Chapter 452: 452
When Gun-Ho woke up at the condo in Daikanyama, Shibuya, Mori Aikko was not there . She probably left for the airport already .
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"I wanted to give her some money to spend, but she is already gone . "
Gun-Ho's returning flight ticket to Korea was scheduled the next day, and since Mori Aikko was not there with Gun-Ho, he thought of changing the ticket to leave for Korea early . And then, he thought maybe he could use the day to see people he knew in Japan like Mr . Sakata Ikuzo, who was the world-renowned Japanese engineer and used to work with Gun-Ho in Dyeon Korea, and the Korean restaurant owner—Ms . Ji-Yeon Choi .
"I will have lunch with Mr . Sakata Ikuzo, and then I can swing by Ms . Ji-Yeon Choi's restaurant and have a bowl of oxtail soup for dinner . "
Gun-Ho looked at his watch .
"It's already ten o'clock . "
Gun-Ho cleaned the room where he spent the night with Mori Aikko, and he also emptied the trash can for her . After arranging the bed, he walked out of the condo .
While walking toward the subway station, Gun-Ho made a call to Mr . Sakata Ikuzo .
"Sakata Ikuzo desu ka? Watashi was kankku no kyu shachodesu . (I'm President Goo from Korea) . "
"Oh, Kyu shacho san, ohisashiburidesu . (Oh, President Goo, long time no see . )"
Gun-Ho could speak Japanese a little bit . Thanks to Mori Aikko .
"I'm in Daikanyama, Shibuya right now . I will come to Yokohama . Let's have lunch together . "
"Oh, you are in Japan? I live in Motomachi . It's a suburb of Yokohama . I will wait for you at the subway station . "
A while later, Gun-Ho and Mr . Sakata Ikuzo met each other .
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Mr . Sakata Ikuzo looked older than before, and he was a little hunched, but he looked healthy overall . Gun-Ho could still smell some sort of metal from him .
Mr . Sakata Ikuzo took Gun-Ho to a restaurant that specialized in grilled eel . Gun-Ho took out a bottle of liquor that he bought at a department store in Yokohama . It was a gift for Mr . Sakata Ikuzo . As he gave it to Mr . Sakata Ikuzo, he said, "You look healthy . "
"Thank you . I guess I am maintaining my health by keeping my work . "
"So you are still getting work from your clients, huh?"
"I'm still in contact with my old clients . When they need a handmade mould, they bring the work to me . It's not a high volume of workload though since a mold carving machine is doing a great job these days . Even if I could get lots of work, I wouldn't have been able to handle the workload . I should admit that I'm getting old . "
"I still have the samurai figure that you gave to me in my office in the building, Sinsa Town . That figure always reminded me of you . "
"Thank you . Oh, how is Director Jong-Suk Park doing?"
"He is doing good . He is married now, and he has a daughter . His life is now committed to his family . "
"Oh, really? Please send my congratulations to him . "
After lunch, Mr . Sakata Ikuzo invited Gun-Ho to his home . Mr . Sakata Ikuzo was living in a single house that was not totally in a traditional Japanese style or a modern structure, but it was in between . He had lots of yellow flowers in his yard, and there was a separate and small storage, which he was using as his workshop .
Mr . Sakata Ikuzo showed Gun-Ho around his workshop . Several pieces of metal were scattered everywhere along with sawdust .
'How come there is sawdust here? Is he working with wood as well?'
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When they moved to a room with a tatami floor, Mr . Sakata Ikuzo brought some tea . Mr . Sakata Ikuzo was sitting in a kneeling position while filling an empty cup with tea . Gun-Ho couldn't sit in a kneeling position like him because that would make him very uncomfortable . He just sat with his legs crossed on the floor .
"You can sit as you feel comfortable . "
When Mr . Sakata Ikuzo opened the traditional Japanese sliding door, Gun-Ho could see the entire yard from the room with yellow flowers .
"They are so beautiful . "
"They are wood sorrels and rapeseed . They are wildflowers; I moved some of them to my yard . "
Mr . Sakata Ikuzo brought a small box that was about the size of a cell phone .
"Please give this to Director Jong-Suk Park . It's a gift for his daughter from an old man . "
"What is this?"
"You can open it . "
Gun-Ho opened the box .
Once Gun-Ho opened the paper box, there was another box that was made of wood . When Gun-Ho opened the wooden box, there was a butterfly .
"Is it butterfly taxidermy?"
"No, I made it . "
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"What do you mean by you made it?"
Gun-Ho touched the butterfly . His eyes widened .
"Oh, this is made of wood . Oh, my gosh . This looks so real . "
"I've been doing wood carving since I was a young man . It was my hobby, and I did it whenever I felt bored . Given the nature of my work, I work with metal most of the time, and I've been trying to neutralize the metal's energy that affects my body by touching more wood . "
"I see . "
"I actually received an offer from Yokohama's art gallery . They want to host an art exhibition with some of my carved figures . Since I have spare time these days, I'm working on carving more figures in preparation for the exhibition . "
"Oh, really?"
Mr . Sakata Ikuzo showed Gun-Ho more of the figures that he made .
"Wow . This looks like a living dragonfly . "
On a large tray that Mr . Sakata Ikuzo brought in order to show to Gun-Ho, there was a dragonfly, a frog, and a small bird, etc . They all look so real, especially with the vivid colors painted on them .
"Wow . This is incredible . "
While he was looking at the animal figures on the tray, Gun-Ho saw an anchovy . He tried to take it out from the tray .
"I guess you dropped an anchovy here by accident . "
When Gun-Ho picked up the anchovy, he was amazed .
"Wow! You made this one too!"
Mr . Sakata Ikuzo smiled . He looked satisfied .
There was still the calligraphy wall hanging in his room, which said 'Isshokenmei . ' It was his philosophy of life, which meant that he would put everything into his work even though he had to risk his life to do so . His work with wooden figures reflected this philosophy very well . Mr . Sakata Ikuzo, who was sitting in a kneeling position on the floor, reminded Gun-Ho of the legendary swordsman in Japan—Miyamoto Musashi .
"It's amazing . When does your art exhibition start in Yokohama?"
"It will open in June . "
"I will definitely come and visit your exhibition then . "
"Thank you . I will send you the exhibition's pamphlet once it comes out, shacho san (Mr . President) . "
Gun-Ho thought that he would come to Mr . Sakata Ikuzo's art exhibition in June with President Jeong-Sook Shin .
After parting from Mr . Sakata Ikuzo, Gun-Ho came back to Tokyo, and he headed to New Otani Hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo . After checking in, he went up to his room and looked out of the window .
"I have a good memory with this hotel about two women . "
While looking out of the window, Gun-Ho thought of Mori Aikko and also Seol-Bing .
'I had the first night with Mori Aikko in this hotel . Also, I held Seol-Bing's hand for the first time in this hotel . '