Adding People to Information

Assistant Manager Jo Chung-sep of the Myeongdong branch of Ilhyeon Securities had been shifting restlessly in his seat for the past thirty minutes before the market closed.

"Today I've got to clean out President Park no matter what."

He had come to work determined to win for once, and the Go-Stop table waiting just a little later was all he could think about.

Jo Chung-sep glanced up at the clock.

At this hour, with so little time left until the close, almost no one came in to trade. All he wanted was for the minutes to hurry past.

That was when a man walked up to his desk.

Ah, I was just about to clock out. Tsk.

Wearing an expression of pure annoyance, Jo Chung-sep asked the man seated across from him,

"How can I help you?"

"Jo Chung-sep. That's a fine name."

The man in front of him—Kim Seong-ho—sat with a transaction slip in hand, smiling as he looked at the nameplate bearing a name he knew so well.

"My name is a bit unusual, yes. So what can I do for you?"

Kim Seong-ho studied Jo Chung-sep, recalling the path the man had taken in his previous life, and smiled. Then he stated the reason for his visit to Ilhyeon Securities.

"I'd like to buy Soyeong Packaging at three thousand five hundred won."

"You want to buy Soyeong Packaging?"

Eager to wrap the matter up and be done with it, Jo Chung-sep took the slip, turned his eyes to the terminal monitor, and began tapping the numbers for Soyeong Packaging into the keyboard as he asked,

Clack-clack-clack.

His fingers moved skillfully over the number pad. Still watching the screen, he asked Kim Seong-ho,

"How much do you want to buy at three thousand five hundred?"

"One hundred million won's worth."

Jo Chung-sep's hands froze on the keypad.

He turned his head to look at Kim Seong-ho and asked again.

"Excuse me? How much did you say you wanted to buy?"

"One hundred million won."

With that, Kim Seong-ho set a single check on the small tray in front of him and slid it toward Jo Chung-sep.

Jo Chung-sep looked down at the check on the tray, eyes going round.

It was the first hundred-million-won check he had ever seen in his life, and his first instinct was to wonder whether it was a fake.

"I-Is this real?"

"I understand that securities firms, like banks, can verify a check by entering its serial number. Why don't you check it yourself?"

"Uh… well, yes, but…"

Jo Chung-sep stole a glance at Kim Seong-ho.

He doesn't look like he's lying…

Anyone bringing a forged check as a prank could never sit there so relaxed and unhurried. Setting his suspicions aside for the moment, Jo Chung-sep picked up the check and entered the numbers into the terminal in front of him.

After a short wait, the verification came back: the check was genuine. With careful hands, Jo Chung-sep set it back on the tray, then spoke to Kim Seong-ho in a voice every bit as careful as his touch.

"Sir. Are you really planning to buy a full hundred million won of Soyeong Packaging? This is…"

Facing what was clearly a major client, Jo Chung-sep spoke with complete honesty.

"For me, of course, I earn commission either way, so all I have to do is follow your instructions. But I'll be frank with you. This is not a good company to invest in. If you're going to put money into something, you'd be far better off with a solid blue-chip like Ilhyeon Electronics or Ilhyeon Construction. As I'm sure you know, Ilhyeon is the biggest conglomerate in the country. I recommend investing in Ilhyeon."

Jo Chung-sep paused for a moment and pointed toward the people sitting in front of the stock board.

Through the haze of cigarette smoke, they sat rooted to their seats, staring at the numbers racing across the board.

Leaning in slightly so that only Kim Seong-ho could hear, Jo Chung-sep went on in a low voice.

"Most of those people over there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are pure speculators. Not a single one of them treats stocks as real investment."

He pulled his gaze away from the chain-smokers in front of the board and looked back at Kim Seong-ho.

"Soyeong Packaging is the kind of stock those people trade. Throw a little money at it, take the hit or take the win, and move on. For someone of your means, putting capital into a name like Soyeong Packaging is not something I can recommend."

He sat back upright and continued.

"A hundred million won is enough to buy a thirty-pyeong apartment almost anywhere in Seoul and still have money left over. Even those famous apartments in Apgujeong cost less than two hundred million. Sir. If you truly want Soyeong Packaging, buy a million won's worth. Put the rest toward your family. That would be a real investment."

It was the sort of thing he would never have said under ordinary circumstances.

But somehow, sitting face-to-face with Kim Seong-ho, words unlike his usual self spilled from Jo Chung-sep's mouth.

What am I even saying… I've lost my mind. I've completely lost it.

Once the words were out, Jo Chung-sep half wondered whether he had gone insane.

But they had already been spoken, so without regret he pushed the tray holding the hundred-million-won check back toward Kim Seong-ho.

Forget the commission. I'll just work a little harder.

Assuming a simple one-percent trading fee, he had just thrown away a chance to book a million won in performance. Yet what he felt was not regret so much as a clean conscience—and Kim Seong-ho watched him in silence and smiled.

Kim Seong-ho placed his own business card on the tray as well and slid it back toward Jo Chung-sep.

Then he rose from his seat and said,

"I'll be waiting at the coffee shop just up the street. Please buy Soyeong Packaging as I instructed and bring me the trade confirmation. Well then…"

Without waiting for an answer, Kim Seong-ho turned and left.

Jo Chung-sep stared after him in blank disbelief—the man who had simply left the money and the card behind.

"Hey, Jo. What's going on?"

Assistant Manager Kim from Sales, sitting next to him, craned his neck with open curiosity.

Jo Chung-sep pulled the tray toward himself, picked up the business card resting on it, and answered,

"No idea. Maybe he's crazy. If he just leaves this here, what am I supposed to—"

His mouth stopped mid-sentence.

Assistant Manager Kim narrowed his eyes at the way Jo was scrutinizing the card and asked, puzzled,

"What is it? Something wrong?"

Jo Chung-sep stared hard at the card and said,

"Kim. Our Group Chairman's name is Lee Tak-hyeon, right…?"

"Why are you bringing that up out of nowhere? Why ask ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about the Chairman's name? Yeah, it's Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon."

"Then he doesn't share the surname, so he can't be a son…"

Jo Chung-sep tilted his head and asked again.

"Have you ever heard of Director Kim Seong-ho from the Strategic Planning Office? How does someone that young become an executive without being part of the royal family? This is definitely a Group business card, but…"

"Director Kim Seong-ho? Kim Seong-ho… I've heard that name somewhere…"

Sitting beside him, Assistant Manager Kim caught the name circling in his ear and something clicked.

"Ah! That's it. Last year the guy who married the Chairman's youngest daughter was supposed to be named Kim Seong-ho."

The same memory stirred for Jo Chung-sep. He straightened in his seat and asked,

"But wasn't he still an assistant manager? I heard he kept working as an assistant manager even after the wedding."

"You didn't hear? Word is he pulled off a major achievement not long ago and got promoted straight to executive. Wait… so the guy who was just here is the Chairman's youngest son-in-law?"

At that, Jo Chung-sep's face went rigid. He nodded.

Then he spun back toward the terminal in a rush.

"Looks that way. Aigoo, what do I do now?"

"Why?"

"I said a bunch of unnecessary things… You don't think he's angry, do you?"

Wearing a miserable expression, Jo Chung-sep hammered away at the keyboard.

Assistant Manager Kim watched him keep typing even as he fretted and asked in confusion,

"What are you doing so frantically?"

Without pausing his fingers, Jo Chung-sep answered,

"The Director asked me to buy some stock for him. And he told me to bring the trade confirmation to the coffee shop. So I have to get that done first."

Through the terminal, he kept entering orders to buy one hundred million won of Soyeong Packaging at three thousand five hundred won.

Assistant Manager Kim looked at him with a touch of regret.

"So I guess you're out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the rematch with President Park later, then?"

"Go-Stop is the least of my problems right now. The question is whether I still have a job at this company. Damn it, why is time flying by today of all days. I have to buy it all before the market closes… Slow down, time. Just slow down."

Burning with anxiety, Jo Chung-sep kept feeding in buy orders for Soyeong Packaging.

Watching him, Assistant Manager Kim quietly slipped away from his seat, grateful that Kim Seong-ho had not come to him instead.

Seated in the coffee shop waiting for Jo Chung-sep, Kim Seong-ho opened his leather diary and looked it over.

I never imagined I'd use this like this.

Checking the company names and figures written in the leather diary, he smiled lightly.

In his previous life, while studying the markets, Kim Seong-ho had written down the companies that had posted explosive gains in this very leather diary.

Unable to endure the pressure from his wife's family any longer, he had thrown himself into the stock market in search of another way to survive.

He had poured himself into studying equities, driven by the hope of making enough money to free himself from their oppression.

I failed back then, but look how useful this has become.

He had organized the list trying to find patterns among the companies that had soared.

In the end, no pattern emerged among the skyrocketing names, and the study itself had been a failure.

But the information he had accumulated while studying had remained a genuine asset—and now it rested in Kim Seong-ho's hands.

I need to use this to grow the money first.

Beyond solidifying his position inside the Ilhyeon Group and his wife's family, he believed he needed another weapon entirely.

After all, the true master of the Ilhyeon Group was still his father-in-law. No matter how secure his footing became, there was no telling when—or under what circumstances—he might be cast out.

And as always, he believed it was wise to keep at least one trump card close to the chest.

That was why he intended to invest the hundred million won Lee Tak-hyeon had given him in the companies listed in the leather diary.

Ding-a-ling.

The little bell on the coffee shop door chimed, and the man he had met a short while earlier at Ilhyeon Securities stepped inside.

Jo Chung-sep. A man you could never forget.

In the previous life, Jo Chung-sep had started as a sales staffer at Ilhyeon Securities, ridden several bull markets to spectacular success, launched a fund that bore his own name, and eventually founded a securities firm that grew into one of the most respected in the country.

For now, though, he was still working at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Myeongdong branch of Ilhyeon Securities.

Kim Seong-ho had already drawn up a plan: take the information he possessed, add to it a man of Jo Chung-sep's exceptional ability, and forge that combination into a weapon larger and sharper than either alone.

"Director. Here…"

Jo Chung-sep held out the trade confirmation for the Soyeong Packaging purchase he had just completed.

"There happened to be quite a bit of volume sitting at three thousand five hundred. So I was able to fill the entire order at the price you wanted."

"Well done."

Kim Seong-ho slipped the confirmation carefully into his leather diary, then simply looked at Jo Chung-sep.

Under that gaze, Jo Chung-sep rubbed at his face with one hand and asked,

"Is there something… something on my face?"

Kim Seong-ho smiled at him and said,

"Aren't you curious why I asked to see you, Assistant Manager Jo?"

"Uh… yes. I am curious."

"I'm looking for someone who can take my money and put it to work properly."

"Take the Director's money and put it to work… what do you mean by that?"

Kim Seong-ho handed Jo Chung-sep the paper he had written out before the man arrived, and said,

"I have a great deal to do going forward. That means I can't devote my full attention to the stock market. So I'm looking for someone who will manage my account according to my plan and put it to work well."

Listening to Kim Seong-ho, Jo Chung-sep read the writing on the paper.

"Close out the Soyeong Packaging bought today near eighty-five thousand and buy Hudo Electric? And then trade Sogyeong Machinery after that? Director… what is this?"

Jo Chung-sep looked down at the paper—filled with the names of so-called junk stocks and amounts that made no sense—with a stare of pure disbelief.