The Future of Hansan Securities

It was a ten-minute walk from home to the office.

Back in the day he'd had to transfer between bus and subway just to get there, but now that he lived practically within spitting distance of the building, his morning commute had become positively leisurely. He would pick up coffee and a donut from a shop nearby, and on the walk to work he often ran into people from the trading department.

"Oh? Siyoon. Heading in now? That coffee smells great."

An employee greeted him on his way through the front doors, and Siyoon stopped mid-stride, wearing a dazed expression.

There had been a time when he was the very definition of a pariah, and after the whistleblowing incident he'd been exiled to a dead-end post besides. Life really did have a way of surprising you.

"Morning! What are you doing out here? Coming in?"

"I have to, yes."

"Right. Keep up the good work."

Another employee offered a friendly greeting. Something was definitely changing.

Was it because of the Deputy Head Shin situation?

The trading team had nearly taken a loss in the billions of won range, but somehow Siyoon's intervention had turned it into a profit worth tens of billions, wrapping the whole mess up cleanly.

He checked his watch. Eight forty-five. He hurried into the elevator and headed down to the basement.

When he tapped his card key against the warehouse door and pushed it open, the storage floor had—for some reason—transformed into a clattering construction site. And a man spotted him right away.

"You're here?"

"Yes. But Team Leader, why are you..."

Han Seokgu, General Affairs Team Leader. The last time Siyoon had seen him was the day he'd been booted from the trading team down to the warehouse. This was the first time they'd crossed paths since.

"As you know, this place was a bare empty lot. It's still a warehouse, sure, but it's a place where people work—it needs to at least look presentable. We started the work last night and it's nearly done now. Give me thirty minutes."

Siyoon's gaze drifted to one side.

The little booth that had once stood there was gone, replaced by a ten-pyeong modular office sitting squarely in its place. When Siyoon tilted his head in puzzlement, Team Leader Han explained.

"We swapped out the old wall-mounted air conditioner for a state-of-the-art smart unit, replaced the desk and computer with brand-new ones, and installed a sofa plus trading monitors. You shouldn't have any complaints working here now."

Trading monitors?

What would a warehouse worker need those for?

When Siyoon looked at the General Affairs Team Leader questioningly, the man laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, haha. We should have replaced all this ages ago. A bit late, isn't it?"

Team Leader Han smiled sheepishly, and somehow that only deepened Siyoon's suspicion.

Officially it was called Inventory Management, but in truth this warehouse was where employees who had screwed up somewhere in the company got exiled to work. The previous occupant had been a bond trading team leader until he'd fallen from grace and been banished here, where he'd endured five years before finally deciding to quit a while back.

And now, out of nowhere, they were upgrading the facilities? This was clearly not something the General Affairs team had decided to do on their own.

"So I just wait thirty minutes?"

"That's right. It'll only take a moment—come upstairs and let's have a chat."

He grabbed Siyoon's arm as he said it, and the two of them headed for the elevator together.

The moment they arrived at the lounge, the General Affairs Team Leader pulled something out without preamble.

"These are the business cards you'll be using from now on."

"Business cards, sir?"

When the case opened, cards bearing Siyoon's name came into view.

Huh. Inventory Management Section Chief?

There was such a rank?

While Siyoon turned the card over and back to inspect it, the man continued.

"Inventory management has been run slapdash until now. This is, after all, an important post responsible for Hansan Securities' supplies and equipment, so it's high time we put a proper system in place."

"......"

"What, don't you like the card? Want me to have a different one made?"

"No, it doesn't matter either way. But I work alone here. Do I really need business cards?"

At that, the man nodded sagely and snapped his fingers.

"Exactly. Working alone won't do."

"I'm sorry?"

"I've already hired a part-timer to help with your work."

"A part-timer, sir?"

"He starts this afternoon. From now on, you handle only the administrative side, and you can have the part-timer do the sorting and deliveries. You won't have to drag yourself all over the building anymore."

Team Leader Han beamed with pride.

He was grateful for the support, truly—it had gone this far, after all—but on some level it also felt like a burden.

"This job does get busy at times. Still, I don't think it warrants a part-timer."

"Oh, come off it. Don't say things you don't mean. The more staff you've got under you, the better. Isn't that right? Haha."

Hmm...

Whatever the reason, there was no point refusing a more comfortable work situation. But he couldn't help that the sudden change in how he was being treated was hard to adjust to.

"Understood for now."

He finished the morning deliveries, came back, and sat down at his desk.

"Phew... What on earth is going on here?"

Siyoon looked around his newly renovated office.

The atmosphere was a complete one-eighty from the cramped booth he used to work in. The materials on the walls and floor felt far more luxurious than those of an ordinary office.

They spared no expense.

It resembled the Head of Division's office he'd visited not long ago. You could have mistaken it for an executive suite without anything seeming amiss.

On the desk sat six monitors, arranged the way traders arranged theirs—order book, charts, news, trading volume. When you had to absorb several streams of information at once, you needed the extra screens.

But I'm in inventory management, aren't I?

What could possibly be the reason for outfitting him with equipment like this?

While he was quietly scratching his chin, a bell chimed from the speaker mounted in the corner of the office. He stepped out and opened the door to find Team Leader Oh Joo-han standing there, holding a box of vitamin drinks.

"Well, well, Section Chief Kang! Heard your office got replaced, so I came to take a look."

He handed over the box of drinks and headed straight inside, then went around surveying the renovated space until his jaw dropped.

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"New desk, new computer, even a new sofa. And what's that over there? They put in a coffee machine too?"

Team Leader Oh wandered the office, then settled onto the sofa, running his hand over the upholstery.

"Wow~ So soft. It's smooth. Feels like velvet, doesn't it? Isn't this nicer than the sofa in the Head of Division's office?"

Siyoon took a seat across from him and simply watched the man.

"Oh, why did I come? To keep an eye on you, make sure you're doing your job right, that's all."

At Siyoon's blank expression, the man cleared his throat, then leaned forward.

"What's going on?"

"About what?"

"GL Energy."

The playful edge in his voice had turned serious.

"Hmm... It was just as you saw at the time, sir. I ran my own analysis, and when the Head of Division asked, I shared my view with him."

"That's not what I'm asking. How did you come up with an analysis like that? You looked at a pattern from two years ago and predicted the rebound zone? Fine, let's say you did. Even so, it was too precise. Does that even make sense?"

His skepticism was more than warranted. In his entire time at Hansan Securities, Siyoon had never once participated in a trade. A bottom-rung employee with no record of accomplishment whatsoever had just rescued the trading team from crisis—of course Team Leader Oh found it absurd.

"You were so pleased about it at the time. It seems you're not so happy anymore, sir."

"I'm happy. I'm the one who brought you in when you nearly got cut at the final interview. How could I not be happy?"

But even as he said it, his face told a different story. His brows were knotted in genuine distress.

As it happened, Siyoon had been curious about that very thing—why the man had championed him so enthusiastically during the final interview.

"Might I ask you something? Why did you bring me onto the trading team?"

"Hmm..."

The man studied Siyoon's face intently before answering.

"Because of that expression of yours. And the way you talk."

"I'm sorry?"

"You seemed like a person with no emotions at all. Every other candidate was desperate to make a good impression by any means necessary, but you were just... like a robot."

"And that's why..."

"The most important thing in trading is emotional control. What matters is not swinging between elation and panic over every little fluctuation, and sticking to your own approach regardless. On that score, I judged you to have extraordinary talent."

"......"

His inability to show emotion was the result of the accident in his childhood. Whatever the reason, it was a relief that it had worked in his favor.

Team Leader Oh straightened up in his seat.

"I hear you told the Head of Division you won't come back to the trading team."

"Yes."

"What's your real reason? Do you have any idea what I went through to get you reinstated?"

"I do."

"And a man who knows that... Ha..."

Team Leader Oh heaved a sigh that seemed deep enough to sink the floor, then lifted his head.

"This GL Energy business—I'm grateful, honestly, and it made me happy. But no matter how I look at it, that was pure luck. Beginner's luck, nothing more."

"So it would seem, sir."

Team Leader Oh rose from his seat.

"The Head of Division has big expectations for you. He might drop by here from time to time seeking your advice. So be ready."

"I'm not sure what you mean..."

"The Senior Managing Director, and the Head of Division too... They both think of you as the future of Hansan Securities."

"......"

Team Leader Oh opened the door and walked out, and Siyoon froze exactly where he sat.

In the afternoon, the bell at the warehouse door rang again. He opened it to find the part-timer who was due to start today.

"Good afternoon, Section Chief! I'm Choi! Tae! Wook!"

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"...Right... Welcome."

Siyoon had nearly gone deaf for a moment. The young man's voice was thunderous.

He had a fresh-faced look of someone in his early twenties, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but having just been discharged from his military service, he radiated a swagger all his own.

"Just give me any task and I'll get it done, sir! I'll work hard!"

"Right. First, bring your voice down a little."

"Oh, sorry, sir."

Siyoon promptly led Choi Tae-wook into the office. After a short orientation, he walked him straight through the duties.

"The deliveries aren't that difficult. I'll print out the documents, and all you have to do is carry the items to the department in question."

"Yes, sir!"

"And the stock is over here..."

Siyoon continued the walkthrough as they surveyed the warehouse.

"As it happens, there are three deliveries scheduled for this afternoon. You'll come along with me for those."

"Understood, sir!"

He pulled a cart alongside the part-timer and explained where each department was located. The kid was remarkably sharp on his feet, and he adapted to the work in no time.

"I'll finish the rest of the deliveries and report back!"

"Good. Take it easy—no need to rush."

"Yes, sir!"

With that, Siyoon returned to the warehouse and sat down at his desk in the new office. He powered on the computer and pulled up a stock window on the monitor.

Brain Systems had more than doubled on the news of its partnership with Samyu Electronics.

In a few years the stock might multiply several times over, but he had no intention of holding it long-term, so he decided it was time to take his profit. A 1-billion-KRW investment yielding a 1.5-billion-KRW gain. Not a bad trade.

Click.

As Siyoon watched the cash swell in his brokerage account, he scratched his chin. Team Leader Oh's words from that morning wouldn't leave his head.

The future of Hansan Securities, me?