The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“What do you mean by moving it up?”

Choi Woojin asked, puzzled by Dokyung’s words.

Ding ding-

Just as Dokyung was about to answer, an alert sounded from the trading system.

[DU +8%……]

[DU +9%……]

[DU +10%……]

It seemed the corporate raiders had deliberately leaked the contents of Carl Sutton’s investor presentation to the media, timing it with the opening of the Korean stock market. Despite less than five minutes passing since the news broke in the U.S., the stock market was already beginning to overheat.

“This is it taking off, right?”

“Yes. Everyone from institutions to individual investors is piling in.”

As the two spoke, DU’s stock price began to rise explosively. Once it surpassed a 12% increase, it triggered the upper limit volatility interruption (VI).

“Everyone will see this as an opportunity.”

As Choi Woojin said, it was an opportunity for all.

With Carl Sutton mentioning a tender offer, everyone likely thought they needed to get in now.

DU’s stock price, which had been in the late 7,000 won range, had risen over 40% to 11,250 won since Dokyung persuaded his clients to buy shares.

If 11,250 won became today’s closing price, Carl Sutton’s side would offer to buy shares at a 20% premium based on today’s closing price. That was the essence of the tender offer.

It meant that anyone who got in now would guaranteed a 20% profit.

The current price didn’t matter.

“From what I can see, Carl Sutton doesn’t seem interested in DU’s management rights at all.”

“What?”

Choi Woojin was momentarily stunned by Dokyung’s words.

For the past two months, Carl Sutton and Steellife had seemingly deployed all their resources to gain control of DU.

And now he’s saying they’re not interested?

“What do you mean? Explain in detail…”

“They’ve revealed too many of their positions.”

Dokyung recalled the attackers’ moves up to this point.

At first, he thought they were disclosing their actions to attract friendly shareholders.

And as they intended, both the attacking and defending sides secured definite allies, resulting in an even split of shares.

“If we calculate the friendly shares now, DU has 40 and Steellife’s side has 38. What do you think about that?”

“What do I think? Neither side has an advantage, I suppose.”

“What if this was their plan from the beginning?”

“Whose? Steellife’s?”

“Yes. What if they calculated everything from the start, inducing this evenly matched situation?”

Choi Woojin’s head started spinning at Dokyung’s words.

“Of course they should aim for an even match, right? So the attacking side naturally has to match the defending side…”

“No, I’m talking about an evenly matched fight where gaining management control was never the original goal.”

“Then all of this was…”

“Yes. It was an evenly matched fight solely for the purpose of inflating the stock price.”

Choi Woojin felt like someone had just struck him on the head.

“I’ve been thinking this all along, but I wasn’t sure. Today, Carl Sutton confirmed my suspicions.”

“Right. You’re right. It’s not a tender offer declaration.”

Dokyung nodded with a smile at Choi Woojin’s words and pulled up the supply and demand situation for DU stock on his monitor.

“If you look at the supply and demand 30 minutes ago, institutions were consistently buying, while individual investors showed strong selling pressure.”

“That’s right. But after that article was published…”

“Yes. After the article came out, both institutions and individuals rushed in like mad. But look at the supply and demand from 5 minutes ago.”

As Dokyung pointed at the screen, the institutional buying pressure was visibly decreasing.

“Some institutions will be thinking the same as us. They’ll realize that now is truly the time to be suspicious.”

Dokyung continued, looking at Choi Woojin.

“If Carl Sutton really intended to make a tender offer, he should have declared it at tonight’s IR session. He should have said he’d buy at a price 20% or more above today’s closing price.”

“But…”

“Yes, but what he said wasn’t a tender offer declaration. He merely ‘implied’ a tender offer. He revealed his position.”

Carl Sutton had driven the final nail into the coffin of doubts Dokyung had been harboring.

If they were going to make a tender offer, they should have set today as the base date. The stock price would rise tomorrow, increasing the amount they’d have to pay.

But Carl Sutton expressed an opinion rather than making a declaration.

“It doesn’t matter whether they can mobilize 4 trillion won or whatever. What they need is a large number of shares. And if they can buy them even a bit cheaper, they can secure more shares.”

“That’s right.”

“There’s only one case where revealing their position like this is beneficial.”

For a professional like Carl Sutton to carelessly reveal his position, there could only be one answer.

“When they plan to inflate the stock price and then bail out.”

As Choi Woojin said this, Dokyung nodded with a grim expression.

“Carl Sutton will try to get out within this week. If there’s no tender offer announcement in three days, no, by tomorrow, everyone will become suspicious.”

At first, the stock price would rise due to frenzy.

After all, the great Carl Sutton had mentioned a tender offer.

But what if there’s no tender offer announcement even after three days?

One by one, people would start to question Carl Sutton’s intentions.

“So moving up the exit means…”

“Yes, we’ll monitor the market until tomorrow morning, and if there’s no tender offer announcement, we’ll liquidate all positions during lunch break.”

Choi Woojin nodded at Dokyung’s words.

“Right. It would be better to get out early in this situation.”

“Yes, our position has already seen significant profits.”

While agreeing with Dokyung, Choi Woojin still seemed worried about something.

“It’s going to be hard to convince the clients.”

“That’s our job.”

“You’re right, it is our job. I’ll inform the PBs from other branches then.”

“Alright, I’ll speak with the branch manager.”

The two sorted out their respective tasks and began to move quickly.

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“Just looking at my account today makes me happy.”

It was lunchtime for ordinary office workers. As various topics were being discussed, one person brought up stocks, and everyone looked at him with interest.

“Why? Did you find something good?”

“I bought DU stocks yesterday afternoon.”

“DU?”

“Yeah, you know, the one that’s been in the news lately about hostile takeovers and such.”

“Isn’t their chairman in jail?”

When an employee who wasn’t interested in stocks spoke up, the man chuckled.

“That’s why the stock price is rising, you know? Because others are trying to take over management. The stock price just keeps going up.”

“Really? How much has it risen?”

“17%”

“What? But you said you bought it yesterday.”

At the employee’s question, the man’s shoulders rose high with pride.

“That’s right. Even though I bought it yesterday, it’s already up 17%. Yesterday it rose 30% and hit the upper limit.”

“Wait a minute, didn’t Se-jung also mention something about DU?”

At another employee’s question, Oh Se-jung, who had been eating silently at the end of the table, looked up.

“Huh?”

“I sit next to Se-jung, and I heard her talking on the phone about DU something or other.”

“Ah… I was talking with the person who manages my assets.”

“Oh? So Se-jung, you’re holding DU stocks too?”

“Yes. I bought them… two months ago.”

At Se-jung’s words, the man who had been boasting about his returns looked at Oh Se-jung with a surprised expression.

“Two months? Then what’s your current return?”

“Well… When my asset manager contacted me this morning, I heard it was just over 70%. He said it rose 17% today, so… it should be just under 90%.”

Everyone at the table looked shocked at Oh Se-jung’s words.

“N-ninety percent? Sorry, but how much did you buy?”

“Just a little bit.”

Oh Se-jung spoke with an expression of remarkable composure.

Three months ago, after entrusting her stocks to a PB, Oh Se-jung had started to regain a sense of ease in her life.

She had entrusted all her savings to the PB, who had more than doubled her assets in a short time.

Every time she checked her account after work, she wondered if this was really happening. But she felt reassured every morning when the PB briefed her on the day’s market position.

“My asset manager said it’s an opportunity that might come once in a lifetime. So I trusted him… and it turned out well.”

Everyone thought it truly was an opportunity that might come only once or twice in a lifetime.

After all, it wasn’t easy to more than double your money in just two months.

“Then if you hold onto it longer, you’ll really hit a single, huh?”

In the stock market, achieving a 100% return was called hitting a single.

“But I’m going to sell today.”

“What? Why sell when it’s likely to keep rising if you leave it alone?”

“Well… My asset manager explained it to me for a very long time, but to sum it up, he said it’s a race to see who gets out first.”

“A race to see who gets out first?”

“Yes, he told me not to get caught up in that fight and potentially lose my profits, so we should just sell today. I agreed.”

At Oh Se-jung’s words, the employee who had been boasting about his returns chuckled.

“Se-jung, if you hold onto this, it’s bound to go up more.”

“It does seem that way. But selling now doesn’t erase the profits I’ve made so far. I’m content with this much.”

“Well, I guess it’s your money, so there’s nothing we can do…”

The employee clicked his tongue, as if regretting the decision.

“And, what did he say… He said the peak is when you want to brag about your profits. Lately, I’ve been feeling the urge to brag.”

Oh Se-jung said this with a smile.

Buzz- Buzz-

Just then, the employee’s phone vibrated, and as he checked the screen, he froze in place.

“Wh-what’s this… Why is it…”

Stammering in confusion, the employee hurriedly fiddled with his phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“J-just a moment.”

The employees at the table looked at the man, wondering what was happening. After a moment, he let out a heavy sigh.

“The stock price suddenly dropped. I barely managed to get out.”

“What, DU?”

“Yeah, some bad news must have come out. I’ll have to look into it…”

“You didn’t lose money, did you?”

“No.”

“Whew, that’s a relief.”

As they exchanged these words, everyone seemed to have a sudden realization and turned to look at Oh Se-jung, who was still eating at the end of the table.

“Se-jung, you said you were selling your stocks today, right?”

“Yes. He probably sold them already. I got a message saying he’d sell before lunch.”

“Then… you really sold at the peak? Um… is it possible to know who your asset manager is?”

“Oh, it’s Yoon Dokyung PB from Yuseong Investment Securities, Seongnam Branch.”

Everyone at the table seemed to be taking out their phones and making notes, while Oh Se-jung smirked.

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“Everyone, you’ve all worked hard.”

Two weeks later, at Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch.

“And thank you all for supporting my opinion.”

It was the usual meeting time, but today everyone’s faces were particularly radiant. The gloomy atmosphere that had persisted was nowhere to be seen.

“As of yesterday, we’ve secured a total of 120 product contracts. Given that we provide asset management services to about 300 clients at our branch, approximately 46% of our clients have signed up.”

As Branch Manager Ryu Tae-hwa said this, the employees smiled brightly, and some even clapped softly.

“I think 140 sign-ups in a month might be a new record in our company’s history. Even when I was at headquarters, I never heard of such performance.”

A rare smile graced Ryu Tae-hwa’s face as well.

“Thank you all, truly.”

As Ryu Tae-hwa bowed his head once more, everyone applauded him.

“Especially… our Yoon Dokyung, who made it possible for everyone to understand this situation.”

At Ryu Tae-hwa’s words, everyone turned to look at Dokyung, who shyly rubbed his nose.

“Thanks to him, we’ve all found a way to serve our clients while escaping the pressure of performance targets.”

Two weeks ago, when Dokyung told everyone they should sell DU stocks, some PBs suggested it might be better to hold onto them longer.

However, Ryu Tae-hwa expressed his support for Dokyung’s opinion, saying that since Dokyung had sketched out this picture, he hoped everyone would follow along. Except for the shares of clients who refused to sell, everything was sold before lunchtime as Dokyung had intended.

“May I ask one question? How did you even know the timing?”

After everyone had sold, news came out in the afternoon session that the Steellife side might give up on the management rights dispute.

With a single exclusive article, the bubble in DU’s stock price began to deflate and the price started to fall, but the Steellife side remained silent.

“I couldn’t know the exact timing.”

And as market participants dismissed the article as false reporting and started buying DU stocks again, shocking news hit the market participants an hour before the market closed.

A record of 5.4 million DU shares being sold was observed at a foreign bank’s trading desk.

While everyone was trying to figure out who was behind the sale, the Steellife side distributed a press release stating they were giving up on the management rights dispute.

“I just thought the corporate raiders would act quickly, and the only thing we could do was get out even faster.”

Very fortunately, most of the stocks held by the Seongnam branch’s clients were liquidated for a profit three hours before they dumped their shares.

The next day, DU’s stock price fell by more than 20%, making the sell signal Dokyung had given to everyone turn out to be a sale at the very peak.

“It’s just that I moved faster, but I simply thought we should get out the moment I noticed.”

At Dokyung’s words, everyone looked at him with expressions of admiration.

“In any case, good job. With this level of product sales performance, even the headquarters will have to re-evaluate…”

Bang-

Just as Ryu Tae-hwa was about to continue, the conference room door suddenly burst open with a loud bang.

“Long time no see, Branch Manager Ryu.”

Jeon Seung-jae, the head of the WM Support Department from headquarters, and his staff appeared in the conference room.

“What brings you here?”

Ryu Tae-hwa stood up and approached Jeon Seung-jae.

“Today marks three months since the evaluation of the Seongnam branch. We should conduct a re-evaluation, shouldn’t we?”

Jeon Seung-jae looked at Ryu Tae-hwa with a smirk.

“Though I’ve been receiving weekly reports, I’m sure nothing has changed. Well then…”

“No, Director Jeon.”

Ryu Tae-hwa smiled as he looked at Jeon Seung-jae.

“Did you eat something bad this morning? Why are you smiling…”

“I don’t think we need to conduct a re-evaluation today.”

“What?”

“We sent our performance results to the division this morning. You should have come a bit later. Then you wouldn’t have made a wasted trip.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Bzzt-

As Jeon Seung-jae was flustered by Ryu Tae-hwa’s confident demeanor, his phone vibrated. He took out his phone to check the screen.

“Yes, Vice President. Yes, I’m at the Seongnam branch right now… What? I should proceed with the re-evaluation… Yes, yes. I understand.”

After ending the call, Jeon Seung-jae glared at Ryu Tae-hwa, his lips quivering.

“Now that you’ve confirmed, would you please leave?”

“Hey! Ryu Tae-hwa!”

“Director.”

Ryu Tae-hwa called out to Jeon Seung-jae with a stern expression.

“I understand that what you’re doing is for the company. However…”

Ryu Tae-hwa’s voice was cold enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

“From now on, don’t interfere by calling my employees and telling them what to do. I’ll take responsibility, so I’ll set the branch’s policies.”

“Y-you… you bastard, are you done talking?”

Jeon Seung-jae’s voice trembled, his jaw quivering.

“Performance pressure? We can endure that. It’s only natural since we receive a salary from the company. But I cannot overlook a superior teaching junior PBs that kind of sales tactics already.”

Jeon Seung-jae couldn’t offer any rebuttal to Ryu Tae-hwa’s words.

After all, the justification for having Ryu Tae-hwa by the throat was performance in the first place.

“Although our methods differ from yours, our branch has produced more than sufficient results. So you shouldn’t have anything more to say, right? Please return to headquarters safely.”

Ryu Tae-hwa bowed his head in farewell and left the office, while Jeon Seung-jae watched him go, trembling with fury.