Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho once heard of Jae-Sik’s mother that she became mentally ill ever since she lost her second son. Gun-Ho had to be careful when he asked Jae-Sik about his mother.

“How is your mother doing? Someone is supporting her financially?”

“She is doing okay. My father and I send her money regularly to support her living expenses. She is also getting an old-age pension even though it’s not much.”

“Then she should be financially fine, right?”

Jae-Sik smiled in response to Gun-Ho’s question, and he said, “She spent most of that money to pay for her rent. It’s a two-bedroom unit in the basement, but it still costs her 150,000 won per month. She can’t even dream to save money in the current situation. My father is making 1 million won per month. Out of 1 million won, he has to give 400,000 to the court and send 200,000 won to my mother. That leaves him with 400,000 per month, and that’s his living expense for the month.”

Jae-Sik filled up his water glass with soju, instead of the small glass for soju, and drank it before continuing to talk.

“A 30 pyung large condo in Gangnam District, Seoul City costs 3 billion won these days, doesn’t it? Whenever I encounter news like that, sometimes I feel the urge to set fire on those luxurious condo complexes in Gangnam District. Hahaha.”

“Hmm.”

“If I do so, I would easily get caught and arrested. I don’t think I could even succeed in setting fire to them. I would get caught while carrying a bucket of gasoline to those condo complexes. I would be condemned harshly for the attempt. People would assume that I am a loser who doesn’t try hard to succeed in society but rather chooses to blame the society for my current situation.”

“You are drunk, man.”

“President Goo, do you know for whom law exists? It exists for the wealthy, definitely not for the poor.”

“You’d better slow down your drinking.”

“I once borrowed the money that I collected to make the alumni directory book of our high school. I collected 50,000 won from each person in our high school union. I was going to use it just for a short period because I desperately needed money at that very time; I didn’t even have money to buy food and pay for rent. And my high school friends simply assumed that I deceived them to take money from them from the beginning, and they called me a swindler without even trying to understand my situation. Hahaha.”

“Let bygones be bygones, man. It’s all in the past.”

“President Goo, I want to succeed in China. I will make it. I truly appreciate you for giving me this opportunity. I know I’ve owed you a lot even when we were in high school. I still remember that day when Suk-Ho beat me up so hard, and you were the one who stopped him. I indeed owe you a lot.”

Jae-Sik Moon filled up Gun-Ho’s empty glass with soju.

“It’s still a lot of money. It’s 300 million won in cash. Also, I have a transportation company with 27 vehicles, and it’s a loan-free business. I do thank you for the profits that I made with GH Logistics.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Let me be direct with you on this. I want to pay you for the effort that you put into this transaction and for letting me use your name. I will buy you a small condo in Incheon City.”

“What? You are buying me a condo?!”

“Of course, you deserve that. You had to change your residential address to buy that farmland, and you played a key role in the transaction. Once you have your own condo, you can support your parents financially, and it will give you peace of mind to a certain extent. So you will be able to focus better on the work once you get to China.”

“That’s nonsense!”