Min-Hyeok Kim’s wedding was around the corner.
The wedding will be held in China first, and Gun-Ho knew Min-Hyeok didn’t have many friends in China who could attend his wedding.
Gun-Ho made a phone call to Jae-Sik Moon who worked as a chief editor at GH Media.
“Jae-Sik? It’s me, Gun-Ho.”
“Oh, President Goo.”
“You heard that Min-Hyeok is getting married soon, right?”
“Yes. His wedding will be held on the 16th of this month in Shanghai, right?”
“I will attend his wedding in Shanghai, and you will have to come with me to China.”
“Me?”
“Yes. We don’t want to make Min-Hyeok feel lonely at his wedding without friends. You and me must go there and celebrate with him. I will pay for the trip.”
“Okay then. I’ve never been to China before.”
“He will have another wedding in Korea after the one in China, so we don’t have to make too much money as a gift this time.”
“Haha. He is a lucky man with two weddings.”
“Well, speaking of which, Min-Hyeok is getting married soon, and you already did that once, and I am the only one who has never been married.”
“I was married but I didn’t have a wedding ceremony.”
“Why not?”
“We couldn’t afford to have one at that time. We just lived together without a wedding ceremony. We registered our marriage though.”
“Oh, are you seeing your ex-wife again?”
“Since my life became stable as I am working for GH Media, I started seeing my ex-wife from time to time.”
“Why don’t you live together then?”
“I guess we still need some time alone before that.”
“It shouldn’t be that complicated. Just live together. What’s the problem?”
“We have our own reasons. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Okay. We will have a high school reunion tomorrow, and we can leave for China the day after tomorrow then.”
“You are coming to the high school reunion, right? Everyone is asking me if you are coming. They seem to be interested in you.”
“I think I will go unless something unexpected happens.”
Director Dong-Chan Kim came to Gun-Ho’s office to let him know how the accommodation arrangement went for Mr. Adam Castler who would soon come to join Dyeon Korea as a vice president.
“There are tons of good condos for rent. I looked at Purgio Condo. They are asking 500,000 won per month with a security deposit of 10,000,000 won. That’s for a 25 large pyung condo.”
“If you like that one, let’s take it.”
“But we will have to hang new wallpaper for that condo, and we need to buy a refrigerator and washer and other home appliances. It will cost additional money. So, I was thinking what if we lease a two-room villa for him?”
“A villa?”
“I saw a good villa in the rental market. It’s close to our company. It is a newly constructed building and it is clean. The villa comes with full option including a refrigerator, washer, and other essential home appliances. So, we won’t have to spend additional money other than the rent. Additionally, it is within walking distance from our company.”
“It’s not in a city. Do you think he would be okay with it?”
“I’ve been with Americans before when I served KATUSA so I know them. Americans usually prefer to live in a single house rather than a high-rise condo.”
“How much do they ask?”
“They are asking 450,000 won per month with 5,000,000 won security deposit. We need to pay tax for it though.”
“Let’s have Mr. Adam Castler stay in a hotel for one or two days when he arrives here, and then show him the condo and the villa. And give him all the information we have, such as the rental price and the options that each property provides. We will let him choose.”
“Sounds good, sir.”
“Since you served KATUSA and majored English literature in college, I think you will get along with Mr. Adam Castler just fine.”
“I served KATUSA 25 years ago. I forgot a lot of things, especially in English. If I worked for a company that required me to speak English like a trading company, I would have probably been able to speak English fine.”
“Do the American soldiers really like a single house better?”
“Yes, they do. I served my military service in Dongducheon City with American soldiers. At least those people there prefer a single house. Americans are the descendants of the pioneers who settled in the West, so it makes sense.”
Gun-Ho headed to Gangnam Station to join the high school reunion. He arrived after seven o’clock in the evening. He arrived a bit late because he left his car at the parking lot in TowerPalace; he purposefully left his car at home because he thought he would drink some liquor that evening.
The high school friends assumed that Gun-Ho wouldn’t come to the reunion when he didn’t show up until 7 pm. They already started drinking.
“Oh, Gun-Ho is here.”
“Hey, Gun-Ho.”
“You should probably be very busy. Come and have a seat here.”
Won-Chul Jo stood up from his seat and asked Gun-Ho to sit next to him.
It was not just Won-Chul Jo who stood up to greet Gun-Ho, but almost everyone stood up when they saw Gun-Ho coming into the room to join them. No one seemed to be jealous of Gun-Ho who was making lots of money. Instead, they all seemed to be part of Gun-Ho’s business or inner circle to receive some benefits from Gun-Ho’s success.
“So are we all here?”
“We don’t get together regularly, but we thought we’d better get together today since we haven’t seen each other for a long time. Moreover, Min-Hyeok is getting married soon, so we wanted to talk about it too.”
“We don’t have to go to Shanghai in China to attend Min-Hyeok’s wedding this time. He will have another wedding soon in Korea. We all can attend that wedding.”
“Right. We were talking about collecting money gifts for Min-Hyeok’s wedding in China since Jae-Sik will attend his wedding in China.”
“You don’t have to because you can give it to him when he has his wedding in Korea. If you are so close with Min-Hyeok and wants to give him a gift money twice, then it’s up to you.”
“Maybe we should.”
“Oh, let me fill up your glass with liquor. You didn’t bring your car today, right?”
“Yeah. I left it at home. I knew I wanted to drink today since I would be with friends.”
“Hey, order one more bottle of liquor since Gun-Ho is here. We will need more liquor.”
The room became noisy again.
“What is Won-Chul Jo is doing now?”
“Me? I am the assistant manager in the general affairs department.”
“What about Byeong-Chul Hwang? Is he still a staff researcher?”
“No, I am a senior researcher now. You said, your company has a research center, right?”
“Yeah, we have one. You used to be ranked number one in class when we were in high school. I think you should be the lead researcher by next year. You deserve it.”
“Your company’s chief officer of the research center, which university did he graduate from?”
“Our chief officer has a Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich in Germany. Oh, maybe you know him. He used to work in a research center located in Pangyo City.”
“How old is he?”
“He is in his early 50s.”
“Maybe I know him. Does he have the last name—Oh?”
“That’s right. His name is Joon-Soo Oh.”
Byeong-Chul Hwang just nodded his head without saying a word.
Min-Ho Kang who was sitting across the table chipped in. He was working for a civic group.
“What position does your chief officer of the research center have? What’s the name of the research center?”
“We don’t have a name for our research center. Our chief officer has a director position.”
“Well, all those people are working for you, Gun-Ho, right? You are on the highest position.”
Gun-Ho just smiled.
“Wow. You, Gun-Ho, you are really something. We are so proud of you. Let me fill up your glass with liquor.”
Min-Ho Kang didn’t try to be sarcastic anymore with Gun-Ho as he always had been with everyone.
Many high school friends didn’t come to the gathering that evening, compared to the last time. Some of them were too busy in mind with the burden of life.
Gun-Ho said while drinking the liquor that Min-Ho Kang handed to him,
“I came late today, so I will buy a drink for all. Enjoy it.”
“Gun-Ho Goo, you should come late on our meeting every time from now on, okay? So you can buy us a drink all the time.”
As Min-Ho said it, everyone laughed.
