Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Plaza Accord (2)
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The room was filled with a sweltering heat. I smiled faintly, calming my trembling heart.
"Yeah, whew. You already knew all this. The real issue is what comes next."
"Ahahaha! Ah, thank you, Miss. Truly."
Executive Director Ha Joo-seong laughed so brightly it was hard to believe this was the same man, expressing his gratitude to me.
"Oh, come on, it's too early for thanks. If the barrier doesn't break all day, it's zero won... Ah."
Aha.
Come to think of it, Executive Director Ha Joo-seong's situation was a bit different from mine.
I'd bet on the extreme odds, but he had simply gone all-in on the dollar depreciating.
Plain put and call options—no room to nitpick there—but with volatility gone mad, multiples were guaranteed.
"Ah, right. You made a bolder bet, Miss. Sorry. Heh heh, I got too excited..."
"It's fine. Even if I lose, you'll cover for me, right? I only lost 100 million, but... you made way more?"
He nodded with a confident smile.
"That's right. I've already made at least 300 million. Money I couldn't have touched without you, so even if you lose, it'll be enough to cover it."
Good. Risk hedge perfect.
Not that I'd planned it, but employing competent subordinates was a leader's virtue anyway.
Feeling much more at ease, I opened the fridge in search of cola.
The carbonated drink in its sleek bottle looked irresistible today.
-Squeeze.
Ah, it won't open.
Feeling a strange sense of disappointment, I handed the tiny cola bottle, gripped in my small hands, to my secretary.
"Si-hyeon, open this for me."
Lee Si-hyeon let out a subtle sigh.
"...Miss, too much sugar will rot your teeth. You had a lot of candy today, so cola tomorrow."
Tsk.
I glared playfully and thrust the bottle at her.
"I don't care about that. You want to get fired?"
But Lee Si-hyeon firmly confiscated the cola from my hand and scolded me.
"No means no. The Secretary General said the same, and Nanny too."
"...Tch."
Nanny worries too much. Always meddling.
Anyone would think she was some old lady. She'd only weaned me off milk a few years ago—she wasn't even thirty yet.
"My cola..."
Deflating like flat soda, I spun around and flopped onto the sofa. Then I stretched out my hand toward the candy basket.
-Tap.
"...?"
-Tap tap.
My hand, searching for candy, only struck the table's cold glass.
I glanced over at the table. Lee Si-hyeon was hugging the candy basket and cola bottle, staring right at me.
"Candy's confiscated too."
This is for real?
Wearing that expression, I opened my mouth in a sigh.
"...No way."
"I know you skipped brushing slyly just now. Grab your toothbrush and go brush."
This... this is insubordination.
I'm a tsundere girl—my teeth don't even rot...
Dejected, I sighed and grabbed my toothbrush.
I wanted to grow up again as fast as possible.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ September 23, 1985. 8 a.m.
The child of a new nation who rose early, Yoo Ha-yeon, rubbed her eyes as she greeted the morning at Daeha Securities headquarters.
"Yawwwn."
Sleepy.
With that thought, I stretched out my little limbs, shaking off the drowsiness with a stretch.
"Ughhh..."
Letting out a short groan, I opened my sparkling eyes wide and returned to full condition.
"Early bird rise!"
Ching.
Hopping energetically off the bed, I dashed to the Reuters monitor. The exchange rate read 223 yen.
REUTERS MONITOR USD/JPY: 223 "Oh, it's dropped a lot."
With only one bed, Lee Si-hyeon had slept on the sofa. Ha Joo-seong, who hadn't gone extreme on barrier options like me, was off elsewhere on business.
"Si-hyeon, wake up!"
I ran over and shook her awake. Maybe tense from last night, she looked exhausted.
"Ugh... You're so energetic again today..., Miss..."
"Four hours till New York cut! Let's eat and watch the exchange rate window."
"...Uwaa. Honestly, watching or not, the rate's the same.... Can I sleep a bit more...?"
Good, you're becoming a fine determinist, Si-hyeon.
I nodded at Si-hyeon, evolving into a rational homo economicus.
"It's fine. Watching the exchange rate is fun for me. Life's about my happiness, right?"
Lee Si-hyeon tidied her messy hair and slowly rose from the sofa. Frowning slightly from a headache, she looked quite alluring.
"Whew..."
Oh, pretty.
I'd known it before, but she looked even better now.
Ponytail-bound hair, black-and-white suit, clear skin without makeup, and those ample breasts.
Too bad I'm not a guy. Her abs were no joke last time I saw them.
"I'll wash up first."
After coming back from the bathroom, Lee Si-hyeon patted off water with a towel and undid a button on her damp dress shirt.
"...Why are you staring like that?"
Lee Si-hyeon looked at me blankly.
"N-nothing."
Feeling a fleeting envy and deprivation, I dashed to the bathroom to wash up. My stomach felt off. What emotion was this...
Splash splash.
"..."
In the mirror, a girl with slightly rotten eyes stared back. I smiled brightly.
Suddenly, the girl in the mirror regained her fresh vibe and sparkling eyes.
...Get it together, Yoo Ha-yeon.
-Creak.
"Oh, you washed up without me saying. Good job, Miss."
To the casually muttering Lee Si-hyeon, I smiled back.
"Yeah, let's eat quick. I'm hungry."
For breakfast, blood sausage soup after a while. The food culture wasn't advanced yet, so it wasn't that great.
Back at the office, I snuck candy and got caught by Si-hyeon—confiscated again.
Can't I have snacks right after meals...?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ New York cut at noon 12.
After breakfast and brushing, it was around 9. Three hours left...
But nothing to do.
'Hmm, shoulda slept an hour later. Ha Joo-seong comes then...'
I fiddled with papers to kill time, then glanced at the exchange rate.
REUTERS MONITOR USD/JPY: 219.4 The barrier option set for New York cut was at 217 yen. I knew the future but set it generously just in case.
"Hmm. So, Miss, what happens when the option expires?"
With nothing to do, Si-hyeon was doing bodyweight exercises—push-ups—and asked me. I ran over, sat on her back, and answered.
"You exercise it. Note, the 100 million premium is just to buy it—the exercise cost is way more."
You could sell the high premium before expiry, but... late barrier hit might be iffy. Sometimes you exercise directly for profit.
Why I used Daeha Securities. I don't have that much dollar to exercise myself.
"Gah... Whew, got it. That's how it is."
Si-hyeon sweated buckets with me on her back, continuing push-ups. Serves you right—who told you to take my candy?
Her big chest already made perfect push-ups hard; with me on top, balance was tough—her arms trembled.
"Whoa? Fall and you die. Got it?"
I grinned, kicking her playfully with my feet.
"Grr... Is this okay to do to someone exercising, Miss...? Hn, ugh..."
"Heh, knowledge comes with pain. Pain brings enlightenment. Understand?"
"No..."
Nothing to be done. Keep going till she gets it.
I gave Lee Si-hyeon a crash course in economics—interest rates, stocks, bonds, supply-demand—and she absorbed it, utterly drained.
"Enlightened now? Time to descend."
"You're the one who needs to get down... Get off my back quick... Urk."
True enough.
I hopped off and greeted Ha Joo-seong, who just arrived.
"Uncle, good morning. Sleep well?"
"...I slept great. But your secretary doesn't seem to be having a good morning."
Ha Joo-seong eyed me and Lee Si-hyeon alternately with a subtle expression.
"Si-hyeon's fine. Right?"
"Yesss..."
Sweaty Lee Si-hyeon clung to the fan with dazed eyes.
True to the era's conservatism about women showing skin, she stubbornly kept her suit on. She didn't realize the clinging wet shirt looked sexier.
'Bored.'
Except for Ha Joo-seong handling the option trade, still nothing to do. I grabbed the newly imported Super Mario from Japan and started playing.
The mushroom kingdom plumber's adventure began, familiar BGM ringing in my ears.
"Ooh... This is it."
While others slaved away under the boss's eye, skipping school to play the latest game...
Best life ever.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 11:30 a.m.
Finally, the exchange rate broke the barrier.
REUTERS ALERT ⚡ BARRIER BREACHED USD/JPY: 216.3 🟢 Green light flashing
Long past the 217 yen New York cut barrier, on the verge of cracking 216.
"Ahahaha! Hahaha!"
I clapped and laughed maniacally. The brief gloom vanished, boiling enthusiasm filling me like steam.
"Heh... It's really happening."
Executive Director Ha Joo-seong stared in awe, and even Lee Si-hyeon, who'd eyed me resentfully, now looked up with sparkling eyes.
"So, how much now? Premium."
"Last was 0.02 won and..."
Barrier knocked down, premium popped up quick.
2.03 won.
100x payout.