Membership (1)
“I see you’ve taken a very young man onto the management advisory committee.”
“Lee Jaseung. A highly capable acquaintance of mine. I owe him a great deal over this Facenote business.”
“Ha-ha. Chairman Seo must be pleased. Young men holding you up solidly from both sides.”
“Both sides?”
“A skilled advisor and a sharp-witted son.”
“……You mean Minjae.”
“Word of his competence has spread everywhere. Brokering and executing a one-trillion-won fund is no small ability.”
“You’re laying the gold leaf on thick today, Chairman.”
Chairman Seo smiled faintly, but the stiffness of that smile failed to hide his discomfort.
The chairman of Seonkang Group let a quiet laugh slip out.
“As it happens, I’ve obtained some excellent information. I intend to invest in derivatives.”
“How much?”
“A hundred billion.”
“Quite a scale.”
Chairman Seo already knew where that hundred billion was coming from.
Not long ago the Seonkang Group chairman had borrowed three hundred billion from Seo Seong Securities. The man who had approved the loan was none other than himself.
“And you mean to entrust it to our Minjae?”
“Don’t keep a clever son all to yourself—lend him out a little. Capable brokers are scarce in this business, tsk. I’ll treat it as pocket money for him and make sure the fees are generous.”
He borrowed the money under the pretext of a corporate acquisition and now plans to misuse the funds—and he’s saying it to my face.
Of course. To become chairman of Seonkang Group, a man needed at least this much shamelessness.
Chairman Seo’s deliberation was brief.
It wasn’t as if Seo Seong Securities itself would be embezzling anything. He only had to look the other way.
Favors of this small size were best banked carefully and cashed in later.
He accepted with open ease.
“Ha-ha, very well. I’ll speak to my son myself.”
At two in the morning the lights were still on in the Makers office.
Nothing unusual about that.
The building’s owner always came to work in the evening and left in the morning.
Seo Minjae came in grumbling.
“Because of you I’ve completely flipped my sleep schedule.”
Lee Jaseung answered with a blank face.
“I don’t remember calling you at this hour.”
Seo Minjae ignored him entirely and laid out snacks and glasses on the lounge table with practiced ease.
“What are you doing?”
“We wrapped Facenote successfully. We should celebrate.”
“Do we have to?”
“Have you ever had a drink looking out at this romantic night view of the Han River?”
“Of course not.”
In the early hours the Han River painted a fantastical nightscape where bridge lights and riverside apartment windows blended together.
Seo Minjae grinned and filled his own glass with beer, Jaseung’s with McCol.
“Then try it tonight.”
Jaseung gave a short laugh and checked his watch.
One hour left.
It was Friday—the day he entered the future. But until then he would play along.
Clink—the clear ring of beer glasses colliding filled the air.
Suddenly Jaseung realized how long it had been since he last heard that sound.
Not bad.
He took a sip with that thought, then immediately scowled.
“What is this? Why would anyone put coffee in cola?”
Seo Minjae snickered.
“Hey, a lot of people like that taste. This stuff is quietly popular.”
“Whatever.”
Jaseung set the glass down and never touched it again. Instead he picked up a slice of apple and bit into it with a crisp snap.
The atmosphere had gone strangely languid. The usual sharp edge was gone from his eyes, replaced by quiet satisfaction, and his gestures carried an even denser leisure than usual.
“You look happy.”
Jaseung smiled lightly.
“I am. Like you said, Facenote went pretty well.”
“True, you made a pile this time, right?”
“Money?”
Jaseung tilted his head for a moment, then let out a small sound of realization.
“Ah, the hundred and fifty billion?”
“……What’s with that totally underwhelmed reaction?”
“To me money is like air. Does anyone give thanks just because there’s more air? It just gets a little more comfortable.”
……What an annoying bastard.
“If it’s not the money, then why are you in such a good mood?”
He had gained far more than a hundred and fifty billion.
First, his portfolio was stacking up solidly.
Seo Minjae had cemented his position even more firmly in the PBS division. And under the name of Makers, Jaseung had successfully built a first layer of trust with both Han Juhyeong and Chae Eunchae.
Each of them would become a conduit—one toward Hanyeong Auto Group, the other toward the Loan Shark King.
But the most important thing was this:
“I got into Seo Seong Securities.”
“……? That’s that important?”
“Of course. It’s proof I won. By now your sister knows how empty that threat was—the one about never letting me set foot in Seo Seong Securities.”
“…….”
That competitive streak. That pure competitive streak.
Whatever someone told him not to do, he had to do the opposite or he couldn’t rest.
Seo Minjae clicked his tongue.
“I don’t get it. I’m fine with a Trojan horse coming into Seo Seong Securities, but once you’re in, Seo Minju is going to come at you even harder.”
“Doesn’t matter. I enjoy crushing people too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course you do. So why specifically ask to join the management advisory committee?”
“First, because of conflict-of-interest issues.”
“Mm. Avoiding conflicts of interest is important.”
The management advisory committee was an organ unrelated to investment.
The topics discussed there were things like “What businesses should we pursue ten years from now?” and “How do we improve the decision-making process?”
Many securities firms brought in outside advisors and then made those advisors’ own companies into clients.
“On top of that I can look across the entire management landscape. I can circulate through almost every department. That means the information I can access will multiply.”
If the management advisory committee said, “We need to grasp the current status of each department to establish a digital roadmap,” then most departmental information became available for review.
But Seo Minjae still looked unconvinced, tilting his head.
“Even so, getting documents shared won’t be easy, right? My father’s going to be extremely wary of you.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can get them.”
“How? You going to raid the office or something?”
“Something like that.”
“……You’re not actually planning to raid it, are you?”
Instead of answering, Jaseung checked his wristwatch.
The hour to enter the future was drawing near.
In reality the title comes with plenty of constraints, but in the future it’s different.
There, he could do anything.
Exactly as Minjae said, he could raid the office and freely examine whatever materials he needed.
Jaseung lightly tossed a ball upward.
The moment the ball traced its arc, the second hand pointed exactly at twelve.
Three in the morning.
The ball vanished in midair, and Jaseung himself was sucked into the future.
I had entered the future.
I slowly looked around.
Desks lined with multiple monitors, employees moving busily, phones ringing without pause and short reports being exchanged.
A landscape I had grown used to by now—the PBS division of Seo Seong Securities.
Perhaps because I had been with Seo Minjae in reality, this time as well I began the future alongside him.
Good starting point.
I had planned to raid the office anyway; starting right in the middle of Seo Seong Securities was lucky.
The date is one week later.
It was such a near future that I wondered what could possibly have happened, but just in case I asked Seo Minjae beside me.
“How was the past week?”
“Nothing special, really? Company atmosphere’s a lot more stable, Seo Minju’s been quietly cooperative, and our division brokered a one-trillion fund so performance is solid. Most of all—”
Seo Minjae grinned and pointed at me.
“The Trojan horse has entered the city.”
Hearing that, I remembered why I had come to Seo Seong Securities.
As an advisor to the firm I had been circulating through departments for meetings, and today the first meeting with the risk management division was scheduled.
I pulled out my phone and checked the calendar.
4:00 p.m. — Meeting with Kim Taejun, Head of Risk Management Division
Agenda: Advisor role and future work coordination
The meeting was soon.
To raid the office I need someone to keep the division head occupied outside……
I glanced at Seo Minjae.
Perfect.
“I’m going to meet the division head now. Can you help?”
Seo Minjae looked puzzled.
“Why do you need my help for that?”
“I need someone to keep the division head tied up outside. About thirty minutes.”
“……What exactly are you planning to do in there?”
“Tour the office.”
“Yeah, right.”
But Seo Minjae shook his head.
“Not today. I’ve got a meeting of my own later.”
“A meeting?”
“The Seonkang Group chairman wants to invest in derivatives and is looking to sign a brokerage contract.”
Seonkang Group ranked inside the top five conglomerates.
The chairman was known as a “gambler” who loved high-risk bets—which also meant he spent money like water.
Yet looking at Minjae’s face, he clearly wasn’t eager.
“Seonkang Group’s chairman is a major client. Something’s bothering you?”
“It’s a hundred-billion-won derivatives investment.”
Definitely gambling.
“I checked—Corporate Finance extended Seonkang Group a three-hundred-billion loan for acquisition financing. The loan barely closed and then he comes to me with a derivatives request.”
Gambling plus embezzlement.
“Want to know the funnier part? Father took personal charge of this and specifically named me.”
Gambling, embezzlement, and containment all at once.
Quite a week.
“When it’s a direct order from Father and the other party is a chairman…… I’m still figuring out how to extract myself. Anyway, it’s gotten complicated.”
“Then all the more reason to visit the division head.”
“Why?”
“Loan review, use-of-funds tracking, derivatives trade approval—all of that falls under Risk Management.”
“You’re saying Risk Management knew all of this and still looked the other way?”
“That’s what we need to find out from here. How much time until your appointment?”
“About an hour.”
“Then give me thirty minutes.”
Seo Minjae sighed.
“So while I keep the division head occupied outside, you’re going to raid the office?”
“Exactly.”
“You know something?”
“What?”
“You’re actually insane.”
I had heard it so often I only nodded absently—then suddenly felt a sense of wrongness.
I remembered the employees of the future.
If I acted too recklessly and the other person found me strange, I was immediately ejected.
Yet nothing was happening now.
Which meant Seo Minjae had accepted this reckless plan as completely natural……
……What exactly does he usually think of me?
A strange feeling settled over me.
.
.
.
I arrived at the division head’s office exactly at four.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Division Head.”
“Ah, Mr. Lee Jaseung. I’ve been waiting. Come, sit here.”
We continued the conversation at a moderate pace.
The Facenote matter had been impressive, the chairman was very interested, what role did I plan to play on the committee, and then the subtle containment.
“……There are times when the committee needs an outside perspective. That said, our materials include quite a few highly sensitive items……”
Just as listening was becoming tedious, Seo Minjae announced himself at the door.
The division head asked with a bewildered face.
“Director Seo Minjae? What brings you here?”
“I came regarding the Seonkang Group matter. I need to request a risk review. You know the one.”
Derivatives.
When Minjae mouthed the word only, the division head’s expression hardened for an instant.
“Ah, but I’m in a meeting right now……”
“I’m sorry, but it’s urgent. I have a meeting with the Seonkang Group chairman myself in an hour.”
Exactly as planned.
I pushed him along as if it were nothing.
“I’ll stay here and look over the materials. They’re documents I’ll be reviewing going forward anyway.”
“Ah, is that so? Then please start by looking through these review cases. Director Seo, come with me.”
The two men left the conference room. I immediately locked the door. Click.
Even if I were caught, nothing catastrophic would happen.
At worst I would simply return to reality.
I opened the cabinet; recent review materials were neatly arranged.
I already knew the approval date from Seo Minjae, so I found the documents at once.
Due diligence report: ten pages.
The thickness was pitifully thin.
“A ten-page due diligence report. At least pretend to make an effort. As expected, no use-of-funds tracking either.”
Confirming that funds were used for their stated purpose was basic.
Especially with acquisition financing, the funds were restricted-use and should have been managed far more strictly.
But it’s not a fatal problem.
If pointed out, they would simply say, “Ah, we overlooked it by mistake. We’ll supplement it immediately,” and move on.
What I was looking for was something else.
The derivatives trade approval materials.
Derivatives trades required prior approval without exception.
Since Chairman Seo had ordered it personally, they would have prepared some kind of cover-your-ass paperwork.
“Here it is.”
Investment Purpose: Hedge transaction
Review Opinion: Investment for hedge purposes linked to Seonkang Group’s energy business expansion plan.
The content wrapped in the boring form was quite interesting.
This is rather novel.
Anyone could see that Seonkang Group’s main business was telecommunications.
Yet suddenly an energy business expansion?
I was extremely curious what commercial vision they had in a land that produced not a single drop of oil.
I turned the next page and the specific investment details appeared.
— Investment product: Natural Gas Futures
— Investment scale: 100 billion won
— Position: Long (buy)
— Contract quantity: approx. 47,000 contracts (MMBtu basis)
— Leverage ratio: 1:20
— ……
A short laugh escaped me.
“Natural gas futures. A hundred billion won long. Twenty times leverage.”
The energy market—and natural gas in particular—was notorious for its volatility.
Among traders it even carried the nickname “widow-maker.”
If you put a hundred billion into natural gas futures at twenty times leverage, the actual position size reached two trillion won.
A mere five-percent drop wiped out the entire principal.
A ten-percent drop meant you owed another hundred billion on top.
Win and you were a gambler; lose and you were a gambling addict.
I wonder which title the chairman ended up with.
I needed to see how it finished.
This work is a work of fiction. All characters, groups, place names, and events appearing in the work are fictional and have no connection whatsoever to any real persons or entities. Specialized knowledge described herein has also been reconstructed and adapted for the story and may differ from actual information.