Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

It was the day that Gun-Ho asked Seol-Bing to meet him in Tokyo.

It was on Saturday, and he didn’t have to tell anyone about his unilateral appointment with Seol-Bing. He could just leave for Tokyo on Friday night and come back on Sunday night.

Fortunately, Mori Aikko had a schedule that day for her concerted dance performance at National Bunraku Theatre in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, so she wouldn’t be in Tokyo.

Gun-Ho waited for Seol-Bing at the café in New Otani Hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo, but Seol-Bing didn’t show up. Gun-Ho waited until late at night before he gave up.

It was a lonely night in Tokyo for Gun-Ho without Seol-Bing and without Mori Aikko.

Gun-Ho had his wine at the sweet room in New Otani Hotel by himself while looking out of the window at Japan’s State Guest House.

Once he came back to Korea, he sent a text message to Seol-Bing.

[I waited for you at the café in New Otani Hotel until late at night. I assume you are very busy. I’d like to set up another appointment with you. I will be in Japan on the 2nd of the next month. If you find it uncomfortable to meet me in public like a café, we can meet on the 18th floor in the New Otani Hotel that day. There is a small meeting room—Gekkyu. I’d like to see you there at 6 pm.]

“I will see if she would appear this time. If she stood me up again this time, I won’t be interested in her ever again either.”

Gun-Ho stopped by Sotdae Gallery in Insa Town that day.

There was a huge banner hanging at the entrance. It said, “the great artist of northern school literati paintings—Mr. Ding Feng’s solo art exhibition.”

At the gallery, Mr. Ding Feng was there with a lady who was probably his interpreter. President Jeong-Sook Shin was there too. Gun-Ho could see three orchid plants which he sent, on the floor. There were many other plants that President Jeong-Sook Shin’s friends sent as well.

“Congratulations.”

Gun-Ho approached Mr. Ding Feng and congratulated him on his solo art exhibition. Mr. Ding Feng seemed to be happy to see Gun-Ho there, and he offered his hand to Gun-Ho for a handshake with a broad smile.

Gun-Ho asked President Jeong-Sook Shin,

“Are you having lots of visitors?”

“Yes, we are. There were tons of people who came to see Mr. Ding Feng’s paintings. We sold 10 of his paintings already.”

“Wow, really?”

“I think the price is affordable to ordinary people.”

Gun-Ho started thinking,

‘I guess the profits will at least cover Mr. Ding Feng’s travel expenses and the rent of this gallery.’

After visiting Mr. Ding Feng’s art exhibition, Gun-Ho took KTX (Korea Train Express) at Seoul Station, heading to Cheonan City. The first-class seats had a reclining chair, so Gun-Ho could lean back in his seat and stretch his legs comfortably.

The apartment where Gun-Ho was staying in Cheonan City was situated right across the street from the KTX station.

While heading to his home in Cheonan City, Gun-Ho received a text message. It was from Seol-Bing.

[If you want to talk about an advertisement work, please contact my agency. Its number is 010-xxx-xxxx.]

“Hmm. I guess the entertainment agency manager gave me the correct number of Seol-Bing’s phone.”

Gun-Ho replied to the text message immediately.

[It’s not about an advertisement. I have something that I’d like to ask you personally. As stated in my previous text message, I will be waiting for you at the New Otani Hotel’s small meeting room—Gekkyu.]

Gun-Ho went to work at GH Mobile.

President Jang-Hwan Song came to Gun-Ho’s office with a smile. He was carrying a small bottle in his hand, which looked like a medicine bottle.

“What is that?”

“It’s a bottle of medicine manufactured by a pharmaceutical company. This is not an over-the-counter medicine but this is a medicine used by a hospital.”

“The bottle looks a bit strange.”

“This is a foreign medicine, from Germany. Our company made a contract to manufacture this bottle.”

“Really? Isn’t it made of glass?”

“No. This is actually plastic. We already received the product drawing, and our research center’s chief officer—Dr. Joon-Soo Oh will start developing this product soon.”

“Really?”

“They are paying good money too. Also, once we successfully develop this product, we can export them to other countries too.”

“Will there be enough demand for that product?”

“Yes. This is a single-dose vial for injection. It is used once and tossed out after each use. So, the demand for this kind of bottle is very high. Once we successfully develop this product, we can increase our monthly sales revenue by 1 billion won.”

“It would be 12 billion won per year. GH Mobile started with the annual sales revenue of 70 billion won. Once we developed our new product—AM083 Assembly, we added an additional 10 billion won to it. And, if we add another 10 billion won that you, President Song brought into this company by contracting with S Group’s factories, and also add this medical bottle of 10 billion won, our company’s total yearly revenue will be exceeding 100 billion won.”

“That’s right. We will reduce our debt significantly as well. So, if we succeed in developing this product, would you give a vacation to the workers at the research center as a reward?”

“Of course. They will be compensated for their effort and successful outcome, so please tell them to focus on developing the product for now.”

The machine no. 3 and no. 4 arrived at Busan Port.

“Who is going to Busan for those machines this time?”

“Last time I went there and Director Jong-Suk Park came with me to give me his professional support, but this time, I don’t think that would be necessary. Director Yoon, Manager Yoo from the production team, and also our new manager at the maintenance team will take care of it.”

“How is the new manager of the maintenance team doing? Is he good?”

“Yes, he is very good. Director Jong-Suk Park praised his proficiency as well. He is taking care of everything that is related to machines these days. Manager Yoo and those three American engineers are the experts in the chemicals, not machines.”

“Once we bring two more machines, do you think the maintenance team’s manager can handle them by himself?”

“I think we need to hire one more person. I actually think we will need two more workers, but for now, we will hire one.”

“Are you thinking of hiring another manager?”

“Since we have the maintenance team’s manager, we can hire someone at a lower level like a team leader.”

“Sounds good.”

“Also, we need three more workers to the production team. The American engineers are going back to the U.S. next month. We have two researchers—Hee-Yeol Yoo and Il-Gi who received the special training from Dyeon America in the U.S., but we need an additional three workers who can assist their work.”

“Are you thinking of hiring three workers at a team lead level?”

“Not really. Just a staff level is good too. We just need people who have more than one year of work experience with a chemical company.”

“Have you already talked with Mr. Adam Castler about this?”

“Yes, sir. I already discussed it with him.”

“Okay, then. Hire workers as you find necessary.”

“Thank you.”