Chapter 17
Episode 17. Rotten Rope
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Without responding to the remark not to talk about land to Ahn Yuna's uncle, Taeseo made a large meat wrap and put it in his mouth.
Hyunwoo watched Taeseo eat, then raised his chopsticks towards the stir-fried pork in the middle of the table.
Hyunwoo's chopstick movements also became as fast as Taeseo's.
It didn't take long for the food filling the table to run out.
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After finishing the meal, Hyunwoo patted his full stomach.
"They say country women cook well, and it was amazing."
The food tasted so good that they both finished two bowls of rice each. Seeing that, the restaurant owner peeled some melon, saying it was from her garden, and they only left the restaurant after also getting some coffee mix.
"And the meal cost only 6,000 won. It's hard to eat this much even for 15,000 won in Seoul these days."
Taeseo, who had come out in front of the restaurant, had a cigarette in his mouth and remained silent. After a long moment of seeming deep in thought, puffing out smoke, he opened his mouth.
"More importantly, once the job is done, we can go straight back to Seoul, right?"
"Done?"
"You heard. Ahn Yuna's uncle."
Even though it wasn't new to hear Ahn Yuna's uncle mentioned, Hyunwoo flinched as if surprised. Taeseo grinned, as if he had expected this.
It was Hyunwoo who felt uneasy at that smile.
"No matter how I look at it, I don't think involving Ahn Yuna's uncle in the compensation issue is the right way."
Hyunwoo was not the same type as Taeseo.
"From what the owner said, he sounds like a complete scoundrel. If Ahn Yuna's uncle is going to negotiate land sales, he'll have to act as the landowner's agent, and I don't think someone like that would act as an agent through normal means."
Taeseo had anticipated this. If he even hinted at negotiating for the 400 pyeong of land with Ahn Yuna's uncle, that scoundrel would likely show up with a forged power of attorney.
He was someone who would hit people with a soju bottle over a mere 600,000 won, and the land price was an enormous sum, incomparable to the rent for a two-story building.
"Either way, I just need to go through the motions and get out. As long as there's no legal problem."
"There's such a thing as human decency. There are things people don't do out of moral considerations."
"……."
As if sensing Taeseo's silence was unsettling, Hyunwoo added,
"After hearing Ahn Yuna's story, don't you feel any pity, Manager?"
"Should I feel pity?"
Kwon Taeseo, who had been above others from the start, was the type to naturally use all his resources for his goals. Hyunwoo, who grew up in an ordinary family, was the type to build up what he could use, one by one, to rise.
Unlike Taeseo, who had never questioned the morality of his actions, the money spent on his studies was his parents' lifeblood.
For Hyunwoo, who had made choices like his siblings having less because he had more, a different conscience existed than Taeseo's.
"Yes, you should feel pity. She's still young. And the fact that she's acting as the head of the household at such a young age."
"I'm struggling to keep my own head above water, so what pity do I have to spare?"
Instead, Taeseo saw Hyunwoo's conscience as trivial.
"It's people like you, who consider everyone's circumstances, who steal salaries, you know? Try saying it. Salary."
"Salary."
"Loo-."
"Loo... Hey, are you really going to keep doing this?"
"Keep doing what? You try to steal salaries by considering everyone's circumstances, and as a member of the owner's family, I'm telling you off."
At the mention of "salary thief," a clear look of distress appeared on Hyunwoo's face.
"You call me a thief, but I was the second-highest scorer in Namkyung Group's open recruitment..."
Taeseo grinned and cut off Hyunwoo's words.
"If you had come in third, you wouldn't have had to be my secretary. What a shame."
"What do you mean?"
"The first place was too precious to be assigned to the Namkyung Group's black sheep second son. And you can't just assign just anyone, as they wouldn't be able to handle me with ordinary responsibility. That's why they assigned Woo Hyunwoo, who came in second, to me."
"Is that how it happened?"
"Yeah. That's how it happened. It's a shame that the rope Woo Hyunwoo grabbed was rotten, tsk."
At the words "rotten rope," Hyunwoo's face stiffened.
Born into a middle-class family, he studied for 12 years, alternating between school and cram school, graduated from a prestigious university, and joined Namkyung Group with good scores, only to be told he had grabbed a rotten rope.
"No, Manager. Instead of demeaning yourself by calling it a rotten rope, why don't you become a golden rope right now? Then, it would be as if I also grabbed a golden rope."
Even so, those who have climbed up and made their place never give up.
"I've become a mere manager, what golden rope am I supposed to get?"
"That's why you need to make an effort, a reeeal effort."
Woo Hyunwoo would have no choice but to run around frantically to turn the rotten rope he held into a golden rope.
"Resolve the 'stake-planting' issue properly, and you should make a grand return to Seoul and reclaim your executive position. I'll roll up my sleeves and help you."
Even if Ahn Yuna's family was ruined as a result of Hyunwoo's frantic efforts, he would have to do it because he was an employee.
"Now you're finally acting like a secretary."
He had reminded the person he employed of what needed to be done and even provided a clear direction, so Taeseo considered his day's work done.
"Then, I'm leaving now?"
"What? We just had lunch?"
"When have you ever not?"
Taeseo got into the Porsche parked in front of Seongwoo Baekban. Hyunwoo tried to get into the passenger seat, but Taeseo locked the doors and only rolled down the passenger window.
"You walk."
"What? You want me to walk under this scorching sun?"
"The driver is waiting with the computer. I have to go pick that up."
"Ah, really, Manager."
"You need to exercise, exercise. If you just stick to your desk like a weakling, you'll gain weight, you'll gain weight."
Regardless of what Hyunwoo said, Taeseo left him behind and sped off on the two-lane road in front of Seongwoo Baekban.
"Manager, Manager!"
Only Hyunwoo's empty cry remained where the car had departed.
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The driver placed the box containing the computer down and waited in front of the studio apartment for Taeseo.
He seemed to be contemplating whether to carry the box with the computer into the room or just leave it at the door.
Hyunwoo wanted to hold onto the rotten rope, even if it meant turning it into a golden one, but the driver looked like he wanted to escape the rotten rope.
When Taeseo told him to just go, the driver visibly relaxed and fled.
After moving the computer into the room and setting it up, Taeseo, contrary to Hyunwoo's expectations, did not play games but opened the documents sent from the head office.
While Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim was causing a commotion at the township office, Taeseo had gone to the office and requested some materials from the head office.
Taeseo extremely disliked reading. He even wondered if he had a "type allergy."
Born with a disdain for anything boring and a rejection of text, it was hellish for him to review documents on a palm-sized tablet.
"Ah, I feel alive now."
The documents Taeseo had requested were records of conversations with the local residents during the land acquisition.
[Kim Kkot-nim: They say our land is in the middle of the golf course. And they want to buy land like that for the same price as other land? It's always been the principle that 'gold nugget' land fetches a higher price.
Manager Choi Chan-sik: No, Grandmother, you keep talking about principles. The market price for the surrounding land is 200,000 won per pyeong. We bought that land for 1 million won, five times the price, so asking for more isn't a principle. Besides, just because it's in the middle doesn't make it 'gold nugget' land. That land is landlocked, with no road access.
Kim Kkot-nim: If you don't buy our land, development won't happen anyway. You're not going to leave a hole in the middle of the golf course and try to operate, are you? Or place someone's grave right in the middle of land where wealthy people swing their golf clubs?
Manager Choi Chan-sik: That's precisely what I'm saying. Like the others, sell your land for 1 million won per pyeong, and we'll do our best with the relocation procedures.
Kim Kkot-nim: Forget it. I told you I wouldn't sell for that price. Anyway, it hasn't been long since my husband was buried, so his body probably hasn't decomposed properly. If you're going to dig up someone else's husband's grave, you should get proper compensation. For digging up a grave that hasn't even decomposed, that money is nowhere near enough.]
What is "stake-planting"?
It is the act of deliberately refusing to sell land slated for large-scale development, thereby demanding a price several, or even tens of, times higher than the market value.
Usually, people knowledgeable about real estate engage in this practice to profit from price differences, but Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim was "stake-planting" based solely on her intuition.
Five times the market price was already a generous valuation for the land acquisition, and the residents of this area, lacking any infrastructure, were grateful and sold their land for that price. However, Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim was not satisfied with five times the price and demanded more.
If she had named a price that could be negotiated, Namgyeong Development would have agreed, but Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim was making an unreasonable demand.
While neighbors sold their land, ranging from less than a thousand pyeong to several thousand pyeong, at 1 million won per pyeong, Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim wanted compensation equivalent to theirs for her mere 400 pyeong.
This was the typical behavior of those who "plant stakes."
