Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho made a call to a travel agency that he had always been using for his previous travels.

“Hi, I need two flight tickets to Tokyo. Also, could you make a reservation for a hotel? I like New Ontani Hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo. Please ask them to include breakfast as well.”

Gun-Ho changed a lot over the years.

He was now proactive and no longer hesitated when he worked. He used to be indecisive, and he always felt inferior to others in most situations. He even stuttered sometimes when he felt nervous or pressured. However, he was no longer that person. In the Western world, people say, “Money talks” as a person gains power if he has a lot of money, to say what he wants, and people would listen and pay attention to him. Gun-Ho proved that saying was true. Gun-Ho felt confident all the time.

Attorney Young-Jin Kim felt sorry, and he felt somewhat owed to Gun-Ho when he found out that Gun-Ho reserved the luxurious 5-star hotel for him.

“President Goo? I found a Japanese-Korean interpreter for us. He will help us while we stay in Japan.”

“Really? That’s awesome.”

“He is one of my colleague’s younger brother who is a Ph.D. student in Japan.”

“I will pay him per day.”

“No, you don’t have to. I will take care of it.”

“By the way, do we take a limousine bus from Haneda Airport to Akasaka?”

“No, we don’t have to. Amiel will send a car to pick us up at the airport.”

“Really? That’s very nice of him.”

“Okay, then. See you at the Incheon International Airport tomorrow.”

Gun-Ho and Attorney Young-Jin Kim arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. It was a beautiful April where Sakura flowers were in full blossom. When Gun-Ho walked out to the waiting area at the airport, he saw two people who were waving a white paper with Young-Jin Kim’s name on. Attorney Young-Jin Kim walked toward those two men.

One of them was the chauffeur who Amiel sent to pick up Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim, and the other person was Jeong-Rok Han who was a Ph.D. student at Tokyo University.

“Hi. I’m Jeong-Rok Han. Jeong-Ryeul Han is my older brother.”

“Oh? That’s right. You look just like your brother. I work with Attorney Han.”

“My brother told me a lot about you. Please talk to me in a casual way; I am younger than you, and you work with my older brother.”

“This is President Gun-Ho Goo. He is with me.”

Jeong-Rok Han gave a 90-degree bow to Gun-Ho. The young man was wearing glasses.

“I’m Gun-Ho Goo.”

Gun-Ho didn’t even twitch his head when he introduced himself to this young man. Gun-Ho now knew how to behave like an important and superior person.

“Oh, this is a chauffeur from Lymondell Dyeon. I just met him here too.”

The chauffeur looked like in his 50s. He greeted Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim with a broad smile. Since Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim both didn’t speak Japanese, they just said hi in Japanese and let Jeong-Rok Han take care of the rest of the parts.

During the ride from Haneda Airport to Akasaka, Jeong-Rok Han did all the talking; he seemed to be having a lot of fun.

“New Ontani Hotel is a great hotel. I did some interpretation work there last winter when two congressmen from Korea came to Japan. They stayed at New Ontani Hotel as well. The hotel has a beautiful garden that had been there for 400 years. It is a traditional Japanese style garden and it is very famous for its beauty.”

Gun-Ho asked,

“How old are you, Mr. Jeong-Rok Han?”

“I’m 31 years old. Please consider me like your younger brother.”

Jeong-Rok Han slightly nodded his head when he talked. With that gesture, he looked more like a Japanese man.

When Gun-Ho arrived at the hotel, he quietly asked for Jeong-Rok Han.

“We will stay in Japan for the next three days. I guess you will have to help us a lot, and I appreciate it.”

Gun-Ho gave 100 dollars in cash to Jeong-Rok Han.

“Wow! 100 dollars! Thank… thank you, sir.”

Jeong-Rok Han grabbed Gun-Ho’s luggage right away and carried it for him. Gun-Ho was amazed at how much things had changed.

“I was nothing but a factory worker who graduated from a low-ranked college in the countryside, a few years back. And now, a Ph.D. student at Tokyo University is carrying my luggage for me.”

Gun-Ho smiled bitterly.

At the lobby, Gun-Ho saw Amiel; he was already there to greet Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim.

“Hey, Gun-Ho and Young-Jin, good to see you guys here!”

The three men shook the hands of each other pleasantly.

Young-Jin and Amiel talked to each other in English, and the Korean-Japanese interpreter—Jeong-Rok Han seemed to be astonished by Young-Jin’s fluent English. Because of the Language difference and capacity, Amiel talked with Young-Jin most of the time in English, and Gun-Ho usually talked with Jeong-Rok in Korean.

“Mr. Jeong-Rok Han, is there any good restaurant that you want to recommend around here?”

“There are many bars outside the hotel that you might like. For food, you can either eat at one of the restaurants at the hotel or if you’d like to have Korean food, there are Korean restaurants around here too. I know a good Korean restaurant that specializes in Seolleongtang (an ox bone soup).

“Really?”

Gun-Ho took his party to a restaurant at the hotel, called Suksimjeong.

“I’ve googled a good place to eat here, and this restaurant is good at grilled food on a hot plate. Let’s have dinner here for today and then have a desert outside the hotel. I will treat you all with dinner.”

Gun-Ho’s party enjoyed grilled food at the restaurant; it had a nice atmosphere.

“Wagyu (Japanese beef) is really tasty just like people said. It has the right tenderness, and it is very delicious.”

Amiel suggested that,

“Let’s do this. Let’s first visit the Dyeon Japan factory in Yokohama City. Since President Goo is here, I want to hear his opinion about the factory.”

“My opinion? What do I know to give such an opinion?”

“You’ll probably tell us some of your insight once you see the factory. You used to work in a plastic factory, right?”

“Well, I’m not sure about it. However, since we are here, let’s have a tour of the factory. Is that okay, Attorney Kim?”

“Sure. I’ve never had a tour at a factory before. It should be interesting.”

“And the day after tomorrow, we’ll go play golf in a golf field that is located in Inchihara City. What do you think?”

“Sounds good. Let’s do that, and we’ll be going back to Korea on the third day.”

“Also let’s have a drink after playing golf, and the person who lost at the golf game will buy us drinks; I mean a lot of drinks.”

“Sure.”

Gun-Ho’s party went to Yokohama City to see the Dyeon Japan factory. The factory was not big unlike Gun-Ho expected, maybe because it was located in an area close to a city, and the price of the land must be expensive. However, the interior of the factory was very clean. Every single worker at the factory was wearing a grey-colored uniform and a hat. The extruders were making a loud noise.

“Our factory is located close to a residential area, so we tried to lower the noise level but we failed to do so. Whenever the factory makes a loud noise, we get complaints right away.”

“Really? How many products do they produce per day? And what about sales?”

Gun-Ho thoroughly checked things and made a note.

Young-Jin asked Gun-Ho with a smile,

“Hey, you are not starting a joint venture with them, right? What are you writing all those for?”

“I’m just interested in it. It could be useful someday, right?”

At the unit where chemical compounds were made, the workers were wearing a mask. Young-Jin Kim and Jeong-Rok Han stopped at the unit entrance, probably because of the chemical smell and powders that were flying in the air. Gun-Ho looked closely at the ingredients listed on the vinyl bag of chemical compounds.

“Amiel, is it okay if I take pictures of the factory’s interior?”

“Pictures? Hmm… Well, we don’t usually allow photographing the factory; however, I will let you do it, President Goo. Just keep them to yourself.”