Chapter 584 - Singing Together at Karaoke (2) – Part 1
Chapter 584: Singing Together at Karaoke (2) – Part 1
After they sang the last song together for the night at the karaoke, President Runsheng Yan turned on the light. He then said to the ladies, “Thank you for your service tonight,” and he said to the vice president of the joint venture, “Mr. Vice President Chang, please pay them so the ladies could use the money to pay for their transportation fee to go home.”
Vice President Chang pulled out his wallet from his bag that looked like a shoe bag, and gave 200 Yuan to each lady. Some of the ladies thanked him as they accepted the money, and some of them seemed to be not satisfied with the amount.
The ladies prepared to leave as they grabbed their bags and personal belongings, and Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik stood up from their seats as well. The Chinese partners pulled their jackets that were hanging on the wall to get ready to leave.
When Gun-Ho dropped his gaze to the floor, there were tons of cigarette butts and half-emptied canned beers scattered here and there. At that moment, Gun-Ho’s partner lady nudged Gun-Ho quietly, and whispered, “Can you give me 100 more Yuan?”
Gun-Ho pulled out a 100 Yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to the lady. He was then thinking for a second, that maybe he should give her more before he decided not to, because it wouldn’t be fair for other ladies. The lady gave a kiss to Gun-Ho on the cheek, appreciating the tip. President Runsheng Yan, who saw the lady coming back to Gun-Ho to give him a kiss, laughed out loud and said, “Hahaha. This lady must like you a lot, Mr. President Goo. Your face is covered with her lipstick kiss marks. Why don’t you spend the night with her?”
Being startled by President Runsheng Yan’s remarks, Gun-Ho picked up a wet tissue and wiped his face with it. He then went to the bathroom and washed his face to make sure there were no kiss marks on his face.
Jae-Sik asked Gun-Ho, “President Goo, didn’t you like your partner lady? You could ask her to come with you to your Shangri-La Hotel room. She was pretty.”
“No, I have no interest in such a thing. Even though we said that we became friends now, those Chinese partners are our business partners. We should be careful. I don’t want any bad rumors about me to be spread around.”
“You’re right. You shouldn’t do that especially given the fact that your wife is pregnant now.”
“Anyway, everyone was very good at singing.”
“Some Chinese songs were really pleasant to hear. The Chinese language has four tones, and it seems that having four different tones makes a song in Chinese joyful to listen to.”
On the way back to the hotel in the car, Gun-Ho said to Jae-Sik, “After I leave tomorrow, tell our Chinese partner that you think that Gun-Ho would send 3 million dollars after they get us the bus lines. That way, they will try harder to obtain the bus lines as soon as possible so they could receive 3 million dollars quicker.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about doing that too. The reason why they invited us to karaoke tonight and spent a good time with us, must be that they want to pressure you to send 3 million dollars as soon as possible, but in a soft way.”
“That karaoke place was not bad at all for a karaoke in a small city. They had good-looking ladies too.”
“You know what? I got the phone number of the lady who was sitting next to me.”
“Haha, really? You are good, President Moon.”
“I just asked for her phone number in case. I didn’t mean that I would use that number though.”
“Well, if you could, why not? I think you can make a good playboy.”
“You think so? Do I look like a playboy?”
When they arrived at Shangri-La Hotel where Gun-Ho was staying, Jae-Sik Moon told him, “I will come back tomorrow morning at 9. It takes about three hours from here to the airport. I think we can leave 9 am to get there in time.”
“Then, why don’t you come by 8 am? So, you and I will have time to stop by Huaxi Huayuan.”
“Huaxi Huayuan? Sure.”
Gun-Ho turned his head and asked the chauffeur in Chinese, who had been driving them around in Audi and who was an employee of the transportation company, “You must know of the area called Huaxi Huayuan, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’d like to visit that area tomorrow. Please pick me up at this hotel by 8 am.”
“Okay. I will do that, sir.”
When Gun-Ho went up to his hotel room, the first thing he did was to turn on the TV. Gun-Ho grabbed the remote control and kept changing channels in search of the 11 o’clock news. When he finally found a news channel, it was airing the central news. The regional news followed it soon, and Gun-Ho indeed could watch the press conference that he had early that day. Jae-Sik was giving his greeting speech wearing a business suit with a flower on his suit jacket.
“Huh? That’s Jae-Sik Moon. Wow, he does look like a president of a company. Who would know by looking at him, that he used to live in a 17 pyung large basement unit in an old townhouse not long ago?”
Gun-Ho settled his gaze on the TV screen.
“Huh? Is that me?”
They were showing Gun-Ho’s interview with several journalists. He was getting a close-up shot. At the bottom of the screen, a subtitle was describing who Gun-Ho was. It said that he was a Korean company’s chairman— GH Companies. Gun-Ho closely observed his face on the screen. He looked so old like a middle-aged man.
“Gosh, how come I look so old? I look like a 40 something years old man. Sh*t.”
On the other hand, the journalist, who was posing a question to Gun-Ho, looked so handsome like a movie star. Even Mr. Choi from Social Science Academy, who was standing next to Gun-Ho as an interpreter, didn’t look older than his actual age at all. Gun-Ho seemed to be the only person who looked like he had a swollen face with a bulged belly. He did look like a typical middle-aged man who hadn’t worked out for a long time.
“Is that because I had drunk too much lately? I don’t think I had though. Hmm.”
Gun-Ho was thinking about his partner lady at the karaoke earlier that night.
“She was in her early 20s. I don’t think a man who looked like a middle-aged man like me would be attractive to a young lady like her. If so, how come she gave me that many kisses? Because of money?”
Gun-Ho then thought of Mori Aikko and Seol-Bing.
“Mori Aikko is in her early 20s as well. Why does she like me enough to be delighted to see me every single time I visit her? I’m an old man who looks like he is in his mid-40s. What about Seol-Bing? How come she let me kiss her on her lips? Young-Eun must have a lot of male medical doctor colleagues around her, who are handsome and intelligent. Why did she marry me who looked like an old factory worker?”
Gun-Ho suddenly felt bad about himself like the ones with low self-esteem.
“I shouldn’t stay this way. Once I go back to Korea, I will sign up at a fitness center and start working out. Also, I need some intensive skincare as well. I guess I’ve been neglecting myself while mingling with those executive officers at my companies, who are mostly in their 50s. I didn’t realize that I was becoming one of them.”
Gun-Ho felt extremely disappointed in his appearance shown on the news. He didn’t like the man on the TV. He eventually turned off the TV and laid down on the bed. He even felt depressed.
The next morning, Gun-Ho had a bowl of rice porridge in a restaurant in the hotel. He then packed his belongings and went down to the lobby carrying his suitcase. Jae-Sik Moon was there waiting for him. He looked so tired.
“Good morning, Jae-Sik. How come you look tired this morning? Didn’t you get a good sleep last night? Did you watch the news? You looked so energetic on the news.”
“You watched the news, huh? I was so disappointed when I watched the news.”
“How come?”
“I looked like a 50 years old man. I looked so aged.”
“Don’t be silly! You looked calm and confident. You did look like a president of some company.”
“Not at all! Well, you did look so handsome on the news. I was the only one who looked like an old security guard. Actually, I used to work as a security guard in Asan City, remember that?”