A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 10

Parents'

Day passed and early summer arrived early.

Even though June hadn'

t even started, the weather was very hot as if it had already become summer.

The sunlight was dazzlingly bright, and the streets were overflowing with people in short sleeves.

I, Lim Hyunjun, walked lightly with an ice cream in my mouth on the way to school.

My current appearance didn'

t seem different from any other high school student, but my eyes still looked deep and solid.

As I passed the school playground, Jang Wooseok saw me and shouted.

“Hyunjun, let'

s play soccer together.”

I just waved my hand and went straight into the classroom with a whoosh.

Even if I was good at everything else, I had no talent for sports at all.

If the original Hyunjun was a child who used his body better than his head.I, Jeong Taeshik, was not good at using my body at all.

Perhaps because of that, it was the same for sports.

Thinking that it might have changed, I played soccer with Jang Wooseok, but I only received ridicule after making nothing but air kicks.

After that, I didn'

t do any separate exercise other than waking up early in the morning and jogging.

As I entered the classroom, cool air greeted me.

Perhaps because it was a school with a lot of money, they turned on the air conditioner at full blast from the morning.

I wondered if this was okay, but since I am living as Hyunjun now and not Jeong Taeshik, I just took it as it was.

‘This summer will be quite hot.’

My inner thoughts weren'

t just referring to the weather.

In the meantime, the stock price of Universe Games, which I had invested in, began to rise as if it had a motor, not knowing how high the sky was.

It felt like only yesterday that it exceeded double.

The stock price was showing a 600% return from the price first bought.

Because of that, Choi Seo-jun was anxious and was reporting to me every day.

[CEO, it rose a lot today too. Trading volume also jumped more than 30% from the previous day.]

I just sent a short reply.

[Yes, that'

s good. You can just keep watching.]

As soon as I sent the reply, a vibration was heard immediately.

However, I didn'

t even care and turned off the phone power.

Since the phone shouldn'

t ring during class at school, I turned it off in advance.

Choi Seo-jun was anxious to sell even now.

But I had nothing else to say except ‘let’s wait a little longer’.

Even if I know the future.

‘A big piece of good news will break soon, so just wait.’

I couldn'

t say it like this, could I?

Since I don'

t know everything, I didn'

t know the timing.

What I remembered was that sentence that appeared in the news headline.

[Universe Games. Announces entry into the global market along with the release of a new work!]

Immediately after that article came out, the stock price rose explosively.

The current price has not yet reached its peak.

The fact that the news has not yet appeared also meant that expectations have not ripened.

So now was the time to wait.

***

At that time, the Taeseong Ilbo CEO'

s office.

Jeong Taejun was sitting at his desk with the door locked, staring intensely at the monitor.

The graph in the stock window was soaring, drawing a red line.

[Universe Games (+14.89%)]

Jeong Taejun'

s fingertips trembled slightly.

The momentum was stronger than any stock he had seen in recent years.

He stared at the monitor and slowly interlaced his fingers.

“...At this rate, the engine has started properly.”

Jeong Taejun muttered to himself and gripped the mouse again.

He thought of the slush fund he had collected secretly from his father-in-law.

He started small at first, but he worked steadily for several years.

It was all for that day.

‘If only that man dies, I can end it too.’

Jeong Taejun had been feeling suffocated in his relationship with Lim Hye-seon for a long time.

On the surface, they appeared to live well, but it was all just acting.

Hye-seon became unable to bear children any longer after miscarrying several times.

Because of that, the fact that Lim Hye-seon, the only daughter of the Taeseong family, was infertile was a secret that no one knew except for the father-in-law and Jeong Taejun.

Jeong Seo-yeon was also actually not of Hye-seon'

s blood.

She was a child that Jeong Taejun had fathered with a woman he met outside.

The father-in-law condoned that and disguised her as Hye-seon'

s daughter.

As a result, the woman he was meeting also left for somewhere, and he had never seen her face once since then.

It was probably because the father-in-law hid Seo-yeon'

s biological mother tightly somewhere.

After that, Jeong Taejun had to hold his breath and live under the father-in-law'

s shadow while keeping the secret.

He had no particular feelings for Lim Hye-seon.

At first, he felt pity, but that was just a feeling of sympathy and compassion.

Now all that remained for him was disgust and cynicism.

In the suffocating reality, Jeong Taejun met a new woman again.

She was clever and smart like a fox.

She knew how to cater to people'

s whims well and coaxed Jeong Taejun to give birth to a son between them.

Jeong Taejun looked at the photo of his hidden son and thought.

‘This is my real blood. The day to be with this child is not far away.’

Of course, it wasn'

t that he didn'

t love his daughter.

But she was a child under the shadow of the Taeseong family.

Jeong Seo-yeon looked exactly like Taejun, but for some reason, she followed Lim Hye-seon since childhood.

Whenever he saw Seo-yeon occasionally, Jeong Taejun felt an unknown complex emotion.

Affection and guilt. And the impulse to escape.

Jeong Taejun put down the mouse for a moment and opened the desk drawer.

Inside, a small safe with a lock was seen.

When the password was entered, the safe door opened.

Jeong Taejun took out a cell phone from there.

Jeong Taejun turned on the power without hesitation and pressed speed dial number 3.

After the bell rang three times, a familiar voice was heard.

“...CEO Jeong, what is it?”

“Let’s postpone the timing of releasing the article. It seems like it will go up much more for now.”

A long sigh was heard over the phone.

It was Ma Sang-woo, the CEO of Universe Games.

He appeared upright and innovative on the outside, but Jeong Taejun had known for a long time what kind of person he was.

“For how long?”

“Hmm, next month would be good.”

“The stock price is fluctuating, perhaps because rumors have already spread. As you know, CEO, many retail investors have also attached themselves.”

Jeong Taejun'

s brow narrowed.

“I will pay for the price accordingly, so let'

s do as I say.”

“Hmm.... Good. Postponing the release point. It’s not a big problem, so please cover it well in the meantime.”

“Of course. Do you think Taeseong Ilbo exists for nothing.”

In this field, the place that hears information first, other than Yeouido, was the media.

Jeong Taejun ended the call and even turned off the phone power before putting it back into the safe.

And then he pressed the buy button at the closing price.

The stock market ended and a purchase notification appeared.

The corners of Taejun'

s mouth went up.

He leaned his body back against the chair.

He naturally felt good thinking about getting a divorce and regaining happiness once his father-in-law died.

It was even more so when he thought about this secret account and his son.

Living with his fox-like wife, Jeong Taejun would live a new life.

But he didn'

t know.

That the path he was walking now would collide head-on with a wave named Hyunjun.

***

A few weeks passed and it was the beginning of June.

I leaned my back against the wall and looked down at the phone screen for a long time.

My heart wasn'

t beating fast, nor was I excited.

‘This is not a natural appearance.’

If it were a rise due to general expectations, this much trading volume would not come out.

Even just looking at the current chart, it was suspicious.

Someone was intentionally driving up the stock price.

As if a manipulation force had attached itself, the stock price was being artificially pulled.

‘Information is leaking or it'

s being manipulated. It'

s one of the two.’

I quietly closed and opened my eyes.

If I stayed still, it could become uncontrollable later.

I touched the phone a few times and then pressed Choi Seo-jun'

s name on the screen.

“CEO, what is it?”

At some point, Choi Seo-jun stopped speaking casually to me and was consistently polite.

Now, I no longer told him to speak comfortably either.

“Secretary Choi. Ma Sang-woo, the CEO of Universe Games.”

“Yes.”

“You should meet him in person. Not in an official setting. Unofficially.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“The stock price flow is a bit strange. I want to find out if a manipulation force has intervened. Or if someone inside is moving the stock price.”

A silence flowed for a moment.

Choi Seo-jun thought carefully and asked.

“Are you perhaps suspicious of CEO Ma Sang-woo?”

“He is considered the most likely as of now. If my suspicion is correct, the damage will be passed on entirely to the retail investors.”

“I understand. I will set up an appointment immediately.”

I spoke as if grabbing Choi Seo-jun urgently.

“Ah, take the business card as I said before.”

“...I understand.”

In this way, the call ended and I checked the Universe Games stock price again.

I stood still for a while, biting my lip.

In fact, even if I sold now, there was nothing for me to regret.

However, my instinct pointed to danger.

If the prediction I made was correct, the damage would be borne entirely by the retail investors.

Two days later.

A private lounge in Gangnam.

Choi Seo-jun, the CEO of HJ Partners, was sitting at a table dressed in a neat suit.

He called this meeting unofficial, but it was strictly a thorough business negotiation.

He arrived 30 minutes earlier than the appointed time, but Ma Sang-woo arrived even later than the time they agreed to meet.

The man who opened the door and walked in looked comfortable in his clothes, as if he had been to a golf course.

Ma Sang-woo.

A person with the title of CEO and founder of Universe Games.

He had a warm impression that looked good-natured on the outside, but Choi Seo-jun knew his nickname.

‘Money Ghost.’

Ma Sang-woo arrived later than the appointed time and reached out his hand to Choi Seo-jun without any sign of apology.

“CEO Choi, nice to meet you. I am Ma Sang-woo.”

Choi Seo-jun shook Ma Sang-woo'

s hand with an expressionless face and took out a business card to hand over.

Of course, Ma Sang-woo glanced at the business card he received and said a word.

“I didn'

t even pack a business card because I came in a hurry. Please understand.”

“It'

s fine.”

Perhaps because a CEO of a company he hadn'

t even heard of came to find him and asked to meet the representative as a shareholder, he seemed to be trying to gain the upper hand.

However, Choi Seo-jun said only what he had to say without any sign of feeling bad.

“As you also know, CEO Ma, the stock price flow is too fast. Is there perhaps a reason?”

Ma Sang-woo leaned his body comfortably on the sofa and sat with his legs crossed.

Then, he spoke with a good-natured smile.

“Isn'

t it reflecting expectations? As you know, word of mouth is circulating about our new work.”

“Are you saying you don'

t know at all either, CEO Ma?”

At Choi Seo-jun'

s question, CEO Ma raised both hands and made a gesture of not knowing.

It appeared to mean ‘what do you want me to do?’.

“I understand well since CEO Ma doesn'

t know either.”

Choi Seo-jun stood up immediately.

He left suddenly without even greeting CEO Ma.

Then he called me immediately.

“CEO, I met that man. It'

s just as you thought.”

“As expected. I see.”

At my concise answer, Choi Seo-jun asked.

“What are you going to do now?”

“If there is a bud that is a problem, I must cut it off. Whatever it is.”

“Are you thinking of the dismissal of CEO Ma?”

My laughter was heard over the phone.

“Are you even reading my inner thoughts now?”

“Somehow I thought you would have had such thoughts, CEO.”

“That'

s right. You shouldn'

t keep a rotten branch. It will have to be cut off soon.”