Assistant Manager Chung-seop Jo of Ilhyeon Securities’ Myeongdong branch had been fidgeting in his seat for the last thirty minutes before market close.
‘Today, no matter what, I’m taking President Park’s money.’
Having come to work resolved to win big today, he was already looking forward to the round of go-stop waiting for him a little later.
Assistant Manager Chung-seop Jo glanced up at the clock.
With almost no one coming in to trade this close to closing, he could only hope the time would pass quickly.
Just then, a man came and sat down in front of Chung-seop Jo.
‘Ah, and right before I clock out, tsk.’
Wearing a face of mild annoyance, Chung-seop Jo asked the man seated before him,
“How can I help you?”
“Chung-seop Jo. That’s a fine name.”
The man seated before him — Seong-ho Kim — held a trading slip and smiled at the familiar name on the nameplate.
“My name is a bit unusual, I suppose. So, how can I help you?”
Seong-ho Kim looked at Chung-seop Jo, recalling the path he’d taken in his past life, and smiled. Then he stated his reason for visiting Ilhyeon Securities.
“I’d like to buy Soyoung Packaging at 3,500 won.”
“You’d like to buy Soyoung Packaging?”
Thinking he should wrap this one up quickly, Chung-seop Jo took the slip and turned his eyes to the terminal monitor.
And, quickly typing in Soyoung Packaging’s figures on the keyboard, he asked,
Clack-clack-clack.
Skillfully tapping the number pad, Chung-seop Jo, eyes still on the monitor, asked Seong-ho Kim,
“How much would you like to buy at 3,500 won?”
“I’d like to buy 100 million won’s worth.”
Chung-seop Jo’s hand, mid-keystroke, stopped.
He turned his head to look at Seong-ho Kim and asked again,
“Sorry? How much did you say you’d buy?”
“100 million won.”
Having said this, Seong-ho Kim set a single check down on the small tray in front of him and slid it toward Chung-seop Jo.
Chung-seop Jo looked down at the check on the tray, eyes going round.
Having never in his life seen a 100-million-won check before, Chung-seop Jo’s first thought was to doubt whether it was even real.
“I-is this real?”
“I understand securities firms, like banks, can verify a check’s authenticity by running the serial number — why not check for yourself?”
“Uh… that’s true, but…”
Chung-seop Jo glanced at Seong-ho Kim.
‘He doesn’t seem to be lying…’
Deciding that someone playing a prank with a fake check couldn’t possibly be this relaxed and composed, Chung-seop Jo set his suspicion aside for the moment, picked up the check, and entered the numbers into the terminal in front of him.
After some time passed and he’d confirmed the check was genuine, Chung-seop Jo set it back down on the tray with careful hands, and, in a voice just as careful as his hands, said to Seong-ho Kim,
“Sir. Do you truly intend to buy 100 million won’s worth of Soyoung Packaging? This is…”
Chung-seop Jo spoke honestly to the big-money client before him.
“For my part, I earn my commission either way, so I could simply do as you say. But I’ll be honest with you. This isn’t a good company to invest in. If you’re going to invest, you’d be far better off putting your money into a blue-chip company like Ilhyeon Electronics or Ilhyeon Construction. As you know, isn’t Ilhyeon the largest company in Korea? I’d recommend investing in Ilhyeon.”
Chung-seop Jo paused for a moment and pointed a finger at the people sitting in front of the stock ticker board.
Sitting amid thick clouds of rising smoke, the people there watched the rapidly shifting numbers on the board without moving an inch.
Chung-seop Jo leaned in slightly and spoke in a low voice, meant only for Seong-ho Kim to hear.
“Most of the people sitting over there are speculators. Not one person sitting there treats stocks as an investment.”
Chung-seop Jo withdrew his gaze from the chain-smokers seated in front of the ticker board and looked at Seong-ho Kim.
“Soyoung Packaging is exactly the kind of stock people like that trade. Throwing in small amounts on a win-some-lose-some basis, chasing quick money with quick money. For someone with a large sum like yourself, sir, I wouldn’t recommend investing in a stock like Soyoung Packaging.”
Having finished speaking, Chung-seop Jo turned back to face forward and kept talking to Seong-ho Kim.
“100 million is more than enough to buy a decent 30-pyeong apartment almost anywhere in Seoul. Even that famous apartment in Apgujeong doesn’t quite reach 200 million. Sir, if you truly want to buy Soyoung Packaging, buy just a million won’s worth. Use the rest for your family. That’s what a proper investment really looks like.”
It wasn’t the kind of thing he’d normally say.
But for some reason, facing Seong-ho Kim, words unlike his usual manner came spilling out of Chung-seop Jo’s mouth.
‘What am I even saying… I’ve lost my mind, haven’t I.’
Having finished speaking, Chung-seop Jo half-wondered if he’d gone mad.
But since the words were already out, Chung-seop Jo, without regret, pushed the tray with the 100-million-won check back toward Seong-ho Kim.
‘Forget the commission… I’ll just work a little harder.’
With a simple 1% transaction fee, Chung-seop Jo had just thrown away the chance to book a million won in results.
But rather than regret, what he felt was relief at not having a guilty conscience, and Seong-ho Kim watched him with a quiet smile.
Seong-ho Kim placed his own business card on the tray as well and slid it over to Chung-seop Jo.
Then, rising from his seat, he said,
“I’ll be waiting at the coffee shop just up front. Please buy the Soyoung Packaging as I’ve described, and bring the trading slip. Well, then…”
Without waiting for an answer, Seong-ho Kim turned and left.
Chung-seop Jo stared, dumbfounded, at Seong-ho Kim’s retreating back, having left both money and business card behind.
“Hey, Assistant Manager Jo. What’s going on?”
Assistant Manager Kim from Sales, seated nearby, craned his neck curiously toward Chung-seop Jo.
Chung-seop Jo pulled the tray toward himself, picked up the business card sitting on it, and answered,
“No idea. Maybe he’s out of his mind. Leaving just this and expecting me to…”
Chung-seop Jo’s words stopped mid-sentence.
Seeing Chung-seop Jo squint at the business card, Assistant Manager Kim asked, puzzled,
“What’s wrong? Something the matter?”
Chung-seop Jo stared hard at the card and said,
“Say, Assistant Manager Kim. Our group chairman’s surname is Lee, Tak-hyeon Lee, right…?”
“Where’s this coming from out of nowhere? Why ask about the chairman’s name? Yeah, Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee.”
“Then since the surname’s different, this can’t be his son…”
Chung-seop Jo tilted his head and asked Assistant Manager Kim again,
“Do you happen to know a Director Seong-ho Kim from Strategic Planning? How’s someone this young an executive when he’s not even part of the royal family? This is definitely one of our group’s business cards, but…”
“Director Seong-ho Kim? Seong-ho Kim… I’ve heard that somewhere…”
Assistant Manager Kim, seated beside Chung-seop Jo, heard the name Seong-ho Kim ringing in his ears and something came to mind.
“Ah! Right. I heard the man who married the chairman’s youngest daughter last year goes by the name Seong-ho Kim.”
At Assistant Manager Kim’s words, something about Seong-ho Kim clicked for Chung-seop Jo too, and he straightened in his seat and asked,
“But wasn’t he an assistant manager? I heard he kept working as an assistant manager even after getting married.”
“Guess you hadn’t heard. I heard he pulled off some huge achievement recently and got bumped straight up to executive. But… was that the man who came in just now, the chairman’s youngest son-in-law?”
At Assistant Manager Kim’s words, Chung-seop Jo’s face hardened and he nodded.
Then, hastily turning back to the terminal, he said,
“Seems like it. Oh no, what do I do?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I went and said a bunch of useless things… he’s not angry, is he?”
Chung-seop Jo wore a woeful expression and kept hammering at the keyboard.
Watching Chung-seop Jo, whose fingers never stopped even as he voiced his worry, Assistant Manager Kim asked, puzzled,
“What are you even doing, though?”
Still not stopping his fingers, Chung-seop Jo said,
“The Director asked me to buy some stock for him. And told me to bring the trading slip to the coffee shop. So I need to process that quickly first.”
Chung-seop Jo kept entering the order into the terminal to buy 100 million won’s worth of Soyoung Packaging at 3,500 won.
Watching him, Assistant Manager Kim said with some regret,
“Guess you won’t make it to the rematch against President Park later, then?”
“Go-stop isn’t the issue right now. The issue is whether I’ll still have a job here or not. Argh, why is time moving so fast today of all days. I need to buy it all before the market closes… slow down, time. Slow down.”
Chung-seop Jo, looking anxious, kept entering buy orders for Soyoung Packaging.
Watching him, Assistant Manager Kim, thinking it was a relief Seong-ho Kim hadn’t come to him instead, quietly left his seat.
Sitting in the coffee shop waiting for Chung-seop Jo, Seong-ho Kim looked over the leather diary.
‘I never thought I’d end up using this like this.’
Seong-ho Kim checked the company names and figures written in the leather diary and smiled lightly.
[Soyoung Packaging: rose from 3,500 won to 85,900 won on rumors of developing eco-friendly packaging boxes. Hudo Electric: rose from 12,000 won to 215,000 won on rumors of developing a new automotive emissions-reduction device. Sogyeong Machinery: rose from 10,000 won to 128,000 won on rumors of developing wastewater treatment equipment.]
In his past life, while studying the stock market, Seong-ho Kim had written down companies that showed explosive gains in the leather diary.
Unable to endure the persecution of his in-laws, Seong-ho Kim had tried leaping into the stock market to find another way to survive.
He’d thrown himself into studying stocks with the thought of making enough money to free himself from his in-laws’ persecution.
‘I failed at it back then, but look how useful it turns out to be now.’
He’d organized the information while trying to find patterns among companies that had surged, hoping to study them.
But he’d never been able to find a pattern in the surging stocks, and the studying had, in the end, come to nothing.
Still, the information he’d accumulated while studying had remained a great asset, and now it had come into the present Seong-ho Kim’s hands.
‘I should use this to grow my money for a start.’
Seong-ho Kim believed he needed another weapon besides solidifying his standing within the Ilhyeon Group and his in-laws’ household.
In the end, the Ilhyeon Group’s true owner was his father-in-law, so no matter how solid his standing became, no one could say when or how he might be cast out.
And as always, he thought it wise to keep at least one trump card close to his chest.
Which was why he intended to invest the 100 million won Tak-hyeon Lee had given him into the companies written in the leather diary.
Ding-a-ling.
The bell on the coffee shop door rang, and the man he’d met at Ilhyeon Securities a little earlier came inside.
‘Chung-seop Jo. A man impossible not to know.’
In his past life, Chung-seop Jo had started as a sales staffer at Ilhyeon Securities and, riding several stock-market boom cycles skillfully, achieved great success, going on to launch a fund under his own name and later even founding his own securities firm, growing it into one of Korea’s top brokerages.
That same man was, for now, still working at Ilhyeon Securities’ Myeongdong branch.
Seong-ho Kim had made a plan to add a man of Chung-seop Jo’s remarkable talent to the information he already held, making his weapon even bigger and sharper.
“Director, sir. Here…”
Chung-seop Jo held out the trading slip for the just-completed Soyoung Packaging transaction to Seong-ho Kim.
“As it happened, there was quite a lot of volume sitting at 3,500 won, so I was able to secure all of it at the price you wanted.”
“Well done.”
Seong-ho Kim tucked the slip neatly into the leather diary and gazed quietly at Chung-seop Jo.
Under Seong-ho Kim’s gaze, Chung-seop Jo rubbed his own face with his hand and asked,
“Is there something on my face?”
Seong-ho Kim smiled at Chung-seop Jo and said,
“Aren’t you curious why I asked to see you, Assistant Manager Jo?”
“Uh… yes. I am curious.”
“I’m looking for someone to manage my money well.”
“Manage your money for you, Director? What do you mean by that…?”
Seong-ho Kim held out a paper he’d written before Chung-seop Jo arrived and said,
“I have a great deal of work ahead of me. Because of that, I can’t devote my full attention to stocks. So I’m looking for someone to manage my account well, according to my plan.”
Chung-seop Jo listened to Seong-ho Kim’s words while reading what was written on the paper.
“Sell off today’s Soyoung Packaging purchase around 85,000 won, then buy Hudo Electric? And then trade Sogyeong Machinery after that? Director, sir. What is this?”
Chung-seop Jo looked down, bewildered, at the paper listing the names of what were commonly called penny stocks alongside figures that made no sense at all.
(End of Chapter 31)