some star candies in there too if you look for them. I’ll be back soon!”

Yoo Jong-tae strode confidently into the Hyunmu Construction office.

Click.

‘Hey, Guardian Spirit!’

[Sharing vision!]

Good!

---

For some reason, the president’s office at Hyunmu Construction was packed with executives, called in since morning.

President Oh of Hyunmu Construction spoke.

“Last night, I had drinks with the Chief Secretary at the Blue House. He said those above are closely watching the apartment redevelopment.”

“Oh, if the government’s interested in redevelopment, that’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“Recently, there’s been a huge development boom in Gangnam. That’s just what the government wants.”

The Hyunmu Construction executives were all smiles.

“This also fits with the city beautification before the Asian Games.”

“And it provides homes for the working class, as the government wants.”

The president shook his head.

“It’s the opposite. It’s a bad sign.”

“Pardon?”

“We’ve been ordered not to use hired goons for forced evictions for the time being.”

“What? All of a sudden?”

The Hyunmu Construction executives couldn’t hide their alarm.

“If we don’t use hired men, how are we supposed to proceed with the redevelopment?”

“We need to clear the shantytown to build apartments!”

“The government has encouraged development until now. Why the sudden change?”

President Oh frowned deeply.

“Ugwang Construction apparently set fire to the Guro-dong shantytown during demolition. I’ve heard there was considerable loss of life and property.”

“Really? Did that happen?”

“There wasn’t a single mention of it in the newspapers or on TV news.”

“Most people don’t know how the Guro-dong shantytown was demolished anyway. Let’s just go ahead as well.”

President Oh clicked his tongue.

“That’s exactly what His Excellency finds unacceptable.”

“Why?”

“He found out Ugwang even shut down the press.”

President Oh’s face darkened.

“He exploded, saying, ‘How dare a mere company blind my eyes and deafen my ears?’”

“Hmmm.”

“He seems to be holding back just this once since he’s gotten favors from Ugwang, but I think he’s really stewing over it. That’s a tip from the Chief Secretary at the Blue House.”

The faces of the Hyunmu Construction executive team fell as well.

“If those above are closely watching, we shouldn’t make any rash moves.”

“If Hyunmu goes ahead with forced evictions and something happens, the anger from the Blue House will be directed at us.”

“There’s a saying: never get near a house on fire.”

President Oh glanced around with cold eyes.

“So we’re in a tough spot. In this booming Gangnam apartment market, are we supposed to just suck our thumbs?”

There was one reason Hyunmu Construction was stuck sucking their thumbs.

“We don’t have any land—how are we supposed to build apartments?”

That was it.

Hyunmu Construction’s problem was that they hadn’t secured suitable apartment sites.

‘Of course. I knew it!’

Yesterday, when Secretary Kim told me the Year-End Night event would be held at the Hyunmu Hotel.

That’s why I’d felt so lucky.

‘I read the Hyunmu Group report, so I knew. At this time, Hyunmu Construction missed out on a great opportunity because they failed to secure land and regretted it bitterly.’

After this bitter experience, Hyunmu Construction would later start snapping up land nationwide at every chance.

Right now, President Oh of Hyunmu Construction looked deeply dissatisfied with the situation.

“How many times have I told you to secure apartment land? Isn’t there a single executive here who’s found any usable apartment sites?”

The executives started glancing at each other nervously.

“When we built the huge Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartment complex, we had to sell off all our land holdings due to a shortage of funds.”

“Back then, not just the shareholders, but banks and private lenders too, all withdrew their investments, insisting that the large apartment complex would be a flop…”

Building a huge apartment complex required an unprecedented amount of capital.

Moreover, at the time, Gangnam development wasn’t booming like now.

Back then, the prevailing belief was that real homes meant shanties or single-family houses.

People called apartments ‘chicken coops’ and said nobody would ever pay money for one, insisting they would surely fail.

“But we pushed ahead with determination, and as a result, the Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartments became a massive hit.”

In short, they’d made a fortune.

Thanks to the Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartments brand, Hyunmu Construction became the premier luxury apartment builder in Korea.

“We have tons of money now. So why haven’t we secured any decent land for apartments yet?”

The executives lowered their heads even further.

“We’ve been negotiating with residents in redevelopment areas, just like Ugwang, and that takes time.”

“The shantytown residents have been fiercely resisting. It’s their livelihood on the line…”

“So now we’re at the point where we have to call in hired goons for forced evictions, but now this order has come from above…”

President Oh’s eyes narrowed.

“So, you’re saying you’re all incompetent. If the shantytown is going to be delayed, you should’ve at least bought some orchards or paddies, shouldn’t you?”

“Most of those are tied up as greenbelt zones.”

“Construction Ministry officials won’t grant development permits.”

“If you buy the land but don’t get a permit, you can’t build apartments anyway.”

President Oh thumped his chest.

“That’s what a president is for—to solve those problems. You think Hyunmu can’t lobby like Ugwang does? Do I look that incompetent to you?”

“No, that’s not what we meant…”

“If you had something properly lined up, I could start spreading bribes and treating them to drinks. What do you think?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Do you think I called you all here this morning just to hear apologies?”

President Oh irritably ran his hand through his hair.

“I heard something worrisome yesterday. Both at the Blue House and the Construction Ministry, rumors are spreading that the Gangnam development is more than a success—it's become a den of real estate speculation.”

“So, what does that mean…?”

“It looks like the government is about to implement real estate regulations.”

Wait. Real estate regulations?

‘Ah, the 8.8 Real Estate Regulation! That’s what nearly destroyed Cheonma Group with the Cheonma Apartment unsold inventory crisis.’

For a construction company, real estate regulation is nothing short of a catastrophe.

“When the government’s real estate regulations begin, we won’t be able to sell, even if we want to. The banks will tighten up, the government will draw its sword for tax investigations, and the market will freeze solid.”

The government’s aim is to put the brakes on the overheated real estate market.

Conversely, that means the market is currently blazing hot.

Money is always made at times like these.

“Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartments are selling like hotcakes right now. If we could pull off another hit, Hyunmu Construction’s name would be cemented in the public’s mind.”

President Oh ground his teeth.

“If we want to build and sell apartments, now is our only chance. But how can we do that with no land? Huh? What do you think? If you’ve got a mouth, answer me!”

The executive team was sweating bullets.

Silent cries echoed in their chests, words they couldn’t bear to voice.

Their faces alone made their feelings clear.

-You keep berating us, but there’s no way land is just going to fall from the sky!

-The Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartment sales just became a massive hit. It’s not like we’ve already made that much money!

-Back when I begged not to sell the apartment land, you didn’t even listen!

Whether the executives stewed in frustration or not.

“So, all you can say is you don’t know what you’ve been doing all this time? What about apartment land, huh?”

All the executives could do was lower their heads in defeat.

They had no confidence in pulling a new apartment site out of thin air.

Just then.

Knock, knock, knock.

“What now!”

“Sir, there’s someone here who says he’s a bodyguard from Taesung Group.”

“A Taesung Group bodyguard?”

The atmosphere in the president’s office instantly froze.

“Why is someone from Taesung Group here to see me? With no appointment? Am I supposed to deal with another company’s bodyguard on top of all this? Send him away immediately!”

“Well, um…”

The secretary, entering cautiously, eyed the president nervously as she handed him a note.



It was my note, with the number 1 written on the outside.

“Send him in immediately!”

“…”

The executives stared at the president, bewildered.