Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

People tend to be subjective when it comes to evaluating people including themselves. Both Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik believed that they looked so old on TV while others didn’t agree with them. Maybe that was why politicians, who frequently talked in front of a camera and appeared on TV, usually tried hard to wear good make-ups, so they could look better on TV.

Both Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik felt depressed after they saw themselves on TV. However, after they complimented each other on their appearances, they felt better.

Huaxi Huayuan was not far from downtown. When they arrived there, they looked around. The area was located behind some junior high school building.

Jae-Sik seemed to have been in the area. He said, “I didn’t know there is this nice condo complex in this area. I’ve been passing by in front of this school tens of times by bicycle. How come I didn’t notice this condo complex before?”

After passing by a richly tree-lined street, they went on 500 meters more before finding an enormous stone where “Huaxi Huayuan” was written in red.

“Wow. The entrance to the condo complex is so dramatic.”

When they arrived at the gate, a young male security guard in a military-like uniform stopped the Audi where Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik were sitting in.

The security guard asked while looking into the car, “Where are you heading to?”

“We came to take a look at the condos here.”

“I will need your ID, please.”

Gun-Ho showed the security guard his passport. When the security guard realized that it was a Korean passport, he gave a military salute to Gun-Ho right away, and said, “You are a Korean man, sir. Please proceed.”

Gun-Ho looked around. Just like the luxurious residential complex in Hangzhou City—Hupan Huayuan (Hobanhwawon), the residential complex there was composed of condos and single houses. The only difference between those two complexes was that Hupan Huayuan in Hangzhou City, where Alibaba President Marwin used to live, had been built several years ago while this one was newly built. Also, they didn’t cut off the old trees that seemed to be there for a long time, but kept them. So, the area looked heavily wooded.

“This is so nice. I feel like I’m in a park rather than a residential area.”

“I guess if you live here, you can just ride a bicycle to go grocery shopping. The bike lane is wide and flat which is good.”

“It looks like the residents here have their own community, separated from the world outside this area.”

“They have a commercial building inside the community too. They have laundry. Man, they have everything inside the complex.”

The Audi that Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik were in slowly drove around the residential complex. The residents there looked like people from big cities like Shanghai or Beijing. Their clothes and styles looked sophisticated.

“President Moon, once I go back to Korea, can you find out the size and the price of condos available for sale here? I believe since it is a brand new residential complex, they must have many brand new condos available.”

“Okay. I will do that.”

Before leaving Antang City, Gun-Ho stopped by downtown. Jae-Sik showed him the hospital that was built as a collaboration work with a Hong Kong company. The hospital had a very well maintained lawn. Since the hospital was clean and had high-performance medical teams, many residents in Antang City including the ones who were not affluent were willing to pay for their medical service even though they charged high fees. Many indigent people in Korea also preferred to get medical care at a university hospital that provided luxurious medical services.

Gun-Ho arrived at the airport in Guiyang City later that afternoon.

“President Moon, keep up the good work. I think you can have more fun in a provincial city like Antang City rather than big cities like Shanghai or Beijing, while working.”

“Yeah. I had a very low expectation when I first arrived at Antang City, but as I stay longer and longer, this city is surprising me with a lot of unexpectedly amazing places. I do like their hospitals and shopping plazas. They have a lot of parks too. My favorite place is the Ming and Qing Ancient Street. Since I studied literature in college and worked in the field before, a street like that inspires me. I feel like I can write a poem while walking on that ancient street. I want to study the Chinese language and make it a hobby.”

“I think it’s good to have a hobby. I feel so confident about my business because you are here.”

Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik had a firm handshake before parting with each other.

When Gun-Ho arrived in Korea, it was around 6 pm, but he could get out of the airport at 7 because it took longer than expected to pick up his suitcase at the baggage claim area.

Chan-Ho was waiting for him as expected.

“Sir! Here! This way!”

“Oh, Chan-Ho! Why didn’t you just stay in the car while waiting for me?”

“I arrived a bit earlier, so I just came up to find you. Please give me your suitcase; I will carry it for you.”

Gun-Ho liked that Chan-Ho Eum carried his suitcase for him. It was an easy walk to the parking lot as well.

When it was almost 9 pm, Gun-Ho finally arrived at his condo in TowerPalace. Young-Eun was watching the TV in the living room.

“How was your trip?”

Young-Eun seemed to be happy to see Gun-Ho.

“Oh, Mr. Chan-Ho Eum, you came along with him.”

Chan-Ho was carrying Gun-Ho’s suitcase. It looked heavy.

“Look at you with all that sweat. Please come in. It’s cool inside with the air conditioner running. Let me get you a cold drink.”

Young-Eun quickly went to the kitchen and brought a glass of cold fruit juice.

“You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

“Dinner? No, not yet.”

“Well, go wash your hands. I will set the table. Mr. Chan-Ho Eum, why don’t you join us for dinner?”

“Yeah, Chan-Ho, have dinner with us.”

When Chan-Ho hesitated, Gun-Ho insisted.

“Come on. Join us. Tomorrow is Saturday. No work tomorrow. Just relax and take time to enjoy dinner with us.”

Gun-Ho and Chan-Ho sat at the dining table after washing their hands. The three people sat at the table and had dinner together.

The rice seemed to be just cooked, and it was good. Chan-Ho emptied two bowls of cooked rice in no time. He stayed there until after he had desserts— fruits— before leaving for his home.

When only two were left at home, Gun-Ho rubbed Young-Eun’s belly and said, “Let me see how much you grew while I was not here.”

“It was nice that I had rice cooked when Mr. Chan-Ho Eum came home with you.”

“Yeah. Did you hear when he made a compliment about the side dishes? He said you were a good cook. He has no idea that you bought those from a side dish store.”

Gun-Ho giggled. He then said, “You know what? I bought a carved figure of a boy attendant. It’s made of jade.”

“A jade boy attendant figure?”

Gun-Ho took out the boy attendant figure from his bag, that he purchased from an antique store at the Ming and Qing Ancient Store.

“Oh, my gosh, it is really a jade boy attendant figure. Is it handmade or made in a factory?”

“I was told that it was carved manually.”

“It is very well carved. It looks very Chinese though.”

“Look at this one. I bought this from China too.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a sea anemone.”

“A sea anemone?”

“Yeah, it’s a fossil of sea anemones from several tens of thousands of years ago.”

“Wow. It is really a fossil of sea anemones. It’s my first time actually seeing one. I’ve only seen this kind of things in a book.”

“Why don’t you keep it.”

“Haha. Thank you. Please place it on the bookshelf. And why don’t you take a shower?”

“I washed my hands.”

“You just came back from China, and I think I can still smell China from you.”

“I washed myself every day during my trip to China. I spent most of my time in a hotel, and took a shower every single day. I’m clean.”

“I know, but I feel like I can still smell something. And, your shirts seem to reek of some sort of cheap cosmetics.”

“Cheap cosmetics?”

The scene where Gun-Ho was receiving tens of kisses from a lady at karaoke in Antang City popped up in his head.

‘Shoot. Did she leave some lipstick marks on my shirts?’

Gun-Ho quickly went to the bathroom and took off his shirts to see if there were any lipstick marks on it. Fortunately, it was clean without any marks. He smelled his shirts. He couldn’t smell any cosmetics as Young-Eun claimed, but he could smell the sweat. Gun-Ho took a shower and changed into new underwear and clothes.