Gun-Ho gave a piece of paper to Master Park, where his date of birth was written on. Master Park compared it with the date in the Perpetual Calendar. He then retrieved Gun-Ho’s fate.
“You will marry next year. You will make more and more money.”
“Who would I marry?”
“To a woman, of course.”
“What kind of woman would that be?”
“To some woman.”
“Sir, please tell me more and be specific for me.”
“How do I know? I don’t even have that woman’s date of birth to know more.”
Gun-Ho should have brought the three women’s date of birth, who was currently in his life—the lady medical doctor, Seol-Bing, and Mori Aikko. He could ask Artist Choi of Young-Eun Kim’s birth date without any difficulty. For Seol-Bing and Mori Aikko, he could ask them directly. Seol-Bing might not be honest with her date of birth given the nature of her job, but Mori Aikko wouldn’t mind giving Gun-Ho her date of birth. From Gun-Ho’s personal experience, Japanese people usually seemed to believe in superstitions, including Mori Aikko. For that reason, Mori Aikko would be cooperative on this.
“I actually have three women in my mind, sir.”
Master Park wrote down some words on a traditional Korean paper, ‘Deuk Ja An Jeong.’
“Deuk Ja An Jeong? What does that mean?”
“Your love life would become settled once you have a child.”
“That makes sense.”
“With which woman do you think you can raise your kid well while feeling comfortable letting her educate your kid?”
“Huh? Oh, ummm…. Hmmm.”
Gun-Ho somehow understood what Master Park said.
“The young people during Joseon Dynasty learned the saying, ‘Bing Jeuk Wih Cho, Boon Jeuk Wih Cheop.’ It means that if you marry a woman, she will become your wife; if a woman follows you, she will become your concubine.”
“Could you explain?”
“If you show your respect to a woman and marry that woman, then she is your wife. If you meet a woman who lets you touch her and kiss her on the first or second date, she is your concubine.”
“Oh, I see…”
Gun-Ho nodded his head.
Even though Master Park didn’t point out one woman out of three saying she would be Gun-Ho’s wife, he at least gave guidance to Gun-Ho how to recognize his future wife. Gun-Ho felt relieved since he now had something to work with to resolve his headache. Gun-Ho gave a thick envelope to Master Park to show his gratitude.
“Thank you.”
Master Park didn’t even bother to open the envelope to verify the amount of money, but he just put it in the drawer of his floor desk.
“I bought these for you on the way here. These might come in handy around here.”
“A cane and a belt for mountain climbing? Oh, thank you. I actually needed them.”
On the way back to Seoul, Gun-Ho said to Chan-Ho in his Bentley, “Chan-Ho, Master told me that if I treat a woman with my respect and marry her, then she is my wife, and if a woman comes after me, then that woman is my concubine.”
“Whew, sir. It sounds too complicated for me. You like someone, then you just marry that person, no?”
“Well, these pearls of wisdom coming down from the saints who had lived a long time ago are still with us for a reason. We’d better think about it.”
“Sir, do we still have a concubine these days? It’s hard enough to find even one woman in my life.”
“Hmmm. Is that so?”
“I gave up marrying someone. Who would want to marry a man like me considering the tough field that I am in?”
“Don’t say that. I’m sure you will meet someone.”
Gun-Ho didn’t want to stay in an office in his building that day. He went up to the rooftop. It had been a while since he went there. There were some office workers smoking and some mid-aged women, who were talking with their friends while having a cup of coffee at the café.
Jae-Sik’s wife was there working. Gun-Ho entered the book café and said hello to her, “Hello, ma’am. How have you been?”
“Oh, hi.”
It seemed to be the first time Jae-Sik’s wife actually talked to Gun-Ho. Gun-Ho looked at her face. She looked vibrant that day.
“How is the work? Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No. Everything is good here.”
“Jae-Sik is doing great in running the transportation company in Seonghwan Town.”
“I feel so grateful that you gave a good opportunity to him, sir.”
“If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know.”
“Thank you.”
When Gun-Ho was talking with Jae-Sik’s wife, President Jeong-Sook Shin came to the book café. She was loading some books in a foldable hand cart to arrange them in the book café. Gun-Ho quickly went to President Shin and helped her put the books in a bookshelf. The books looked heavy.
“Sir, you are here.”
President Shin asked, “Are you meeting Young-Eun soon again?”
“No, we haven’t talked about our next meeting yet.”
“You should be more aggressive with making every chance to get close to her, sir. Young-Eun is really a decent girl. I am a woman, but if I was a man, I would have married her.”
“Do you know what she thinks about me?”
“Well, she said you seemed to be a good person. It’s just that you sometimes act like an old man.”
“Really?”
“Oh, next week, I’m hosting a sculpture exhibition. Rookie artists will participate.”
“Oh, I see.”
Gun-Ho came back to his office on the eighteenth floor. He was thinking while having a cup of tea.
‘I act like an old man?’
Gun-Ho looked at himself in the mirror in his office.
“I’m only six years older than her. Do I look that old? I had no problem with kissing Seol-Bing and Mori Aikko. They are very young too.”
Gun-Ho let out a deep sigh.
“Honestly, I do look old. I will turn 37 next year. I didn’t realize that I’m getting close to 40 now.”
Gun-Ho sent a text message to Young-Eun Kim.
[I would like to take a walk around the Fortress Wall of Seoul this Sunday. I will wait for you at the Starbucks in front of Hasung University Station at 10 am.]
Gun-Ho felt nervous after sending the text to her.
“What if she doesn’t show up?”
Gun-Ho wanted to look younger for his meeting with Young-Eun.
He had been surrounded by mostly old people who were in their 50s at work. Gun-Ho was their boss, and maybe he acted like an old man to live up to their expectations as their boss without realizing it.
Gun-Ho went to the subway station without letting Chan-Ho know. He took a subway at the Sinsa Station heading to Rodeo Street in Apgujeong Town, which was known to be a fashion mecca in Seoul. He wanted to buy jeans, t-shirts, shoes, etc. He stopped by the Galleria Department Store in Apgujeong Town as well.
Gun-Ho purchased a few name-brand jeans, t-shirts, a hat, and also expensive hiking boots.
Gun-Ho still felt anxious about the meeting that he unilaterally set by sending a text message. He was worried that she would just ignore Gun-Ho’s text and not show up at the place in which Gun-Ho asked her to come.
“What should I do if she doesn’t show up at all?”
