The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 100

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 100

Submit a dividend claim application?

What the hell is this about?

I read through the documents that came from the court several times, but I couldn’t understand what they were about at all.

Well, of course I could read it since it was written in Korean.

But even martial arts manuals are written in Chinese characters that everyone knows, yet I can’t understand them, right? It’s like that.

Since it was full of legal terminology, I couldn’t be sure if what I understood was correct.

“Sanghun oppa, do you have a moment? Teacher Inae too.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes?”

Since I hadn’t grasped the situation yet, it could confuse the staff if they heard about it.

I first called Hwang Sanghun and Seo Inae separately into the examination room.

Anyway, they seemed like people who would know more about real estate or auctions than I did.

“Is there some kind of problem…?”

Although Hwang Sanghun occasionally came to ask questions, it was extremely rare for me to summon him first, so he looked quite nervous.

And with Seo Inae of all people?

“Both of you, could you read this for me?”

“Hmm?”

“…Auction? This building?”

Seo Inae’s face contorted as she casually picked up the documents.

“Hanyewon, how much deposit do you have tied up here?”

Hwang Sanghun also asked very urgently.

Oh, to understand the situation just from looking at the document title. As expected, they’re better than me at something.

“The deposit isn’t much. It’s 80 million on 1 billion here.”

“Clinic Director, what about key money?”

“There wasn’t any. Free transfer.”

“Ah, thank goodness!”

“You didn’t do separate interior work either, right?”

“Right.”

At the mention of no key money, both of them simultaneously let out sighs of relief.

“What does key money have to do with anything?”

“Hmm. Well, if there’s a senior mortgage, there’s no right of confrontation.”

I scratched my head knowing nothing, and Hwang Sanghun spouted alien language no different from what was written in the documents.

Right of confrontation? Is that like diamond body technique?

Unable to bear seeing my expression turn strange, Seo Inae spoke up.

“I’ll just explain from the beginning. First, the fact that the building went to auction means someone couldn’t get money they were supposed to receive from the building owner, so they applied to have the property seized. Do you understand this much?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that from a buyer’s perspective, buying at auction is much cheaper. Since they could sell for more if they sold normally, this situation means they’re almost bankrupt, right?”

“That’s right.”

Before calling them, I had also searched the internet and understood what an auction was.

“Looking at the registry, in this building’s case, bank loans are the problem. Look. The loan amount is 600 million, and unpaid taxes are listed at 30 million, right?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Looking at the order, the building owner took out the loan first, and you came in as a tenant the following year. So the bank has the right to receive money before you do. If the auction goes for something like 1 billion, the bank takes their share, the tax office collects the unpaid taxes, and then it’s the tenants’ turn, but if it goes for 500 million, you’re screwed.”

“Ah!”

…So depending on how much the winning bid is, I could lose 80 million won?

Actually, compared to my current income, it’s not an enormous amount, but I couldn’t help feeling sick to my stomach.

With 80 million won, I could buy a new ultrasound machine, buy hydrotherapy equipment, or even do new interior work to add more beds!

“You’ve heard of jeonse fraud, right? Even if it’s not fraud, when villas go to auction, deposit guarantees become a problem for residential buildings. Studio and two-room jeonse deposits can be hundreds of millions.”

“Ah, so my 80 million is incredibly small?”

“Yes. Commercial spaces are usually monthly rent. But when a building is sold, the lease rights contracted with the previous owner are extinguished, so you can be evicted regardless of the previous contract. Then there’s absolutely no way to recover the hundreds of millions already spent on key money or interior costs.”

Oh, I finally understood.

I couldn’t help but nod in admiration.

“You explain things really well, just like Hanyewon.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, it’s a field I know somewhat. But you’d still be better than me.”

What are you talking about? Are you making fun of me? I was just nodding like an idiot?

“Still, it’s fortunate that the appraisal value is 1 billion. In this situation, without key money, all floors should be able to get their deposits back.”

The auction date was already set, and even the appraisal value had come out.

A 10-digit number. How tremendous. How do you go bankrupt with such assets?

With loans, taxes, and various things, but if it just sells for 1 billion, there shouldn’t be a big problem.

I thought simply, but Seo Inae shook her head.

“There’s no guarantee it will be won at 1 billion. I wouldn’t buy it either. I don’t have 1 billion, but… our clinic uses the entire 4th floor and the monthly rent is only 80 million, right? Then winning the bid for 1 billion wouldn’t match the profitability at all.”

“Mmm.”

Seo Inae compared the interest from putting 1 billion in bank deposits with rental income.

“Well, they could tell everyone to leave and then raise the rent… but that would need to be compared with the surrounding market rates, and from a rough look, it’s not very good conditions.”

“What happens if no one wins the bid?”

“If no one wants to buy, they lower the price and keep reposting. At 500 million, anyone would buy it, right?”

Right. Even I would buy it at 500 million.

No, even 1 billion seems fine.

Of course, I didn’t say this. It’s obvious I’d get scolded for still having no sense of money even after running a clinic for 2 years already.

“And here’s the dividend claim application form. This is for applying to take my share from the winning bid amount.”

“Ah, we absolutely have to fill this out?”

This time Hwang Sanghun spoke.

“Since we’re lower priority than the creditors, we’d have to file this to receive our deposit back. I saw my aunt buy a building once, and if you have opposing power, you can refuse to leave and hold out. If you’re higher priority than the creditors, you can even continue the contract with the winning bidder.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Seo Inae also chimed in agreement.

Well, that’s that. We just have to apply no matter what, right?

“So we fill this out, and if it gets a decent winning bid, we receive our dividend and have to leave?”

“Probably?”

“Renewing the contract as-is seems difficult. I don’t know how much the winning bid will be, but they’ll probably try to raise it even a little… Ah, I don’t know. I don’t know this stuff very well either!”

“How about talking with the people on other floors first?”

That would be good.

If I just do whatever the staff tells me to do, I’d end up passing the responsibility to them too.

“Thank you both so much for helping.”

I can’t rely on the staff any more than this.

I need to find out what I can and ultimately make the decision myself.

I expressed my gratitude for their explanations and shared concerns.

* * *

The next day.

For the first time since this incident occurred, all the tenants of the 4-story building gathered in one place.

I had asked each floor if they wanted to discuss more with others in similar situations, and everyone readily agreed to meet.

“Everyone received the court registration, right?”

“Yes… What are you all planning to do?”

The four people gathered at the bakery on the 1st floor, with the 2nd floor being a restaurant and the 3rd floor an academy.

The top floor, the 4th floor, was our Oriental Medicine Clinic.

The 1st and 3rd floors had signed contracts before me, and the 2nd floor… was it last year? A dakgalbi restaurant moved in, and I’d sometimes go eat there for lunch.

“Tsk tsk, I knew that bastard would cause big trouble someday!”

The middle-aged man who owned the bakery on the 1st floor said.

Unlike me, who didn’t even know the building owner’s face, he knew the situation quite well.

According to what he told us, the original building owner was an elderly old man who built this building with almost no loans and was a good person who didn’t raise rent for decades.

But around the time the 3rd floor academy and I moved in, his grandson inherited it, and the current building owner apparently took out large loans using the building as collateral to start other businesses.

“So, everyone else’s deposits are ten million won each…”

It was frustrating, but ten million won wouldn’t be a disaster.

I was relatively calm, and the 1st and 3rd floors only cursed about the annoying situation but didn’t take the ten million won too seriously.

But the owner of the 2nd floor restaurant was completely broken mentally.

The 3rd floor had the same terms as us at 10 million deposit/800,000 monthly rent, the 1st floor was 10 million/1.5 million, but the 2nd floor had agreed to lower monthly rent and higher deposit at 50 million/100,000.

“Do commercial rents work like this too? It’s almost like jeonse.”

“The landlord strongly suggested raising the deposit, and I thought reducing monthly rent would be better… I never imagined things would turn out like this…”

He became even more tearful seeing the others’ lack of crisis awareness.

“I’ll get my deposit back, right? It’s almost all my assets!”

“If it gets a winning bid of 1 billion, there shouldn’t be a problem…”

The most composed person was the director of the math academy.

“I was planning to move anyway. Of course I have to file for dividend distribution. It would be nice if I could coordinate the timing of vacating the academy with the winning bidder, but if not, I’ll leave when they tell me to.”

He said the academy was doing well anyway, and he wanted to move in front of the station soon.

He planned to hold out without paying rent and would leave when eviction notice came.

“I’m higher priority anyway, and I still have some contract period left.”

The bakery owner shrugged while showing his annoyance.

Since he was higher priority than bank creditors, it seemed he could maintain his lease contract.

His position was to definitely complete the contract period and continue afterward if possible. His annoyance point was that renewing under the same conditions seemed difficult.

“Ugh, uwahhh…!”

The 2nd floor restaurant owner had already filed for dividend distribution and was so terrified that he wanted to close his business immediately if only his deposit could be returned.

The meeting ended with his agonized groaning in the background.

* * *

I shared the building situation and what I heard at the tenant meeting with my staff.

“So what happens to us? Are we also moving like the academy with this opportunity?”

Seol Yuhui asked.

I had heard enough opinions, but honestly, I still hadn’t decided on a clear position.

Sigh…

I kept talking about expansion, expansion, and now I’m really being forced to move to a bigger place like this?

That wasn’t necessarily bad either.

The 0.7km uphill slope from the station – I don’t think it’s too bad, but patients constantly complain about why I had to open a clinic here of all places.

Since things turned out this way, it might be worth getting back the deposit like the academy and moving to a bigger place, even if the monthly rent is a bit higher.

“I don’t really want to do that.”

But I wasn’t keen on it at all.

Others think I chose this place as my clinic location without any thought, but this place is really good feng shui-wise!

They say it’s a location where good energy gathers, so acupuncture treatments here are actually quite effective.

“Then how about talking with the next highest bidder for now?”

That’s also an option.

But it wasn’t my first priority.

Isn’t it a bit much to rely on some unknown person’s decision without making any backup plans?

They could unreasonably raise the deposit or monthly rent, or they might tell us to leave unconditionally because they plan to use it for other purposes.

Instead of giving a definitive answer to the question, I asked Seo Inae something else.

“Teacher Inae.”

“Yes.”

“If this building has an appraised value of 1 billion won, is that really expensive?”

I kept leaning toward the third option.

“Huh?”

Seo Inae tilted her head.

She looked confused about why I was asking her such a thing.

“You know the most among us, don’t you? You said you even learned about auctions before.”

From what I heard today, she seems to be the most knowledgeable person in this building, at least.

Come to think of it, even when we were drinking together in the early days of opening the clinic, she mentioned studying real estate auctions.

“I wouldn’t say I know it that well.”

“But you’ve actually won bids before, haven’t you?”

Seo Inae closed her mouth.

A brief silence fell among the other staff members as well.

“Clinic Director, don’t tell me….”

Seo Inae hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Don’t tell me, really don’t tell me. I’m just asking just in case.”

“Please go ahead.”

“You’re not thinking of buying it… are you?”

“If I look into it and it’s cheap, I might buy it, right?”

I nodded.

Couldn’t I at least consider it as a third possibility?

“Whaaaaat?”

“Clinic Director, you’re going to buy this building?”

I had just suggested it as a possibility.

For some reason, everyone’s jaws dropped and they looked shocked.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————