Chang-jong hesitated a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

"I've… got something I want to talk to Representative Jo about."

"Something to talk about — of what sort, sir?"

The truth was, Seong-ho knew perfectly well what Chang-jong wanted to say. Even so, in order to draw Chang-jong further into the depths, Seong-ho played dumb and asked.

"…That's…"

Struggling to speak, Chang-jong at last brought himself to open his mouth.

"Ah, whatever. Fine. There's no reason I can't tell you, given I'll need your help too."

Perhaps having made up his mind — his face slightly more at ease now — Chang-jong began.

"Do you happen to know anything about derivatives?"

"Derivatives?"

Just as expected, Chang-jong had begun with derivatives, and Seong-ho listened as though he didn't know.

"You mean things like futures and options, traded off an underlying asset?"

"That's it!"

At Seong-ho catching on, Chang-jong's face brightened even further.

"Oh, right. You were president of Ilhyeon Securities, weren't you? Of course — you were making funds and related products; you'd know. Hahaha."

Watching Chang-jong — who had walked in with a face of death but had entirely shifted his mood at a single word about derivatives — Seong-ho gave a small smile. And he tossed out a line calculated to send Chang-jong further into a good mood —

"But how is it that you know about derivatives, sir? Are you perhaps investing in them?"

"That's it — I'm doing futures trading myself."

"When you say futures — which futures, sir? There are many kinds of futures, aren't there? From gold and crude oil to the S&P 500 or Nasdaq in the U.S., or KOSPI index futures — so many varieties."

"You really do know the market."

"As you just said, sir — I was, briefly, president of Ilhyeon Securities. I picked up a few things listening and looking around."

"Even having sat in that presidency, people who don't know still don't know, even if you kill them. You don't need to look far — even Third Sister — if you asked her what futures are, the answer coming…