Japan's Top Geisha (1)
Kim Chirok's mother asked if he had a girlfriend, and he answered that he didn't.
Then Oh Ha-young from the General Affairs Department came to mind.
Oh Ha-young had graduated from a university in Incheon and worked at H Chemical in Incheon. She was two years ahead of Kim Chirok in hire date. She was not a new graduate hired through the company's general recruitment but a local hire for H Chemical.
This woman had been subtly approaching Kim Chirok.
However, Kim Chirok didn't particularly like this woman because she had an intimidating presence.
"I still don't have any desire to date."
Kim Chirok hadn't had a girlfriend during his university years either. With no money, he couldn't go to gatherings or hang out. He just stayed locked in the central library at school reading books. Or he would climb to the Pasa-kku-chi behind Seoul National University to read books. Under the shade of trees, reading books.
His love for books seemed fitting for the son of a third-rate poet.
His mother spoke again.
"You should get at least a small house in Incheon. I wonder how much the deposit for the apartment in Yeonsu-dong is these days."
"I have no plans to get married yet. Stop thinking about useless things and do your knee exercises diligently."
"These days, you should go to the market to buy groceries. You're getting physical therapy every day."
"Then rest comfortably. I have to go to work tomorrow morning, so I should head out."
"Already? Eat something first."
"Okay."
The next day, Kim Chirok went to work. He wrote a business trip report and settled the expense reports.
While going to the bathroom, he ran into Oh Ha-young from the General Affairs Department in the hallway.
"Kim Chirok, do you have any gifts? I heard you went to Japan."
"Huh? A gift?"
"Manager Lee gave me a gift as a memento of his trip to Japan."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Manager Lee bought Manju with an Expo character on the wrapper. We shared it with the other staff in the General Affairs Department."
"R-really?"
"Kim Chirok, you're really something. No gift at all! Whether it's good or not is up to you."
"S-sorry."
"No need to apologize. Instead, you can buy a plate of sashimi at Yeon'an Pier."
[Should I buy a plate of sashimi? Why is this woman standing in front of me giving me stress?]
Kim Chirok just smiled awkwardly and walked past.
Kim Chirok returned to the Strategic Planning Office.
H Group had a Group Strategic Planning Office at the Seoul headquarters, but each subsidiary also had its own planning office. The subsidiary planning offices set strategies for their own companies, while the Group Strategic Planning Office planned grand strategies for the entire group.
That's why major new advanced business fields came from the Strategic Planning Office.
The talented people were also concentrated there.
Kim Chirok sat at his desk to start working when his phone rang. It was the President's secretary.
"Is this Kim Chirok? This is the secretary's office. The President would like to see you."
It was rare for the President to personally call a regular employee.
So Kim Chirok asked curiously.
"Does the President want me?"
"Yes. The President asked all the staff in the Planning Office who went on the Japan business trip to come."
That put him at ease. The Director and Manager were also called.
[Should I ask about the Expo? The President must have visited the Expo opening early....]
Director Park and Manager Lee were already ahead in the hallway.
Kim Chirok followed and said,
"You called me too?"
"Really? Let's hurry."
The President of H Chemical was a man in his late 50s.
From the President's expression, it didn't seem like he was about to scold anyone.
The President smiled and said,
"You met President Jeong-hee at the Expo exhibition hall?"
The President wasn't asking about the Expo. It seemed he was asking because he had met the real power, President Jeong-hee.
Director Park spoke first. As soon as the President's words ended, the Director's mouth opened immediately. As expected, the Director was quick-witted. The wisdom of a veteran showed through.
"Yes. I met President Jeong-hee. President Jeong-hee was happy to see Director Park's face here. And she said the Expo has many new advanced fields, so enjoy them."
"No other questions?"
"The Expo is the design of future society, so observe it well and apply it to your work. We will do the same, she said boldly."
"The Osaka Expo shocked the world with the design of future society. President Jeong-hee's words are right."
"I think so too. President Jeong-hee seemed to have a lot of interest in the future society. Her thinking was different from ours."
"Our chemical field also needs to look to the future and develop technology."
"Of course. President."
The Director had a tired look when he visited the Expo, but he answered energetically in front of the President. As expected, the Director's position was not just anything.
The President then looked at Manager Lee's face and said,
"No other questions for you?"
"Yes. None for me. The President said only Kim Chirok's name was unusual."
The President glanced at Kim Chirok's face. Then looked at the two-page business trip report again. Seeing the name of the business trip reporter at the end, he said,
"Kim Chirok! Your name is indeed unusual. So, what did you answer?"
"I said it sounded unusual when I went, and he asked my name again."
"Oh, really?"
"And he said chemistry is a field with many challenges."
"Chemistry does have many challenging fields. Kim Chirok is still a staff member, so learn well from your seniors."
"Understood."
"Then go do your work. Director Park, buy a delicious lunch for the staff who went on the business trip with you. You have a corporate card, right?"
"Yes. I do."
The President continued to smile.
It seemed because his subordinates didn't make mistakes in front of President Jeong-hee. Later, when he met President Jeong-hee, he thought he should ask if his employees made mistakes in front of the President. He needed to drop his act. The President was indeed cunning.
Kim Chirok and Manager Lee got into Director Park's car and left the company. Then they went to a rice cooker rice shop freshly made in Dongchun-dong. They decided to eat mushroom jjigae and grilled fish. Since they ate soba and fried foods in Japan, they wanted Korean food.
While eating, Manager Lee looked at Kim Chirok and said,
"Didn't you give a gift to Oh Ha-young? You would like your gift better than the one I gave."
"Who gives gifts these days? Manager, you said you bought Manju."
"The General Affairs Department has a lot of things to cooperate on. At the very least, they settle the business trip expenses and issue various documents."
"That's normal work for the department, isn't it?"
"Moreover, Oh Ha-young seems to secretly like you."
"I have no interest."
Director Park also said something.
"There's no need for a spouse to be a SKY university graduate. Just managing the household well and being good to your husband is the best."
"But that's not it....."
"Why? Do you have a separate lover?"
"I don't have a lover, but......"
Manager Lee spoke again.
"Is it because of the school violence rumors when Oh Ha-young was in high school? That's just kids' stuff. Since Oh Ha-young is healthy and lively, that happened. I think Oh Ha-young is fine."
"Wow. Manager, you too! Let's talk about something else."
"Are you only looking for women? Are you only looking for women like Japan's top geisha, Hirosue Yoshiko?"
Kim Chirok remembered a poster he saw in a Japanese izakaya. A beautiful woman smiling while holding a traditional Japanese umbrella under a cherry blossom tree in full bloom.
She was really pretty and refreshing.
"That's not it. I'm not in the phase to date yet."
"Is there a separate phase? Dating is dating. The phase is the name of a town in Cheonan."
"I still have things to do."
"This guy seems to have been bitten by the Japanese geisha. Geishas are basically women who sell their bodies, right!"
Director Park ate the fish and said,
"Recently, I heard that geishas don't sell their bodies anymore. That must have been during the Edo period. Now, they just attend performances or parties. But they make a lot of money, I heard."
"Is that true?"
"To meet geishas, you need a recommendation from a regular customer and a reservation, so it makes sense."
"That sounds right."
"According to the Osaka branch manager, geishas these days are like entertainers trained in entertainment agencies."
"Then those like Hirosue Yoshiko must make a lot of money?"
"If she's a flagship star, it makes sense."
"Then the geisha training places must have taken a big cut."
"For Hirosue Yoshiko, they must have taken plenty. Not just pretty face, but good at dance, song, and playing instruments."
"She must have practiced a lot."
"It takes years to train. In Korea, to make idol singers, they train for years."
While Manager Lee and Director Park kept talking about geishas, Kim Chirok's mind drifted to Hirosue Yoshiko's face.
After work, Kim Chirok returned to his one-room apartment in Yeonsu-dong. After eating dinner, he watched US news on the computer. And watched US videos.
[President Jeong-hee's English is at native speaker level. Could I not reach that?]
Kim Chirok couldn't go to the US language training, but he diligently practiced English conversation in Korea. Thanks to his SNU brain, there was no big hindrance in communicating with Americans. Especially, the TOEFL score he saw for job entry was almost perfect.
Kim Chirok then entered a Japanese portal site. But without realizing, he searched for Hirosue Yoshiko.
[Hehe. Without realizing, I searched for Hirosue Yoshiko. Why am I like this?]
He didn't know the Japanese meaning well, but since he knew the kanji name, he input it.
Yoshiko was a famous woman, so information started coming up. Especially, there was the suicide of the son of Wakayama Steel, so the amount was substantial.
Kim Chirok copied the related materials for Yoshiko and input them into Google Translate.