Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho called for Assistant Manager Ji-Young Jeong to his office.

“This gentleman will bring a passport to you tomorrow. Please get a visa to China for him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Assistant Manager Jeong gave a quick glance at Director Woon-Hak Sim’s face, who was sitting on the sofa, before walking out of the president’s office.

Director Woon-Hak Sim stood up from his seat getting ready to leave and said, “I will bring my passport tomorrow. And, I will see you next week, sir.”

“Sounds good.”

After Director Woon-Hak Sim left the office, Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh came into the office to pick up the empty teacups, and she asked Gun-Ho, “Sir, who is that gentleman who just left?”

“He is a soap opera director.”

“Oh, really? I once dreamed of being an actress in a soap opera.”

“He went broke after producing a soap opera.”

“Oh, it could go wrong? I didn’t know that.”

Gun-Ho looked closely at Yeon-Soo Oh’s face. Yeon-Soo Oh seemed to have once been confident about her appearance and wanted to be an actress.

Gun-Ho thought, ‘She is so naïve. She thinks that every soap opera is successful, and people always make money by producing one. Girl, the soap opera production field is so competitive that some people hit a jackpot while some lost everything they have.’

Gun-Ho made a phone call to President Shin, who was working downstairs on the 17th floor.

“Oh, Mr. President Goo, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call today?”

“I have a favor to ask you, Ms. President Shin.”

“I can come up to your office on the 18th floor.”

“That wouldn’t be necessary. I can talk to you over the phone just fine. I’m going to Shanghai City next week to meet Director Seukang Li.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Someone will accompany me on the trip, and I need a business card for him.”

“Do you mean that you need a new business card for that person with GH Media’s company logo on it?”

“He is a soap opera director, and he used to run his own entertainment company until he went broke. He doesn’t really have a job right now, and I don’t want to introduce him as unemployed to the people who I’m planning to meet during this trip. So, I was thinking that maybe we can give him a business card showing who he is. That way, I don’t have to explain his background to the people we would meet.”

“You are not asking me to actually hire him and provide him the Four Major Public Insurance, are you?”

“Haha. No, not at all.”

“Well, it’s not a problem to print out a business card for him, but we can trust him, right? It’s not like he’s going to present himself to other people with this business card and try something stupid.”

“That would constitute a fraud. We can trust him. He is not going to use the business card on his own.”

“No problem then. What position do you want me to put in the business card for him? Do you have any specific job title in your mind, sir?”

“Please make it as GH Media’s head of operations of the soap opera production department. I will text you with his full name and cell phone number.”

“Okay, sir. Maybe we should create a soap opera production department in GH Media. What do you think? I know a broadcasting scriptwriter. Hahaha.”

“If you know someone in the field, maybe you should publish that person’s essay book or something.”

“Hahaha. Sir, you are good. I actually prefer to work with a writer who loves to talk on a radio show or some other occasions rather than a writer who devotes to his or her writing work only. I’m currently working on procuring a writer like that.”

“Oh, really?”

“I want to publish a book about a woman’s daily life in a skit form with descriptive illustrations on it.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“I will make the business card that you requested and leave it on your desk when it’s ready.”

“Hmm. Sounds good. Thank you.”

Gun-Ho had a class at the Advanced Center for Administrative Development in Seoul National University in the evening. As usual, he brought a snack for his classmates. He brought healthy drinks made of kudzu root this time. He didn’t bring the rice cakes since the students seemed to be tired of having the same rice cakes too often, and Gun-Ho noticed the other day that some of them didn’t take one at all.

“Is it kuduzu root juice? It’s known for its potency related to the stomach!”

After giving the class enough time to drink the juice, Gun-Ho started making a round, holding a trash bag to collect the trash.

“Thank you, Mr. Class Manager. I love this snack time because of you.”

Gun-Ho was collecting trash from Minister Jin-Woo Lee when he asked, “Are you done with your beverage, sir?”

“Mr. Class Manager! How’s your business doing?”

“It’s doing fine. I’m getting help from a lot of people. I appreciate that.”

“That’s good to hear.”

That was all Minister Lee said. He didn’t say anything further about the deal under the table.

Another minister who was sitting next to Minister Jin-Woo Lee said to Minister Lee, “Why don’t you introduce our class manager to your wife’s father? So, he can earn a business from them.”

Gun-Ho was frightened and said, “That’s okay, sir. It’s not like my company is manufacturing some universal parts that could be used by any company. We have to be in the same industry to do a business together. It’s not really up to my will or someone’s good intention.”

“Oh, that’s right. You said that your company is manufacturing auto parts, right? Well, then I guess your products would be no use for Minister Lee’s father-in-law’s electronics company.”

“Mr. Minister, can you talk to Hyundai Motor Company instead? So I can sell my auto part products to them.”

“Hahaha. The ministry that I belong to has nothing to do with the automobile industry, so me talking to them won’t do anything.”

When Gun-Ho’s gaze returned to Minister Jin-Woo Lee, he met Minister Lee’s eyes. Gun-Ho could feel the tension between them even though they didn’t say anything. Minister Jin-Woo Lee smiled and looked away first.

Gun-Ho turned around to continue to collect the trash while holding the trash bag. He felt like he could hear Minister Jin-Woo Lee saying behind his back,

[I know what’s going on, dude! You’d better keep your mouth shut though. Otherwise, you and I are dead meat.]

When Gun-Ho arrived home in the TowerPalace condo complex that night, it was almost 10 o’clock.

“Chan-Ho, you must be tired. I’m sorry that you have to drive all the way back to your home in Sadang Town.”

“It’s okay, sir. There would be very light traffic at this hour, so it’s good. I will come tomorrow morning by 8 am.”

“Okay. I will see you tomorrow.”

Gun-Ho took the elevator and arrived at the door. There was a package placed in front of his door. He picked it up and carried it to his home, and he turned on the light.

“Who sent me this package?”

It was addressed to Young-Eun. It was from her aunt in Yangpyeong County.

“It must be things related to the baby and childbirth.”

Gun-Ho placed the package on Young-Eun’s vanity, and he went to bed.

It was Wednesday.

Gun-Ho was dozing off in his office at GH Building in Sinsa Town when he received a call from Jae-Sik Moon in China.

“President Goo? It’s me, Jae-Sik. I just received the bus line permit.”

“Really? How many did they allow?”

“Two Daba (express bus) and one Zhong Ba (mid-size bus) connecting Guiyang City. They also got us two Daba to Yibin City.”

“Really?”

“For Guiyang City, we will run the busses three times per day.”

“Really?”

“I’m going to Guilin Daewoo Bus tomorrow with Vice President Chun Chang. We will buy busses from them.”

“Oh, really? I guess it’s time for me to send the investment funds.”

“Speaking of which, the Chinese partner asked me when they could expect to receive the 3 million dollars.”

“Okay. Tell them that I will send the funds within this week.”

“They said that they would make a sales contract in purchasing express busses, acquire the old terminal, and start the civil engineering work once they receive 3 million dollars from you.”

“Of course. That’s exactly what I expected.”

“There are still some unresolved issues though. The complaints from the residents in the area are still ongoing, and we still need to move a pole to somewhere else. These are a few complicated problems that need to be addressed soon.”

“I see. Well, the Chinese partner will handle them.”

“That’s true. In an effort, they formed a construction Xiaozu (group), and they are having a meeting every day.”