Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Before going out for dinner, Young-Eun's father handed a document over to Gun-Ho.

"This is our family relation certificate."

"Family relation certificate?"

"You will need this when you register your marriage. Who's going to do the registration? Are you going to do it? If so, you will need to bring Young-Eun's identification along with her stamp."

"Got it. I will do that tomorrow at the Community Service Center."

"You don't register your marriage at the Community Service Center."

"Oh, they don't handle it?"

"You need to go to the district office for it"

"Oh, I see."

"You might need two witnesses' ID number and stamp. Take my stamp with you."

"Yes, sir."

"And, when you have time, send me a copy of your family register. I will give you my address."

"I will bring it to you. I regularly come to this area for a class at the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University. Why do you need my family register anyway?"

"Our Kim's family is currently working on reorganizing our family tree record. Your name needs to be added to it as my son-in-law."

Reorganizing the record was just an excuse to obtain Gun-Ho's family register. Young-Eun's father wanted to make sure that Gun-Ho was never married before.

Gun-Ho, Young-Eun, and Young-Eun's father headed to the food alley in Sillim Town. They ordered a large plate of sliced raw flounder as a start with a bottle of Cheongha* at the restaurant that Young-Eun's father recommended.

"I will just have a sip of Cheongha*. I brought my car today."

"Of course. You shouldn't drink if you have to drive."

As saying so, Young-Eun's father filled Young-Eun's empty glass with Cheongha*.

"Young-Eun, drink with me since you don't have to drive."

"Okay, dad."

"Your wedding was so crowded. Some of my friends had to leave when they couldn't find any vacant seats."

"I should have reserved more seats. It was my fault."

"According to the officiator, you have four other companies in addition to the auto parts manufacturing company. Where are those companies located?"

"The one in Cheonan City is the auto parts manufacturing company; it's GH Mobile. There is another one in Asan City, called Dyeon Korea. It's producing chemical compounds that are used in manufacturing auto parts. That's a joint venture company with an American firm."

"Hmm. I see."

"Also, I have GH Development that manages the building in Sinsa Town in Gangnam. I have a publishing company as well. It's GH Media, and a logistics company is in Seonghwan Town. It's called GH Logistics. I have one more company in China."

Young-Eun was all ears. She didn't know much about her husband's business until now.

"I was told that you didn't inherit the business from your family. How did you build your business at your young age?"

"I just happened to acquire a few companies."

"Are they all generating good profits?"

"Fortunately yes, they are generating profits without loss."

"My friends, who came to the wedding, were envious of me for having a son-in-law like you. I am so happy to have you as my family, and also, I'm happy for my daughter."

Young-Eun's father finished two bottles of Cheongha* himself that evening.

"I gotta go to the bathroom. It's one of the symptoms that old people are experiencing. We have to go to the bathroom pretty often."

Young-Eun's father went to the bathroom while staggering on his feet. When Young-Eun's father left the table, Young-Eun wiped her eyes with a white handkerchief.

"Are you crying? What did I do?"

"No, I'm not crying. It's just that something got in my eyes."

Young-Eun stood up saying she wanted to go to the bathroom as well.

Gun-Ho knew that Young-Eun was crying because of her father.

When Gun-Ho noticed sliced raw flounder was almost gone, he ordered more seafood dishes like sea cucumbers and sea squirts.

Young-Eun's father came back from the bathroom. Young-Eun also came back to the table, and she seemed to feel better.

Gun-Ho filled Young-Eun's father's glass with liquor and said, "Father, why don't you move in with us to our home? We have plenty of rooms you can occupy."

Young-Eun's and her father's eyes widened in surprise in response to Gun-Ho's unexpected suggestion.

"Thank you for your offer, but that's not possible. I can still live by myself. If I become physically incapable of living alone, I might consider moving somewhere close to your home, but before that happens, I will live here by myself."

"Come and visit us at our home then in the near future."

"Sure. I want to see how you two live."

"Let's fix the date then. What about next week?"

"Next week works for me."

"Since I haven't really drunk, I will drop you off at your home."

"I feel so safe since I have a son now who I can rely on. Our family usually doesn't have many children. I hope you two have many children."

"Thank you, sir."

After dropping off Young-Eun's father to his Dongbu condo in Sillim Town, Gun-Ho and Young-Eun headed back to their TowerPalace condo in Dogok Town. While driving home, Gun-Ho said, "Your father looked lonely."

Young-Eun didn't say anything. She was just staring outside the window.

"Since he doesn't want to move in with us, maybe we should ask him to move somewhere close to us."

"I don't think he will. My father is a proud man for his independent and self-sufficient life. Also, he is stubborn."

"I think we should visit your aunt in Yangpyeong District too."

"Let's just invite her over to our home next week when my father comes. Maybe we want to invite President Jeong-Sook Shin as well."

"As long as they said okay, I'm good with it."

"I will talk to them."

Gun-Ho was concerned about Young-Eun's emotional status that day. Even after they came back home, she looked gloomy. She was like that for the entire evening since she met her father. Gun-Ho knew he wouldn't have any chance to make love to her that night.

"Oppa, let's sleep separately tonight since we drink and all."

"Okay. You must be exhausted after visiting both parents. Sweet dreams."

Gun-Ho gave a good-night kiss to Young-Eun on her cheek before going to his room.

The next day was Sunday. After breakfast, Gun-Ho and Young-Eun took a walk at Yangjae riverside.

Many residents in Gangnam District went to Yangjae riverside for jogging or taking a walk. While walking with Young-Eun, Gun-Ho was lost in thought, and so was Young-Eun.

'It's the end of March. Starting tomorrow, I will receive financial statements from all of my GH companies.'

Each year's financial report came out at the end of December in the same year; that was an internal financial report. However, the official financial report, which would be open to the public, required an external audit, so that financial report would be issued after March 30th in the following year.

There was no single GH company that suffered loss, but GH Development still worried Gun-Ho.

'I know it makes me look good to have a large building in Gangnam District, but given the amount of money that I invested in GH Development, it's not generating enough returns. I invested 40 billion won into that company to acquire and manage the building, but it doesn't give me much back. I want to merge it into one of my companies that makes enough revenue, but I don't have that kind of company yet.'

Gun-Ho continued to walk along the Yangjae riverside while continuing to think about his business.

Note*

Cheongha - one of Korean brands of clear and refined rice wine.