News from the United States
After receiving the vacation details from the boss, Branch Manager Park Seonggeun gathered the employees and trainers.
I could have just sent out a notice on KakaoTalk, but how could I possibly deliver news this huge without even seeing their faces?
Usually, whenever I called everyone together like this, it was because something bad was about to happen, so the atmosphere had always been heavy with dread.
This time, though, I was able to greet them with a broad smile.
In contrast—
“Everyone looks pretty miserable.”
The expressions on their faces, as always, looked downright anxious.
“Whenever you call us together like this, it’s always bad news.”
“I think the boss came by earlier...”
“I just hope you’re smiling after the conversation ends.”
“So it’s finally happened, huh...”
Sure enough, they were worried. And honestly, it made sense.
If the bad news was that some of them were getting replaced, they’d all be in serious trouble.
A few of them had even rented rooms near the gym.
Before they could spiral into even more anxiety, I smiled and delivered the news.
“It’s not that, so relax. You know we’re doing interior renovations, right? The biggest part of the work is next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”
“Ah.”
“We’ll be closed those days. As an apology to the customers, we’ll extend everyone’s memberships by about a month. The construction’s going to keep going, so they’ll probably be inconvenienced.”
“So we’re off next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”
“Right.”
Everyone visibly relaxed. It was only a Thursday-through-Saturday closure, after all.
“That’s weird, though. The gym next door said they’re taking vacation next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday too. The dates match.”
“Yeah, we’re going on vacation then too.”
“...Huh? Are you guys coordinating with the gym next door or something? Or going together?”
“Not exactly. But we’re also going to Jeju Island. The boss asked me to tell him how many people were going.”
“Ah...”
Not everyone looked completely happy yet.
Quite a few of them were friendly with the staff at the gym next door.
Some of them even knew firsthand that those employees were paying part of their own vacation costs.
But our gym was different.
“Don’t worry. The boss said he’ll cover everything for us. Transportation, lodging, food—everything. He told us to just bring our bodies and our bags.”
“...Really?”
“That’s insane. That’s actually possible?”
“Whoa... What kind of person is our boss, seriously?”
“Wow... I’m finally going to get to flex on the people at the gym next door.”
“I’m definitely going. There’s no limit on headcount, right? There isn’t, right?”
Only then did everyone finally unwind and break into huge smiles.
And from the way they were already imagining bragging to the people at the gym next door, I could tell just how excited they were.
I wasn’t all that different, honestly.
The gym next door had started a chicken game with us, and relations between us hadn’t been great...
Meanwhile, we’d been the only ones receiving bad news over and over.
When the staff at the other gym pretended to be worried, they always made a point of mocking us for it.
This time, the tables were finally turning.
Maybe this fact made the staff happier than the trip itself.
“Anyone who can’t make it next week, raise your hand.”
No one did.
“If there’s anyone not here who can’t attend, tell them to let me know too. I’ll pass it on, but still.”
“I’m pretty sure no one’s going to miss it.”
“There really isn’t a limit, right...?”
“The costs must be ridiculous...”
The vacation was set.
Nothing worth worrying about was going to happen.
He’d even said my wife could come along, so there couldn’t possibly be a headcount limit.
***
Before I knew it, I’d already finished ten PT sessions.
Ten sessions sounded like a lot, but since it was only once a day, just ten days had passed.
If I stopped here, I wouldn’t get any closer to noona, so I booked ten more.
This time, though, I switched it to once every two days.
There was no real need to do PT every single day.
Learning how to exercise was only part of it—the rest was just maintaining the connection.
As for working out itself...
If I went to my own gym right now, even the branch manager would step in and take care of me personally.
“I probably won’t be able to do PT this coming Thursday through Saturday because of the vacation...”
“I know. I’ll be on vacation then too.”
“Really? Where are you going?”
“Jeju Island for me too.”
“Wow... What if we end up running into each other there?”
“Could happen.”
“Whoa, that would be fun. Keep me company, okay? I’m not that close with the others.”
“If I get the chance, I will.”
After talking once a day for more than ten days, we’d gotten surprisingly close.
The biggest turning point had come after I booked one more round of PT.
From noona’s perspective, that must have been a relief beyond words.
And since it wasn’t much money to me at all, I was happy too.
Thanks to that, I was able to hear everything about her vacation schedule—the day she’d arrive in Jeju, which lodging she’d be staying at, all of it.
I booked the most luxurious accommodation near there.
It wasn’t like Japan-level luxury, but still.
The secretaries had arranged the best possible schedule for me, right near noona.
“But seriously, it’s weird. I heard the staff at the gym next door are also going to Jeju Island on the same dates.”
“They’re probably matching their schedule to mine.”
“Pfft. What kind of joke is that? I don’t even get it.”
“Hmm... You’ll understand next Thursday.”
“What, so you booked a place close to noona or something? That’s why you kept asking so many questions, huh.”
“It’ll be fun if we bump into each other on vacation.”
“I guess. It does sound kind of different.”
Noona thought I was joking, but either way, I had told the truth.
After the PT session ended, I went back to Signiel Penthouse.
Before leaving for vacation, I needed to keep a close eye on this investment.
If I started thinking differently than before, I’d have to pull out immediately.
One hundred billion won was not a small amount of money.
I watched the market for a long time.
Before I knew it, the sky outside had gone dark—and the U.S. stock market had opened, too.
“I think the news is going to come in soon...”
The strange sense of déjà vu I’d been feeling hadn’t disappeared at all.
In fact, it was getting clearer.
Like the moment was drawing near.
Then—
My chief secretary called.
“Yes?”
- Chairman, I think I need to see you urgently.
“Did something happen?”
- The United States has just imposed tariffs worth sixty billion dollars on China. A trade war between the U.S. and China may be starting. As a result, both the U.S. and Chinese stock markets are falling sharply...
It was a report about the conflict between the United States and China.
After asking me to come to Signiel Penthouse, he immediately sent me the details.
In just a short time, the internet portals had already been flooded with the news.
Now that the trade war between the two countries had truly escalated, it was by no means a minor issue.
Just as the chief secretary had reported, the U.S. stock market was already down 2 percent.
I checked the fear index.
Its reaction was even larger than the drop in stock prices.
That was only natural, since the market had been riding a huge wave of gains for so long.
And the higher something rose, the more violent the fall.
Thanks to that...
“Heh...”
The investment from last time...
With only the predictable moves, it had already doubled in value.
That meant I’d made about 100 billion won in profit in a single day.
And that was a very conservative estimate.
If the employees at the investment firm had followed my instructions and gone even more aggressively...
There would be even bigger profits waiting.
Besides—
“It’s dropping even more...”
The decline had only just begun.
The market was full of fear.
Everyone was busy writing insults about the U.S. president.
As for me...
“Thanks...”
I was honestly grateful.
My assets were going to surge again.
***
The staff at DE Investment received a call from the boss.
Please gather at the company immediately.
It was late evening—or maybe even early morning, if you wanted to be precise.
They were told to come to the office right away.
Everyone grumbled in protest.
They were already supposed to be sleeping early if they wanted to be ready for work tomorrow, and now they were being ordered in at this hour.
As they complained their way to the office, they all caught wind of the U.S.-China trade war.
And all of them had the same reaction.
They were stunned.
“...How the hell does something like this happen? Did he somehow predict it?”
“If he didn’t know the timing exactly, this would’ve been an impossible trade... This is enough to make your hair stand on end.”
“At this rate of decline... we’re probably already looking at 200 billion won in profits.”
“So that’s why the boss called us in urgently. We need to focus on watching the situation through tomorrow.”
Now it all made sense.
That was why he’d called them in on short notice.
If they’d known in advance, they would have rushed to the office on their own.
When everyone had gathered at the company...
They saw that a man who looked to be in his early twenties had also come in.
No one ignored him or thought it was strange.
Everyone knew the chairman of DE Investment was in his twenties.
And with news like this...
It wasn’t strange at all for the chairman himself to come to the office.
In fact, if he hadn’t come, that would have been stranger.
“Based on my estimate, I don’t think there’ll be a major rebound for a while. Please carry this position for about two weeks, and once signs of a bounce appear, lock in the profits.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Work hard for the next two weeks. I’ll make sure everyone gets a 1,000 percent bonus.”
“...Thank you, Chairman!”
For the next week, they were ready to throw themselves into work as if their lives depended on it.
This bonus...
It was at least 100 million won.
All they had to do was endure for two weeks.
No, wait.
They were still thinking in terms of their old jobs without realizing it.
With their current salaries being so much better...
It could even reach 200 million won.