When Gun-Ho was thinking about purchasing a condo in Huaxi Huayuan, the director of the transportation department stood up from his seat and said, “Mr. President Goo, I think I will have to leave now. I can’t stay long here because I’m a government employee, and it’s not good for a government employee to be seen in a karaoke. I guess I’d better go now.”
“Oh, really? It’s a shame.”
“I want you to have fun even after I leave. Todays’ press conference was very successful, and I had a great time having beer here in karaoke with you. Please don’t mind me and enjoy the rest of your evening.”
The transportation department’s director finally left. It seemed that he was worried about his reputation being damaged because of his staying in karaoke since he was a high ranking government officer. If someone recognized him in a karaoke, they might talk badly behind his back. Everyone in the room stood up to see him off.
After the director of the transportation department walked out of the room, President Runsheng Yan said as he was sitting back on the sofa, “Well, since the director of the transportation department left, the real fun time starts now.”
President Runsheng Yan pressed a push bell button, and the karaoke manager entered the room shortly with a smile.
President Runsheng Yan said, “Xiaojie Guolai Jiao (Let the girls in)!”
“Yes, sir.”
After a moment, a group of twelve young ladies entered the room. They were all half-naked.
President Runsheng Yan pointed at one of the girls in the middle with his finger. Gun-Ho thought that that girl was the prettiest one among the group.
President Runsheng said, “You, come here and sit next to this gentleman!”
The pretty girl who President Runsheng picked sat next to Gun-Ho. That girl seemed to know already that she would be the first pick. Without any surprise on her face, she came to Gun-Ho and sat next to him. She then crossed her legs and picked a piece of fruit from the plate on the table and started eating it.
President Runsheng Yan picked the next girl and said, “You, come this way!”
His second pick sat next to Jae-Sik Moon. Gun-Ho thought she was the second prettiest girl. President Runsheng then picked one girl after another himself in the order of their appearance for everyone in the room. The other six ladies who were left out didn’t seem to be happy.
President Runsheng Yan said to them, “All of you, please leave!”
The unpicked six not-so-pretty girls left the room with upsetting faces. Gun-Ho felt sorry for them.
‘If no one picks those six ladies until this evening ends, they will have to go back home empty-handed.’
Someone turned on the karaoke machine, and President Runsheng Yan was the first one who sang a song. He sang a Chinese song. He was good.
“You, girls, why don’t you sing for us?”
A lady took the microphone from President Runsheng Yan and started singing another Chinese song. She had a pretty voice. When Gun-Ho looked at Jae-Sik Moon, he was well enjoying the moment. He was singing along as he read the song’s lyrics from the subtitles on the screen while hugging the girl sitting next to him. He seemed to be so into that girl, at least for the moment. Jae-Sik’s Chinese seemed to have improved enough to read karaoke subtitles.
All of the ladies in the room seemed to be good at singing and dancing since that was part of their job after all. They smoke a lot too.
“Mr. President Goo, why don’t you pick a song and sing for us?”
Mr. Choi from Social Science Academy said as he pushed the songbook to Gun-Ho’s side.
“Oh, I don’t know any Chinese songs.”
“If you look at the latter part of the book, you can find a long list of Japanese songs and also Korean songs too.”
Gun-Ho was about to hand that songbook to Jae-Sik Moon to let him know that he could pick a Korean song to sing, but Jae-Sik was already on the stage ready to sing. A Korean song, ‘You who I ran into unexpectedly’ came out. It was the song of an old Korean band called Songolmae.
Jae-Sik Moon started singing the song. While singing, his eyes were locked on his partner lady.
“You who I ran into unexpectedly, my heart was captivated by your looks. You who I ran into unexpectedly, my heart was enchanted by your eyes.”
The people in the room laughed and clapped as Jae-Sik Moon was singing a Korean song in Korean. Gun-Ho was impressed by Jae-Sik that night.
‘Wow. I didn’t know Jae-Sik could have fun like that.’
Gun-Ho clapped along with the others.
The girl sitting next to Gun-Ho knew that Gun-Ho was the most important person in the room that night because she was the first girl picked by President Runsheng Yan, and he asked her to sit next to Gun-Ho. She thought that Gun-Ho must be either a very wealthy man or someone who is in a very high social position. The girl hugged Gun-Ho and tried to please him by flirting with him. She put the cigarette that she smoked in his mouth and also put a piece of fruit that she had a bitten in in his mouth and etc.
She said to Gun-Ho, “Are you from Hong Kong, Mr. President?”
The girl gave Gun-Ho numerous kisses on the cheek with her very red lips. Gun-Ho was satisfied with his partner lady. She was tall and pretty. He hugged her and danced with her too. The room where Gun-Ho was in was filled with laughter, music, and fun vibe all night long while the room at the corner of the karaoke was filled with sighs and cigarette smokes from the ladies who were not picked by anyone that night. It was the reality.
The Chinese people drank a lot and sang a lot of songs that night. The liquor and the time at the karaoke would be paid with the company’s money that Gun-Ho had sent to them earlier. They didn’t seem to mind how much they would be charged for their fun that night. When Gun-Ho felt tired and leaned back on the sofa, President Runsheng Yan grabbed the microphone and said, “We had a lot of fun for two full hours here tonight. Mr. President Gun-Ho Goo has to leave for the airport in Guiyang City tomorrow. I think we’d better call it a night. I really had a good time. We are now friends, and let’s sing the last song for tonight—Friend—to celebrate this day. Let’s sing it together.”
The song—Friend—started on the karaoke machine. Gun-Ho knew that song. He listened to this song in Korea, and he knew how to sing it. Jae-Sik also knew the song. All the attendants of this karaoke event held each other’s hand and started singing the song—Friend. This song was one of the most popular Chinese songs in Korea. It used to make the top three. It was a Chinese song sung by a Chinese singer, and then it was later sung by a Korean singer—Jae-Wook Ahn—as a remake version. He even released an album with that song in it.
“Pengyou Yisheng Yiqi Zou (My friend, let’s be friends forever)”
“Naxie Rizi Bu Zai You (Days like these won’t come again)”
They put arms around each other’s shoulder instead of holding each other’s hand and sang the song together loudly.
