Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho was surfing the internet sitting in GH development’s president’s office in GH Building, Sinsa Town. The news coverage about Seol-Bing drew Gun-Ho’s attention.

[Seol-Bing, dating rumors with a baseball player who is five years younger than her.]

There was a picture of Seol-Bing laughing along with a baseball player shown on the newspaper. The baseball player looked a lot younger than Seol-Bing even at a glance.

Gun-Ho thought, ‘I’m happy for Seol-Bing that she is dating someone, but I wonder whether it was a good decision for her to choose someone who is five years younger than her to date with. Men at a young age usually lack understanding. I hope that Seol-Bing is ready to embrace that young man’s drawbacks caused by his inexperience in life.’

Gun-Ho didn’t feel jealous or anything when he learned that Seol-Bing was dating another man, maybe because he had a good time with Mori Aikko not long ago, and his wife— Young-Eun— who would soon deliver his baby.

At that moment, he received a call from BM Entertainment’s manager.

“Sir, congratulations on the success of the drama— Shiguang Ru Meng— that is being aired in China. Its ratings are so high.”

“Does it affect the revenue that they would generate?”

“Of course, sir. Their subsidy provided by the broadcasting station for their drama production is tightly interlocked with the viewers’ ratings. TV ratings definitely affect the broadcasting station’s revenue coming from their business with PP and VOD.”

“PP and VOD?”

“PP refers to a program provider that airs programs on their own TV channels. VOD (Video on Demand) is a media distribution system where the viewers can watch the videos at any time they choose. The Shanghai broadcasting station makes an additional income through PP and VOD after airing Shiguang Ru Meng on their regular broadcasting schedule.”

“Hmm.”

“Director Woon-Hak Sim specifically targeted the female viewers in their 30s and 40s in Shanghai City for this Shiguang Ru Meng. It looks like his plan worked. Women in this age group tend to watch TV dramas a lot. You don’t often watch a TV drama, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“A drama can very well generate an additional income. It can be shown on a cable TV channel and also through the internet in the form of an Internet TV or DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). They can also export those TV dramas to other areas. Once a TV drama is proven popular among the viewers in Shanghai City, it is very likely that the drama will be exported to the Greater China Region.”

“Hmm, I see. When does the broadcasting station provide the subsidy to a drama production company?”

“Customarily, they give it once a month.”

Gun-Ho instantly did a math in his head.

‘I sent 1 million dollars to Huanle Shiji a few days ago. I wonder if I can send the second 1 million dollars a while later. I’m not sure if I can do that because they are paying a high amount of money to the lead actor and actress.’

Gun-Ho said, “I don’t know much about the entertainment field, especially a drama production. I’m grateful that BM Entertainment is willing to provide the necessary support in producing Shiguang Ru Meng. We found our lead female actress in BM Entertainment, and we are expecting to receive technical advice from it such as editing, shooting, etc.”

“Don’t mention it, sir. It’s our pleasure that we could be of help. Actually, Director Sim is giving us a call almost every single day.”

“I do really appreciate your help.”

“No problem, sir.”

“I read news coverage this morning about Seol-Bing who came to our GH Art Gallery’s opening ceremony. She is dating a baseball player. It’s good for her.”

“To be honest with you, sir, I’m not sure if it’s good for her. Seol-Bing’s mother has strived to have her daughter married to someone of a conglomerate family. She obviously failed to achieve her goal.”

“If she is happy with the man who she is with, that should be good enough. I don’t think she has to marry a rich man to be happy.”

“Her mother is obsessed with money. I know her father very well. When I worked at the broadcasting station, he was a PD there. This is his second marriage, and his wife’s obsession with money seems severely unusual.”

“His second marriage?”

“Yes, Seol-Bing’s mother is his second marriage. He is a decent man, but Seol-Bing’s mother is… how can I put this… she tends to aggressively grab every opportunity in order to fulfill her greed. Well, that’s how I see her. I’m sure that she is now very disappointed.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“I think that Seol-Bing is not without fault either. Not just Seol-Bing, but the ladies in Gangnam District these days have issues. They want to prove themselves as competent and able women by having a younger husband. That thought continues even after they married. Many married women in Gangnam District have a lover who is younger than them, and they feel so proud of themselves in that position.”

Gun-Ho could notice that the entertainment manager was smiling with his eyes even when he was talking with him over the phone, while talking about the tendency shown by the females in Gangnam District, which was not proven, and he didn’t like it.

“Well, I think you’re overly generalizing. I guess that might be true for a limited group of women in that area.”

Gun-Ho then hung up the phone.

It has been almost a year since Gun-Ho started taking the class at the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University. Gun-Ho was informed by the university that next week would be the last week of the course, and they would render a graduation ceremony afterward. It was not a degree course, so Gun-Ho would receive a certificate evidencing only that he took the specific one-year course.

Minister Jin-Woo Lee was talking to a congressman who was sitting next to him while giggling, “Hey, Mr. Congressman Park! I guess you have one more line to add to your promotional materials for the election campaign, ‘graduated from the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University’.”

“Maybe I should say that I graduated at the top of my class.”

The whole class giggled.

“Hey, Mr. Class President, this is it? We are not getting together? We should at least have a year-end party.”

“I’m sorry, but I have tons of year-end parties scheduled for the rest of this year.”

“We should do something.”

“What about then December 22nd? It’s a weekday though. Will you be available to get together?”

Minister Jin-Woo Lee came forward in front of the class.

“Well, our course will end next week. We will have our regular meeting as alumni of this course, but I think we should get together at the end of December as our class year-end party. We will invite a few professors who have been teaching us. What do you all think?”

“I’m in.”

“Of course we should.”

“Several people suggested the date of December 22nd for our party. Those of you who won’t be able to make it on that day, please raise your hands now.”

No one raised their hands.

“Well, we will get together on December 22nd then. Now, we need to decide the place for our party. We prefer to have a place that offers a large parking space. What about the Chinese restaurant— Baek Ni Hyang— in the 63 Building?”

“You mean the one on the 57th floor in the 63 Building?”

“Isn’t it pricey there?”

“We will have to collect 100,000 won per person.”

“100,000 won per person? We are not rich like you, Mr. Minister Lee. We don’t have wealthy parents-in-law like you. Most of us are just humble government employees.”

Contrasting with what they just said, they seemed to have no problem producing two bills of 50,000 won in cash when Gun-Ho was walking around the class to collect the fees of 100,000 won from each person.