Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

In the research center, there was no position such as a manager or a supervisor. Instead, they had a senior researcher or a managing researcher as a position. Most workers in the research center had an excellent academic degree and a lot of them were creative, compared to workers in other fields; however, some of them were not good at socializing. They were mostly in their late 30s or 40s except for a few workers who were the same age as Gun-Ho. The entire research center workers were sitting in the first row in the meeting room.

Gun-Ho stood up in front of them and bowed before he started talking.

“I know all of you must be very busy to perform your work duties, but I had to ask you all to come to the meeting room. As you all know, this company has experienced a severe financial crisis and it was once under court receivership. I don’t think any individual should be responsible for the crisis but the entire company is responsible for it. The research center is also responsible for the past financial crisis as it is part of the company.”

While Gun-Ho was talking, everyone in the meeting room stayed silent.

“The company spends annually more than 4 billion won for the research center’s R&D including the wages. It is 5.7 % of our company’s annual sales revenue.”

The workers started talking among themselves.

“Is it that much?”

“He said that the expense includes our wages.”

“It is still a substantial amount of money.”

Gun-Ho picked up a habit of talking with numbers while he had worked in the accounting department.

“The research center hasn’t produced any outcome corresponding to the expense the company spends for it—the amount of 4 billion won.”

Gun-Ho could hear a dry cough from here and there.

“Since I joined the company, we paid off some urgent debt to our vendors and suppliers, and also we paid for the unpaid wages. However, we still have a significant loan from banks, and our company’s debt ratio is still high. So, we had to sell our second factory where the research center is located to reduce our debts.”

A cell phone from the seat in the back started ringing and the cell phone owner quickly turned it off.

“The chief officer of the research center who is sitting right in front of me has kept on insisting that the company shouldn’t lay off any of the research center workers.”

The chief officer of the research center moved a bit from his seat when Gun-Ho talked about him. The workers at the research center at least wouldn’t blame him after Gun-Ho’s speech.

“I promise all of you here as the president of this company. Even though we sell any part of the company, we will not lay anyone off.”

They all seemed to feel a sense of relief.

“However, we can’t keep the same way we have done so far; it has to change, especially with the research center. We will ask another company to do the research work for us, and you will all be reallocated to another department within the company. I hope you understand my decision.”

“Hmm. Hmm.”

Gun-Ho could hear dry cough sound again.

Gun-Ho was a smooth speaker. He wouldn’t have imagined speaking in front of people when he had no money; he definitely wasn’t a good speaker then at all. However, he changed. He was now a big player from Gangnam. He didn’t feel shy or feel a little any longer. This company was not all he had. He had more than 200 billion won in cash. He was in his mid-30s, but he didn’t feel little in front of the research center workers or the executives who were older than him. However, he was not arrogant. He was understanding and generous because he once lived a very poor life.

The workers in the meeting room thought that Gun-Ho was a great speaker. The research center workers were good at studying and researching, but many of them were shy in speaking in front of people. However, Gun-Ho was confident in speaking.

The western saying, “Money talks everything” seemed to be true.

Gun-Ho continued to talk,

“For now, please think about which department you want to work in, write it down, and submit your preferred department to the chief officer of the research center. We will take that into account when we determine your next department you will be working in. Thank you for your hard work and cooperation.”

The research center workers at the meeting room lowered their heads as Gun-Ho talked.

“If you have any questions, this is your opportunity to ask.”

A worker sitting in the middle raised his hand.

“Will our salary change once we are reallocated to another department?”

“You will receive the same salary as you do now.”

“Since we move within the company, we don’t get severance pay, right?”

“Right. However, if you want to receive your severance pay in advance, we can arrange it as well, even though I do not recommend it.”

“Will we be discriminated in promotion?”

The workers in the room all laughed. Gun-Ho laughed intentionally along with them to make them feel easy.

“There will never be discrimination in promotion against anyone. I rather believe that the research center workers should receive preferential treatment.”

The chief officer of the research center suddenly stood up from his seat.

“Did you all hear what the president said? We just need to comply with the company policy, okay?”

Gun-Ho stood up as well.

“Thank you all for coming. You can all go now.”

Gun-Ho gave a deep bow to the workers, and the workers bowed to Gun-Ho as well in their sitting position.

Gun-Ho was checking his personal bank account online in his office when he was alone. He was then surprised by some extra money deposited in his account.

“Huh? Where did this 30 million won come from?”

It was from Jae-Sik Moon.

“Ha. This dude! He sent me 30 million won I lent him the other day to pay off his debt. It was quick. I guess he used the prize money that he won for his novel.”

Gun-Ho made a call to Jae-Sik.

“Hey, you were supposed to pay me 500,000 won every month, but you quickly paid it off all at once.”

“Yeah. Since I have the money, I decided to pay off the debt. I might have spent them all if I keep the money with me. So, I wanted to pay the money I borrowed from you first. I really appreciate your help.”

“You say that again!”

“I already sent the alumni directory book to all of our high school friends. Some called me to thank me, and some said they were sorry that they misunderstood me.

“Oh, really? That’s nice. You recovered your reputation.”

“Not just my reputation. I recovered my credit score as well.”

“Oh, that’s true. Haha.”

“I will let you go, Gun-Ho. You must be very busy talking with a lot of people as a president. Thank you again for your help.”

Once he got off the phone with Jae-Sik, Gun-Ho smiled.

“That dude! He can’t stand owing to someone. With his personality, he must have a really hard time when he became a person with a bad score and his friends thought he was a swindler. He suffered because he is too naive and honest because he doesn’t know how to deceive other people. He is the type of person who just feels happy when he writes.”

When he thought about Jae-Sik, it occurred to him that he once committed embezzlement when he worked for YS Tech. Gun-Ho would never be free from that incident and the feeling of guilt would stay with him for the rest of his life. Gun-Ho made a call to President Young-Sik Park.