Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Once Chairman Lee got off the phone, he said sorry to Gun-Ho and picked up the piece of apple that he tried to have earlier and ate it.

Gun-Ho handed a can of juice to Chairman Lee with a smile.

“Someone wants to sell a building?”

“Oh, you heard that? Yeah, I have a friend; our friends call him Chairman Park. He was once very popular. He wants to sell his building.”

“Can’t he just put the building on the market?”

“That building is not for everyone. It’s a 200 billion won worth building that is located in Sinsa Town, Seoul. Not many people would afford to buy that building. Putting on the market won’t help; maybe he should post an advertisement in a newspaper or something.”

“Then why doesn’t he place an ad in a newspaper?”

“He doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t want people who know him to find out that he was selling his building. Moreover, he doesn’t want it to cause any dispute between his children.”

“Why would it cause a dispute between his children?”

“He has a lot of children. Some are from his first marriage, and some are from his second wife. It’s really complicated. You’d better be careful with women too while doing your business, President Goo.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. I will keep that in mind, sir.”

Gun-Ho thought of Mori Aikko in Japan at that moment.

“What if Mori Aikko is pregnant with my child?”

Gun-Ho suddenly got goosebumps.

President Jeong-Sook Shin walked towards Chairman Lee and said hello.

“Umm… Are you, by any chance, the father of Professor Hye-Sook Lee at Sejong University?”

“Yes, I am. Who am I talking to?”

“Hello, sir. I am a friend of Hye-Sook. I am working as the president of GH Media now.”

“Did you say GH Media?”

Gun-Ho added some explanation to it so Chairman Lee could understand the situation.

“I recently opened a small publishing company, sir. It is called GH Media. President Shin here is working there and running the company.”

“Oh, really? You have a publishing company. I see.”

“When I saw you, sir, at the tape cutting ceremony, I was not so sure if you are Hye-Sook’s father.”

“How is Hye-Sook doing these days?”

“She is doing fine, sir.”

Gun-Ho couldn’t quite understand the conversation between Chairman Lee and President Shin. Who would ask someone whether his own daughter was doing okay?

“A lot of confusing things are happening today.”

When Gun-Ho was wondering about things, the vice president of S Group said loudly.

“President Goo! I am leaving early. It was really nice to see the factory today.”

“I am heading back to Seoul too, sir.”

It was the branch manager of the major bank.

The guests at the building dedication ceremony started leaving the scene one by one after having food and having a tour of the factory. The police patrol that was parked at the entrance of the factory had left as well. They came to help facilitate the traffic for the ceremony and once most guests left the scene, they left too.

Once the entire guest left the factory, the workers of GH Mobile started having food. They seemed to be hungry after a long day of the ceremony.

Gun-Ho called for the general affairs manager.

“Our workers did such a great job today and they need to be rewarded. Why don’t you take them to a restaurant, have dinner with them and pay with the company credit card?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

Gun-Ho came back to his office in Asan City. He was dozing off on his chair in his office with the door closed after the long day when someone knocked on the president’s office door.

“Please come in.”

Gun-Ho woke up and sat straight on his chair. It was the team leader of the product quality assurance team.

“Sir, I’ve brought the evaluation result of the environmental management system.”

Gun-Ho signed on the paper without even reviewing it.

‘Sh*t! that stupid man woke me up. It’s not even an urgent matter. It could be done later. I was having a really nice dream.’

The product quality assurance team leader passionately explained about something using his hands, and Gun-Ho nodded his head without really listening to it.

The team leader thought he was doing good with the report to the president since Gun-Ho wasn’t saying anything. He then said loudly, “Thank you!” before leaving the room.

After the product quality assurance team leader left the office, Gun-Ho laid down on the sofa and tried to have a nap, but he couldn’t fall asleep this time. He, instead, was thinking about the conversation that Chairman Lee had on the phone.

“A huge building in Sinsa Town, Seoul… Its price is 200 billion won. How big would that building be? How much rent would it bring in?”

He couldn’t imagine a building that was worth 200 billion won.

“It would be really nice to have a building like that in Gangnam, Seoul. Should I use all of my cash saved in my stock account to purchase that building? I have about 200 billion won.”

Gun-Ho then firmly shook his head.

“Nah. I should never use my entire funds at once. I could have a high vacancy rate with that building. That could be big trouble. I have GH Mobile and I am now forming a new company— GH Chemical. I shouldn’t risk them. I have a publishing company that I have to take care of too, even though it is a small company. If they can’t sell a book, I will have to close it and that would be embarrassing. Won-Chul Jo, Suk-Ho Lee and Byeong-Chul Hwang will laugh at me.”

Gun-Ho continued to think.

“If I go down, Min-Hyeok in China will go down with me. Jae-Sik Moon will have to vacate his room at OneRoomTel. I won’t be able to see Mori Aikko ever again… No! Those things shouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t touch my funds in my stock account. Money is like a religion to me!”

Gun-Ho still couldn’t forget about the building that was worth 200 billion won.

“How big would it be? 15 floors? 20 floors? It should be at least 10 floors high. Where in Sinsa Town that building would be located at? Maybe at Garosugil Road in Sinsa Town? Nah…, the buildings on that road are all small buildings. None of them shouldn’t be worth 200 billion won.”

Gun-Ho felt a strong desire to visit that building; he wanted to see it in person.

“I should be with my workers when we move our factory to Jiksan Town on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe I should go and visit that building after moving. I just want to see it. I am not going there to buy that building. Okay, then once the moving is complete, let’s go to see Chairman Lee. I can have a good time with him like the old days. He would give me good advice about life as always. Maybe I should go to Ms. Jang’s bar at Hannam town with him. Maybe I should ask Master Park to join us too since he is a friend of Chairman Lee.”

Once Gun-Ho figured out what to do, he felt better.