GGAS 3

Grandmother said firmly.

“Really? Do you have a picture of the second one?”

Chairman Han asked.

“I don’t have one… ah, wait a moment.”

Grandmother opened a search site on her smartphone and typed in “Hau Group faithful taxpayer.” She tapped the top article, and a photo came up of Kim Gwanggong standing expressionless, holding a faithful taxpayer award certificate.

“Here.”

“Wow, he’s handsome.”

“I see him every day, so I don’t know.”

“Oh my~. Are your eyes bad? His looks are bright. Even if you turn on the television, you might or might not see a face like that.”

Chairman Han zoomed in on the photo and examined Kim Gwanggong’s eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Wow~. That nose bridge is a work of art.”

Grandmother proudly lifted her shoulders, but she pretended not to care. Just then, Chairman Han let out a hmm.

“Why?”

At her question, Chairman Han lowered his voice with a sly tone.

“You… tell me honestly, just to me. Where did your second one get his nose done?”

“What are you talking about!”

Grandmother shouted.

“It’s natural, natural!”

“Alright… why are you getting angry like that… if it isn’t, then it isn’t.”

“Look closely. No matter how advanced the technology, do you think human hands could make a nose like this?!”

Grandmother zoomed in on Kim Gwanggong’s nose and pushed it right in front of Chairman Han’s eyes. A bit overwhelmed, Chairman Han leaned back.

“Ugh, put that away. The photo’s pixelated, I can’t even see it. And earlier you said you see him all the time, so you don’t notice he’s good looking?”

“Hmm, ahem.”

Grandmother gave a dry cough, looking embarrassed. Chairman Han clicked his tongue, then sipped his coffee and fell into thought for a moment.

“…Tell your second one to make some time today.”

Chairman Han and Grandmother pouted.

“He’s busy, what for?”

“Your grandson has to eat pasta for me today.”

“…Pasta?”

“Yes, with my grandson. How about it?”

Chairman Han asked.

“Mmm…”

When the maternal grandmother hesitated for a moment, this time it was Chairman Han who looked at her in puzzlement. It was because he knew well that she usually answered promptly and briskly without delay. Chairman Han wondered briefly why that friend was acting like that all of a sudden, then thought of one possibility and slapped his knee.

“You don’t mean…? Oh, come on~.”

Chairman Han picked up a slice of cucumber that had been cut for a snack, bit into it with a crunch, and waved his hand back and forth.

“Hey, if what’s bothering you is that both kids are boys, then set that worry aside right now. These days it’s different from the old days. Especially young people now don’t care about that kind of thing.”

Chairman Han added an example, saying that the actor who had played the male lead in a Wednesday–Thursday drama that aired a few months ago, and the actor who had played the male lead in a Monday–Tuesday drama, were actually a couple, and once the fact became known they received a lot of public support. He further explained that recently not only young people but even some people of considerable age around him had started openly coming out as homosexuals, showing that society had become much more tolerant than before. He did not forget to add that experts predicted that within a few years, a same-sex marriage law was likely to pass in South Korea.

“Why are you making such a long-winded speech. I know that too.”

Grandmother said. Since the news had been filled with that topic day after day, it was hard not to know. She thought she had vaguely heard that in surveys, the proportion of citizens in favor of same-sex marriage had come out a little higher, even if only by a few percent, than those opposed.

But the reason she was hesitating now was not some grand political issue of supporting or opposing same-sex marriage law. Her biggest worry these days was that her second grandson, Kim Gwanggong, might end up dying alone someday. So, whether it was a man, an alien, or a deep-sea creature, as long as someone would take Kim Gwanggong, for her it would be thank you very much. The only concern was that from the photo, Chairman Han’s grandchild looked kind, and she wondered if that grandchild could endure Kim Gwanggong’s cold, biting personality.

“Being a man is not the problem, it’s… your grandchild, what’s his personality like?”

Grandmother asked, a little hesitant. Chairman Han tilted his head.

“Personality? Well… the kid is a bit gentle, but it’s not like he comes home after getting beaten up. He’s not the type who can’t speak up either.”

If that was the case, it was worth a try. Grandmother, uncharacteristically wearing a worried expression, brushed it far away and smiled.

“Really? Then that’s good. If Kim Gwanggong eats something other than pasta tonight, I’ll strike him off the family register.”

“Then don’t dawdle and hurry up, contact him.”

Chairman Han urged her with an excited face. Grandmother opened her messenger and went into the family chatroom. Then she typed the following.

Is there anyone who can have dinner with Chairman Han instead of me tonight and play Go with him?

Next to her, Chairman Han, peering at the phone with her, tilted his head.

“… Why are you sending it with the target so vague like this? What if someone else says they’ll go?”

At his words, grandmother waved her hand back and forth.

“If you just ask directly, he won’t agree to go. Wait. There’s always a way.”

Just then, the phone rang ding-ding a couple of times. Replies came up in the family chatroom.

Chairwoman Kim

I’m too busy with work today~!

Son-in-law Lee

I have a knitting regular meeting this evening^^*

Reading the replies from Chairman Kim and Lee Jaein, Chairman Han looked disappointed.

“The second grandson must be busy. There’s no reply.”

Just then, they heard the sound of someone running down the stairs, and a head popped out from beyond the stair railing. It was Kim Abang.

“There he is.”

Grandmother jerked her chin toward Kim Abang.

“Huh? What are you saying. Isn’t that the first one.”

Chairman Han whispered.

“Chairman! Can I go tonight? I’m good at playing Go!”

Kim Abang shouted energetically.

“Uh…”

Chairman Han trailed off, looking flustered. But grandmother, not at all flustered, spoke to Kim Abang.

“Abang, copy that exactly into the family chatroom.”

Kim Abang tilted his head for a moment, but soon moved his fingers rapidly and sent a message to the chatroom.

Abang

I’m good at playing Go flicking!!! Can I go?

Five seconds later,

Gwanggong

I will go.

“Oh…?”

Chairman Han looked at his friend with eyes asking what on earth she had done. Grandmother grinned.

“Both are in the palm of my hand. Do you think Kim Gwanggong, with his personality, would ever let Kim Abang flick Go stones at the forehead of the SQ Group chairman?”

Chairman Han unconsciously rubbed his own forehead.

“At the forehead? Didn’t he just say he was good at Go flicking?”

“The kid is very positive.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Now, let’s just continue the game. We’ll waste the whole day fussing over that grandson who ran away from home.”

“Alright.”

The two of them resumed their Go match, and after about thirty minutes, they heard the sound of someone running down the stairs again. It was Kim Abang once more. But this time his clothes had changed, and instead of a hooded zip-up he was wearing a denim jacket and carrying a large cross bag with a chick pattern.

“I’ll be back~.”

“Yes, go on~.”

Grandmother waved her hand in farewell. When Kim Abang disappeared with a swoosh, Chairman Han looked bewildered.

“Didn’t he just come in? Where’s he going again?”

“To work, I guess.”

“What kind of work?”

“Uh… what was it again? Something like a stationery store.”

***

About ten minutes’ walk from Chairman Kim’s house, there was a small shop. From its signboard to its exterior, colorful all around, the name of the shop was <Abang-Garde>, a general store that sold cute accessories and stationery. The owner and only employee was Kim Abang, but on days like today when he had something to do, his friends sometimes looked after the shop for him.

“I’m back~!”

Kim Abang pushed the door open and greeted cheerfully. On one side of the shop, two women were playing Halli Galli so fiercely it looked like they might break the desk.

“Who’s winning?”

Kim Abang put his bag on the counter and asked.

“Me.”

The one dressed in black from head to toe kept her eyes fixed on the cards as she spoke. Then the one in a frilly dress scoffed.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Until the very last card, you never know the result.”

“Be careful not to hurt your hands~.”

Kim Abang said that as he turned on the desktop, searched through the playlist, and played a soft, cozy pop song. When the same song had repeated for the third time, a “Ah!” came from the side. It seemed the match had ended.

“No way!”

The frilly dress shouted.

“See, I told you I’d win.”

The black clothes spoke with complete ease.

“One more time! I saw you flipping the cards weirdly!”

The frilly dress insisted, but the black clothes only wiped her hands on her pants and stood up. She was more curious about anything other than the inevitable result of her winning Halli Galli.

“Kim Abang, why did you ask us to watch the shop?”

The black clothes asked.

“Mm~, because I had to bring kimchi to Gwanggong.”

At that, the black clothes and the frilly dress exchanged glances. The name of the black clothes was Kim Eunyoung, the frilly dress was Choi Hana, and both had been high school classmates of the brothers Kim Abang and Kim Gwanggong. The two thought Kim Abang must have pulled something off again.

“But you…”

Kim Abang suddenly spoke in a serious voice.

“Do you remember how we became friends?”

“All of a sudden? Well… of course I remember.”

Kim Eunyoung answered.

“In our first year of high school, you made a fuss saying you’d get Kim Gwanggong to make friends, and in the end it was just the three of us who got close.”

Choi Hana giggled at Kim Eunyoung’s words, remembering the old days.

“Ah, that was really funny. You said since Kim Gwanggong and I both liked black, we could become best friends, so you dragged him into the metal band I was in.”

That was true. Though rather than “dragged him into,” it would be more accurate to say “hauled Kim Gwanggong in.”

“And what happened after that? Kim Abang, since you couldn’t play any instrument, you became the band’s manager… and Kim Gwanggong quit after just one day, right?”

“One day? It wasn’t even an hour. When I went to the teachers’ office to return the clubroom key, he was already grinding his club application form in the shredder.”

“Unbelievable follow-through….”

“Which is why he’s probably an executive director at Hau Group now.”

“But what kind of position is an executive director?”

“How should I know. Ask him.”

“Kim Abang, an executive director is….”

Choi Hana stopped speaking. It was because Kim Abang was staring blankly into space. She waved her hand in front of his eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“Hm?”

Only then did Kim Abang flinch and ask back.

“Why are you spacing out?”

“It’s just… I was thinking maybe liking black in common isn’t enough to become friends….”

“Of course not.”

“Then what would be better to match on?”

“Mm… values? Morals?”

“Or hobbies or tastes? That would be good to match too.”

“Tastes? You don’t mean drinking capacity, right?”

Kim Eunyoung picked a fight for no reason and got her side pinched by Choi Hana.

“Ow! That hurts….”

“I don’t really drink much, you know?”

“–said the liar.”

“Hey! Come here, you!”

While the two friends were making a noisy commotion, Kim Abang opened his diary. In the middle of the opened page, Seo Taerim’s business card was attached. Kim Abang picked up a ballpoint pen and wrote beneath it, Values? Hobbies? Tastes? Drinking capacity?

Since Gwanggong knows all of those, if I just check Taerim-ssi’s, I’ll be able to find out whether the two can become friends or not, right?

That was right. Right now, Kim Abang was thinking of taking the lead in expanding the network between Seo Taerim and Kim Gwanggong. He finished planning by decorating the border of Seo Taerim’s business card with stickers to make it look pretty. Then he clenched both fists and murmured softly.

“Alright, perfect. This time I can succeed…! I can do it!!”

Thus began <Project: Get Kim Gwanggong a Friend> Season 2.

Season 1 had ended in complete failure yet he boldly went ahead with Season 2. It truly showed Kim Abang’s own spirit.

***

Kim Gwanggong’s secretary, Ms. Ha Bomi, looked at the clock on the monitor with an expression that said she was dying of boredom. It was five minutes before quitting time. She dropped her forehead onto her desk with a thump. How could this be happening? Hau Group, which went crazy more than a dozen times a day, was unusually peaceful today! Until yesterday, hadn’t Assistant Manager Hong at the front accidentally pulled off Manager Kim’s wig? And the day before that, hadn’t the executive director’s older brother said he’d buy coffee but brought ssanghwatang¹ instead? Ms. Ha Bomi still had a vivid image of Executive Director Kim Gwanggong mistakenly drinking the ssanghwatang and then downing three bottles of Evian afterward.

“That was so funny….”

Ms. Ha Bomi muttered, she was almost on the verge of tears.

1. A traditional Korean teawith deep brown colour and a slightly bitter taste. It is one of the most popular types of medical tea in Korea. ↩︎