The Tiger Hasn't Died Yet
"Every time I come here, I'm reminded of how good your tea tastes. Do you buy it from somewhere special?"
"……"
Kwon Junyong didn't answer.
This was no time to be idly discussing tea leaves.
"Director. You've already heard the news, I assume."
"……You mean the Special Strategy Operations Team?"
Geum Gaho set down his teacup as well.
"I have a fair idea whose handiwork it is. I hear Executive Director Gu Daeho has been glued to the Vice Chairman's side. That man has always had a decent head on his shoulders. It's just that his methods are beneath contempt."
"Still, I never dreamed they'd resort to something this filthy. Everyone in Yeouido knows that a super team was born right here at Daeseong Securities. And yet they're watering it down this blatantly — the whole Daeseong Group is going to become a laughingstock."
"Then I suppose the mockery will only last a moment."
He was right.
Laughter might last but a moment — but victory was anything but eternal.
"You seem remarkably calm, if I may say so."
"Do I?"
"Yes. The Director I know would have stormed into headquarters breathing fire by now."
"Perhaps I'm getting old."
"Director!"
When Kwon Junyong raised his voice despite himself, Geum Gaho's face hardened in an instant.
"My, how you've grown. Now you know how to raise your voice in front of me."
"……!"
Geum Gaho's eyes flashed, sharp and blazing.
Faced with that fierce countenance he hadn't seen in so long, Kwon Junyong instinctively bowed his head.
"I apologize. I lost my composure for a moment……"
Indeed — even after all these years, the tiger had not yet died.
"Junyong."
Geum Gaho called his name in a low, weighty voice.
"Yes, Director."
"I am holding myself back right now. More than you know."
"……I beg your pardon?"
Kwon Junyong glanced up and froze.
The back of Geum Gaho's hand, wrapped around his teacup, was trembling — veins standing taut beneath the skin.
"You think I'm not angry? Of course I am. But I've chosen to trust that boy."
"……Team Leader Kang Suho, you mean?"
"I told you once that Suho and I go back a long way, didn't I?"
"Ah — yes."
"The reason I recommended Suho wasn't simply because he's a good man."
Not just because he's a good man?
What could that possibly mean?
Kwon Junyong swallowed dryly and nodded along.
"On the surface, that boy seems remarkably gentle. Polite to his elders, eager to please. You'd take him for nothing but kind."
"He certainly…… has that air about him."
"But once he draws a line and says no, he will not bend — not to the very end. There's a firm sense of right and judgment inside him. That's not something you can learn through training. It's part of why I trust him."
A beast of prey wearing the mask of a docile lamb?
Kwon Junyong couldn't begin to grasp where this was going.
"And that Suho has just been subjected to an outrageous persecution. If he alone had suffered, perhaps I'd say nothing — but this situation inflicts enormous damage on the very teammates he's responsible for. By now, Suho must be…… thoroughly furious with headquarters, no?"
"Ah……!"
Only then did Kwon Junyong understand what Geum Gaho was driving at.
"When Suho gets angry, even I can't hold him back. He certainly won't sit still."
"You mean he might launch a counterattack right under their noses?"
"Exactly. So for now, we take a step back and watch. If I meddle and things get tangled up, the boy will end up furious with me too."
It sounded half like a joke — and half like the truth.
"Once that boy starts nagging, there's no end to it. Haha."
Kang Suho, after all, was the type who, once he got going, would lecture you relentlessly about everything from health management to diet to exercise.
Geum Gaho shook his head as though the memory gave him shivers.
"……!"
At that reaction, Kwon Junyong secretly clicked his tongue.
The fiery, unstoppable Geum Gaho — living under the endless nagging of a young man barely out of his twenties.
It was a scene he could scarcely have imagined.
"Let's wait quietly. That boy might just walk in carrying something that makes our jaws drop."
Something jaw-dropping.
Could such a thing really exist?
As far as Kwon Junyong could see, there was no way through at all.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
I returned to the conference room.
The atmosphere was still weighed down, heavy as lead.
"Let's not be too pessimistic, everyone. Risk management is the lifeblood of any financial firm, so headquarters is simply being cautious in its own way."
"You…… truly believe that, sir?"
"Our capital may be small for our size, but if we work hard and show results, don't you think headquarters will change its mind?"
"……"
It was just something I had to say.
Headquarters had decided to kill us — I couldn't very well tell everyone to run for the exits.
I had to maintain composure, at least on the surface, so the team wouldn't waver.
"Are the reports I requested in advance ready?"
"Ah, yes. Just as you asked, Team Leader, the Research Center and Delta One collaborated to narrow down a selection of proposals and reports. There's only one problem…… there's rather a lot of them."
"That's also exactly what I asked for."
"Yes, sir."
I had told them to pull together as many proposals and reports as they possibly could.
And sure enough—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The staff filed in one after another, hauling boxes the size of apple crates and stacking them onto the table.
"……That's a lot."
"Yes. Just as you requested……. Team Leader Cheon was especially diligent about preparing these, too."
At that, Team Leader Cheon Doa added, in her usual matter-of-fact tone:
"This is the moment our Special Strategy Operations Team takes its very first step, isn't it? So I put particular care into it. Of course, the staff here worked hard on it alongside me."
Looking at them, I felt that heavy sense of responsibility settle over me once more.
And at the same time, anger flared in my chest.
A place brimming with passionate, talented people like these — how could anyone try to trample the efforts of such innocent people for the sake of petty political games?
"By the way, Team Leader. Are you…… all right?"
I swept my gaze slowly across my teammates.
I'd braced myself for glances tinged with resentment — but instead, they were all looking at me with eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine."
If anything, their worry gave me more strength.
"I think of this moment as precious practice — a chance to build our rhythm with these wonderful teammates before we handle truly massive capital down the road."
"Team Leader……"
"Haha. That sounded a little corny, didn't it?"
I scratched my head sheepishly.
Then Team Leader Song waved a hand lightly and spoke up.
"No, sir. Hearing you say that, I realize I've been far too pessimistic myself. The team hasn't been dissolved — this is where things truly begin."
"That's right. We all came from different departments, so this is a perfect chance to find our rhythm together. And with relatively little capital, there's less pressure on us, too."
"It's not the treatment I'd have asked for…… but I think Team Leader Kang is right. Whatever headquarters decides, we just do our jobs well."
Fortunately, the team's hearts were aligned as one.
"With all of you beside me, I have no doubt we'll deliver results that make headquarters see stars."
"I don't worry about results with you at the helm, Team Leader."
"Let's really pull off something huge and make headquarters regret this so badly they bite the floor!"
Watching our Junior Associate clench her fist in the most adorable show of resolve, I burst out laughing.
"Shall we see what's inside these boxes, then?"
"Yes, sir. We'll sort through them quickly."
With my heart warm and buoyant, I reached into a box to lay the proposals out across the table—
At that exact moment.
"!?"
A vicious stench stabbed at my nose, and I instinctively drew in a mouthful of foul air and stumbled backward.
"……"
The others were busily emptying the boxes, sorting through mountains of reports, and none of them noticed my reaction.
The stench is no joke.
I reached toward the box again, then froze.
Rot was seeping out of it, thick and creeping — there was simply no way to breathe.
But I have to endure it.
These were reports my staff had poured their hearts into.
I couldn't turn away just because they reeked. Somewhere in this sea of paper, I had to find the pearl.
"Hmm, this report isn't bad. It targets the biotech sector, which has decent momentum right now."
"Ah, that's the proposal on the biotech pipeline, right? The recent clinical data did beat market expectations, but the timeline to final FDA approval is far too long. On top of that, there's been an ongoing dispute across the whole healthcare sector about overvaluation caused by ballooning R&D costs."
"The trading flow looks solid, though. Foreign and institutional investors have been buying together for the past week. Going by these figures, the short sellers tried to push the price down and ended up getting squeezed upward instead."
The analyses of each department's aces poured out without pause.
"How does this one look? It focuses on the current US-China diplomatic tensions."
"The secondary battery sector seems to be lifting its head too — maybe worth keeping an eye on here as well?"
But my nose was warning me, through that acrid stench, that every one of those reports was wrong.
How long did I search, swallowing down the sickening odor?
Found it!
From amid the mountain of documents, I finally pinned down a single report giving off a clear, crisp fragrance.
As expected — with this many candidates, at least one of them had to be the real thing.
"……?"
But something was strange.
This sweetness blooming through the foul stench wasn't coming only from the one proposal in my hand.
Don't tell me…… there's another one?
As if in a trance, I followed that delightful scent toward the far end of the table, where a few of my teammates had gathered.
"Everything in this box is US- and China-related?"
"Yes. It's the hottest topic in the market right now, so…… oh? Team Leader?"
"One moment."
I reached between my conversing teammates and plucked out yet another report from the pile of documents stacked there.
"……!"
The instant I did, every trace of stench that had held the room in its grip vanished, as though it had never existed.
What could that mean, if not this —
My nose had just pronounced these two reports the perfect answers.
"I take it you're interested in the US-China trade situation too, Team Leader?"
"It is the talk of the town these days."
Just to be sure, I circled the conference room and checked the other stacks of reports as well.
But after choosing those two, my nose stopped reacting altogether.
Digging any further seemed like a waste of time.
So which ones did I pick, exactly?
Only then did I flip through the two reports.
And well……
These contents are anything but ordinary.
"Team Leader. Those are the first proposals you picked out, aren't they?"
"Yes. These two seemed like the best of the lot."
"Wh-what? You've already made your picks?"
"Team Leader Song, take a look for yourself. I'd like to build our strategy around these two proposals."
"Ah…… yes, sir."
Team Leader Song tilted his head as he accepted the reports I handed over.
The other teammates quickly crowded around, eyes bright with curiosity.
"This is……"
"Gasp."
Before long, Team Leader Song looked up at me, his face drained white.
"Team Leader Kang. A-are you serious?"
"You're going to invest with these?"
The teammates on either side wore expressions painted with sheer disbelief.
Their reactions were exactly as I'd expected — but my mind was already made up.
"Yes."
Hadn't my nose just, with perfect precision, chosen these two — the ones that gave off the finest fragrance of all?
"Team Leader. Then do you truly mean to……"
Team Leader Song swallowed hard and forced out the words.
"……pull the trigger at 10x leverage?"