Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

It was November.

On Friday, Young-Eun came home carrying a huge shopping bag.

“What are these?” Gun-Ho asked.

“It’s a layette for your friend’s wife who is in China.”

“You are expecting a baby too, Young-Eun, and you prepared a gift for another woman’s baby?”

“I can easily buy these things at a department store here at any time, but she might have a hard time finding them in China since she is not familiar with the area.”

“She should be able to find a layette easily in China too.”

“Just mail them to her, will you? I bought one for mine as well.”

“Okay, I will send it to them in China. Thanks.”

Gun-Ho gave a kiss to Young-Eun on the cheek. He thought that she was a thoughtful and lovely woman.

Gun-Ho was trying to figure out the due date for both Jae-Sik Moon’s wife and Young-Eun. Jae-Sik’s wife would soon give birth since she was now nine months pregnant while Young-Eun was in her seventh month.

Gun-Ho placed the layette in his car trunk and carried it around until Tuesday when he could ask his secretary— Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh— to go to the post office to mail it to Jae-Sik Moon in China.

The layette included all sorts of things that could come in handy when a baby was born, such as wet tissues, baby clothing, a blanket, a pouch for diapers, etc.

It didn’t take long for a package to arrive in China from Korea these days. Three days after Gun-Ho mailed it to Jae-Sik Moon, he received a call from Jae-Sik.

“Thank you for the layette. You are very thoughtful.”

“No problem. I know you can find those stuff easily in China too, but I sent it to you anyway.”

“It gave me and my wife warm feelings when we received baby stuff made in Korea. This is definitely a sentimental gift for us. My wife looked so happy when she opened the package.”

“I’m so glad that your wife liked them.”

“Your wife is now seven months pregnant, isn’t she?”

“That’s correct. President Moon, you will be a father next month, right? Are you ready?”

“I don’t know. My wife stays home mostly these days trying to relax. She listens to relaxing and peaceful music for our unborn child during the day, and she studies the Chinese language with Eun-Hwa Jo in the evening. She often takes a walk in this condo complex as well. That’s about all she does these days.”

“Really? You must take a walk with her while holding her hand, right?”

“Haha. How did you know? Taking a walk in the evening became our new daily routine actually, and we always watch TV together afterward, mostly Chinese TV dramas. My wife’s Chinese seems to improve faster than mine.”

“Really?”

“When we take a walk in the community, we sometimes run into old ladies who are also residents of this condo complex. They often ask my wife when her due is. My wife responds to them in Chinese without any problem.”

“Haha, is that right?”

“You know that we are running three buses connecting Antang City and Guiyang City, right? Two of them are Daba (express buses) and one is Zhong Ba (mid-size bus). They agreed to let us replace the Zhong Ba with a Daba. So, we will run three Daba connecting Guiyang City from now on. The Zhong Ba that used to be used for the bus line to Guiyang City is now being used to connect to Yibin City, and our daily income has already increased accordingly.”

“How much are we making per day?”

“We are currently running 7 buses, and it generates 2 million Korean won per day. We would have made more income if the business was in Korea, but considering that we are in China, it’s not bad at all. The people in Duigang Gongsi (counterparts in other cities) said that we are doing really well by having 7 buses already even if we just started the business.”

“What about the terminal construction? They haven’t started the soil excavation yet, have they?”

“No, not yet. They completed the soil tests, but they will have to resolve the complaints made by the local residents here first before they could begin the construction. They moved the pole that was inside the terminal. Even moving one pole from one place to another took a lot of time.”

“Really?”

“In my opinion, since it’s November now, we will have to wait till Spring to start the actual construction. Until then, they will completely resolve the problems raised by the residents here and also pave the road. They marked the construction area with a bunch of flags and signs saying that the construction would soon start. That’s the current status of the terminal construction.”

“I see.”

“According to the Chinese partner, they already started the construction bidding process open to the public for the terminal project. Once a contractor is selected for the terminal construction, Antang City’s transportation company’s president and I will need to sign the contract.”

“That sounds right.”

“I will let you know if there is a change or update.”

“Okay. I will talk to you later.”

Gun-Ho felt good about Jae-Sik Moon’s couple’s living in a good environment and having a peaceful life taking a walk every evening and getting ready to welcome the new addition to their family.

Gun-Ho received a call from Director Woon-Hak Sim. He would soon visit Korea.

“I’m coming to Korea to pick up the actress that I cast for the new drama in China. I will need to make a contract with her management company as well. She will come to China with me and meet the production team, and also join us to do the table-read with other actors.”

“Do you have the entire scenario now that is translated into Korean?”

“Yes, sir. I made a few copies of the translated version of the scenario.”

“Which management company do you need to make a contract with for that actress?”

“It’s BM Entertainment, sir.”

Gun-Ho recalled BM Entertainment’s dandy entertainment manager and its president— Hyeon-Man Yee.

“Does it mean that casting is done? I need to send the investment funds once the casting is completed.”

“No, not yet, sir. The decision to work with this Korean actress is not final. I need to take her to China, and I need to hear okay from the Chinese staff. They verbally agreed to cast her already though. Actually, they seemed to look forward to working with her.”

“Really? That’s good.”

“Anyway, her name is Lia.”

“Lia? It’s a weird name for a Korean.”

“Haha. You haven’t probably heard of that name before, but her name is well-known among young people. Her full name is Lia Gang, and we will use her full name in China.”

“Lia Gang? If we read her name in Chinese, her name would be ‘Lial, Zhiang’?”

“That’s correct, sir, but we will change her last name’s Chinese character to something else while keeping the same pronunciation.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“I will stop by your office when I arrive in Korea.”

“Sounds good. I will see you then.”

Gun-Ho went to work in GH Mobile, Jiksan Town.

When he stopped by the production site before heading to his office, there were no management people at the site. He asked one of the production workers, “I don’t see any managers or supervisors. Where are they?”

“They are at the plant manager’s office right now having a meeting, sir.”

The plant manager’s office was located inside the production site. Gun-Ho looked through the window at the inside of the office. Director Jong-Suk Park was yelling at the managers and supervisors of the production department. Even though the door was tightly closed, Gun-Ho could still hear Jong-Suk’s voice.

“Which son of a b*tch made the product like this? We received a claim for this defective product!”

After a while, Gun-Ho heard Jong-Suk’s voice again.

“Whoever it is, this son of a b*tch’s mind must have been somewhere else when he made this one. If I f*cking catch the person who is responsible for this, I’m going to punch him in the face.”

Most of the managers and supervisors in the office were older than Jong-Suk Park, and they all kept their heads low while Jong-Suk was exposing his temperament again.

Gun-Ho thought that Director Jong-Suk Park was well leading the production department; however, he was concerned about Jong-Suk’s language when he was upset.