Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Japanese Top Geisha (1)
In response to his mother’s question about whether he was seeing anyone, Kim Chi-rok said that he was not.
Then he thought of O Ha-young from the general affairs department.
O Ha-young had graduated from a university in Incheon. She was a woman working at H Chemical in Incheon. She was a senior who had joined the company two years earlier than Kim Chi-rok. She was not a group-wide recruit but someone locally hired by H Chemical.
This woman had been subtly approaching Kim Chi-rok.
However, Kim Chi-rok did not particularly like her. It was because she looked like a woman with a strong personality.
“I don’t have any intention of dating anyone yet.”
Even during his university years, Kim Chi-rok had never had a girlfriend. Since he had no money, he rarely attended social gatherings. He would just stay in the central library of the school and read books. Or he would go up to Pungsan Square behind the Pascucci on the Seoul National University campus and read books. He would read books under the shade of trees.
His fondness for books might have been because he was the son of a third-rate poet.
His mother spoke again.
“You should at least get a small house in Incheon. I wonder how much the jeonse deposit is these days for older apartments in Yeonsu District in Incheon.”
“I told you I don’t have any plans to get married yet. Stop worrying about unnecessary things and just focus on your knee exercises.”
“These days I at least go to the market to buy daily necessities. I’m also receiving physical therapy every day.”
“Then please rest comfortably. I have to go now because I have to be at work early tomorrow morning.”
“Already? At least have a meal before you go.”
“No, it’s fine.”
The next day, Kim Chi-rok went to work. He wrote his business trip report and settled his expenses.
On his way to the restroom, he ran into O Ha-young from the general affairs department in the hallway.
“Kim Chi-rok, don’t you have any gifts? You said you went to Japan, didn’t you?”
“Eh? Gifts?”
“Manager Lee Nam-ho brought back gifts as a souvenir from his trip to Japan and gave them to me.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“He bought manjū with Expo characters printed on the wrapping paper. We shared them with everyone in the general affairs department.”
“I see… is that so?”
“Kim Chi-rok, you really have no sense of style. Not even a gift! Whether someone likes you or not depends on these things.”
“S-sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Instead, you can just go to Yeonan Pier and treat me to a plate of sashimi.”
Treat you to a plate of sashimi? Why is this woman lingering around me and stressing me out?
Kim Chi-rok passed by with only an awkward smile.
Kim Chi-rok returned to the planning office.
H Group had a group strategic planning office at its Seoul headquarters, but each affiliate company also had its own planning office. The planning office of each affiliate established its own company’s management strategy, while the group strategic planning office formulated grand strategies for the entire group.
That was why major new cutting-edge business areas originated from the strategic planning office.
Talent was also concentrated there.
Kim Chi-rok had just sat down at his desk to begin work when a call came in. It was from the secretary’s office of the president.
“Is this Kim Chi-rok? This is the secretary’s office. The president has asked you to come in.”
It was rare for the president to call in a regular employee directly.
So Kim Chi-rok found it strange and asked back.
“The president is calling me?”
“Yes. He has asked all three members of the planning office who went on the business trip to Japan to come.”
Then that was a relief, since the director and the manager had also been called.
The director Park and the manager were already walking ahead down the hallway.
Kim Chi-rok hurried after them and said, “They’re calling me too.”
“Really? Let’s go quickly.”
The president of H Chemical was a man in his late fifties.
Judging by his expression, it did not seem like he was about to scold them.
The president smiled and said, “You met President Jung-hee at the Expo exhibition hall?”
The president was not asking about the Expo itself. It seemed he was asking about meeting President Jung-hee, one of the most influential figures.
The director spoke first. As soon as the president finished speaking, the director immediately opened his mouth. As expected, the director was quick on his feet. His years of experience showed clearly.
“That’s correct. We met President Jung-hee. He seemed pleased to see Director Park’s face there and said he was glad. He also told us to take a good look at the Expo since it had many advanced new fields.”
“Any other questions?”
“He said the Expo represents the design of future society and told us to observe it carefully and apply it to our work. We confidently replied that we would do so as well.”
“The Osaka Expo did indeed show the design of future society in a striking way. What President Jung-hee said was right.”
“I agree as well. President Jung-hee seemed very interested in the future society. As expected, his way of thinking is different from ours.”
“Our chemical field must also look ahead to the future and advance technology more.”
“That is absolutely correct, sir.”
The director had seemed tired during the Expo visit, but in front of the president he answered energetically and without hesitation. It was clear that the position of director was not an easy one.
The president then looked at the manager’s face.
“Did you have no other questions for the manager?”
“Yes, there weren’t any for me. He only mentioned that Kim Chi-rok’s name was unusual.”
The president glanced at Kim Chi-rok’s face. Then he looked again at the business trip report written on two A4 sheets. Reading the name of the person who prepared the report at the end, he said,
“Kim Chi-rok! Your name is quite unusual indeed. So what did you say?”
“When he was leaving, he said my name seemed unusual and asked about it again.”
“Oh, really?”
“And he also said that chemistry has many challenging fields.”
“There are indeed many challenging areas in chemistry. Kim Chi-rok, since you are still a staff member, make sure to learn well from your seniors.”
“Understood.”
“Alright, go back and get to work. Director Park, treat the employees who went on the business trip to a nice lunch. You have a corporate card, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
The president continued smiling.
It seemed he was relieved that his subordinates had not made any mistakes in front of President Jung-hee. He thought that when he met President Jung-hee later, he might casually ask whether any of his employees had made any mistakes in front of him. He intended to play it off smoothly. As expected, the president was sly and shrewd.
Kim Chi-rok and the manager got into Director Park’s car and left the company. They went to a newly opened cooked rice restaurant in Dongchun-dong. They decided to have mushroom stew and grilled fish there, since they had eaten soba noodles and fried dishes in Japan and wanted Korean food.
While eating, the manager looked at Kim Chi-rok and said,
“Didn’t you bring a gift for O Ha-young from the general affairs department? She might like a gift from you more than one from me.”
“Who gives gifts these days? Didn’t you say you brought manjū?”
“The general affairs department is the kind we rely on a lot. Even something like processing travel expenses or issuing various documents means we depend on them.”
“But those are things their department should naturally handle, aren’t they?”
“Besides, O Ha-young seems to be subtly interested in you.”
“I’m not interested.”
“You graduated from Seoul National University, but O Ha-young isn’t bad either. Her father runs a motel in Juan. It seems her family is somewhat well-off.”
“I said I’m not interested.”
The director chimed in as well.
“A spouse doesn’t necessarily have to be from a SKY university. As long as she manages the household well and treats her husband well, that’s the best.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Why? Do you already have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend, but…”
Manager Lee spoke again.
“Is it because there were rumors of school violence when O Ha-young was in high school? That’s something from when they were kids, isn’t it? She’s healthy and lively, so something like that must have happened. I think O Ha-young is fine.”
“Come on, manager! Let’s talk about something else.”
“Are you only looking for women with looks? Are you only after someone like Yoshiko Hirose, the top Japanese geisha?”
At those words, Kim Chi-rok recalled a poster he had seen at a Japanese izakaya. A beautiful woman smiling under a cherry blossom tree, holding a traditional Japanese umbrella called wagasa. She was truly beautiful and refreshing.
“It’s not that. I just don’t have the circumstances to date yet.”
“Is there such a thing as circumstances? You either date or you don’t. ‘Circumstances’ is just the name of a township in Cheonan.”
“I still have things I need to do.”
“This guy seems to have lost it over a Japanese geisha! Japanese geisha are basically women who sell their bodies, aren’t they!”
The director, while picking fish clean, said,
“From what I hear, modern geisha aren’t women who sell their bodies. That was only during the Edo shogunate. These days, they just perform at events and banquets. But I heard they still make a lot of money.”
“Is that so?”
“To meet a geisha, you need a regular patron’s recommendation and a reservation, otherwise it’s impossible.”
“That makes sense.”
“According to the Osaka branch manager, modern geisha can be seen as similar to entertainers trained by talent agencies.”
“So geisha like Yoshiko Hirose must make a lot of money.”
“If they’re top stars, that would be the case.”
“So the places that train geisha must have made back their investment.”
“For geisha like Yoshiko Hirose, they must have earned far more than enough. Not only are they beautiful, but they can dance, sing, and play instruments well.”
“They must have practiced a lot.”
“They would have needed several years of training. In Korea too, idol singers trained by entertainment agencies go through years of preparation.”
As the director and manager kept talking about geisha, Kim Chi-rok found himself thinking of Yoshiko Hirose’s face.
After work, Kim Chi-rok returned to his one-room apartment in Yeonsu-dong. After dinner, he watched American news on his computer. Then he watched American videos.
President Jung-hee’s English is at a native level. I wonder if I could ever be like that.
Although Kim Chi-rok had not been able to go to the United States for language training, he diligently practiced English conversation in Korea. Since he had the kind of intellect that allowed him to enter Seoul National University, he had no major difficulties communicating with Americans. In particular, his TOEFL score, taken for employment, was almost perfect.
While doing so, he entered a Japanese portal site. Without realizing it, he searched for Yoshiko Hirose.
He chuckled. I searched for Yoshiko Hirose without even realizing it. Why am I doing this?
Although he did not fully understand Japanese, he knew kanji characters, so he typed the name.
Since Yoshiko was a well-known figure, information began to appear. There was quite a large amount of content, especially related to the suicide incident involving the son of Wakayama Steel.
Kim Chi-rok copied materials related to Yoshiko and entered them into a Google translator.