Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chairman Lee filled Master Park’s glass with liquor.

“Did you finish building the temple-like home in your hometown?”

“Yes, it is completed. I think I spent all of the money I have earned so far while I worked in Gangnam, Seoul to build that temple.”

“Aren’t you going to feel lonely once you go there? I won’t be there with you, friend.”

“I will have moonlight and liquor with me; that will be enough for me not to feel lonely. Even though you and I have lived in Gangnam, we don’t often meet, anyway.”

“That’s true.”

“Come and visit me often to my hometown—Geosan. If you take a highway, it won’t take too long to get there.”

“Of course, I will visit you.”

“You will probably feel that this is unfair.”

“Why?”

“I guess I will go to heaven as I meditate and go through travail; however, you awfully have played with money in your life, and you will go to hell.”

“Well, people say that hell is a good place to live in these days.”

Gun-Ho had his drink while listening to the conversation between two old men. He couldn’t chip in since the elders were talking with their terms and topics.

“Oh, guess what? I brought a present for President Gun-Ho Goo.”

“I appreciate that you remember my name, sir.”

“Of course I remember your name. You are the man with ShinWangJaeWang fate.”

Master Park took out a piece of hanji* out of his briefcase and handed it to Gun-Ho.

It was a wording written in Chinese calligraphy. It was so artistically written that it looked more like a drawing; Gun-Ho wasn’t able to read it.

“It’s a wording that the founder of Samsung Group—Byung-Chul Lee—liked the most.”

Chairman Lee, who was sitting next to Master Park, smiled when he saw the wording. It seemed that Chairman Lee knew about the wording. Master Park then said to Gun-Ho with a serious look on his face,

“You will no longer be able to make money.”

“Huh? I can’t make money anymore?”

“The luck that allowed you to make money already passed by.”

“That’s not fair. I didn’t even get a publicly-traded company yet.”

“Don’t worry about it. You will have more and more money.”

“You just said I won’t be able to make money anymore.”

“You won’t, but the people who work for you will make money for you.”

“Huh?”

“The days when you had to make money by yourself are gone, and the days when your workers will make money for you are coming.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Do you know what you will have to do from now?”

“What should I do?”

“You have to manage people. You have to be smart in selecting people and allocating them in the right place.”

“I see…”

“The president of Samsung Group doesn’t know how to make a semiconductor or a refrigerator, and the president of Hyundai Group doesn’t even know how to make a car window shield. However, they have smart people who are working for them, and they know how to manage them. Those people are making money for them.”

“That’s true…”

“That’s why I am giving this wording to you. It says ‘EuInMakYong, YongInMoolEu.’ This wording used to be hung on the wall in President Byung-Chul Lee’s office. ”

“‘EuInMakYong, YongInMoolEu.’ What does that mean?”

“‘EuInMakYong’ means that you shouldn’t use a person who you think is suspicious. ‘YongInMoolEu’ means that once you decide to use that person, do not suspect him.”

“Oh, I see…”

Gun-Ho nodded his head. It totally made sense to him why President Byung-Chul Lee would have hung that wording in his office. Samsung Group trusted its employees once they hired them and took care of their future with the company, and that led to Samsung’s success, and it eventually became one of the biggest and wealthiest companies in Korea. On the other hand, President Tae-Soo Jeong of Hanbo Group led his company to its collapse as he treated his employees as dispensable.

‘It is definitely true. If I doubt Jong-Suk Park, and looked suspiciously at Min-Hyeok Kim, and suspect Jae-Sik Moon, they will question me too. If I decided to embrace them, I have to trust them.’

Gun-Ho carefully folded the hanji* that Master Park offered to him and slipped into the inner pocket of his jacket.

“Thank you for the invaluable gift, sir. Let me fill your glass with liquor.”

“It’s really nice to take a glass of liquor from a billionaire. Hahaha.”

“We need to celebrate our moment with music.”

Chairman Lee called for Ms. Jang.

“Please bring in Geomungo*.”

Young ladies in a traditional Korean dress came into the room with Geomungo.

Chairman Lee, Master Park, and Gun-Ho enjoyed their drink for a long time that night while listening to Geomungo. They didn’t mind their age gap at all and truly enjoyed the drink and the music together. Chairman Lee and Master Park seemed to have a lot of fun that day; they danced along with the Geomungo sound. Master Park called for Ms. Jang to dance with him. Gun-Ho was astonished by Ms. Jang’s dance; she danced like a professional dancer.

Gun-Ho didn’t mention the Sinsa Town building that he wanted to ask about to Chairman Lee. He just wanted to enjoy the night with them as it was. He later asked about it when they were walking out of the bar.

“Sir, can I take a look at the building in Sinsa Town?”

“A building in Sinsa Town? You mean the building that President Park wants to sell?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, if you want to take a look at it, why don’t you come to my office tomorrow? You will be staying in Seoul, right? You are not going back to Jiksan Town tonight, right?”

“Yes, sir. I will be in Seoul tomorrow.”

“I can’t talk for long tonight because I drank too much. Let’s have a hangover soup together tomorrow morning. A blowfish hangover soup should be good.”

“Sure. I will come to your office tomorrow morning then.”

Gun-Ho asked Ms. Jang to call a taxi for himself.

“President Goo, I will prepare better transportation for you. I will ask one of my bouncers to give you a ride to your home.”

Gun-Ho saw off Chairman Lee and Master Park. He was watching the car that Chairman Lee was in, leaving the bar when a BMW X5 stopped in front of him. A bouncer opened the door for Gun-Ho.

“Please get in, sir.”

Ms. Jang asked one of her bouncers to give a ride to Gun-Ho in the BMW instead of calling a taxi for him.

“It’s Ms. Jang’s car, isn’t it?”

The bouncer who was driving answered,

“No, this is not her car. This car is for the use of our guests only.”

“Oh, I see.”

When Gun-Ho got in the car, the bouncer asked about the destination.

“Where should I take you, sir?”

“Let’s go to Dogok Town. I’m heading to TowerPalace.”

The bouncer drove the car without saying a word. The car was driving on the third Han River Bridge when the bouncer talked to Gun-Ho while looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

“We are very interested in you, sir.”

“In me? For what?”

“You are the youngest customer in our bar. We have been wondering who you are, and we often talked about you, sir.”

“Oh, you did?”

“There are customers who have a rich father. But we heard that you are a self-made, successful man. The customers from a wealthy family usually don’t behave. Some of us got slapped in the face by them, and some of us were hit in the face with a drink. But you are always quiet and calm.”

“Haha, you think so?”

“I feel like you are an older brother because of your young age.”

“How old are you?”

“I am 31.”

“Hmmm, you are four years younger than me.”

“Can I call you big brother?”

“Suit yourself.”

The bouncer gave his business card to Gun-Ho.

“We are actually not the employees of Ms. Jang’s Pine, but we are the employees of a security company. We usually take a job of protecting important people. We have been dispatched to Pine and worked there for more than three years now. Ms. Jang is like a big sister to us and takes care of us like a mom, so we have worked there for that long.”

“Oh, I see.”

Gun-Ho looked at the business card that the bouncer handed to him.

The business card said Security Instructor, Tae-Young Im.

“A security instructor?”

“Yes. I am the team leader. I am the only one who has a license for security work. However, our team is all black-belt holders.”

“What sorts of martial arts can you do, Mr. Tae-Young Im?”

“I have a fourth-degree black belt in Taekwondo and Judo. I can do a little bit of Hapkido too, brother.”

Gun-Ho felt weird when the bouncer called him brother.

“You should be good at real fights too, huh?”

“I don’t fight. However, when I was in high school in Gangnam, I was number one in fighting.”

“Haha, really?”

“Brother, can I have your business card as well?”

“My business card?”

Gun-Ho was not sure if it was a good idea to give him his business card, but he handed it to the bouncer.

“You are in a manufacturing business, brother. If you give us an opportunity to work for you, we will do our best.”

They arrived at TowerPalace. Gun-Ho took out an envelope and gave it to the bouncer. The bouncer got off the car, opened the car door for Gun-Ho, and gave a 90-degree bow to him.

“Brother, have a good night.”

Note*

Hanji – Korean traditional handmade paper

Geomungo – A traditional musical instrument of Korea