Bet with Professor Lee Eun-joo (2)
Monday rolled around again. I texted the stock picks to Soo-min, bought them at the PC bang at 9 AM, then headed to the lecture hall.
"Ahem. Cha Hyun-su. You're late again."
"Sorry, Professor!"
"Don't let it happen next time."
The old professor gave me a stern look as he warned me.
"Got it!"
I replied, though I knew I'd be late again anyway. It was all because class started at 9 AM. Any other day would've been fine, but on Mondays at 9, the stocks went absolutely wild. I had to trade them then.
I sat next to Ye-rin as usual, chatting with her while listening to the lecture.
"Ye-rin, how's your body feeling?"
Her face flushed bright red at my question. She must've remembered that day.
"Oh... um. It's okay. I rested over the weekend, so it feels better."
"Good to hear. Still, don't push yourself too hard..."
"Yeah. But even though it hurt, I kept thinking about you... hehe."
Her reaction was too damn cute. Meanwhile, Park Woo-jin, watching from behind, had a face like a raging demon.
That guy can make an expression like that? He was always so cold to me! What a sly fox!!
Ye-rin and I didn't notice.
"Ye-rin, you'll have to do it on your own starting this week. You good?"
"Yeah, I gotta try it myself. Hee-hee."
The week passed without any special incidents.
It was Thursday. Time for the "Probability and Statistics" lecture.
Just like in the time loop, she ignored me the whole class. Then, right before it ended, she wrote a problem on the board.
I already knew it. Professor Kim Ga-young wrote it down exactly as I remembered, not a syllable off.
"Student Cha Hyun-su? Stand up."
"Pardon? Why?"
I stood, feigning complete ignorance.
"Hyun-su, want to solve this problem?"
"Me?"
"You did so well last time, so I prepared another one. This should be nothing for you."
She tossed out a problem that only a math major could solve, calling it "nothing."
"Hmm... yeah, it's not that hard, is it?"
"Ri... right? So, go ahead and solve it?"
Kim Ga-young seemed a bit flustered.
I walked to the front of the classroom and wrote the answer I'd memorized. No need for the steps—just the answer, big and bold.
"Gasp!!"
Professor Kim Ga-young's eyes went wide in shock.
"No way... you did this in your head too?"
"Yes, Professor. Isn't mental math easy for this?"
"Well... no, but..."
Pride wouldn't let her admit it was impossible.
"Right? Can I go now?"
"W-wait! Hyun-su, come see me."
"What now? This is getting annoying."
"I'll prepare another problem for next week. Think you can solve that too?"
She couldn't lose face as a professor.
"What's in it for me?"
Kim Ga-young hesitated at my question.
"How about this: We do it over a meal at a restaurant. If I get it right, you pay?"
"Sounds good! Looking forward to it."
Her face lit up with determination.
Friday came again. Eun-joo showed up at my place at 8:30 AM.
"Professor, you're early."
"Of course. Today, I'll guide you onto the right path, Hyun-su."
"We'll see about that..."
"Hyun-su, ten times in a day is ridiculous. Quit now, and I'll pretend this never happened."
"Professor, you're not scared of losing, are you?"
"Wh-what nonsense. You stop with the excuses."
I chuckled and pulled out my recorder.
"I, Cha Hyun-su, if I fail to make ten times profit on stocks today, will absolutely obey Professor Lee Eun-joo's words and follow any orders without question."
"How's that? Satisfied?"
"Perfect. That's our proof."
Eun-joo nodded approvingly.
"Huh? Aren't you going to do one? I recorded mine, so you should too."
"Fine. I'll record one too. Hit record."
She spoke with overflowing confidence.
"I, Lee Eun-joo, if student Cha Hyun-su makes ten times profit on stocks today, will absolutely obey his words and follow any orders without complaint. There."
"Hehe. No backing out now."
"Of course. Record that it has legal binding too."
"Sure thing."
Eun-joo had taken the bait completely. It was nearing 9 AM. I sat at my desk, logged into the stock site. And the moment arrived.
[9:00 AM: Buy 33,333 shares of Seoul Food at 300 won]
[9:10 AM: Sell all Seoul Food at 320 won. Account: 10,666,000 won]
[9:11 AM: Buy 3,047 shares of Se-hwa Tire at 3,500 won]
[9:25 AM: Sell all Se-hwa Tire at 3,700 won. Account: 11,578,000 won]
[9:26 AM: Buy 3,641 shares of Tae-hyun Logistics at 3,180 won]
[9:30 AM: Sell all Tae-hyun Logistics at 3,700 won. Account: 12,379,000 won]
[9:31 AM: Buy 1,456 shares of Jeju Bank at 8,500 won]
[9:40 AM: Sell all Jeju Bank at 10,700 won. Account: 15,579,000 won]
[9:41 AM: Buy 775 shares of LG Retail at 20,100 won]
[10:00 AM: Sell all LG Retail at 22,000 won. Account: 17,050,000 won]
[10:01 AM: Buy 18,944 shares of Poongsin at 900 won]
I executed the trades exactly as remembered, without a single deviation. Dipping into red and green candles like a hawk, squeezing out profits.
An hour in, profits were nearly double.
Incredible. How is this possible?
Eun-joo gaped at me, but she still didn't think she'd lose.
Double's just luck.
I kept trading steadily.
[10:25 AM: Sell all Poongsin at 1,400 won. Account: 26,542,000 won]
[10:26 AM: Buy 15,600 shares of Hanseong Pharma at 1,700 won]
[10:40 AM: Sell all Hanseong Pharma at 2,300 won. Account: 35,880,000 won]
[10:41 AM: Buy 2,474 shares of Korean Air at 14,500 won]
[11:00 AM: Sell all Korean Air at 16,000 won. Account: 39,584,000 won]
[11:01 AM: Buy 304 shares of New World at 130,000 won]
[11:20 AM: Sell all New World at 150,000 won. Account: 45,600,000 won]
[11:21 AM: Buy 3,144 shares of Dongsan Construction at 14,500 won]
[11:45 AM: Sell all Dongsan Construction at 17,200 won. Account: 54,076,000 won]
By 11:45 AM, my account was over five times the starting amount. I'd pulled ten million out separately from the forty million I'd grown through Thursday's trades—Eun-joo had verified that too.
"Th-this... this can't be real...?"
"Haha, you're watching it happen."
"Did you... hack it or something?"
"Come on, I'd get arrested. You know stock or currency fraud carries heavy sentences."
"Ri... right...?"
"Professor, I'm hungry. Let's eat and continue."
Eun-joo looked dazed by my confidence. Stock trading was limited to six and a half hours a day. Hitting ten times in that was near impossible, yet here I was, casually suggesting lunch.
"I... right now... my legs won't move."
It was true. Her legs had been trembling for a while. She looked shell-shocked.
"That so? Delivery then? What do you like?"
"Uh... anything."
"How about blood sausage soup?"
"Oh... sure."
I dug through flyers, ordered from a blood sausage soup place. Soon it arrived, and we ate.
I chowed down calmly, but Eun-joo could barely swallow. Her knowledge and experience in stocks were crumbling. She'd thought this kind of trading impossible—yet I was shattering that right before her eyes.
"Not tasty?"
"N-no... it's good."
Forcing herself to eat a bit, she refocused.
As 1 PM approached, I sat back down.
"Alright, back to it. Watch while you eat, Professor."
[1:00 PM: Buy 14,230 shares of Seo-hwa Construction at 3,800 won]
[1:15 PM: Sell all Seo-hwa Construction at 4,200 won. Account: 59,766,000 won]
[1:16 PM: Buy 564 shares of King A at 105,900 won]
[1:24 PM: Sell all King A at 123,000 won. Account: 69,372,000 won]
[1:25 PM: Buy 3,854 shares of Poongsin Pharma at 18,000 won]
[1:40 PM: Sell all Poongsin Pharma at 21,300 won. Account: 82,090,000 won]
[1:41 PM: Buy 547 shares of Celtrium at 150,000 won]
[2:20 PM: Sell all Celtrium at 176,000 won. Account: 96,272,000 won]
[2:21 PM: Buy 1,357 shares of OCC Holdings at 70,000 won]
After selling Celtrium at 2:20 PM and buying OCC Holdings, the account hit 96 million won.
"How about we stop here for today?"
"Y-yes...? Here?"
"Yeah. If this OCC Holdings climbs and pushes the account over 100 million, I win. If it stalls or drops, you win."
That's when Eun-joo realized it. I was exuding the leisure of a victor...