Chapter 5, God of Investment
Chapter 5, God of Investment
Bubble, bubble.
The sound of the stew boiling deliciously on the high-heat gas stove filled the kitchen.
I finished chopping, then dumped the sliced green onions and zucchini into the stew pot.
Finally, the enoki mushrooms too.
The savory scent of doenjang (soybean paste) tickled my nose.
"The seasoning is just right."
I scooped up a bit of broth with a spoon, tasted it, and nodded.
I turned off the gas and carefully moved the pot to the dining table.
Next to it, I neatly set out the fish I'd grilled earlier, the golden-brown tofu pancakes, and a few side dishes.
How long has it been since I've cooked like this in the kitchen...
'Since I enlisted in the military... it's been about a year and a half.'
Suddenly, the scene of the military mess hall popped into my head.
Memories were starting to bubble up, but...
I shook my head to shake off those ominous memories.
Now, I am a free man.
The fact that I was a civilian, in a civilian kitchen, cooking civilian food, felt surprisingly moving.
'Time to return to being a house husband.'
Actually, there was one role I implicitly agreed to take on while living in my eldest noona's house.
That is, being in charge of all the housework.
My eldest noona is a workaholic who runs a large tax accountant office in the middle of Gangnam.
Naturally, she doesn't have the energy to worry about housework or cooking.
So, in exchange for living rent-free in a room in this big, nice house, I agreed to take charge of chores like meal prep and cleaning.
'Though it seems my eldest noona and my two nieces split the work while I was in the military.'
Now that I'm back, it's my kitchen again.
I untied my apron, hung it on a chair, and raised my voice toward the living room.
"Dinner's ready! Come down quickly!"
I shouted loud enough to make the whole house ring.
Just before my shout died down, I heard doors opening all over the house.
Tap-tap-tap.
Tap.
With light footsteps, Baek Ha-rin came out of the room on the first floor first, and immediately after, Baek Ha-young came thundering down the stairs from the second floor.
"Samchon, your voice is too loud."
Baek Ha-rin approached the table, yawning widely in her sloppy sweatpants.
With her smartphone gripped tightly in one hand, staring intently at the screen, she was a girl of her age through and through.
If a girl doesn't check her texts quickly?
Then she's not interested, so it's better for your mental health to give up quickly.
"I have to make noise so you'll crawl out to eat."
When I scolded her, Ha-rin didn't even reply; she just pulled out a chair and sat down.
Ha-young, who had come down from the second floor, scurried over and sat next to her.
"Samchon! I'm hungry~♬ Give me food quickly~"
Ha-young started acting spoiled as soon as she sat at the table.
It was cute how she blinked her round eyes and begged for food, but I shook my head firmly.
"Tsk. Put the spoon down. Mom is coming soon, so wait a moment. We have to eat together."
"Aing, Mom isn't here yet. I'm seriously so hungry I feel like I'm going to collapse."
"You're lying."
I stared straight at Ha-young and asked.
"But Ha-young, you just came back from school and ate a ton with your friends, so why are you hungry again?"
"A ton? When did I?"
"Didn't you say you destroyed a full course of malatang and tanghulu earlier, and even ate tteokbokki in between?"
At my sharp observation, Ha-young tilted her head without a hint of guilt.
"Samchon. That was something I ate earlier. It's dinner time now, so of course I'm hungry!"
"Did the malatang you ate earlier evaporate from your stomach?"
"Usually, around middle school age, your stomach clears itself out when the time comes. Can't you hear it growling?"
Hmm, I actually can hear it?
She must have a gluttonous ghost inside her.
"Wait a little longer. She should be here soon."
I glanced at the clock on the living room wall.
The clock hands were slowly approaching 7:30.
My eldest noona's usual finish time is around 7.
Considering the traffic, it takes about 30 minutes to drive here from her office in Gangnam...
'She should be arriving soon.'
Sure enough.
As soon as my thought finished, I heard the sound of the door lock at the entrance.
Beep-beep-beep.
Chirp.
I strode toward the entrance.
The front door opened, and a familiar silhouette stepped inside.
It was my eldest noona, dressed in a neat suit two-piece set, carrying a briefcase.
"Noona, you're here?"
As I approached her with a greeting, she took off her heels, organized them, and smiled brightly when she saw me.
"Our youngest!"
Noona dropped her bag on the floor, walked over to me with a big smile, and gave me a tight hug.
The scent of strong perfume mixed with the faint smell of office fatigue wafted over.
Seeing Noona's face up close...
I was struck again by the power of genetics.
People would be fooled if she went anywhere and claimed to be Baek Ha-rin's sister.
"Our youngest, you really worked hard for a year and a half. I'm glad you came back safe and sound without getting hurt."
Noona hugged me tight and patted my back gently.
Then, very naturally, she moved her hand down and gave my butt a firm pat.
"Why do you keep hitting a grown adult man's butt?"
"What grown adult. In Noona's eyes, you're still a little squirt, aren't you? Good job, you little puppy."
It felt strange to have the same thing I did to Ha-young earlier done to me by Noona.
I stepped back as if I'd taken internal damage and rubbed my butt.
"Alright, alright. Dinner is all set, so go wash your hands."
As I grumbled, Noona smiled and pinched my cheek lightly.
"Anyway, our youngest has been discharged, is there anything you want? Noona will pay, so feel free to tell me."
It was a bold offer, typical of a wealthy Gangnam tax accountant.
"I already bought one."
"You bought one? What?"
"Hehe, I bought a computer."
I chuckled and nodded, and Noona smacked her lips as if slightly disappointed.
"You're so impatient. I was planning to surprise you as a discharge gift. How did you already buy one?"
"Hmm..."
I couldn't exactly tell her that.
If I told Noona the source of that money, it was obvious tonight would turn into chaos.
I just shrugged vaguely.
"Just, you know, bought it. I bought it with my own money, so don't worry about it."
"Really? That's a shame. Then is there anything else you want besides that? Like a watch or clothes."
"Hmm... I'll think about it. I don't really need anything right now."
As I said that, I naturally picked up Noona's briefcase and coat from the floor.
"First, go change your clothes."
"Okay, thanks."
While Noona headed to the bathroom with a light step, I took the clothes and bag she handed me and went into her room.
I turned on the lights in the spacious walk-in closet attached to the room and hung the bag neatly on the designated shelf.
And I hung Noona's coat in the Styler.
I pressed the power button and set the cycle, and it started moving with a loud noise.
"Oof."
"Noona. Your younger brother is inside, how can you just take your clothes off?"
"Noona doesn't mind?"
"I mind."
Noona got down to her underwear first, then got dressed and went out first.
Only then did I come out and return to the kitchen.
"Wow, it smells really good. As expected, our youngest's cooking skills haven't died."
Noona swallowed her saliva while looking at the stew.
I stood by the sink, opened the lid of the steaming rice cooker, and scooped rice with a spatula.
In front of my eldest noona, a huge portion to replenish the energy lost from hard work.
In front of Baek Ha-rin, a huge portion considering the energy she spends dancing and filming videos.
And in front of Baek Ha-young, who said she had a separate stomach for dinner even after eating malatang and tteokbokki all day, a mountain-high portion of rice.
Finally, in my bowl, I scooped a very moderate and normal amount of rice.
I set all four rice bowls and sat in my empty seat.
"Let's eat!"
We all greeted and picked up our spoons.
The stew broth and grilled fish started disappearing in an instant.
My eldest noona, who was eating a big spoonful of rice, glanced at me and asked naturally.
"Anyway, our youngest. Now that you've been discharged and got a new, expensive computer, what are your plans for the future?"
The most common and terrifying question poured onto a discharged soldier.
To be asked on the first day what I'm going to do to make a living.
I answered calmly while eating tofu from the stew.
"I found an editing job this time."
"Editing job?"
At my answer, my eldest noona stopped using her chopsticks and tilted her head.
"Our youngest had video editing skills?"
At that moment, I saw Baek Ha-rin, who was chewing rice across from me, flinch.
I slyly made eye contact with Ha-rin and opened my mouth.
"I learned it by self-study in my spare time before enlisting. For now, I plan to work hard enough to make a living with this."
Noona nodded, looking a bit surprised.
"Oh, really? That's amazing. When did our youngest learn such a productive skill. Well, video stuff makes money these days, anyway."
Noona gave a very satisfied smile and placed a piece of fish on top of my rice.
"Whatever it is, work hard. You should try everything when you're young. I'll pay you a generous salary for doing the housework, so don't worry about money too much and work with a light heart."
"Yeah, thanks."
Getting up to 2.5 million won a month from my niece, and now a salary from my eldest noona too.
Isn't that quite a lot of money for a 21-year-old who just got discharged?
Just then, Baek Ha-young, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, raised her hand and shouted.
"Mom, Mom! Then I'll do housework too, so please raise my allowance!"
Hmm, a cunning kid.
To make a deal for her allowance increase here.
But Noona snorted and cut her off immediately.
"Not a chance. The allowance Ha-young gets now is more than enough, so I have no intention of increasing it."
"Aing, Mom! Do you know how much prices have gone up! One tanghulu is 4,000 won!"
"No. Be quiet."
Ha-young pouted and expressed her dissatisfaction.
Watching that scene, I suddenly became curious and asked Noona.
"Eldest Noona. How much allowance does Ha-young get a month?"
"Her? She gets 200,000 won a month."
"Huh? A middle schooler gets 200,000 won a month?"
Wow...
Is it because Mom is a successful tax accountant in Gangnam? The scale of allowance for a middle schooler is different.
Back in my day, I was grateful just to get 10,000 won a week.
I used to tremble over whether to buy pizza dough with sugar sprinkled on it, or a 500-won cup ramen at the convenience store.
But wait a minute.
Aren't my mom and dad lawyers at a large law firm who don't lose out to anyone?
Then why was my allowance during my school days 10,000 won a week?
As I made a hollow expression, Noona chuckled and tapped my shoulder.
"Anyway, if you need allowance or anything, tell me anytime. I'll provide everything."
"Okay."
As I nodded and answered, Ha-young pushed her empty bowl toward me.
"Samchon! Give me another bowl of rice!"
With that as a signal, Ha-rin, who was next to her, also hesitantly pushed her empty rice bowl forward.
Naturally, my eldest noona also pushed her rice bowl forward.
"I missed the rice Samchon makes so much. It's seriously, seriously delicious!"
"It makes me feel good to hear you say that."
"Our youngest could be a bit more confident, you know?"
Even my Noona was praising me.
I went to the rice cooker and refilled their rice, packing it very full and pressing it down.
The next morning.
"Umm..."
I opened my eyes slowly, listening to the peaceful and calm default alarm sound on my smartphone, not the loud military wake-up bugle.
I tossed and turned, rubbed my eyes, got up, and checked the clock on the wall.
"It's already past 9..."
I stretched out and left the room.
The living room was quiet as a mouse.
My eldest noona must have left for her office in Gangnam early, and it was time for Baek Ha-young to be at school.
Baek Ha-rin, that kid, was nowhere to be seen, probably because she had major classes early in the morning.
An empty house with no one around.
Silence and relaxation.
"Yaaawn..."
I yawned widely, walked to the living room sofa, and flopped down.
When I tapped the lock screen to wake it up, an app notification on the missed notification window caught my eye.
[KSA Holdings stock price has risen by 31% (Current price: 1,310 won)]
"Huh?"
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked at the screen again.
I hadn't seen it wrong.
Clearly...
That stock the mysterious AI app had strongly recommended to me.
That penny stock, that garbage stock I had bought 50,000 won worth of while half-doubting.
"It really went up?"
I immediately touched the S Securities app icon.
The loading screen passed, and the profit rate window of my stock account appeared brilliantly in red.
[KSA Holdings Profit Rate : +31.00%]
[Valuation Profit/Loss : +15,500 won]
The stock that was bought at around 1,000 won per share yesterday...
Had hit the 30% upper limit as soon as the market opened and was skyrocketing like crazy.
"Does this... make sense?"
I invested 50,000 won, and in one day, it had become 65,500 won.