Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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47. It’s finally arrived.

A week later, at Daeheung Securities Headquarters in Yeouido.
The afternoon sun blazed fiercely through the windows as dozens of male and female employees sat at their desks throughout the spacious office, each absorbed in their work amid the bustling atmosphere.

Ring! Ring!
“Yes, which securities would you like to purchase?”
“We’ve received an order to buy 300 million won in Hanbo bonds!”
“Damn, it dropped again.”
“What do we do? Should we sell?”
“The market’s looking good, so let’s wait a bit longer.”

The loud ringing of phones, the clatter of keyboards, and the endless chatter of employees filled the space as everyone moved about with energy.
Yet amid all this, there was one place that stood out like an isolated island with a distinctly different atmosphere—Investment Team 4.
While employees from other teams beyond the partition worked busily, those in Investment Team 4 had little to do, filling in crossword puzzles or playing Tetris on their computers to pass the time.

“Phew, it’s hot.”

Choi Ho-geun, a manager in a short-sleeved dress shirt and tie, fanned himself with his hand as he entered the office, and upon seeing their idleness, his expression darkened considerably.

“Hey!”

Choi Ho-geun lightly swatted Jung Hwan-yeop’s back with the thin file folder he was holding, then clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“You’re all something else. Does the company pay you to play games?”

Jung Hwan-yeop quickly closed the Tetris game he’d been playing and offered an ingratiating smile as he bowed his head.

“Manager, you’re here?”
“Don’t smile, you bastard. It’s annoying.”

Meanwhile, Hong Jae-hee hastily shoved her crossword puzzle book under her desk and sat there with an innocent expression, as if she’d been doing nothing at all.

“Good grief, my head.”

Choi Ho-geun took his seat and pressed his forehead with his hand.

“If I’m not here, Jung Hwan-yeop, you need to take care of the team members yourself. What happens if people see you just sitting around playing games? Hmm?”
“I apologize.”

Still, Jung Hwan-yeop scratched the back of his head as he offered his excuse, as if he had something to say for himself.

“But it’s been over a week now, and I’ve just been sitting here in a daze. It was so boring, you know.”

Just as Jung Hwan-yeop described, on the first day there seemed to be some attempt at activity, but after that, with no further instructions from Seok-won, Investment Team 4 had become completely dormant.
As a result, the team members had nothing to do but loaf around, making it difficult to criticize them.

“Tch… Still, if there’s no work, you should find some to do!”

Choi Ho-geun deliberately put on a stern expression and glared with his arms crossed.

“Export companies are in good spirits these days, so pick out ten stocks with high growth potential and bring me an analysis report.”
“Understood.”

Choi Ho-geun shifted his gaze and gave work to Hong Jae-hee and Yu Seok-hyun as well.

“You two investigate foreign investor trading trends this week and submit a report by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir.”

Watching the two of them quickly shuffle through documents and bustle about, Choi Ho-geun let out a long sigh where no one could see.
He wasn’t the type to create work just to keep his subordinates from resting, but with other team members in the same space watching, he had no choice.
In truth, Choi Ho-geun found this situation just as frustrating.
Unlike his first impression, he seemed to have no interest in the company whatsoever, simply leaving him and his team members to fend for themselves, and each day felt hollow and deflating.
At this rate, I wondered why he even bothered coming to the office regularly.
Sitting in his chair, Choi Ho-geun turned his head to glance briefly at Seok-won’s closed private office, then rose to his feet with a look of determination.
He had been holding back because of a debt from last time, but today it seemed he had to speak up, even if it meant being completely written off.
Choi Ho-geun walked briskly to the door, stood before it, exhaled the air remaining in his lungs with a soft breath, steeled himself, and knocked.
Jung Hwan-yeop, watching from behind, immediately huddled with the other two team members and whispered as soon as Choi Ho-geun entered the office.

“Is the manager finally going to have it out?”
“He’s held out long enough. Honestly, we’re struggling to hold on too.”
“Yu Seok-hyun is right. I can’t take filling time with crossword puzzles anymore.”
“Hong Jae-hee, try Tetris. Or Minesweeper is fun too.”
“Did you come to the office to play games, sir?”

Yu Seok-hyun watched the closed door with worried eyes, leaving Jung Hwan-yeop and Hong Jae-hee to their bickering.

“I hope everything works out well.”

As Choi Ho-geun opened the door and stepped inside, he found me sitting at my desk. I looked up and our eyes met.

“What brings you here?”
“I have something to discuss with you, Team Lead.”

Seeing the serious expression on his face, I raised one arm and pointed to the sofa in front of me.

“Have a seat.”
“Yes.”

I rose from my chair and walked toward the coffee pot on the windowsill, asking as I went.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Thank you.”

I tore open an instant coffee packet, poured it into a mug, filled it with hot water, and stirred it several times with a teaspoon.
As I set one cup down in front of him with both hands, Choi Ho-geun bowed his head slightly.

“I appreciate it.”

I settled onto the sofa with one leg crossed and gestured lightly toward him.

“Go ahead and tell me what’s on your mind.”

Choi Ho-geun hesitated for a moment, then looked directly at me and slid the folder he’d brought across the table.

“I’ve compiled a summary of our company’s holdings in the top five stocks by market capitalization.”

I took the folder, opened it, and scanned through the contents before looking up again.

“That’s quite a substantial volume.”
“Since these are flagship stocks representing the market, we need to maintain a certain amount to track the index returns.”

His explanation made sense, so I nodded slightly and closed the folder, setting it down.
Observing this, Choi Ho-geun asked carefully.

“Didn’t you say last time that you were going to sell these stocks?”
“I did.”
“To secure the volume through margin loans, there are procedures we need to follow beforehand. How should we proceed?”

At that, I picked up my mug and took a sip of coffee, its aroma rising richly, before speaking.

“Ah, forget about the margin loans. We’ve decided against that.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”

Choi Ho-geun felt relieved—short selling, which he’d viewed as unlikely, was now off the table.
Yet he couldn’t simply feel satisfied, because that was the only real work I’d been planning to do.
Now, hearing that even that was being abandoned, Choi Ho-geun found himself questioning whether I had any intention of actually working at all.
Frustration welled up in him, and blunt words tumbled out before he could stop them.

“It’s been well over a week since you started coming in.”
“So it has.”

Choi Ho-geun hesitated for a moment, then decided he didn’t care anymore and let all his pent-up frustration pour out at once.

“Since the meeting on your first day, there haven’t been any instructions. Everyone’s just sitting around idle. If this is how it’s going to be, why not at least let us do proprietary account trading on our own?”

Proprietary account trading was commonly called prop trading—it was when a securities company traded stocks or derivatives using its own capital rather than customer funds to generate profits.

“Are you asking me for work?”

I looked at Choi Ho-geun with an intrigued expression and asked.

“Yes. If things continue like this, Investment Team 4’s profit margin for the month will be zero.”

We were on the verge of being branded as incompetent deadweight in Investment Team 4.
While Choi Ho-geun sighed and complained, I simply raised one corner of my mouth in a slight smile.

“That won’t happen.”

At this baseless assurance, Choi Ho-geun’s expression turned skeptical.

“Since you arrived, you haven’t made a single trade. How do you expect to produce results?”

Unlike Choi Ho-geun, whose face grew increasingly flushed with indignation the more he spoke, Yu Seok-hyun reclined in his chair with an infuriatingly calm demeanor.

“A millet seed rolling ten times can’t match a pumpkin rolling once.”
“But you just said you wouldn’t short sell.”

Yu Seok-hyun set down the mug in his hand and corrected the misunderstanding.

“I said I didn’t need to take out margin loans. I never said I wouldn’t sell stocks.”
“…?”

Watching Choi Ho-geun blink in confusion, Yu Seok-hyun continued.

“Fifteen billion won will be deposited into the operating account by today.”
“…!”

Choi Ho-geun’s eyes widened in shock at this unexpected revelation.

“Did you say… fifteen billion won?”
“That’s right.”

Yu Seok-hyun continued with a faint smile playing at his lips.

“Even if I maxed out margin loans, I’d only get around ten billion won, so there’s no need to resort to that.”
“…That’s true.”

Choi Ho-geun nodded as if entranced and asked.

“How did you manage to secure such a large sum?”
“You don’t need to know that.”

In trading, it was common to receive large sums of money from wealthy investors and manage their funds alongside his own.
Since such investors typically preferred to remain anonymous, Choi Ho-geun refrained from pressing further.

‘Surely it’s not the chairman’s money.’

Though the answer had unconsciously crossed Choi Ho-geun’s mind, Yu Seok-hyun’s next words prevented him from dwelling on it further.

“I’ve already gotten approval from Director Go. Just take delivery of the stocks as instructed last time and sell them immediately.”
“All of them, sir?”
“That’s right.”

Choi Ho-geun, his expression bewildered, hesitated before speaking.

“All five stocks are still rising today… wouldn’t it be better to watch the market sentiment a bit longer before selling?”

Leaning back in my chair, I looked at Choi Ho-geun and asked with deliberate mischief.

“A moment ago you were complaining that there was nothing to do. Now that I’m giving you work, you suddenly don’t like it?”
“No, no sir.”

Since Choi Ho-geun had spoken those words himself, he couldn’t even argue back, only groaning inwardly.

“Understood. I’ll proceed as you’ve instructed.”
“What are you doing? Go out and get the work moving.”
“Yes, sir.”

Choi Ho-geun rose awkwardly from the sofa, bowed his head sharply, and left the office.
As the door closed, I murmured with a smile playing at my lips.

“He’s got some backbone. Let’s see if his skills match it.”

I appreciated Choi Ho-geun’s action—not merely reading the room in a difficult situation, but coming to me and speaking honestly. I sipped the remaining coffee, a faint sense of anticipation crossing my face.

* * *

Four days later.
Park Tae-hong, having no evening engagements, left work early and dined with his family at home for the first time in a while.
Changed into comfortable clothes, Park Tae-hong picked up a perfectly grilled eel with his chopsticks, dipped it in sauce, and brought it to his mouth.

“Mmm. It’s grilled nicely without being too rich.”
“Does it suit your taste? In summer when you sweat so much, you need to eat nourishing food to keep your body strong. Try wrapping it in perilla leaves with some ginger strips.”
“Eel is certainly good for the body.”

Park Tae-hong nodded and wrapped the eel as his wife suggested.
All the other side dishes were seasoned at home as well, incomparable to food eaten outside.
Jo Deok-rye placed a grilled eel on the rice bowl of her second son across from her and spoke.

“You should eat plenty too.”
“Yes.”

Just as they were enjoying their meal in such peaceful harmony, the telephone rang loudly.

Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!

The Gunsan Housekeeper, wearing an apron, quickly stepped into the living room, retrieved the cordless phone, and handed it to Park Tae-hong.

“Chairman, it’s a call from Director Gil.”
“I see.”

Park Tae-hong set down his chopsticks and took the phone from the Gunsan Housekeeper’s hands.

“Yes, go ahead.”
[I apologize for calling while you’re at home.]
“Never mind that. What’s the matter?”

In response to Park Tae-hong’s question, Gil Seong-ho spoke with a tense voice.

[The Blue House is broadcasting a special address live in ten minutes.]
“A special address?”
[Yes.]

As Park Tae-hong furrowed his brow and raised his voice, Jo Deok-rye and Seok-won at the dining table looked at him with puzzled expressions.
Park Tae-hong then stood from his chair, still holding the cordless phone to his ear, and moved toward the Study Room.

“Why so suddenly? Nothing bad has happened to the company, has it?”

Jo Deok-rye muttered with a worried expression.
Seok-won, sensing roughly what was happening, smiled reassuringly to ease his mother’s mind.

“I’m sure that’s not the case, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Finish your meal first before we talk about it… Goodness, Director Gil really is something.”

As Jo Deok-rye sighed, Park Tae-hong, who had entered the Study Room, held the cordless phone with a notably serious expression and asked.

“Did you find out what was discussed?”
[The Blue House is keeping it under strict wraps, so we couldn’t determine that much.]
“Hmm.”
[But there is one thing we can piece together.]
“The Real Name Financial System?”
[Yes. Given that people from the Economic Planning Board and Ministry of Finance postponed leaving work and entered emergency operations, it’s highly likely.]

Park Tae-hong let out a short sigh before speaking in a subdued voice.

“Let’s hear what he has to say first, then I’ll call back.”
[Understood.]

After ending the call, Park Tae-hong picked up the remote control sitting on the Study Room table and turned on the television.
He switched to KBC and settled onto the sofa. After waiting a moment, the program being broadcast was interrupted mid-stream, and the words “Presidential Special Address” appeared prominently on the screen.
The image changed, and the Yeongbin Hall on the first floor of the Blue House’s main building came into view.
With a deep green curtain drawn behind it and the Taegeuk flag positioned to one side, President Kim Sung-gyu stood at the podium installed in the center, filling the camera’s frame.

[Esteemed citizens!
Today, I announce to you the implementation of the Real Name Financial System.]

At the president’s forceful opening words, delivered in a strong dialect tinged with Gyeongsang Province inflection, Park Tae-hong stared at the television as if it might pierce through the screen.

“It’s finally here.”

Park Tae-hong murmured softly, his hand clenching into a tight fist on his thigh.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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