Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

After one and half hour’s walking in the park, Gun-Ho took the subway line no. 3 again, and came back to his office in GH Building, Sinsa Town. When it was almost 4 pm, Gun-Ho received a call from SH Investment Partners’ President Geun-Soo Son. He usually sent a text message at the end of the day to give a brief report to Gun-Ho, but that day, he gave him a call instead.

“We are currently holding 530,000 shares. The average price that we had spent per share is 5,600 won.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“The funds that we have invested in the stock market so far is 2.968 billion won, sir. The 3 billion won that Ms. Seung-Hee Park had sent to the company’s business bank account is almost depleted. What do you want me to know starting tomorrow, sir?”

“I want you to do the same work from tomorrow as well. I will send you an additional fund of 5 billion won.”

“Huh? Did you say 5 billion won, sir?”

President Geun-Soo Son couldn’t say a word for a moment. He was startled at the significant amount of money that Gun-Ho just mentioned. He had worked at a bank for a long time before, but he hadn’t seen many people who were able to transfer a substantial amount of money like 5 billion won like Gun-Ho, even among rich VIP clients.

‘How much money on earth does this young business owner possess?’ President Geun-Soo Son thought, and then he said, “Yes, sir. I will continue my work buying the stock as I receive the funds tomorrow.”

“You have done well today in procuring the stock. I want you to go home now to take a rest. Your eyes must feel tired. You probably want to have a glass of cool beer before going home, and take a sauna.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After getting off the phone with President Geun-Soo Son, Gun-Ho made a call to Seung-Hee sister.

“I want you to transfer a fund of 5 billion won early tomorrow morning.”

“Did you say 5 billion won?”

“It is a substantial amount of money, and for that reason, you need to give the stock brokerage company a heads-up about the intended fund transfer in advance. You will have to come to my office tomorrow morning since you need to go to the stock brokerage company in person with the stock account card.”

“Okay. I will be there by 9 am tomorrow. And, thank you.”

“Thank me for what?”

“You let me file for Four Major Public Insurance. It was actually burdensome for me to pay for my medical insurance every month. Now, I don’t have to do it since the company takes care of it for me. Also, since my record is now showing that I’m working, I can later apply for the pay for suspension of work. I’m so grateful for all of these benefits that I can enjoy now, even though I don’t do much for this job.”

“Don’t say that, Seung-Hee sister. You’ve been helping me a lot. Well, I will see you tomorrow then.”

Later that day, Gun-Ho received a message through KakaoTalk from SH Investment Partners’ President Geun-Soo Son. He sent a picture of the company’s stock account. It showed the total number of shares that the company owned, the estimated value of them, etc. Gun-Ho replied to him stating that well received.

The following day, Seung-Hee sister showed up at Gun-Ho’s office in the GH Building. She looked vibrant and relaxed.

“Give me the stock account card. I will go to the stock brokerage firm now.”

Gun-Ho smiled as he handed her the stock account card. About 30 minutes after Seung-Hee sister walked out of Gun-Ho’s office heading to the stock brokerage firm, Gun-Ho received a text message from President Geun-Soo Son.

[I just verified that the fund is received. I’m seeing some automated selling requests for the stock today again. I will buy them.]

Gun-Ho arrived at the airport in Guiyang City which was the capital of Guizhou Province in China. He went there to attend the board meeting of his joint venture company. Jae-Sik Moon was waiting for him at the airport to pick him up.

“President Goo!”

“President Moon!”

The two men hugged each other delightedly.

“Hey, you gained some weight, didn’t you?” Gun-Ho asked Jae-Sik.

“I guess I’ve been eating too much oily Chinese food here.”

“How is your family doing? Did your baby grow a lot?”

“Yeah, they are fine. Soon-Young’s mom had been eating the same food as me, but she hadn’t gained any weight. I guess that’s because she works a lot by busily moving around. I’m the only one who gained weight. President Goo, your belly is bulging too.”

“Yeah. I need to work out. I guess I’m taking too much nap while sitting on the sofa in the office.”

“You can see and know everything even while you are taking a nap, huh?”

“Let me beat you up a bit, man.”

“Haha. I’m just saying.”

While having a conversation, the two men arrived at the area where Jae-Sik Moon’s Audi was parked. His chauffeur quickly got out of the car and gave a deep bow to Gun-Ho, in a Korean style.

“Haha. This man knows well how to greet someone in a Korean style.”

“Haha, yeah, I guess so. He has been driving for a Korean boss for a long time after all.”

In the car, Gun-Ho asked Jae-Sik Moon.

“Did you hear anything from the Chinese partners?”

“I heard that they want to terminate the joint venture, and finish the terminal project on their own.”

“What about the intercity bus business?”

“I think that will be the main issue to discuss during tomorrow’s board meeting.”

“Hmm.”

“To be honest with you, I used to be worried a lot about if they would decide to terminate the joint venture.”

“What about now?”

“Now, working for the joint venture is not the only job that I have here, but I’m running the KFC, the deep-fried chicken restaurant, and the pizza restaurant. So, I’m okay even though I would have to quit the joint venture company. But, I will have to move out from the condo where I’m living now since it was bought with the name of the joint venture. Also, I will have to return this Audi as well.”

“Don’t worry about it. It wouldn’t be that easy for them to drive us out of the intercity bus business. Terminating the joint venture is maybe more difficult for them to do than for us. They are government employees, and in order to terminate the joint venture, they will have to make a long report to the government and get approval and ratification stuff. They have to comply with their own procedure to do it. They are in a different position from us. So, the process would be more complicated and difficult for them. That is probably good for us.”

“That sounds right, but…”

It usually took 3 hours from Guiyang City to Antang City, but with the automobile-only road, it only took 2.5 hours.

“Huh? That’s our bus.”

An express bus passed by the Audi that Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik were sitting in. On the side of the bus, Gun-Ho could clearly see the bus company’s name— GH Antang Transportation Company. Gun-Ho felt pleased to see it.

“We are not in Antang City yet, but I still can see a bus with GH logo on.”

“Of course. We will see the GH logo everywhere in the world soon, don’t you think? Korean people feel content and proud when they see the Samsung or Hyundai logo when they are overseas, like in the European countries, for a trip or something. GH logo can be one of them.”

“Hmm, you are right.”

The Audi continued to drive. They passed by enormous open fields, huge mountains, and a sunshiny river. Gun-Ho, who was enjoying the scenic view, asked Jae-Sik Moon.

“What time will the board meeting be held tomorrow?”

“It’s scheduled for 10 am. Once we arrive in Antang City today, you will check in to the hotel, and then we will head to GH Food Company.”

“Oh, that’s right. I can stop by the restaurants as well.”

“Of course. You should see our KFC, deep-fried chicken restaurant, and the pizza restaurant. They are huge in size unlike similar restaurants in Korea. If I ran restaurants in those sizes in Incheon City or Bupyeong District in Korea, I would have been deemed to be a rich man.”

“Well, you can have that sort of restaurant in Bupyeong District after you retire.”

“You probably want to stop by and see the condos in Huaxi Huayuan as well. The area is well developed now. A lot of powerful people are living there such as high-ranking government officers. Maybe that’s why the area is now very well developed like well-paved roads to give them more convenience or something.”