The Next Morning
As usual, Section Chief Jo Cheol-rae arrived at work, but his face looked haggard as if he hadn't slept all night.
It was no wonder—an unknown intruder had disrupted his coordinated trading scheme, and Woo Ho-geun had given him an unreasonable order.
No matter how many times he thought about it, the way things had unfolded was utterly absurd. But regretting the past wouldn't change anything now.
"I was too complacent."
Woo Ho-geun's warning that he wouldn't tolerate another mistake echoed in his mind.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling to steady himself, Jo Cheol-rae sat at his desk and turned on his computer.
After entering his personal password and logging into the trading program, he first pulled up the stock window for Boseong Telecom to check the pre-market buy orders.
"Huh?"
Instead of seeing the expected bid prices, all he saw was a Trading Halt notification.
"A trading halt? What the hell is this?"
Just as he shouted in shock, a commotion erupted outside.
The murmur of voices grew louder, and then suddenly, a group of men in black suits stormed into the office without warning.
"We're from the Securities Supervisory Service!"
A bespectacled man with gold-rimmed glasses stepped forward, holding up his identification. His voice rang sharply through the room.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing and stand up from your seats!"
Hearing the disturbance, Manager Son Oh-seung emerged from his office, his face filled with surprise.
"What on earth is going on?" he asked.
"There are allegations of Financial Real-Name Act violations and stock price manipulation. We are here to conduct a search and seizure. Please cooperate."
At the mention of a search and seizure, the office erupted in shock.
Manager Son Oh-seung, in particular, looked completely taken aback as he stared at the search warrant presented by the investigator.
"Th-this can't be…"
The investigator, Cho Bok-rak, gave Son Oh-seung a cold once-over before speaking.
"You are Manager Son Oh-seung, correct?"
"Yes… I am."
Sensing something ominous, Son Oh-seung hesitated as he answered.
Seeing this, Cho Bok-rak smirked.
"Good. You'll need to come with us."
Son Oh-seung flinched in horror and protested.
"What? Why are you taking me?!"
"You should know that better than anyone."
"...!"
As Son Oh-seung's face turned pale, Cho Bok-rak's confidence in his suspicions solidified.
"Why are you just standing there? Take him away."
"Yes, sir."
The special judicial police officers who had accompanied Cho Bok-rak responded briefly before stepping forward and grabbing Manager Son Oh-seung by both arms.
"You can't just arrest a law-abiding citizen like this!"
Son Oh-seung struggled fiercely, resisting with all his might, but Cho Bok-rak simply smirked coldly and pulled something from his inner pocket, holding it up right in front of his face.
"This is an emergency arrest warrant."
"This can't be…"
"If you continue to be uncooperative, we will have no choice but to use force. It would be best if you came quietly."
"..."
Seeing the arrest warrant, Son Oh-seung seemed to lose all will to resist. His head drooped in resignation.
Cho Bok-rak watched him shrink into himself with an icy gaze before tucking the warrant back into his jacket.
"Take him away."
"Yes, sir!"
Following the order, the special judicial officers firmly held Son Oh-seung on both sides and led him out of the office.
"The… the manager…"
"My God."
"What is happening…?"
"What's going to happen to us now? A sudden search and seizure…?"
The employees, who had watched everything unfold, erupted into anxious murmurs.
None of them knew why the Securities Supervisory Service had stormed in, and their faces were filled with confusion and fear.
Amid the chaos, Cho Bok-rak slowly scanned the office, where the search and seizure were in full swing.
"Who is Section Chief Jo Cheol-rae?"
At his question, the securities firm employees exchanged uneasy glances and subtly turned their heads toward one side of the room.
Following their gazes, Cho Bok-rak spotted Jo Cheol-rae, who had been standing among the other employees after rising from his desk.
Hearing his name, Jo Cheol-rae jolted in fright, his body trembling. As Cho Bok-rak approached him, beads of cold sweat trickled down his face.
"Are you Jo Cheol-rae?"
"…Yes."
His voice was faint, his face deathly pale.
"You'll need to come with us as well. I don't think I need to explain why—you know better than anyone."
At the cold, emotionless words, Jo Cheol-rae's face went blank in shock.
The moment he realized everything had been exposed, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.
***
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Lying sprawled out on a hotel bed, Woo Ho-geun frowned as the persistent vibration of his phone pulled him from sleep.
The night before, he had indulged in heavy drinking with a model introduced to him by Jeon Geon-woo at a private villa. Now, after spending the night at the hotel, he was being rudely awakened.
"Mmm…"
The woman lying beside him, her fair skin exposed, shifted in her sleep and pulled the sheets around her.
"Oppa, your phone…"
"I'm already up, so just go back to sleep."
Woo Ho-geun, wearing nothing but his underwear, sat up and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
"Hello?"
His face was full of irritation as he answered the call, only to hear the urgent voice of Manager Oh Sang-hyun on the other end.
[Director, where are you?]
Leaning back against the headboard, Woo Ho-geun picked up a half-finished bottle of water and took a sip before responding.
"I'm out. What's going on?"
[You need to come to the office immediately.]
Sensing that something was wrong, Woo Ho-geun narrowed his eyes.
"What happened?"
[About 30 minutes ago, special judicial police officers from the Financial Supervisory Service raided Donghae Peregrine Securities and are currently conducting a search and seizure.]
"What?!"
The shocking news made Woo Ho-geun's eyebrows shoot up as he raised his voice.
[Boseong Telecom's stock has been suspended, and Manager Son Oh-seung and Section Chief Jo Cheol-rae have been taken in. It looks like our operation has been exposed.]
"Damn it!"
He had a bad feeling ever since yesterday's incident, and now the worst had happened.
Gripping his phone tightly, Woo Ho-geun demanded,
"How much do they know?"
[We're still checking. But since they took those two in right away, they likely know quite a bit.]
"Shit!"
Cursing harshly, Woo Ho-geun clenched his teeth.
"I'm coming now. In the meantime, contact whoever you can and find out exactly what's going on!"
[Understood.]
Ending the call with a twisted expression, Woo Ho-geun let out a string of expletives.
"I knew something felt off, goddammit!"
He jumped out of bed and grabbed his pants, which had been carelessly tossed onto the couch.
As he threw on his shirt and buttoned it, the woman, now awake and wrapped in the sheets, asked,
"Oppa, where are you going?"
Woo Ho-geun shot her an annoyed glance before fastening his cuffs.
"I have work to do. I have to leave."
"But you promised to take me to the department store today to buy my birthday gift. Are you just going to leave like this?"
"Hey, didn't you hear me? I said something urgent came up!"
He snapped, raising his voice unnecessarily.
His mind was already a mess, and now this woman was whining beside him, making his temper flare even more.
"I-I just…"
The woman flinched at his outburst and trailed off hesitantly, sensing his bad mood.
Irritated by her hesitation, Woo Ho-geun grabbed his jacket and pulled out four one-million-won checks from his wallet, tossing them onto the bed.
"Take this. Buy yourself a bag or clothes, whatever. And don't contact me again."
"Oppa! That's not what I meant…"
The woman, startled by the suddenly scattered checks, hurriedly tried to grab them.
But Woo Ho-geun, having finished dressing, turned away without a second glance and walked out of the hotel room as if he had no further business there.
***
Dressed in a crisp white dress shirt and a sophisticated striped tie, Seok-won stood with his arms crossed in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window.
His gaze was fixed on the headquarters of Donghae Peregrine Securities, located in the building across from him.
A swarm of reporters had already gathered after catching wind of the news, while officials from the Financial Supervisory Service, dressed in black suits, carried out large boxes filled with confiscated materials, loading them into waiting vans under the relentless flashes of cameras.
Shocked customers and passersby had gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves as they watched the scene unfold.
"The operation fell apart, so all the money they poured into Boseong Telecom is as good as gone."
Imagining Woo Ho-geun seething with rage upon receiving the news brought an involuntary smirk to Seok-won's lips.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and Na Seong-mi, dressed in a navy business dress, stepped inside.
"Team Leader Choi Ho-geun is here."
"Let him in."
"Yes, sir."
Shortly after, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun entered the room, accompanied by Deputy Manager Jung Hwan-yeop, both guided in by Na Seong-mi.
"Take a seat over there."
"Thank you."
As the two men settled onto the left-side sofa, Seok-won naturally took the central seat, crossing one leg over the other.
"You handled the job very well."
"Haha, this was nothing. I finally got to show off my skills a bit."
Choi Ho-geun's elbow suddenly jabbed Jung Hwan-yeop's side, as if silently telling him to watch his words.
Then, keeping a straight face, he looked at Seok-won and replied,
"I'm glad you're satisfied."
Watching Choi Ho-geun maintain a nonchalant demeanour while Jung Hwan-yeop rubbed his side in pain almost made Seok-won laugh.
The two of them bickered every time they met, but in reality, they were the perfect team.
Suppressing his amusement, Seok-won asked Choi Ho-geun,
"You sold at 27,000 won per share, correct?"
"That's right."
"So, we more than doubled our money."
At that, Jung Hwan-yeop chimed in,
"If we had held on a little longer, we could've made over three times the amount. Feels like a missed opportunity."
Smacking his lips in regret, he looked disappointed. But Seok-won shook his head.
"If we had made too much, we could've ended up on the Financial Supervisory Service's radar. This was the perfect timing."
"Ah, I see."
Quickly agreeing, Jung Hwan-yeop hesitated for a moment, as if something else was on his mind. Then, after gauging the mood, he carefully asked,
"As soon as we sold off all our shares, the Financial Supervisory Service launched their investigation as if they were waiting for it. Was that part of your plan as well, Director?"
"Deputy Manager Jung!"
Choi Ho-geun's eyes widened in shock as he snapped at him.
"Why are you saying unnecessary things today?"
"My apologies."
Realizing he had let his curiosity get the best of him, Jung Hwan-yeop immediately lowered his head.
Watching this, Seok-won leaned back slightly and spoke in a calm but firm voice.
"You've heard the saying that words can invite trouble, right? I trust you won't, but make sure you never speak about this matter to anyone outside of this room."
His warning carried weight. While he was usually a kind and approachable superior, when he spoke seriously, his words carried a different level of gravity.
Seeing Seok-won's stern expression, Jung Hwan-yeop straightened up and quickly responded.
"Yes, sir."
Though he often acted carefree, Seok-won knew that when it mattered, Jung Hwan-yeop was reliable. Giving a small nod, he shifted the conversation.
"Once the transaction funds are deposited, withdraw everything in cash. Then, make sure to close all the borrowed-name accounts we used."
"We'll take care of it," Choi Ho-geun responded.
With that, Seok-won reached down, picked up a black hardcase bag from beneath the sofa, and placed it on the table.
"Open it."
Choi Ho-geun undid the lock and flipped the case open, revealing stacks of 1-million-won bills neatly packed inside.
As both men widened their eyes in astonishment, Seok-won spoke calmly.
"This is your bonus for handling the job well."
"...!"
"It's 200 million won. Split it—100 million each."
With slightly trembling hands, Choi Ho-geun carefully closed the briefcase and bowed his head.
"Thank you."
"I appreciate it, Director."
Unlike him, Jung Hwan-yeop was grinning ear to ear, unable to hide his excitement.
Amused by their starkly contrasting reactions, Seok-won chuckled lightly before giving a final word of caution.
"I'm sure you both understand, but be mindful of what you say."
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't worry. This matter will go with me to the grave."
While Choi Ho-geun responded with a solemn expression, Jung Hwan-yeop simply looked thrilled at the unexpected windfall, smiling uncontrollably.
Seok-won gave a small nod before casually waving his hand.
"You may go now."
"Yes, sir."
Both answered in unison, grabbing the money case before rising from the sofa.