CH51 - Hell & Heaven

At Daeheung Securities headquarters in Yeouido, the first rays of morning sunlight pushed back the darkness, marking the start of a new day.

After the interlude of Liberation Day, it was the fourth business day since the implementation of the Financial Real-Name System. Despite the early hour, the trading floor was already filled with people, some sighing as they stared at the stock ticker frozen on the previous day's closing prices, while others gathered in small groups, discussing what might happen when the market opened. The shock of consecutive days of massive losses still hung over them.

"What if it drops again today?"

"Come on, it won't. Didn't the securities companies announce yesterday that they're extending the credit loan periods to support the market?"

"What good is that if the stock prices fall so much that I can't meet the collateral ratio? My account will still get wiped out."

"I'm already up to my neck in this. If it drops further, I'm done for."

"I've put everything I had into this, even my deposit money. If this goes south, I might as well jump into the Han River."

The atmosphere was heavy with sighs and anxiety. Amid this, one man sat alone at the back, radiating an unusual calm. Dressed in a black suit with one leg crossed, Seok-won was a stark contrast to everyone else. While others watched the stock ticker with fearful eyes, afraid of another crash, his gaze held a different emotion—anticipation.

"The market's dropped enough over the past couple of days, and with the government announcing strong measures to prop it up, today's the day for a rebound," Seok-won thought. Indeed, several market-boosting measures were set to be implemented, including the issuance of stock stabilization bonds and allowing securities firm executives to trade stocks.

But what gave Seok-won the most confidence in a rebound was the confirmation he received from Landon in New York that a large influx of foreign capital was entering the domestic market. Of course, the individual investors still gripped by fear would likely continue to sell off their stocks in a panic.

However, if foreign investors started buying up those shares, preventing the index from falling further, the mood would inevitably change.

"The moment people start thinking, 'Is this the bottom?' That's when the index will reverse and soar."

Time passed, and soon the bell rang to signal the opening of the market. The numbers on the large ticker board began to change rapidly, and in an instant, the trading floor turned into a madhouse.

"Damn it! It's dropping again."

"If this keeps up, I'll be left with nothing."

Though the drop wasn't as steep as the previous two days, the market still opened with a small decline, prompting more curses, sighs, and frustrated wails from the crowd. Some could no longer bear it and rushed to the counters to hurriedly place sell orders.

"Sell all my shares in Hyunwoo Motors!"

"Sell ST Telecom at the market price!"

"The price keeps dropping! What are you waiting for? Sell it now!"

"Please wait a moment, we're processing it," the employee tried to reassure a panicked customer.

"Do you expect me to just sit here while my money melts away?!" the customer shouted, his frustration spilling over.

As the voices of the anxious investors filled the air, the weary employees took their sell orders.

"Hyunwoo Motors, 780 shares sold at 24,000 won."

"Order completed, please confirm."

The scene was a near-perfect replica of the previous two days—panicked investors lashing out at employees, desperate to offload their plummeting stocks. But there was one difference: today, the sell orders were being filled. Stocks that had no buyers just days ago were now being snapped up, and slowly but surely, the index began to inch upward.

Noticing this, the crowd began to murmur, their confusion evident.

"What's going on?"

"Could it be rebounding?"

A man in a short-sleeved shirt who had just sold his shares scoffed, dismissing the notion. "Nah, it's just a temporary bounce because the drop was so steep."

A bespectacled man quickly disagreed. "No, look, buy orders are steadily coming in."

"Yeah, the index isn't dropping anymore," someone else chimed in, causing a ripple of uneasy chatter through the crowd. But the man in the short-sleeved shirt remained unimpressed, even sneering.

"Some idiots must think it's cheap and are buying in, but how long do you think that'll last? They'll give up soon enough."

"Exactly! You should sell while there are still buyers. You'll regret it if you wait."

Another middle-aged man, rolling up his newspaper, loudly voiced his agreement, adding to the negativity among those who had already sold their stocks at a loss. Meanwhile, those who had been hesitant or had missed the right timing to sell were now filled with doubt, caught between fear and hope.

As people wavered, someone pointed to the tickerboard and exclaimed, "Look at that! Pohang Iron & Steel and the banking stocks are surging!"

Heads whipped around to see that the previously blue board was now slowly turning red, with more and more stocks reversing their declines.

"Oh wow!"

"It really is rebounding! Could this be the start of a recovery?"

The wave of anger and despair that had filled the room began to give way to a cautious optimism. But for those who had already sold at a loss, like the man in the short-sleeved shirt, their faces twisted in frustration.

"What the hell is this?"

"It can't be really going up, can it?"

"Damn it! I just sold all my shares. This is driving me crazy! How much money did I just lose?"

The middle-aged man who had been so sure of his decision earlier was now squirming uncomfortably, muttering to himself, "Maybe I should buy back in?"

But the man in the short-sleeved shirt stubbornly refused to believe the rally would last. "If you do that, you'll just get stuck again."

The man continued to insist, loudly enough for everyone around him to hear, that there was no way the index would keep rising just after he had sold out. The rest of the room, still shaken by the past two days' sharp declines, watched the index warily as it swung up and down, unable to decide whether to believe in the rebound or prepare for another drop.

The index continued its volatile dance throughout the morning, but just after noon, a surge of buying from institutional and foreign investors sent it soaring by over 20 points in an instant.

"It's happening! It's going up!"

"We hit bottom, for real this time!"

As the ticker board turned a deep red, the people on the floor burst into cheers. After days of watching their money disappear by the thousands, they were overjoyed to see the market finally recovering.

Quick to act, those with fast reflexes rushed to the counters, jostling and shoving to get their buy orders in.

"Buy 600 shares of Samsung Electronics at market price!"

"I was here first!"

"Stop cutting in line!"

"Move out of the way!"

Among those scrambling to buy back in was none other than the man in the short-sleeved shirt, who had been so sure the rally wouldn't last.

As chaos reigned on the trading floor, Seok-won stood quietly in the corner, a deep smile spreading across his face as he watched the now-red ticker board.

"If I could've shorted more, I would've made a killing," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders with a hint of regret. "But this is just the first investment. I'll be satisfied with this for now."

With that, he turned and left the trading floor, leaving the frenzied crowd behind.

***

Seated behind his spacious mahogany desk, Chairman Park Tae-hong looked up at the sound of a knock on the door. His secretary, Gil Seong-ho, entered and approached, holding a folder. He respectfully handed it over to the chairman.

"This is the consolidation plan for the supermarket and convenience store operations under our department stores."

Chairman Park straightened his posture and took the folder, flipping through the plan as he nodded slightly. "It's unfortunate, but convenience stores are the trend now. It's better to close down the supermarket business before the losses get any worse."

"I agree, sir."

"We're rebranding the new convenience store chain as 'Star Metro,' correct?"

"Yes, sir."

Chairman Park, pleased with the new logo design in the plan, smiled. "It's clean and eye-catching. It was worth the money we spent on that American design firm."

"The employees have responded very positively, saying it looks sophisticated and attractive."

"That's good to hear."

Leaning back in his chair, Chairman Park took a sip of his tea. "You mentioned earlier that we've opened about 1,000 stores nationwide?"

"That's correct, sir."

Tapping his fingers on the folder, Chairman Park spoke with authority. "We're already at a disadvantage as latecomers, with low brand recognition. Planning to open only 20 more stores this year is too conservative."

"That's the number we set to be cautious, but we plan to increase the number of franchise stores through aggressive marketing."

"In any competition, momentum is key. We've rebranded and relaunched, so we need to push hard from the start and seize the initiative. We can't afford to be half-hearted about this."

In his deep voice, Chairman Park continued, "Open 50 stores by the end of the year, and another 100 next year."

With only four months left in the year, doubling the planned number of stores was a tall order. But in Daeheung Group, Chairman Park's word was law, so Secretary Gil Seong-ho had no choice but to comply.

"I'll relay your instructions, sir."

Chairman Park, satisfied, signed off on the plan and returned the folder to his secretary, who took it with both hands and then spoke again.

"There's one more thing I need to report."

"Go ahead."

"The market closed a little while ago."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Chairman Park capped his pen and remarked, "Time flies. Did the index fall again?"

"It wavered early on, but thanks to heavy buying from foreign and institutional investors, it rebounded and closed at 691.67."

"Interesting."

His eyes gleamed with interest as Secretary Gil continued.

"We'll need to watch for a few more days, but the fact that individual investors started buying aggressively at the end suggests that we've hit bottom."

"Weren't you predicting a prolonged shock just a couple of days ago?"

Receiving the chairman's gaze, Secretary Gil quickly replied, "While today's rebound could be a technical recovery after the sharp recent drops, there's also strong anticipation for the government's robust market support measures."

"Hmph. It's easy to say that after the fact. These so-called experts who earn fat salaries can't even hold a candle to a kid fresh out of college."

Chairman Park snorted derisively. If the financial experts who had submitted their analysis report earlier heard this, their pride would surely be wounded. But with PhDs and years of experience in the stock market, these experts had all been wrong, while Seok-won's predictions were spot on.

Ignoring the silence from his secretary, Chairman Park eventually let out a sigh, softening his expression.

"Seok-won repurchased stocks before the holiday, didn't he?"

"Yes, sir. As it turns out, he bought back in near the bottom."

Unable to hide his smile, Chairman Park's lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

"So, he's made quite a profit then?"

"Today's rise alone netted nearly 4%, and the more the stock prices go up from here, the higher the returns."

"That guy…Anyway, he's really something."

Chairman Park's voice carried a tone of admiration as he leaned back in his chair, a look of contentment on his face.