Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho felt annoyed. But those applications couldn’t just be ignored.

“I don’t have time to review all those applications. I will send the general affairs manager of GH Mobile there, instead. You and the GH Mobile’s general affairs manager will have to review all of the applications and select three people among them.”

“Yes, sir. I will do that.”

Gun-Ho asked for the general affairs manager.

“Mr. General Affairs Manager, you will have to go on a short trip to Seoul the day after tomorrow.”

“Huh? Where to Seoul?”

“Go to GH Building that is located in Sinsa Town, Gangnam. Once you get there, go up to the 19th floor, then you will see an office—GH Development. And talk to Manager Kang there.”

“Yes, sir. What do you want me to do there?”

“We are hiring a secretary and an accounting staff for GH Development, but our job posting listed all of our four companies’ names including our factory in China by mistake. As a result, we have received way too many applications for those two openings. So, I want you to review the applications we received and do the first interview. Conduct the hiring process with Manager Kang at GH Development.”

“How many people applied for the positions?”

“We have 750 for the secretary position, and 320 for the accounting staff position.”

“Wow. We did actually received a lot. Manager Kang and I will be the first to select twenty candidates based on papers, and then select five for each position for a final interview. I will prepare the final interview for you to conduct, sir.”

“Five people are still too many. Make three for the final interview.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gun-Ho didn’t work on Saturdays and Sundays.

Many organizations where Gun-Ho belonged to, such as local organizations or some economic organizations for businessmen often held a friendship golf tournament. Gun-Ho didn’t attend any of them though because he didn’t see himself fitting in those groups. At first, the members of those groups were too noisy. They often raised their voices and they also seemed to be shameless. They didn’t even try to restrain themselves from stating inappropriate words that could be considered even as sexual harassment. Some of them were self-made business owners, but most of them were born into a wealthy family and inherited their businesses from their families.

“We’d love to have you at our golf tournament. We need more members who are young like you, President Goo.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just not a good golf player.”

“You don’t just play golf here. This is also all about business and friendship. We make connections for our business, and you can learn important information too. We do find customer and vendor companies here too, not to mention that this is a very good exercise for your health.”

“I totally understand, but I have an important appointment today…”

“It seems that President Goo has other good organizations he is attending to. By the way, I’ve passed by President Goo’s factory the other day, and it looked really nice.”

Gun-Ho sometimes went to Onyang Hot Spring Hotel and enjoyed their food and took the hot spring bath there. It became a bit more distant to drive there since his company moved to Jiksan Town from Asan City, but he still went there pretty often.

Gun-Ho was thinking that day that he wanted to go to Onyang Hot Spring Hotel again as usual to have his lunch and enjoy the hot spring bath, and then he had a second thought.

“Maybe I don’t have to eat inside the hotel. Maybe I want to eat somewhere else today. What about Bibimbap* in the Youngiksan area?”

Gun-Ho was walking towards his car in the parking lot while thinking of where to have his lunch that day, when he saw a young couple who were having a conversation while standing at the parking lot.

“Huh? Jong-Suk?”

“Huh? Bro!”

“I thought you went to Incheon City today since it is Sunday. What are you doing here?”

Gun-Ho glanced at the girl who was standing next to Jong-Suk while talking to him.

“Oh, umm. This is our company’s president.”

“Hello, sir.”

The girl had a fair skin and she was wearing glasses. She looked elegant, and she was pretty when she smiled.

“Who is she? Oh, this is the girl who is attending Polytechnics College with you…”

“Haha. Yeah, this is she.”

“Oh, I see. I heard you have someone close to you at school, but what a surprise. It is really good to see you here with the girl.”

The girl seemed to be a bit shy. Gun-Ho thought that the girl looked to be a very nice person.

‘She seems to be calm and stable. She is a perfect fit for Jong-Suk who is a bit tough.’

“You two haven’t had lunch yet, right? Why don’t you join me for lunch today? I will treat you.”

“Oh, umm…”

“Don’t say anything. Just come with me!”

Gun-Ho took the couple to a Korean restaurant in a hotel, where they could enjoy the Korean table d’hote. Gun-Ho ordered all kinds of Korean food in addition to beer.

“Oh, bro! Don’t order too much.”

“It’s okay. I want to. This is the first meal I’m having with my future sister-in-law.”

The girl seemed to be frightened when she heard Gun-Ho mentioning her as his sister-in-law, while Jong-Suk seemed to be happy with Gun-Ho’s choice of words because he was smiling.

The girl placed pieces of delicious food on the plate in front of Gun-Ho whenever a new delicious dish came out to their table.

“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to do it. I will take care of myself. You can do that to the man who is sitting next to you.”

Jong-Suk asked the girl while chewing the meat.

“My boss is a really good person, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I think so. By the way, why do you talk to your boss in an informal way sometimes, Jong-Suk?”

Gun-Ho smiled and said,

“Manager Park and I, we are like real brothers. We grew up in the same town and worked together at a facto…”

At the very moment, Jong-Suk Park kicked Gun-Ho’s shin under the table when Gun-Ho was about to tell the girl about the days they were worked at a factory together.

“I was so surprised when I saw you, sir. I was actually expecting to see an old man when I heard of you as the president of the company where Jong-Suk is working at. The president of the company where I am working is actually 60 something years old.”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard you are working at a factory in an industrial complex. How’s your company doing?”

“It’s doing well.”

“I heard that you are working at a research center. Did I hear right?”

“Yes, that’s true. I actually used to work in a product quality control team before I joined the research center. Since I majored in a field that is totally unrelated to the product we are manufacturing, I am having a hard time learning new things at work.”

The girl laughed as she talked about her work. She looked really pretty when she laughed.

Gun-Ho looked at the couple who was sitting in front of him. They looked really nice together.

Note*

Bibimbap – Cooked rice with various vegetables and meat mixed together with Korean red chili paste.