[KOSPI : 601.29 (233.12)]
[KOSDAQ : 51.79 (212.32)]
Jung Hwan-yeop rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and clicked his tongue as he looked at the index board displayed on the wall across the office.
"This looks like both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ are going to finish down sharply for the fourth day in a row."
"Not just Korea. The Nikkei and Hong Kong are a complete mess too."
Sipping the coffee in her tumbler, Hong Jae-hee chimed in.
"It looks like the Nikkei will break below 10,500 today."
At Yoo Seok-hyun's remark, Jung Hwan-yeop let out a low "Hmm" through his nose.
"Then that means it'll end the year down for the second year in a row."
Considering that just a few years ago Japan had been an economic superpower eyeing the number one spot in the world, even surpassing the United States, the contrast could not have been more striking.
Once the fastest-growing stock market in the world, Japan's market now felt like a sinking wreck, slowly going under after the collapse of the bubble.
Unlike the rest of the market, which was in complete turmoil due to a major piece of bad news from the United States, the atmosphere in the asset management office of Bluehole Venture Capital was calm.
That was because, before the WorldCom incident broke out, they had liquidated all their positions except for a few stocks on Seok-won's orders and, together with the Eldorado Fund, placed short bets on the NASDAQ.
"How's the NASDAQ moving in the after-hours market?"
When Jung Hwan-yeop asked while standing with one hand on his hip, Noh Hee-won, who had short hair, checked her monitor and quickly replied.
"It's continuing to weaken, down another 1% from the closing price."
"Hahaha. At this rate, we can finish the year by hitting one last big home run."
Jung Hwan-yeop rubbed his hands together and chuckled.
"When the Chairman suddenly told us to sell our positions and go short, I wondered if there was some kind of event coming up. As expected, the Chairman is incredible."
"Tell me about it. I say this every time, but whenever you watch the Chairman invest, all you can do is admire him."
Jung Hwan-yeop looked at Hong Jae-hee and nodded along.
"If we make a big profit this time, the quarterly performance bonus should be pretty generous too, right?"
When Yoo Seok-hyun asked with a face full of anticipation, Jung Hwan-yeop narrowed his eyes.
"How long has it been since you got your year-end bonus, and you're already talking about the quarterly performance bonus?"
Then he shot Hong Jae-hee a sideways glance and put on a mischievous expression.
"Don't tell me you're behind on your drinking tabs?"
"Eh? No. Of course not."
Startled, Yoo Seok-hyun hurriedly waved his hands and nervously glanced at Hong Jae-hee sitting next to him.
"Then why are you bringing up the performance bonus?"
"Well… actually, we were thinking of pooling together the money we've saved and buying an apartment this time."
"Buying a place?"
At the unexpected answer, Jung Hwan-yeop's eyes widened.
"Yes. It feels like a waste to keep paying rent, and it also seems like real estate prices will keep going up, so from an investment standpoint, it looks better to buy now."
At that, Noh Hee-won showed interest and asked,
"Where are you planning to buy?"
"We're looking around Yeouido since it's close to the office. There's a unit in the Sambuu Apartments that just came out at a good price, so we're thinking about signing for that one."
"Oh. How much is it?"
Jung Hwan-yeop leaned in as well, clearly interested in the topic.
"It's a 125-square-meter unit, and it's 530 million won."
"That place is an old complex that's over twenty years old. It's that expensive?"
Jung Hwan-yeop made an incredulous face.
"Real estate prices are crazy these days. This one also went over 550 million won and then came down a bit. Seeing that, I really regretted not pushing myself a little and buying an apartment when prices crashed after the IMF crisis."
"Even so, 530 million sounds too expensive to me. As far as I know, there are also 92-square-meter units there. Why don't you just buy one of those instead?"
Yoo Seok-hyun glanced over at Hong Jae-hee.
"Still, we thought it'd be better to buy a bigger place if we're going to buy one at all."
He said it in a casual, offhand tone, but Jung Hwan-yeop's instincts became sharp at moments like this.
"Oh…?"
He looked back and forth between Yoo Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee, then let out a chuckle.
"Now that I look at it, you're getting a newlyweds' place, aren't you?"
"Ah, no, that's not it!"
Yoo Seok-hyun shook his head vigorously, his face turning red.
Meanwhile, Hong Jae-hee kept her eyes fixed on her monitor with a prim expression, and Noh Hee-won, for some reason, watched the increasingly entertaining conversation with sparkling eyes, like she was watching a morning drama.
"Everyone knows you two are dating. What do you mean, you're not?"
"Ah, well, that's…"
Since they were practically the office's official couple anyway, Yoo Seok-hyun could not deny it any further and put on an awkward expression.
Just then, Choi Ho-geun, wearing a gray suit and holding a clipboard in one hand, walked into the office and said,
"What's all this noise about?"
"Oh, Deputy General Manager."
"You weren't just chatting about nonsense with the team because you had nothing to do, were you?"
"Come on. Of course not."
Choi Ho-geun looked at them with a suspicious gaze, took off his jacket, hung it on the coat rack, and sat down at his desk.
At that moment, Jung Hwan-yeop stepped forward, cleared his throat, and casually struck up a conversation.
"By the way, sir. Are you thinking of changing your car with the year-end bonus you just got?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Then what's that car pamphlet over there?"
Seeing the pamphlet he had absentmindedly left on his desk, Choi Ho-geun clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"So you really are changing your car! And you didn't say a word when you have a car expert like me around!"
"You're a stock guy. Since when are you a car expert?"
"Come on, more importantly, what kind of car are you getting? You have to let me drive it too. You know that, right?"
Choi Ho-geun pushed away the clingy Jung Hwan-yeop and let out a sigh.
Since the announcement was going to come out that afternoon anyway, it did not really matter if he told them the truth.
"I'm not buying it myself. The company said they're giving me a corporate car, so I was just looking through the options."
"What? A corporate car?"
Jung Hwan-yeop asked back with a startled expression.
Hearing his voice, the other team members also widened their eyes and turned to look in their direction.
Having ended up revealing his promotion unintentionally, Choi Ho-geun shot a glare at Jung Hwan-yeop for stirring up unnecessary trouble again and replied,
"Yes."
At that, Jung Hwan-yeop tilted his head, looking puzzled.
"Looking at the pamphlet, they're all full-size sedans. Aren't corporate cars like that, only given to executives?"
"That's right."
"Then how…?"
A moment later, Jung Hwan-yeop let out a gasp and exclaimed,
"Don't tell me you're getting promoted in this New Year's round of appointments?"
Choi Ho-geun barely managed to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising and nodded.
"Starting next year, I'll be taking the title of Division Head."
The moment he finished speaking, Hong Jae-hee broke into a bright smile and congratulated him.
"Oh my! Congratulations, sir."
"I guess we'll have to call you Division Head from now on."
Following Yoo Seok-hyun, Noh Hee-won also stood up from her seat, just as happy as if it were her own promotion.
"Congratulations on your promotion!"
Choi Ho-geun accepted the team's congratulations with a smile on his face.
"It's all thanks to your hard work helping me."
"Wow. Now that you're becoming a Division Head, I guess you'll be moving to a separate private office."
Jung Hwan-yeop thumped his chest as if to say, leave it to me.
"Sir, no, Division Head. Even if you're not here, I'll take full responsibility and make sure this office is managed properly!"
"That won't be necessary."
"Pardon? Why not?"
"To be honest, I was too uneasy about leaving you alone, so I asked them to build a new office right next door. I'll be coming by often to check on things, so don't even dream about slacking off just because I'm not around."
At that, Jung Hwan-yeop's shoulders, which had been held high, slumped down.
"Why are you staying here instead of moving up to the floor where the other executives are?"
"Because I feel like it."
"That's just too much. Thanks to you, it looks like I'll be working all day without even being able to breathe properly."
"When have you ever paid attention to me anyway?"
As always, the sight of the two of them bickering made the other team members burst into laughter.
"I get a stiff neck just thinking about handing the manager position to a kid who hasn't grown up yet and leaving the team to him. I'm so worried I can't even sleep properly at night, you little punk!"
"I'm not exactly young. How can you say I haven't grown up?"
Grumbling with his lips stuck out, Jung Hwan-yeop suddenly lifted his head as if he had realized something.
"Did you just say you're giving me the manager position?"
Choi Ho-geun looked at Jung Hwan-yeop with an awkward expression.
"Yes. If I get promoted to Division Head, the manager position becomes vacant."
"That's right. Exactly."
Jung Hwan-yeop nodded vigorously as he replied.
Seeing how excited he looked, Choi Ho-geun suddenly felt petty. He sat there with his arms crossed and his mouth tightly shut, and Jung Hwan-yeop grew impatient.
"So?"
"Hmmm. No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like a good idea…"
Choi Ho-geun rubbed his chin, still unconvinced, then reluctantly opened his mouth.
"In this New Year's round of appointments, you're getting promoted to Manager as well."
"Ye~~s!"
Jung Hwan-yeop clenched his fist and roared.
"Kraaah! This is it!"
"Congratulations!"
"That's great news. Manager Jung."
Soaking in the congratulations pouring in from all sides, Jung Hwan-yeop lifted his chin arrogantly.
"Heh heh heh. That's right, from now on, serve me well. Got it?"
At the completely predictable reaction, Choi Ho-geun shook his head with a sigh.
"When is that guy ever going to grow up?"
Choi Ho-geun looked around at the team members who had gathered to congratulate him and said,
"Assistant Manager Hong and Assistant Manager Yu are also getting promoted to Manager this time, so keep that in mind."
"Pardon?"
"You mean us too, sir?"
At the completely unexpected news, Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun both stared at him with their mouths open.
"That's right. As a reward for all the results you've delivered so far, the entire department is getting promoted."
Then, as if he had just remembered, he turned his gaze to the youngest, Noh Hee-won.
"And Miss Noh, you'll be getting promoted to Assistant Manager starting next year."
"M-me too?"
Noh Hee-won's eyes widened like a startled rabbit, her face full of disbelief.
She had not been on the team for very long and had not contributed that much yet, so she never imagined she would be included in the promotions.
But Choi Ho-geun smiled as if it were only natural.
"That's right. You've worked hard."
"Th-thank you."
Noh Hee-won bowed her head, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
"Hey now. It's a good day. You should be smiling, not crying."
"But I haven't even been on the team that long, and compared to the seniors, I'm still so lacking…"
"What are you talking about? Do you know how much help you've been?"
"Yeah, yeah. Everyone knows how hard you worked, so accept it proudly, just like me."
Jung Hwan-yeop pointed his thumb at his own chest and gave a wink.
"Ugh, that gives me chills."
"Pfft."
When Hong Jae-hee shuddered in disgust, Noh Hee-won ended up laughing too.
"Oh right, sir! You're coming to the team dinner tonight, right?"
"Honestly, you people are always thinking about drinking whenever you get the chance."
Choi Ho-geun clicked his tongue as he picked up a stock analysis report.
"The announcement will come out this afternoon, but until the official notice is posted, don't go around talking about it."
"Yes."
"Understood."
"Alright, everyone, get back to work."
When Choi Ho-geun waved his hand, the team members dispersed, all wearing excited expressions.
***
The family home in Hannam-dong on New Year's Day.
Seok-won and his older brother's family came by with their young nephew, and for the first time in a while, the whole family gathered together for a meal.
At the head of the table sat Chairman Park Tae-hong, and right beside him, Madam Jo Deok-rye sat with an elegant air.
On the right side, his older brother, Vice Chairman Park Jin-hyeong, and Seok-won sat side by side, while across from them, his sister-in-law ate with their nephew, who had just turned five.
Chairman Park Tae-hong watched with satisfaction as his young grandson finished his bowl of tteokguk without being picky about the side dishes, then turned his head and spoke to Gunsan-daek, who was standing off to the side.
"I'll have tea in the study, so bring it there."
"Yes, Chairman."
Chairman Park Tae-hong turned his gaze toward his two sons sitting side by side.
"I have something to discuss, so follow me to the study."
With those words, Chairman Park Tae-hong set down his spoon and stood up first.
A short while later, with tall bookshelves packed tightly with thick volumes behind them, Chairman Park Tae-hong and his two sons sat facing each other on European leather sofas.
Gunsan-daek set down some strongly brewed coffee and left. As if out of habit, Chairman Park Tae-hong took a cigarette from the wooden case on the table, put it in his mouth, and lit it.
He drew in the white smoke deeply, then slowly exhaled it. Looking back and forth between his two sons, Chairman Park Tae-hong finally spoke in a slightly subdued voice.
"You all know that there's a presidential election this year."
"..."
"It's about time we decide which side to donate to and how much. Tell me what you think we should do."