Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
Having resigned coolly and jumped out of the company, I walked toward Gangnam Station in a light step like a butterfly. It was to sign for a studio that I had seen beforehand. There were a lot of people coming and going in Gangnam Station. I liked this briskness. If I saw a large crowd of young people, old people, handsome people, and ugly people going somewhere, I could feel the bright energy and vitality, although I didn’t know why.
I walked past them and stood in front of a luxury hotel located on the intersection of Gangnam Station. Most of the studios in Gangnam were located inside the boulevard due to land prices, but these studios were occupying one corner of the Gangnam intersection. I had noticed this place, a promising studio with a view of Teheran Road to the south, when I had visited Gangnam Station looking for a place to move last time. I went into the real estate located on the first floor of the office building.
Tirring! The bell on the door rang, and two people in the real estate office looked at me. They were a man in his late 40’s and a woman in her mid-30’s. While the man was staring at me, the woman stood up and asked, “What brings you here?”
“I’m here to see about a studio.”
“Yes, sir. Would you like to sit here?”
I sat on the leather couch she had indicated.
She said a moment later, bringing me a paper cup with a green tea bag. “Do you have a preferred location or price range?”
“Oh, yes. I’m…” I said, pointing my finger over my head. “Up there.”
Then she asked, round-eyed and with her lips together as if she were a little surprised at what I said, “Oh, yes… It’s a little pricey here…”
It seemed that I did not get rid of my poor tidings yet.
“The monthly rent is between $4,800 and $5,500 with a security deposit $100,000. If you have a deposit of $50,000, it’s about $6,000 to $7,000…”
“How much is it for lease or sale?”
As I said, the female employee was slightly inflexible. “Uh… the lease is between $1,000,000 and $1,200,000… It’s about $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 for sale.”
It seemed that she had not even considered leasing or selling the studio.
‘Shall I just buy it?’
But I couldn’t. I had $4,200,000 now and I couldn’t spend nearly half of that money on real estate.
‘There are reasons why the rich are forced to pay rent. Rich people hate their money being tied up. They know that money makes money. And so do I. No, even more so, from my perspective, I can get information twelve hours earlier than others.’
“I’ll sign a monthly rent contract. I will have the deposit as low as possible and I’ll pay a lot of rent. So… It’s between $6,000 and $7,000 with a deposit $50,000.”
“Oh, yes. Would you like to see the studio first?”
“Yes.”
I followed the real estate agent to the studio upstairs and looked around the rooms that came out on rent. It was good to see. They were wide and clean, more than anything. The view was nice. If I looked out the window, I could see a lot of people and cars moving around Gangnam Station. It was as like I became a king looking down from the top of his castle.
‘All right, if I look at this landscape, I am going to have a good feeling when I make money.’
Thinking, I chose the best view out of the three rooms I saw. Though it was more expensive, I didn’t mind.
“For this studio, I’ll sign a contract right now.”
“Yes, I’ll call the landlord.”
The woman called somewhere. “Yes, yes. Yes, there’s someone who wants to sign.”
After a while, I didn’t mean to, but I heard a voice over her cell phone. “I’ll be right there.”
I could hear a woman’s voice slightly higher than the female employee. ‘A young woman?’
“Yes. Yes, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
The woman who had finished the call pointed towards the elevator saying to me, “She’ll be here soon. Let’s go down and wait.”
——————-
I sat in an office seat, sipping coffee the female employee had given me and waiting for the landlord to come. During the time, someone opened the door., and the bell rang again
‘Oh…’ I almost made a noise. A young woman who opened the door. Her face was not visible because she was wearing sunglasses that covered nearly half her face, but she was extremely sexy.
First of all, a long stretch of legs under a short black skirt caught my eyes. Her legs were thin under the knees, but there was quite a bit of weight in the thigh. Her pelvis was so big that the sides of the skirt were likely to burst, while her waist was thin. Maybe her pelvis was large and her waist looked relatively thin. She wore a light pink blouse up, and the chest area was very bountiful. I was instinctively looking at her gorgeous appearance.
‘B? C?’
While I was counting the alphabet, a middle-aged man who had not looked at me suddenly stood up and bowed to the woman.
“Is he here?”
“Yes. The man who is supposed to sign…”
She turned her head and looked at me. I couldn’t feel her eyes directly because of the sunglasses, but I could see the light in them. Now, she looked like a model that had a high nose and good skin.
‘Well… the owner of the studio is this beautiful girl. Well, the money doesn’t have a separate owner.’
She sat down in front of me. The middle-aged man sat beside her as if he were a eunuch to serve the princess, while the female employee stood with her head down behind her, as if she were a follower.
‘What is this?’
I was thinking about it, and she asked the employee. “Which of the three rooms does he want to sign for?”
“It’s 1204.”
“Well, I guess that room has the best view among the three, right?”
The middle-aged man said, hand in hand. “Yes, it is. This customer has a good eye.”
‘You did not go up with me… ‘ I stared at the man.
Then, she said one more thing. “Well… when are the other rooms going to be let out?”
‘What?’
I realized only after hearing the conversation. All three rooms they just showed me were owned by the woman in front of me.
‘No, the sale price is between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000… Does she own them all?’
At a rough estimate, it was between $4,500,000 and $6,000,000. She looked a little younger than me, but she was richer than me.
“They’ll be let out in no time as well. As you know, a lot of Chinese people who live in Korea these days are looking for high-end studios.”
The real estate agent groveled before the young woman. There must be some background: a woman who was born with a gold spoon in her mouth, or a celebrity, or a rich daughter-in-law.
“I heard Chinese people use their rooms too harshly…”
“Ah, we’ll take care of that well. Don’t worry too much.”
I looked at her in a slight surprise. But I kept looking down. The top button of the pink blouse was open now. There was a little white flesh in between, and every time she moved, it was seen.
“There.”
“Yes?” I looked up with astonishment.
“Are you going to sign today?”
“Yes.”
“Well…”
She looked at me for a moment and suddenly took off her sunglasses. She had a pretty face, too. My first impression was that her eyes were big and her eyebrows were stretched upward, and a gorgeous rose came to mind. I thought she was quite strong-minded. She looked at me with her naked eyes and said, “Excuse me… May I ask what you’re doing?”
She had to be a little careful about asking someone for a job these days, but had she asked that.
I thought for a moment what to say. I had just thrown my resignation…
Then, the quick-witted middle-aged man next to me came in. “Oh, that’s not a big deal. Since this room has a high monthly rent, we’re just trying to make sure that…”
I decided to speak frankly. “I’m unemployed.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been at work for a long time, but I quit. But don’t worry, I won’t be behind in rent. Isn’t that why there’s a deposit?”
At my words, the expression of the middle-aged man and a female employee were slightly frozen. Maybe it was because I insisted on saying it to the princess.
On the other hand, the hostess said with a bland smile. “That’s right. I’m sorry. Let’s write the contract.”
——
I looked back for a moment after I left the real estate after finishing the contract. Then I picked up my cell phone, I wrote something in. ‘Lee Ah Young.’
It was the name of the landlord I saw when I wrote the contract. There was no matching model or celebrity. So how did she own three studios? No, there was a possibility that she might have more, since there were only three rooms at the location. She had studios that cost between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000, I couldn’t believe she could just leave them like that.
‘Is she just a woman who was born with a gold spoon in her mouth? Or…’
Her beauty was so gorgeous that I could imagine some bad things. I came out to the boulevard and took a taxi. “Where shall we go?”
The destination was fixed. “Nonhyeon-dong Furniture Street.”
——————-
I sat on the mattress a little bit. The mattress was very soft. If I slept here, I would have a deep sleep.
“How much is this?”
To my question, the employee said with a slightly made smile. “It’s made of natural latex and high-end wool, so it’s about $1,200.”
I said, pointing to the bed on which the mattress was raised.
“What about this?”
“There’s a price for this product, too. It’s made of raw wood, so it’s $3,000. If you buy both, I’ll take out $200 and give them to you at $4,000, including shipping costs.”
It was quite expensive, but I thought I would use the money for a good night’s sleep. I had to get up every morning before 8:55 a.m. in the clearest state of mind. If I thought like that, it was all an investment to maximize returns.
“I’ll buy it.”
When I decided to buy coolly, the staff laughed brightly. “Yes, sir!”
I came to this place, a furniture store located on the furniture street of Nonhyeon-dong, as soon as I signed for my studio. This was to fill it up with furniture suitable for the new studio. Looking around the store, I saw a chair and a desk for a computer.
“Well, how much will this be?”
“This model costs $900, sir.”
$900. It was quite expensive. It was the price I would once have run away from as soon as I heard the numbers. But I was different now.
“Can I have a seat?”
“Yes.”
I sat down in a chair. It was moderately fluffy and wrapped my hips and waist perfectly.
“This chair is ergonomically designed, so sitting down for a long time doesn’t strain your back, sir.”
I liked it more when I heard the explanation. These items were essential for me to work at home. “Okay, I’ll buy this, too.”
My words made the employee smile once more. I looked around the store more after that. There were some drawers and some standouts, but I was still not sure what else I needed.
‘I bought what’s essential. Why don’t I come and buy another one next time?’
Thinking of that, I headed for the checkout. I had a flash in my mind on my way.
‘Both of them are $4,900. That’s right.’
Come to think of it, my credit card limit was likely to be taken care of. I turned on the mobile phone app to check the credit card limit. My credit card limit was $6,000. It was the limit set when I was a worker. I checked the money and found that I had spent $400 out of $6,000. The remaining limit was $5,600. There was still money left to buy furniture.
‘Hoo!’ I sighed inwardly.
‘I didn’t think I’d spend more than $6,000 before…’
There was something to buy, but I didn’t have any money to spend. I used to take the subway to pay back my loans and save money by buying cheaper meals for $1. Furthermore, I paid off all my loans, since $20,000 or $30,000 wasn’t a lot of money.
I took the card out of my wallet and handed it to the clerk.
“Can I have your address to send the furniture to?”
“Ah, yes. It’s Gwanak-gu…” I unconsciously tried to tell him my original address. “No, no. It’s Seocho-gu, Seocho-daero…” I gave him the changed address.
The staff bowed his head and said, “Yes, thank you.”
——————–
“Leave it here for now.”
“Okay”
Two strong men were leaving behind a desk. The new studio was a mess. It was complicated with a new bed, a new desk and a chair, and other junk brought from the old apartment. I should slowly make the best arrangement over the next day. I tried to tear open the box of clothes and realized that I had no scissors at home. I threw away the junk at home in the past, but it seemed that there was a pair of scissors there.
‘Oh, my God.’
I thought of the convenience store on the first floor. They would sell scissors there. I took the elevator down to the first floor and stopped by the convenience store to buy scissors.
“Hum, hmm, hmm.” Humming, I pressed the elevator button and waited for a while.
“Ding-dong!” Then the elevator arrived in front of me. I went in there and pressed the button on the twelveth floor and stood there for a while. But when the door closed and the elevator was about to go up, it opened again. ‘What is it?’
It was the same woman I had seen yesterday. The owner of the studio, Lee Ah-young, was standing there. I was a little embarrassed, but I greeted her first. “Hello.”
She looked at the scissors I was holding and asked me. “Hello. Are you moving in today?”
“Yes.”
She came into the elevator. What was going on? She might have come to see another tenant. I glanced at her as the elevator was going up. Today, she was wearing a black suit and a white shirt. This made her look like a career woman. It was hard to put my eyes on the beautiful curves, but unlike last time, I tried to look to the front or at the ceiling as much as possible.
‘Ding~’ The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor at the sound. I tried to go to my room first, but she was following to get off. She didn’t press the other floor button. When I was thinking strangely, she stood right next to me, in 1203, next to 1204. I looked a little suspicious, and she said, “Oh, I live here.”
‘Does she really live here?’
I recalled the conversation she had spoken yesterday. ‘Well, I guess that room has the best view among the three, right?’
I nodded. “Oh, I see.”
“If you have any questions when you move, call me. I’ll come and let you know.” She left the words behind and went into room 1203. The unusually rich landlady was my neighbor!