Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

The waitresses of the room salon set up the table beautifully with the whiskey glasses, snacks and fruits they brought in. They prepared ice cubes for whiskey as well, in case anyone wanted a whiskey on the rocks.

“Bring us three or four bottles of beer too.”

The way Suk-Ho ordered beers was telling that this was not his first time in a room salon. He skillfully opened the Chivas Regal bottle and poured into each person’s whiskey glass. When the waitress brought beers, Suk-Ho asked,

“Do you want a bomb shot?”

Gun-Ho waved his two hands simultaneously showing that he didn’t want a bomb shot. He seemed to be too drunk to say a word.

“You have such low alcohol tolerance. How are you going to manage to run a big business with that?”

The three men started drinking beers and Chiva Regal. After about ten minutes, the same waiter wearing a bow tie came back to their room.

“I’ve brought three ladies for you. If you don’t like any of them, you just let me know, then I will bring a new girl.”

Three young ladies wearing flimsy half nude clothes came into the room. Their faces were covered with a thick layer of makeup.

“Who is the youngest?”

As Suk-Ho asked, a girl who looked young came forward.

“Okay. You sit next to the guy over there. He is the youngest among us.”

Suk-Ho indicated the seat next to Jong-Suk. The girl quickly went to Suk-Ho and sat next to him.

“Let me see who is prettier.”

Suk-Ho asked one of two other ladies to sit next to Gun-Ho; she was shorter than the other girl. Suk-Ho then asked the tall girl to sit next to himself. Gun-Ho thought the girl next to him who was a bit shorter than the other looked prettier.

Gun-Ho was nervous because of the girl who was half naked and sitting next to him. He could smell Chanel perfume from her. Gun-Ho was startled when the lady next to him held his arm. That lady started laughing by Gun-Ho’s reaction.

“Hahaha. I guess this is your first time in a place like this.”

She took a piece of apple from the plate on the table and bit half of it. She then put the remaining half, which of course had her saliva into Gun-Ho’s mouth.

“Um… it’s…um… it’s okay. I will take it myself.”

“Hahaha, he is stuttering.”

All of the three girls there started laughing.

“These two men here are virgin. You girls are very lucky today. You’d better serve them well tonight.”

Suk-Ho said vigorously while pouring Chivas Regal in three glasses and handing it to the three girls. The three ladies gulped liquor and started smoking.

– What happened next will not be described in this novel since it is lewd. (This novel is not rated R) –

Gun-Ho opened his eyes. It was not his home.

“Where am I?”

He remembered that the bouncers helped him walk and placed him in a motel in a building next to the room salon building.

“Oh, this is a motel room. I guess I spent a night here.”

Gun-Ho looked at his watch. It was five in the morning. Gun-Ho thought about whether he should call Suk-Ho and Jong-Suk; he then decided not to.

Gun-Ho walked out of the motel. It was still dark outside. The sun was not up yet. There was a street sweeper cleaning the street.

Gun-Ho walked to the main street to take a taxi and came back to his office-tel in Yeongdeungpo District. As he was having a bad headache, he laid down on his bed again.

When Gun-Ho woke up later that day, he started calculating how much he spent last night.

“The liquor and tips for the ladies cost me more than 1.5 million won. That is the same amount of money as my monthly income when I worked in a factory. Ha! Ordinary people will not go to a room salon spending this much in one night. I don’t think I would go there again, either because I don’t like their liquor. I went there by curiosity but it’s not my type.”

Gun-Ho had money but he didn’t have a job. He didn’t know what to say whenever someone asked him about his occupation. For that reason, he wanted to do something that would generate income.

“What should I do? What about a fast food restaurant like Lotteria? Or a coffee shop like Starbucks? Since Starbucks doesn’t franchise their stores, maybe I should do Tom N Toms or Pascucci. Nah, if I open one of those, I will have to spend my time operating it. My main focus has to be a real estate or financial business.”

After giving a lot of thought to his business item, he came up with an office-tel or OneRoomTel business.

“I can buy several office-tels and rent them out.”

It could be a good business as long as all tenants were nice enough to pay their rent every month without any issue just like Gun-Ho himself had done, otherwise, it could be troublesome.

“What about OneRoomTel? The luxurious one with a monthly rent of over 400,000 won. I had once thought about taking a residential manager position in a OneRoomTel while studying for the level-9 government job exam. Should I run a OneRoomTel?”

Gun-Ho searched any OneRoomTel for sale on the Internet.

“A newly renovated luxurious OneRoomTel costs about 300 million won. Even if I buy three of them, it would cost me less than 1 billion won. According to the sales advertisement, the income from one OneRoomTel would be 6,000,000 won, but I don’t think it would generate that much. Assuming that I make 4,000,000 won from each OneRoomTel, I can make 12,000,000 won per month. I can hire a manager who would handle the business. It seems like a good business for me. The business looks simple and it wouldn’t require my constant presence.”

Gun-Ho wanted to buy his own place as soon as possible and move out of this office-tel he was currently residing. He also wanted to buy a car.

“I want to buy a condo in Gangnam. The condo’s price in Gangnam is always on the rise no matter what. It will be one of my investment property, so I’d better get an expensive one. I’ve done it before when I was in China. I bought an expensive condo there and its price became more expensive.”

Gun-Ho opened an auction website and looked for a condo for sale in Gangnam. One condo drew Gun-Ho’s attention.

“One TowerPalace condo in Dogok Town is on the market. It’s 1.8 billion won. If no one bids on this condo at their first try at auction, the price will drop below 1.5 billion won. I’d better ask someone who knows well about auction before I place my bid. Let’s ask the president of the private institution in Yongsan District. I took an auction course there. The president is giving a consultation as well.”

Gun-Ho calculated again.

“I have 19.8 billion won. I will spend 1 billion for a business like OneRoomTel, 1.5 billion for my own condo, 0.4 billion for my parents’ condo, and for other miscellaneous spending such as a car, furniture, etc. of 0.1 billion. I will then need about 3 billion in total. I will keep the remaining 16.8 billion won until I find a good business or investment opportunity.”

While Gun-Ho was having a happy time planning his future, it occurred to him that he wanted to treat Chairman Lee a dinner.

“Oh, I want to treat Chairman Lee and Master Park a dinner or something. Will it be okay for me to call them? Will they have time for me?”

Gun-Ho looked for the business card that Chairman Lee had given to him before He left for China. There was no cell phone number but only office number was on the business card. He made a call to the number. After ringing twice, a young lady answered the phone—probably his secretary.

“Hello?”

“Dongil Paper Chairman’s office? May I talk to the chairman please?”

“May I tell him who’s calling?”

“Umm, he will know if you tell him Gun-Ho Goo from Pocheon fishing site.”

“He is not available right now. I will let him know that you called.”

Gun-Ho hung up the phone.

“Is she just telling me he was not there even though he was there?”

Gun-Ho was getting ready to go out to have a Jjajangmyeon when he received a call from Chairman Lee.

“Mr. Gun-Ho Goo? I was told that you called?”

“Chairman Lee? How have you been?”

“I haven’t been in the fishing site lately because of the cold weather. Let’s go fishing once the weather gets warmer.”

“I was calling you because I wanted to buy you a dinner because I got a good result from my recent investment.”

“Me? What does your investment have to do with me?”

“Your advice has helped me a lot in my investment decision. I would really like to buy you a dinner. Please let me know your convenient time. I also like to invite your friend, Master Park for dinner as well.”

“Haha, thank you for the invitation. I will then pick a good date and let you know.”

Gun-Ho received a call from Chairman Lee in that evening.

“How about this coming Friday? In Hannam Town. Master Park said he would join us.”

“I will be there, sir.”

“You probably don’t know the restaurant we picked, so come to the Soonchunhyang Hospital in Hannam Town by 7 PM. Manager Gweon will be waiting for you in front of the hospital.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”