Chapter 31
"Mom, here is 1,000,000 won. Keep it for now."
"What's this for?"
"We have to wait and see the test result before we know anything about his treatment like if an operation is needed. However, you might need the money to pay the security deposit for his hospitalization."
Gun-Ho's sister said while standing next to her mother,
"1,000,000 won is far from enough. Whew, I spent all my money for my recent moving. What are we going to do?"
Gun-Ho looked up the ceiling in the hospital lobby for a moment and then looked at his mother's face. He could see the wrinkles on her face; her eyes were filled with tears. He deeply felt sorry for her.
"Mom, I gotta go. I have to go to work tomorrow in Asan. If you need anything, just call me."
"Okay. Go before it gets too late to leave. Be nice and show your respect to people at work."
It was already the middle of night. Gun-Ho had mixed feelings on the way home, Cheonan from Incheon.
"I had 1,200,000 won in total, and I gave 1,000,000 out of it to mom. That leaves me with 200,000 won. I have to live with 200,000 for a month."
Feeling of fear began to seize Gun-Ho.
"I should have gotten a credit card; it would have been useful. I only have a debit card… Can I get a loan from a bank? I already have the suns.h.i.+ne loan and student loan. They won't lend me any more money because of my pre-existing loans. As my sister said, 1,000,000 won is way far from enough for dad's medical bill… Ahh! It drives me crazy!"
Gun-Ho screamed like an animal while holding the steering wheel.
Gun-Ho became quiet at work. He just worked without saying a word.
"Mr. Gun-Ho Goo!"
The president called him. Gun-Ho couldn't hear the president because he was lost in thought.
"Mr. Gun-Ho Goo!"
When the president shouted Gun-Ho's name again, Gun-Ho woke up to it and ran to the president's office. The president was with a guest in his office.
"What were you doing? I've been calling you!"
"I am sorry. I was on the phone and couldn't hear you."
"Say h.e.l.lo to him. This is the branch manager of the Industrial Bank of Korea."
The branch manager offered his hand for a handshake while smiling.
"h.e.l.lo, I am Gun-Ho Goo. Nice to meet you."
The president took a sip of green tea and said, "Mr. Gun-Ho Goo, can you bring the financial statements from last year?"
"Financial statements? Sure, I will be right back."
Gun-Ho went back to his desk and started looking for the financial statements from his shelf. It was a thick book.
"I am sure it was here…"
It was strange that he couldn't find the financial statements from the place it had always been. There was one from two years ago and one from three years ago, but he couldn't find the one for the prior year, of all things. Gun-Ho could hear the president yelling.
"Mr. Gun-Ho Goo! What takes you so long? Please bring it right away!"
"Okay, okay."
Gun-Ho was fl.u.s.tered, and he finally found the last year's financial statements after a while. It was placed at the bottom of the shelf; it was weird that Gun-Ho didn't see it
"You should have placed it somewhere you can easily find. You can't take that long to find this kind of doc.u.ments."
"I am so sorry."
The president said while leafing through the financial statements, "For the last year, our short-term debt didn't increase, did it?"
"Huh? Oh, no, no, it didn't"
Gun-Ho didn't actually know whether the short-term debt increased or decreased. He had gone through the statements once, but he didn't really pay attention to it. He just answered "no," and felt worried. The president gestured.
"Mr. Gun-Ho Goo. You can leave us now."
"Oh, okay, okay."
Gun-Ho left the president's office after giving a 90-degree bow to the president and the branch manager.
Gun-Ho took a copy of last year's financial statements to verify the short-term debt from the storage room. It actually increased compared to two years ago.
"Whew, the president would say something later about this."
Gun-Ho walked out of the storage room while carrying a copy of the financial statements. He wanted to carefully look through it once he got home.
After he came to his desk Gun-Ho sat in his chair absent-mindedly.
He was not sure about his father's test result and how much medical bill he had to expect. He was also worried if the president would reprimand him after the branch manager leaves. At that moment, he received a call from Jong-Suk.
"Bro, let's go fis.h.i.+ng the day after tomorrow; it's Sunday!"
"To Pocheon?"
"You said it only takes two and half hours from your end. I will bring soju and a roasted chicken. You just bring your own body."
Gun-Ho was stressed a lot these days both at work and at home; he wanted to get some fresh air.
"Okay, let's go! F*ck."
"Why do you say 'f*ck' in going fis.h.i.+ng?"
"There is something you don't know."
"Something must be going on. Come and get fresh air. You need to refresh yourself!"
It has been a while since Gun-Ho headed to the Pocheon fis.h.i.+ng site.
"Our country, Korea has the great roads even though its people are having a hard time living in it."
Gun-Ho met Jong-Suk at the fis.h.i.+ng site. He was really happy to see Jong-Suk.
"Hey, it has been a while. I am truly happy to see you. Uh? You gained some weight."
"I ate too much pork belly because factory often has dinner gatherings. You seem to have lost some weight, bro."
"My life has been hard, I guess."
"Uh? Look at that. The Cheongdam Town Chairman Lee is here. Wow, I didn't expect to see him again. That Manager Gweon who is a.s.sisting Chairman Lee is here, too."
"Chairman Lee, how are you?"
"Oh, young men. I am glad to see both of you. How have you been? I come here from time to time. It seems you didn't come here for quite a while."
"Yes, I am still working in Yangju, but my bro is now working in Asan."
"Asan? You are far from here. So do you still work in a plastic factory?"
"He is working in an accounting department. He already acquired the accounting certificate."
"Oh, really? A s.h.i.+nw.a.n.gJaew.a.n.g fate actually started being exposed to the accounting. So how is it?"
"I think I should have stayed as a factory worker. I had to often work till late at night, and I didn't even get a raise."
"Hahaha. The s.h.i.+nw.a.n.gJaew.a.n.g fate is well paying its lesson fee to Gis.h.i.+nDaeWoon."
"Huh?"
"No, I am just talking to myself."
"A fate thing, that's a sham. The Master Park from the Jinyeo Philosophy Hall told me that I would be a rich man after five years. Almost two years already pa.s.sed from that day. I feel like I am financially suffering more."
"Hahaha, is that right?"
Gun-Ho recalled Master Park's face; he sure looked like a top con artist. He just pretended to know everything and took people's pocket money just like that—he seemed to be an evil man.
At that moment, there was a big thumping noise. Chairman Lee and Manager Gweon stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.
"It seems like they are demolis.h.i.+ng the barn across the street with an excavator. Whew, I could see the dust even from the distance. It will generate tons of construction waste."
"Fish will run away because of that noise."
Chairman Lee said while casting the fis.h.i.+ng rod into the water again.
"There are lots of construction wastes these days. Even on the way to this fis.h.i.+ng site, I saw a pile of construction waste on the entrance of the asphalt-paved road leading to the site. I had to drive on the edge of the road to avoid it."
"Hmm… construction waste… there is someone who made money out of that waste."
"What? That waste has value?"
Manager Gweon's eyes widened as he looked at the Chairman Lee.