Rumors
Gangnam rich.
"Regarding the recent rebound in the stock market…"
It was the catch-all label people in Korea used whenever they talked about the wealthy. Real estate had a lot to do with it. The district where property values had climbed the hardest. Simply living in Gangnam had been enough to make someone rich.
"So you're calling it a dead-cat bounce?"
"Yes. A dead-cat bounce is Gomtang Securities' final conclusion."
Managing money well was another reason. Luck alone never kept a fortune intact. That was what the gatherings were for. At the Gangnam Wives' Club, a lecture was underway as usual.
The Korea–U.S. Interest Rate Gap
[Graph showing a roughly enormous inversion gap.jpg]
A securities analyst had been invited. The latest economic briefing, delivered in person.
"Following the December FOMC results, the upper bound of U.S. rates has opened up to 3.0%. Korea, by contrast, sits at 1.75%. Raise rates any further and the economy takes a hit. Don't raise them, and foreign capital flees on a rising exchange rate. In short, we are caught between a rock and a hard place."
It was worth the effort. Gangnam's wealthy were VVIPs to be handled with care. They entrusted staggering sums of money. The securities firm put that money to work and generated returns.
"That concludes my presentation. We hope you'll continue to favor Gomtang Securities!"
"Excuse me."
"Yes, please go ahead, ma'am."
Director Yu Seung-hyeon. The reason Gomtang Securities' flagship analyst had come out to lecture in person was simple: he needed to land these VVIPs. He had expected results the way he had last time.
"So?"
"I'm sorry? Which part was unclear?"
"You got it wrong last time. Can you get it right this time?"
They were not pushovers. Yu Seung-hyeon wiped at the sweat beading down his scalp.
I already explained the reasoning, though.
Being Gangnam rich did not mean having superior economic literacy. They were no different from ordinary investors. You could talk them around easily enough. There was one decisive difference, though.
"There was a slight miscalculation at the time. If you would entrust us with your confidence once more, we will manage your capital with the utmost sincerity."
They were the ones holding the leash. You had to work to stay in a Gangnam rich person's good graces. You could not treat them the way you treated retail investors. The one who could be used up and thrown away was you.
Thwack!
Your competence was always under review. The moment Director Yu Seung-hyeon stepped out, the backbiting began.
"Ugh, the excuses."
"The ones who never get it right always have the longest tongues~."
"See? I told you. Never trust a bald man!"
He had missed the call. His looks did not help either. This was not nitpicking over trifles. The status of being Gangnam rich — what you needed to maintain it put ability and experience firmly in second place.
Bootlickers who only kiss up are useless.
What mattered most was an eye for people. That was the background against which Director Yu Seung-hyeon had been unanimously filtered out. Pure instinct. And because that instinct had been right, they had grown their assets into the tens and hundreds of billions of won.
"Did you hear the rumor?"
"What rumor?"
"Seokcheon's mom is a little slow on the news, isn't she~."
Lately they had a hot topic. Unlike the experts who preached crash every single day, someone was investing boldly.
Buying real estate right now is the right move?
And with his own money, no less. He was already a known name in the industry.
"They say Sonik-jwa bought real estate~."
"Sonik-jwa?"
"I heard this wasn't the time to be buying property…"
Sonik-jwa. Famous among investors. A super retail trader sitting on hundreds of billions in assets.
So that's why he's been so quiet lately.
He was not affiliated with any securities firm. He only appeared on economic channels once in a while to offer a view. Every appearance became a talking point. His calls were so uncannily accurate that they stuck in people's minds.
"Is it really Sonik-jwa?"
"I only heard it as a rumor myself~."
"Oh my… if it's true, maybe we should be buying real estate even now."
It was a critical point. Whose expert advice you followed decided your returns.
If Sonik-jwa is doing it, that does get my attention.
But the experts keep saying no?
Real estate is still pretty rough, honestly.
The Gangnam rich had been watching him for some time. Fresh news of him again, and their thoughts grew complicated. The recent market was undeniably bad. Most experts held the same bleak view Director Yu Seung-hyeon had just delivered.
"Hello, ladies. Lovely weather again today, isn't it?"
The next analyst. Professor Kim Won-wook was the same type. Known as Dr. Doom, he had been drawing attention across the industry of late.
But he can't be right forever.
A bear market ended eventually. Looking back, people always realized it had been a buying window. Someone who could tell them that — the Gangnam rich were looking for the person who would make them money.
"Today we'll be covering the common ground between Korean real estate and Japan's Lost Twenty Years."
Whether that person would be Kim Won-wook, or Sonik-jwa — the people with the most money in Korea were watching with a hawk's eye.
Real estate.
If there was one decisive difference from stocks, it was time.
This isn't a market where you settle the score in a day or two.
It took a very long time. Real estate investors routinely thought in terms of ten or twenty years. Looks like this area will get redeveloped. Foot traffic should pick up around here. They bought the land and let it sit for years. Some even transferred their family registry and moved in.
"Me too?"
"If I tell you to, will you actually do it?"
"Deal."
"Didn't expect that."
That was how much conviction it took. Nobody casually bought something worth hundreds of millions of won.
"People will spend months deciding on a house, then buy a stock in a few minutes."
— Peter Lynch
It was also why so many people made money in real estate. Patience mattered in investing.
You just wait it out, nice and slow.
You could not hit and run the way you did with stocks. That had been priced in from the first day of the investment.
"It means I get to play on oppa's money."
"You little—"
"I love it♡"
Thanks to that, Suhyun was living her best life. Over the break, she could stay in hotels every single day.
Great for Instagram content, too.
SNS was where people spied on other people's lives. If you always looked like you were living lavishly—
—you felt like someone special. You could rack up more views and more followers.
She was already a looker to begin with.
Dream Girls. Suhyun had been on it too. Unlike Sora, she had not lasted long.
"Take one for me."
"How?"
"Like this."
"Yeah, but how."
"Like I'm lying down."
On SNS, at least, she seemed to be doing well. Being a model, she photographed beautifully.
Smack!
She slapped the bed with her palm. True to a suite, twin beds sat solidly in place.
Well, roughly means 'stimulate the male fantasy,' I guess.
Instagram aesthetics. Not that he was unfamiliar with them. It was a Nasdaq-listed company, after all — one of the five major U.S. tech stocks known as FAANG. He had researched that part thoroughly.
"Ugh, my legs look short!"
"Just live with it."
"Quit complaining and take it again."
He had no idea how to take a photo. It had nothing to do with the direction of a stock price.
Click!
She was enormously stubborn. Only after dozens of retakes did a shot she found acceptable finally come out.
"This should be postable. Won't get many likes, though."
"Hey."
"Hm?"
"Present."
She dared put him to work. The price for that would be steep.
She sure knows how to strike a pose that gets me going.
Suhyun was lying face-down. He flipped her skirt straight up and found the cleft. No need to check — she was already wet. Maybe getting photographed had turned her on.
Slurp!
He was the same. The moment he pushed his half-hard cock in, it swelled rock-solid.
"Just slides right in."
"Ah."
"You're completely wrecked, huh?"
"I've just become oppa's exclusive."
She was clutching a pillow tight. With the spare one she skillfully propped up her lower belly. Ready to be filled. He put the hole of the endearingly well-spoken Suhyun to use.
Even wrecked, if it's my exclusive wrecked hole, that's fine.
He drove in to the root. A faint tremor said the size still did not truly fit. But a body that had grown used to him accepted it. It made a path for his cock to travel.
"Ah, ah, aahng…"
Only her moans filled the room. Suhyun's body played along with his rhythm.
Not exactly the most padded rice cake.
She was thin, no getting around it. Model work had taken her to the point where you could feel bone. Even so, the feel of using her was good. Being his exclusive covered sex technique too.
Throb!
She ground her hips, working the head. She knew his timing.
She's good at milking it, too.
He came for her the way she wanted, thick and full. Warm fluid filled Suhyun's cave.
Trickle~
When he pulled out, it spilled. More than she would normally have been able to take had been put inside her.
"Hold that pose."
"Haa… haa… I can't feel my legs."
"It's fine."
A pose that got him going. Similar to before. One difference.
Click!
It was filthy. The traces of sex dripping from her open hole provided the accent.
"Post the earlier one on Instagram, and this one on OnlyFans. Bet it'd be popular."
"Oh, it'd be popular, all right."
"Right?"
"It'd also ruin my life."
"That sounds fun."
He had planted the fantasy — sharing the moment the fantasy came true would draw plenty of people who wanted to see it. Even if it cost money.
Guess I'll have to do the comparing myself.
It was already up on Instagram. True to fifty thousand followers, comments were rolling in in real time. Among them, a few that caught his eye. Too factually precise to dismiss as simple hate.
…
…
…
He was a party to it himself.