The Division Head's Favor

He hadn't expected the government announcement to come this quickly.

Siyoon hurriedly clicked on the article.

'......'

Siyoon scratched his jaw.

"That's it?"

It was the shortest news article he had ever seen in his life. They did say AI-generated articles were everywhere these days — but who writes half a story and just stops?

Of course, for someone like Siyoon, who had poured 5 billion won into Jinju Energy, even this brief article was welcome news.

That 5 billion was a third of his entire capital. The only reason he had committed that much to Jinju Energy was the expected return.

The small caps that had risen today were tiny companies with market caps in the low tens of billions, or startups that had barely gotten off the ground. Some of them were probably genuine gems, but they had already become playthings of the market players, so he had excluded them from his list.

That was how Jinju Energy had ended up as his pick.

Market cap in the 200 billion won range. Share price in the 8,000 won range.

At a price like that, retail money would flow in steadily, and once volume picked up, the climb could be explosive.

Not too big, not too small — Jinju Energy was precisely the sweet spot for a theme stock.

He shifted his gaze back to the stock chart.

He checked the details of his Jinju Energy purchase from that day.

Deep in the red, for now.

The policy announcement had broken today, sure — but something about it felt half-hearted.

"No substance to it, that's the problem."

Muttering those words, Siyoon closed the stock window.

The next day brought no news worth mentioning either.

It had ticked up slightly from yesterday, but it was showing none of the expected effect from the policy announcement.

The small caps, by contrast, were moving furiously.

'What the hell is going on here?'

A situation impossible to predict even one step ahead. He replayed yesterday's buying decision in his head.

The entry point hadn't been bad, he'd caught the small caps' movement, and he even had a policy announcement — short as it was — as a positive catalyst. And yet the exact opposite was unfolding.

In all his time investing, he had been wrong in his predictions plenty of times. But this was the first time he'd felt this thoroughly played.

He was still trawling through news articles when the phone sitting off to one side began to ring.

"Shall I take it?"

At Choi Tae-wook's words, Siyoon nodded.

"Hello, this is the Inventory Management Warehouse."

It wasn't often that the phone rang down here.

Siyoon studied Choi Tae-wook as he took the call.

"Ah, yes, yes. Understood."

Hanging up, Choi Tae-wook spoke.

"It was the General Affairs Team Leader. He asked that you stop by the General Affairs office sometime this afternoon."

"Me?"

"Yes. You, Section Chief."

Work instructions usually came through messenger. What could warrant being called out in person?

"All right. Got it."

2 p.m.

The moment he stepped into the General Affairs office, someone raised his voice.

"Well, well~ Section Chief Kang~!"

Horn-rimmed glasses, short stature. Team Leader Han Seokgu rose from his seat. The instant he did, the employees who'd been slouching and chatting snapped upright in their chairs and fixed their eyes on their monitors.

'Hm...? Why is everyone suddenly pretending to work?'

Puzzled, Siyoon approached Team Leader Han as he studied the room.

"Good afternoon."

"And a good afternoon to you too. Nothing much going on with you these days?"

"It's the same work every day. What could there be?"

"Hahaha! Right. That's what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I like about you, Section Chief Kang — you never change. There's something refreshingly manly about the way you talk. Now, come on, over this way."

Team Leader Han led Siyoon to an empty table in the corner and brought back coffee, setting it down between them.

"Thank you."

"Of course. Take your time with it. That may look like ordinary coffee, but it's premium stuff, I'll have you know."

"So, what can I do for you..."

"Ah, right — I called you down to see if you were having any trouble managing things."

"Thanks to my part-timer, I'm not having any trouble at all."

"No, no. When things get busy, deliveries pile up, and if you're organizing the warehouse on top of that, you end up doing the legwork yourself. A high-value employee of this company shouldn't be doing that kind of thing."

'......'

When Siyoon looked at him questioningly, Team Leader Han placed a single résumé on the table.

"A new employee to be assigned to the warehouse."

"I'm... sorry?"

"He's on a fixed-term contract, mind you, but he has experience, and he'll be a great help with your workload."

"Isn't the headcount for warehouse staff capped at two?"

"Haha! Headcount ebbs and flows, that's the nature of it. From now on, all you have to do is manage your people, Section Chief. Have the new hire handle the task reports and the inventory work."

Then that means...

He was being told to just show up and sit there?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As Siyoon was mulling this over with Team Leader Han, someone was walking toward them. When a tall, middle-aged man came into view, every seated employee in the room shot to their feet.

"Good afternoon, Head of Division!"

"Yes. You've all been working hard, I see."

The Head of Division strode over at a brisk pace and dropped heavily into a chair. At that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Team Leader Han spoke up nervously.

"Welcome, Head of Division. As you instructed, we've hired the contract worker for the warehouse."

"Good work. When does he start?"

"He'll begin tomorrow morning."

"Right. It's about time Hansan Securities did away with this ugly habit of treating demotions like exile. If an employee makes a mistake, you scold him — that should be the end of it. Burying people in a basement warehouse and just waiting for them to quit... that's not discipline, that's abuse."

"Quite right, sir."

While Team Leader Han bowed and scraped, the Head of Division turned to Siyoon.

"Good afternoon."

"Yes. I'm sure you've heard most of it already, but we plan to add more staff to the warehouse. Having someone of your caliber hauling boxes around is a waste for the company, Section Chief."

Only then did the situation come into focus.

The Head of Division had expanded his headcount and added warehouse staff to build an environment where Siyoon could work in comfort.

'Then that means...'

He turned his head and saw the General Affairs employees sitting at rigid attention, hard at work.

'Are they... watching how I react?'

He knew he'd earned the Head of Division's trust through his investment advice. But he hadn't realized it went so deep that the staff would be tiptoeing around him. They were handling Siyoon with every bit as much deference as they showed the Head of Division himself.

Before long, the Head of Division glanced at his watch.

"Ah — I nearly forgot. There's a meeting today."

Then he looked at Siyoon.

"You should come along too, Section Chief Kang."

"I'm... sorry?"

"What's with the 'sorry'? Use this as a chance to put faces to the names of the other department team leaders — exchange contact information if you need to. The point is, you help each other where you can. However many departments there are, however different the work, that's not how company life functions. To climb high, you have to see wide."

Climb high...?

See wide...?

What on earth was that supposed to mean?

From the look of things, it was a meeting reserved for team leaders. And he wanted to bring Siyoon into it?

As Siyoon stared at him blankly, the Head of Division checked his watch once more and said,

"Be there in ten minutes. It's the conference room next to my office."

With that, the Head of Division strode briskly out of the office. While Siyoon sat there in a daze, Team Leader Han sidled up close.

"Section Chief Kang. You know how much I like you, don't you?"

With leaden steps, Siyoon made his way to the Head of Division's office.

The moment he appeared, the secretary who'd been waiting asked,

"Mr. Kang Siyoon?"

"Yes, that's me."

"You can go in through here."

Even after the secretary's instruction, his feet wouldn't move easily.

Sure, he had the Head of Division's trust — but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had no personal ties with anyone besides Team Leader Oh. There were teams he'd never so much as met.

So why?

Why do I have to attend this meeting?

"Whew..."

He drew a long breath, knocked on the conference room door, and opened it. From the head of the long table, the Head of Division gestured him in.

"There you are. Come in."

The eyes of the team leaders seated along the length of the table turned toward Siyoon. Every face wore the same question mark. The Head of Division spoke again.

"I brought him. You all know Section Chief Kang, I trust?"

Ever since he'd reported Director Park's corruption, Siyoon had enjoyed the quiet support of many employees — but not all of them. Some of those present had belonged to Director Park's faction, and others had been less than pleased by a green recruit's whistleblower stunt.

Roughly a dozen team leaders were gathered — Team Leader Oh, along with the Derivatives Team Leader, the ETF Team Leader, the Bond Team Leader, the FX Team Leader, the Quant Team Leader, and more. A few faces he didn't recognize as well.

As Siyoon stood there awkwardly, the Head of Division pointed to a chair set apart from the rest.

"Sit there, Section Chief Kang. Today, all I want is for you to get a feel for the room."

Thankfully, he was just the garnish.

He could sit, watch, and keep his mouth shut.

The meeting began shortly, and the FX Team Leader spoke first.

"Last month the won-dollar rate started at 1,420 and volatility widened all the way to 1,480. We underestimated the failed breakout following the U.S. CPI release, so our gains weren't substantial — but we profited amply from the volatility band afterward."

The Head of Division nodded, then turned his gaze to the Derivatives Trading Team Leader, who opened his mouth with visible difficulty.

"Short-dated options made up a high proportion of our book last month. That is... *cough*!"

It was Team Leader Joo Ji-myung, coughing from the nerves.

Their team was the only one to have posted a loss last month. He continued.

"There was no intentional risk-taking last month. We actually traded conservatively. And..."

"You traded conservatively and still lost money?"

The Head of Division cut him off.

"Our positions were premised on index volatility, but the market refused to move to the end. Kosdaq single-stock volatility exploded while the indexes traded sideways, so..."

Team Leader Joo's voice shrank to a crawl.

The derivatives desk traded indexes — the KOSPI 200, the KOSDAQ 150 — not individual stocks. They'd lost money because they'd failed to read where the market's energy was actually flowing.

The Head of Division asked coldly,

"If individual stocks are moving, it means the market has energy in it. And you're telling me it was quiet?"

'......'

A chill spread through the conference room.

The Head of Division suppressed his irritation and asked again.

"What about this theme stock situation? Do you have a plan?"

"If we're discussing renewable energy... I'm planning positions on the short side."

"Short? Do you not read the news? Did you miss the ministry's policy announcement?"

"Of course I checked it. But given the nature of theme stocks, there's no need to take on that kind of risk..."

"People can be so damn frustrating."

Team Leader Joo bowed his head.

Letting out a long sigh, the Head of Division shifted his gaze — and asked, almost carelessly,

"What about you? Do you think the same?"

It was impossible to tell whom the question was aimed at. No matter how he looked at it, though, the Head of Division's gaze seemed to land on Siyoon, far down the table.

"Why no answer?"

the Head of Division asked again.

Siyoon had no choice but to rise from his seat. And then he spoke.

"I... don't think this renewable energy theme is necessarily a bubble."

In that instant, every gaze in the room swung toward him.