Gun-Ho returned to his work at GH Mobile in Jiksan Town after the vacation.
President Song gave a report about the sample products for Chrysler. He had received the product order from Chrysler when GH Mobile participated in the motor show in Chicago. The product that Chrysler requested was a protector made with TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane). It was soft and about the size of an elementary schooler’s pencil case.
“What is the unit cost?”
“It’s 2,800 won.”
“How many of this did they order?”
“They ordered 10,000 pieces per month.”
“I understand that they are going to use this product for A/S. How long do you think they will need it?”
“The car that requires this part is a discontinued vehicle. Given that fact, I expect about 2 years. While we supply this product to them, I’m planning to meet with their purchasing manager for further business opportunities.”
“You said the other day that we are hiring more workers. Have we done it?”
“We are still in the process.”
“When you hire workers with previous work experience, please make sure that they speak English.”
“As a matter of fact, we stated in the job posting that we prefer someone who could speak English.”
“I want to thank the executive officers who came to my wedding. I’d like to invite all of them along with Dyeon Korea’s executives for lunch today.”
“Did you choose the venue?”
“Yes. There is a Korean restaurant called Keundaek in Baekseok Town. It specialized in Korea table d’hote. I will see you all there. I will let the general affairs director know.”
“Okay, sir. I need to go to a client site in the morning. I will straightly go to the restaurant from there.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh, and about those employees who came to your wedding to help at the reception desk, I think we probably want to pay them for their service that day like a travel expense or something.”
“Why don’t you invite them to lunch as well? Tell them to come to Keundaek Restaurant today.”
“That… I don’t think it is a good idea. I don’t want other employees to feel excluded by not being invited for lunch. I think it’s better that we pay them for their special service.”
“Hmm, I will talk to the general affairs director then.”
Gun-Ho asked for the general affairs director.
“I want to invite all of the executives to lunch, who came to my wedding. Please make a reservation with the Keundaek Restaurant in Baekseok Town.”
“Yes, sir.”
“All executive officers from our company and Dyeon Korea are invited, so please contact the executives of Dyeon Korea as well. President Song is on a client site right now, and he will come straight to the restaurant from there.”
“Okay.”
“Also, provide a travel expense for the day of my wedding to the five employees who came to help at the reception desk.”
“Understood, sir. There were actually six workers who were at the wedding to help, including Manager Seo from the general affairs department.
“Oh, that’s right. Six employees then.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gun-Ho went to a bank to wire transfer the amount due for the land purchase, to Jae-Sik Moon. It was 1 billion won. When Gun-Ho made the money-transferring request for the amount of 1 billion won to the bank staff, he looked at Gun-Ho’s face and then ran to the branch manager.
“Hello, sir. I’m the new branch manager in this location.”
The new branch manager gave his business card to Gun-Ho in an utmost respectful way. The branch manager came out to serve Gun-Ho himself because a 1 billion won transfer was not a usual transaction in a provincial city.
Once the wire transfer was completed, Gun-Ho walked out of the bank and gave a call to Jae-Sik to let him know.
“President Moon?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“1 billion won is on its way to your bank account.”
“You sent it already?”
“Yes. So, don’t worry about the funds and just focus on making the second payment and the final payment.”
“Okay.”
“Also, I want to thank our high school friends who came to my wedding the other day. I’d like to invite them for dinner. Can you arrange it for me? You have the list of our high school friends, right?”
“Where do you want them to gather?”
“If you take a bus at your location, can you easily reach Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal?”
“I can go to Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal or even Seoul Express Bus Terminal, or I can take my car.”
“We are going to drink, so maybe you don’t want to bring your car.”
“The Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal area is fine. I can take a bus to my home in Mapo District, or a subway if we stay late at night.”
“Okay then, let’s meet at Seongung on the basement level of the Peace Building next to Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal. It’s a Chinese restaurant.”
“When are we meeting?”
“What about next Friday? Oh, you know what? Let’s do it on Thursday. I guess we need to avoid Friday since many of us are weekend married couples. I don’t want to interrupt their romantic Friday.”
“Sounds good. I will inform everyone then.”
“That restaurant requires a reservation, so you will have to find out how many will actually come.”
“Okay, I will do that. I think not many of them would be able to make it. We usually gather ten to twenty friends during our regular meeting.”
“Okay, I will see you then.”
At the Keundaek Restaurant in Baekseok Town, GH Mobile’s five executive officers and four executives from Dyeon Korea were sitting at a table.
Gun-Ho expected to have eleven people including Chan-Ho Eum and himself, but Mr. Adam Castler’s chauffeur joined them as well, so there were in total—twelve people.
Chan-Ho, in a situation like this, usually didn’t join Gun-Ho’s group at the table, but he usually ate at another table separately. That day, Chan-Ho sat at a separate table with Mr. Adam Castler’s chauffeur and left the restaurant as soon as he finished lunch. At Gun-Ho’s table, ten people were having lunch along with beer. Unlike previous similar occasions, there was a woman— GH Mobile’s Director Min-Hwa Kim— and also a foreigner— Dyeon Korea’s Mr. Adam Castler.
With a female director and a foreign person at the table, the gathering was more relaxed compared to the previous similar meeting. Mr. Adam Castler didn’t bring his interpreter knowing that several attendees could speak English even though they didn’t speak it fluently, like Director Kim, Director Yoon, and GH Mobile’s President Song and the research center’s chief officer. Moreover, Mr. Adam Castler often found himself understanding what people were talking about, not because he could literally understand Korean, but he could read the situation after his prolonged stay in Korea.
Dyeon Korea’s Director Kim was the most talkative person in the group. His conversational skill had been honed throughout his years of career in the sales field.
“I really like that we are here all together, GH Mobile and Dyeon Korea. We should do this more often like once a month.”
President Song chipped in while smiling.
“Once a month is too often, but I guess we can do it quarterly.”
Director Kim said to Gun-Ho, “In the old days, we used to beat the groom’s feet, and some families still keep the tradition. Shall we try that today, sir?”
Everyone laughed, but no one initiated the act. Director Kim was the only person there who often made jokes and who was mischievous.
