章節 424: Chapter 424: Now It’s Your Turn to Step Up
We walked in silence until reaching the innermost room.
Hong Jin-pyo's strained steps betrayed his effort to hide his unnatural gait as he clenched his teeth.
I carefully kept my gaze away from his legs as we walked.
"Everything's been prepared for you. Please enjoy your time. And I apologize on behalf of our manager for being discourteous to your guest sir."
The head manager bowed to both Hong Jin-pyo and me.
Without a word I took off my shoes and entered the room.
Manager Ma stood guard outside after closing the door.
Inside we sat facing each other.
An awkward atmosphere filled the room. To break the tension I grabbed the sake bottle decorated with cherry blossoms and offered it to Hong Jin-pyo.
"It's been a while. Never thought we'd sit down for drinks like this."
Hong Jin-pyo managed a bitter smile as he accepted the bottle. I poured some into my own glass and picked it up.
"Let's drink."
We clinked glasses lightly and I downed mine. The warm sake lingered pleasantly in my mouth.
I picked up my chopsticks and had a piece of sashimi.
Hong Jin-pyo just sat there holding his glass without moving.
"Eat up. The food here is pretty good."
Only then did he pick up his chopsticks and for a while we just drank in silence.
"I hear you meet up with Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong sometimes?"
Hong Jin-pyo froze with his glass halfway to his mouth at my question.
"Yeah, Myeong-su asked me out for drinks last time. Then he called again and we had dinner. That's when I saw Hyeon-seong too."
"I see. I didn't know about that."
The awkward atmosphere returned. Hong Jin-pyo was the first to bring up the past.
"Mu-hyeok I've put everything from high school behind me."
I quietly studied his face while nursing my drink.
Catching my gaze Hong Jin-pyo cleared his throat and continued.
"You know if back then I… no if my father had more power maybe our positions would've been reversed? But I started that fight and you won fair and square. It helped me realize I was nothing. So what's the point of arguing about right and wrong now?"
As he spoke quietly I found myself unable to respond.
After struggling to find words I finally managed to speak.
"…I still don't feel sorry about what happened then. Like you said if I'd been the weaker one I probably wouldn't be here now."
"That's right."
"How's your father doing?"
"He's dead. After getting kicked out of the prosecutor's office he fell into gambling and drinking. Eventually got stabbed by some thug he'd locked up before. Well karma I guess."
This was news to me. Or more accurately I'd never cared enough to find out.
Noticing my expression Hong Jin-pyo gave a wry smile.
"Don't look so serious. The old man couldn't let go of his past glory and that's what happened."
People who've tasted power tend to struggle when they lose it. And in that process they choose one of two paths.
Either accept everything and change or cling stubbornly to their former power and act the same way.
Hong Jin-pyo wisely chose the former while his father foolishly picked the latter.
"But honestly I was really surprised. Who'd have thought Myeong-su would become a prosecutor? And he didn't stop there – becoming a member of the National Assembly and even the Secretary General of the main opposition party. Life really is unpredictable."
Bitterness tinged Hong Jin-pyo's face as he spoke.
"And Hyeon-seong got married and became a businessman. Never thought that muscle-head would end up doing something like that."
Of course that was only possible because I helped but Hong Jin-pyo wouldn't know those details.
"Well who can predict how life turns out?"
I took another drink then glanced at his legs as I spoke.
Hong Jin-pyo noticed my gaze and looked down at his injured leg.
"How's the leg? Still giving you trouble?"
"This? Well it doesn't really affect daily life but I can't do anything too strenuous. I'm used to it now though."
Though I'd said I wasn't sorry knowing about it still weighed on my mind.
I'd even warned Myeong-su to stay away from Hong Jin-pyo and he'd followed my advice faithfully.
But what's meant to happen will happen eventually.
Hong Jin-pyo had assaulted Myeong-su and I'd gone there trying to change my regrettable past.
When I saw Myeong-su rolling on the ground I just lost it.
"I probably went too far."
"No if you hadn't shown up then it would've been Myeong-su in this state not me. I was really fearless back then nothing scared me. It's all in the past now. I've forgotten about it."
What kind of life had he lived to talk like an enlightened monk? I couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's drop the heavy stuff. Why did you want to see me anyway? I doubt it was just to reminisce."
Hong Jin-pyo smoothly changed the subject.
"How'd you get into the redevelopment business?"
"Redevelopment? Well it just kind of happened."
"Tell me more."
"After what happened to my father we lost everything. Then the area where we lived was marked for redevelopment. But you know how it is – the construction company's compensation wasn't enough to move anywhere else. So I joined the protests. That's where I met the Chairman."
Protests? Chairman? My interest piqued I asked further.
"Chairman?"
"Yeah we call the guy who goes around redevelopment zones gathering evictees and negotiating 'Chairman.' I started working under him and things got better financially. Even managed to move to a better place."
Hong Jin-pyo spent a while explaining how he'd gotten into the redevelopment business.
I just listened while sipping my drink.
"These days I professionally track down evictees organize them and negotiate with construction companies and the government."
"I see."
"Why do you ask?"
"Are you with the National Evictees Federation by any chance?"
Hong Jin-pyo frowned at the mention of the National Evictees Federation.
"What do you take me for? I don't work with those thugs."
He filled his glass downed it in one go and raised his voice.
"Do you know how much they've damaged evictees' reputation? They're a criminal organization. They think they're above the law. Just greedy bastards trying to profit from redevelopment."
"Then you must be with the National Evictees Council?"
"Yeah that's where the Chairman took me in."
I nodded slightly. If he held a grudge against the Federation this would be easier.
"You know about Eunmi Apartments?"
"Eunmi? The one in Daechi-dong? Yeah I heard rumors Jungwoo Construction was going to redevelop it."
"That's right. They've bought most of it already."
"Wow so the rumors were true. If I'd known earlier I could've bought a unit. What a shame."
Hong Jin-pyo licked his lips but gracefully backed off.
"Places like Eunmi Apartments aren't really cases for the Council to get involved. It's a wealthy area and the buyout's already complete. Oh but I heard the Federation's been organizing the shop tenants."
"That's actually why I wanted to meet."
I poured more drinks as I spoke.
"Right you're correct. The Federation's sweet-talking the tenants. Eunmi Apartments is something I've worked on for years. Now these guys show up trying to get a piece? I'd love to beat them all down but… I don't want any noise."
"If the Federation's involved there's bound to be trouble right? Wonder why they're trying to get involved with the shop tenants though."
Hong Jin-pyo muttered looking puzzled glass in hand.
"That's why I looked for you. I want the National Evictees Council to handle the negotiations."
"…No matter how bad things are between us and the Federation there's an unwritten rule about not interfering in each other's territory. Things get really messy otherwise."
Even if they claimed to be moderate the Council still profited from redevelopment just like the others.
It was quite a sight watching them divide up territories and split profits.
Hiding these thoughts I continued.
"If you handle this properly I'll let you manage all negotiations for redevelopment projects by both Jungwoo Construction and Daehyeon Construction. What do you think?"
"What?"
"How long are you going to work under someone else? The Chairman takes all the profitable jobs right? Even though you do all the work."
Whether it was the moderate Council or the radical Federation they all jumped into redevelopment for the money.
When brutal forced evictions became a social issue before the Asian Games and Olympics construction companies joined hands with the government.
They bribed redevelopment committee heads and used thugs to oppress residents.
Eventually the evictees formed organizations to fight back.
It started with good intentions but things changed once money got involved.
They took fees from evictees claiming it was for negotiating fair compensation from the government and construction companies.
"It's time for you to step up properly. Just handling Jungwoo and Daehyeon Construction's redevelopments would bring in serious money. Plus I can connect you with other construction companies too."
Despite everything organizations representing evictees were a necessary evil.
Without even this minimal safety net it was obvious greedy construction companies would return to their ruthless eviction methods.
"Jungwoo and Daehyeon Construction? You're talking about Korea's two biggest construction companies and you'll hand their projects to me?"
"Of course. If you do well I might let you handle negotiations for all redevelopment projects."
The media sided with the construction companies.
They wrote in favor of the companies portraying evictees and original residents as villains.
Public opinion had turned especially critical after the Federation's recent occupation of the Progressive Party headquarters.
"Isn't this a great opportunity? Your name gets out there as someone who achieves results through peaceful negotiations. That'll make it easier to get authorization from evictees too."
In this climate a negotiator who handled things peacefully would be perfect. This was a golden opportunity to improve the image of evictees.
I saw Hong Jin-pyo swallow hard. He clearly recognized what a good chance this was.
If he didn't he'd be too stupid to work with and I'd have to cut ties.
"I'll give it a try. But I can't just barge in I need proper justification."
"There's still time before the redevelopment starts. After the presidential election Jungwoo Construction will contact you."
"What are the Federation's demands?"
"Huge compensation for goodwill rights compensation for business interruption during reconstruction and they're even demanding rights to move into the new commercial spaces after completion."
"Those crazy…"
Hong Jin-pyo cursed in disbelief.
"Who owns the commercial spaces? The shop owners?"
"No that's all been bought too."
"So we're talking about tenants who just rent the spaces?"
I nodded quietly and Hong Jin-pyo thought for a moment before asking.
"Can you guarantee the goodwill rights?"
Though not legally protected goodwill rights existed as a custom. If there wasn't any trouble giving them that small change wasn't an issue.
"We can accommodate reasonable amounts."
"Okay. With proper goodwill rights and some compensation the shop owners should understand."
Hong Jin-pyo's experience walking redevelopment zones had already helped him estimate the situation.
"Think you can handle it?"
"Eunmi Apartments' shopping area does good business right? So the goodwill rights and compensation will need to be higher."
"That's right. You can work out the details in negotiations with Jungwoo Construction."
Hong Jin-pyo twisted his lips in a smile. He seemed pretty confident.
"If we keep it at a level the shop owners can accept we can proceed without much resistance. Push too hard though and they might side with the Federation."
"Give it a shot. I'll back you properly. No issues with the Council? They're your benefactors after all."
"The Federation broke away from the Council too so what can they say? If someone wants independence you can't stop them."
"Good. Then let's do this."
Time had really flown. I checked my watch and called Manager Ma who was waiting outside.
"Manager please give him one of my cards."
Manager Ma took out one of his cards and handed it to Hong Jin-pyo.
I noticed Hong Jin-pyo's hands trembling slightly as he accepted the card.
"If you ever need help with anything else besides this job contact that number. I'll help you once no questions asked."
Hong Jin-pyo nodded slightly while fidgeting with the card.
"It was good seeing you. I hope you grab this opportunity."
I stood first and extended my hand to Hong Jin-pyo.
He rose too and gripped my hand firmly.
"Yeah good seeing you too."
Only time would tell how this connection from our past would play out.
Though Hong Jin-pyo's relieved expression caught my eye I could only hope things would turn out for the best.
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