Suk-Ho Lee added with a smile, “You know what? That’s not the only company that Gun-Ho owns. He has several companies like that.”
Many of the friends there used to feel jealous of Gun-Ho and being sarcastic with him sometimes. But they didn’t do that anymore. Min-Ho Kang, who was one of those sarcastic people, and Suk-Ho Lee were acting as a shield against them whenever someone tried to say anything negative about Gun-Ho. They both once received an envelope from Gun-Ho with money in it.
“Well, let’s drink more.”
Gun-Ho took a bottle of liquor and walked around the table to fill up any empty glasses of his friends.
“President Goo, you seem to be drinking a lot today. Since you can’t drive, you will have to take a taxi to go all the way to Gangnam District, but it’s not easy to catch a taxi in this area at this late hour.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just so delighted to see you all today. I can drink more.”
“I’m worried about you.”
“It’s okay. I brought my car, and my chauffeur will drive it for me. Let’s not worry about a thing tonight, but drink! I’m so happy to see you all, my friends!”
Gun-Ho had become a fabulous man ever since he had money.
“I heard that your child is already more than 100 days old. Your baby is growing so fast, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he is.”
“I guess your wife is staying at home with the baby boy. She doesn’t work at the hospital any longer, right?”
“Yeah, she is on leave right now. I’m trying to convince her to quit her job and stay home with the baby.”
As they drank liquor more and more, Gun-Ho’s high school friends became busy conversing with someone next to them and paid less attention to Gun-Ho. At the moment, Gun-Ho stood up from his seat quickly and walked to the cash register, and paid for the dinner.
When he came back to the table, he said, “I paid for your dinner tonight, and I want to continue to have fun with you guys for the rest of the night. Why don’t we move to another location and have a second round of our fun? How does a glass of cold beer sound?”
Gun-Ho was leading his friends to a bar, and he then changed the destination to a karaoke instead.
“Let’s just go to a karaoke. They sell beer too. We can have beer there while singing songs together. I miss the old songs that were trendy when we were in high school.”
“Sounds great. Let’s all go to a karaoke with President Goo!”
Gun-Ho took his high school friends to a karaoke which provided services with girls. He then asked for a service girl for each person. After having fun and on the way out of the karaoke, Gun-Ho paid for the karaoke including the tips for the girls too. That evening, Gun-Ho provided full paid service to his friends.
“Well, it’s getting late, and it’s time for us to go home now. I was happy to see my old friends today, and I really had a great time with you all. I’d better get going now.”
While Gun-Ho was having a handshake with his friends to say goodbye, Chan-Ho arrived at the scene. Gun-Ho had already called Chan-Ho to come to pick him up. When Gun-Ho’s Bentley stopped in front of the karaoke, Suk-Ho Lee rapidly approached the car and opened the door for Gun-Ho.
“Thank you. Go home safely.”
Gun-Ho sat in the rear seat. He rolled down the window and waved his hand to his friends as his Bentley drove away. Gun-Ho’s high school friends stared blankly at Gun-Ho’s Bentley leaving the scene with an envious look on their faces.
When they were in high school, Gun-Ho was a boy from a poor family while others such as Won-Chul Jo, Byeong-Chul Hwang, and Suk-Ho Lee’s family were relatively wealthy. Their social status was seemingly determined based on their parents’ financial situation and occupations at that time. Gun-Ho didn’t study hard to get a good score in school either. However, their social status seemed to be reversed now. Unless a miracle occurred, Gun-Ho would always have a social position superior to his high school friends for the rest of their lives. Gun-Ho already achieved superiority in the social position and wealth which not many people would be able to establish in their entire life.
Gun-Ho received a call from Director Woon-Hak Sim.
“Sir, have you talked with the geisha’s manager about Director Yan Wu’s visit to Japan?”
“Yes. He can come to Japan to meet with the geisha. Since it’s the off-season for geishas, she has time to meet with him. It seems that there is no dance performance event scheduled for her for quite a while.”
“Also, sir, I need to go to the court for my general rehabilitation as it is asking every one of interest to attend. I received the date to appear at the court.”
“When is it?”
“It’s July 12th, sir. After appearing at the court on the 12th of July, can I join Director Yan Wu in visiting Tokyo the following day—on the 13th? I’d like to meet with the dancing geisha too.”
“Hmm, really?”
“And, if we decide to cast the geisha for the role, why don’t we have GH Media represent her as her agency? Well, assuming that she doesn’t have an agency representing her in the entertainment field in Japan.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea at all. Let’s talk about it later after we receive the audition outcome.”
“You will come to Japan with us too, right, sir?”
“Yes, I will. Do you or Director Yan Wu speak Japanese, Mr. Director Sim?”
“I don’t, and I doubt Director Yan Wu speaks Japanese either. I think we need an interpreter.”
“Maybe I can ask GH Media’s Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda to accompany us for this trip. You know him very well too, right?”
“That’s a very good idea. But, it will cost a lot since we need to provide him with the plane ticket, accommodation, and etc. We can just find a Korean international student there when we arrive in Japan.”
“I will talk with Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda first. For now, let’s make our trip on July 13th to Tokyo in Japan to have a meeting with the geisha. And, I will join you on the trip.”
“Yes, sir. I will inform Director Yan Wu as such. Thank you.”
After getting off the phone with Director Woon-Hak Sim, Gun-Ho sent a text message to Mori Aikko.
[I will be in Tokyo on July 13th. I have something that I want to discuss with you.]
After about 30 minutes, Mori Aikko’s reply arrived.
[Mama San told me about it. I’m so curious about what it is about.]
[I’m going to Tokyo with the people from a TV broadcasting station. So, I won’t be able to go to your condo in Daikanyama, but I will see you at Mama San’s bar in Shinjuku City. I would love to see you dancing, with the guests who I’m going with. It has been a while since the last time I saw you dancing.]
[No, problem, oppa. I love you.]
Gun-Ho then made a call to GH Media’s Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda who was working in the GH Media’s office downstairs.
“This is Gun-Ho Goo.”
“Oh, sir. To what do I owe the pleasure of the call?”
“I have something that I’d like to talk with you about. Can you come to my office on the 18th floor now?”
“Hai (yes). I will be there right away, sir.”
After a moment, Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda entered Gun-Ho’s office.
“Hello, sir. How are you?”
“Please have a seat.”
“Hai.”
Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda sat on the sofa and looked at Gun-Ho’s face with a curious look on his face. He was wondering what Gun-Ho wanted to talk to him about.
