Eun-seo, who succeeded in getting the promise, came down to the 5th floor where her office was located.
I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my mouth.
My hands were shaking so much that it took me a long time to open the water bottle.
As soon as I opened the lid, I gulped it down.
After almost emptying the half a litre water bottle, Eun-seo collapsed into her chair.
“Haa..”
There was a sense of helplessness that felt like death. Just looking at Kwon Seung-ju's face, just being in the same space, made all the muscles in his body tense up. It wasn't just Eun-seo who was like that, he was a man who made everyone do that.
There was more than one employee who thought he was up to no good the moment they saw his face.
It took a lot of energy to directly confront into someone like that and semi-coerce a promise out of them.
But it was the only way.
[The landlord wants to end the contract].
It was only ten days ago that I received a notice from the real estate agency that the lease would not be renewed.
Eun-seo had lived in the house for 15 years without paying rent. Since the contract has been continued through implicit renewal, there has never been an agreement with the landlord. In her mind, the landlord was just a name on paper.
Suddenly, the landlord leaps out of the document and into reality with a bombshell announcement.
[He wants to tear down the house and build a building in its place.]
Ignoring the shocked Eun-seo, the real estate boss continued.
[I'm surprised you left it as it is, that land is worth a fortune].
The neighborhood had already started to develop about ten years ago, and now there were apartments, villas, shops, and other buildings all around. A renovated hanok with a large yard stood alone, surrounded by tall buildings, like a child stuck between giants. That was Eun-seo's house.
*A hanok or joseonjip, is a traditional Korean house.
[He's giving you three months' notice, which is the law anyway, so you can prepare to move with that knowledge].
But Eun-seo can't just move out overnight.
[Hey, isn't there something called the right to renew the contract? I heard there's a law that says you can live for two more years if the tenant asks for it once].
I tried to rattle off tidbits of knowledge I'd picked up from the news, only to be laughed at.
[There's an exception to all that, too. It doesn't apply when the landlord demolishes the building altogether].
Looking at Eun-seo's stony face with a pitying look, the real estate boss advised.
[The landlord seems to be quite a great person when I communicate with him through the secretary's office. Don't get your hopes up, thank him for making your life so comfortable, and leave immediately, and I'll see if I can sneak in some moving money]
It wasn't wrong. Even though it's an old renovated hanok, it's a detached house with enough space to accommodate a building, and the rent is only 30 million won. It was the result of not having been turned once in 15 years.
It is a great blessing to be able to buy it at a price that is almost free. So, it was right to say thank you for the time and leave obediently.
But...
The good news was that Eun-seo actually knew the landlord. Of course, knowing him didn't make it easy to meet him.
It was from that day that Eun-seo began to contact the secretary of her company, Daewon Construction, where she worked for.
[I would like to meet the CEO].
When the second-year employee asked for a private meeting with the CEO, the secretary had a very common sense response.
-Please state your business.
I felt that if I told the truth, I would be rejected without even seeing his face. The only chance she had was to tell her situation face to face, so she could only say, [I'm sorry. I'll have to talk to the CEO in person].
After a while, she got this reply:
- He said he wouldn't meet you.
That was the fifth time in ten days that I was told no. Eventually, I had no choice but to go to work early and get in his way.
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