Chapter 39: Three Minutes to Decide

Yoo Jong-tae entered the President’s office at Hyunmu Construction.

He bowed politely and greeted him.

“I am Yoo Jong-tae, Team 5 Leader of the Taeseong Group Security Division.”

“I called you because I was curious about your intentions in delivering this note out of the blue. If this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny.”

“There’s no way. I’m here simply to deliver this.”

Yoo Jong-tae took a few documents out of a file envelope and handed them over.

President Oh of Hyunmu Construction opened his eyes wide when he checked them.

“This is…!”

It was land in Suseo-dong.

The location wasn’t all that great geographically, and the area was too small for a large apartment complex, but still—it was Gangnam land.

President Oh of Hyunmu Construction looked back at Yoo Jong-tae.

“I heard Taeseong Construction’s finances are tight these days because you’re not taking on projects and are just burning money up and down the company. I guess things have gotten so bad you have to sell off even your Gangnam apartment sites, huh?”

He was sneering.

“Did President Cha of Taeseong Construction send you? You used to laugh at us for scraping by selling off apartment land just to build an apartment block, but now you’re in even worse shape than us? No wonder Taeseong Construction’s stocks are worth crap these days!”

President Oh waved the apartment site documents about on purpose.

It was to rattle Yoo Jong-tae.

“I heard the president of Taeseong Construction is running around meeting bank presidents to sell the land. You’ve finally ended up sending someone to me. You must really be in a tight spot these days.”

But Yoo Jong-tae replied in a calm voice.

“Please don’t misunderstand. We’re not selling this because Taeseong Construction’s finances are in trouble.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“That land isn’t owned by Taeseong Construction. It’s private property.”

“What?”

President Oh checked the Suseo-dong land again, his eyes full of surprise.

“...Huh?”

That land was something my grandfather set aside for me.

Before that, the previous president of Taeseong Construction had put it under another name in preparation to sell it off.

“I thought Taeseong Construction had already obtained all the development permits to build an apartment there. Who, and why, is sending this to me?”

“...”

Yoo Jong-tae’s eyes flickered slightly.

It was as if he was calculating how much he could say, and where the limits were.

“...”

In the end, Yoo Jong-tae chose to hand over the second note without delay, the one marked with a 2.

He obviously hadn’t seen what was inside the note.

‘Not a bad choice. It’s better to have someone who sticks to their assigned task than someone who leaks unauthorized information.’

On my second note, I’d written:



President Oh’s eyes grew round.

“You want to sell this at the market price?”

Yoo Jong-tae’s gaze sharpened.

Then he nodded with an even more relaxed attitude.

“I am not making this offer in ignorance of Hyunmu’s circumstances.”

“Right. If you really knew about Hyunmu’s situation, you would’ve asked for a higher price than the market value. Why insist on the fair price?”

Usually, the one who’s desperate and in a hurry is forced to take a loss.

That’s why President Oh was tilting his head in doubt.

“No matter how I think about it, there isn’t any real connection between us and Taeseong Construction. So there’s nothing we’d need to concede in business, either.”

Currently, the largest construction company in Korea was Taeseong Construction.

Taeseong had made a name for itself by rebuilding Seoul after the war.

The bridges over the Han River were built by Taeseong, and not just government offices and roads, but even schools and hospitals.

Compared to Taeseong Construction, Hyunmu Construction was a step behind in scale.

“When someone’s offering a deal this favorable to only one side, you need to suspect two things. It’s either a scam or a bribe.”

That’s why I’d written “bribe” on the note in advance.

But President Oh frowned.

“Why would Taeseong want to bribe us? If there was any request, we’d be the ones needing to ask for a favor.”

“You said it’s either a scam or a bribe, right? From the start, I made it clear I was from Taeseong Group when I came here. Would someone like me try to scam you? How could I possibly handle the consequences?”

“So, it’s a bribe?”

Yoo Jong-tae nodded with a serious expression.

“In exchange, we’d like to trade for invitations to the Year-End Night event for a few guests.”

I had made the purpose of this mission clear to Yoo Jong-tae from the beginning.

It didn’t matter if he got thrown out for lacking tact, but it’d be troublesome if he didn’t bring back the invitations.

“Invitations?”

President Oh reread the note, as if he thought he’d misread it.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again—sure enough, it was the same.

The words about selling at the market price hadn’t changed.

“You’re offering Gangnam apartment land at a bargain price in exchange for just a few invitations to the Year-End Night?”

His face seemed to say, “Don’t you know how to do basic math?”

“These days, thanks to the Gangnam development, land prices jump overnight. Is this for real? You’d take this much of a loss just for that?”

Yoo Jong-tae let out a deliberately long, exaggerated sigh.

“As you know, President Oh, we could’ve used Hyunmu Construction’s circumstances to sell at a much higher price. But the reason we aren’t…”

“The reason?”

“We hope Hyunmu Hotel will graciously accept the guests we send for the event.”

Yoo Jong-tae tightly shut his eyes and handed over the final note.



President Oh couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“You want me to decide in just three minutes?”

Yoo Jong-tae’s eyes flashed again.

“Three minutes! That’s the limit! We’re busy people too.”

“This is about Hyunmu Construction’s apartment business! If you want us to assess its feasibility, you should give us at least three days!”

“Three minutes! We’re only asking for a few invitations.”

President Oh crossed his arms and furrowed his brow deeply.

He looked as if to say, “Who has time to spare?”—but what he held in his hand was the Suseo-dong apartment land.

Hyunmu Construction was the one in a position to beg the landowner to sell, even if they had to scrape together every spare minute.

President Oh fired off questions at machine-gun speed.

“You said this is a bribe? What’s your real game? You really only need a few invitations? The conditions are too good. Which one of Taeseong’s people is being so generous to me? No matter how I think about it, there’s no one who’d give this away so easily.”

“...”

When President Oh pushed so hard he looked about to grab him by the collar, Yoo Jong-tae finally snapped.

“Ah, come on! We’re only trading for a few invitations! Obviously, we’re the ones taking the loss, so what’s so hard about this decision?”

Yoo Jong-tae thrust his belly forward.

“If you don’t want it, forget it!”

President Oh alternated glances between Yoo Jong-tae and the Suseo-dong documents in his hands.

He let out a groan.

Yoo Jong-tae ostentatiously checked his wristwatch.

“Thirty seconds have already passed. Tick-tock, tick-tock!”

He clicked his tongue with his mouth, goading him in the most annoying way possible.

He was laying it on so thick that I couldn’t help but laugh wryly as I watched.

‘He’s doing pretty well for someone who was told nothing.’

Suddenly, Secretary Kim’s words came to mind.

-Yoo Jong-tae alone won’t be enough. Just dealing with the president of Hyunmu Construction will be a problem right from the start.

But unexpectedly, Yoo Jong-tae was handling things with surprising composure.

‘Of course, as a Taeseong Group bodyguard, facing the president of Hyunmu Construction wouldn’t be easy.’

That’s why I’d written those notes.

Because Yoo Jong-tae, acting as a “messenger” from Taeseong Group’s Security Division, made President Oh suspicious but never dismissive.

If a mere bodyguard from Taeseong Group had come to sell Gangnam apartment land, he’d have been treated like a scammer and thrown out instantly.

“President, I don’t think this opportunity will come again!”

“Exchanging apartment land for a mere few invitations to an event—what a lopsided deal!”

“This is definitely a gesture of goodwill from Taeseong! Why slap away the hand that’s being extended to you?”

The executives cheered.

Positive responses erupted from all sides.

“This apartment land is the real deal. You can’t find land like this these days.”

“It’s already got city approval for development.”

“With this, we could start construction immediately.”

“We have the pre-sale funds. We could pay the balance and take the land as soon as today.”

Hyunmu Construction was flush with cash, thanks to the huge success of their Apgujeong Hyunmu Apartments presale.

“Two minutes have passed. Tick-tock, tick-tock!”

Hyunmu’s executives all snapped in unison.

“Stop rushing us already!”

“We’re doing our best here!”

The board members were frantically running calculations on their abacuses.

Size of the apartment complex to be built on the land, land price, construction costs, sales price, advertising costs, even short-term loans and bank interest.

They were trying to review it all as best they could in the short time given.

“Ding! Three minutes are up! If you can’t make up your mind, hand back the documents you’re holding.”

It was Yoo Jong-tae’s final pressure tactic.

At last, President Oh raised both hands in surrender.

“Fine, take the invitations!”

“Thank you.”

Yoo Jong-tae smiled brightly.

Then he took the contract out of the file and handed it to President Oh.

“The person who sent me today prefers documents over words, an official seal over a pinky promise, and formal contracts over IOUs.”

“...”

Yoo Jong-tae tapped the signature and seal section with his fingertip.

“Please sign and affix your seal here, with a thumbprint. The down payment is due by today, and the balance by the date stated in the contract.”

President Oh let out a hollow laugh as he accepted the contract.

“In all my life, this is the first time I’ve seen an apartment land deal go through with such a blitz. Yet, the contract’s proper. I feel like I’ve been dancing to the tune of ghosts.”

Feigning nonchalance, President Oh handed the contract to an executive.

“You may leave now. We’ll review the contract thoroughly and get back to you with a firm answer…”

“Should the three-minute countdown have included this, too?”

“...!”

Yoo Jong-tae grinned impishly.

“Understood. Then this deal is off the table—”

“I’m counting the three minutes now!”

President Oh snatched the contract back.

He set it on the desk and skimmed it rapidly with his eyes.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock! Thirty seconds gone already.”

Hyunmu’s executives clustered around President Oh, speed-reading the contract, then snapped irritably.

“Stop pressuring us already!”

“We’re reading as fast as our eyes can go!”

“We need to at least check for any poison pills or special clauses before we stamp our seal!”

“Though I don’t see any, to be honest!”

Yoo Jong-tae looked at his wristwatch, ticking away the seconds with that annoying sound.

“Three minutes. Ding!”

“Fine! Take it! Take it already!”

President Oh thrust the signed and sealed contract at him with exasperation.

It was stamped, signed, and sealed with a thumbprint.

Yoo Jong-tae bowed deeply in polite thanks.

“I hope we don’t have to bicker about gains or losses over this later. After all, this began as a gesture of goodwill and a bribe, and the decision was made collectively by President Oh and the Hyunmu executives.”

That final clincher from Yoo Jong-tae was just to my liking.

Especially since I planned to make quite a scene at the Year-End Night event anyway.

President Oh wiped his face with a tired hand.

“Since I’ve handed over the invitations, they’re my guests now. I won’t treat them poorly, so don’t worry and be on your way. Dealing with you is exhausting.”

“Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Having secured a satisfactory answer, Yoo Jong-tae strolled out of the president’s office with composure.

---

‘Nice!’

I ended the shared vision.

“Woohoo.”

A smile broke out on my face.

Uncle Cheol-gu, who was crouched next to me against the parking lot wall, munching hardtack, turned to look at me.

“Kid, weren’t you just grinning like a scheming little rascal?”

“I’m just smiling because the steamed bun is so tasty.”

I made a show of blowing on my bun and taking a big bite.

The sweet red bean filling and the soft, fluffy bun were out of this world.

Yes, this is exactly the taste I was after!

“Young Master!”

The sharp-witted bodyguard, self-proclaimed number two, who volunteered as my right hand—capable Yoo Jong-tae—came running over.

In his hands, he held four luxurious-looking invitations with pride.

‘Ohh, golden invitations!’

Wow, they really sparkle from this far away.

Someone might mistake him for carrying the Olympic torch.

“Team Leader Yoo!”

The moment I saw him, I jumped to my feet, I’d been waiting that eagerly.

Of course, for the invitations!