Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chan-Ho said after making a U-turn and started heading to GH Mobile in Jiksan town, “I seem to be a bit off today. Maybe it’s because I went to Hannam Town yesterday.”

“Hannam Town?”

“Yes. Tae-Young bro invited all of us for dinner last night.”

“Really? I guess he is making good money these days, huh?”

“He recently received a referral fee from President Jae-Sik Moon when he connected a company that needed heavy equipment to GH Logistics.”

“Haha, really?”

“I went there to have dinner with Tae-Young bro but also Ms. Jang asked me to come visit her too.”

“Ms. Jang did? What was that for?”

“The leader of Yakuza came to Pine yesterday, so she wanted all of us to be there.”

“Oh, I see. So, did you get into a fight with them?”

“No. The yakuzas seemed to be calm and gentlemanly. They do look scary though with shaved heads and huge tattoos on their bodies. Many of them had a mustache as well, but they were quiet and gentle.”

“Really?”

“They even gave some money to us to cheer us up since we are sort of in the same field. They probably felt like they are brothers to us or something.”

“Haha, really?”

“Those people were the members of Yamaguchi-gumi which is one of the yakuza organizations in Japan.”

“That’s right. Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan’s largest yakuza organization, isn’t it?”

“I’ve noticed that the leader didn’t have a pinkie for real.”

“Oh, he doesn’t have it?”

“When you join Yamaguchi-gumi, you cut your pinkie out with a knife to show your loyalty.”

“Really? They really do that? That’s so awful.”

“Guess what the leader said to Tae-Young bro before he left the Pine?”

“What did he say?”

“He said ‘I like the glitter in your eyes. You will do something big in the future.’”

“Haha, really?”

“You haven’t seen Tae-Young bro in a physical fight, have you? He is really good. We got into a fight at a bar in Cheongdam Town before with some gangsters. He knocked down three gangsters in no time and with no sweat.”

“Haha, really? Well, okay, we now arrived. Let’s get out.”

“Yes, sir.”

The security guard quickly came to Gun-Ho’s Bentley when he saw it coming into the gate, and he opened the door for him.

Once he entered his office, Gun-Ho called for Director Kang.

“GH Media wants to move into our building. Do we have an available office for them?”

“I talked with President Shin about it the other day. We don’t have any vacant space right now, but once the travel agency on the sixteenth floor moves out, they can move into that office.”

“Did the travel agency already notify us of their moving-out?”

“I actually asked them to vacate the office. They haven’t paid the rent for the past three months already.”

“Three months?”

“They said they would vacate the office by the spring, and they agreed to use their security deposit to pay the three-month rent.”

“Is their business not doing well?”

“There are just too many travel agencies in this area. We have another one in the building next door, and another one across the street.”

“I was hoping that every company in our building does well in business while they stay here. I feel sad for that travel agency tenant.”

“I agree with you.”

The secretary—Ms. Yeong-Soo Oh—brought some tea.

“Sir, have you been to the cartoon exhibition at the gallery downstairs?”

“No, I haven’t yet.”

“If you are planning to go there, you should go now.”

“Why is that?”

“We are expecting to have tons of student kids coming this afternoon. I saw a substantial number of children lined up in front of the entrance yesterday. It starts around 3 pm which is after school hours.”

“Hmm, cartoons are indeed popular among children, huh?”

“President Shin is coming here this afternoon. She might ask Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh to help with the gallery work.”

“If we have anything urgent here, tell her to help President Shin.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gun-Ho went down to the gallery.

Many of the audiences at the gallery seemed to be office workers in the area. It seemed that part-time workers were working at the gallery instead of GH Media’s employees. Gun-Ho went around just like other visitors at the gallery.

“Wow. These are really well painted.”

Gun-Ho was impressed. The cartoon paintings might lack artistic values, but they were excellent in skills and techniques. The cartoons that were easily found on the cover page of computer games or cartoon books were displayed there in an original painting format. Each painting had a sign saying, ‘Do not touch.’

“It seems many of these are already sold.”

Gun-Ho saw a red-dot marking on many of the paintings, which indicated that those paintings with the mark were sold items.

After enjoying the cartoon exhibition, Gun-Ho walked out of the building instead of going back to his office. He decided to take a walk in Garosulgil Road in Sinsa Town before going back to his office. On the street, he could easily find office workers walking around with their company ID cards hanging around their necks. They looked proud.

“I used to be envious of the people like that when I studied for the level-9 government job exam in Noryangjin Town. I was so jealous that they had a company ID card around their necks. That was more than five years ago. I guess time indeed flies.”

When Gun-Ho came back to the GH Building, it was almost lunchtime. Gun-Ho asked Director Kang to have lunch with him. Today’s menu for lunch was cold noodles.

“Do we have three companies occupying the offices on the eighteenth floor?”

“That’s correct. One of them is our company. We are occupying the sixty pyung large office while the other two are using 90 pyung and 30 pyung large offices.”

“Once the other offices’ leases expire, do not extend their leases or take a new tenant for the space.”

“Yes, sir. Do you have other specific uses planned for those offices?”

“Not yet. It’s not like I need the space immediately. Just leave them vacant.”

“Yes, sir.”

Director Kang asked a waitress to bring a scissor and started cutting his noodles with it, and while doing so, he said, “How much sales revenue does GH Mobile is currently generating?”

“By the end of this year, I’m expecting to see about 70 billion won.”

“Wow! 70 billion won. That’s just… Wow.”

Director Kang asked while still cutting his noodles with a scissor, “What about Dyeon Korea?”

“It should be about 30 billion won per year.”

“30 billion won! Wow. Sir, GH Development is generating the lowest revenue compared to your other companies, isn’t it? We are making less than 10 billion won annually.”

“Hahaha. It’s normal for a company that manages a building.”

“Maybe we should do other business that would generate some revenue while running the building.”

“Let’s just focus on managing GH Building in renting out the offices and keeping it clean. We don’t want to complicate the business.”

“I understand, sir, since you are already running five companies. It’s complicated enough even now. Do you want me to cut your noodles too, sir?”

“No, thank you. I’m good.”

“Oh, President Shin is coming here at 2 pm today since children visitors will pour into the gallery from 3 pm.”

“I see.”

“It seems like she has something to talk about with you, sir. She asked me if you will be in the office in the afternoon.”

Gun-Ho didn’t respond to Director Kang but kept having his cold noodles.