After dinner, it was time for presents. Woosung gave his parents extravagant gifts he bought in US.
They chatted with so much glee. Woosung was the only child, and his parents missed him terribly. They were happy to see him back.
After opening all the presents, Woosung brought out a map.
“I have one last gift for you.”
“Really? What’s with the map?”
The map was of Seoul. Both his parents’ eyes widened. Woosung pointed at the map and asked.
“Pick an area you want to live in.”
Kim Eunjung became confused. “W…what?”
“Pick a neighborhood you like, and I will buy you the most expensive house in that area.”
“W…what?” They understood him, but they still couldn’t believe him.
Woosung smiled. “Or I can get you a real estate agent, so you can be shown around a few places. As long as it is under 5 million dollars, you can get any house you want.” His father spewed out the water he was drinking. His mother gaped at him. Woosung continued calmly. “And I will hire a maid, so you don’t have to worry about housework anymore.”
His mother stammered. “W…Woosung, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
“I made a lot of money in America. I remember you saying you hoped to someday open a small café as a retirement plan. Why don’t we buy you a building? The first floor can be used as your coffee shop.” His father continued to stare at him. “You can run the place and live at the top floor of the building.”
Kim Eunjung was speechless. Woosung assured them again. “So I think that would total about 10 million dollars. Anyway, don’t worry about the money. Get anything you want, mom and dad.”
“W…what?”
“Haha. It’s simple. Your son is rich now, so you don’t ever have to worry about money.”
His parents seemed to want an explanation, but Woosung continued to be vague about how he became rich.
Woosung didn’t know a real estate agent, so he asked Jang Gwangchul to recommend someone. Jang Gwangchul knew real estate industry very well, so he introduced Woosung to someone he knew. They toured the expensive neighborhoods in Seoul. At the end, Woosung picked Garosu-gil and Itaewon.
10 years from now, these two areas were going to be hot neighborhoods. Jang Gwangchul looked at Woosung and asked.
“Little bro, did you study real estate?”
“No. They just look good. I have a good feeling about them.”
“Really? I see. Then I should buy a building here as well.”
“What?”
“Remember what I told you before? You smell like money. I’ll bet the places you picked will become big in the future.”
Woosung flinched but tried to act normally. “Hahaha. Whatever you want, but don’t blame me if you lose money on it.”
Kim Eunjung asked suddenly.
“W…Woosung. Are you sure this is ok? The real estate agent said this is 5 million dollars…”
“That’s fine. So we can all agree that this building is the one for us?”
The real estate agent answered quickly. “You made the right choice. This area is going to develop very soon. You are also buying at the right time. Because of the financial crisis, the prices have gone down significantly.”
Woosung already knew Itaewon was going to be the hot place for young Koreans in the future.
“Then I guess that’s that. Now, let’s go to Apgujung to look at places to live. How about Hyundai apartment?”
The agent answered quickly. “I have the perfect place for you. It has been undated recently. You also get a great view of Han River. There is also a great park within a 10-minute walk. Again, it’s for sale at a great price because of the crisis.”
Woosung answered. “Let’s go and have a look.”
As the agent promised, it was a luxurious apartment. It was a 30-year-old place, but it was updated to look clean and modern.
It was over 2000 sqft.
Kim Eunjung exclaimed constantly. “It’s so amazing!”
“Look, you can see the river from the master bedroom.”
“Look at the beautiful wallpapers. They are so shiny.”
The agent added a modest response to their awe. “The owner works in the interior design business, so he only used the best material for this apartment. It is rare to find an apartment where you can see the river from so many rooms. The price is also dirt cheap. It’s only 2.5 million dollars.”
Kim Eunjung stammered at the price.
“…2.5 million dollars?”
“It is a rare price for this area. This place will be bought as soon as possible. If you won’t decide now, you will lose it by tomorrow.”
Woosung liked the place. It was close to his office too. Woosung asked the agent.
“Then let’s get this place for my parents. Do you have another one similar to this? I plan to get my own place too.”
Jang Gwangchul gasped.
“Wow…You really did make a lot of money.”
“Haha, of course. Did you think I lied about it?”
The agent smiled broadly.
“O…of course. Should we go have a look now?”
That day, Woosung bought two apartments and a business building. In total, he spent 10 million dollars. He still had 110 million dollars left in his Korean bank account. The interest alone from this was 200,000 dollars per month. He never had to worry about money ever again.
Usually, such big real estate purchases took months. Payments were often made in steps, but Woosung paid the total up front immediately. He hired a lawyer right away and the transaction was completed within a few days.
He also bought furniture and further upgraded the houses to perfection.
When Woosung and his parents went furniture shopping, they kept asking him every time they picked a piece.
“Are you sure its okay for us to spend so much money?”
“Don’t worry. I get at least 100,000 dollars in interest a month.”
After a little while, his parents stopped asking. Woosung decided not to be completely honest with his parents in terms of how much money he had. He had much more than he disclosed, and he felt it was better for them to not know the whole truth.
In a week, they were moved in to their homes.
It was Monday again and Woosung rode the subway to work. He hadn’t hired a personal chauffer yet, but he planned to soon. It was faster to ride the public transit than driving the car Jang Gwangchul gave him. The traffic often was horrible during rush hours.
His office, KND, was situated in Teheran-ro. When he entered, he saw a familiar face. Yoon Gihwan quit Nuri Finances some times ago and was working for Woosung.
“Long time no see, General Manager Yoon.”
“Oh, it’s you, newbie…I mean President. Hello.”
Yoon Gihwan felt awkward calling Woosung President, but this was the reality. He now worked for Woosung at KND financial company which specialized in algorithm trading. It has been 4 months since he joined this company.
“Yes. I am back now. Thank you so much for holding down the fort for so long.”
Woosung was indeed the boss. Yoon Gihwan was responsible for maintaining Woosung’s trading system on Nuri Finances’ IDC and the system that was made for Jang Gwangchul. His yearly salary was 100,000 dollars.
100,000 dollars.
It was much more than what he was paid in his previous jobs.
“Haha, no problem. I wish I could do more since I’m getting paid so well. I want to thank you for being so generous. I also get to go home in time everyday, which is a bonus.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Thanks to you, things have worked out well for me even when I was in America.”
Yoon Gihwan whispered knowingly. “So the rumor’s true.”
“Rumor?”
“Everyone’s saying that you killed it during the financial crisis.”
Woosung didn’t deny it. “Rumor travels fast. Well, I did make some money.”
Yoon Gihwan gasped in surprise.
“Ah…”
“Just kidding. I didn’t make that much.”
“Oh…”
Yoon Gihwan sighed disappointedly. “The others…”
Woosung looked around. Jang Gwangchul and Hong Soobum were waiting for Woosung to introduce him to the rest of the employees. There were many developers and administrative staffs. It took an hour for Woosung to meet and greet all of them.
