“If you have any concerns, feel free to tell .”
“Yes, thank you.”
After parting ways with Ha Si-heon, Rachel headed toward the Industrial Departnt.
How would it feel to be a gallery owner?
Her heart was pounding wildly. Even her steps were lighter than usual, filled with the urge to run off sowhere.
However, the mont she entered the departnt, her excitent vanished as if it had been a lie.
“Oh, you’re here?”
It was a senior colleague assigned to the sa project.
“We have a client eting tomorrow, right?”
Typically, analysts, who are at the bottom rung, don’t et clients.
But in the Industrial Departnt, Rachel was taken to every eting by the MD.
Even if it ant leaving other senior staff behind.
Once again, they wanted to bring Rachel instead of the senior colleagues.
“This is an important client, so make sure you’re prepared. If you don’t know sothing, just ask.”
She sensed an underlying frustration in her senior's stiff smile.
You must be lucky to have well-connected parents, huh?
Though she never asked for it, every ti she received special treatnt, she felt guilty.
‘This isn’t why I ca here…’
She wanted to build sothing on her own.
Yet, each day at Goldman only seed to reinforce her doubts.
Perhaps…
‘Without my family background, I’m nothing…’
To so, it might sound like ungrateful whining, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of inadequacy.
‘Being here might be more of a burden…’
Rachel was seriously contemplating resignation.
She intended to give Ha Si-heon a heads-up today as well.
He’d be surprised if she suddenly left.
But…
She decided to put her plan on hold for a mont.
–The experience and skills you gain here will definitely be useful later.
It’s not that she was committed to pursuing the gallery just yet.
But since Ha Si-heon had a point, she decided to stick around a little longer to see for herself.
‘What kind of tastes does this client have? What’s the vibe of their office…?’
For a while, Rachel searched for client interviews and observed the backgrounds in the photos carefully.
Then, while checking the eting location on Google Maps,
“Rachel!”
A senior suddenly approached her, causing her to quickly close the window.
“Don’t you know anything? You’re close with that guy, aren’t you?”
They were talking about Ha Si-heon.
Ha Si-heon’s reputation had been dragged through the mud for a while.
People had said all sorts of things.
An arrogant newcor who doesn’t know his place, a troublemaker, a swindler using match-fixing, a sneaky opportunist, a leech sucking connections dry, and so on.
– Be careful. He’s obviously up to sothing.
The senior colleagues and peers who were especially kind to Rachel never missed a chance to cloak their gossip as “advice.”
Each ti, Rachel refuted them inwardly.
‘So what if he’ll do whatever it takes?’
It’s not that she agreed with Ha Si-heon’s thods.
But Rachel knew his true goal.
—I will cure this incurable disease.
—I need to raise money, no matter what.
For such a goal…
Is it really so wrong to do whatever it takes?
It was frustrating to see soone like him being branded as trash, and I wanted to defend him, but he didn’t want that.
—Please keep this a secret. If people find out I’m earning money to save soone… I’d be ostracized on Wall Street.
So, even as he heard insults, he had to pretend not to.
Today was another day like that.
“Does that guy have connections within the FDA too?”
“With the way he keeps breaking through, it’s obvious, right? If he actually figured it out on his own, it’d be a miracle.”
“But if he gets caught, wouldn’t the other party end up in jail too?”
People were labeling Ha Si-heon a criminal, convinced that he was involved in insider trading. Their voices carried a sense of certainty, as if there was no other way to explain these ‘miracles.’
But…
Today, Rachel heard the secret of the miracle directly from Ha Si-heon.
—Fail ten tis? If you try a hundred tis, you’ll hit at least one. Try a thousand, and you might get ten. Do it ten thousand tis, and miracles can happen too.
The hit rate everyone called a miracle. Was it really a miracle?
How many attempts did Ha Si-heon make to achieve that? How much ti, how much effort did he put in?
—Effort isn’t necessary; you just keep going.
—Emotions and motivation don’t matter. What brings results in the end is numbers.
She couldn’t even imagine what he must have felt while going through all that ti.
‘They have no idea…’
Rachel felt even more indignant on his behalf. She suppressed the urge to rush over and argue with those slandering him.
At that mont, she heard sothing new amidst the gossip.
“But that guy… is he actually a quant?”
“If he figured this out, wouldn’t that make him a genius?”
“Well, he’s not your average human. Honestly, if it were , I’d be scared just being between Pierce and Rhino.”
“He does have so guts, huh?”
“A bit crazy, maybe…”
Suddenly, her feelings of injustice faded.
She realized that Ha Si-heon didn’t need anyone to defend him.
‘Given ti… everyone will recognize it.’
Ha Si-heon’s presence was on a different level.
‘Is this what they call a genius…?’
There were plenty of people at Harvard who were called geniuses. People with high IQs, math prodigies, graduates at age 15, mbers of nsa, and so on.
But Ha Si-heon was different.
—Why do you say that’s a foolish idea?
It wasn’t simply that his intelligence was high.
Ha Si-heon was… an entirely different kind of person.
—It’s fine. Just hire employees with good eyesight and math skills.
Even his perceived lack of certain talents.
—That’s an invaluable competitive edge that can’t be bought, even with money.
And his burdenso background.
The two years Rachel would spend at Goldman could beco an imnse asset for her.
The ti spent here, too.
It was certainly a wall she could never overco, no matter how hard she tried…
But after just a few hours with Ha Si-heon, it had beco a re obstacle.
An obstacle she could overco one day if she put her mind to it.
And it wasn’t just that.
—Rachel, you can be a light for those starving artists.
The mont she heard those words, she felt tears well up.
Only one thought filled her mind.
‘I’ve finally found it.’
What Rachel had been desperately searching for all her life.
Sothing everyone else seed to have, yet she alone lacked.
The reason she needed to live… the direction of her life.
‘Can I really achieve this?’
She instinctively began to worry, but soon another voice within her spoke up.
‘Maybe I can do it too?’
It was an unfamiliar voice to Rachel.
The sensation rising within her was also unfamiliar.
It felt like a dormant volcano inside her heart was beginning to erupt.
Strangely, whenever she was near Ha Si-heon, her heart beat this way.
As if his energy was transferring to her.
Can soone like this really just be called a genius…?
“Ah!”
Suddenly, sothing ca to mind. She quickly opened a search window and typed in a keyword.
There was a line she wanted to read right away.
A line from an advertisent that had now beco legendary.
—The world calls them crazy, but we see genius in them. The ones crazy enough to think they can change the world. Because they are the ones who truly can change the world. Think different.
Yes, that was it.
Ha Si-heon was… a person who moved the world.
There was no doubt.
Just by being close to him, her once-stagnant world had started to move.
At that mont, she saw a senior colleague running into the departnt.
“Hey, did you hear? I have soone in HR who said…”
Once again, the world was moving.
And at the center of that movent was still one person.
“That new hire! Apparently, he’s causing a stir again?”
It was Ha Si-heon.
***
At the sa ti.
Pierce was having a rough ti.
He had to secure a live deal from Ha Si-heon’s list.
“Just one out of the seven needs to co through.”
At first, he didn’t think much of it.
For Pierce, who was confident in his sales abilities, it didn’t seem too difficult.
But.
“FDA grants final approval to Otrexup auto-injector.”
That was today’s news.
The product developed by the target company had received FDA approval.
News that ca sooner than expected.
Even the parties involved hadn’t anticipated it.
They’d been proceeding with the sale, assuming the process would take longer.
But with this news, the situation changed.
“Can we secure additional leverage?”
“We’ll need to coordinate with the ABS departnt.”
The value of the acquisition target had risen.
Now they needed additional funds to proceed with the transaction.
From experience, Pierce knew such deals often fell through midway.
“Is there really an algorithm…?”
Ha Si-heon’s 80% hit rate was hard to believe, yet with things turning out like this, it was no longer sothing to dismiss.
Of course, he wasn’t about to believe it outright.
It would require repeated experintation and verification.
Pierce’s rational mind warned him not to trust it just yet, but his instincts were telling him sothing different.
“For now… I’ll keep an eye on him.”
From the mont he first saw Ha Si-heon, he’d felt a strange familiarity.
There was no concrete reason, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ha Si-heon resembled the other “monsters” he’d t on Wall Street.
And considering recent events…
It was clear.
Ha Si-heon would beco an unprecedented force that would shake Wall Street to its core.
But that would be a few years from now.
For now, he needed to secure his position as an executive.
“With things going this way… a change in strategy is necessary.”
It was at that mont he made the decision.
Bzzz!
His BlackBerry buzzed.
The caller was Jeff.
Pierce had told him not to contact him unless it was critical, yet here he was, calling.
It ant sothing had erupted at Goldman.
His instincts were right.
“Rhino wants to take the new recruit.”
***
“Sean, can we talk for a mont?”
As I returned from dinner, an unexpected person was waiting for .
It was Liliana.
“Mind if we use the conference room?”
She needed a soundproof space.
Once we were alone, Liliana explained the situation with a grim expression.
“Actually, there’s been a request from the Healthcare Departnt for a departnt transfer. Considering your expertise, they suggested it might be better to transfer you to Healthcare…”
Rhino wants to take .
Well, I’d sowhat anticipated this.
Right now, I’m a unicorn in the biotech sector, showcasing a miraculous success rate.
No matter what I’ve done in the past, it’s no surprise that Healthcare would be eyeing .
But sothing feels off.
Liliana seems unusually conflicted.
Also, there’s no real reason for her to inform about the departnt transfer request.
‘Could it be…?’
I had a bad feeling.
“Aren’t I already assigned to the M&A departnt?”
I assud my affiliation had already changed.
I hadn’t been told directly, but Jeff had put on standby, as if he’d already chosen .
Why else would he keep soone on standby if they weren’t officially part of his departnt?
“Well… officially, there hasn’t been a request.”
“But there was no other staffing, and I was told my supervisor was Jeff…”
“There just happened to be no incoming staffing requests. Usually, I handle it when MDs make a request, but there hasn’t been one…”
So, I’m still unaffiliated.
The reason I’ve had free ti so far is that the MDs have been avoiding out of caution for Pierce.
anwhile, Rhino has gone through official procedures.
Now I understand why Liliana looks so troubled.
If she follows the procedure?
She risks offending Pierce.
But if she leaves in the M&A departnt?
She’ll be seen as favoring Pierce and ignoring procedures, risking Rhino’s wrath.
“So, I’m the shrimp here.”
Between the two whales, one of them will beco an executive.
It’s uncertain who that will be.
What should an HR shrimp do in the anti?
“Will any live deals co through…?”
She’s trying to gauge who might win.
Liliana is asking , the one who compiled the list, about Pierce’s chances of winning.
“Well… it’ll be tough, don’t you think? There are only two left.”
Liliana’s expression darkened.
But only for a mont.
With practiced ease, she put on her business smile and asked the next question.
“Which departnt does Sean prefer?”
Of course, she’s not asking to consider my preference.
It’s a ga of hot potato.
If things go south, she can use my own “preference” as an excuse to mollify an angry whale.
I’m not naive enough to take this at face value.
“I’m fine with either.”
“Still, isn’t there one you’re more inclined toward?”
“I’m drawn to both. Each departnt has its pros and cons.”
Liliana’s business smile wavered briefly but quickly returned to its place.
“Still, you can’t be equally drawn to both, can you?”
“It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other, so I’m fine with either.”
“And really, in life, can you always do what you like? If you’re getting paid, you do as you’re told.”
Hmm, maybe I teased her a bit too much?
My father always says if you bother a beautiful woman, you’ll go to hell.
Let’s stop here.
“Actually, there is a departnt I’d like to join.”
“Oh? Which one?”
“But I don’t have an ‘obligation’ to tell you that, do I?”
Liliana’s expression stiffened for a mont before she let out a small sigh.
“If I consider it a favor… could you tell ?”
She’s been talking about debts and favors since our first eting.
It’s best to keep things clear.
“Sure, I can tell you.”
“Which one is it?”
“I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
“Huh? Why tomorrow?”
“Well, I’d like to have a talk with Pierce and decide afterward.”
He’s been out of sight lately, busy with sales, but he should be returning soon.
At least, if he actually wants to recruit .
“After I talk with him, I’ll co and tell you in person. Then.”
As I was about to leave the conference room, Liliana quickly grabbed my arm.
“Wait a minute! What are you planning to do now?”
That sounds a bit ominous.
“Are you implying that I’m just going around causing trouble?”
“Do you realize you’re stirring up a storm across all of Goldman right now?”
“It’s unfair. I’m just an innocent analyst caught up in the storm.”
“Enough with the jokes. What are you planning to discuss?”
Liliana’s eyes were trembling.
Anyone would think I’d just warned her I was about to commit arson.
“If you cause any trouble, you know I’ll have to clean it up, right?”
She’s not wrong.
As the HR staff assigned to , it’s natural she’d feel anxious.
So I decided to reassure her.
“There’s no need to worry. It’ll just be an ordinary conversation.”
“Then what kind of conversation?”
“What other conversation could there be between a boss and an employee?”
“…?”
“I’m going to negotiate my terms.”
Rhino has already offered several incentives: a salary renewal, multiple live deals, a huge bonus.
But Pierce, on the other hand, just put on standby with none of that.
Considering I’ve proven my worth, that’s hardly fair, is it?
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