Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Expo Site Encounter with a Chaebol Woman (2)
Reporters gathered from somewhere.
They also took photos of President Choi Jeong-hee as she moved.
Kim Chi-rok thought that scenes like this being reported in the media would be good publicity for the H Group.
He also felt it would give the impression that President Jeong-hee, despite being a second-generation chaebol, was not idling around but working diligently.
After the conversation ended, President Jeong-hee toured the Korean Pavilion. Visitors crowded around her. Staff from the Osaka branch and employees from H Chemical blocked the general public from approaching.
President Jeong-hee visited all of Hall 1, Hall 2, and Hall 3 of the Korean Pavilion. However, she did not examine them in detail.
She also toured the pavilions of major countries such as the United States and China, as well as the general exhibition halls. It seemed she was only giving them a brief look.
Although 158 countries participated in the Osaka Expo, President Jeong-hee only toured the three major national pavilions and the special Signature Pavilion.
President Jeong-hee said she would head to Kansai Airport. She was not staying overnight in Japan.
At her level, places like Universal Studios must have already been visited back in middle school.
The employees of H Chemical seemed relieved that President Jeong-hee was leaving. High-ranking figures could be helpful, but they were also a burden.
President Jeong-hee did not ask any difficult or probing questions to the H Chemical director. She did not inquire specifically about the company’s situation.
Well, she probably wouldn’t ask such things inside the Expo grounds. Director Park had been unnecessarily nervous.
Smiling, President Jeong-hee shook hands in farewell with the H Chemical employees. When she reached Kim Chi-rok, she gripped his hand firmly and said,
“I think your name was a bit unusual. What was it again?”
“Kim Chi-rok.”
“Ah, Kim Chi-rok! Please enjoy the Expo. The chemical field also has many future challenges.”
With that, President Jeong-hee left for Kansai Airport together with her secretary and the Osaka branch manager.
After she left, the section chief exclaimed in excitement.
“Wow! Mr. Kim Chi-rok! You’re going to rise now. The CEO asked your name again—that means she’ll remember you!”
“It’s probably because my name isn’t common.”
“No, names like this are special. My name is too ordinary. Lee Nam-ho—what kind of name is that? Too plain.”
“Compared to Kim Chi-rok, I think Lee Nam-ho sounds better.”
“I don’t like it because it’s too ordinary. Our former H Chemical president sometimes called me Kim Nam-ho instead of Lee Nam-ho, which really annoyed me. That won’t happen to you, Kim Chi-rok.”
Kim Chi-rok thought that although his father had not fulfilled his role properly as a father, at least he had given him a unique name. Since his father had once taught poetry at a neighborhood cultural center in his youth, perhaps he named him Chi-rok for that reason.
At that time, it was awkward to go to other tourist spots, so the group toured the Expo exhibition grounds they had seen the previous day again.
The Expo grounds were truly impressive. Even upon a second visit, it felt fresh and new again.
Since it was an international exhibition, there were many Western visitors as well.
While touring the Japanese pavilion, two young Japanese women wearing kimono passed by.
The section chief shouted,
“Ah, there—geisha!”
Director Park scolded him.
“That woman isn’t a geisha. She’s just wearing a traditional Japanese kimono.”
“Really? I thought she was a geisha.”
“Geisha have different hairstyles. And they wear white makeup on their faces. Why would a geisha come here like that? If she did, she’d remove the makeup and come in plain clothes.”
“Director! When should we visit Kyoto sometime? Let’s go to a teahouse where geisha appear.”
“They say you can’t go without a recommendation from someone you know.”
“Isn’t the Osaka branch manager an alumnus of the same cohort as you, Director? If we ask him to make a reservation, it should work.”
“He said it’s not cheap. It costs about as much as going to a hostess bar.”
“Should I start a group fund?”
“A fund?”
“A geisha fund. We pool money monthly, and once we reach a certain amount, we go on a group trip. Just the planning office staff. I’ll be the fund manager.”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Why would you say that? Even Mr. Kim Chi-rok here seems interested, his eyes are sparkling.”
Kim Chi-rok quickly waved his hands.
“Oh, no, not me.”
“I thought Kim Chi-rok was a man, but maybe not. A true man must know how to appreciate elegance.”
The director frowned and said,
“Hey, Section Chief Lee Nam-ho! Why don’t you be the one to become that kind of man?”
The group returned to Korea the next day.
After a long time, Kim Chi-rok stopped by his mother in Bongcheon-dong to deliver souvenirs he had bought at the Kansai Airport duty-free shop.
His mother lived in a villa on a hill behind Bongcheon-dong Central Market. Though it was an old villa built in the 1990s, it had two rooms and a small living room. Located on the third floor, it received plenty of sunlight. Of course, it was a rental.
His mother was reading a poetry collection at home. Formerly an apartment cleaner, she was reading poetry with a refined air.
His mother was reading poetry in a Bongcheon-dong villa, while his father was reading poetry in a mountain hut in Gangwon Province.
Kim Chi-rok thought that at least both his parents were people who stayed close to books, which might be why he had been able to attend Seoul National University.
His close friend Jong-hyuk, who had lived in the same kind of villa in Dogok-dong, came from a family that had little connection to books. Because of that, Jong-hyuk had really struggled with studies.
Jong-hyuk was now working at a restaurant somewhere in Gangnam. Though he claimed to be a successful chef, classmates who had visited said the place was expensive but the food was not good.
Out of obligation, Kim Chi-rok felt he should visit the restaurant someday, but he hadn’t had the time yet.
His mother was very happy to receive the gifts.
The gifts included a basic skincare set, Japanese snacks, and health supplements like Gabagen.
“Goodness, my son went on a business trip to Japan and even brought back these gifts. Hoho. All my effort in raising you feels worthwhile.”
“They’re not expensive. And Japan doesn’t really have things we don’t already have here. Most of it is available in Korea.”
“No, Japanese products are good. Cosmetics like Shiseido are well known. I’ll show these off to my friends tomorrow.”
“Why would you show them off?”
“We have to show off to those who once looked down on us. That way, they won’t look down on us anymore.”
“I almost bought a bottle of liquor for your father but didn’t. Once your mother’s knee gets better, you should visit Kimhwa in Gangwon Province. Your father should come down from the mountains now.”
“Well… he should at least come back before you get married…”
Growing up, Kim Chi-rok had resented his incompetent father greatly.
But around the time he was discharged from the military, he began to think that perhaps he should understand his father if he truly had no choice but to live in the mountains.
So after discharge, before returning to school, he took time to visit Wasuree in Kimhwa-eup, Cheorwon County in Gangwon Province, the place his father always mentioned.
The place where his father lived was about 10 kilometers deep into the mountains from Wasuree.
At first, his father did not recognize Kim Chi-rok. Kim Chi-rok felt tears welling up. His father’s worn clothes, graying beard, and bent back looked pitiful.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, his father was missing one of his front teeth. It seemed he had not received proper dental treatment due to lack of money. He looked worse than the people who appeared on the TV program “I Live Alone in Nature.”
Still, in his father’s hut there were poetry collections and literary books.
“Father! It’s me. Chi-rok.”
“Chi-rok? Oh! You’ve grown into an adult now. Let me hug you.”
After embracing him, his father said,
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help you grow up at all. And I’m sorry to your mother as well.”
“I know you came here after getting injured. Has your health improved?”
“It hasn’t gotten worse since I came here, so I suppose it was the right decision to come.”
“Aren’t you lonely living alone?”
“I have books, a dog, and chickens and birds, so I’m not lonely.”
“There are many books in the hut. Did you bring these when you came here?”
“No, I borrowed them from the library in Kimhwa-eup. It’s been a week, so I need to return them.”
“Why read these useless poetry books instead of farming books?”
“There’s nothing better than poetry for exploring humanity and finding inner peace.”
With that, his father smiled, showing his missing teeth.
His father went outside, saying he would boil some corn.
Kim Chi-rok picked up his father’s notebook on the floor. It contained poems written in pen, but they were hard to understand.
Poems by Kim Sowol, Yun Dong-ju, and Kim Chun-su were easy to grasp, but his father’s poems were difficult.
They were truly abstruse.
What kind of poetry is this? It’s just something he likes himself.
Still, he felt relieved that his father’s condition had not worsened.
At that time, Kim Chi-rok could not bring himself to suggest that his father come down from the mountains together. He himself was in a difficult period, not yet having graduated.
While eating boiled corn with his father, Kim Chi-rok said,
“I’ve just been discharged from the military. Now I have to return to school.”
His father was very happy to hear that Kim Chi-rok had entered Seoul National University. He teared up, saying his mother must have gone through a lot.
“When I graduate, I’ll come get you. Please come down then.”
However, Kim Chi-rok failed to keep that promise. Even though he thought he should find time to visit Kimhwa in Gangwon Province, he never managed to go.
Now, he felt he really needed to make time to go.
His mother said to him,
“What are you suddenly thinking about?”
“I was just thinking about Father for a moment. I’ll make time and visit Kimhwa sometime.”
“You don’t need to force yourself to bring him back just because he’s doing well. You can bring your father after you’ve settled down more. By the way, you don’t have anyone you’re seeing, do you?”