Chapter 403: Date at Fortress Wall of Seoul (3) – Part 2
Gun-Ho received a mail from the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University. It was a notification for an interview.
The information about the interview was clearly stated on their website, and Gun-Ho missed it.
“Shoot. The interview is scheduled for tomorrow.”
Gun-Ho was thinking if he wanted to go to the interview with Attorney Young-Jin Kim, and then he decided to try it by himself.
“They only require coming to night classes twice per week. It’s doable for me. I might encounter some annoying people there, but since Attorney Young-Jin Kim insists, let’s just take the class with him.”
After lunch, Gun-Ho notified Chan-Ho Eum.
“I’m leaving at 2 pm. Be ready.”
“Okay, sir.”
When Gun-Ho walked out of the building at 2 pm, his Bentley was parked at the entrance waiting for him.
“Let’s head to Seoul National University.”
“To Seoul National University, sir?”
“I will cultivate my knowledge there.”
Chan-Ho looked puzzled, and he drove in the direction to Seoul National University.
When he was passing Sadang Town, he received a call from Attorney Young-Jin Kim.
“You are aware that you have an interview for the program with Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University, right?”
“I know that, and I’m actually on my way there.”
“That’s good. I guess I will see you there then.”
When the Bentley arrived at the front gate of Seoul National University, Chan-Ho asked, “Which building should I drive to?”
“Well, I need to get to the building of the Graduate School of International Studies. I was told that the building is located behind a museum. If you can’t find it, just drop me off at the museum.”
When Gun-Ho arrived at the museum, he could see several buildings that were built with contributions from large companies around the area.
“Huh? What are these? LG Business Management, SK Business Management, Dongwon Dormitory, CJ Language Institute… Sh*t, there are a lot. It seems like all of the business owners of large companies, who graduated from Seoul National University, donated to the university to construct a building. If I start making enough money, which college should I make my contribution to erect a building with my company’s name? To Zhejiang University in China? Or to the cyber college? Or the low-ranked college in Chungnam?”
Gun-Ho smiled bitterly while heading to the place for an interview.
There were several gentlemen sitting in the waiting area for an interview. They certainly were not young kids in college, and they looked very experienced. A man who looked like a teaching assistant came out and asked Gun-Ho’s name and said, “Please wait here. I will let you know when your name is called.”
It was Gun-Ho’s turn, and he followed the teaching assistant to an office. There was a professor who looked like he was in his 50s sitting at a table.
“You must be President Gun-Ho Goo.”
“Yes, I am.”
“According to your application, you are currently running several businesses.”
“Their sales revenue doesn’t exceed 100 billion won though.”
“How much is it then?”
“The largest business that I have generates 70 billion won annually.”
“Well, that’s good enough. Is it a KOSDAQ registered company?”
“I haven’t done it yet.”
“Since its sales revenue is 70 billion won, I guess it is listed on DART (Data Analysis, Retrieval, and Transfer System).”
“That’s correct.”
“We do have many high-ranked government officials, judges, and prosecutors who participate in the program, but we want many businessmen to take the course at our Advanced Center for Administrative Development. What people care the most about is economy, isn’t it? I believe it has to be businessmen who should come up with ideas in implementing policies.”
“I see.”
“Well, we will send you a text once we make our admission decision.”
The interviewer didn’t even ask Gun-Ho about which college he graduated from.
When Gun-Ho walked out of the interview room, Attorney Young-Jin Kim was waiting for him.
“You’re done? What did he ask?”
“Nothing much. He just asked a few things before I could leave. He will send me a text about the admission decision.”
“Really? Actually, once you pass the paper screening, you can consider that you are admitted. Let’s study for a year with me.”
Gun-Ho walked out of the building to find Chan-Ho taking a nap in the car. His mouth was open, and Gun-Ho could hear his snoring sound even before he opened the car door.
“Hey, let’s go!”
“Huh? You are done already with your study?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“How come it’s so fast?”
“Don’t you think I look more intelligent now than before I walked into that building?”
“Haha. You look exactly the same, sir.”
“I guess I need to study more then.”
“So, you will come to this place regularly?”
“I will have to be here twice per week in the evening. I just had an interview for the graduate program with the Advanced Center for Administrative Development.”
“I guess I will get paid more then.”
“Of course. You will have dinner with me too in those days.”
“Sounds good. Where to now?”
“Let’s go to GH Building in Sinsa Town.”
It was Sunday.
This time Gun-Ho picked up his back-pack. He drove his Land Rover to the Starbucks in front of the Hangsung University station. He didn’t forget to buy two bottles of water and beer.
While waiting for Young-Eun Kim at Starbucks, he still felt nervous.
“Is she going to show up today?”
Young-Eun came a little after 10 am. She was wearing the same outfit as the last time. Gun-Ho waved his hand at her when he saw her entering the café.
“Would you like to have a cup of coffee before we head out?”
“Let’s take them in togo cups. We can drink while we walk.”
Gun-Ho and Young-Eun walked slowly toward Gyeongsin High School while having coffee.
“The stones in the lower part of the fortress look different from the ones in the upper part.”
“That’s because the stones in the lower part are from the Joseon dynasty while the white stones in the upper part were added later recently.”
“Oh, I see.”
Since this was the second time for Gun-Ho, he didn’t gasp for air much this time. When they reached the top, they sat on a bench. Gun-Ho took out two cans of beer and handed one to Young-Eun.
“Let’s have beer before we go down.”
Young-Eun took the beer and put it in her bag instead of drinking.
“Let’s drink it when we have our lunch.”
They walked down toward Starbucks. They didn’t stop by Gilsangsa Temple, unlike last time.
“Let’s have lunch.”
“Let’s just go home and have lunch.”
“I’ve heard there are lots of good restaurants in this area.”
Gun-Ho took Eun-Young in his car and headed in the direction of Gilsangsa Temple.
“Are we going back?”
“I saw a nice Korean restaurant on the Internet. It’s around here.”
The houses in Seongbuk town were majestic. A lot of wealthy people were living there. There was no one on the street though.
Young-Eun was looking outside the window.
Gun-Ho parked at Samcheonggak. Samcheonggak was one of the famous bars during President Chung-Hee Park administration just like Gilsangsa Temple. The place was now used as a multicultural center operated by Sejong Center.
“This is Samcheonggak. This was once a famous bar. It’s a restaurant now, not a temple.”
“Food must be very expensive here.”
Gun-Ho didn’t pay attention to prices when he chose a restaurant to eat or shopped for clothes. When they walked into a traditional Korean-style building, they were told that the restaurant would be open at noon. Gun-Ho and Young-Eun spent some time looking around the center while waiting for the restaurant to open. At the restaurant, Gun-Ho ordered a Korean traditional full course meal for two.
“I didn’t know Korean food has a course meal.”
The food came out neat. They were having a nice lunch with a breathtaking view, but they both didn’t know what to converse about while having lunch. An awkwardly silent moment was passing by.
After lunch, Gun-Ho suggested to take a walk around the place. Samcheonggak offered Korean traditional style architecture and a beautiful garden. It gave a serene feeling to the visitors.
“The weather is really nice today with warm sunlight. Let’s have a seat over here.
Gun-Ho and Young-Eun sat on a stone bench. Gun-Ho took out the can of beer that they saved earlier and opened it before handing it to Young-Eun.
“Let’s finish it before we get going. It’s heavy to carry around.”
Young-Eun took out the beer from her bag as well and gave it to Gun-Ho. Gun-Ho asked while having his beer, “What are you looking for in choosing your spouse?”
Young-Eun took quite a while before responding to Gun-Ho’s question.
“I want a rich man.”
Gun-Ho’s face hardened. He was wondering if he chose the wrong woman.
