Chapter 405 - Date at Fortress Wall of Seoul (4) – Part 2
Chapter 405: Date at Fortress Wall of Seoul (4) – Part 2
Gun-Ho asked Min-Hyeok, “Is it okay that you call your wife’s name like that?”
“It’s perfectly fine. In China, we call each other’s name in marriage. You know that, right?”
“Haha, that’s true.”
“Dingding mentioned the other day that she wanted a Korean car—K3—from Kia. They are manufactured in a factory in China.”
“Sure. You can get it in installments, right? She will need a car. She will also need a chauffeur, won’t she?”
“That won’t be necessary. Dingding can drive. She has her driver’s license. She is not a foreigner here unlike me, so she has no problem driving around on her own.”
“I like her name—Dingding. It’s catchy. Maybe we can name the joint venture Dingding. It’s easy to call.”
“Haha, you think so? Well, why not?”
“The machine no. 9 and no. 10 are fully working right now. I will send you ten tons of raw materials. See how much you can sell them in China.”
“Before you send the raw materials to us, Dingding wants to visit Dyeon Korea’s factory. She wants to see how the raw materials are produced at the factory. It will help her to make a good sales pitch.”
“That makes sense. Well, she is welcome here anytime. She can come even tomorrow. Why don’t you come with her? It has been a long time since you came to Korea, right?”
“Maybe I should.”
“Yeah. You can go and visit Jae-Sik’s transportation company too once you are here.”
“That sounds great. Okay, I will visit Korea with Dingding.”
After getting off the phone with Min-Hyeok Kim, Gun-Ho recalled Min-Hyeok’s wife. The first and last time he saw her was at their wedding.
“She is tall and good looking. Since she is a Korean-Chinese, I’m sure she will do good sales work in China.”
Gun-Ho would soon turn 37 years old, and he felt anxious.
“Everyone around me is already married except me. Min-Hyeok Kim, Jae-Sik Moon, and even Jong-Suk Park are married. Jong-Suk will soon become a father. I’m the only one without my own family. It seems that money doesn’t give me everything.”
Gun-Ho sent a text message to Young-Eun Kim.
[It’s already Friday. I want to see you again. I will wait for you the day after tomorrow at Starbucks in front of Hansung University Station at 10:30 am.]
Sunday came around.
The weather was not very clear. Gun-Ho looked outside the window. It looked like it would begin to snow anytime soon. Gun-Ho watched the weather forecast. It said it would snow today.
“The road could be slippery. I’m not sure if it is a good idea to go to the Fortress Wall of Seoul today.”
Gun-Ho still went to Starbucks and waited for Young-Eun. He always felt nervous whenever he was waiting for her. That was probably because he knew Young-Eun was not into him yet.
As always, Gun-Ho was sitting in Starbucks while waiting for Young-Eun anxiously. Young-Eun came into Starbuck. She was wearing a red jacket.
“Let’s have a cup of coffee before we head out.”
As Gun-Ho suggested, Young-Eun sat at the table with Gun-Ho.
“The red color looks really good on you.”
“Thank you.”
The two had their coffee while looking out of the window. It started snowing.
“Oh, my gosh. Look at the snow.”
Young-Eun seemed excited. Her eyes were fixed on snow. She didn’t even lay her eyes on Gun-Ho while glaring at the snow.
“I really wanted to paint the snow…”
Young-Eun seemed to be reminiscing about her old days when she was still dreaming of becoming an artist.
When they almost finished coffee, Gun-Ho said to Young-Eung, “Let’s go and take a walk around the Fortress Wall of Seoul.”
It was snowing lightly when they walked out of Starbucks, but when they almost reached the entrance, it started snowing heavily. There seemed to be no one around the Fortress Wall of Seoul that day. Young-Eun shouted in excitement, “Wow, look at the snow. It’s so beautiful.”
Young-Eun picked up some snow and started making several snowballs, and she began to throw them at Gun-Ho.
One of her snowballs hit Gun-Ho’s head. Gun-Ho couldn’t stay quiet. He started making his own snowballs and threw them toward Young-Eun. After a moment, they found themselves in a snowball fight. They were screaming in pain and in joy at the same time.
The snowball fight lasted for a while until Gun-Ho had to gasp for air.
“Let’s stop here.”
Gun-Ho stopped making a snowball and walked toward Young-Eun. While Gun-Ho was approaching her, Young-Eun hastily made a giant snowball and threw it to Gun-Ho in his head, who was right in front of her.
Snow powders got into Gun-Ho’s eyes and mouth.
“Hahahaha.”
Young-Eun started laughing. She looked so happy.
Gun-Ho wiped his face with a handkerchief and said, “It snows heavily. I think we’d better go back.”
“Are you mad?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I will buy you a drink—a beer. Let’s go to Daehakro.”
Gun-Ho and Young-Eun walked in the direction of Dongsung High School leaving his car in the parking lot. It would lead them to Daehakro.
“I want my revenge.”
Young-Eun laughed while covering her mouth with her hand. Gun-Ho held Young-Eun’s arm and put her arm around his. It took Gun-Ho a lot of courage to do so.
“Hold my arm. I don’t want you to slip and fall in this snow.”
Young-Eun didn’t pull her arm off. Gun-Ho could smell her scent. It was fresh and sweet. The very white snow and Young-Eun’s face looked alike.
When Gun-Ho was in elementary school, there was a girl in his class, who was really smart. She was very popular, but Gun-Ho couldn’t even talk to her because he knew she was out of his league. Now, Gun-Ho felt like he was walking arm in arm with that girl.
They entered a chicken restaurant. They ordered a roasted full-size chicken with beer. Young-Eun seemed to be enjoying the moment. It was a snowy day, and they were drinking a beer. Well, it was true that ladies were usually emotional and sensitive to weather and vibe. That day, they talked about a lot of things for a long time, from school days to Young-Eun’s days in Africa, and to Gun-Ho’s days in China.
After they walked out of the restaurant, they walked around Daehakro. They watched a Korean traditional musical performance on the way, and then they came back to Hyehwa Town.
“We should meet in Daehankro sometimes whenever Fortress Wall of Seoul wouldn’t be a viable option for the day. Did you see the Starbucks in front of the restaurant we just went to?”
Young-Eun smiled without responding to Gun-Ho’s suggestion.
“Well, I will see you later then. Stay safe.”
Gun-Ho waved at Young-Eun as they parted. Young-Eun turned around and waved back to Gun-Ho.
Gun-Ho received a message from Seoul National University. He was successfully admitted to the program that he applied for. It was a congratulatory message from them. It said the class would start on January 3.
“Hmm, am I now sort of a student of Seoul National University?”
Gun-Ho sent a text to Young-Eun and told her that he would be taking a one-year course at Seoul National University with Advanced Center for Administrative Development. She didn’t reply.
Gun-Ho received a call from Min-Hyeok that he would leave soon for Korea with his wife—Dingding.
Gun-Ho called for Chan-Ho Eum.
“President Min-Hyeok Kim is coming to Korea from China. We need to pick him up at the Incheon International Airport.”
A few minutes later, Gun-Ho was sitting in his Bentley heading to the airport.
Min-Hyeok’s wife was a very tall woman. She was almost the same height as her husband—Min-Hyeok. It was the first time for Gun-Ho to meet her since their wedding. She looked sophisticated as Gun-Ho remembered. They both were wearing a coat. It was a cold day.
“This is Gun-Ho Goo. The owner of the companies.”
Min-Hyeok officially introduced Gun-Ho to his wife.
“Ni Hao!”
Gun-Ho extended his hand to Min-Hyeok’s wife for a handshake. Dingding smiled and held Gun-Ho’s hand.