Chapter 6

If the Research Center was where they provided support from the rear and formulated strategies,

then the Trading Department was a battlefield where they fought on the front lines.

Every morning, they formulated strategies according to the operational orders handed down from headquarters and prepared to deploy their money.

Then what about weekends, when the market wasn’t open?

It was the same.

This was not a place where people could simply relax on weekends just because the market was closed.

“The Research Center is pushing automobiles and secondary batteries as well. What about the other securities firms?”

“The others are similar. I think money will flow into these two sectors next Monday.”

There was something legendary investors always said:

Don’t make short-term investments.

Judge a company’s value and invest for the long term!

But for securities-firm traders, long-term investment was practically equivalent to high treason.

These people bought and sold stocks hundreds of times a day.

Ordinary people generally held onto stocks for the long term because they were stuck with them, but these traders would never touch long-term investments, even if it meant cutting their losses.

Instead, they would invest even more aggressively elsewhere in an attempt to recover the losses they had taken.

That was why they checked the reports coming out of the Research Center with such sensitivity every day.

They needed to know where the money was flowing that day if they wanted their incentives to be substantial.

“But what’s this?”

However, there was one thing that made them frown as they skimmed through the reports with eagle eyes.

“‘Semiconductor Super Cycle’? Assistant Manager Lim, did you see this too? Did the Research Center upload the wrong file?”

“Ah. Yes, I saw it too. The content is pretty poor, and I thought maybe they accidentally uploaded something that had merely been written to fill the required page count.”

“Right. It’s not just me, is it? What lunatic is already claiming that a semiconductor super cycle is coming?”

Everyone here knew that the semiconductor industry would eventually enter a boom.

But not now.

It would take at least six months.

Besides, the Research Center wasn’t a place that wrote reports from a long-term perspective.

There were departments that did that, of course, but generally, the Research Center was where they predicted situations that would occur within the next one to three months.

To people like them, a semiconductor super cycle was nothing more than an absurd fantasy.

“Call the Research Center first. Tell them they uploaded the wrong file. How much are other institutions and clients going to laugh at us if they see this?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do it right away.”

Occasionally, files like this were uploaded by mistake because of an employee’s error.

The reports released by the Research Center were essentially the face of the securities firm.

Anything incorrect had to be fixed immediately so that it wouldn’t damage the company’s brand value.

“But, Director.”

“I’m not a director here. I’m the chairman, you idiot.”

“……Chairman. Do securities-firm employees really work without taking weekends off?”

“Usually, yes. There are places that take the entire weekend off, but when do accidents and incidents ever care whether it’s a weekend or a weekday? Sometimes they have emergency duty, and even when they don’t, a lot of people still come in to work.”

I slowly nodded before whispering to the chairman again.

“Then shouldn’t I be going to work instead of hiking here?”

“Hey. Do you think you’re a full-time employee? Why would an intern have to come in on weekends? Do you think our Daesung is some kind of sweatshop?”

“Oh.”

In other words, I was an intern, and since I wasn’t useful yet, there was no need for me to come in on weekends.

Come to think of it, hadn’t the assistant manager seemed depressed the other day when he said he would probably have to come to work again this weekend?

“Suho, are you going to keep coming out with us now?”

“Didn’t you say you might have to quit the hiking club because of your job search?”

They didn’t show it very openly,

but it seemed the older guys here had been quite disappointed when they heard that I might leave the hiking club because I was looking for a job.

“Even if I get a job, I still have to keep hiking with you guys.”

“Heh-heh. That’s right. Getting some fresh air here, staying healthy—what could be better?”

“We were unnecessarily worried when you said you were going to quit. If you ever have a hard time because you can’t find a job, let us know. We’ll pool our money and give you some spending money.”

There was a reason I had stayed in this club for so long.

Part of it was because I needed a place where I could breathe, which was why I went hiking, but the people here were simply warm-hearted.

They sometimes bickered and fought with one another, but a glass of makgeolli was enough to make up, and I appreciated how they always tried to look after the youngest member.

“So you’d better treat our youngest well. Don’t let the kid get his feelings hurt and suddenly leave.”

“We always treat him well. The chairman is the problem.”

“Exactly. You make him do all sorts of things just because he’s the youngest.”

“W-What?”

And so, the members, who had done exactly what they had come here to do—hike—said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Just as I was about to head home, the chairman stopped me.

“Suho. But how’s work at the company?”

“Ah, yes. I’m going to work every day feeling grateful.”

“You can speak comfortably with me. Is anyone giving you a hard time or anything?”

“No, sir. Everyone treats me very well, and thanks to them, I’m learning a lot.”

“Really? No one?”

For a moment, one face came to mind.

Our team leader was incredibly beautiful, but she also had a sharp presence and an aura that was no joke.

It wasn’t as though she was actually bullying me.

But no matter how I looked at it, I had the feeling that she had singled me out.

“I heard the team leader of the Research Operations Team is quite impressive. She must be tough if she became a team leader at such a young age.”

“I’m learning a lot from her, thanks to that.”

“Hmm. Is that so? Then that’s good. If anyone gives you a hard time, tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson for you.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that.”

If anyone else had said it, I would have taken it as a joke.

But knowing our chairman’s bulldozer-like personality, I genuinely felt like he might tear the entire Research Operations Team apart.

I haven’t been singled out even more just because I didn’t come to work on the weekend and went hiking instead, have I?

Over the weekend, as always, Cheon Do-ah came to work and checked the reports.

But she found it difficult to concentrate.

“Team Leader. Another department contacted us again about the report you uploaded last time……”

“The semiconductor one?”

“Ah, yes.”

“They’re a little late.”

“Pardon?”

“The other departments kept hounding us all weekend. Since that department is only complaining now that it’s Monday, I guess they spent the weekend having fun.”

The semiconductor super cycle report.

That single report had tormented Cheon Do-ah throughout the weekend.

Some people asked whether it had been uploaded by mistake, while others asked whether they had really dared to upload something like this as a report.

She had been bombarded with all kinds of criticism.

“They never listened to us before. I don’t know why they’re suddenly so interested.”

Traders supposedly invested according to reports released by the Research Center, but that wasn’t always the case.

Sometimes they acted according to their own instincts, and even when they succeeded by investing according to a Research Center report, they never gave the Center credit for it.

If things went well, it was their achievement.

If things went badly, it was the Research Center’s fault.

That was usually how it worked.

“Tell them I uploaded it perfectly fine and they don’t need to worry.”

Come to think of it, perhaps she really hadn’t been in her right mind.

Throughout the weekend, Cheon Do-ah had bitterly regretted how crazy her decision had been, wondering hundreds of times whether she should take the report down even now.

But taking down a report she had uploaded so confidently just because of public opinion also didn’t feel right.

And now that she had decided to give someone a chance, perhaps she needed to trust that person all the way at least once.

“I wanted to ask him over the weekend what on earth he was thinking when he chose this.”

Kang Suho hadn’t come to work over the weekend.

And it wasn’t simply because he was an intern.

It was because of a special order from Director Geum Ga-ho.

A special order specifically instructing them not to make an intern who wasn’t even a full-time employee come to work on weekends.

“Of course. A precious young master like him doesn’t need to work weekends like the rest of us.”

He probably had social gatherings with other distinguished people to attend over the weekend, along with plenty of other things to do.

Thinking about it that way made her suddenly feel the distance between them.

Sometimes, Kang Suho’s behavior in the office was no different from that of an enthusiastic intern.

But when she remembered his actual background, it was enough to bring her back to reality.

“Team Leader. The Center Director is looking for you.”

So it had finally come.

He hadn’t said anything over the weekend.

Perhaps because he was approaching retirement, he had been letting things slide, but apparently even he couldn’t overlook this.

“Did you call for me, Center Director?”

“Hey! Team Leader Cheon!”

Sure enough.

The moment she entered the Center Director’s office, she was greeted by a thunderous shout.

“What the hell happened with this?”

What excuse could she possibly make?

She didn’t want to use the intern as a shield.

Regardless of what had happened, Cheon Do-ah had made the final decision to upload the report.

“Center Director. It’s just that……”

“You little brat. I thought you’d completely lost your touch these days, but you’ve still got it, huh?”

“……Excuse me?”

Cheon Do-ah tilted her head.

She had expected to be scolded, but the Center Director’s reaction was strange.

“I received the report late myself. Apparently, you suddenly uploaded a semiconductor super cycle report. I heard it caused quite a commotion in several departments.”

She wondered whether it really was something worth making such a fuss over, but Cheon Do-ah quietly listened.

“But it looks like you really hit them with a big one this time.”

“I did?”

“Word will spread soon enough, but this time, major IT companies like Blueweb and Aurora have declared a server war. You know what that means, right? The company with the most data centers and servers will have the advantage. So what do you think will happen?”

“They’ll need a lot of semiconductors.”

“And then?”

“All the semiconductor companies around the world had already been cutting production, so supplies will be woefully insufficient. If this spark spreads……”

“The semiconductor super cycle begins!”

At that moment, Cheon Do-ah felt a chill run down her spine.

“How the hell did you know this? I only found out because I just received the information myself.”

Cheon Do-ah didn’t know either.

Things were simply unfolding exactly as that parachuted-in intern had predicted.

“But isn’t the content of the report very different from the current situation?”

“I know. I know that report was written just to fill the required pages. Honestly, if you look only at the content, it’s nothing more than a fantasy novel. But you know how this industry works. Content isn’t important. Only the result matters. We predicted the arrival of a super cycle before our competitors, didn’t we? That’s what people are going to look at.”

He was right.

No one examined the process or the content in detail.

What mattered was simply who had made the prediction first.

That was the point on which they were evaluated.

“Do-ah, I’ve been hearing so much lately that our Daesung Research is falling behind other companies. But Team Leader Cheon, you really pulled one off this time. It’s no wonder you became the youngest team leader. Isn’t it?”

“Ah…… yes.”

“I’m feeling great because of it. There’s nothing more satisfying than having your prediction come true while everyone else is laughing at you. And starting today, we’re going to be busy. Institutions will be flooding us with inquiries. You may even have to lead the meetings yourself, Team Leader Cheon.”

A good report attracted clients.

Institutional investors, in particular, were the best clients.

Institutions invested hundreds of billions, even trillions, of won. When they entrusted that money to a securities firm, enormous amounts of commission revenue followed.

That was why securities firms invested so much in their Research Centers.

They simply couldn’t ignore the profits involved.

And in that environment, Daesung Securities had posted the one report that had predicted this situation before anyone else.

There was no way institutions wouldn’t come running, eager for it.

“……”

But none of that entered Cheon Do-ah’s mind right now.

From the moment she left the Center Director’s office until she reached her own department, she was barely aware of what was happening around her.

Is this a dream?

How could this be happening?

Not once, but three times.

Could this really be called coincidence?

No.

This was definitely not a coincidence.

Twice could somehow be passed off as coincidence, but three times meant it had been intentional.

But how?

How could he alone get something right that no one else had been able to predict?

“Team Leader.”

At that moment, a familiar voice made Cheon Do-ah start in surprise.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around.

Standing there was Kang Suho, wearing a calm smile.

“The meeting preparations are finished. Would you like me to give you the materials in advance?”