Golden Spoon Investor

A week later, at Daeheung Securities' headquarters in Yeouido, the afternoon sun was blazing through the windows, casting a warm glow over the bustling office where dozens of men and women were hard at work at their desks.

Phones rang incessantly, the clatter of keyboards echoed, and voices overlapped in a cacophony of activity.

"Yes, which stock would you like to buy?"

"An order for 300 million won in Hanbo bonds just came in!"

"Damn it, it dropped again."

"What should I do? Should I sell?"

"The market's strong; let's hold on a bit longer."

Amid the lively atmosphere, one corner of the office seemed almost like an island, isolated and different from the rest—this was the space of the Investment Team 4.

Unlike the other teams, which were busy with work, the members of Investment Team 4 were killing time, filling in crossword puzzles or playing Tetris on their computers.

"So hot," muttered Team Leader Choi Ho-geun as he walked into the office, fanning himself with a file. He frowned deeply at the sight of his team members slacking off.

"Hey!" he shouted, lightly swatting Deputy Manager Jeong Hwan-yeop's back with the file. Clicking his tongue, he added, "You guys are doing great. Do you think the company pays you to play games?"

Jeong Hwan-yeop hurriedly closed his Tetris game and scratched his head sheepishly, offering a grin. "Oh, you're back, Manager."

"Don't smile, you idiot. It's getting to me."

Meanwhile, Hong Jae-hee hastily shoved her crossword puzzle book under her desk, pretending she hadn't been doing anything.

"Oh, my head," Choi Ho-geun sighed as he sat down at his desk, pressing his hand to his forehead. "If I'm not around, you should be managing the team, Deputy Jeong. How can you be playing games in front of everyone?"

"I'm sorry," Jeong Hwan-yeop muttered, though he tried to defend himself a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "But it's been over a week of just sitting around doing nothing. We got bored."

Indeed, just as Jeong had said, after a brief burst of activity on the first day, the team had been left idle, with Seok-won issuing no further instructions. As a result, Investment Team 4 had effectively been in a state of inactivity.

Given the situation, it was hard for Choi Ho-geun to criticize his team too harshly.

"Still if there's no work, you should find something to do!" Choi snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at the team. "The export companies are doing well these days, so find ten stocks with high growth potential and prepare an analysis report."

"Yes, sir," the team members responded quickly, scrambling to their tasks.

Choi then turned to Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun, assigning them tasks as well. "You two, look into the foreign trading trends for this week and submit a report by the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, Manager," they replied, immediately digging through their documents.

Seeing his team bustling again, Choi Ho-geun let out a long sigh. He wasn't the type to force his subordinates to work unnecessarily, but he couldn't help it under the circumstances—especially with the other teams watching.

Truthfully, Choi Ho-geun was as frustrated with the current situation as his team members were. Despite his initial impression, Seok-won seemed uninterested in the company's affairs, leaving the team in a state of limbo. It was starting to feel pointless to even show up at the office.

Glancing at the closed door of Seok-won's private office, Choi Ho-geun finally made up his mind. He had been holding back out of guilt from the elevator incident, but today, he felt he needed to speak up, even if it meant getting on Seok-won's bad side.

As Choi marched toward the door, letting out a deep breath to steel himself, Deputy Jeong and the other team members huddled together, whispering.

"Is the manager finally going to confront him?"

"He's held out long enough. Honestly, we can't take it anymore," Yoo Seok-hyun muttered.

"Exactly. I've hit my limit with crossword puzzles," Hong Jae-hee added.

"You should try Tetris, or even Minesweeper. It's fun," Jeong joked.

"Do you come to work just to play games, Deputy?" Hong Jae-hee retorted.

As they bickered, Yoo Seok-hyun anxiously watched the closed door, murmuring, "I hope things go well."

Inside the office, Choi Ho-geun stood before Seok-won, who looked up from his desk, meeting his gaze.

"What is it?" Seok-won asked.

"I need to talk to you," Choi said seriously.

Seok-won motioned toward the sofa. "Take a seat."

"Thank you," Choi replied, sitting down as Seok-won walked over to the coffee pot by the window. "Would you like some coffee?" Seok-won offered.

"Yes, please," Choi nodded.

Seok-won poured two cups of coffee, mixing the instant powder into hot water before handing one to Choi.

"Thank you," Choi said, taking the cup and bowing slightly.

Sitting back down, Seok-won crossed one leg over the other and nodded toward Choi. "Go ahead."

After a brief hesitation, Choi handed over a file. "This is a summary of the company's holdings in the top five market-cap stocks."

Seok-won skimmed through the file before looking up. "There's quite a bit."

"Since these stocks represent the market, we need to hold a certain amount to track the index," Choi explained.

Seok-won nodded in agreement, then closed the file and set it aside. Sensing his opportunity, Choi asked cautiously, "You mentioned selling these stocks before, didn't you?"

"I did."

"To secure the necessary funds through a margin loan, there are procedures we need to follow. How should we proceed?"

Seok-won sipped his coffee before responding. "Forget about the margin loan; we won't be needing it."

"Really?" Choi asked, surprised.

"Yes."

Choi felt a wave of relief wash over him—he had been skeptical about the short-selling plan. However, he also felt a pang of doubt. If Seok-won wasn't planning to sell the stocks, what exactly was he doing?

His frustration boiled over, and he couldn't help but speak up, his tone sharp. "It's been over a week since you started coming in."

"And?"

Choi took a deep breath, deciding to lay it all out. "Since that first meeting, we haven't received any instructions, and the team's been left idle. If this is how it's going to be, at least let us engage in proprietary trading."

Proprietary trading, or prop trading, involves trading the firm's own capital rather than clients' money, aiming to generate profits from the firm's own assets.

"Are you asking for work?" Seok-won asked with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Yes. If this continues, our monthly performance will be zero."

Investment Team 4 was on the brink of being labeled as incompetent. Unlike Choi's desperate tone, Seok-won remained calm, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"That won't happen," he said confidently.

Choi was skeptical. "But we haven't made a single trade since you arrived. How can we produce results?"

Choi's frustration grew as Seok-won continued to remain infuriatingly relaxed.

"It's like this," Seok-won explained, "a watermelon rolling once is more impactful than a millet rolling ten times."

"You just said you weren't going to short-sell," Choi pointed out.

"I said we wouldn't need a margin loan. I never said we wouldn't sell the stocks," Seok-won corrected.

Choi blinked in confusion.

"By the end of today, 150 billion won will be deposited into our trading account," Seok-won added casually.

"W-What? Did you say 150 billion won?" Choi stammered in shock.

"That's right."

"Where did you get such a large sum of money?" Choi asked, bewildered.

"That's not something you need to know," Seok-won replied.

Choi assumed it must be from a major investor, as large sums like this often came from wealthy clients who preferred to remain anonymous.

'It can't be the chairman's money, can it?' Choi thought, though he didn't dare to voice it.

Seok-won continued, interrupting Choi's thoughts. "I've already received approval from Director Ko. As I instructed before, transfer the shares and sell them immediately."

"All of them?" Choi asked, stunned.

"Yes, all of them."

"But all five stocks are rising today, wouldn't it be better to wait and watch the trend before selling?" Choi suggested hesitantly.

Leaning back, Seok-won gave Choi a teasing smile. "You were just complaining about not having any work. Now that I'm giving you something to do, are you saying you don't want it?"

"N-No, that's not it," Choi stammered, regretting his earlier complaints. "I'll handle it as you instructed."

"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and get started," Seok-won urged.

"Yes, sir," Choi responded, standing up awkwardly and leaving the room.

As the door closed, Seok-won smiled to himself, muttering, "He's got guts. Let's see if his skills match."

Pleased by Choi's willingness to speak up despite the risks, Seok-won sipped his coffee, a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

***

Four days later.

With no evening engagements, Chairman Park Tae-hong returned home early for the first time in a while, enjoying dinner with his family.

Dressed in comfortable clothes, Chairman Park picked up a piece of perfectly grilled eel, dipping it in sauce before taking a bite.

"Mm, it's well-cooked, not greasy at all."

"Do you like it? In the summer, you need to eat nourishing foods to keep your strength up. Try wrapping it in perilla leaves with some ginger slices," his wife suggested.

"Eel is good for the body," Chairman Park agreed, nodding as he ate the wrap his wife had made.

Mrs. Jo Deok-rye also picked up a piece of eel and placed it in her younger son's rice bowl. "You eat plenty too, dear."

"Yes, Mother," Seok-won replied, eating the eel his mother had given him.

Just as the family was enjoying their meal, the phone rang loudly.

Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!

Mrs. Jo Deok-rye's housekeeper, Mrs. Gunsan, hurried out to the living room, grabbed the cordless phone, and handed it to Chairman Park.

"It's from Secretary Gil, sir."

"Alright," Chairman Park said, setting down his chopsticks and taking the phone from the housekeeper's hand.

"Yes, what is it?"

[Sorry to disturb you at home, sir.]

"No problem. What's going on?"

Secretary Gil's voice was tense as he delivered the news.

[There's going to be a special address broadcast live from the Blue House in about ten minutes.]

"A special address?" Chairman Park asked, frowning.

[Yes, sir.]

Chairman Park raised his voice in concern, drawing puzzled looks from Mrs. Jo and Seok-won.

Chairman Park stood up from the table and moved into his study, still holding the phone to his ear.

"Could it be bad news for the company?" Mrs. Jo murmured, worried.

Realizing what was likely happening, Seok-won reassured his mother with a smile. "It's probably not something to worry about."

"If it's nothing, they should have just finished dinner. Secretary Gil can be so over the top," Mrs. Jo sighed.

In the study, Chairman Park was seated, looking serious as he continued his conversation with Secretary Gil.

"Do you know what the address will be about?"

[They're keeping it under tight wraps, but there's one thing that comes to mind.]

"Is it the Real-Name Financial System?"

[Yes, sir. Considering that the Ministry of Finance and Economy officials are staying late for emergency duties, it seems likely.]

Chairman Park sighed heavily, his voice low. "Let's listen to what they have to say, and we'll discuss it afterward."

[Understood, sir.]

After hanging up, Chairman Park grabbed the remote control from the study desk and turned on the TV.

Switching to KBC, he waited as the broadcast program was interrupted by a message announcing the president's special address.

The screen then switched to the reception hall of the Blue House's main building, where President Kim Seong-gyu stood at a podium, the national flag displayed beside him.

The president's strong, authoritative voice filled the room as he began his speech.

[My fellow citizens, today I am here to announce the implementation of the Real-Name Financial System.]

As the president's first words echoed through the room, Chairman Park's eyes widened, his gaze fixed on the TV screen.

"It has finally come," Chairman Park muttered, his hand clenched tightly on his thigh.