Gun-Ho went back home after work.
Sang-Min was sitting in the living room sucking on his toes, while Yong-Eun was cooking in the kitchen.
“What are you cooking, Young-Eun?”
“Oh, you are home.”
“It smells good.”
“I’m making Korean traditional pancakes.”
During dinner, Young-Eun said to Gun-Ho, “Oppa, what do you think about bringing in a puppy to our family? I sometimes feel scared alone with Sang-Min being in this huge house.”
“A puppy? They shed a lot, don’t they? And, they are not clean either.”
“We can keep the puppy outside in the yard. The weather will be warmer soon.”
“With a puppy at home, Sang-Min will be intrigued by the puppy with his curiosity, and he will keep trying to touch it. I already see two problems there— safety and hygiene.”
“I always dreamed about living in a large single house, but as I’m living in a huge single house right now, I realized that cleaning the house alone is not easy work, not to mention that I feel scared when I’m by myself with the baby.”
“We can always hire a helper lady who can live with us in this house and help you with the house chores.”
“A helper lady who would live with us? That’s a good idea, but will we have enough privacy with her constant presence under the same roof?”
“You can spend more time with me in my study on the second floor. And, maybe we can try to have our second child since Sang-Min is now 1 year old.”
“A second child? With another child, I’m afraid that I will have to stay at home for the rest of my life as a full-time mom raising 2 kids. I won’t be able to work as a medical doctor ever again.”
“You don’t have to work. I’m making enough money for our family.”
“It’s not just money that I want from working as a medical doctor. I want my own career as well. I got my education, and I want to utilize it, and participate in the society that way. I have my own achievement need too.”
“I still think we should have another child. I don’t want Sang-Min to grow as an only child. He will feel lonely.”
The possibility that Sang-Min could grow up lonely seemed to touch Young-Eun’s heart. Young-Eun looked lost in thought for a while.
Gun-Ho continued, “Some people say that if a house is too big given the number of people living in it, its energy could dominate the people’s energy, who are living there. I want you to find a helper lady who can live with us in this house. And, let’s have one more child too. Then, you won’t feel this house is so big anymore.”
“Hmm.”
“And, let’s plant a maple tree and a jujube tree in the yard as you said before. Our children will enjoy playing in the garden, which will be very nice. I’m sure that you will love watching our kids at home rather than taking care of sick patients in the clinic.”
“Hmm.”
“By the way, it’s much easier now to commute to the clinic that you work for, from this house, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. But, I think I will lose my job soon.”
“How come?”
“They are moving to Suwon City soon.”
“Suwon City? Why are they moving? They are not making enough money in this area or something?”
“Since it’s within Gangnam District, the lease rent for the clinic space is expensive. And, they are having a hard time finding workers in this area too.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Oh, oppa, if you have time tomorrow, let’s go to the Seoul Arts Center with me.”
“The Seoul Arts Center? I have to work tomorrow.”
“My aunt in Yangpyeong County is having an art exhibition there with other artists.”
“Oh, really? Let’s go there on Saturday then.”
“The exhibition will end on Friday…”
“Okay then, I will make time for a few hours tomorrow then.”
“I will meet you in front of Seoul High School around 2 pm tomorrow.”
“Why are we meeting there? We can meet at the Seoul Arts Center.”
“I won’t drive my car tomorrow. Finding a parking space in that area is extremely stressful, so I will take a bus instead, and I will get off in front of Seoul High School.”
“Really? Alright then. I will meet you there.”
The next day, Gun-Ho picked up Young Eun at the entrance of Seoul High School, and they headed to the Seoul Arts Center. The art exhibition was jointly held by several artists. And, they couldn’t find Young-Eun’s aunt there that day.
It occurred to Gun-Ho that maybe he should buy a painting there. He wanted to hang a painting on the empty wall in his huge house. Also, if he bought Young-Eun’s aunt’s painting, that would also help Young-Eun’s aunt financially. Gun-Ho asked one of the staff at the exhibition about the price of one of Young-Eun’s aunt’s watercolor paintings.
“This particular artist depicts Korean farm village strikingly well. And, this painting here is 2.5 million won. If you sign the contract to buy the painting and send us the price, we will ship the painting to your address once this art exhibition closes.”
As seeing Gun-Ho buying her aunt’s painting, Young-Eun’s eyes widened, and then she looked delighted.
“Thank you, oppa. My aunt will be extremely pleased that you bought her painting.”
Gun-Ho asked Young-Eun, “You are done for the day, right?”
“Yeah, I can go straight home.”
Gun-Ho was driving heading to the house in Bangbae Town with Young-Eun. He asked her, “Where is the clinic that you are working for right now?”
“Do you see an intersection over there? If you make a right turn there, you will see a building with a coffee shop on the second floor. The clinic is in the same building.”
The building where the clinic was located was a small building, and the clinic was on its third floor. Gun-Ho thought that it was not a good location for a clinic.
“The location doesn’t seem to be good for a clinic business, but the building owner still asks for a high rent, huh?”
“Yeah. The location is not good, and the landlord keeps raising the rent. That’s why the clinic wants to move to another location.”
“I think the building across the street looks good.”
“That’s an office building. They won’t lease a space to a clinic.”
“Someone can buy the entire building, then lease a space to the clinic then.”
“Buying the entire building? That building is not for sale. And, who’s going to be able to buy a building like that, unless an owner family of a conglomerate. And, I don’t think they would sell the building anyway.”
“Hmm, probably so.”
The following day, Gun-Ho prepared three checks of 100 million won. He then went to GH Mobile for the first time in a long time.
As his Bentley was passing the gate, the security guard opened the gate and gave a military salute to Gun-Ho. Gun-Ho got out of the car once his Bentley stopped in front of the building entrance. He then went up to his old office. It was now being used by President Song.
“Sir, you are here,” said President Song who was sitting at the middle of a conference table. When he saw Gun-Ho entering the office, he quickly stood up from his seat to greet him. He showed his seat to Gun-Ho.
Gun-Ho sat at the seat where President Song was sitting before he came in.
He then said, “I saw you returned 5.7 billion won, Mr. President Song.”
“Oh, that. Of course, sir. It’s not my money anyway.”
“We might not be able to distribute dividends for the next 3 years, President Song. Will it be okay with you?”
“Well, even though we won’t distribute dividends for the next 10 years, that money is not mine, sir.”
Gun-Ho smiled and gave an envelope to President Song.
“I’m pretty sure that we won’t make any dividend distribution for the next 3 years. And, in the meanwhile, I will compensate you with 100 million won per year. This is 300 million won for you for those 3 years. I want you to have it.”
“You shouldn’t do this, sir.”
“There is a gift that I want to receive from you in exchange for this though, President Song.”
“Well, I actually have a gift for you.”
“What is it?”
“Tell me what gift that you want to receive from me first, sir?”
“Let’s then write down the gift that we have in mind on our palms.”
“Shall we?”
The two men wrote down the gift that they were thinking about, on their palms with a sharpie. The scene reminded of a scene in Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu did before the Battle of Red Cliffs.
