Gun-Ho went down to the compound room.
The sign on the office door was already changed from ‘compound room’ to ‘research center.’
A few workers passed by giving Gun-Ho a bow. Gun-Ho opened the new research center’s door. Manager Hee-Yeol Yoo was in the research center.
“Hi, how are you all?”
“Oh, sir. Welcome to our new research center.”
The old chief research officer stood up from his seat when he saw Gun-Hon entered the center.
“Everything looks the same except the office sign and the newly added chief officer’s office.”
“I was discussing making a request to purchase several lab equipments, with Manager Yoo.”
“Oh, really?”
“We are not a manufacturing company like GH Mobile, so I don’t think we have to expect to receive visits from our client companies for their investigation and get ready to show our research center. So, it’s not like we have to decorate this research center with tons of lab tools. However, we were still discussing whether we should buy lab equipment since this is now really our research center.”
“Well, as you said, this is a research center. Of course, we will need lab equipment.”
“I’d love to have lab equipment in place, so we can actually do some research work here.”
“Who is in charge of purchasing stuff?”
“Usually, the general affairs manager handles all purchasing matters, and Mr. Director Yoon takes care of purchasing larger items like structures.”
“Please ask Mr. Director Yoon to come to the research center.”
“Yes, sir.”
After a moment, Director Yoon entered the research center.
“We now have this research center. I can’t imagine a research center without experiment tools and equipments. Mr. Chief Research Officer, please make a list of necessary lab equipments and tools and give it to Mr. Director Yoon. Mr. Director Yoon, please make a purchase according to Mr. Chief Research Officer’s shopping list.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Chief Research Officer, what are the most urgent equipments that you want to have right now?”
“We don’t have lab tables. I’d like to have them as soon as possible. Please get us two lab tables with power sockets, and a lab workstation for our six researchers.”
Director Yoon was writing down the chief research officer’s request.
“We will also need a high precision digital lab scale to use in our analysis.”
“Hmm, that sounds like a must item.”
“The third one is a floor-standing tension/compression testing machine.”
Manager Yoo chipped in.
“Mr. Chief Research Officer, we will need a moisture meter too.”
“You’re right. We need it. What else? Oh, we need a digital viscometer and a psychrometer. That will be all for now. We will make an additional request later if we need more tools and equipment.”
Director Yoon said, “I think that someone who is familiar with these equipments should make a list for accuracy. Mr. Manager Yoo, why don’t you write a purchase approval request with the list of the items that Mr. Chief Research Officer just mentioned, and get the approval from Mr. President Goo, and give me back the list? Also, it would be better that Manager Yoo handles the purchase as well. I will just need the receipts.”
Gun-Ho looked at Manager Yoo’s face to see what he would say.
Manager Yoo agreed and said, “Okay, I will do that, sir. I will make a purchase within the approved purchase list.”
Gun-Ho said, “If I’m not available to sign on the request, you can get Mr. Vice President Adam Castler’s signature on it, and to proceed on buying those equipments.”
At that moment, Director Yoon chipped in.
“If the amount of money exceeds 1 million won, we will need your signature, sir.”
“Why don’t you then get Mr. Adam Castler’s signature, and make the purchase, and later bring me the approval request form, I will sign on it then.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Gun-Ho was about to walk out of the research center, the chief research officer thanked Gun-Ho again.
“Thank you, sir.”
Gun-Ho stayed about two hours in his office in Dyeon Korea before coming back to Seoul.
It was Friday.
Young-Eun was five months pregnant. Her belly became larger noticeably. Her breast size increased too.
“How are you feeling, Young-Eun? It’s hard to walk around with a bulged belly, huh?”
“I’m okay. I don’t mind having a bulged belly, but I don’t want to get fat. My weight significantly increased.”
“Your boobs are so big now.”
When Gun-Ho touched Young-Eun’s breast, she screamed. “Don’t touch them. It hurts.”
“Really? I’m so sorry.”
Gun-Ho said while making an overly apologizing facial expression
Young-Eun gave him a chance to make it up to her by saying, “If you feel sincerely sorry, bring me a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator.”
Gun-Ho quickly brought a bottle of water to Young-Eun.
Young-Eun took out a pill and swallowed it with water
“What is it?”
“It’s an iron supplement.”
“An iron supplement?”
“Yeah. I need extra irons now, so our baby’s teeth can emerge, and also my bones will stay healthy.”
“Then take two!”
Young-Eun kicked Gun-Ho in the shin.
“Oppa, I want to eat cockles.”
“Cockles? Do you think I can find them at the supermarket?”
“If you go to Myeongdong Abalone House, they offer a full course meal with cockles.”
“Myeongdong Abalone House? The Korean restaurant in the basement of the commercial building in front of Dogok Station, right? I think I’ve been there too.”
“When I was in college, I went there once with my friend. She was living in Wooseong Condo at that time.”
“I see. It must be an old restaurant then. Let’s go there.”
Gun-Ho and Young-Eun in their flip-flops walked to the restaurant— Myeongdong Abalone House. It was located in the basement of the Preann commercial building. They indeed had the menu— a full course meal with cockles.
Gun-Ho ordered two of them, and they came out with Doenjang-jjigae (a Korean soybean paste stew) and Sooyook (boiled pork meat). Gun-Ho wanted to have Doenjang-jjigae, and he was satisfied with their selections of the full course meal. Young-Eun started gobbling up the food in front of her.
“Young-Eun, you eat like someone who hasn’t eaten anything for at least three days.”
“It’s not just me having this food. It’s our baby. I’m sharing the food with him.”
When Gun-Ho and Young-Eun were enjoying the meal, a man came to their table.
“Young-Eun?”
“Oh, Kim!”
Young-Eun stood up from her seat and introduced Gun-Ho to that Mr. Kim person.
“This is my husband.”
The man glanced at Gun-Ho and said, “Well, enjoy your meal.”
He then walked out of the restaurant right away after giving a bow to Gun-Ho.
“Who is it?”
“I went to college with him. He was senior to me. I heard that he is working in a hospital in Ilsan District. I guess he came to this neighborhood to see his parents here. They are living in Eunma Condo.”
“Is he the one who said that he thought you would marry an African man?”
“Hahah. No, that’s not him.”
“Okay. I thought that was that guy.”
“Speaking of which, you know, the president of the Korean African medical volunteer work center (KOAF) keeps asking me to take over his position.”
“That center’s president position?”
“Yeah. He said that since I have a wealthy husband, I can probably do a better job than him as a president of the volunteer work center. I rejected his offer saying that I’m about to have a baby, and I will have to focus on raising my kid for a while.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“At our wedding, the ministering person, who presided over our wedding, exaggerated a bit when he made an introduction about you. Now, my friends and colleagues think that I married the owner of a conglomerate or something.”
“You will be in the future.”
“Huh?”
Young-Eun laughed out loud looking into Gun-Ho’s eyes.
