What's the most important thing on Wall Street?
Money.
Thus, the hierarchy is divided based on the ability to make money.
The top tier is the front office.
These people are like nobles in the dieval era.
They et clients directly, propose deals, and take commissions.
Since investnt banks' clients are corporations, there’s always an opportunity to make money.
In good tis, they suggest M&A for expansion; in bad tis, they recomnd stock issuance for securing funds.
The next tier is the middle office.
These people support the nobles while they are taking commissions.
This includes the risk managent team, ethics managent team, client relations team, and legal team.
Wait, is it strange that lawyers are in the middle tier?
Sure, they are respected outside.
But on Wall Street, even lawyers are just one of the many support roles.
They have honor, but cannot wield a sword… like the clergy class, you could say.
The last tier is the back office.
These people are just commoners.
IT, administrative work, and human resources fall into this category.
Your rank is decided at the ti of entry, and it's not easy to rise in status.
A baron can marry a duke, but it’s rare.
A baker’s daughter marrying into a baron’s family is outright impossible.
“Should I stop gathering information here?”
I had roughly figured out the hierarchy.
Now I had to step in directly.
I ended the fake call and ordered a drink.
“One scotch, neat.”
After choosing an unremarkable prop, I jumped back into the jungle.
I approached the first target, t their gaze, and exchanged nas, then ca the expected question.
“Where are you from?”
“Baltimore.”
“No way, Hopkins? That’s unusual…"
“I'm a d school graduate.”
The guy flinched upon hearing about my alma mater.
It’s not a ‘target school' favored by Wall Street, but it's prestigious enough for him to nod approvingly.
However, a prestigious school degree doesn't add much on Wall Street.
It’s barely like presenting your ID.
Now only the most important step remains.
Confirming the rank.
“I’m in the Industrial Group, how about you?”
“Erging Markets Division.”
“Which group is that part of?”
“Wealth Managent Group.”
A lot of question marks appeared on the target’s face.
He doesn’t know how to interpret my affiliation.
The Wealth Managent Group manages and invests the assets of wealthy clients.
If you're in charge of investnts, you're in the front office; if you manage, you're in the middle office.
Am I a noble or clergy? Even I don’t know.
Anyway, I'll have to change departnts soon.
Whatever departnt I'm assigned to next will determine my rank.
In any case, I'm not a noble, not with this ambiguity.
Realizing this, the guy furrows his brows with a regretful look.
“Hmm… that’s unlucky, I doubt your division has much volu right now.”
“Right, especially now that they’re talking about tightening.”
‘This guy is out.'
Though he's showing pity with his eyes, he's smirking at the corners of his mouth.
Would a real noble act like this?
“Well then.”
I wrapped up the conversation and picked my next target, repeating the sa process.
Then finally, I encountered soone whose face dropped upon hearing my ambiguous rank.
“Unlucky. But in this situation, wouldn’t they just transfer you to another departnt?”
These guys are the real nobles.
Because they’re genuinely sympathetic.
Of course, that doesn’t an nobles have good character.
It just ans they hold such an overwhelming advantage that they can afford to show sympathy to ambiguous guys like .
I was making progress, filtering out the useful ones efficiently.
“Oooh! You!”
Without permission, soone placed a hand on my shoulder.
I knew this person.
I t him in my previous life.
What’s this guy’s trait?
He’s a penniless count.
A so-called noble who only feels at ease when he confirms there’s soone beneath him.
“Earlier, you were brilliant in the test! I’m Kent Harvest. And you?”
He extends his hand, pretending to be sociable, but his eyes are sharp.
‘As expected, he’s coming at like this.’
I have to be careful when telling this guy my na.
He’ll use it to attack.
Childish as it is, his main weapon is ‘nicknaming.’
During the early stages of joining when lots of new hires co in, nicknas are easier to rember than real nas, and he exploits this by giving rivals bizarre nicknas.
I fell victim in my previous life too.
My na is Ha Si-heon.
It’s impossible for a blonde guy to pronounce that.
But he exaggeratedly flattened his tongue and called ‘Sham,’ and didn’t stop there—he added ‘Cat’ to it.
The problem was, I happen to have a cat-like face, so the nickna gained traction and stuck.
And my nickna evolved from Siase cat to Kitty.
Why is this important?
Who would assign a major project to soone nad Kitty?
Sounds childish, right?
Exactly.
But Wall Street is full of all sorts of childish sches and dirty tricks.
And I wasn’t the only one who suffered.
So of the past colleagues' nicknas I recall include Widow, Sweetcheek, Bubbles, Gimp, Chica, and Dirty Sanchez.
But there’s sothing this guy is mistaken about.
‘I didn’t get picked on because I’m nice.’
There was only one reason I got caught in the previous life.
I just didn’t expect soone nearing their thirties would resort to such childish tactics.
But now, I know better.
“Call Sean.”
“Sean? Is that an English na? What’s your real na?”
“It’s hard to pronounce.”
“But isn’t it a sha to waste the na your parents gave you?”
Parents, huh.
You’ve hit the wrong nerve, buddy.
I equipped my sad eyes and looked down at the floor.
The goal here was to look as sorrowful as possible.
“Both my parents… have passed away.”
Suddenly, there was silence.
Every conversation around us stopped.
“I see… Sean.”
He’s not a complete fool.
Yeah, if you had kept going, your nickna would’ve been ‘Insensitive Jerk.’
“I heard earlier, you're a d student? Doctor?”
But just when I thought he’d back off, he changed his approach and kept attacking.
“Oh, really?”
“Are you a doctor?”
“That’s unusual!”
Since he’s loud, others nearby chid in too.
‘Doctor, huh…’
It might sound good at first, but it’s not.
You’d imagine soone boring, stiff, and stubborn, right?
“So, why did a doctor co to Wall Street? This place isn’t exactly noble.”
See?
The guy smirks, showing his white teeth.
‘I can’t just let this slide.’
He must think I’m easy prey.
If I ignore it, it’ll only beco more troubleso later.
At that mont, the woman standing next to was sipping a cocktail.
“Excuse , let borrow this for a second.”
I borrowed the decorative lemon from her and placed it on the rim of my glass, then raised my glass toward the fake noble guy.
“I was aiming to beco a plastic surgeon. I take pleasure in packaging the ugly. Plus, it pays well.”
Yeah, I’m not a dull, rigid doctor—I’m a plastic surgeon obsessed with money.
“Ooh, a surgeon!”
“Hahaha! You’re perfect for Wall Street!”
“Is it because you're a surgeon? I saw earlier, your hands are incredibly quick.”
“I’m confident in my speed. I’m Asian, after all.”
A few of the onlookers were already calling ‘Surgeon.’
I wish this nickna would stick, but…
‘It won’t, will it?’
Cool nicknas never stick.
No one would give their rival a flattering nickna.
Anyway, I should return the favor.
“Nice to et you, Ken Doll.”
“It’s Kent.”
“Oh, I misheard.”
His face hardened at my mistake.
In contrast, so of the spectators’ eyes lit up.
“Pfft! Ken Doll! It suits him, though.”
“Haha! It’s a perfect fit!”
Ken Doll refers to Barbie’s boyfriend.
It’s a term used for dull, bland white n.
It’s slang, but it also carries the aning that sothing is missing where it should be.
‘Will that nickna stick?’
It’s up to him.
If he’s a decent guy, it’ll fall off within a day. But if he keeps being annoying, he’ll be stuck as Ken Doll forever.
‘At least I didn’t end up as Kitty in this life.’
Childish or not, a win is a win.
As I sipped my whiskey, celebrating the fact I had protected my na, I felt a sharp sensation on the back of my head.
I turned around to see a woman quickly turning her head away.
‘Liliana?’
She’s got it tough.
HR staff attending all the welco parties.
I should approach her later.
Sotis HR assigns ambiguous individuals like to departnts randomly.
#
‘I should’ve stayed still!’
Liliana was deeply regretting it.
She had been startled when Ha Si-heon suddenly looked her way and instinctively averted her gaze.
‘I hope he doesn’t misunderstand that I’m interested…’
Though, she was interested, just not in that way—his background was unique, and it caught her attention.
There aren’t many people who graduated from Johns Hopkins dical School and then joined Wall Street.
Especially after their earlier encounter.
—It seems I know more about my hotown I left 20 years ago than I do about the d school I recently graduated from.
When Ha Si-heon threw that jab, she was honestly taken aback.
‘At least you’re not in the back office!’
Most people who apply for the back office actually aim for the front office.
Liliana was the sa.
But when she graduated, there was a job crisis, and Goldman’s HR departnt was the only one recruiting fresh hires.
Liliana naively believed that once she had her foot in the door at Goldman, she could eventually move to a better position.
But as she started working, she realized the truth.
Just as she suspected, there was no such thing as a back-office employee getting promoted to the front office.
She was no different from a baker’s daughter dreaming of becoming a noble.
Quitting and reapplying would have been a better shot, but… the salary was just too good to give up.
How many companies offer $70,000 a year to fresh graduates?
She thought she’d prepare her resu while working, but once you start working, there’s no ti.
That’s the back-office trap.
She’d been stuck in that trap for three years now.
She’d t countless new hires at Goldman over the years, but…
Soone like Ha Si-heon was a first.
Most of the upper ranks regard the back office as re background noise.
A useless existence that consus oxygen.
They either look down on you or pity you—there’s no middle ground.
But Ha Si-heon…
—They said the operational staff would co to the welco party. Is the healthcare departnt attending too?
He made a business proposal.
For Liliana, who was growing tired of the dull workload, it was a small but exciting event.
The upper ranks don’t see HR staff as soone to make deals with.
After all, they exist solely to serve them, so there’s no need to negotiate with them.
But Ha Si-heon…
Bzzzz—
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing of her phone.
The na on the screen was Jas.
He was the instructor in charge of training the new hires.
—The venue for the welco party is Red Velvet, right?
“Yes. Are you really coming?”
—It’s the last day, so I figured I’d stop by and say hello.
Jas had unexpectedly inford her a few hours ago that he would attend the welco party.
This was unusual.
Training instructors are typically outsourced personnel who are paid to conduct short-term courses.
They don’t co to these events because they have no attachnt or bond with the students.
—By the way, is Ha Si-heon attending too?
An unexpected na ca out of his mouth.
“Yes, he’s here… is there a reason you’re looking for him?”
—No, it’s just that he got the highest score on the final exam, haha. I’ll be there soon.
After hanging up, Liliana tilted her head in confusion.
She felt a strange sense of déjà vu from the recent situation.
Last year, for sure…
This instructor had also attended the welco party last year and asked about the presence of a new hire.
At the ti, she wondered if sothing was going on, but nothing happened.
The instructor didn’t have any particular conversation with the new hire and left shortly after.
No matter how hard she dug through her mory, she couldn’t recall any other details.
anwhile, a familiar figure entered the lounge bar.
It was the training instructor.
“Liliana!”
“Jas! You really ca!”
But the instructor wasn’t alone.
He was with a handso companion dressed in a casual t-shirt.
‘Where have I seen this person before?’
As soon as she thought the face looked familiar, a na flashed in her mind.
“Mr. Pierce?”
“Shh! Keep it a secret that I’m here.”
“But why is Mr. Pierce here?”
She hadn’t recognized him in casual clothes.
Dave Pierce.
He was a managing director (MD) at Goldman.
MDs are at the top of the hierarchy at Goldman.
Above MDs, there are only executives and the CEO.
Goldman has about 600 MDs who are constantly competing on performance, and Pierce was among the top-ranked.
A legendary figure.
In many ways.
‘The instructor and Pierce… Wait, could it be like last ti?’
Then it clicked.
Last year, the instructor had attended with a companion wearing a hat pulled low.
And a few days later, the new hire who ranked first on the final exam was transferred to a different departnt.
Pierce had pulled strings to move a new hire from the Retail Group to the M&A Group.
M&A is the best departnt at Goldman.
Pierce is the best MD at Goldman.
At the ti, it seed like an amazing opportunity…
But that new hire quit three months later.
Rumor had it that they left the finance industry entirely.
If this is a repeat of last year, there was no need to guess who this year’s target would be.
‘Should I warn him?’
For a mont, she thought about it, but…
She concluded it would be overstepping.
‘He already owes .’
Wall Street is a world of cold, calculated deals.
Liliana had already tipped off Ha Si-heon about the final exam and prevented him from missing it due to an unexcused absence.
If it’s Ha Si-heon, he would surely co to repay the favor.
And now, she had a useful chip to play.
“Martini, very dry.”
Sipping her cocktail, Liliana couldn’t stop smiling.
She had a feeling sothing big was going to happen.
And this ti, she wouldn’t just be a passive observer—Liliana felt she would be part of it too.
‘What’s going to happen?’
For the first ti since joining, her job was starting to get interesting.
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