Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho opened the website of Financial Supervisory Service—DART (Data Analysis, Retrieval, and Transfer System).

“Egnopak is a KOSDAQ registered company, so I will be able to retrieve the name list of their executives here.”

Gun-Ho took a look at Egnopak’s audit report and business report.

“They have 2,900 employees and the average salary of a worker there is 72 million won… Well, they pay their employees good money. I’ll give you that.”

Gun-Ho then checked their status of shares and the list of the executives of that company.

“The president is Seung-Gak Kim, 64 years old… the managing director is Dong-Hwan Kim, 33 years old… This guy is probably his son. Maybe this guy paid the gangsters to attack me…”

Gun-Ho looked at Dong-Hwan Kim’s work experience and the status of his employment with Egnopak.

[Dong-Hwan Kim / Registered director / Part-time / USC bachelor’s degree | USC master’s degree in business / Managing director of Egnopak in LA.]

“He has a typical profile as a person who was born into a wealthy family.”

Gun-Ho then searched Dong-Hwan Kim on the Internet. He had a three-years-old criminal record. He assaulted a worker in a bar and he subsequently was arrested.

“He seems to be a compulsive guy. He is just garbage that I don’t have to worry about.”

Gun-Ho smiled while closing the DART.

Gun-Ho received a phone call from the detective who came to see Gun-Ho earlier.

“Hi. This is Detective Kim from Asan Police. We have arrested six of eight assailants and we are currently interrogating them.”

“Oh, really? Thank you for your good work.”

“They all initially denied the fact that they attacked you, but, once we showed them the CCTV records, they confessed what they did. We are still trying to find the remaining two attackers.”

“I am so proud of our country’s police officers, not to mention their great ability and superior skills in investigating.”

“We will soon arrest the other two attackers.”

“Do we know who paid them to do that?”

“We do have an idea who would that be, but they are refusing to say anything about it.”

“Who are you suspecting?”

“We are still investigating, sir. We can’t tell you that before we are sure of it.”

Gun-Ho was so curious about the wirepuller, and he bluntly said,

“Did any of the attackers mention the name—Dong-Hwan Kim? The son of Egnopak’s president?”

“That… As a matter of fact, yes, the name came out during the interrogation, but he said he just borrowed 3 million won from him. He said he borrowed the money at Queen Bar in Samsung Town, Seoul for his OneRoomTel’s security deposit.”

“Okay. Well, thank you for letting me know.”

Once he got off the phone with the detective, Gun-Ho wrote down the name of the bar on a piece of paper, which was located in Samsung Town.

“What am I going to do with them?”

Gun-Ho was thinking of the gangsters who attacked him, and that reminded him of the bouncers at the secret bar in Hannam Town.

“The leader of the bouncers gave me his business card…”

Gun-Ho looked for the business card.

“Security Instructor, Tae-Young Im. This is it.”

Gun-Ho dialed the numbers shown on the business card. After the phone rang twice, someone picked up the phone.

“Oh, big brother. It’s me.”

It seemed that Tae-Young Im stored Gun-Ho’s number on his cell phone, so he could recognize Gun-Ho’s number right away. He called Gun-Ho ‘big brother.’

“How have you been?”

“Brother, you can talk to me in a more informal way.”

“What are you doing these days?”

“Nothing much actually. The bar in Hannam Town is re-doing their interior right now, so I am off these days.”

“If I remember correctly, you said you went to school in Gangnam, right? Do you happen to know a bar with a name, ‘Queen?’”

“Queen? The one that is located behind the Hyundai Department Store?”

“I am not sure about its location. So, there is a bar called Queen, huh?”

“Yes. That bar is not bad. Pretty people and rich people often go there. The rich kids who used to study abroad gather there frequently. Are you interested in visiting the bar?”

“Someone recommended me to that bar.”

“I know people there. I have some friends who are junior to me there.”

“That’s good. Can you then ask them if they know the Egnopak president’s son? His name is Dong-Hwan Kim. Ask them if they see him often at the bar. He went to college overseas, so maybe he goes there often too.”

“Sure. Will do.”

“Well, please do so quietly. I don’t want a rumor going around that I am looking for him or anything like that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

After a while, Gun-Ho received a call from Tae-Young Im.

“Brother, I talked to my friends at Queen. The police are looking for him, so it wasn’t easy to get in touch with him. He said, that the Dong-Hwan Kim person likes one of the girls who are working there, so he often comes to the bar. He comes pretty much once every three days. Since he didn’t come for the last two days, he will probably come to the bar tomorrow.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“Is that it? Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“Do you want to have some drinks with me?”

“Oh, that sounds really great. I was so thirsty for liquor.”

“Okay. Then come to Queen tomorrow at 8 pm.”

“Can I bring some of my friends too?”

“Of course. You can bring all of the bouncers who are working for the bar in Hannam Town.”

“Will do, brother! Thank you.”

The next day, Gun-Ho asked for Manager Jong-Suk Park.

“Hey, why don’t you go to Seoul with me tonight?”

“Seoul? What for?”

“I want to show you something interesting.”

“Interesting thing? Like what?”

“You will see once you get there.”

“Tell me, bro. I am busy.”

“We will see the person who paid the gangsters who cut your forearm.”

“Did you find him?”

“Finish your work by 5 pm, and come to my office.”

Gun-Ho drove to Samsung Town in Gangnam, Seoul with Jong-Suk. There was heavy traffic in Yangjae Town, so they arrived at the bar a little after 8 pm.

The Queen Bar was located in the basement, maybe because it would make a lot of noise given their nature of the business. When Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk arrived at the bar, good-looking young men came out to greet them. A lady clerk at the front desk asked them,

“Did you make a reservation with us, sir?”

“Well, I am not so sure about it. Can you check if you have a reservation under the name, ‘GH?’”

“Did you say GH, sir? People are waiting for you, sir.”

A young man in a black suit showed Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk to a room. The bar’s interior was luxurious with synthetic marbles. Gun-Ho felt like he was in the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle.

In the room where Gun-Ho was led to, seven bouncers were having a beer. They quickly stood up when they saw Gun-Ho coming into the room.

“Brother!”

The bouncers gave a 90-degree bow to Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk.

“Hi, how have you all been doing?”

Gun-Ho had a handshake with each bouncer in the room.

“I hope you don’t mind us starting drinking earlier. We were thirsty, brother.”

“That’s good. Let’s have a seat.”

Tae-Young Im quickly filled two glasses with beer and gave to Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk.

“Team Leader Im! Can you check if the Egnopak’s Dong-Hwan Kim is here today?”

“Yes, brother.”

Tae-Young Im pressed a button on the table, and a young staff came to the room fast.

“Hey, the man I told you about earlier. Is he here now?”

“Yes, brother. He is here. He is in another room across the hall.”

“Whom is he with?”

“There are three men and three women in that room. The girls are our girls.”

“Who are those two men?”

“We don’t know them. I guess they are his friends.”

“Are they in the same field as us?”

“It doesn’t seem that way.”

“Okay. That will be all.”

“Okay, brother.”

The young man gave a bow to Tae-Young Im before walking out of the room.

Everyone looked at Gun-Ho’s face. They seemed to be asking him ‘what do you want us to do next?’ Gun-Ho said slowly,

“We will teach the guy a lesson today. The one, Dong-Hwan Kim who is sitting in the other room.”