Gun-Ho gave a piece of paper to Master Park, where his date of birth was written on . Master Park compared it with the date in the Perpetual Calendar . He then retrieved Gun-Ho’s fate .
“You will marry next year . You will make more and more money . ”
“Who would I marry?”
“To a woman, of course . ”
“What kind of woman would that be?”
“To some woman . ”
“Sir, please tell me more and be specific for me . ”
“How do I know? I don’t even have that woman’s date of birth to know more . ”
Gun-Ho should have brought the three women’s date of birth, who was currently in his life—the lady medical doctor, Seol-Bing, and Mori Aikko . He could ask Artist Choi of Young-Eun Kim’s birth date without any difficulty . For Seol-Bing and Mori Aikko, he could ask them directly . Seol-Bing might not be honest with her date of birth given the nature of her job, but Mori Aikko wouldn’t mind giving Gun-Ho her date of birth . From Gun-Ho’s personal experience, Japanese people usually seemed to believe in superstitions, including Mori Aikko . For that reason, Mori Aikko would be cooperative on this .
“I actually have three women in my mind, sir . ”
Master Park wrote down some words on a traditional Korean paper, ‘Deuk Ja An Jeong . ’
“Deuk Ja An Jeong? What does that mean?”
“Your love life would become settled once you have a child . ”
“That makes sense . ”
“With which woman do you think you can raise your kid well while feeling comfortable letting her educate your kid?”
“Huh? Oh, ummm… . Hmmm . ”
Gun-Ho somehow understood what Master Park said .
“The young people during Joseon Dynasty learned the saying, ‘Bing Jeuk Wih Cho, Boon Jeuk Wih Cheop . ’ It means that if you marry a woman, she will become your wife; if a woman follows you, she will become your concubine . ”
“Could you explain?”
“If you show your respect to a woman and marry that woman, then she is your wife . If you meet a woman who lets you touch her and kiss her on the first or second date, she is your concubine . ”
“Oh, I see…”
Gun-Ho nodded his head .
Even though Master Park didn’t point out one woman out of three saying she would be Gun-Ho’s wife, he at least gave guidance to Gun-Ho how to recognize his future wife . Gun-Ho felt relieved since he now had something to work with to resolve his headache . Gun-Ho gave a thick envelope to Master Park to show his gratitude .
“Thank you . ”
Master Park didn’t even bother to open the envelope to verify the amount of money, but he just put it in the drawer of his floor desk .
“I bought these for you on the way here . These might come in handy around here . ”
“A cane and a belt for mountain climbing? Oh, thank you . I actually needed them . ”
On the way back to Seoul, Gun-Ho said to Chan-Ho in his Bentley, “Chan-Ho, Master told me that if I treat a woman with my respect and marry her, then she is my wife, and if a woman comes after me, then that woman is my concubine . ”
“Whew, sir . It sounds too complicated for me . You like someone, then you just marry that person, no?”
“Well, these pearls of wisdom coming down from the saints who had lived a long time ago are still with us for a reason . We’d better think about it . ”
“Sir, do we still have a concubine these days? It’s hard enough to find even one woman in my life . ”
“Hmmm . Is that so?”
“I gave up marrying someone . Who would want to marry a man like me considering the tough field that I am in?”
“Don’t say that . I’m sure you will meet someone . ”
Gun-Ho didn’t want to stay in an office in his building that day . He went up to the rooftop . It had been a while since he went there . There were some office workers smoking and some mid-aged women, who were talking with their friends while having a cup of coffee at the café .
Jae-Sik’s wife was there working . Gun-Ho entered the book café and said hello to her, “Hello, ma’am . How have you been?”
“Oh, hi . ”
It seemed to be the first time Jae-Sik’s wife actually talked to Gun-Ho . Gun-Ho looked at her face . She looked vibrant that day .
“How is the work? Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No . Everything is good here . ”
“Jae-Sik is doing great in running the transportation company in Seonghwan Town . ”
“I feel so grateful that you gave a good opportunity to him, sir . ”
“If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know . ”
“Thank you . ”
When Gun-Ho was talking with Jae-Sik’s wife, President Jeong-Sook Shin came to the book café . She was loading some books in a foldable hand cart to arrange them in the book café . Gun-Ho quickly went to President Shin and helped her put the books in a bookshelf . The books looked heavy .
“Sir, you are here . ”
President Shin asked, “Are you meeting Young-Eun soon again?”
“No, we haven’t talked about our next meeting yet . ”
“You should be more aggressive with making every chance to get close to her, sir . Young-Eun is really a decent girl . I am a woman, but if I was a man, I would have married her . ”
“Do you know what she thinks about me?”
“Well, she said you seemed to be a good person . It’s just that you sometimes act like an old man . ”
“Really?”
“Oh, next week, I’m hosting a sculpture exhibition . Rookie artists will participate . ”
“Oh, I see . ”
Gun-Ho came back to his office on the eighteenth floor . He was thinking while having a cup of tea .
‘I act like an old man?’
Gun-Ho looked at himself in the mirror in his office .
“I’m only six years older than her . Do I look that old? I had no problem with kissing Seol-Bing and Mori Aikko . They are very young too . ”
Gun-Ho let out a deep sigh .
“Honestly, I do look old . I will turn 37 next year . I didn’t realize that I’m getting close to 40 now . ”
Gun-Ho sent a text message to Young-Eun Kim .
[I would like to take a walk around the Fortress Wall of Seoul this Sunday . I will wait for you at the Starbucks in front of Hasung University Station at 10 am . ]
Gun-Ho felt nervous after sending the text to her .
“What if she doesn’t show up?”
Gun-Ho wanted to look younger for his meeting with Young-Eun .
He had been surrounded by mostly old people who were in their 50s at work . Gun-Ho was their boss, and maybe he acted like an old man to live up to their expectations as their boss without realizing it .
Gun-Ho went to the subway station without letting Chan-Ho know . He took a subway at the Sinsa Station heading to Rodeo Street in Apgujeong Town, which was known to be a fashion mecca in Seoul . He wanted to buy jeans, t-shirts, shoes, etc . He stopped by the Galleria Department Store in Apgujeong Town as well .
Gun-Ho purchased a few name-brand jeans, t-shirts, a hat, and also expensive hiking boots .
Gun-Ho still felt anxious about the meeting that he unilaterally set by sending a text message . He was worried that she would just ignore Gun-Ho’s text and not show up at the place in which Gun-Ho asked her to come .
“What should I do if she doesn’t show up at all?”
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