Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: A Sudden Fortune
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“Hey! Hey!”
Choi Yoo-jun pulled the blanket over his head at the sound of his older sister, Choi Yoo-kyung's, loud voice. He knew the door was about to be thrown open.
*Fling!*
“Hey! Get up!”
“Ugh, what is it? I worked late last night.”
But Choi Yoo-kyung paid him no mind and ripped the blanket off. Choi Yoo-jun sat up, annoyed.
“Ugh. Seriously!”
“Tell me it's not true.”
“What?”
“The freezer.”
Choi Yoo-jun was startled but pretended to be calm. He was sure his sister was asking about the 70 million won in the freezer.
“Come on, hiding money in the freezer is so old-school drama...”
“You crazy bastard!”
Enraged, Choi Yoo-kyung rained fists and palms down on Choi Yoo-jun.
“Ow, ow! Stop hitting me! The money isn't going anywhere.”
“You lunatic! Do you have any idea what that money was for!”
“Ow! I told you, the money's safe! I invested it, invested!”
At the word "invested," Choi Yoo-kyung despaired.
“Agh! Just die! Just die!”
Choi Yoo-jun tried to calm his sister down, but it wasn't easy to stop Choi Yoo-kyung, who was half out of her mind with despair.
“Just calm down. I'll—ow! I'll explain everything! Please, just wait!”
The violence only stopped after Choi Yoo-jun grabbed both of her wrists. Choi Yoo-kyung's hands seemed to go limp.
“Hic... You told me not to die... but you're the one trying to kill me.”
“Hngh, arghhh!”
Choi Yoo-kyung's hand, which he thought had gone limp, suddenly twisted and pinched his side.
“Hey!”
After barely prying her off, Choi Yoo-jun lifted his T-shirt.
“Whoa! You're crazy. It's actually bleeding!”
A faint but visible amount of blood was welling up on his side.
“Wow. How can you pinch your own brother hard enough to break the skin?”
“Sob. Do you know how hard I worked to save that?”
Seeing the nails on Choi Yoo-kyung's index finger and thumb hanging loose, Choi Yoo-jun shuddered again.
“Sob. Let's just die together, you bastard.”
“Why would we die! I told you, I invested it!”
“To think I have a stupid bastard like you for a brother. Sob.”
“Wow. This is insane. Hehehe.”
Dumbfounded, Choi Yoo-jun started to laugh in disbelief.
“How can you decide we should die together before you even know if I made or lost money? This is ridiculous, seriously.”
Choi Yoo-jun picked up his phone and headed to the living room, with Choi Yoo-kyung following behind, nagging and sniffling.
“You idiot. Even when people say they made money investing, they all end up broke later. Sob. What am I going to do with you?”
Choi Yoo-jun plopped down on the sofa.
“No. I really made money. I put it where Min-jun hyung told me to. I've already made about... 40 million?”
At the mention of Min-jun, Choi Yoo-kyung's sobs subsided.
“...Really? Min-jun told you? Not someone else?”
Choi Yoo-kyung asked, tentatively sitting on the sofa.
“Ha, seriously. You only calm down when I mention him.”
Choi Yoo-jun tapped on his phone.
“Min-jun hyung signed a contract with a game company and said it looked like it would do well.”
“Min-jun told you to invest?”
“I begged him to tell me. If you saw his account, you'd faint.”
“Really?”
Choi Yoo-kyung wiped her tears, her face now full of curiosity as if she'd never been crying.
When the stock trading app finished loading, Choi Yoo-jun held it out to Choi Yoo-kyung.
“Look. With 10 million of my own money, the 80 million became... Ack, huh?!”
“What! What is it!”
When Choi Yoo-jun snatched the phone back from her, Choi Yoo-kyung asked worriedly.
Choi Yoo-jun rubbed non-existent sleep from his eyes and looked at the screen again.
“...Huh...”
“Hey! What's wrong! Did you lose it?”
Choi Yoo-jun spoke, his face dazed.
“What's the dollar exchange rate today?”
“Why are you asking that!”
“Just look it up.”
Sensing good news, Choi Yoo-kyung's eyes wavered. She gulped and searched for the exchange rate, then her mouth fell open.
“...1,250 won.”
“Multiply 224,000 by 1,250. Do it.”
Choi Yoo-kyung held her breath as she carefully tapped the numbers into her phone's calculator.
“Ones, tens, hundreds... 280 million?! No way, right? Is that our money?”
“Woooah!”
“Kyaaah!”
Choi Yoo-kyung shot up and leaped toward Choi Yoo-jun, who caught her and spun her around.
“Hahaha!”
“Kyaaa!”
But after exactly two spins, the siblings' expressions turned serious, and they separated, sitting down on the sofa as if nothing had happened.
“Why'd you suddenly jump on me like that?”
“You idiot, you opened your arms.”
After a few seconds of silence, Choi Yoo-kyung broke it.
“Ahem. Ahem. But you said you made 40 million earlier. What happened?”
“Right. I should ask him.”
Choi Yoo-jun quickly called Min-jun.
-I was just about to call...
“Hyuuung!”
-My ears hurt.
“What is this, all of a sudden!”
-What's what?
“It more than doubled!”
-...The metaverse stock?
“Yeah!”
-It was time for it to go up, I guess.
“No, seriously, is it really rising this much because of the Answer DLC?”
-That alone doesn't explain it. I think the short sellers needed the price to go up so they could make money again.
“What does that mean?”
-...Short selling is when you sell high and buy low... so they can't make money when the price is too low. The price was below fair value when we got in...
“...I don't even know what short selling is.”
-I'm not an expert, so I can't explain it any further. Anyway, get to the music show by 3. I'm leaving after the rehearsal.
“Is it okay for you to leave? On such an important day?”
-Company business. I know you'll be busy, but please take care of the fans with reserved seats today.
“Yep. Don't worry. Oh! And thank you so much, hyung. You're seriously a lifesaver.”
-Okay. Just work hard, then.
“Sir, yes, sir!”
Choi Yoo-jun said, standing at attention.
“What? Is he sane? Did it really go up?”
Choi Yoo-kyung asked after Choi Yoo-jun hung up.
“Yeah. We made 200 million.”
“God Min-jun! That's amazing, seriously. How can he be so perfect?”
Choi Yoo-jun lifted his shirt, showing his stomach.
“Blood.”
“...Sorry.”
Choi Yoo-kyung quickly brought the first-aid kit.
“But still, why didn't you put the money in a bank instead of the freezer...?”
“There's someone I have to give cash to. That much cash all at once... Just leave it at that...”
***
After hanging up with Choi Yoo-jun, I went into the salon where the Answer members were.
I saw the back of Seul-bi, who had finished first, near the entrance to the break room.
*Is she going to eat again?*
The closer I got to the break room, the stronger the savory smell of egg toast became.
I expected her to be eating the egg toast, but Seul-bi was just staring blankly at the toast on her plate.
“...I thought you would have eaten it already.”
“Sigh... Hooo. Just smelling it brings me peace. Would you eat it for me, oppa? They made it for me, and I'd feel too bad if it became food waste.”
*She's just smelling it and not eating? Seul-bi?*
Seeing this sentimental side of Seul-bi strangely tugged at my heart. For a moment, I felt the urge to find out what was going on with her, but as always, I held back.
It was partly a matter of conscience, but also because I thought that if I overused my ability like that, it might disappear one day.
Perhaps this thought itself was a warning from my 'Sixth Sense' trait. Besides, a moderate amount of struggle can actually lead a person to mature in a positive way.
Among the members, Seol-ah was the last to finish her makeup. With an Elizabeth perm that created elegant, natural waves, she looked a level more attractive than usual.
“Unni, you look so pretty.”
“Yeah. The curls are so pretty.”
Ro-si and Yi-na admired Seol-ah from head to toe.
“You guys are prettier.”
Seol-ah replied, feeling a bit awkward.
I got into the car with the members, who were all fully made up.
“I'm only staying until the rehearsal today.”
“Huh? On an important day like today?”
It was natural for them to be surprised, as it was the day their mash-up project with Lee Yoo-ah was being officially revealed for the first time.
“It's company business.”
“How important can it be?”
Yi-na said with a pout.
“The director and the CEO wouldn't have summoned me if it wasn't important. You all know that.”
All the Answer members looked disappointed.
We arrived at the broadcast station.
“Waaaah!”
“Kyaaaah!”
*Click-click, flash-flash-flash.*
The reaction on their way into the music show was so different from last year that a small thrill ran through me.
The Answer members seemed to feel the same, their steps looking momentarily unsteady. But like pros, they lined up for a photo op.
“Seol-ahhh!”
A fan shouted at the top of their lungs, making Seol-ah herself burst into laughter.
“You're too pretty!”
“Ahahahaha!”
The fan's shameless second shout sent a wave of laughter through the crowd.
As Seol-ah laughed and waved, the man, who must have been hoarse by now, made a heart shape above his head.
“Wow, Seol-ah unni is so popular!”
The members all headed to the waiting room, delighted.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
The members of Answer weren't the type to get arrogant just because they'd gained some popularity. They bowed politely to every staff member they passed, and the staff were clearly pleased.
“Here you are.”
[Answer / Lee Yoo-ah's Waiting Room]
“Thank you.”
The members looked moved to see Answer's name on the waiting room door.
“Oppa, take a picture of us.”
The Answer members posed for a picture, pointing at the name on the door.
Ro-si, who had never had to use a shared waiting room separated by flimsy partitions, looked like she didn't quite understand why the other members were so happy.
I opened the waiting room door.
“Agh! A bed!”
Still in her high heels, Yi-na pattered over and leaped onto the bed-like sofa, large enough for all the members, and rolled around.
Seol-ah sat on the sofa and lightly smacked Yi-na's butt.
“There are people passing by outside. Be a little more careful.”
“This was my dream.”
“I know. PD Min-jun promised, didn't he? That he'd get us a waiting room with a bed.”
It seems Seol-ah remembered that.
*That's surprisingly touching.*
Yi-na also seemed to remember belatedly, forming a heart with her hands and sending it my way.
“Min-jun oppa, love.”
Seul-bi, smiling at Yi-na, turned to Ro-si and began to speak.
“Every time we came to a music show, we were in a shared waiting room. Multiple groups using a space with just partitions. Sometimes there weren't even enough partitions.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. While we were there, we'd hear kids from other groups crying after being scolded, or people fighting... Anyway, we kind of felt like baggage. And there was actual baggage piled up around us.”
Before long, junior groups started coming to greet the members of Answer.
As if determined not to pass on the mistreatment they had once endured, the Answer members always made the visiting junior idols happy with kind words and encouragement.
Soon, Lee Yoo-ah, having finished her photoshoot, arrived on time, and the rehearsal began.
The stage design and effects, tailored to the concept of past and present coexisting, blended perfectly, befitting a special comeback for Answer and Lee Yoo-ah.
“Hyung! Timjang-nim!”
Choi Yoo-jun ran over, looking incredibly excited.
“Thank you so much, hyung. I'm rich thanks to you.”
“It's a relief it went up this time, but if it had dropped, I would've been the bad guy.”
“Ah, don't say that. I'll always be loyal!”
“Don't go spending it recklessly just because you have money now.”
“I'm not a kid, you know. So, should I just leave it there? Or should I invest in something else?”
Choi Yoo-jun said, licking his lips.
*He's really gotten a taste for it.*
“I don't know yet. If I knew all that, would I not be a god?”
“You are a god, hyung. God Min-jun.”
Choi Yoo-jun's smile was filled with conviction.
“Anyway, I'm leaving now.”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
It was a shame, but I'd have to watch the main performance on a monitor. I handed my car keys to Choi Yoo-jun and left the broadcast station.
I got on a bus heading toward JD Enter.
I could have taken a taxi and expensed it, but I was always stricter with myself when spending money that wasn't my own.
*I've made a decent amount of money now. Maybe I should buy a small car?*
As I saw the worried expression on a model's face in an ad through the bus window, the troubled faces of CEO Park Jae-yong and the Isa-nim suddenly overlapped with it.
*Could it be related to President Gu, the largest shareholder, who visited the company after a long time? I thought he hadn't been heavily involved in management since the auditions.*
*Does that mean it's an issue with management rights?*