The Intern's Eyes
"This quarter's secondary battery sector is definitely gaining momentum. As you all know, the battery development side has been getting a lot of attention ever since Gwangmyeong Electronics' GM7 smartphone explosion incident."
"China's THAAD retaliation is playing a part too. The Chinese market is shut off, but Europe has been showing interest in us. They're already pushing forward with plans to build large-scale production facilities in Poland and Hungary."
The team members were discussing earnestly, but I couldn't focus no matter how hard I tried.
"……"
It was because of the Team Leader's stare, which had been burning into me for a while now.
What did I do wrong?
"Team Leader?"
"……Ah."
The Team Leader cleared his throat and skimmed hastily through the report.
"So you're saying the spotlight is shifting toward high-nickel batteries with electric vehicle development?"
"Yes. Developing batteries that are safe and long-lasting is what matters. On top of that, Europe has announced plans to phase out all internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, which only added fuel to the fire."
"Then upload something covering that."
"Will do."
"Shall we end the meeting here, then? Everyone, get back to work."
The meeting wrapped up unusually fast today.
"Suho."
"Yes?"
"Did you do something wrong? To the Team Leader, I mean."
"……You noticed it too, Juim-nim?"
"Completely. He stared at you the entire meeting, Suho. And with the most terrifying eyes. What on earth did you do this time?"
I had no idea either.
Was it because of that report he'd called me in to pick last time?
The Semiconductor Super Cycle.
Even by my own judgment, it was absolutely not a report that should have been selected.
But that was last week, and seeing how he was acting today, had I somehow done something else wrong without even realizing it?
Ah. Of course! It's because I didn't come in to work alone over the weekend like I was supposed to!
I knew this would happen.
"At this rate, I might never make full-time employee."
Juim-nim smacked me on the shoulder.
"Don't say things like that. Words become seeds, you know! Besides, everyone here knows you're the hardest worker on this team! And you've predicted the leisure sector stock twice already, haven't you? Sure, you keep insisting it was luck."
"But if it's not actual performance, all that matters is whether the Team Leader likes me or not, right?"
"W-well…… that's true, I suppose."
Juim-nim whispered to me in a small voice.
"In that case, Suho. Should I look into job openings for you?"
"Juim-nim, you're the worst."
"I'm joking! You really think he'd cut you off that mercilessly?"
"I…… guess not? Haha."
"Exactly. Ho ho."
Just as the two of us were laughing together—
BANG!
The Team Leader's office door flew open, and the sharp clack-clack of dress shoes echoed through the room.
Then our eyes met.
"……!"
Glaring at me sharply, the Team Leader strode out.
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat and I froze solid.
In that icy atmosphere, everyone was looking back and forth between me and the Team Leader.
After he'd left, Juim-nim patted my shoulder.
"Um…… Suho. Are you really sure I shouldn't look into those job openings for you?"
* * *
Throughout the meeting, Cheon Doa had seen only one person: Kang Suho.
The way he used to take notes and listen attentively in meetings had seemed exactly like a rookie's performance.
The typical intern—confused because he didn't understand, struggling just to keep up with the pace. But looking back on it now, Cheon Doa realized that had been her own misjudgment.
Perhaps Kang Suho hadn't merely been following the meeting's content, but had possessed the ability to uncover something the others couldn't see.
She'd been blinded by the stereotype of "intern" and the assumption of "Royal Family," and failed to recognize his exceptional talent.
"……"
Just then, an email about scheduling arrived.
Just as the Center Director had said, various institutions and funds had been contacting Daesung Securities, and meetings had been arranged accordingly.
Since the Research Operations Team had dug up and published the Semiconductor Super Cycle report, the message instructed them to discuss and coordinate investment strategies with the interested parties.
"No time to be sitting around, then."
Kang Suho had already proven his ability three times over.
And this third time had come with concrete, undeniable results.
So wouldn't it be right, in keeping with the natural order of Yeouido's securities firms, to reward a capable man with the compensation he deserved?
BANG!
Once her mind was made up, she had to act immediately.
Cheon Doa strode boldly out of the Team Leader's office—only to lock eyes with Kang Suho.
"……"
There was confidence in that calm gaze.
As if he had already shown the full measure of his abilities.
"What is it, Team Leader Cheon? Coming at this hour without so much as a word? Don't you know I'm busy?"
"……"
Cheon Doa stared fixedly at the practice golf club in the Center Director's hand.
"Ahem. I'm just getting in some early practice for when I retire and spend every day on the golf course. Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I just received the email. I heard meetings have been scheduled over the semiconductor matter."
"Yes. The semiconductor sector kids are apparently still in a daze. They have no idea what they were thinking when they uploaded that thing, and no idea why it actually worked. Hahahaha. Anyway, Team Leader Cheon, you go handle the coordination. You're the one who found and published that report, aren't you? I'd say you're far better suited than the semiconductor sector folks."
"Yes, sir. That's why I'd like to bring one employee along with me. You don't mind if I take someone?"
"Fine by me. Who were you planning to bring? Someone at the Manager level would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?"
"No, sir. I'm planning to bring intern Kang Suho."
The Center Director, who had been drinking water, promptly choked and sprayed it out.
"An intern? You mean the intern I know?"
"Yes."
"Hey! What kind of nonsense is this? Why would you bring an intern to that? If it were to have him run errands, fine, I'd understand—but that intern……!"
Cheon Doa let out a short sigh at the look in the Center Director's eyes.
"I'm well aware. But this isn't me scheming to curry favor with the higher-ups. There's another reason."
"Another reason?"
"Yes. The truth is……"
Cheon Doa explained the whole story.
How Kang Suho had displayed a divinely gifted predictive ability time and time again.
"Ho-. So you're telling me…… that this Semiconductor Super Cycle was also predicted by that intern?"
"Yes."
"And you, out of your mind, took what that intern picked and published it exactly as it was?"
"That's right."
"Insane."
The Center Director stared at Cheon Doa, utterly dumbfounded.
But as he'd said before, she was not the type to fabricate something like this to win points with her superiors.
She was a woman who had earned her position as the youngest Team Leader through ability alone, and been judged by ability alone.
Which was precisely why, just as she herself had been judged, she was now fairly evaluating even that Parachute Hire on merit.
"His ability is the real deal, then? How on earth did he get it right every single time?"
"He won't say. But I've personally verified his ability three times. At this point, there's clearly some personal know-how behind it."
"Hmm. Strange, though. He's the Parachute Hire Director Geum Gaho placed here, no? That would make him a Royal Family member bound for headquarters—and yet he's performing like this."
"I found it odd myself. But couldn't he have simply discovered his own talent after coming here?"
Discovering a talent he never knew he had.
It was possible, he supposed.
"……Or maybe he had the ability from the very beginning."
"I'm sorry?"
"There's a strange rumor going around lately."
"What kind of rumor?"
"That Director Geum Gaho is returning to the field."
"!?"
Director Geum Gaho is coming back?
"Ever since what happened to his son, he almost never came to work, but apparently he's been showing up fairly often these days. The sudden Parachute Hire is part of it too. So the word going around is that he's testing the waters for a comeback."
"A comeback would mean……"
"Director Geum Gaho holds a considerable stake in our Group. And he was once recognized for his ability as well. If it weren't for that incident, the chairmanship would have been his by now. And a man like that suddenly returns to the company and plants an intern as a Parachute Hire. An intern of completely unknown background."
"So it was true that he joined as an intern with no proper résumé to speak of?"
"Yes. At first I assumed it was just hushed up so he wouldn't get labeled a Royal Family member. But hearing your story today, a thought suddenly struck me. What if that Parachute Hire came here for Director Geum's own purposes? He's already proven his ability three times over."
At that, Cheon Doa understood what the Center Director was getting at.
"He scouted a genuinely talented individual from the start, and planted him inside our Daesung Securities……?"
"That's one possibility. I'm not saying it's certain. But if Director Geum really is planning a comeback—if he intends to reclaim the chairmanship he once folded away—then wouldn't he need to fill the ranks with his own people, starting from the bottom? Without the enemies noticing."
By "enemies," he would mean the executive leadership currently ruling Daesung Group.
"……This conversation is suddenly getting very big."
"Heh heh. I can tell from your face. Scared? Because the board is turning out bigger than you imagined."
"But it could all just be baseless speculation, couldn't it?"
"You won't know until you look. You said you'd be working on this with that intern, didn't you? So do it. But in return—watch him closely."
"You want me to find out what purpose brought him into Daesung Securities?"
"I'm not telling you to ask him outright. Feel out the vibe? You know what I mean—that something. Figure out whether this third strike was truly a beginner's once-in-a-lifetime luck, or whether he genuinely possesses some devilishly sharp ability—and while you're at it, uncover his intentions too."
All she'd wanted was to make better use of that intern's abilities.
But it seemed one wrong step could spiral this into a massive round of internal corporate politics.
"Say what you will about financial groups being results-driven, but from the Team Leader level up, it's a political arena. You don't think I became Center Director purely on performance, do you? Ability matters, of course—but if you want to look higher, you also have to play the lines well. You have to tread carefully, like walking on thin ice. You don't want to end your career at Daesung stuck at Team Leader either, do you?"
That struck a chord in her chest, if only for a moment.
Stopping at Team Leader.
She didn't want that.
"They say everyone gets one real chance in life. If—and I mean really, truly if—Director Geum Gaho goes after Daesung Group, wouldn't it be wise for you to latch onto that boy's line as well? So you can climb somewhere higher."
"I'd rather not approach him with such mercenary intentions."
"Well, that's your call. Still, no need to make an enemy of him, is there? He's a capable kid, after all."
That much was true.
His ability was proven beyond doubt.
"I understand, sir. I'll keep it in mind."
"Good. Go get to work."
Cheon Doa left the Center Director's office, organizing her suddenly complicated thoughts—and then stopped mid-step.
"Oh, right. Look at me, losing track of things."
The conversation had drifted elsewhere, and she'd never made the request she'd actually come to make.
"What request?"
* * *
So this is how my intern life ends.
"Ahem……"
The Section Chief who had always been breathing down my neck,
"Good luck."
The Deputy who had ground me through endless odd jobs without a moment's rest,
"What are we going to do……"
And even our Juim-nim had been pacing back and forth in agitation since earlier.
"It'll be fine. It's nothing serious. No. Wait, but the look in the Team Leader's eyes when he flung that door open just now, it was like……!"
"……"
The Team Leader's gaze was usually cold enough when he looked at me.
But this time, how should I put it.
There was a sharpness that seemed to cut straight through to my core.
As if to say he would never have to lay eyes on me again.
"Intern Kang Suho."
They say speak of the tiger and it appears.
The Team Leader had returned to the office.
"Follow me to my office."
"Yes, sir!"
Like a lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, I trailed behind the Team Leader.
The others were watching me with pitying eyes.
What am I supposed to do here?
If the Chairman found out I was being fired for incompetence, he'd be deeply disappointed.
Maybe I should just apologize and humbly beg for one more chance?
"Intern Kang Suho will be joining our Operations Team as a full-time employee starting next month."
"……I'm sorry?"
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
"I'd convert you to full-time right now if I could, but there are procedures to follow, you see. Just bear with it this one month. And soon enough, you and I are going to be very busy with the semiconductor business. There may be meetings with the institutions, and we'll need to discuss investment strategy with the semiconductor sector people as well."
"Wh-wait a moment. You're saying I'm becoming a full-time employee?"
"Yes. Isn't that the obvious outcome? You've proven your own ability three times over, haven't you?"
Three times?
Don't tell me he thinks I got the semiconductor report right by luck too?
"If you do well on this semiconductor business, there's a substantial incentive waiting for you. There's a team-level payout, plus a separate bonus for you personally, Kang Suho. Not that money is particularly important to you, of course……"
Money isn't important to me?!
What person on this earth doesn't want money?
"I look forward to working with you from here on out."
The Team Leader smiled and extended his hand to me.
Is this a dream?
No. Is it a trap?