Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Several days passed by.

Gun-Ho received a call from Jong-Suk Park who just came back from his trip to China.

“Bro? It’s me. I’m back. The trip was really nice.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. I stayed in Min-Hyeok brother’s home. Haha.”

“Did Min-Hyeok bought you delicious Chinese food?”

“Oh, my. I had deep-fried freshwater crabs. It was really good. He even took me to a place where a snake dish is served.”

“A snake?”

“Yeah. The chef there cut a live snake into pieces in front of us.”

“Really?”

“Min-Hyeok brother seems to be doing great in China. He is a successful businessman there. I still remember the old days when he was often beaten up by Suk-Ho and the Won-chul brothers, and cried a lot afterwards. I was impressed by his fluent Chinese. He sounds like a Chinese man. He doesn’t seem to have any problems even arguing with Chinese people.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He is driving an Audi. He looked like a rich man there. I visited his factory too. I’m sure there are more than 100 workers working there. His office is well decorated; it looks luxurious enough for the president’s office of a company. I saw several Chinese paintings and vases there too. He is also playing golf as well. He said that I should learn how to play golf.”

“I agree with him. You should play golf, if not for fun, do it for your business.”

“We went to a karaoke one night.”

“You really had a good time, huh?”

“The Korean-Chinese ladies working in the karaoke were all wearing Qipao, and they were gorgeous. They are all in a very good shape as well.”

“I guess you won’t have any problems living in China.”

“Well, I don’t have any intentions to live there though. When I came back to Korea, I felt so relieved and peaceful. I love my country. It’s a beautiful country.”

“Haha, okay.”

“I fixed one of the machines for Min-Hyeok brother when I visited his factory there. So, I kind of paid for the hospitality that he had shown to me during the trip.”

“The GH Mobile’s former plant manager is working there. Can’t he fix it?”

“People have their own areas that they are good at. Fixing machines is my area of expertise.”

“Okay. I guess you paid for the food that you ate there at a minimum with your skills.”

“I also went to Dyeon China as well.”

“How are they doing?”

“The team lead person who was dispatched from Dyeon Korea asked me to take a look at a machine there. He said that the machine started making an unusual noise recently. Well, guess what? I fixed it for them too.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Min-Hyeok brother took me to two more factories where a couple of machines require some repair, and I fixed them all as well. Min-Hyeok brother introduced me to the people in the area, referring me as the president of GH Machines, and many business owners of factories in the area said that they want my company to build machines for their factories.”

“Haha. I guess you already procured several clients even before opening the company. It seems that you will need to build machines not just for Dyeon Korea but also for other factories.”

“I can’t just laugh about it, bro. I will have to think deeply about the possibility.”

“Really? I guess those business owners were serious about it, huh? Did they buy you a drink to thank you for your repairing service?”

“Actually, they gave me some money saying that it was a small token of their appreciation for me. And, I used that money for the trip to visit Suk-Ho brother in Shenyang City.”

“Oh, really? You went all the way to Shenyang City to see Suk-Ho Lee?”

“Yeah. Suk-Ho brother is running a karaoke near Shenyang Xita. I’m not sure if he is making enough money from that business to make a living though.”

“Why? The ladies working there were not your type?”

“The karaoke that Min-Hyeok bro took me to in Suzhou City was the best. The place was luxurious, neat, and fresh, not to mention those stunningly beautiful ladies there. On the other hand, Suk-Ho brother’s place was in the basement, and I could smell some unpleasant odor as well. He had a few ladies working for him there too, but they were not pretty at all, and I wasn’t willing to spend time with them.”

“Hmm, really?”

“When Suk-Ho brother saw me, he looked genuinely excited to see me. I guess he is lonely.”

“That makes sense. It has been a while since he stayed in China away from home in Korea.”

“Suk-Ho brother also introduced me to some businessmen in the area, but they were just small business owners. One was running a Kimchi factory, and another person was selling Korean products there. Oh, there was this person who exports agricultural produce to Korea. I couldn’t smell money from them.”

“Did you pay for the time you spent in his karaoke? You should have.”

“I did. He was delighted when I paid for it. He said that most of his friends, who came to see him in China, were expecting him to provide them with everything during their stay. And, he said that I was different, and that he loved it. He even kissed me on the cheek, which was awkward.”

“Haha, I see.”

“He asked me to say hi to you. Suk-Ho brother is obviously jealous of Min-Hyeok brother in Suzhou City and Jae-Sik brother in Guizhou Province, being so successful. But, he has no harsh feelings toward you at all. He even said he admired you.”

“Admiring me? What the…!”

“Suk-Ho brother has several rooms with a bed on the second floor in his karaoke building, so the customers, who come to his karaoke, can have fun with the lady workers if they like them. He offered me to have a ‘special time’ there with one of the ladies, but I refused his offer. I didn’t like that lady anyway.”

“Isn’t it illegal?”

“Well, he was so confident that he won’t get in any trouble for the business like that since he knows people in the public security office.”

“Hmm, well… I don’t have a good feeling about it.”

“By the way, I’m making the final payment for the factory in Baekseok Agricultural and Industrial Complex the day after tomorrow. Once I settle there and get ready to open the business, I will contact you.”

“Sounds good. Don’t forget to form the business entity and register it.”

“No problem. Speaking of which, I have an appointment with a certified legal consultant’s office this afternoon.”

“Good.”

Gun-Ho opened an internet news page.

“What? The former news anchorman might win over Minister Jin-woo Lee?”

[The former Minister Jin-Woo Lee has been leading the election until now, over his opponent candidate— the former news anchor. However, as we are getting closer to the election day, many people predict that the result would be possibly reversed. The former news anchor candidate had his hard time with unfavorable rumors and issues, but the current supporting votes for him show that it’s all recovered. The public opinion poll now shows a 50:50 voting gap. This congressional race is becoming a nip-and-tuck match as it gets closer to the final day.]

Gun-Ho giggled as he was reading through the news on the internet.

‘He doesn’t need money since he is already rich, and he is also a well-respected person as a former minister in the government. What does he want to achieve further by becoming a congressman? He is paying a high price by going through the process to be one. If I was him, I would have just opened a business and lived a happy and relaxing life. Since his father-in-law has a conglomerate, he could ask him to give him one of its subsidiary companies. I just don’t understand why he is doing this.’

Gun-Ho made a call to Min-Ho Kang who was working for a civic organization.

“It’s me, Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Oh, President Goo. I read the news about your company going public. It’s amazing. I didn’t call you to congratulate on it because I thought you would be very busy.”

“Don’t worry about it! By the way, are we ready to launch our second attack?”

“Oh, that? Oh, it’s already mid-month? Huh? It is already mid-month. I have lost track of time these days. Well, I will do it today.”

“Okay, then I will send you that thing today too.”

“Really? Thank you. The two administrators here at work are so excited because of the ‘energy drinks’ that you send to us.”

“Haha, is that right?”