Membership (3)
The moment Lee Jaseung answered the phone, he hung up. Seo Minjae asked,
"Who was that?"
"Han Juhyeong."
"Juhyeong? Why hang up right away?"
"He was talking nonsense. Wanted a discount."
Seo Minjae shook his head at that.
"I told you it was expensive. Thirty billion won is two and a half billion a month. Ordinary consulting runs about a hundred million a month—that's twenty-five times the going rate."
"Is that so?"
"Whenever I meet clients these days, all they talk about is your membership. They try not to show it, but it clearly bothers them."
Lee Jaseung gave a short laugh.
He didn't need to see it to know.
People with towering pride—what they would say was obvious.
"They're used to being treated like royalty wherever they go. Of course it grates when someone tries to rank them with a membership."
"……You knew that and still did it?"
"Who knows. Pricing has to be exact. I don't think thirty billion is expensive at all."
With his ability to see the future, he could predict market movements with near-perfect accuracy.
What premium did that ability deserve?
If you could avoid the risks still to come and invest ahead of the businesses that would grow—what was that worth?
Inexhaustible.
He had only set the price at thirty billion because he had not yet fully proven the ability.
Lee Jaseung rested his chin on his hand.
"That's why you paid the thirty billion the moment you heard about it, isn't it?"
"Well, that's true, but……"
Seo Minjae let out a sigh.
Thirty billion won. No—with the initiation fee included, the Black Membership at forty billion was a serious burden for him.
But he had reason enough to stretch.
"It's about Seonkang Group. My father singled me out and told me to handle their derivatives trades."
At the mention of something he had seen in the future, interest stirred in Lee Jaseung's eyes.
"Is that so?"
"Seoseong Securities lent Seonkang Group three hundred billion won, and Seonkang is siphoning that money into derivatives. My father pointed me at it knowing full well he could get tangled up in embezzlement. Why do you think?"
"Because you've been standing out too much lately."
"Exactly. He's trying to put a leash on me."
"So what did you do?"
"I refused. Said I'd already signed a broker contract with you on the same deal. Even my father couldn't bring himself to mess with a heavyweight running a one-trillion fund."
In truth, it wasn't direct involvement in embezzlement, so even if word got out, nothing catastrophic would follow.
It was nothing more than a warning not to get cocky.
But still.
Was it coincidence that Lee Jaseung tipped me off about the same derivatives deal as Seonkang Group's chairman?
Coincidence or not, without Lee Jaseung he would have had no choice but to accept that contract.
Feeling the threat, he had immediately bought the top-tier Black Membership.
Lee Jaseung smirked.
"See? It has value."
"……I sold my house to scrape that money together, you know."
"Stop exaggerating."
Lee Jaseung had been planning to raise the price further with time. He muttered as if he truly didn't understand.
"Is this expensive? Seriously?"
"It's expensive!!!!"
Makers' high-priced memberships, of course, sparked controversy.
In the traditional investment world, the investor was the "client" and the asset manager was the "vendor."
Lee Jaseung had completely inverted that relationship.
He had made both investor and manager the vendors!
At that, the old order of clients and vendors both lost their minds.
The financial world bristled.
"Makers? What does a firm that's barely a year old think it's doing?"
"We've built decades of track record! They have almost nothing."
"One success and they got full of themselves."
"Thirty billion? Why would anyone entrust that kind of money to a startup? Better off putting it in a hedge fund with real returns."
The business world sneered as well.
"Succession consulting? Depending on something like that is just admitting your own incompetence, isn't it?"
"Exactly. Only people who can't think for themselves burn thirty billion on consulting like that."
A few, though, offered more measured assessments.
"Isn't a performance like this over a single year actually outstanding?"
"Thirty billion is insane, sure, but five billion? Honestly…… that might not be so bad."
"Quarterly returns of ninety-six percent, right? Funds like that simply didn't exist. Even if they keep half that return, five billion would pay for itself in no time."
Lee Jaseung was well aware of the controversy circulating.
Whether they criticized or praised him made no difference.
In the end, time would make everything clear.
But one thing scraped at his pride.
Just another high-return hedge fund? Just another consulting service?
As a new firm, Makers did lack a long track record.
But every single result was something no ordinary consultant or fund manager could have delivered.
And yet they were being measured on the same plane as the mediocre offerings flooding the market.
For the first time in a while, his competitive fire began to boil.
Of course, Lee Jaseung knew.
These evaluations came from ignorance.
There simply wasn't proper educational material yet. Once he demonstrated the exclusive value only Makers could provide—the undeniable difference—they would shut up on their own.
Lee Jaseung thought it through carefully.
What's the best approach? Consulting alone will be hard……
Consulting was, by nature, a bespoke service.
Every client needed different advice, results took a long time to appear, and above all, value was hard to compare objectively.
But investment is different.
Investment had returns—a clear, merciless metric.
And he happened to have the perfect material.
Seonkang Group's natural gas futures investment.
Seonkang Group had taken a long position of one hundred billion won. With twenty times leverage, the actual position was two trillion won in scale.
Same market, same product, same period, same investment conditions.
But completely different outcomes.
Where else would you find a cleaner comparative experiment?
While he was at it, he decided to set the investment strategy. He naturally went looking for Seo Minjae.
When he called, Seo Minjae's voice sounded strained.
"I'm in the middle of unpacking. I probably won't be free until after ten tonight."
"Moving?"
Lee Jaseung was puzzled for a moment, then remembered that Seo Minjae had sold his house.
He checked his watch.
Four in the afternoon.
He had only just woken up, so ten at night was midday for him.
"I'll come to you. Text me the address."
Lee Jaseung stopped and looked up at Seo Minjae's place.
An eight-minute walk from Gangnam Station Exit 9.
Car horns and people's laughter mixed from every direction.
Looking at the old corridor-style villa sitting in the busiest, least private heart of Gangnam, Lee Jaseung frowned.
Did he send the wrong address?
Half-doubting, he pressed the doorbell. A moment later the door opened and Seo Minjae himself came out.
"You're here? Come in."
Lee Jaseung stepped through the entrance and surveyed the interior.
A clean, thirty-five-pyeong family home.
The kind of place a couple with a child who worked near Gangnam might live without pretension.
He found the most rational explanation he could.
"Is this a redevelopment zone?"
"It's a jeonse lease. Being right by Gangnam Station, the deposit was ten billion."
"A ten-billion jeonse……?"
"……You mean 'only' ten billion, right?"
Lee Jaseung said nothing.
At the rare sight of him looking flustered, Seo Minjae snickered.
"I told you. I even sold the house."
Chaebol heirs like Han Juhyeong would grumble that forty billion was "fucking expensive" and still pay without real strain.
Seo Minjae was different.
His father gave him an allowance and cards for maintaining appearances, but he never handed over assets.
And ask for forty billion for succession consulting?
He wouldn't get a single won.
To raise the money, Seo Minjae had liquidated his portfolio, sold his foreign car, and even disposed of his Banpo apartment.
These days he used the company car only when necessary and otherwise rode the subway. With Gangnam Station right in front of him, it wasn't inconvenient.
Oddly, the furniture and housewares he had brought were still top-tier. Seo Minjae took out Hermès coffee cups and asked,
"Sit. Coffee?"
Lee Jaseung gave a slight nod and looked around once more.
So he really had sold the house.
He'd thought it was an exaggeration. It wasn't.
He was surprised, but his reaction stopped there.
Seo Minjae had made a calculated investment, and Lee Jaseung respected that judgment.
All he had to do was prove that the choice had been right.
After a sip of coffee, Lee Jaseung got to the point.
"What's Seonkang Group's chairman been doing?"
"After I refused the trade, he went to NB Securities."
"Ah. Them."
A smirk touched Lee Jaseung's mouth.
NB Securities was the broker that had executed the Facenote short strategy last time. Their skill was nothing special.
"How's the natural gas futures market these days?"
"All bullish, obviously. With rumors that Seonkang Group climbed onto the long side, it's even more heated."
"Already?"
"The position including leverage is two trillion. Natural gas futures is a big market, but a move that size is bound to show."
The screen displayed natural gas prices over the past six months.
The graph had been steadily falling, then recently started to rebound.
"Natural gas has been declining for six months. Winter's coming, demand for gas will rise, so everyone thinks it's bottoming out and about to bounce."
"So Seonkang Group's chairman bet on the rise."
"It's a hundred billion. Company money, at that. You don't put that kind of capital in all at once without real conviction."
With everyone expecting a rebound, Seonkang Group's chairman had simply ridden the wave.
So—what would Lee Jaseung do?
Seo Minjae watched him with a nervous expression.
In his experience, Lee Jaseung had never once gone the way people expected, but……
"……You're not going the opposite way this time too, are you?"
"You know me well. I'm betting on the fall."
"······."
A flood of words tangled in Seo Minjae's mouth.
Do you know what the business world is saying about your membership right now.
Everyone's watching the next fund's performance.
If the whole market expects a rise and you alone short it, isn't that too dangerous.
But he swallowed every one of those words.
Lee Jaseung had never been wrong yet.
He trusted him, and that meant the work now was to build the execution strategy.
Not to nurse doubts.
"How far do you think it'll fall?"
Lee Jaseung recalled the future.
Natural gas prices would crash.
The lowest point in nearly a decade.
He had lived through the beginning and the end of it, and he remembered every single variable, one by one.
"At least forty percent. It'll be a historic collapse."
"Then we need to calculate the capital scale first. Natural gas futures is a huge market with daily volume in the trillions of won. We can put in more than last time."
"How much?"
"Two trillion?"
Lee Jaseung thought for a moment, then nodded.
Seonkang Group was at two trillion as well. Matching them at two trillion was only right.
That way the experiment would be fair.
"Actual capital deployed: three hundred billion. Seven times leverage for a total position of two trillion. Feasible?"
For a second, Seo Minjae felt dizzy.
Three hundred billion won. Seven times leverage.
Two trillion in total position exposure.
"How much of that three hundred billion is your own capital?"
"A hundred thirty billion."
"······That's basically going all in, isn't it?"
Lee Jaseung had made a hundred fifty billion from the last investment. Setting aside operating costs and reserves, he was throwing in everything.
Most people called that gambling.
Seo Minjae let out a long breath.
This bastard…… is really bad for my heart.
Derivatives inherently included leverage.
You could put everything on the line and multiply it dozens of times—or drop below the margin and get a margin call.
"If this goes wrong, you won't just lose everything. You'll be buried in debt."
"I know. It's a dangerous bet."
"Then why?"
Lee Jaseung gave a dry laugh and tipped his chair back. A smile played at his lips, but his eyes were cold.
"It bothers me."
"What does?"
"People talking down my company."
"……You crazy bastard."
Seo Minjae muttered a curse. Gambling his life because he didn't like hearing that—his pride really was something else.
Lee Jaseung smiled faintly and accepted the compliment.
"I'm going to scale the board and start a rumor."
"What kind of rumor?"
"Who's going to win."
Seo Minjae swallowed hard. He thought he could see what Lee Jaseung intended.
Seonkang Group's chairman versus Lee Jaseung.
Long versus short.
It was like betting red or black on a roulette wheel.
"You're turning the entire business world into a gambling table."
"Exactly. If the stakes are trivial, no one pays attention. But if the stakes run into the hundreds of billions? One side a heavyweight of industry, the other the head of a newborn firm?"
A gambling table built around the futures market.
Two men taking opposite positions, the market deciding the winner.
With a confrontation this clear-cut, every eye would be forced to watch.
"Interest in who wins will explode. And if you win……"
"I get the trophy of having beaten Seonkang Group's chairman. Not bad as marketing, is it?"
Seo Minjae wore an expression of pure disbelief.
"Then what does that make Seonkang Group's chairman when he loses to you?"
"Well…… a sad man?"
This work is a work of fiction. All persons, groups, place names, and events appearing herein are entirely fictional and bear no relation to anything in the real world. Professional knowledge described in the story has also been reconstructed and dramatized to fit the narrative, and may differ from actual information.