If You Can't Avoid It, Enjoy It

"Hey, hey! Tonight's on me."

Dahun was the friend who always reached for the check first whenever we went out drinking.

"Jinyeong—send me your parents' address, will you? It's the holidays. I ought to send some fruit, at least. You barely have any friends as it is. Your folks'll be disappointed."

He looked after my parents even more than I did.

And yet every time I saw him, some shadow I couldn't name lay across his face. He never talked about what he was carrying, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and asking first felt awkward.

Then one day, Dahun called me out on his own.

"Look at this. My son and my daughter."

"Cute."

Our Yeju was cuter, of course.

"The kids are precious. But sometimes I miss how things used to be."

"Used to be?"

"Yeah. Back when I wasn't responsible for anyone."

"Something going on?"

"What would be going on. And even if there is, you endure it. That's what it means to be the head of the house."

"Right. There's that saying—if you can't avoid it, enjoy it. Let's hang in there."

"If you can't avoid it, enjoy it... Not bad."

We shook the worry off with a glass of soju. Like anyone else, a fresh pile of it would be waiting by morning.

Jinhan Bank, Gangnam Branch.

Dahun headed for the branch manager's office with this month's performance report in hand. The numbers on the page looked pathetic even to him—returns down a full ten percent from the month before. The graph might as well have been a picture of his future.

Hoo— All right. Like Jinyeong said. If I can't avoid it, I'll try to enjoy it.

He drew a breath and knocked.

"Branch Manager. Kang Dahun."

"Come in."

And then, a moment later—

"Kang Dahun! You brought me this and called it results?!"

The branch manager slapped the report onto the desk. The pages caught the air and scattered across the floor.

"It's just... the market's been so unstable lately. Clients are all crowding into safe assets, so..."

"Safe assets? Enough excuses. A private banker blaming the market—where does that end? Performance is yours to manage."

Dahun nodded despite himself, but anger and self-reproach tangled together underneath. For months he had been cutting risky assets to hold on to his VIP clients, and the fee income had shrunk because of it. He didn't want to shove their money into danger just to pad his numbers, and he knew perfectly well that explaining any of that to the branch manager would be useless.

"You've got no fire when you sell these days. Stop reading the room and go on the attack. You do realize that if fees drop, it hits the whole branch?"

"I know. It's just that the VIP clients have been sensitive to the recent losses, so pushing high-risk products too hard..."

"Kang Dahun! You think I'm saying this because I don't already know?!"

The branch manager's voice boomed through the office. Then he let out a long breath, as if steadying himself.

"Hoo— Dahun. Everybody here is grinding. If you're the only one playing it safe, who's going to make up the numbers?"

"......"

"You used to be good at this. That's why I recommended you and got you promoted to assistant manager a whole year early."

He set a hand on Dahun's shoulder.

"Bring in two new clients before the month is out. No exceptions. Otherwise, don't count on the next promotion review."

"...... Understood."

Out of the office, Dahun thought it to himself.

Fuck... This isn't the least bit fun. How the hell am I supposed to enjoy it.

Nine in the evening.

Only long after dinnertime could Kang Dahun finally clock out.

Zing—

A video call came in from home. Dahun, who had worked the whole day without a trace of a smile, finally let one touch his mouth.

The call ended quickly. Kang Dahun stroked the darkened phone, over and over.

"This is enough. If I have this..."

Another day talked into making sense. He was just about to head for the chicken shop when—

Honk—!

A horn blared behind him. No way that was meant for him. He started to ignore it and keep walking.

Then again.

Hoooonk—!

"Ha... What now."

He turned toward the car laying on the horn.

A G-Wagen?

The windows were tinted, so he couldn't see much, but a silhouette was starting to come through. As his eyes adjusted, they went wide.

"Ju—Ju Jinyeong?"

"Get in. We need to talk."

"How in the world is this..."

"Get in the car. I'll explain. Slowly."

Kang Dahun dropped into the passenger seat and looked around.

"You rent this?"

"It's mine."

"...Illegal?"

"Legal."

"How do you legally buy a G-Wagen! Until a little while ago you were the guy saying your ex-wife cleaned you out and you didn't have a cent."

And then his eyes flew open all over again.

"You... don't tell me that coin from back then...?"

I nodded.

"Bought it with that."

"Coins have run up lately, sure, but that was only around a hundred percent, wasn't it? A hundred-million-won loan wouldn't even come close."

"On the spot market, no."

"...So you're telling me you traded futures?"

"Yeah."

"The great Ju Jinyeong?"

"Yeah."

"Haha... The sun must be about to rise in the west."

Kang Dahun let out a hollow laugh, then went on.

"Well, you drove the thing here yourself, so I guess it isn't a lie. Still. I'm glad things turned out this well for you, at least."

"You say that like they didn't for you. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You've got the best job of any of us."

"...Jinyeong."

"Yeah?"

"That thing you said last time. I can't do it."

"What I said?"

"If you can't avoid it, enjoy it. I can't seem to manage that."

"Is it that bad?"

"Every single day is a grind. Then I see the kids' faces and I've got my strength back. I guess that's how everyone lives."

Bzzzt—

Dahun's phone buzzed.

"Oh, right. The chicken..."

"Chicken? What chicken?"

"I promised Dongmyeong and Hayul I'd bring some home. Yeju likes chicken too. I'll have them pack an extra one. You take it with you."

Thinking of our niece on top of his own kids. Of all of us, he had the kindest heart.

"Dahun."

"What?"

"I didn't come here just to show off the car."

"You little shit. Then you should've walked, not driven a G-Wagen."

"Showing off the car is also true, actually."

"...... Why are you being such a pain today?"

"Haha. And I came because I had something else to say."

"What? Spit it out. My kids are waiting on that chicken."

"Work with me."

"Yeah, yeah. Work with— what?"

"I told you. If I started a company, I'd take you first."

"What company, out of nowhere. How much money could you even have made."

Futures or not, Dahun figured I had made a few hundred million won at the outside.

We were going to work together anyway. He deserved to know what the capital looked like. And I had a feeling that was the only way I'd actually persuade him.

"House, car—what's left is exactly five billion won. I'm going to keep compounding it through investments. Once the number gets big enough, running it alone won't be realistic, so I came to ask you."

"...You really made five billion? You?"

"You think I'd lie about something like this?"

"......"

Kang Dahun couldn't find the next word for a long moment. Then:

"I don't really believe it yet... but you're not the type to come all the way here just to lie and leave."

"So what's your answer?"

"Give me a little time to think."

"Take all you need."

The job he had now, at a major commercial bank, was stable. The work was brutal, but the pay was solid, and he could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ride it all the way to retirement without a problem.

What I was holding was five billion won. A great deal of money for one person. At the scale of a company, it wasn't that large a pool of capital.

If we grew it together, all the better. But the day we went bust, Kang Dahun would be as good as out of a job. I was on my own. He had children. Of course it would weigh on him.

I said one last thing.

"Dahun."

"Yeah?"

If Admiral Yi Sun-sin had twelve ships, I had twelve monthly closing charts.

I came home carrying the chicken Dahun had sent with me—not to the shabby plank houses of Dal-dongne, but to an apartment with an underground garage and security guards making their rounds.

"Whoa!! Kkokkio!!!"

Put food in front of Yeju, and I always lost.

"Yeju, eat up."

"You brought chicken?"

The worries that used to live on my sister's face were gone without a trace.

"Yeah. A friend bought it for Yeju."

"Jinyeong, you're not eating?"

"Nah. I had dinner before I came in."

I traded a few words with her and went into my room, then started laying out the investment plan ahead.

June and July had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been sideways months. There would be pops to the upside here and there, but the gaps didn't look all that wide. I also had no idea how far the downside was open. Push too hard, and I might get liquidated. The margin set aside against a forced close was plenty, of course. I was thinking of running about a hundred thousand dollars and pulling twenty or thirty times leverage.

I was still working the plan when a status window rose in front of my eyes, as if the cooldown had just filled.

Over the course of a month I had opened the Random Box thirty times. Among them, a few abilities that were permanent—and actually useful.

Maybe this was why Dahun's resolve had wavered.

With this, anyone who came sniffing around to fleece us would be easy to screen out.

And besides those—

Honestly. Every kind of ability under the sun had come out.

After Natural Steroid, my whole body felt dense and solid. A thought struck me then. Other people spent years disciplining themselves to build a body like this. Was it really all right to get one overnight?

......

Of course it was. They were giving it away.

I sorted the list and pressed Y.

Shaaaa—

Light rippled.

Tsk. A dud did turn up, once in a while. I'd been looking forward to it, and the air went right out of me.

With the Random Box opened, I sat down at the computer.

For the next two months I had to stick to day trades—futures, no less. The market would climb eventually, but until then I needed to pile up as much seed money as I could if I wanted the capital to grow any further.

I scanned the charts fast. The setup was ambiguous, but the downside looked likely to stay in control through about tomorrow. A short, then. It was the first one, so I kept the seed light: fifty thousand dollars, leverage at thirty times.

All right. Time to get in?

The instant I moved to click the mouse, a new status window rose in front of my eyes.

This ability... I'd drawn it a month ago. There'd been no way to test it on its own, so I never had. So it was showing up now. But how did the effect even trigger?

Blocked at the source—what was that supposed to—

Kzzzt—!

In the next instant, current ripped through my whole body, as if lightning had burst from my fingertips. Pain like electricity stabbing into flesh, and my body locked rigid—agony, as if thousands of needles had driven in at once.

Thud—!

I couldn't even get a scream out. I went straight down to the floor.

At the sound, my sister came into the room.

"Oh my god—oh my god. Jinyeong, what happened. No. I have to call an ambulance, right now..."

Consciousness thinning out.

......

Fuck.

So "block" meant killing me so I couldn't get the order in?