Gun-Ho received a call from Min-Hyeok Kim in China.
“I heard that Dyeon Korea now has machine no. 9 and no. 10.”
“That’s right.”
“You are going to send all of the products produced by those two machines to us, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“The five tons of raw materials that you sent to us at GH Parts Company last time was used by us to manufacture our own products. From now on, all of the raw materials that we receive from Dyeon Korea will be sold to other companies here.”
“Of course.”
“I think we might want to form a separate business entity for selling those raw materials in China rather than handling the business under the name of GH Parts Company. The form of a joint venture will do.”
“A joint venture?”
“It will be more convenient that way. We can find a straw man as if that person runs the company. We can arrange the shares as divided as 90:10 just like the arrangement you made when you had the Korean restaurant in a hotel in Hangzhou City.”
“Do you have any Chinese person in mind for that straw man position?”
“I do. I can have the team lead in GH Parts Company take the position. The company will be a joint venture with Dyeon Korea ostensibly, and in fact, Dyeon Korea will own 100% of the shares of the joint venture.”
“Dyeon Korea can’t just start a joint venture by having another business partner. I will have to discuss it with Lymondell Dyeon, especially when an investment is involved.”
“Really?”
“Maybe I don’t need Dyeon Korea to be involved here, but I can be the co-venturer personally, like I, individually, own the joint venture by investing in it, and have the team leader be the other co-venturer as a straw man.”
“That will work, but you will have to use your personal funds to invest in it.”
“For a manufacturing company, it would cost a lot for me to establish one; however, the company that we want to form is a sales company that sells imported products. I wouldn’t need to invest much. Can you quietly find out how much funds would be needed in order to establish a joint venture by a foreigner in that area?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“You haven’t talked to that team lead about borrowing his name to open a joint venture yet, right?”
“Right, I haven’t talked to him about it.”
“Hold on to it. Maybe we want to use your wife’s name or your father-in-law’s name in this matter instead of bringing that team lead person.”
“My wife? Or my father-in-law?”
“Yeah. What do you think?”
“I don’t know…”
“Well, for now, just find out how much fund I will have to prepare.”
Sunday came around. It was the day Gun-Ho asked Young-Eun to meet him.
Gun-Ho drove his Land Rover to the Starbucks in front of Hangsung University. He was wearing new jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket that he bought the other day in Apgujeong Town. He was wearing new shoes as well. Gun-Ho believed that he looked younger in his new outfit.
Gun-Ho was waiting for Young-Eun while having a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It was after ten o’clock, but Young-Eun didn’t show up. It was 10:15, but she still hadn’t appeared yet. Gun-Ho felt anxious, and his mouth got dry. Gun-Ho had a similar experience with Seol-Bing and Mori Aikko; he had waited for them anxiously before, but he felt way more nervous now than those times.
“If she doesn’t show up by 10:30, then I won’t wait for her any longer. Since I am here already, I will take a walk around the Fortress Wall of Seoul by myself anyway, but I’ve never been here. Well, I can ask someone how to get there.”
Gun-Ho almost finished his coffee when Young-Eun arrived at the café. She was wearing jeans with a pink jacket. Gun-Ho at first couldn’t recognize her because she was wearing a wide-brimmed hat almost covering her entire face.
Young-Eun looked around and smiled when she saw Gun-Ho sitting at a table.
“I’m sorry that I’m late.”
Gun-Ho said with a smile, “No problem.”
“I was caught up with doing laundry.”
“Why don’t you have a seat and have a cup of coffee.”
“Well, it seems you finished yours. Let’s just go and take a walk.”
Gun-Ho followed Young-Eun out of the café. They walked toward the entrance of the Fortress Wall of Seoul, and neither of them spoke a word. The way Young-Eun walked reminded Gun-Ho of a soldier. He thought that Young-Eun would have nicely fit in the occupation as a soldier if not a medical doctor.
Gun-Ho didn’t bring a climbing backpack because he thought it wouldn’t be necessary since he was there not for mountain climbing but for just taking a walk around the fortress, but Gun-Ho thought that maybe he would need to carry at least a bottle of water with him. When he saw a grocery store, he ran into the store and bought two bottles of water and a chocolate.
“This is for you. It’s a bottle of water and chocolate.”
“Thank you.”
Young-Eun laughed as she took the bottle of water that Gun-Ho was giving to her. Gun-Ho thought she looked so cute when she laughed. The two started walking, and they entered into the silent mode again. Once they passed Gyeongsin High School, the Fortress Wall of Seoul started emerging. When they began to walk up the stairs, Gun-Ho gasped for air while Young-Eun seemed to have no problem with breathing. Maybe Gun-Ho should have reduced the frequency of taking a nap and do more physical exercise.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m good.”
Gun-Ho was still gasping for air while responding to Young-Eun.
Young-Eun looked worried. When she saw a bench, she asked Gun-Ho to take a short break there before continuing their walk.
Gun-Ho and Young-Eun sat on a long bench side by side while enjoying the full sunlight.
“You walk like a soldier.”
“I actually considered joining the army seriously as an army doctor.”
“You do look like someone who is very well disciplined just like a soldier. I mean by looking at the way you walk.”
“The people, who work with a computer all day long, tend to jut their neck and shoulder forward. Similarly, medical doctors tend to develop poor posture and the job requires us to have good stamina. I regularly exercise to keep up with the work.”
Gun-Ho was drinking his water when he saw an old couple climbing the stairs toward him.
“Oh, my gosh. I think I need to sit down now.”
“Ma’am, please take this seat.”
Gun-Ho quickly stood up from the bench and gave his seat to the old lady. Gun-Ho wanted to show Young-Eun how considerate and thoughtful he could be. The old lady sat on the bench.
“Thank you, young man.”
Young-Eun stood up from the bench as well to give her place to the old man.
“I’m good.”
The old man declined Young-Eun’s offer.
“Please take the seat, sir. We are leaving anyway.”
The old man said while sitting on the bench, “Are you two a married couple?”
“Oh, umm…”
Gun-Ho stammered while blushing.
“You two look alike. The married couple who resemble each other usually lives a happy life together for a long time.”
Both Gun-Ho and Young-Eun blushed and quickly left the place after giving a slight nod to the old couple while feeling embarrassed.
