Jae-Sik helped his mother move to the new place. She was moving from an old basement unit of a townhouse in Hwapyeong Town, which would be soon demolished and rebuilt, to a condo unit in Solbit Village Condo Complex near the East Incheon Station.
Jae-Sik threw out most of the things in his mother’s basement unit before moving to the new place. His mother wanted to keep her TV, but Jae-Sik was stubborn about leaving it behind.
“It’s not even producing clear pictures. It will hurt your eyes, mom. A new TV is already placed in the new condo.”
Jae-Sik packed everything else and loaded a moving truck with them. He then had his mother get in his SM5 and headed to the new condo. The neighbors came out and saw them off. They all cast envious glances on Jae-Sik’s mother.
“Wow. Her son must be making a lot of money. He brought his car to pick up his mother.”
“She is moving to the condo in Solbit Village, huh? She’s going to have a different life there. I’m so envious of her. She used to sniffle a lot thinking of her lost son while peeling off the bellflower roots’ skin with us. Now she is moving to a new place leaving all those behind her.”
Jae-Sik gave a deep bow to the old neighbors before leaving the place. He also gave a box of Bacchus (a Korean energy drink) to them as a good-bye gift.
They were in the elevator of the new condo building. Jae-Sik’s mother looked at Jae-Sik while smiling. She looked happy.
“We have an elevator in the building.”
When Jae-Sik opened the new condo’s door, the huge TV in the living room with new wallpaper came into view. Jae-Sik’s mother looked startled.
“My wife and I are moving to China, so we won’t be here. Mom, you can use the master bedroom with dad. Dad is moving in this evening.”
Jae-Sik’s mother walked around to check out every room. When she opened the refrigerator, she looked excited.
“In my old house, the refrigerator was so small that I couldn’t place many things… not to mention that it leaked… This refrigerator must be very expensive, right?”
His mother turned on the gas stove to test it, and she also opened up the washer’s lid as well.
Jae-Sik told his mother, “There is no insect here like ants. You don’t have to worry about them here.”
In the evening, Jae-Sik’s father arrived with an old suitcase. He looked tired and shabby. His father looked frightened when he saw the condo.
“I am going to relocate to China, so I won’t be here. Mom and dad, you can use the master bedroom. There are three rooms here. You can use the master bedroom and one more room. Please leave one room vacant. I need to store all of my stuff from my current place in Mangwon Town.”
“Okay. This is a very nice place. How much loan did you take out?”
“I didn’t borrow any money.”
“Really?”
Jae-Sik’s father seemed to be surprised when Jae-Sik said that he bought the condo without a loan.
“Let’s go out and have dinner. It’s our first night in our new home. Let’s celebrate it.”
Jae-Sik took his parents to a restaurant and ordered Bulgogi* and an octopus dish. He also ordered a bottle of beer.
“It comes with lots of side dishes.”
Jae-Sik’s mother looked excited and tried every single side dish on the table. His father, on the other hand, took a sip of beer. He seemed to have mixed feelings.
“The beer tastes very good.”
Jae-Sik’s parents seemed to truly enjoy the dish that Jae-Sik ordered. It was cooked with Bulgogi and octopus altogether, and it was good. They ordered an additional bowl of cooked rice.
Jae-Sik’s father asked Jae-Sik, “What exactly are you doing at work?”
Instead of explaining all the details of his job duty, Jae-Sik gave his business card to his father.
“GH Logistics’ President?”
“It’s a freight transportation company.”
“Logistics means freight transportation?”
“Yes, you can say that. I’m just an employee there who is running the business. The company is owned by someone else. Now, the company will be run by another person, and I’m leaving for China. I will run an intercity bus service business there.”
After dinner on the way home, Jae-Sik’s father stopped by a supermarket and bought a bottle of water, a few cans of beer, and some snacks. It seemed that he wanted to drink more at home. When they were passing the condo’s parking lot, Jae-Sik’s mother said while pointing at Jae-Sik’s SM5, “That vehicle is Jae-Sik’s.”
“Really? You bought a car too?” Jae-Sik’s father asked.
“It belongs to the company.”
“Hmm, I see.”
When they arrived at their new place on the 8th floor, Jae-Sik told his parents that he had to leave now.
“I’m leaving for Seonghwan City now. I will bring my fiancée the day after tomorrow in the evening.”
Jae-Sik then took out an envelope from the inner pocket of his jacket and said, “This is 1 million won. You will meet your soon-to-be daughter-in-law the day after tomorrow, and you probably want to wear new clothes.”
“It’s okay. I can afford to buy a new outfit on my own. I received a severance pay of 1 million won from the hog farm.”
“Well, use this money to buy new clothes, and keep your severance pay for something else. I will be here the day after tomorrow with my fiancée.”
“Okay. Drive safely.”
“Mom and dad, please make sure that you memorize the entrance passcode, okay? It’s 0719. It’s actually the date of your wedding anniversary—July 19.”
“Hmm, okay. I guess I will never be able to forget that passcode.”
Jae-Sik’s father smiled. It was the first time in a long time since Jae-Sik saw his father smiling. Jae-Sik headed to Seonghwan City, leaving his parents behind in the new condo.
Gun-Ho was listening to the music via his smartphone with a headphone in his office in GH Building in Sinsa Town when he received a call from Jae-Sik Moon.
“I just received the final payment for GH Logistics’ property.”
“You did? Are you then moving to the new place tomorrow?”
“I will move today. I have nothing to move much anyway. I’ve already loaded one of our freight trucks with my belongings. There are two freight trucks parked in the company yard. I will be using one for my moving, and your brother-in-law will take the other one.”
“I see. Well, drive safely and enjoy your new place.”
“I will leave for China right after my wedding.”
“Okay. You don’t have to rush into leaving for China. Just take your time in taking care of your personal business. But until your wedding day, please go to the new GH Logistics’ location in Siheung City and help my sister and my brother-in-law, so they could become familiar with the work. You don’t have to stay there all day long, but staying with them in the morning should suffice.”
“Sure, I will do that.”
“And, I will take care of tax stuff since we already received the full sales proceeds already.”
“President Goo, do you want me to hand over the company’s business bankbook to your sister or her husband?”
“Well, keep it with you for now. Do we have a bank account with one bank?”
“There are actually three banks that we have been dealing with. We had to open additional bank accounts in order to receive the payments from some of our client companies. Some companies use only certain banks for their payment transfer. But, we only used one bank account for our company’s internal matters like paying for our business expenses.”
“When you go to the new location in Siheung Town, please find a local bank nearby.”
“Okay.”
Gun-Ho made a call to Min-Hyeok Kim. It had been a while since he talked with him.
“Hey, President Goo. I should have called you more often. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. No news means that there is no bad news, right?”
“The sales revenue is on the rise gradually, so is Dingding’s sales company.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Dingding has been writing the company’s weekly report in English and sending it to Mr. Adam Castler on a regular basis.”
“That’s nice because there is no one who could speak Chinese in Dyeon Korea anyway.”
“There is one. Dyeon Korea’s President can speak Chinese fluently.”
“Hahaha. The thing is that I don’t get involved in the weekly works. Those works are all handled by their vice president.”
“Haha. I’m just saying.”
“I’m calling you to let you know that Jae-Sik is getting married on the 26th of this month.”
“What? He has a wife already.”
“Yeah, he is living with someone, but he hasn’t had any wedding ceremony for some financial reasons. Before leaving for China, he wants to have a wedding. His spouse is three months pregnant, and he wants to let her wear a wedding dress. It will be a small wedding with only family and close friends. It will be held in a church. He only invited you and me for his friends.”
“Really? I should be there then. I didn’t know his situation.”
“You haven’t been to Korea for quite a while, right? Come and visit your parents too.”
“Okay, I will be there. When you see Jae-Sik, tell him that I congratulate him on his wedding. Also, can you ask Ms. Assistant Manager Ji-Young Jeong in GH Development to prepare a congratulatory flower wreath with my name on? I will send her the cost.”
“Okay, I will tell her. You don’t have to send any money to her though.”
Note*
Bulgogi – Grilled beef which was marinated with all sorts of vegetables and soy sauce.
