Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Once Gun-Ho was done giving his statement, the policeman asked him,

“Do you want to press charges against him?”

“I definitely do.”

“The other party said he doesn’t want to press charges. He doesn’t seem to be a bad person. If you want to press charges, you should get your injury certificate issued by the hospital and file a complaint. The other party said, if you file a complaint against him, he would do the same thing.”

Gun-Ho thought about it for a second. He had a lot of things going on in his life and business right now. He had to go to the U.S. in a few days to make an official contract for the joint venture. He didn’t want to create any noise.

“Well, on second thought, I don’t want to press charges. We were not severely injured. Their acts cannot be justified, but I won’t press charges against them.”

“Good decision, Mr. Gun-Ho Goo. The man said he didn’t deserve to be beaten up like that, but since his injury was not that serious, he didn’t want to press charges either. The fight seemed to be just accidental. I think this is good that both of you don’t want to press charges against each other.”

Jong-Suk entered the room where Gun-Ho was staying for now. He still seemed to be very upset about the whole thing.

“Bro, let’s get to the bottom of this. We need to know who did this and punish him.”

“That’s enough. I have to prepare for my trip to the U.S. Let’s just let it go this time.”

“What? Are you serious? I will go crazy!”

Jong-Suk beat his own chest with his fist.

The policeman came back with an ink pad.

“Please sign with your thumbprint here.”

Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk signed with their thumbprints with a stiff look on their faces.

The policeman took the paper back and put it in an envelope. Before he left the room, he said,

“Sometimes we just step on shit without a reason. It happens sometimes. I wish your quick recovery.”

Egnopak’s president—Seung-Gak Kim—was having liquor in a bar in Samsung Town, Gangnam with his son—Dong-Hwan Kim.

“Big brother, they did it. It was successful. Gun-Ho Goo’s forehead was cut.”

“I heard one of your people got caught by the police.”

“He gave a statement to the police that he was attacked by Gun-Ho Goo’s party. That guy is almost a genius actor. He can play the victim very well. He would be able to get some money from his victim after he beat him up.”

“So everyone is released?”

“Yes. Gun-Ho Goo gave up on pressing charges.”

“A cut on his forehead is probably not enough. We should have broken his leg or something.”

“I am thinking of attacking him one more time.”

“What’s your plan?”

“We can hit his head from behind in a dark alley or in an underground parking lot.”

“There should be CCTV.”

“We can find some spots without CCTV. If you make your order, I am on it. And we would appreciate it if you could give us some small bonus.”

Gun-Ho went to work with a bandage on his forehead. The directors asked him,

“What happened, sir?”

“Oh, this? It’s nothing. I just tripped and fell.”

“You must have drunk too much, sir.”

“Hahaha. No, I didn’t drink. I was just being preoccupied and tripped.”

Jong-Suk had a bigger cut, but since the cut was on his forearm, no one recognized it because he was wearing long sleeves. He just felt pain whenever he had to use his left arm while working.

Gun-Ho asked for the sales director.

“Do you know what the former vice president of S Group is doing now?”

“Well, as far as I know, he is staying home. I remember how passionate he was in developing a new product.”

“He couldn’t stay with S Group because his friend who is a lot younger than him joined the company as his boss.”

“He actually has 2 to 3 more years left before he retires, but he decided to quit the job earlier. I think he doesn’t have enough base or personal connections in Korea since he worked abroad most of the time. And the new president has been in Korea in his entire career.”

“What do you mean?”

“S Group has several branches and subsidiaries overseas, and he worked in those locations during his time with S Group. So he didn’t have a chance to establish connections here in Korea. That’s why he wasn’t promoted to the president position, but his friend who is younger and less experienced got the position.”

“Some politics are going on there, huh?”

“I guess every single organization has at least a little bit of politics within it, whether it is a big or small organization.”

“Why don’t you go see him in the near future? He will be happy to see you when you go see him while he is staying at home.”

“Right. I was actually thinking of it too. I just couldn’t find the right time yet. I talked with him on the phone once though. At that time, he was planning a trip to Europe with his wife. Since he has spare time now, he is using it to spend more time with his wife and traveling.”

It was almost the contract day with Lymondell Dyeon.

Gun-Ho headed to the Incheon International Airport and met with Attorney Young-Jin Kim to go on a trip to Seattle in the U.S.

“Hey, you are wearing jeans. You look so young in it. I would believe it if you said you are a graduate schoolboy.”

“I have my business suit in my luggage. Hey, what’s up with your forehead? What happened?”

“I got beat up.”

“What? By whom?”

“I will tell you the story once we arrive in Seattle. Let’s have some beer or something. I need to tell you how I got beat up on the street.”

“Well, if you got beat up by a girl, that’s a badge of honor, right?”

“I would be happy if that’s what it is. I got beat up by a bunch of gangsters.”

“Gangsters?”

Once they arrived in Seattle, they took a subway from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to downtown. Gun-Ho was dozing off in the subway. He felt exhausted after the long flight.

Even after he arrived at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown, he still felt so sleepy. He had a fever and a headache.

“Attorney Kim! I think you should have dinner by yourself. I am not feeling well, and I think I’d better take some rest in my hotel room.”

“Okay, no problem. You don’t look so good. I will hear your beating-up story next time.”

Gun-Ho laid down on the bed in his hotel room and covered himself with two layers of blankets. He still felt cold. Attorney Young-Jin Kim brought some medicine to Gun-Ho’s room. The worry could obviously be seen on his face.

“I brought you a cold medicine. I will place it on the table. Take it later when you can get up. You are probably exhausted because of the long-hour flight and the time difference.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Gun-Ho took the cold medicine that Attorney Kim dropped off and fell asleep.

The next morning, Gun-Ho felt better after taking a shower. The phone in the room started ringing. It was Attorney Kim.

“How are you feeling?”

“I feel much better now. I think the medicine you gave me worked.”

“That’s good. Can you come down to have breakfast?”

“Yes. I will be there soon.”

Gun-Ho had porridge at the restaurant in the hotel. Attorney Kim looked relieved and said,

“I was worried about you. I thought you might not be able to attend the meeting to sign the contract.”

“Even if I am sick, I will sign the contract before going back to Korea.”

“You and I… we can’t be sick even though we are sick, and we can’t die even though we want to die.”

Gun-Ho and Attorney Young-Jin Kim went to Lymondell Dyeon. Angelina Rein and the vice president—Mr. Brandon Burke—greeted them with pleasure.