A Rainy Day in May
May 2, 1998, 1:00 p.m.
It was the hour after I had met Kim Museong of the Red Dog Faction and come back out onto the street in front of Yeongdeungpo Station. By then, the sky had darkened, and droplets had begun to fall in fits and starts.
Then the heavens suddenly roared, and black clouds rolled in. When I had left the Red Dog Faction’s office, it had seemed like nothing more than a passing spring shower, but the rain that turned into a sudden downpour soaked the streets of Seoul.
“Ah...”
I remembered.
Today was the day one of the most famous songs by X Japan, the band that had swept through the nineties, was tied to an endless rain over Korea, like Endless Rain itself. It was the day their most popular guitarist, hide, died.
“Right. It was today.”
The moment I realized what day it was, my phone vibrated twice as though it had been waiting for me.
- Special Duty Charlie Commander standing by at the front line. This is Mirage, this is Mirage. Come in.
A single text.
Special Duty Charlie Commander had been the phrase that defined my unit and rank back in the military.
Special Duty was short for special mission, and Charlie referred to the company.
In other words, I had once been the special duty company commander of the now-disbanded 212th Special Forces Regiment.
“Damn. I was just thinking it’d be nice to have even one person I could trust, and then this happens.”
No. Not happenstance.
This was inevitable. These events had happened on the same day before, too.
- Special Duty Charlie Commander Phantom standing by at the front line. This is Mirage. Do you read me clearly? Why is there no reply?
Another text came through.
Before I knew it, a smile tugged at my mouth.
Phantom had been my code name in active service. And Mirage was the code name of Shin Gilwoo, the man with the best combat ability in the company I had commanded, the one I had cared for like a little brother.
I opened my phone without hesitation and hit the call button.
“Attention. Reserve sergeant Shin Gilwoo speaking.”
“You got discharged today, didn’t you?”
“Oh, it’s an honor. The company commander even remembered my discharge date. If you’d forgotten, I was about to go see some blood.”
That word, “see some blood.”
It was a field term we had used jokingly in the unit, a military pun. The exact expression was FIBUA, Fighting in Built-Up Areas, but we twisted it into something that sounded like going out to see blood.
In other words, he was saying that now that he’d been discharged, he’d come straight to me as if heading into urban combat.
“That’s exactly the kind of thing people misunderstand. Anyone listening would think you were really coming to spill blood. Idiot. I’ve been out for so long I don’t even remember those fancy words anymore.”
“Well, you only got out a year before me. I mean, it was an honorable discharge, if nothing else.”
“What honorable discharge? I think of it as honorable.”
“So where are you?”
“Yeongdeungpo Station.”
“Should I come by tonight? We should have a drink.”
Back then, I had not met Gilwoo that day. I had been at work, and because I’d been on a business trip to collect money directly from a long-term delinquent debtor in Busan, I had missed his call.
After that, it took me three months before I finally met Gilwoo, and by then he had been taken in by a trusted friend’s investment scam, losing every won he had saved through sweat and blood in the military.
“Come to Yeongdeungpo District Office now.”
“Huh? Not Yeongdeungpo Station, the district office?”
“Yeah. And bring your seal stamp with you.”
“What? Why do you need my seal stamp? You trying to make me a guarantor or something?”
“That’s right, asshole. I’m making you a guarantor and taking out a loan in your name, too. Why, do you not like it?”
“Haha, you want to take the retirement money I’ve saved up for four years, and the severance pay too?”
“You’ve been discharged, so why are you still talking like that? Just speak casually, and call me older brother instead of company commander.”
“Oh, I’m moved. At last, you’re allowing brotherhood between us.”
“I’m hanging up. Come quickly before it gets late. I’ll buy you a really, really good drink tonight.”
“I’ll take a taxi. It’ll take an hour or two.”
“Bring your seal stamp and your severance paybook.”
“...Yes, sir.”
I was asking a lot from Gilwoo, who had just gotten in touch after months of silence, demanding his severance pay and seal stamp on top of that, but he didn’t ask why or argue.
That was the kind of man he was.
We had rolled through four years of hell together. In barren deserts and foreign countries where terrorists ran wild, we had gone hungry together, bled together, entrusted each other with our lives, and raised our rifles at the enemy side by side.
And fortunately, the chance to save the past version of Gilwoo from betrayal by a friend he trusted had come to me like this.
While I waited for him to arrive, I headed to Yeongdeungpo District Office and walked into the Yeongdeungpo branch of Ilseong Securities near the office.
“Ah, it’s broken again.”
“Damn it, there’s no sign of this thing surviving.”
Because of the IMF crisis, the Korean securities market had been driven straight into the ground, and plenty of people had lost serious money. Even so, the securities branches in Yeouido and the surrounding area were still packed to the rafters.
“Customer number 87.”
The clerk called out to me after I’d taken a number and waited my turn.
“How may I help you, sir?”
“I’d like to buy derivatives with the money in my CMA account.”
“May I see your ID first?”
He was a salaried employee.
This was my first face-to-face meeting with Manager Oh Handong, the man who would later be called the investment tutor of chaebol heirs and grow into Ilseong Securities’ master PB, even serving as an anchor on Stock TV.
“Confirmed. You’re customer Do Jaehyun, correct?”
“Yes.”
“How much would you like to purchase?”
“Everything in the CMA account, minus one million won.”
At present, the money in my account was roughly fifty million won, combining what I had saved from my salary with my severance pay.
“And the option?”
“Buy put options...”
“Understood. Then the product is...”
Among the many products Manager Oh Handong offered, I chose the one with the least trading volume, the highest risk, and the highest possible return.
“Th-this one? Not a call option, but a put option?”
And Manager Oh Handong was left speechless.
The product I was betting on was entertainment stocks.
It was a short-term investment product built around X Japan’s concert in Korea and their overseas performances in various countries, with a bundle of entertainment stocks from Korea and other overseas markets tied into it as well.
Besides, since all the performances had already been confirmed and the Oricon rankings and a number of other factors had already fallen into place, there were plenty of people trying to buy call options, but almost nobody buying puts.
“...Sir. I’m not giving you a formal product explanation here. I’m sincerely recommending that you choose something else. Unless a natural disaster grounds flights for several days, or X Japan itself disbands, you won’t be able to avoid losses.”
“You have a business card, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Just give me one business card.”
I cut off Manager Oh Handong mid-sentence and took his business card from him.
“Let’s see. You’ll probably call me as soon as you get off work today.”
“......”
I left the securities firm behind, leaving the stunned face of Manager Oh Handong in my wake.
May 2, 1998, 2:55 p.m.
After leaving Ilseong Securities, I stopped by the Yeongdeungpo registry office, changed the corporate registration, and then came to Yeongdeungpo District Office.
Even up through 2024, the year I died, private lending businesses with assets of more than ten billion won were overseen by the Financial Supervisory Service, but anything below that was managed by the district office, which meant that if I wanted a private lending license, I had no choice but to come here.
“Please go over there.”
I was in the middle of submitting the paperwork needed to get the business approved by the district office. Originally, I had planned to run it myself as the representative director, but Gilwoo’s call had forced me to adjust that plan a little.
Gilwoo would be the representative director of Happy Credit Union, and I would serve as the operating director. The complicated paperwork was almost finished, and only the final registration steps remained.
“The representative director is Shin Gilwoo... and the original representative, Do Jaehyun, is listed as a director holding 10 percent of the shares, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You left the initial capital blank...”
“I’ll talk it over with the representative and let you know right away.”
“Understood. I’ll enter that at the end. Since the original representative director was Do Jaehyun, and the corporate registration has been changed, I’ll process everything once the registry office contacts us. But since the representative himself isn’t here, we’ll need the corporate seal, the representative’s personal seal, and a few other documents...”
At the district officer’s words, I checked my wristwatch.
“He’ll be here soon.”
“Hyung!”
As soon as I finished speaking, Gilwoo came running toward me, waving a hand. He was wearing not civilian clothes but the special unit’s distinctive combat uniform.
“...That man is Shin Gilwoo?”
The officer’s expression hardened as if he had just seen some shady swindler trying to cheat an unsuspecting discharged soldier.
“I brought the seal stamp and the passbook. I’ve got around fifty million in there once you add everything up, so what are we doing?”
“Private lending.”
“What? Loan sharking?”
“Not loan sharking. Private lending. Your fifty million will be used as the capital, and you’re the representative.”
“Haha... what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Gilwoo, flustered, let the habitual da-naka speech slip out of his mouth.
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“I don’t like it, but if the company commander says go, then I’m going. What else am I supposed to do?”
“Take the stamp and put it on whatever that civil servant over there tells you to stamp. And give me the passbook. I’ll transfer the money into the corporate account.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s the passbook password?”
“1234.”
“...Change it.”
I patted Gilwoo on the shoulder and took the passbook to the bank.
“Where do I stamp?”
“...Is this really all right?”
The officer’s face grew even darker than it had been, unlike the bright-eyed Gilwoo.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“...Nothing. Sign here and stamp there. The capital is fifty million won, correct?”
“Yes.”
“...Are you related to the boss who just left?”
“No.”
“Not family, and you’re putting in this much money... and you’re going to be the representative of a private lending company?”
“Hey, the person I respect most in the world asked me to do something with him. What else is there to think about? Just get it done.”
The officer shook his head again and again.
“......”
After successfully finishing the private lending registration, I left the district office with Gilwoo, grabbed a quick meal, and took a taxi.
Our destination was Jongno 3-ga.
“Oh, company commander... no, hyung, where in Jongno are we going? You said you’d buy me a really good drink, so my expectations are high.”
“Yeah, keep your expectations up. But first, I need to pick up one friend.”
I took my phone from inside my coat and sent Gilwoo the photo of a man with rather poor image quality, along with the address of where he was staying.
“Huh? What kind of person is this? Someone we’re doing business with?”
“A thug.”
“A thug? Why would you be mixed up with a thug, hyung?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”
“Good grief. I can’t believe I’d get a mission order on the day I was discharged.”
Gilwoo grumbled as he checked the photo received on his phone again.
“Driver, please pull over here for a second.”
Before we reached Jongno 3-ga, Gilwoo had the taxi stop and got out first at Jonggak Station.
“I’ll be there on time. See you later.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry. Shin Gilwoo is still alive.”