My Authority
My authority.
"Wh-what the hell is this?"
"Can't you tell just by looking?"
It was true that my standing within the department had slipped somewhat. Stirring up the same kind of ruckus as before had grown difficult.
But the club was another matter entirely.
I had meant to flaunt the dignity of a stock-market super-expert the way I always did.
"Why has the stock market been in a downtrend lately?"
"Because the Fed is sucking money out of the market."
"Is that the interest-rate hike thing?"
"Unnie! Me too, me too!"
The atmosphere inside the club room had changed. No—even without examining every detail, it was obvious.
Why the hell are you here?
Anyone would notice a blonde Western beauty sitting there. And she was not merely sitting. She was dispensing advice to the club members left and right.
"There's the rate hike, and also the balance-sheet reduction."
"What's the difference?"
"Umm……, if you try to control everything with rate hikes alone, the side effects get too big. So they're using other methods as well."
They were listening with rapt attention, as if receiving a special lecture from Rachel.
I told them that shit too, for fuck's sake.
The same kids who had only pretended to listen when I spoke were now pricking up their ears.
"Can you explain what's going on?"
"There's nothing to explain—it's exactly as it looks."
"What is?"
"The TA unnie often comes by the club room and helps us out!"
Even Hye-ri, the club president, had officially recognized it. At some point she had been completely converted by the enemy.
While I was busy teasing Sora, this happened?
Teasing her had been so rewarding that I had lost track of time. But inside the club—
"What kind of help?"
"It's been a continuous down market lately, right?"
"So?"
"Market flow? Or something like that. A lot of members have gotten interested."
Naturally the stock market was still moving in real time. They were curious about the recent situation and wanted someone who could answer them. Rachel had been filling that need.
So why?
Rachel could pull it off easily enough. I had never once doubted her skill. The problem was the Why? Of all places, the stock club. I already had a guess, and soon it hardened into certainty.
When our eyes happened to meet, Rachel offered me a faint smile.
"The TA unnie is pretty, right?"
"Her face is decent enough."
"Do you—do you have a thing for her? Like that?"
"Who knows."
"Oh my!"
It was a smile that looked good-natured. Most men would almost certainly fall for the illusion.
That's why they called her a witch who bewitches people.
In reality it was exactly as it appeared. Her obsession with me had dragged Rachel all the way here.
"It's been a while."
"Don't we see each other often enough in the lecture hall?"
"I mean seeing each other in a private setting."
When I answered nonchalantly she whipped her face away. There was no crazier bitch alive.
After I gave a spinster a little taste she went and wrecked a decent person's life, and now after just tasting my lips she's stalking me.
Her personality was twisted into knots.
"So what's the reason for this private setting?"
"Do I need your permission to be here?"
"I suppose not."
"Hmph!"
After our first kiss and then being left alone, she must have been burning up inside and come looking. Even so she was still pretending not to care.
If I keep ignoring her she'll pull every stunt in the book again.
Things I had lived through in my previous life. In this one I would have to overcome them in a sure, smart way.
"It is true that I came because of you, though."
"Ah~ last time the ki—"
"What, What, What?! Stop being silly!"
Anyone watching would have thought we had slept together. Her face went bright red and her usual cool image vanished without a trace. The shout drew every eye in the room. Only then did she seem to recover and clear her throat.
"What's going on between you two?"
"Did you fight during lecture?"
"That's right! I really hate this man."
"Kya!"
"Kyaa~!"
"Doesn't that mean you're interested?"
"???"
She denied it with desperate energy. In a department lecture hall the excuse might have worked, but—
This is my home base.
These were kids who already knew me reasonably well. Her clumsy Korean expressions only invited more misunderstanding.
"Come to think of it, the first time she showed up she was looking for Chan-wook oppa too."
"!!"
"Did you get close by fighting?"
"In Korean a strong denial is basically the same as affirmation~."
That side of things was fun as well. In an instant an atmosphere of teasing Rachel took shape. If her personality had been even slightly better she would have noticed and played along, but—
"Absolutely not."
"Really?"
"Not even a little?"
"That's right! In the first place, the reason I came here is……."
She possessed no such flexibility. She launched into a stream of curses about me.
Oh boy.
It seemed she had decided to stand in complete opposition. Her personality had no middle ground.
"Over the past few days of coming and going from the stock club, I have come to understand."
"About a man like me?"
"Yes, about a man like you, thoroughly……."
"Oh my!"
"Kyaa~!"
Of course she was not the type to invent baseless claims. The story she was telling—
Has to be about market views.
We had clashed often enough in my previous life. Her perspective and mine frequently diverged; like water and oil they never mixed. Criticizing each other's views had been daily routine.
"I heard this was a stock club, yet you are not actually studying stocks in any systematic way."
"It's systematic enough."
"And I have also determined that this is due to your influence."
"'You,' huh."
"Oh my, oh my."
Even in this life the difference in temperament was on full display. The classroom arguments had been nothing more than skirmishes.
That's how it should be.
The fire was already lit; I had known it would come to this. In that case the correct move was to secure advantageous ground.
Thwack!
Rachel pointed at the club's whiteboard. Then, with practiced skill, she began to draw.
"It is true that the current stock market has turned down out of fear of the high."
"But?"
"But that is no reason to be frightened that a bear market has begun."
It was a chart. She had sketched the recent month's NASDAQ flow with surprising accuracy.
[Rough graph of a month-long decline]
It was a graph that looked every bit like a bear market. After a brief rebound it surrendered the gains as if nothing had happened.
"Looks like a bear market to me?"
"That kind of thinking is wrong. A stock investor must never let pessimistic thinking become second nature."
But that was hindsight. An investor needed to look at the market rationally.
She's not wrong, though.
When it came to the NASDAQ, that is. If I had taught with the NASDAQ as the baseline I would have said the same thing.
"Wasn't it a down market because the Fed is absorbing money from the market?"
"That's right."
"There's the rate hike, and the balance-sheet reduction too……."
"Analyzing that in detail is the investor's job."
This prideful young lady's true goal was not that she could not stand the sight of me. It was closer to the opposite. Because I was an opponent she acknowledged, she wanted the hierarchy settled beyond any doubt.
She's a queen who only feels satisfied when she's standing on top of someone else.
She was already building her own faction. No—she must have spent the last several days laying the groundwork.
"Are you checking the recently announced indicators and the Fed's stance?"
"Enough?"
"And yet you are still instilling the preconception of a bear market in the members?"
"So what?"
The argument between Rachel and me continued. Club members who had been reading the room began drifting to her side one by one.
She talks really well.
Not sarcasm—honest recognition. There was bound to be a gap between me, who had dropped out without ever studying, and her. Rachel was an elite among elites, a high-caliber talent rare even in America. She might already have accumulated real practical experience.
"There's only one thing I can say."
"More sophistry?"
"Let's see how it turns out in a month."
"That is precisely what I hope for."
"But on the KOSPI."
"?!"
In the stock market, experience does not put food on the table. Veterans and rookies fight from the same starting line.
Having more experience doesn't give me any special edge.
Long experience can even create blind spots. Even so, if we competed I was certain I would win.
"Very well! Let us take this opportunity to study the Korean market as well."
"That sunbae is still good at day trading, though."
"Right. He's a crazy gambler!"
"……."
Even without resorting to day trading. I had no desire to pull dirty tricks against an old rival.
She's the type who will only acknowledge it if I do it cleanly.
Having clashed more than once or twice, I knew her well. The way to break this lofty queen's pride was—
Clap!
The sharp sound of hands coming together. Hye-ri stepped forward to mediate. As club president she could not simply watch a fight unfold.
"Then we'll settle it purely with the KOSPI index? Once the result is out, both sides cleanly acknowledge it."
"Fine."
"That's acceptable."
"If you two fight again I'll ban both of you from the club under the president's authority."
""…….""
Surprisingly sharp. It made sense that she had managed the stock club well in my absence.
1. One month from now, the KOSPI index will serve as the sole standard.
2. If it has fallen, Chan-wook oppa wins; if it has risen, the TA unnie wins.
3. The loser will submit to the winner and do exactly as instructed.
She wrote the rules on the whiteboard without me even asking.
Number three is really to my liking.
Perhaps because she was already my woman, she saw straight through to what I wanted.
"I'm on the TA unnie's side!"
"But still, for KOSPI, sunbae is……."
"The TA noona's explanation was more convincing, though?"
The members started making side bets among themselves. From the stock club's perspective it was a constructive development.
"Oppa thinks he'll win, right?"
"Of course."
"Whichever side wins, I hope you two don't fight anymore."
"Weren't you rooting for me?"
"You two looked like you were enjoying the argument."
"Me? Must be a misunderstanding."
Hye-ri left me with those inscrutable words.