Major Accident
The call from the executive office came while Siyoon was scratching his jaw, weighing the secretary's words. — Would he like to speak now? Should she connect him?
Jeong Chan-soo, Head of the Trading Division. He was the one who had recently passed Oh's team critical information — the tip that had let Siyoon root out the corruption. But why the head of trading operations would want to speak with a warehouse worker was beyond him.
“What's this regarding?”
— I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't have that information.
“Then... go ahead and connect me.”
A long beep sounded, and the director's voice came through almost immediately.
— Kang Siyoon?
“Good morning, sir.”
— Yes. I saw your face at the executive meeting, but hearing your voice directly like this, it's good to hear from you. So, how's the warehouse treating you?
“It's... fine.”
— Fine, my foot. A pine caterpillar eats pine needles — you can't just eat whatever's in front of you. That's how corporations end up with problems down the line.
“......”
Siyoon remembered every face from the executive meeting, and Jeong Chan-soo had been one of them. At the time, the man had watched him with an expression of keen interest.
— It's nothing bad, actually. I'd like to discuss your return to the trading floor. If you have time tomorrow afternoon, stop by my office.
“Tomorrow?”
— I'll be in the office after two. Let's say then.
None of it made sense. A return-to-duty matter should have come through HR or Team Leader Oh first — not a direct call from the division head himself.
Whatever the reason, it seemed like a good chance to make things clear: he couldn't return to the trading team right now. Not while Brain Systems was in the middle of generating returns. If monitoring from the downgraded team triggered trading restrictions on him, it would be nothing but a headache.
If he went back at all, it wouldn't be now.
“Yes, sir. I'll come by tomorrow.”
The next day, Siyoon arrived at the warehouse early and logged into the inventory management system.
[Outbound Requests: 2]
[Inbound Scheduled: 0]
[Inventory Shortages: 0]
Truly, there was nothing to do today. Two outbound items meant he could just mosey around killing time. Unless an urgent request came in, the whole morning might as well be declared free time.
This really is a cushy posting, isn't it?
So this was why the previous guy had clung to the job for five years? Come to think of it, for a demotion it was a pretty sweet deal.
Granted, his salary had been cut in half. General Affairs staff didn't get performance bonuses, after all.
“Hmm...”
Siyoon bit into a donut as he watched the monitor. The donut and coffee he'd bought on the way in could now be savored at leisure. Music playing softly from his phone completed the mood — he could have been sitting in a café.
Laptop open, he connected to his HTS trading terminal. The moment the screen loaded, Siyoon froze.
What the—
[Stock: Brain Systems]
[Current Price: 8,230 KRW]
The market hadn't even opened yet. Pre-market trades were already up 12% from the previous day's close. A signal that strong usually meant one thing — the daily limit.
He checked the time: 8:53 a.m. The market was about to open.
Hurriedly, Siyoon opened a browser window and checked the financial news. Sure enough, an article about Brain Systems was already up.
He clicked the article and read the details. It was a speculative piece predicting that Brain Systems would supply its AI accelerator modules to Samyu Electronics — and it went further, claiming the two companies would forge a long-term partnership and pursue a multi-pronged business expansion together.
A good sign.
And not just good — a monster catalyst. Brain Systems, which had failed to land a single supply contract for so long, was about to shake hands with a major conglomerate.
Whether it actually happened remained to be seen, but smoke rarely rose from a chimney with no fire underneath.
Siyoon's eyes drifted back to the HTS window. At nine o'clock, the price began climbing steeply.
“Hm...?”
— Fill: 8,820 KRW
— Fill: 9,100 KRW
— Fill: 9,430 KRW
Then — stop. Trading simply halted.
The price had locked at its upper limit: 9,550 KRW. No further transactions occurred; only buy orders began piling up, stacked high and helpless.
In just three minutes, Brain Systems had hit its daily limit — up +29.93% from the previous close.
“Hm...”
Si-yoon's heart was leaping with joy, but with no way to express it, he simply stared blankly at the monitor. The buying pressure was so strong that the limit was unlikely to crack anytime soon. He closed the trading window and checked his cumulative gains.
[Total Return Rate: +83.3%]
[Total Net Profit: +832,932,800 KRW]
“832 million won...”
Yesterday his profits had stood at 400 million. In a single day, they had doubled.
He had always believed in Brain Systems. The company had poured everything into AI-driven component development even before its KOSDAQ listing, and it had the production infrastructure to manufacture at stable volumes.
Its technology was officially recognized — but it had a compatibility problem. And there was no one better suited to cover the cost of solving that than Samyu Electronics.
“Now it's really growing wings.”
With that, Siyoon left his booth and wheeled out the delivery cart.
Only two deliveries today, so there was no need to rush. He dropped off the Quant Prop Team's requested items and stepped back out into the corridor, where, far down the hall, a man was banging his head against the wall.
Thud. Thud.
He recognized him — Deputy General Manager Shin Gyeongcheol, from the department where Siyoon had once worked.
Behavior like that usually came down to one of two causes: getting caught cheating by the wife, or making an unrecoverable trading mistake. Judging by the setting, it was almost certainly the latter.
He would have avoided the man if he could, but the freight elevator lay in that direction.
Screek. Screech.
“Huh?”
Deputy General Manager Shin, his eyes bloodshot, spotted Siyoon.
“Delivery down here, was there?”
“Yes, sir.”
As Siyoon pushed the cart past him, the man's choking voice floated after him.
“I was wrong. For everything I did to you.”
Siyoon stopped walking.
Shin Gyeongcheol had been one of the many who had treated him harshly. Then again, most of them had, so it wasn't fair to pin it all on him alone.
“You're coming back soon, right? Yeah... that's good. Even if I end up quitting, I hope you return and make it big, Siyoon.”
Anyone listening would have thought he was giving a farewell speech. His voice wavered like a man ready to turn his back on the world at any moment. How much had he lost to end up like that?
Siyoon spoke to him.
“I don't know what's going on, but I hope it works out. And... I won't accept the apology.”
“Wait—!”
The man reached out, but Siyoon kept pushing the cart, walking on without a backward glance.
2 p.m.
As Siyoon stood before the division head's office, the secretary approached.
“The director is waiting for you. You can go right in.”
He knocked and opened the door. A tall, middle-aged man stood gazing absently out the window, then noticed him.
“Kang Siyoon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right. I was lost in thought for a moment. Come in and have a seat.”
“Yes, sir.”
He guided Siyoon to the sofa against the wall, but his expression was far from good. It wasn't his usual demeanor. Siyoon had never actually spoken with the division head, but the man would occasionally drop by the trading room to encourage the staff — an executive, yet one who treated employees without any airs.
Did Deputy Manager Shin really cause a major accident?
When the secretary brought coffee, the division head spoke.
“You may have heard from Team Leader Oh already, but I'm thinking of restoring you to the Trading Team. Honestly, I'd been wracking my brain over what to do about Director Park — I never imagined it would resolve itself in such a crude way.”
“......”
“The Senior Managing Director has urged me to bring you back as soon as possible, too.”
“The Senior Managing Director?”
“A few days ago he said to me — it's not easy for a rank-and-file employee to show that kind of spine. He's a valuable talent, so restore him at once, he said.”
Senior Managing Director Cha said that?
Throughout the executive meeting, Cha's face had been cold as ice. Siyoon had assumed he'd been written off completely — yet the man rated him that highly?
The bravado in the conference room — vowing to quit on the spot if Oh's team wasn't reinstated — had only been possible because he'd been planning to resign anyway. A man about to quit has nothing left to fear.
They had seriously misunderstood him.
Still...
“I'm sorry, but I'd like to stay with General Affairs for the time being.”
“Hm...?”
The division head tilted his head.
“I'm currently handling inventory management alone, with no replacement staff. And also...”
“Never mind that — just tell me the truth.”
Cutting Siyoon off, the man narrowed his brow.
“There's another reason, isn't there?”
His expression seemed to see straight through Siyoon. But there was no need to be honest about it.
“There isn't. I'm satisfied with this work for now.”
“A man who swore he'd become a trader... is satisfied working in a warehouse?”
As the division head eyed him with narrowed suspicion, a knock sounded from far off and a man appeared in the doorway.
Team Leader Oh Joo-han.
Dragging his massive frame, he walked over in silence.
“Director.”
Oh's team leader bowed his head.
The division head frowned deeply.
“How's the situation looking?”
“It's... down to -23% as of now, sir.”
“So it could get slammed to the lower limit at any moment. What the hell kind of risk management is that? Professionals take positions like that? Deputy Manager Shin was the one who unearthed GL Energy?”
“......Yes, sir.”
Siyoon had been idly following the exchange between the two men when a familiar name made his ears prick up.
GL Energy.
A stock Siyoon had been watching for a week.
He pulled out his phone and recalled his chart analysis: a stock that had been sliding for two weeks, with a rebound expected around today.
“What's the loss so far?”
“Close to... 12 billion won, sir.”
“Hoo...”
Letting out a long breath, the division head yanked loose his tie. Then his gaze locked onto Siyoon's phone.
“What's that? GL Energy?”
Siyoon had been trying to check it discreetly, but before he knew it, the division head had moved around and taken the seat beside him. Then he asked urgently,
“Is that chart your analysis?”
“......”
“You're saying it will rebound today? GL Energy — today?”
His face flushed red, the division head stared at Siyoon intently.
“That's what my analysis shows, sir. It should rebound... by the end of today.”