Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho was wondering how long he had been in bed.

At the moment, Mori Aikko got up and started putting her clothes on, and then she turned around to look at Gun-Ho and said, “Oppa, are you going to stay in bed?”

“Huh? What time is it? Is it 5:30 pm already? Shoot. I’m going to be late for the dinner appointment.”

Gun-Ho got up quickly and started dressing.

“Let’s make a call for a taxi. It could take long to catch a taxi on the street.”

The two called a taxi, and then they walked out of the condo.

“Let’s take the taxi together. I will drop you off in Shinjuku City on the way to the restaurant in Akasaka.”

“When can I see you again, oppa?”

“I think I will see you in Shanghai City.”

“Shanghai?”

“Yeah.”

The taxi arrived. Gun-Ho dropped off Mori Aikko in Shinjuku City and headed to Akasaka. When he arrived at the restaurant, it was a little bit after 6 pm.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“I guess you lost track of time while you were with the beautiful woman.”

Ms. President Ji-Yeon Choi came to the table where Gun-Ho’s party was sitting at.

“I see a couple of familiar faces today. It’s really good to see you, Mr. President Goo and Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda.”

Gun-Ho said, “You haven’t met these two other gentlemen here, have you?”

“No, it’s my first time to see these very nice gentlemen. Let me guess what they do for a living… I think they are in the art field. I’m pretty positive.”

“This gentleman here is a famous movie director in Korea—Director Woon-Hak Sim. And, the gentleman over here is Mr. Director Yan Wu. He is a famous Chinese movie director.”

“Oh, I see. They are movie directors, huh?”

Gun-Ho said to Director Woon-Hak Sim, “You might recognize Ms. President Ji-Yeon Choi here. She was a movie star in Korea when she was younger.”

“Oh, is that right? I was actually thinking that her name sounds familiar.”

“Haha. It was a long time ago. I think Mr. Director Sim is younger than me, and you probably don’t recognize the actresses in my old days.”

“Maybe, but your name does sound familiar, ma’am.”

“Well, since I have precious guests to my restaurant today, I will notify the kitchen to prepare very fresh meat for you.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, I see the four gentlemen here look very happy today. Would you care to share the good news with me?”

“We found the actress who will play the leading female role in our movie. We signed the contract with Mori Aikko earlier today.”

“Oh, really? That’s wonderful.”

“It’s not for a Korean movie though, but it’s for a Chinese movie.”

“Oh, that’s why we have the Chinese movie director here.”

At that moment, other customers started coming into the restaurant, and Ms. President Choi went to another table to greet new customers.

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda asked Gun-Ho, “Do you have any favorite liquor, sir? We can order it if you have one.”

“I’m good with any liquor. You can pick your favorite one.”

“I actually like Korean liquor—soju—better than Japanese liquor these days. I guess I’ve been living in Korea for too long.”

“Well, let’s order a few bottles of soju then.”

“Soju here is very expensive.”

“We are in a Korean restaurant. We’d better drink Korean liquor. Excuse me! We are ready to place an order,” Gun-Ho called for a waitress.

“We will have Bulgogi* for four people. Also, please get us two bottles of soju.”

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda tried to stop Gun-Ho, “A bottle of Korean soju in this place costs 20,000 won.”

“It’s okay. I want to show Mr. Director Yan Wu what a Korean soju tastes like.”

Fresh meats were being cooked at the table, and the four men lifted their glass of soju to drink.

Gun-Ho said to Director Yan Wu, “Mr. Director Yan Wu, this is a Korean dish, and this is Korean liquor.”

Director Yan Wu closely looked at the bottle of soju; it was green in color.

“We had Japanese liquor yesterday at the secret bar, and today, we are having Korean liquor. Mr. Director Wu, you have tasted liquor from two different countries.”

Director Yan Wu sipped a glass of soju and picked up a piece of Bulgogi*.

“Bucuo (not bad).”

When they already finished four bottles of soju, the four men felt a bit drunk. Gun-Ho ordered two more bottles of soju.

Once the restaurant became less busy, the restaurant owner—Ms. Choi—joined Gun-Ho’s table again.

“How are we doing here, gentlemen? Are you having fun? Let me have a glass of soju with you.”

“Please join us. You are very welcome here.”

“The senior film director—Mr. Director Kwon-Chang Im—is still very active in the field, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is. He doesn’t get involved in producing a movie as much as before, but he is still highly motivated.”

“If you have a chance to see him, would you tell him for me that Ms. Ji-Yeon Choi said hi to him from Tokyo?”

“Sure, I will do that. Please allow me to fill up your glass with soju, big sister.”

Director Woon-Hak Sim called Ms. President Choi big sister.

“I feel so happy to see the people from the movie production industry. I feel like I’m meeting old friends from my hometown. Hahaha.”

Ms. President Ji-Yeon Choi gulped down her glass of soju at once.

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda said as he was filling up President Choi’s empty glass with soju, “Do you remember the old days when you first opened this restaurant? At that time, traveling to Japan from Korea was not easy. And, many high-ranking officers came to this restaurant to enjoy their meals.”

“I’m sure that half of them already passed away. Life feels so futile.”

“You are right.”

“Since Mori Aikko is selected for the role in the movie, I guess you have already met Segawa Joonkko in making the contract for Mori Aikko, huh?”

“Yes, we met with her earlier today.”

“I guess Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda felt really good to see her again.”

“Segawa Joonkko became a mid-aged lady. Mori Aikko reminded me of Segawa Joonkko who was so gorgeous and popular when she was at Mori Aikko’s age.”

“We often have a hard time seeing the people who we are eager to meet again, and we often easily see those who we don’t want to see again. That’s life, I guess.”

“That sounds very true.”

Ms. President Choi turned her gaze to Gun-Ho and said, “How’s your business, Mr. President Goo? I’m sure it’s going well, right?”

“Yes, it’s doing fine.”

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda chipped in, “President Goo is the major investor of the upcoming movie production in Shanghai City. He is investing 5 million dollars.”

“Did you say 5 million dollars? That’s the scale that you could only see with big players from Gangnam District.”

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda laughed and said, “I guess the words about President Goo being a big player from Gangnam are already spreading out in Japan as well.”

Director Woon-Hak Sim, who was sitting next to Mr. Yoshitaka Matsuda, added, “He is also known as such in China too.”

Gun-Ho laughed and said, “Let’s drop the subject.”

Ms. President Choi said as she clinked her glass of liquor to Gun-Ho’s, “Mr. President Goo is indeed a very attractive man. He is a man of refined taste.”

“Haha. I’m serious. Let’s not talk about me anymore.”

“Please take good care of Mori Aikko. I guess she earned this chance to be in the movie because of Mr. President Goo, didn’t she?”

“No. She obtained the main role based on her sheer ability,” Gun-Ho replied.

At that moment, Gun-Ho noticed deep wrinkles on the back of Ms. President Choi’s neck. He thought that she must have had a very lonely life being away from her home country for a long time.

Note*

Bulgogi – Grilled beef which was marinated with all sorts of vegetables and soy sauce.