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CH219 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-03-15 04:00:05 +0000 UTCFrom the afternoon onward, snow began to fall again, blanketing the entire city in white.
Seok-won stood in front of the glass window in his penthouse living room, sipping warm coffee as he gazed down at the city, now covered as if with a white blanket.
Bzzz—
As the vibration alert went off, Seok-won set his mug down on the table and took out his phone to answer the call.
[This is Lee Cheol-gyun. Are you available to talk?]
At the deep voice on the other end, Seok-won recalled the face of Lee Cheol-gyun, whom he had first met under Dongjak Bridge not long ago.
"So, judging by your call, I assume you've completed the job I requested."
[The job was done a while ago, but I took some extra time to verify the details to ensure there were no errors.]
"Better to get accurate information late than receive incorrect information quickly."
Seok-won spoke calmly, still standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Tell me what you found."
[As you suspected, there was a hidden force behind the whistleblowing on Manager Choi Bok-rak’s employment solicitation case.]
Since he had already anticipated this, Seok-won wasn’t particularly surprised.
[After digging into the reporter from Sechang Daily who first broke the story, I found that he recently bought a new car. A suspicious purchase, considering his financial situation.]
"……."
[Additionally, I confirmed that Baek Sang-yoon, the director of the Financial Supervisory Service, secretly met with a representative from the Donghae Group at a high-end establishment, along with the audit supervisor.]
A flicker of interest crossed Seok-won's eyes as he quietly listened.
"Who exactly from Donghae Group did they meet with?"
[A manager named Oh Sang-hyun. He’s the one who cleans up the messes for Woo Ho-geun, the executive director and eldest son of Chairman Woo Yong-gap.]
So that’s why this whole situation had felt so unsettling.
"As I suspected, Woo Ho-geun was behind this."
Adjusting his grip on the phone, Seok-won spoke in a level voice.
"You have evidence, I assume?"
[Of course. I’ve left photos of Oh Sang-hyun meeting with the FSS officials, along with recorded audio, with Team Leader Choi Ho-geun. You can review them later.]
"You wiretapped them?"
Lee Cheol-gyun responded matter-of-factly.
[Wouldn’t an audio recording be far more compelling than a few photos?]
"That’s true."
A faint smile formed on Seok-won's lips.
He wasn’t sure how the recordings had been obtained, but the results exceeded his expectations.
Satisfied, Seok-won became even more determined to bring Lee Cheol-gyun under his wing. With skills like these, there would be plenty of opportunities to make use of him in the future.
"You did well. I’ll instruct Team Leader Choi to hand over the remaining payment, so be sure to collect it."
[Understood.]
"Oh, and I have an additional request. Would you be able to take it on?"
[As long as the pay is right, I can handle anything.]
"I want you to investigate the Sechang Daily reporter and the Financial Supervisory Service officials involved in this case. Uncover any corruption they might be hiding."
[With the stench of corruption already reeking from them, this shouldn’t be too difficult.]
Lee Cheol-gyun’s voice was calm, yet filled with confidence.
"Will the same payment as before suffice?"
"Yes, let’s do that."
Ending the call, Seok-won slipped his phone into his pocket, his expression turning cold as he muttered to himself.
"I don’t know how much they've uncovered, but I didn’t expect them to retaliate like this for ruining their operation. Looks like they're not just short-tempered fools after all."
Still, that only made them slightly more troublesome to deal with—nothing more.
"If I step in now, it’ll only put them on high alert. There’s no advantage to that."
The real game had yet to begin. There was no reason to stir up trouble and jeopardize the carefully laid-out plan.
Seok-won’s lips curled into a smile as cold as the snow falling outside.
"They might feel better after lashing out, but they should enjoy it while they can. Soon, a hellish nightmare awaits them."
* * *
One New York Plaza, Manhattan
– Eldorado Fund Trading Floor
Although the stock market was open, the trading floor of Eldorado Fund was eerily quiet, almost as if it were after hours.
Normally, the space would be filled with the chaotic shouts of traders gripping their phones, but with the year coming to a close, most had already wrapped up their portfolios and locked in their profits. As a result, the atmosphere was noticeably relaxed.
Many desks sat empty, their occupants already on holiday.
The few who remained were mostly junior traders in their first or second year—most senior personnel were nowhere to be seen.
Mason, however, was an exception. Though he didn’t have extensive experience, he was a founding member of the fund and was treated on par with senior traders. Now, he lounged back in his chair, looking bored.
"Pretty quiet in here."
He passed the time by tossing and catching a baseball—one autographed by Derek Jeter, the rookie who had debuted for the New York Yankees this year.
As he periodically checked the clock, waiting for the market to close, someone suddenly snatched the ball mid-air.
"If you have this much free time, why not organize some paperwork instead?"
Startled, Mason quickly straightened up when he saw Andrew, the senior chief investment officer, standing beside him.
"Chief! Weren’t you off today?"
Andrew rolled the baseball in one hand as he scanned the trading floor.
"Just passing through. How’s the market looking?"
Mason stole a quick glance at the monitors on his desk.
"The S&P 500 is up 2.72 points, sitting at 614.21. Other indices are also trending upward."
"Hmm."
Draped in a gray cashmere coat, Andrew turned toward the large market board mounted on the wall, his brows furrowing slightly.
He had shorted the market, expecting the S&P 500 to drop. But instead, it continued creeping upward. No wonder he wasn’t in a good mood.
Straightening up, Andrew asked, "How’s the trading volume?"
Noticing his chief’s sour mood, Mason quickly answered with caution.
"As you know, it's the end of the year, so volume is less than half of what it normally is."
"Makes sense. Most people have wrapped up their trades by now."
Andrew casually tossed the baseball back to Mason and turned away.
"I’m heading out. If nothing major happens, you should all clock out early."
"Understood, sir."
Instead of replying, Andrew simply raised a hand in a casual wave before exiting the trading floor.
The normally bustling hallways were unusually quiet.
Pressing the call button, Andrew waited for the elevator, then pulled out his phone from his inner pocket and dialed Landon, Eldorado Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO).
After a few rings, Landon picked up.
[Hello?]
"Landon, it's me."
In the background, loud chatter suggested he was with his family.
[What’s going on?]
"Did you see the S&P 500 climb to 614.21 again today?"
In a quieter setting, as if he had moved to a different location, Landon spoke.
[It looks like the Fed’s rate cut is having a longer-lasting effect than expected.]
Andrew responded in a low voice, his expression tense.
"I deposited an additional $500 million each with Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers just before the Christmas holiday. We're still fine for now, but if the S&P 500 crosses 620, we'll be getting a margin call."
At that moment, the elevator arrived, and as the doors slid open, Andrew saw several people inside. Raising a hand apologetically, he stepped away.
He moved down the corridor and stopped by a window at the far end, where no one else was around, continuing his call.
[620 doesn’t leave much breathing room.]
Landon’s tone was serious, fully aware of the gravity of the situation.
"The only reason it hasn’t surged yet is the low year-end trading volume. But if buyers push aggressively, breaking 620 in a single day wouldn’t be difficult."
[On the other hand, once the market reopens in the new year and trading volume picks up, there could be a wave of sell orders from investors fearing a prolonged government shutdown.]
"That depends on whether the White House and the Republicans are still deadlocked over the budget by then."
[Given the current mood in Washington, they’re not getting any closer to an agreement—if anything, the standoff is intensifying. A last-minute deal within the next few days seems highly unlikely.]
There was something in Landon’s tone, as if he knew more than he was letting on. Andrew’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Do you have something solid to back that up?"
[I was going to tell you anyway—House Speaker Eric Savitz flew to Atlanta this morning.]
Andrew’s expression changed.
"Are you sure about that?"
[Our lobbyist in Washington confirmed it. The media will pick up on it soon enough.]
Atlanta was the capital of Georgia, the state where Speaker Eric Savitz’s congressional district was located.
Since the congressional session had already ended, it wasn’t unusual for lawmakers to return to their districts for the holidays.
But the real issue was that the federal government was currently in a shutdown after President Clinton vetoed the budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
[Think about what it means for Speaker Savitz to leave Washington while the budget crisis remains unresolved.]
"It’s a clear signal that he has no intention of negotiating with the White House."
[Exactly. And the problem is that President Clinton isn’t backing down either.]
Andrew gazed out the window at the heavy snowfall before speaking.
"If the shutdown drags into the new year, the political pressure could force the White House to reconsider its stance."
[Politics is unpredictable, so that’s always a possibility. But for now, both sides seem determined to fight this to the bitter end.]
Andrew stroked his chin, still holding his phone to his ear.
"The Republicans must be feeling the pressure as well. Maybe they’re both just waiting for the other side to blink first."
[It’s turning into a game of endurance. One thing’s clear—the shutdown won’t be ending anytime soon.]
"If that’s the case, the longest shutdown on record—17 days—could be surpassed, just as our boss predicted."
[And if that happens, no matter how much the Fed cuts rates, the market won’t be able to sustain this rally.]
Andrew nodded.
"Panic and fear will start to outweigh optimism."
Landon chuckled over the phone.
[I trusted the boss’s instincts from the start, but seeing how things are unfolding, I’m even more convinced our short position will pay off.]
Andrew’s earlier anxiety had mostly faded.
[We still have plenty of cash in the fund’s accounts. If necessary, we can also pull from the profits we made betting on the yen. So don’t worry about margin calls—just hold the position.]
Since they had ample liquidity to cover any margin calls, Andrew saw no reason to prolong the conversation.
"Understood. Have a good holiday."
[You too. Get some rest.]
After ending the call, Andrew slipped his phone into his pocket and muttered to himself.
"If Speaker Savitz has gone to Atlanta, untying this knot just got a lot harder."
If no last-minute deal was reached before the year ended and the stock market reopened in the new year, how would Wall Street investors react?
The thought of an impending upheaval made him both anxious and excited.
"If the market, fueled by optimism, suddenly crashes, it’s going to be a hell of a show."
Imagining the chaos, a faint smirk crossed Andrew’s lips.
"This is exactly why I can never walk away from the boss."
Muttering under his breath, he shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets and headed toward the elevator.
