The Only One I Can Trust

Dahun stepped through the front door with two whole chickens in his hands.

The door had barely opened before the children came charging straight at him.

"Daddy's home!!!"

"Chicken!!!"

Dongmyeong and Hayul, wild with excitement, latched onto their father's legs.

In that brief instant, every last scrap of Dahun's exhaustion melted away. Smiling, he ruffled their hair.

"My princess. My little prince. Did you wash up?"

"Yeah!!"

"Daddy brought the chicken you two love. One crispy fried, one sweet-and-spicy—two whole birds!"

Squabbling over who would get the first piece, the kids raced each other toward the kitchen.

In the kitchen, his wife Eunyoung was clearing the table.

"You're home?"

"Yeah."

"Late again today. You must be worn out."

"You're the one who's worn out, honey. Looking after the kids and the house by yourself every single day—that can't be easy."

While the children were lost in the chicken, Dahun sat down across from Eunyoung.

"Eunyoung."

"Hm?"

"You know my friend Jinyeong."

"Of course I do. How many times have you gone on about him? The friend you're always bragging about—the best one you've got."

"Today he was parked out front of the bank in a G-Wagen."

"A G-Wagen? That's an expensive car, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Looks like an investment paid off. He made a pretty serious amount of money."

"That's impressive. But why did Jinyeong come looking for you?"

"He asked me to work with him. Said he needs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me."

"Did he?"

Dahun had a fair idea of what Eunyoung would say. Even so, he'd only wanted to hear himself say it out loud once...

She said it so calmly that the one left stunned was Dahun. At the look on his face, a laugh burst out of her.

"Pfft. You're the one who brought it up. Why are you so flustered?"

"N-no, I just... Staying at the bank is stable. The paycheck comes in like clockwork right up to retirement. Start working with Jinyeong, though, and there's no telling when the whole thing could collapse..."

Her fingers closed softly around his hand.

"Honey."

"Yeah?"

"It's been hard, hasn't it? I know you've been gritting your teeth and enduring all of it for me and the kids. There were so many times I felt awful, watching you wear yourself down."

"...Eunyoung."

"And so what if it fails? Do you think I married you because you were a banker? You know what I used to think, back when we were dating, every time I looked at you? That if I was with this man, no matter what happened, I wouldn't starve. That he'd find a way to take care of me. That was the greatest faith I had in you."

A faint sheen gathered at the corners of Eunyoung's eyes.

"And I'm going to start working too, once the kids are off to daycare. I'll hold on right beside you, so don't worry so much. Do whatever your heart tells you."

At those words, Dahun's chest went tight. He couldn't speak for a long while—and then the tears simply spilled down his face.

"Thank you."

"Thank you? I'm the one who's grateful I married a husband like you."

"Waaaaah! Uncle, don't die!"

Uncle's not dying.

Yeju's sobbing dragged me back to myself.

When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling filled my vision—and a heartbeat later, my sister lunged into it.

"You're awake?"

"Where is this?"

"Where do you think? The hospital."

She was right. Now that I had my wits about me, it was a hospital.

"Uncle's alive!!?"

I stroked Yeju's head.

"Uncle's alive."

"What even happened all of a sudden? I heard this huge thud from your room, and when I went in you were collapsed on the floor. Seeing you like that, I thought my heart was going to drop straight out of my chest."

And how exactly was I supposed to explain this? If I told her I'd picked the wrong side of a trade and my whole body had burned like I'd been electrocuted, would she even believe me?

Of course she wouldn't. The moment I said it, the bed I was lying in would stop being an emergency ward and turn into a psychiatric one.

I fudged it.

"Guess I was a little anemic."

"Be more careful. What if you'd cracked your head on a corner? Ugh, I don't even want to imagine it. Have you had a checkup lately, Jinyeong? You'd think you know your own body best, but it doesn't work that way. Since you're awake anyway, let's run some tests and see how you're doing."

And there it was. That damned nagging.

"I'm really fine. What did the doctor say?"

"The doctor said nothing looked unusual, and that you could be discharged once you woke up. Still, since we're already at the hospital..."

"All right. I'll get a few tests while we're here. But you should get checked too."

"Huh? Why me?"

"Your wrist hurts all the time. If you don't treat that when you should, you'll suffer for it when you're older."

"...You knew?"

"How could I not? The smell of those pain patches practically fumigates the house."

"Yeju wants a checkup too!"

"Then how about we take Yeju to the dentist and see if she's been brushing properly?"

"H-huh? The d-dentist??"

"If you've got cavities, we'll tell the doctor to fill them."

"N-no! Yeju doesn't think she needs a checkup after all! And I meant checking homework, not a hospital checkup!"

Sensing her opening, my sister caught Yeju by the hand.

"That's right. It's been a while since Yeju's been to the dentist. Since it came up, the whole family should get checked."

"Waaah! Yeju hates the dentist."

"Go to the dentist, and Uncle will buy you snow crab for dinner."

"S-snow crab?"

Yeju swallowed, hard.

"Yeah. I'll buy you as much as you can eat."

"For real, Uncle?"

"Of course."

"Then promise Yeju."

We hooked pinkies and swore on it.

A short while later, while the rest of them were off getting their exams, I went back over what had happened.

First: Bitcoin.

I'd been about to bet short when the shock tore through me.

Which meant...

I pulled the chart up again.

"...!"

It was a chart that should have been heading down...

Someone pumped it on purpose.

By the time I came to, Bitcoin was up nearly four percent. If I'd been on thirty-times leverage, liquidation wouldn't have been the end of it. I'd have been wiped out and then some.

June and July were months of sideways chop. Were they planning to pack more retail traders on board, then shake them all out?

The pain was one thing. As a guide, though, it seemed reliable enough.

That was the problem.

If the line above was to be believed, the next time might not be electrocution.

......

That was scarier. A fear that came from not knowing.

At this rate, was the next one actually going to kill me?

And beneath that, there was one more line.

I rubbed my chin, turning it over.

If I could endure the pain, it was clearly a good ability... The question was whether the pain it dealt out was pain a person could actually endure.

After a brief deliberation, I reached a conclusion.

I'll ride it out a few more times.

It was far too good an ability to cancel.

Surely it wouldn't actually kill me.

......

Still, just in case, maybe I ought to write a will ahead of time.

Once the checkups were finished, we gathered at the car.

Sure enough. My results showed nothing wrong at all, while my sister was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome.

If the nerve damage advanced, recovery could become impossible without surgery, so catching it early mattered—and fortunately, hers had been found in the early stage.

"What did I tell you? You're the one with the problem, not me."

"I know. That's why I agreed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get treated."

"I'll cover all of Yeju's lessons and living expenses, so ease up and take it slow from now on."

"I will. Honestly, the nagging..."

"Wonder who I learned it from."

Yeju chimed in from the side.

"Yeju went to the dentist and they said my teeth are super clean! Must be 'cause I brush every day!"

"Good job. Shall we go eat snow crab now?"

"Yeah! Yeju is so happy!"

"Hahaha."

In the old days my sister would have tried to stop me, insisting it was too expensive. Now that she knew the state of my wallet, she didn't bother.

If anything—

"I can eat a lot too, right? You collapsed out of nowhere, and I wore myself out dragging you to the hospital."

"Of course. How about we pick up snow crab and head to Mom and Dad's? It's been a while."

"I'd like that. They'd love it."

"We're going to see Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Yeah. You like that too, right, Yeju?"

"Yeah! I miss Grandma and Grandpa!"

"Then let's get going. Everybody buckle up."

"Okaaay!"

"Kang Dahun!"

Jinhan Bank Gangnam Branch. Inside, Section Chief Yoon Seongjun's bellow erupted right on schedule.

"Yes, Chief."

"What is this? Is this the material I told you to prepare yesterday?"

"...Yes, it is."

Chief Yoon gave it a cursory glance and flung it down onto the desk.

"If this is the best you can do, quit. You can't even analyze a customer segment properly?"

"......"

Dahun bit his lip. It was a report he'd built through days of overtime, and it had been thrown at his desk without so much as a real look.

"You whine every day about how hard everything is, and then the work looks like this? What exactly are you better at than the juniors? And you call yourself a private banker? At that level, just work the teller window."

It hadn't always been this way. Dahun hadn't drawn his seniors' scorn from the start.

From his days as a rank-and-file employee he'd piled up results beyond anyone's expectations, caught the branch manager's eye, and been promoted to assistant manager a full year early.

Once he was an assistant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠manager, he reported directly to the branch manager more and more often, and the senior staff apparently hadn't cared for the look of that. From then on they'd seized on every trivial matter to tear Kang Dahun down, and his colleagues had naturally begun to avoid him.

All that time, Dahun had smiled and swallowed it.

But not anymore.

"Chief."

Yoon lifted his eyes, sneering.

"What?"

"At least read the report all the way through before you tear into me. I stayed up all night making it. I believe protecting our clients' money properly is the right call—more than gambling with it."

"Are you talking back to me right now?"

"It's not talking back. I'm giving you my opinion."

At Dahun's words, Chief Yoon's face went scarlet.

"Ha. Have I been a little too easy on you lately?"

"Has there ever been a time you were?"

"What?"

"There's a limit to how much verbal abuse a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠person can take. From now on, I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak carelessly to me, or to our juniors. We're not incompetent enough to deserve being told we fall short of your standards."

"Have you lost your mind, you little bastard? This is a company. You think you're playing hero? If you're going to act on your own like that, get out and start your own company."

"Yes. Then that's what I'll do. Why the hell not."

"...What did you say?"

"I said I'm leaving. The company."

Chief Yoon swallowed, his mouth gone dry.

Last month's numbers had been poor, but on performance there was still no one who could match Kang Dahun. Plenty of VIP clients invested not because of the Jinhan Bank name, but because they trusted Kang Dahun himself.

If Kang Dahun resigned, and it came out in his meeting with the branch manager just how long Yoon had been grinding him down...

Yoon knew perfectly well that the one this company would mark would be Section Chief Yoon himself. He'd ridden the man so hard only because he'd been certain Dahun would never quit—nowhere else among the country's prime banks paid like this.

"W-wait. Why are you getting so worked up again? Just sit down for a second."

"No. I was already wrestling with it. You've just given me the answer, Chief."

"Assistant Manager Kang. Just calm down..."

Without a moment's hesitation, Kang Dahun yanked the employee badge from around his neck and flung it onto the desk.

"Assistant Manager Kang?"

The first curse he had ever spat inside the company. Dahun felt as if something clogged inside him had finally cleared.

And in his heart, only one thought remained.

Now the only one I can trust is Jinyeong...