Chapter 5: Human Indicators
Chapter 5: Human Indicators
Expensive clothes, an expensive house, an expensive car.
I found the answer in Busan to the question of whether money brings happiness.
‘You could really live an interesting life.’
A luxury apartment overlooking Haeundae Beach.
Supercars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars drive along the streets.
Even the rich must have their worries in life.
But they live far more enjoyable lives than I did, studying for exams and preparing for employment alone in a semi-basement apartment.
By the third day, my work in Busan had stabilized, and there wasn't much left to do.
“Great work.”
“Thank you for coming all the way to Busan to help. I’ll be sure to say hello if I’m ever in Seoul.”
After finishing our work, I exchanged business cards with the Busan team.
“Assistant Manager Kim. You worked hard. See you at the office on Monday.”
“Yeah. You have a good rest with your parents too, Soo-ah.”
And so, after a four-day, three-night business trip to Busan, I returned to Seoul.
* * *
Early in the morning.
I braved the cold on my bicycle to get to the office, only to find a mountain of work waiting for me.
“Assistant Manager Kim, we received an inquiry from Seo-san Yu Ophthalmology about a machine malfunction.”
“Not again. It’s a simple issue, so I’ll take care of it.”
“The operating room at Oseong General Hospital is asking for the team leader.”
“The team leader is out of the office. Please connect them to me.”
I worked diligently at the company.
I had always strived to avoid giving the impression that I was just coasting and collecting a paycheck.
But now, I was in a position where I worked busily to clear my head, which was getting complicated because of the coins.
During my morning break, I went up to the building’s rooftop with my colleagues.
“Assistant Manager Kim got to go to Busan with Jo Soo-ah. You’re so lucky.”
“Lucky? It was a business trip.”
“Of course, it was for work. But isn't it better than going with us guys you see every day?”
Honestly, I couldn't say no to that.
These were colleagues I had worked with for four years since I got the job.
Due to the nature of our industry, we often had to work off-site, and on business trips to other regions, we would stay in the same accommodations for days on end.
Sometimes we would have a beer or soju, drinks I wouldn't have touched in college because of the cost.
My seniors at work took me to great restaurants.
My bosses and colleagues were a great help to me, someone with no social experience outside of convenience stores and PC bangs.
When I separated from my wife after just a year of marriage, I was so embarrassed I could barely face them, but they stayed by my side for days, comforting me.
After talking about the Busan trip for a bit, the topic naturally shifted to investments.
“Haven’t stocks been doing pretty well lately?”
“Yeah. I’m in chemicals and shipbuilding. I’ve made about a month's salary, more or less.”
“Man, I don’t know how many years I’ve waited on those shipbuilding stocks. I wonder when I’ll break even.”
“I saw in the news lately that crypto is taking off. They said it’s been soaring since the beginning of the year.”
Team Leader An, who was in charge of our Seoul-area services, brought up the topic of crypto.
< Bitcoin Surpasses $7,500, Reaching All-Time High >
< Crypto Market Watch: Bitcoin Up 2%, Ethereum 0% >
< Bitcoin's Endless Rise Sparks Bubble Fears >
< US Online Payment Company to Support Bitcoin >
The articles poured in day after day.
The media was writing articles that stoked people's greed, making it seem like you were missing out on a chance to make big money just by sitting still.
When I first realized I had Bitcoin, it was at $5,000. It had already gone up 50% since then.
Kim Sang-gi, who was my age and had a wealth of knowledge about investing, spoke up.
“Bitcoin was about a million won at the start of this year. People who invested early must have made eight times their money.”
Eight times.
At those words, Team Leader An and Team Leader Seo were stunned.
These were my superiors, who had worked diligently at this company for over ten years.
“Eight times? So if you put in 10 million won, it became 80 million? I’m so jealous of the people who invested early.”
“But it drops so suddenly, doesn't it? It’s too scary to just jump in. Sang-gi, can we even invest in it?”
“You can. There are crypto exchanges in Korea, too.”
“What value does data have that people are paying millions of won for it?”
“Value is what people give it, isn’t it? Money itself is just pictures drawn on paper.”
“Should I put in a little, then?”
My direct supervisor, Team Leader An, seemed very interested in Bitcoin.
“I have some emergency funds saved up. 5 million. If I put that in, will it become 10 million?”
“Hey, hey. You know how carefully you saved that 5 million. You’re going to pour it all into crypto?”
“It keeps going up these days, so you never know. I should make some money while everyone else is.”
“Really? My savings account just matured. Maybe I should invest a little, too?”
“I’m thinking of taking out a line of credit.”
My colleagues were getting interested in crypto and talking about investing.
‘I think Bitcoin will go up even more.’
My stories of struggling with money since I was young were endless.
There were many memories too embarrassing to tell anyone now, things I had never once spoken of.
Money that I earned through hard work, but that would somehow get spent whenever I tried to use it.
Until now, there hadn't been a single day when I didn't think about money.
What money is.
Why I don't have it.
What I have to do to earn it.
My life was, in short, lived thinking only about money.
Before I became an office worker and received my first paycheck, I never had enough spare cash or living expenses to get through the next month.
I was always aware of my entire net worth at any given moment, constantly worrying about how to stretch it and be frugal.
Since I couldn't trust my father, all decisions and responsibilities for my survival were entirely my own.
My colleagues.
Seeing these human indicators gave me a belief that bordered on certainty.
‘It will definitely go up more. So let’s not sell yet and wait.’
* * *
I spent Saturday in a daze.
Since the crypto market moves 24 hours a day, just watching it was emotionally draining and felt mentally exhausting.
Hundreds of millions of won were appearing and disappearing in a single second.
‘If I had sold earlier... I wouldn't have lost 200 million won.’
‘I’m glad I held on. It went up 300 million won in an hour.’
Watching myself, I could see how fickle the human heart was.
I could just ignore the monitor showing the crypto prices, but honestly, that was difficult.
I was also afraid that it might suddenly plummet by dozens of percentage points.
“Are you in, young man?”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Hearing the landlady’s voice, I hurried to open the door and went outside.
The grandmother was holding a pot that smelled spicy.
“It’s spicy braised chicken. I thought you might like it, so I made some. Enjoy.”
“...Thank you, Grandmother.”
I may have made a lot of money, but I still knew how precious her spicy braised chicken was.
Feeling sorry for always receiving things, I took 200,000 won from my wallet.
“Grandmother, please take this as an allowance.”
“Oh, my. A young man like you has no money to spare.”
The grandmother waved her hands as if she would never accept it.
‘I may not look like it, but I have nearly 40 billion won.’
I tried to force the 200,000 won into her hand, but she kept refusing. Then, she hesitated before speaking.
“Young man… I’m sorry to tell you this, but my knees have gotten bad, so it's hard to go up and down the stairs. And it's difficult to manage such a big house.”
“Yes.”
“I've decided to put the house up for sale next month and move into my daughter's apartment.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I feel so sorry about this for you. Should I ask the next landlord to keep your rent the same?”
I had initially signed a contract for this room at 170,000 won a month. After two or three months, she started taking only 100,000 won and had kept it at that price ever since.
‘She’s worrying about me even as she’s selling her house.’
The affection between people.
I had never even felt it from my own father.
I smiled and said,
“Grandmother, I’ll move out then, too.”
“Move? Where would you get the money?”
“I have enough that you don’t need to worry. I’ll start looking for a place, too.”
* * *
Sunday. Bitcoin plummeted to $6,300.
It was about a 15% drop from its recent high, but billions of won that I had never even held in my hand vanished into thin air.
An amount that would have more than filled the trunk of a car if withdrawn in cash.
That much money had disappeared into nothing.
‘Was my prediction that it would rise wrong? Should I have sold without being greedy?’
I rode my bicycle to work in the morning.
The fierce, cold wind hit me, but thinking about the money I’d lost, it was hard to get my head straight.
“Assistant Manager Kim, is something wrong?”
“No.”
“You don't look well. Why don't you go home early?”
I must have looked pretty bad.
My junior team member, Lee Jong-yeop, was worried enough to ask, but I forced a bright smile.
“I’m fine. I can handle it.”
If I left work early and went home, I thought I would be even more miserable if the crypto price had dropped further.
I had originally thought that even if it fell to a tenth of its value, it would still be a massive jackpot.
But enduring even a 15% drop wasn't as easy as I thought.
‘Have the heart of a beast. It was money I never had to begin with.’
I fought the urge to check the price on my work computer.
Just as I was thinking that if I didn't have the patience to stick to my initial decision, I might as well sell it all, I heard some startling news while taking a break with my colleagues on the rooftop.
“Seniors, Bitcoin crashed yesterday, right?”
“Yeah. I was watching the market yesterday, and it just plummeted in an instant. I heard it crashes like that often.”
“Yes, historically it has repeated cycles of crashes and surges. But this time, it went right back up. I just checked a moment ago, and it's at $7,780.”
“How much is that in won? Over 8 million?”
“Almost 8.5 million won. I was debating whether to invest in Bitcoin or not. Now I’m regretting not getting in sooner.”
“...!”
The price of the coin had risen again.
With my mind now at ease, a sense of faith in myself began to grow.
“Hahaha.”
“Team Leader An, what are you laughing about?”
“I saw Bitcoin drop yesterday and put in my 5 million won emergency fund.”
“Wow, you really put in all 5 million?”
“I put it all in. I’ve already made over a million won.”
“That’s absolutely amazing.”
“We had an investment guru right here among us.”
“Team Leader An, weren’t you nervous?”
“I was. But I just closed my eyes and told myself this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and went for it. It’s really hard to get a 20% return on stocks, you know.”
“That’s true. The domestic market is such a mess.”
“But crypto is an international game. Investors from all over the world are flocking in. You can’t miss out when everyone else is making money.”
My colleagues looked on with envy at Team Leader An’s bold investment.
To me, they looked like human indicators.
‘It’s definitely going to go up more than this. I can feel it.’
My prediction could be wrong, but even so, the amount of money I had made so far was enormous.
I decided to remain calm even if it were to drop another 15% or 20%.
But a few days later, I couldn't help but stare at the monitor in utter shock.
It wasn't because the price of Bitcoin had fallen.
The price had risen. But it had risen far too much.
The price of Bitcoin had shot past $10,000 in an instant.
Initial investment: 10 million won.
Having earned a profit of over 5,000 times, my return on investment had reached 500,000%.