MEILE 02

Chapter 2

“Is this a dream…?”

I lightly slapped my cheek.

It hurt.

I guess this was reality.

“Am I really going to work here?”

Just a few weeks ago, I had been staying up all night worrying about where I should find a job and frantically sending out résumés.

But fate really was a strange thing.

Who could have known that the chairman of the hiking club I’d happened to join was a director at Daesung Group—and a member of its royal family at the same time?

“Of course, I’m only an intern.”

The chairman… No, I suppose I should call him Director now.

Anyway, he’d told me that if I didn’t slack off and worked hard, I could become a full-time employee.

He said he’d done his part by getting me in, and the rest was up to me.

So I intended to work as hard as I possibly could.

I’d managed to seize an opportunity this fortunate, after all.

And this was an investment company.

It was related to the dream I’d had when I was young.

If I gave it my all here, maybe I could get at least a little closer to that dream, even if I wasn’t quite good enough yet.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

As I indulged in my fantasies, I found myself clearing my throat.

Right. That was probably too ambitious a goal.

For now, I should just focus on becoming a full-time employee.

After all, I was currently an intern.

“Ah. The mask.”

Just before entering the company with my heart pounding,

I tried to take off the mask I’d gotten used to wearing.

In fact, this was what made me the most nervous.

Because of my extremely sensitive sense of smell, I always wore a mask when I went outside.

Without it, normal daily life was almost impossible.

But if a new intern walked into the office without even taking off his mask, there was no doubt his superiors would find it strange.

“Surely it won’t kill me.”

If it really became unbearable, I could just put it back on.

And so, with my heart pounding nervously, I stepped into the securities firm.

“!?”

I froze in place.

A powerful, overwhelming fragrance came rushing toward me.

It wasn’t a foul smell.

Quite the opposite.

It was as though every pleasant scent in the world had been woven together into one.

That rich, abundant fragrance enveloped me.

“This is…”

A sense of fullness rose all the way to the top of my head.

A scent that seemed to contain every desire and pleasure in the world.

It was the smell of money.

“You called for me, Center Director.”

“Yeah. Team Leader Cheon, come in.”

Although she had come to work early in the morning, the Research Operations Team always found itself short on time.

That was why the center director rarely summoned people this early.

The fact that he had called her now meant that something had happened.

Team Leader Cheon Do-ah felt slightly nervous.

“Did something happen…?”

“Sit down first.”

The center director’s expression was peculiar.

“Team Leader Cheon. You know our securities firm is recruiting interns this time, right?”

“Ah, yes. Are we getting one assigned to our team?”

“Yeah. But… this intern is different from an ordinary intern.”

“Pardon?”

“He’s an intern sent down from the group itself.”

An intern sent down from the group?

Cheon Do-ah slightly furrowed her brow.

“Is a young master coming?”

“Yeah. Apparently, Director Geum Ga-ho, whom we’d all assumed had retired, came back and personally put him here. That should tell you how important he is.”

“Wait. Director Geum Ga-ho personally? But he…”

She deliberately didn’t finish her sentence.

Anyone who had spent a decent amount of time at the company would know Director Geum Ga-ho’s tragic story.

“He lost his wife early and lived only for his one son. Then that terrible accident happened. I thought he’d left this entire industry for good. I heard rumors that he’d gone overseas somewhere, but I don’t know whether he actually did or why he came back. Anyway, this parachute appointment isn’t ordinary.”

“Then why didn’t he put him somewhere else? Why specifically the Research Operations Team?”

“Hey. Do you think the young master should be pressured to research data and write reports every day the moment he arrives? Or should he go to the Trading Department and get chewed out over his performance every single day?”

“The Operations Team is difficult, too.”

“I know that better than anyone. But this isn’t a place where he’s expected to research data just to write reports. Honestly, if you want to take it easy, this is the perfect place to do so while gaining experience and broadening your perspective.”

He wasn’t wrong.

It wasn’t as though the Research Operations Team was easy.

In fact, it was one of the busiest departments in the securities firm, with an enormous amount of work.

Every day, reports and research materials from every sector, both domestic and overseas, poured into the Operations Team.

The Research Operations Team then had to sift through all of them and decide which materials should be uploaded.

A wrong decision could even damage the company’s brand value.

It was hardly a comfortable position.

“That’s the team leader and the employees under you who’ll be busy. How busy could an intern possibly get? He’ll probably spend his time enjoying himself there before transferring to another department.”

So that’s why he was coming as an intern.

If they brought him in as a regular employee, he’d be assigned all sorts of work.

By placing him as an intern, he wouldn’t have to take responsibility for anything and could simply do a few odd jobs.

“Team Leader Cheon. I’m not far from retirement myself. So don’t let this cause any trouble for me, and manage him well. You haven’t been in that position for very long either, right? There has already been a lot of talk because the Research Center’s performance hasn’t been very good lately. I’m telling you to handle this well so nobody has anything else to say.”

In the end, Cheon Do-ah couldn’t say anything and left the center director’s office.

“Team Leader. Was an intern supposed to be joining our team today?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

By the time she arrived at the office, the atmosphere was already chaotic.

He came sooner than I expected.

“Where is the intern?”

“Oh. I sent him to the team leader’s office for now.”

“Good. I’ll introduce him to everyone later, so get back to work.”

Cheon Do-ah let out a deep breath as she looked at the silhouette of the man over there.

It was time to meet their precious young master from the royal family.

“My name is Cheon Do-ah, Team Leader. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, yes. Team Leader. I look forward to working with you.”

Cheon Do-ah was slightly taken aback when he bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

Every member of the royal family she’d encountered until now had been unbearably arrogant, as though their very posture was meant to remind everyone that they’d been born with a different kind of silver spoon in their mouths.

“You graduated with a degree in economics, so I assume you studied this field separately as well?”

“Yes. But there are still many things I don’t know, so I’ll work hard and learn as much as I can!”

His voice was loud and energetic.

Anyone would have thought he was a genuine new employee.

Not a member of the royal family who had been parachuted in.

Strange.

He was completely different from the image she’d expected, so Cheon Do-ah tilted her head.

Could this be some kind of act?

“Assistant Manager Kim.”

“Yes, Team Leader. Did you call me?”

“Come over and meet him. This is Kang Suho, the intern who’ll be joining our team from today. He’s an intern, but he’ll be working here for the time being, so make sure you take good care of him. Teach him anything he doesn’t know.”

“Yes.”

“And Intern Kang, if you have any difficulties or anything makes you uncomfortable, make sure you come to me first. Understood?”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

Kang Suho bowed politely and followed his assigned mentor out.

How should she put it?

He was the very definition of a perfectly mannered young man.

“…Is that person really a member of the royal family?”

There was a saying.

People didn’t suffer at work because of the work itself, but because of the people.

Especially if you got stuck with the wrong senior mentor, people said your entire working life could become miserable.

“Hehehe.”

But my mentor, Assistant Manager Kim, had been wearing a sly smile from the moment we left the office until she showed me my desk.

…Is she a strange person?

“Ah. I was smiling too much, wasn’t I? My name is Kim Su-jin, Assistant Manager.”

“Yes. I’m Kang Suho, the intern.”

Assistant Manager Kim firmly clasped my hand.

“I’ve been stuck living this miserable life as the youngest employee for so long. At long last, spring has finally come to me.”

Her face was filled with emotion.

“I’ll take really good care of you, so don’t run away, Suho.”

“Pardon?”

“All of my colleagues who joined around the same time as me have already run away. Even the junior employee who was assigned under me before left almost immediately…”

Did everyone run away because the workload was too brutal?

“It is true that the Research Operations Team is busier than the other teams. We come in early in the morning, and we have to upload all the reports that have completed their reviews by at least eight o’clock. We also have to send them out to our clients by email.”

So that’s why the Research Operations Team’s starting time was earlier than the other teams.

“If we drag our feet and the reports are uploaded late, our company’s traders won’t be able to make investment decisions, and neither will the clients who receive information from us. You know that the opening call auction starts at 8:30, right? Everyone starts placing orders then, before the market opens at nine. We can’t let them miss their timing because of us, can we?”

I also knew quite well what role the Research Team played in a securities firm.

They were essentially the brain of a financial company.

“No matter how many traders we have, they can’t formulate investment strategies without our research. We have to gather information and broaden their perspective. Without that, the traders are practically blind.”

That was why research employees gathered information and wrote reports around the clock, allowing traders to use that information to make investments and generate profits.

“That’s why the Operations Team is the most important. We have to decide which reports should be sent up. What happens if we make the wrong decision? It affects the company’s overall profits, and the value of our brand falls along with it.”

Assistant Manager Kim was passionately explaining just how important the Research Center and Research Operations Team were to the company.

“But why did all your colleagues quit…?”

“Th-that…”

The flustered assistant manager continued in a much smaller voice.

“Because you make more money as a trader…”

“Oh.”

“My colleagues, and even the one junior employee I had, all left for the Trading Team. Our Research Center does have performance bonuses, but compared to what traders get…”

Her voice trailed off gloomily, and she looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Suho, if you become a full-time employee, are you going to run away to the Trading Team too?”

“Ah. I haven’t dared to think that far yet…”

“Well, you are still an intern. I guess I was getting ahead of myself.”

I hadn’t been at this company for long.

But as I listened to my mentor’s fresh, pleasant scent and clear, lively voice, I felt as though I were sitting on a college campus on a spring day rather than inside the rigid office of a securities firm.

My team leader was…

How should I put it?

She gave off the unmistakable impression of a steel-like career woman.

My mentor, on the other hand, was like soft cotton candy.

I instinctively felt that I’d really lucked out with my mentor.

“Ah. This isn’t the time to stand around. We need to prepare for the meeting first. I’ve already done some of it, but I’ll show you quickly.”

Assistant Manager Kim gathered a large pile of reports and placed them one by one on the table.

“These are the reports sent by each team in our center. They’re divided into domestic and overseas reports, and they’re also categorized by sector. Of course, all of them were reviewed yesterday, but we do one final check during the morning meeting. The standard is to make the final decisions by at least 7:45.”

“7:45?”

“Yes. That way, the reports can be uploaded to our company’s official website before eight and sent to our clients as well. Uploading them at eight is one of the jobs for juniors like us. I’ll show you how to do it after the meeting.”

“Yes.”

Before I knew it, everyone had hurried into the room as we busily prepared.

“Everyone’s here, right? Let’s get started.”

As the team leader took her seat, the team members began speaking one after another.

“The U.S. FOMC is showing a strong willingness to raise interest rates at least once next year. It looks like this will maintain pressure for a stronger dollar.”

“There’s also a prevailing analysis that U.S. Treasury bonds will jump on expectations of fiscal expansion under the upcoming Trumbell administration.”

“But if interest rates rise, bond prices fall, don’t they?”

“Yes. However, the analyses are somewhat divided. If short-term interest rates rise and concerns about an economic recession increase, demand for long-term Treasury bonds could increase. That would naturally push long-term interest rates down. If that happens, long-term Treasury bond prices would rise.”

The team leader nodded as she examined the reports containing the different interpretations.

“What does everyone think?”

“I think the long-term interest rate rise scenario is more likely.”

“Yes. People are already calling it ‘Trumbell-flation,’ aren’t they? From tax cuts to increased infrastructure investment, expectations of an economic overheating are growing. There will definitely be a sharp rise in long-term interest rates.”

“Good. Then let’s release the report along those lines. Move on to the next item.”

“Yes. This report is about the leisure sector. Like the other securities firms, the outlook is that the leisure sector will remain weak for the time being.”

“As for leisure, wouldn’t it be better not to even look at it for the next few years?”

“Yes. I think we should maintain that stance.”

It was my first time attending a meeting here.

Yet I could immediately tell how impressive the people in this room were.

As soon as they finished discussing interest rates, they immediately moved on to the next sector, rapidly discussing the issue and reaching a conclusion.

Semiconductors, biotech, electronics, chemicals, leisure, and so on.

They were conducting final evaluations of reports that had already gone through a certain level of verification and deciding which ones to publish for each sector.

“Looks like we’ve decided everything. Shall we wrap up the meeting?”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“Upload everything we decided today, and send the emails out quickly as well.”

“Yes!”

I’d been trying my best to take notes, but the agenda moved so quickly that my head was practically spinning.

How do these people do this every single day?

If I keep doing this for a long time, I’ll be able to become like them too, right?

“Assistant Manager Kim, and Intern Kang.”

“Yes!”

“You two listened carefully to today’s meeting, right? Since we’re here, why don’t I hear your opinions as well? Suho, what do you think?”

“Pardon? My… opinion?”

“Speak comfortably. You seemed to be listening carefully during the meeting, so I wanted to hear your opinion and give you some feedback. Which sector’s report do you think would be better?”

I knew it was something to be grateful for that she was already giving a new employee an opportunity to participate like this.

But if you’re suddenly asking me for my opinion…

My mind seemed to completely shut down for a moment.

In a situation like this, it’s better to go with the general consensus.

Then, based on what we discussed earlier…

“Ugh.”

That was when it happened.

A foul smell suddenly wafted out from the report on the automobile sector.

It was strange.

I’d never smelled anything like this since entering the company.

“Mr. Suho?”

Yet there was a sweet fragrance breaking through that foul smell from somewhere within that pile of documents.

I felt like I was about to throw up, so I quickly rummaged through the pile and found the report responsible for the scent.

“Ah…”

I can breathe again.

The foul smell from just a moment ago disappeared as if it had never existed, replaced by the fragrance of flowers.

“Did you really choose that one?”

But when the team leader checked the report I was holding, she tilted her head in confusion.

“An upswing in the leisure sector?”