That much?
To Tae Yeo-jun, Kang In-hyuk had always been like a toy he could play with at will, ever since they were in high school.
Kang In-hyuk always had to bow his head to him and do whatever he was told.
But now, the atmosphere was completely different.
"Kang In-hyuk! Do you know what you're doing right now?"
"...... How could I not?"
Perhaps it was because of In-hyuk's still indifferent response, but Tae Yeo-jun's face twisted even more.
"Has this bastard lost his mind?!"
In-hyuk swung the arm he was still holding down. Then Moon Jae-min staggered, sliding toward the table, and toppled over after hitting sothing.
Kwaang—
"Aaagh!"
Tae Yeo-jun and Kwon Seung-hyun could only watch Moon Jae-min roll on the floor.
In-hyuk made eye contact with each of them.
"Shouldn't you be over high school days now that you're over thirty?"
"And you think you'll get away with this?"
"Why? Are you going to tattle to father-in-law or sothing?"
He was talking about Tae Seok-hyun, Tae Ju-ha's father.
In-hyuk continued speaking.
"Or will you tell the Chairman?"
"You son of a......!"
At that mont, In-hyuk pretended to throw the soju glass he'd caught earlier with his right hand at him.
"Aaagh—!"
"...... Scared? Do you really think I'd throw it?"
Tak—
The soju glass was quietly placed back on the table.
Moon Jae-min, who had stopped groaning on the floor, yelled at In-hyuk.
"You! Do you think I'll let this slide?!"
In-hyuk let out a sigh.
It was directed at these three, and at his forr self who had always been on the receiving end.
It was certain they wouldn't forget today's humiliation and would start plotting sothing.
So In-hyuk bent his knees and quietly muttered, just loud enough for Moon Jae-min to hear.
At the sa ti, Moon Jae-min's face turned pale and his lips began to tremble.
"By your reaction, I guess you understood enough."
"Hey! What's wrong with you?"
Not knowing what was going on, Tae Yeo-jun and Kwon Seung-hyun interrogated Moon Jae-min like they were scolding him, but he couldn't answer at all.
"I hope you won't bother calling out for sothing useless ever again."
Saying that, In-hyuk left the room, leaving the two gritting their teeth behind.
Honestly, it was a bit excessive.
But he had done it on purpose—to see just how far Tae Yeo-jun's immature tantrum would go and how others would react.
'How far will Chairman Tae Gun-seung and Director Tae Seok-hyun protect Tae Yeo-jun?'
It was a kind of test.
Additionally, if this caused Chairman Tae Gun-seung to let him go, it would be the best outco.
If the order ca, he wouldn't have to continue his married life with Tae Ju-ha.
.
.
.
The people in the room sat back down as the door closed.
Tae Yeo-jun turned to Moon Jae-min, who was still sprawled under the table.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you? What did that bastard say to you?"
"...... What? Oh! N-nothing."
Across from him, Kwon Seung-hyun looked at him in frustration.
"What do you an, nothing?!"
"It's really nothing. Anyway...... I'll be going first."
Moon Jae-min went outside, leaned against the corridor wall, and recalled what In-hyuk had said earlier.
[Going to the plastic surgery clinic so often to take care of your looks is fine, but don't you think you should tone it down? What if your father or the prosecution finds out?]
Recently, Moon Jae-min had been introduced to a secretive plastic surgery clinic by an acquaintance.
In fact, it was a clinic in na only—it was a place that illegally distributed narcotic anesthetics and painkillers to clients.
Moon Jae-min beca addicted to the pleasure and visited often.
'How did that guy know about it?'
The sa question went round and round in his mind.
But he had no idea how he'd been found out. Clutching his trembling hand, he staggered slightly as he walked to his car.
* * *
A few days passed.
After work, In-hyuk entered a building called Lake Plus Officetel in Seodaemun district.
He went up to the 14th floor, rang the doorbell, and sent a ssage. Soon, a reply ca.
【Unit 1414】
He was currently standing in front of unit 1211.
"Is this an office set up as a cover?"
Naturally, his head turned toward the CCTV installed in the corridor.
The blinking red light made him feel like soone was watching. Following the ssage, he walked to unit 1414.
He rang the doorbell, and Go Mi-ah opened the door.
"Welco."
He followed her inside. It was a one-room studio, about 15 pyeong in size.
The walls were lined with a desk, a computer, and several monitors. And then...
"...... Don't tell you cooked sothing?"
As soon as he entered, a strange sll stung his nose.
"Doesn't it sll nice? It's sirloin steak. I put a lot of effort into it since you're my first guest here."
No, it was a very dangerous sll.
On the table in front of the kitchen was a suspicious-looking chunk of at with green sauce poured over it.
A grim mory suddenly flashed through In-hyuk's mind.
He rembered a coworker who had ended up in the ER after eating one of Go Mi-ah's dishes.
"Sorry, but I already had dinner."
"Already?"
Actually, he hadn't eaten. He'd co straight from work and hadn't had ti.
Honestly, he was a bit hungry.
And he appreciated sincerity. But with Go Mi-ah's cooking, that was out of the question.
'Wasn't the guy who ate her sweet and sour pork that ti forced to get his stomach pumped......'
In-hyuk spoke, tense that his stomach might rumble.
"I had a late lunch eting."
Of course, that was a lie.
"What a sha. It turned out delicious. Don't ask for a bite later∼!"
That would never happen.
"How's the new company going? Are you following what I said?"
Quickly changing the subject, In-hyuk walked to the desk with the monitors.
Stock charts of all kinds were on the screens, their graphs shifting hour by hour.
"No issues. But seriously, where do you get all this info? And what about that deposit you said was client money?"
She was referring to the 2 billion won Jang Hyung-cheol had sent.
"Source is a secret. The money is from soone called Mr. Jang in Haeundae."
"Huh? You an the guy known as the loan shark king in the south?"
"You know him?"
"When you run an info market on the dark web, you hear things. I heard he's been keeping a low profile. How'd you et him and get funds?"
In-hyuk just shrugged.
"Got lucky."
He never dread that King Jang, the loan shark, would be classified as an A2 client of Taeshin Asset Managent.
Of course, in his original mories, Kang In-hyuk also had Jang Hyung-cheol as a client, but didn't realize he was "Mr. Jang of Haeundae," and eventually canceled the account when he couldn't settle on a stock managent plan.
"Anyhow, we got a big inflow of money, and the cumulative profit's already over 250%."
This could be confird from the data on the monitor.
"Not bad. But don't get greedy. You have to get in and out at the exact timing I tell you."
anwhile, Go Mi-ah dipped her at generously in the green sauce and ate it.
"Mmm mmm―! It's all penny stocks, right?"
"Right. Tagging along a little is fine, but if you go over the line, they'll get involved too."
"Where's the penny stock being manipulated?"
"There's sothing called the H&T Fund. It's run by Tae Seokho. Outwardly, so guy nad Noah Gardner is listed as the CEO."
At the sa ti, Go Mi-ah, with a mouthful of at, let out a shriek.
"What?! You an the second son of Taeshin Group? Taeshin Trading's Executive Director Tae Seokho? And you're butting into a place they're manipulating? What if you get caught?"
Penny stocks are stocks that certain companies or individuals manipulate for large illegal profits.
Naturally, if soone else tries to piggyback off it, it won't end well.
"They can't expose it openly anyway. We're only grabbing crumbs."
"That's just too bold... So how do you know about that penny stock? Got an insider planted?"
You need a scapegoat company and a major shareholder to run a penny stock sche.
Of course, only those closely involved would know, and jumping in without knowing the timing is almost impossible.
"That's also a secret. Just split half of what you make now, like I said."
"Huh? That much?"
The source of the profit was the info In-hyuk handed over.
All Mi-ah did was buy and sell according to instructions, so she was puzzled.
"Think of it as a risk premium."
"Well, I'm not about to complain about making more. But seriously, I have to ask..."
"What?"
"With info like this, why work at a company? Why not just run the business yourself?"
Honestly, Go Mi-ah had doubted In-hyuk when he said he'd help her make a billion dollars.
But recently, playing the stocks by his info, she realized it was possible.
She couldn't understand why he'd work as a parachute-hire manager at Taeshin Asset Managent.
"I don't need to share profit I can make alone with those people. But it feels wasteful to give up my position there without a plan, and my marriage is sothing we negotiated."
The latter would depend on circumstances as they developed.
"Why? Your wife won't give you a divorce? Want to help?"
"How... Never mind. I can guess."
He rembered the offhand comnt Mi-ah made when she left his house before.
It was surely along the sa lines now.
"Don't you know infidelity is the best way to get a divorce? Whether there was love or not, it'll be over instantly."
"......."
"Am I wrong?"
In-hyuk shook his head with a sigh.
"I'll take care of Taeshin business. Just focus on handling AMK."
"Okay―! That's easy enough. Oh, so can I bundle my earnings with the info and use it for future investnts?"
Mi-ah was starting to trust the stock info and wanted more profit.
"Do what you want. But register with AMK Partners as a corporate director, not under a borrowed na. That way, future profit flows from the company's investnt. To avoid trouble later bringing funds into Korea."
Mi-ah's eyes narrowed.
"Be honest. How much have you skimd off as Taeshin Group's son-in-law?"
"What do you an?"
"It's weird—a guy who used to be completely passive now suddenly acts like this! Are you setting up for when you get kicked out?"
"...... If that happens, will getting kicked out be the end?"
"They'll sue first... Jail if it's really bad?"
"Don't worry about it. None of what you're thinking will happen."
Letting out another sigh, In-hyuk felt thirsty and opened the fridge.
He found a clear water bottle instead of regular water, poured a cup and took a sip.
"Keugh―!"
The mont it touched his tongue, a fishy, bitter taste hit him like a tsunami.
He imdiately spat the "water" out into the sink and glared at Mi-ah.
"Keck, keck! What is this! It's not water?"
"Oh, that? My special health tea."
"What did you put in it to make it taste like this?"
"Only healthy ingredients, obviously. First, mackerel extract—"
"Wait."
That ingredient was a huge red flag from the start.
"What?"
"Is mackerel extract even a thing? Do they sell that?"
Even In-hyuk, who didn't know much about cooking, had never heard of it.
"Of course not! That's why I made it! How is it? Isn't it delicious?"
"How did you make it so clear like water?"
"Hmm... Want to know?"
"No. Actually, I don't want to know. Sa for the other ingredients."
He was afraid to even hear the rest.
And the fact that mackerel extract and other things went in, and yet it was clear and had no sll...
Instead of pouring it out, In-hyuk put the bottle back in the fridge.
"Co on! It's good for your health."
"If I have to drink that, I don't want to be that healthy."
"Sheesh."
"...... Anyway, just do as it says from here on out."
He took a USB from his jacket and handed it to her.
"This is the next penny stock list, right?"
"Yeah. There'll be other investnt items later, too."
"Investnt―?"
As she was about to plug the USB into the computer, Mi-ah turned back to In-hyuk.
She'd thought she only had to buy and sell stocks through AMK Partners; this was different.
"With all the money coming in, you need to branch out from just stocks."
"For investnt, don't you need contracts and negotiations? That's face to face. Are you doing it yourself?"
"I work at a company, rember?"
Taeshin Asset Managent, at that.
If it beca known he was working for another firm, it might get him accused of insider trading.
"Then who is? Don't tell ... ?"
"Absolutely not. Don't worry."
In-hyuk was firm. He couldn't risk her serving sothing she made to an important client.
"Why so serious..."
"I'll hire an outside salesperson. You just keep doing what you're doing."
As they chatted, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
It was a call from Tae Ju-ha.
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