A Third Limit-Up and New Suits

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

It wasn't that the director's offer was unappealing. What made it tempting was the liquidity — if the company's capital was doing the work, the investment ceiling became comfortably flexible.

No need to put my own money on the line.

Even if he took a loss, as long as it wasn't a catastrophic one it could be written off as a cost of doing business. And unlike the one-way bets he'd been making, a proprietary position allowed both long and short trades — meaning he could profit whether the market climbed or collapsed. That was a merit in itself.

"The offer isn't bad, but..."

He sat in front of his computer, weighing it over, while the sound of Kim Ju-im's phone conversation drifted through the office.

"An urgent request? Ah, yes. I'll head up right away."

Kim Chil-sung hung up, and Siyoon looked over at him.

"What's going on?"

"General Affairs just called. The projector used in the FX Trading Team's conference room is broken. Tae-wook's out on a delivery, so I should be the one to go."

"Alright. Go on then."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Siyoon's eyes returned to the monitor. Jinju Energy, which had printed the dot circuit — the limit-up gap — showed no sign of loosening its ceiling. At this rate, another limit-up tomorrow was well within reach.

He pulled up the news, and praise for Jinju Energy was pouring in from every outlet.

Siyoon nodded as he skimmed the articles. Tallying up his gains so far, his total assets stood at 21 billion won. At this pace, the day he became a building owner wasn't far off.

Dzzzing—!

While he was reading, a text arrived from Team Leader Oh.

So that's why it's been so quiet. Siyoon closed every window on his monitor and got up.

When he reached the trading floor's break room, Team Leader Oh was sitting there wearing a grim expression. Siyoon set the coffee on the table and took the seat across from him.

"There you are."

"Is something wrong? Why the storm cloud first thing in the morning?"

"That's not a storm cloud, that's just my face. And hearing you say it doesn't exactly brighten my day."

With that, he lifted his coffee cup. Siyoon took a sip of his own and asked, "Shouldn't you be slammed right about now?"

"When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you pulled in that much profit last month, days like today are your reward — sitting around with nothing to do. Anyway... I saw you talking privately with the Director yesterday. What was that about?"

So that's why I got called in again. Apparently he'd witnessed the private meeting with the director from a distance.

"Nothing much."

"Nothing much, my foot. The mood looked dead serious. My instincts are a hundred units beyond sharp — you think just anybody can be a team leader?"

"Of course not. You're a remarkable man, Team Leader."

"You little punk. That wasn't even sarcasm and it stung. The Director doesn't call someone in for no reason. If it's a proposal about work, think it through long and hard before you decide. You know from experience — Hansan Securities is not a place to take lightly. It's a place that'll toss you out like a disposable rag the moment it suits them."

Instincts a hundred units sharp? Anyone watching would think he was a fortune-teller. How did he read all that from the atmosphere alone? Then again, the man had lived through more than a decade at Hansan Securities. One glance, and he'd seen everything there was to see.

His scowl and gruff manner were intimidating, but in moments like this he felt like a father. Siyoon had no one else in his life who would offer him advice like this.

"Don't worry. I'm not a kid, you know."

"You're a kid as far as my eyes are concerned. Watching you is like watching our own high schooler at home."

"If that's how I look, what can I do. We're short-handed at the warehouse, so I should get back. Your high schooler will take his leave now."

He left the break room and was heading for the elevator when he spotted Kim Ju-im in the distance. Wondering what was going on, he walked closer — and found the man frozen outside the FX team's door, at a complete loss.

"How dare you bring us a defective piece of equipment? Because of you the meeting's running late, and we're the ones about to get chewed out!"

A woman was glaring daggers. She looked barely Siyoon's age. Beside her, a man was trying to calm her down.

"Yu-bin, come on. Tone it down. The product being defective isn't this man's fault."

"He should have checked whether it worked before hauling it up here. Min-seok, we're both interns — if we lose points over something like this and don't get hired, how is that fair? It's not even our fault, so why should we be the ones who suffer?"

"Keep your voice down. The staff will hear you."

"God, you're so frustrating, Min-seok. In this situation, you think we have room to care about other people's feelings? Do you even want the job or not?"

No matter how he looked at them, the two were clearly interns. Apparently the projector was faulty, and they were laying the blame at Kim Ju-im's feet.

"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful."

Kim Ju-im bowed his head low. Siyoon stepped up beside him.

"What exactly do you have to be sorry for?"

"S-Sir...!"

"Our job is delivering what was requested. Whether it works or not is for the requesting team to verify — and if they'd filed for a spare unit in advance like they should have, none of this would have happened in the first place."

"Hey, you!"

The woman's voice spiked instantly. Her target had shifted to Siyoon.

"What kind of talk is that? If you did something wrong, you apologize! I was trying to let this go quietly, but you people really..."

"And what would you do if I didn't let it go quietly?"

Siyoon asked the question while holding her gaze, steady and unblinking.

Flinch—!

Fear washed over her face in an instant.

He wasn't trying to scare her. He was genuinely curious — what exactly did she stand to gain by blowing this up?

"A-are you glaring at me right now? Judging by the looks of you, you're both General Affairs grunts. Fine. Wait right there — I'm reporting this exactly as it happened!"

The moment she fumbled her phone out, the half-open door of the FX team swung wide. A man stepped through. It was the FX Team Leader — the same man who'd exchanged business cards with Siyoon at the barbecue restaurant.

"There's nothing to report."

"Excuse me...?"

"No need to report anything to General Affairs. Go ahead and try — you'll only be the one who gets torn apart."

"What is that supposed to... Team Leader, I didn't do anything wrong..."

Yoo Sung-tae. His face flushed, he glared at the intern — then turned to Siyoon.

"I owe you an apology. My own carelessness dragged you into something unpleasant for no reason, Manager Kang. We reconnected the projector and it works fine. Nothing for you to concern yourself with."

"Glad to hear it."

"I'll make sure my people are properly trained so this doesn't happen again."

The situation had flipped on its head. The FX Team Leader was the one apologizing to Siyoon. There was no way the intern could process what she was seeing. Why on earth was a team leader bowing his head to two men who looked like the lowest rungs of General Affairs?

As Siyoon and Kim Ju-im turned to leave, Team Leader Yoo's voice rang out behind them.

"You said your name was Choi Yu-bin? As of tomorrow, don't bother coming in."

On the way back from lunch, Choi Tae-wook asked with a look of barely contained excitement, "Sir, is it true the FX team fired one of their interns today?"

"Hm?"

"The intern who threw a fit, saying the projector you delivered was defective, sir."

"I didn't cut her. Team Leader Yoo did. Strictly speaking, she cut herself."

"Sorry?"

"With a character like that, she'd never have passed the hiring round anyway. Frankly, it's for the best — saves everyone the wasted time."

As they walked, Siyoon's phone buzzed. It was the General Affairs Team Leader.

"Yes, sir. I'm heading back up now."

"About today — don't take it to heart, alright? These things happen in life. From what I hear, that intern was an absolute piece of work. See, this is why they should never abolish the intern system! Anyway, it's Kim Ju-im I wanted to talk about."

"What about him?"

"I know warehouse dress is casual, but the way he goes around like that — interns and everyone else are going to look down on him. It's got me worried. I don't want a repeat of today."

Siyoon's gaze drifted to Kim Ju-im. Slacks and a denim shirt, sneakers worn down as if they'd survived several years. Choi Tae-wook didn't look much better.

"I hadn't paid attention to that. We'll fix it."

"Oh, come now — 'fix it'?! Anyone would think I'd been nagging you. Hahaha! You know I'm fond of you, Manager Kang."

"The point is well taken, regardless."

He hung up, and Siyoon stopped in his tracks. Then he took stock of his own outfit too. Warehouse work demanded mobility, so everyone dressed for comfort — a habit inherited from that shaggy-haired employee who'd worked the job before him. But it seemed the time had come to change that.

"What is it? Something wrong?"

Kim Ju-im asked as Siyoon halted. "Kim Ju-im, do you own any suits at home?"

"Ah... I'm sorry to say that everything I've done so far has been warehouse work, so a suit is..."

"Tae-wook?"

"He has one, but the color's a few seasons out of fashion... haha."

Choi Tae-wook scratched at the back of his head. Siyoon glanced around the street — and spotted a tailor shop specializing in suits. He started toward it.

"Both of you. Follow me."

Siyoon, who had returned to the office first, was scanning the KOSDAQ market when, about an hour later, Kim Ju-im and Choi Tae-wook walked in dressed to the nines, each carrying a spare suit over both arms.

"Sir, we're back."

Before returning to the office, he'd stopped at the suit shop and told each of them to pick out three sets. Siyoon paid the bill and came back ahead of them, while the two employees took longer having their suits tailored to fit.

They weren't top luxury brands, but they were names people recognized. Looking at them now, he regretted not having done this ages ago.

"You two look sharp."

"Thank you, sir — we'll wear them with pride! Though... are you sure they weren't too expensive? They were over 500,000 won ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apiece."

"Other people around here wear suits worth millions. That barely counts as pricey. Wear them for your commute, and on the job just slip off the jacket and pull the tie loose — you won't be uncomfortable."

"Yes, sir! We'll keep working hard!"

Choi Tae-wook raised his voice and headed out to the warehouse, but Kim Ju-im hovered, shuffling over to Siyoon.

"Sir."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for the clothes. I'll wear them well, with gratitude. And... thank you for what you did earlier, too. Truly."

There was something endearingly awkward about the man. Siyoon regarded him quietly for a moment before answering.

"When you work, you're going to run into things that feel unfair. I did, too. And most of the time, you won't be able to speak up about it. But when something truly crosses the line — say no. Say ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it out loud. That much, I can cover for."

"......Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Good. Get back to work."

Kim Ju-im returned to his desk, and Siyoon turned his eyes back to the monitor.

Jinju Energy's climb showed no sign of stopping.

The third consecutive limit-up. Siyoon's account was swelling right along with it, like a snowball rolling downhill.

The rally carried on into the next day — though the steam behind it had thinned. The news coverage had put the stock squarely on the theme's wave, and its reputation as the sector leader had drawn plenty of retail chase-buying. Which meant it had now entered the volatility zone.

Two paths remained. A price correction, or a crash. A crash was unlikely for Jinju Energy, but there was no need to endure a sideways grind, either.

The price now sat at 27,350 won — up 14.25% from yesterday. His profit had already blown past 10 billion won.

Time to start winding this down, I suppose.

The hand gripping his mouse drifted toward the sell button.