Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Negotiation (1)

Sitting in the passenger seat of the car, the Namsan Leech crossed his arms.

“Hyung, that snot-nosed kid. He definitely wasn’t ordinary, right?”

“Yes? The neatly handsome little young master?”

“Are your eyes rotten? Can’t you distinguish between elegance and killing intent? What about that venom and madness that makes people creepy at that age. Definitely not normal.”

Even thinking about it again, that little bastard, from the eyes to the atmosphere, everything was not ordinary.

“A fearless bastard, he looked straight into my eyes, you know? He didn’t avoid until the end, and there wasn’t even a sign of surprise.”

So it was strange.

“Rather, he looked down on me as if I was nothing. Just like our grandfather. It was a neatly crazy eye.”

“You must be mistaken. Even if others, how could he be compared to Grandfather?”

“Hyung, can you look straight into my eyes for more than a minute?”

When eyes met in the rearview mirror, the attendant flinched in surprise and turned his gaze.

One eye was a four-white eye, the other eye was a three-white eye.

Eyes with killing intent and hostility piercing down like a blade, enough to make the age of fifteen meaningless.

Standing in front of those eyes, it was so chilling that one couldn’t look for long at all.

“See, you can’t. This is the normal reaction, you know? That bastard is the abnormal one.”

The Namsan Leech rested his chin.

“What is that bastard really? That confident attitude and leisurely composure all don’t sit well with me.”

It makes me inexplicably annoyed at a bean-sized bastard.

It’s strange, but it’s really like that?

“Dare to aim for the house I marked? I need to show the world’s bitter taste to the fearless snot-nosed kid.”

That kid, if he loses the house he was aiming for, he’ll die of frustration, right?

I definitely have to see him lying on the street causing a scene and wailing.

“Hyung, public phone over there! Call Mom first!”

Screech.

Unusually, my heart becomes impatient.

Somehow, it feels like I’ll lose that house with my eyes open.

Even though I clearly know that won’t happen, I strangely become anxious.

Ring ring ring. Click.

-Hello?

“Mom, it’s me! Instead of an apartment for this birthday present, a house I want to buy has appeared!”

-What?

“It’s a house in Hannam-dong, to contract right away, hurry and give some money······! Ugh!”

[email protected]#$^#*&&$^%%*@$&%!!!!!

Suddenly, curses poured out in a volume enough to burst the phone.

-Do you know what kind of house that is?! @!^@^&%$&*^%*&%!!!!

What is it?

“Mom, I haven’t explained anything yet······.”

-Shut up! If it’s the story of a ghost nest, there’s nothing more to hear!

Startled!

‘No, how did Mom know that? I only said it was a house in Hannam-dong right now?’

Not all the many high-end houses in Hannam-dong are houses possessed by ghosts.

How did she pinpoint that I was going to buy that house?

It was truly something that would make ghosts cry.

-Absolutely not! That place has bad luck stuck to it! Just buy an apartment! For investment!

“That’s all superstition and baseless rumors! Just smash the building with an excavator······.”

-Grandfather’s election is right around the corner! Don’t cause unnecessary trouble, crawl back home immediately! If you keep being stubborn, know that there won’t even be soup for the apartment or anything! Hang up!

Click.

The Namsan Leech held onto his confused mind.

She said she would buy an apartment in advance as my share and told me to choose it myself?

Suddenly, why is she foaming at the mouth and desperately opposing like this?

“This is driving me crazy. Wow, how did things get twisted like this suddenly?”

If Mom doesn’t give money, I can’t buy that house!

The Namsan Leech tore at his hair.

“If it really doesn’t work, I’ll have to lie down on the street in our neighborhood and protest.”

To persuade Mother right away and get the money, there’s no other way.

“Hyung, let’s go home right now! Floor the accelerator hard! At maximum speed!”

Vroom!

The Namsan Leech and his attendant left in the car.

A bloody negotiation was predicted.

* * *

The Songgolmae Pawnshop in Myeongdong.

As soon as I entered the store, faded memories came flooding in.

‘I endured 10 years here.’

Under the pretext of cultivating an eye for items, I followed Master for 15 hours a day and handled all sorts of chores.

Besides me, people who came looking to be taught a thing or two often entered, but they all dropped out in the middle.

In the end, the only one who inherited everything from Master was me.

But it wasn’t easy from the beginning.

Because I was too nervous, I stuttered from the first meeting, made mistakes one after another, and failed several times while panicking and trying to fix things.

In the end, I received the judgment that I didn’t catch Master’s eye and spent 10 years doing menial work while unable to avoid scolding.

‘This time, I will definitely leave a clear mark in Master’s eyes!’

The resolve is sufficient with this.

“Shoo, shoo~. Kids, go away!”

An old man with white hair wearing a gray hanbok waved his hands.

Anyway, he was a person famous for having a quirky temper.

“Send the kid out and let’s talk among adults.”

“You’ve got it wrong? The customer is not that side, but this side, right here.”

I did a navel bow and grinned.

“I want to raise money by putting up collateral.”

“Oho, the little young master knows quite difficult words?”

Where in my attire would the word young master come from.

Clothes handed down from neighborhood hyungs, and even the new sneakers were cheap market ones.

Aha.

“You called me young master after seeing the attitude of that uncle standing behind, right?”

“Hoho.”

“Well. You shouldn’t estimate based on appearance. Originally, if you get dazzled by overpackaging, you miss the pearl hidden in the mud.”

“My, my.”

Master pushed up his monocle.

“A very interesting customer has come after a long time. Good, then shall we start the bargaining? For reference, I’m a person who doesn’t even spare children.”

Would I not know that.

It was 10 years of just attending!

“It seems you brought a more expensive item than expected.”

“How do you know what I brought?”

“Stop the small talk and take out what’s in the right pants pocket there.”

Anyway, there’s no separate fortune teller.

But he only got half right.

“There are two things I’ll put up as collateral.”

“Good, good. I’m already curious what items the little customer prepared?”

I placed Father’s watch on the counter.

“Vacheron Constantin Patrimony 1970 Special Edition. It’s genuine.”

“······.”

“A special edition produced in limited quantity by the Swiss luxury watch company established by Jean-Marc Vacheron in 1755 to provide the highest level of quality, sophisticated design, and craftsmanship.”

“······.”

“The storage condition is very good. Because it wasn’t worn many times from the beginning, there are almost no daily scratches, which you can tell just by looking at the watch band.”

Master turned to Secretary Kim with a dumbfounded expression.

“Is it only me who’s bewildered by this situation right now?”

“I feel similarly.”

“How old is that kid right now?”

“I understand he turns seven this year.”

“······.”

Regardless.

“How much will you give for this?”

“Two hundred!”

Master said decisively.

“Even items bought expensively originally only get dirt cheap when sold secondhand.”

“It seems you looked down on me as a seven-year-old kid. Then shall we continue?”

“Huh?”

“I need to get five hundred. Honestly, two hundred is too conscience-lessly beaten down.”

“······.”

Master abruptly turned his head to look at Secretary Kim.

Secretary Kim pretended not to know.

“Shall I recite in detail why the appropriate price should be five hundred?”

This is what I learned under you.

There’s nothing I can’t do.

I began pointing out one by one carefully as I had learned.

The more I did, the wider Master’s mouth opened.

When it reached the polish, Master finally raised both hands.

“Did this little young master only sell watches since he was babbling. Yes, I lost! Let’s do five hundred.”

“You should speak properly. If I had gone somewhere else and talked, I could easily get eight hundred for this item. You know that well and still act like you’re doing a favor.”

“······.”

“Is my words wrong? Shall I babble once more why my words are valid?”

“Ahem! Shall we move on to the next item now?”

When I glanced, one corner of Secretary Kim’s mouth was raised.

‘He must think I have no other items worth collateralizing besides this watch.’

Not at all.

Thud.

I held out the business card of Taeseong Group secretariat chief Kim Young-geol that I had received earlier.

“This is a 5-million-won business card.”

“That scrap of a business card, what is there to exchange and eat that you came to sell? This is something you can go to a nearby print shop and sell for money.”

Master pushed Secretary Kim’s business card toward me.

“For that reason, I can’t give even a single won for this?”

“Even though the person in question is right there?”

I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb.

Secretary Kim was quietly watching us with an interested expression.

“That’s correct. That is my business card. I’ll greet you. I am Kim Young-geol, chief of the Taeseong Group secretariat.”

“There should be more than one or two scammers in the world. If you want money, why don’t you properly prove it once?”

“Is there a need to prove it? It seems you already know who I am.”

Master clicked his tongue, “Tsk.”

“Fine. Seeing your face, I’ll accept this business card. Two thousand won!”

“Two thousand won?”

Secretary Kim frowned his eyebrows.

“I didn’t know my business card was only worth two thousand won.”

It was a displeased tone.

“The business card of the Taeseong Group secretariat chief isn’t even worth seven bowls of jajangmyeon. This is regrettable, Elder.”

“Where are you trying to eat someone else’s money for free? With a business card like this, it’s fortunate if you can exchange it for even one bowl of jajangmyeon. Two thousand won is already giving a lot.”

I added a word.

“I made a bet with this uncle. The loser grants one request. Including that, I’ll receive the value of the business card.”

“Hmm, then the story is different.”

Master looked at Secretary Kim.

“Honestly, how many things are there that would require mobilizing Taeseong Group’s power for my work? The value of borrowing the hand of the secretariat chief, not even Chairman Cha? One million won is already giving generously.”

Anyway, this damn beating down!

Before Secretary Kim could open his mouth while twitching his eyebrows, I went first.

“Fine. Consider the words of building a good relationship with Taeseong as never said.”

“But this time, I’ll specially give this business card for 5 million won!”

It meant recognizing the value equal to the highest-grade luxury watch.

“This little young master is really not ordinary?”

Only then did Secretary Kim raise the corners of his mouth as if satisfied.

Master clapped both hands.

“Good, then is the business over now?”

“Not yet. There’s another 8-million-won matter?”

“8 million won? Is there something else that can be sold more expensively than this watch and the request of the Taeseong Group secretariat chief?”

“Of course.”

“Earlier you said there were two items to collateralize?”

“Because it’s not an item. I said it was an 8-million-won matter, when did I say I collateralized it? Do you want to keep hearing words intermittently?”

“······.”

Master seemed speechless and opened and closed his mouth.

But after a moment, he let out an empty laugh as if dumbfounded.

“Ha, to live and see a customer who wants to raise money without even leaving an item at the pawnshop?”

“Sometimes information is more expensive than collateral items.”

I placed a black document folder on the table with a thud.

Report on U-gwang Construction’s slush funds

It was the document prepared by Uncle Cheol-gu.

‘Uncle, that’s why I said it. That it would be good to prepare a few more copies.’

Of course, this is the original.

I secretly took it when packing the luggage bag with Mom and running away.

“It’s internal data of the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Master and Secretary Kim opened their mouths wide at the same time.

“KCIA?”

“You stole internal data from the KCIA?”

Usually, this kind of thing is called top-secret information or confidential material.

But so what?

Rather, the one who finds this reaction strange is my side.

“Why are you making such a fuss? Everyone has this level of ability.”

“······.”

“······.”

Master pointed at me with his finger and asked Secretary Kim the same question again.

“How old is that kid this year?”

What does age matter in negotiation.

How much and how largely you extract is more important.

Then shall we properly start what is called negotiation from now?

Again, today’s my goal is 'extracting only money without giving any items!'