After Director Woon-Hak Sim left for the airport heading to China, Gun-Ho started thinking again about what to do with Seung-Hee sister’s stock account.
“I have to move a significant amount of money from that account. I should do it quietly without drawing any unnecessary attention…”
At that moment, Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh knocked on the door.
“Sir, someone is on the phone for you. It’s from BM Entertainment’s secretary’s office.”
“BM Entertainment? He could have just given me a call directly; he didn’t have to go through his secretary’s office just to talk to me. Well, please let him through.”
When Gun-Ho picked up the phone, he could hear a woman’s pretty voice on the other line.
“Is it Mr. President Gun-Ho Goo?”
“Yes, he is speaking.”
“BM Entertainment’s President Hyeon-Man Yee would like to talk to you, sir.”
After a moment, Gun-Ho heard a man’s voice. He sounded like a man in his late 50s.
“Hello, Mr. President Goo. This is Hyeon-Man Yee.”
“Oh, Mr. President Yee. How have you been?”
“Director Woon-Hak Sim was here this morning. He told me that the movie is ready to show. They are preparing to release the movie right now.”
“I’m aware of it. I received a report about it.”
“I’ve been busy with traveling internationally, so I learned about your company going public only recently. Your chemical company went public, didn’t it? Congratulations, Mr. President Goo.”
“Thank you. It is true that the company is registered now with KOSDAQ, but it’s still a small company. On the other hand, BM Entertainment is a huge company with its market capitalization of almost 1 trillion won, isn’t it?”
“Well, our sales revenue is not so great though.”
“I’ve noticed that several group singers, that BM Entertainment is managing, are on the Billboard charts. It’s amazing. Many popular K-pop stars belong to BM Entertainment, don’t they?”
“Even if I count every single penny of our sales revenue, it would be only a bit more than 200 billion won.”
“Is that right? Well, it is still substantial. One of my companies that just became a public company generates less than 100 billion won only. After next year, it might exceed 100 billion won of sales revenue. Also, it’s a joint venture company. I have to share everything with my business partner.”
“You have another company with really solid business too, Mr. President Goo.”
“Are you talking about GH Mobile? Its sales revenue is not so high either.”
“How much does it make?”
“Well, it will barely reach 200 billion won this year.”
“Did you say 200 billion won? Wow. That’s really good. I’m considered as a godfather in the entertainment field now, but I wasn’t like this when I was at your age, President Goo.”
“You are being so humble, Mr. President Yee.”
“I know that we don’t meet pretty often since we are working in different fields, but I hope we could stay in contact, even via the phone. Also, I’m hoping that you could continue to work with Director Woon-Hak Sim. I was told that you have been helping him a lot.”
“Haha. I haven’t done much.”
“Don’t be so humble, Mr. President Goo. The reason why Director Woon-Hak Sim is doing what he is doing right now is because of your help. Well, I will be in touch, and will talk to you later.”
When Gun-Ho got off the phone with BM Entertainment’s President Hyeon-Man Yee, Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh voluntarily brought a cup of Chinese tea even though Gun-Ho didn’t ask for it.
“Umm, sir, was that BM Entertainment’s president?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Oh my. Really?”
Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh blushed as Gun-Ho confirmed that he was talking with the president of BM Entertainment. And she seemed to be hesitating to say something.
Gun-Ho asked her, “Is there anything that you want to talk to me about?”
“No, sir. Umm, it’s just that there is a group singer that belongs to BM Entertainment, and one of the male singers is my favorite.”
Gun-Ho didn’t even make a comment to Yeon-Soo Oh about what she just said. It was so trivial to even reply to. Gun-Ho got back to his thoughts about what to do with Seung-Hee sister’s stock account.
Gun-Ho then made a call to the branch manager of the stock brokerage firm in Gangnam.
“It’s Gun-Ho Goo.”
“Oh, sir. How are you?”
“Can we have lunch tomorrow? Will you have time for me tomorrow?”
“Of course, sir. I always have time for you. You are one of the most important VIP clients to me. Just give me the place and time where I should be, sir. I will be there.”
“We can meet somewhere close to our offices. What about Le Meridien Seoul? The one in Yeoksam Town. I believe it is within walking distance from your office. I will see you at its Japanese restaurant. We can meet there at noon.”
“Yes, sir. I will be at the Japanese restaurant there— Hanazono.”
After work when Gun-Ho went home, his father and mother were waiting for him.
“You are all here.”
“Yeah, we came to see Sang-Min.”
“Did you have dinner?”
“Yes, we already had dinner with Sang-Min’s mom. We couldn’t wait for you because we were not sure when you would be home.”
“That’s good.”
Young-Eun said to Gun-Ho as she brought fruits to the living room, “They bought some stuff for Sang-Min such as his clothes, a baby walker, and EduBall (educational toy).”
“Haha, really? We have a baby walker at home already. I bought one for him the other day. Now, we have two of them.”
After having his dinner, Gun-Ho came to the living room to join his father and mother.
Gun-Ho’s mother said, “Well, I guess we’d better take off now. It was nice to see you and Sang-Min, Gun-Ho.”
“Why don’t you sleep here and leave tomorrow?”
“Thank you for saying that, but we have to go home. It’s more comfortable that way.”
“You didn’t bring your car, did you?”
“We took the subway. It’s free of charge for us anyway. We won’t feel bored because your dad and I can talk on the way home.”
“Okay then.”
Young-Eun brought Korean medicinal tea and nuts to the living room and placed them on the coffee table.
She asked “How’s his sister’s family doing? They are doing well, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are good. Her husband is drinking too much though. That’s the only concern that I have about them.”
“Yeah, he should control it. It’s good if he can drink an adequate amount of alcohol, but he shouldn’t drink too much.”
“The company that he is running has 30 truck drivers, and he has to attend the ceremonial occasions of his workers, such as weddings, funerals, ancestral rites, etc. And, he drinks when he meets people like that.”
“Mom, do you remember Seung-Hee sister? She used to come to our home pretty often when we were in school.”
“Seung-Hee? Yeah, she still comes to our home sometimes. It seems that Gun-Sook is the only friend to her. They have been close friends since high school, and they still meet pretty often even these days.”
“I was told that she is single now.”
“Yeah, she is divorced. Ever since she divorced, Gun-Sook and Seung-Hee spend time together even more often.”
“Do you know why she divorced her husband?”
“He couldn’t make enough living, and that was the main reason for the divorce, I guess. He also became violent whenever he was drunk as well. It was impossible for her to go on like that at that time. When she was younger, she was pretty and smart. Her life changed when she met that bastard.”
“What did he do for a living?”
“He had an office job before, and then after he quit that job, he ran a karaoke.”
“A karaoke?”
“Yeah. He should have kept his office job. I don’t understand why he quit the job and started karaoke. He lost all of his money doing it. And, to make the story worse, he had an affair with the girl who was working in his karaoke. It was a good decision that Seung-Hee divorced him, and he deserved it.”
“I was told that they have a son.”
“Yeah. She left home with her son. That was all she had at that time.”
“Are they legally divorced? Or just separated?”
“I don’t know. Gun-Sook must know about it.”
“I guess I’d better help her. She had a hard life.”
“You don’t have to do that. There are tons of people who are having a hard life in this world.”
