By the afternoon, the New York stock market had completely turned into a bear market, with panic selling pouring in from all directions.
RING! RING!
"Sell 2,000 shares of Microsoft? I'll put the order in, but with the market this bad, I can't guarantee it'll sell at that price!"
"Let's sell 3,000 shares of AT&T at $22.30!"
"What? Say that again!"
"Sell 3,000 shares of AT&T at $22.30!"
"ExxonMobil, 1,500 shares—sell at the current price!"
Traders shouted into the phones at the top of their lungs, or hammered away at their keyboards, non-stop, entering orders at breakneck speed.
The vast trading floor at Lehman Brothers resembled a battlefield.
Constantly exchanging trades, each order could mean gaining or losing tens of millions of dollars, so it was essentially a daily battle for position, fought without a single shot being fired.
Today, with all three major U.S. indices plummeting together, the atmosphere in the room grew even more heated.
Shouts and curses echoed from all sides, making it nearly impossible to have a conversation with anyone nearby, and the chaos only escalated as time passed.
"Damn it! I'm putting in orders, but nothing's getting filled. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
A trader, having suffered significant losses, cursed loudly as he crumpled up his order sheet and threw it aside.
But the colleagues around him just glanced at him briefly, then returned to their own trading, ignoring him completely.
"How much? It's fallen again! This is insane."
Rackman, holding two phones with both hands, grimaced as he shouted.
"Just sell it at that price! Hurry!"
Rackman slammed the phone down as if he were about to break it, then scratched his head while staring at the monitor.
With all three indices plummeting off a steep cliff, the trading window was flooded with sell orders.
As the losses mounted, even individual investors, who had initially gone in for bargain hunting, were getting scared and joining the panic selling. Rackman's lips went dry.
"How much further is this going to drop...?"
Despite a 30-minute trading halt triggered by the circuit breaker to calm panicked investors, the fear in the market only intensified. Rackman couldn't hide his growing anxiety, wondering if the market was on the verge of total collapse.
***
As the first light of dawn crept through the window, Seok-won —who had stayed up all night tracking the movements of the New York stock market—sat down at his desk, holding a steaming mug of freshly brewed coffee rich with the aroma of ground beans.
The Dow Jones chart on the monitor showed a sharp vertical drop, as if it had fallen off a cliff right before the market closed.
[DJI: 7,409.27 ▼ 554.26 (-6.95%)]
Leaning back in his chair, Seok-won let out a quiet sigh, tinged with a trace of regret.
"If the session had lasted just a little longer, the drop could've easily exceeded 600 points. What a shame."
Still, judging by the continued weakness in the futures market, it was clear the index would fall below the 7,400 level when the market reopened.
As he took a sip of the strong coffee, the phone on the edge of his desk rang.
Answering it, he was greeted by Landon's excited voice.
[Hahaha! Boss, did you see it? Just like you predicted—over a 500-point drop in the Dow!]
"Of course I did."
[I mean, it was expected that Hong Kong's crash would ripple through, but to get the exact scale of the drop right... You're incredible!]
Seok-won simply responded with a faint smile curling at his lips.
[Investors are still panicking and dumping shares, so it looks like the downtrend will continue for a while.]
"As I said before, the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are still solid. The market won't collapse entirely. It'll rebound soon enough."
[If that's your call, I believe it. Then, just as you instructed, we'll begin unwinding our futures positions starting tomorrow—no need to get greedy.]
Seok-won chuckled lightly.
"Exactly. Greed only brings trouble."
[Once we've closed everything out and the profits are locked in, I'll call you back.]
"Alright."
After hanging up, Seok-won set the phone down and turned to glance at the Dow futures chart on the left monitor.
[7,348.56 ▼ 60.71]
It had dropped even further since he last checked. The corners of his mouth lifted into a quiet smile.
Then, recalling that this latest bet included funds entrusted to him by Chairman Park Tae-hong on behalf of the Daheung Group, he murmured to himself,
"When he sees the final report, Father's going to be absolutely thrilled."
***
Vroooom.
With a loud engine roar, a red convertible descended the slope of an underground parking garage.
It was the Elan, a sports car ambitiously launched last year by Gichang Motors.
Faithfully built using the blueprint and production line acquired from the British company Lotus, the Elan stood out from other Korean cars with its sleek, streamlined body—its curves exuding a distinctly sexy allure.
Soon, the Elan found an empty spot and parked. The owner stepped out and opened the door.
"Mmm-hmm-hmm."
Even indoors, the man wore stylish sunglasses and hummed cheerfully—none other than Jung Hwan-yeop.
A known car enthusiast, Jung had practically drooled over the Elan when it was first released. He'd even gone out of his way to visit a dealership just to get a closer look.
But with a price tag of 28 million won, the car was far from affordable—even for someone like Jung, who earned a high salary compared to the average office worker.
To put it in perspective, a fully loaded mid-size sedan typically cost around 15 million won, making the Elan a true luxury.
So for a while, he could only admire from afar—until earlier this year, when Seok-won gave him a hefty bonus. Without hesitation, Jung paid the full amount in cash.
Beep-beep.
After locking the car with a remote key fob—stylishly, of course—Jeong gazed proudly at his parked Elan like a man admiring a work of art.
"Damn. These lines never get old."
Even just sitting there, the car gleamed and sparkled—it was clearly in a class of its own.
Then, spotting a tiny smudge on the hood, Jung's expression suddenly twisted.
"Tch. Where the hell did that come from?"
Carefully, he pulled a handkerchief from his inner pocket and gently wiped the spot, cautious not to leave any scratches.
Once it was clean again, he gave the car a loving look, then—briefcase in one hand, humming a tune—headed toward the office.
As a trader, Jung had to report to work earlier than most, since the team needed to be in before the stock market opened.
The one perk of that early start? Having the spacious elevator all to himself.
As expected, the hallway was still quiet when he arrived. Entering the office, he saw that Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun, along with the new hire Noh Hee-won, had already arrived.
"Good morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, sir."
"Morning!"
Returning the greetings with a smile, Jung set his briefcase on the desk and took his seat.
From across the desk, Yoo Seok-hyun looked at him and said with a grin:
"Something good happen? You look like you're in a great mood."
"Oh yeah? Do I?"
"Yes."
Jung Hwan-yeop straightened his back proudly, clearly happy for the opportunity to boast.
"I woke up early this morning, so I went for a drive on the Jayu-ro expressway."
"Ah, in that new Elan you just bought?"
"Of course!"
As most men had an interest in cars, Yoo Seok-hyun looked at him with curious eyes.
"So, did you drive with the top down?"
"Naturally. The road was completely clear since it was early morning, so I floored it. Man, it was amazing."
"Sounds incredible."
When Yoo gave him a look of envy, Jung Hwan-yeop's shoulders practically floated off the ground.
"If you don't drive a convertible when you're young, when will you? Yoo, you should go for one too!"
"Maybe I should..."
Hearing Jung go on and on, Yoo began to look tempted.
"You know, the production cost is actually around 40 million won. Gichang Motors is selling it at a loss—more than 10 million under cost!"
"Yeah, I read about that in an article. Since it's hard to mass-produce, I heard they're almost hand-assembling them."
"Exactly. The original model is by British Lotus, which is famous for hand-built cars. They took the design wholesale—of course you can't just slap it together on a factory conveyor belt."
"Right."
Yoo nodded, agreeing eagerly.
"They're not running a charity. There's no way they'll keep selling it at a loss for long. The price will definitely go up soon, so buying now is basically making money."
"Now that you say it like that... but still, it's really expensive."
"Even if you don't have the cash right now, we salarymen have the beauty of installment plans. What are you worried about? You know what they say—cars aren't bought with money, they're bought with guts."
As Jung kept trying to convince him, Yoo seemed halfway convinced.
"Should I really go for it?"
"Of course, man! If you're a guy, you just go for it!"
At that moment, Hong Jae-hee stepped in between them and slammed a stack of documents down on the desk.
"Installments are still debt, you know? That kind of talk could get you in real trouble."
"Aw, come on, Miss Hong. You just don't get it..."
"Jung Hwan-yeop"
"I'm telling you—sports cars are every man's dream!"
"JungHwan-yeop"
When Hong Jae-hee shot him a sharp glare, her eyes flaring, Jung Hwan-yeop finally shut his mouth with a sulky expression.
"Seriously... Seok-hyun, stop daydreaming and take a look at these documents I mentioned yesterday."
"Oh, sure. I will."
Feeling a bit chastised, Yoo Seok-hyun replied quietly, and Jung Hwan-yeop shook his head in mock pity.
"Man, look at you already whipped. Poor guy."
At that moment, Choi Ho-geun appeared out of nowhere and slapped Jung across the back.
"Hey, if you want to act like a wannabe rich kid, do it on your own. Why are you dragging responsible folks like Yoo into it?"
"Come on! 'Wannabe rich kid'? That's too harsh!"
"Why? Embarrassed to be called part of the 'kkangkkang tribe'?"
Jung looked genuinely offended and nodded quickly.
"Of course I am! Unlike those guys who rent flashy cars to show off, I paid cash for my Elan. It's mine, fair and square!"
"Wow. You must be so proud."
"Besides, I'm telling you—buying an Elan now is practically an investment!"
"Look at you. One car and you're suddenly a Gichang Motors sales rep. You should just transfer to their marketing department. Hell, next you'll be buying their stock."
Choi Ho-geun smirked as he teased him.
"Funny you mention that. I actually bought some Gichang Motors shares with the savings I had from a matured deposit a few days ago."
"What?"
Choi stared at him in disbelief.
"You didn't hear the rumors? There's talk that Gichang Motors might go bankrupt."
"Oh, come on, sir. You act like this is your first day in the stock market."
Jung Hwan-yeop puffed out his chest confidently, brushing off the concern.
"This isn't just any industry we're talking about—this is automotive, a core pillar of the national economy. Even if they wanted to collapse, they couldn't. Just wait—financial institutions will step in with support soon enough. The stock will rebound, and that's why now's the time to buy low."
"Didn't you see what happened to Hanbo Group? People thought they were too big to fail—and they still went under."
"I'm telling you, Gichang Motors is different."
Choi Ho-geun clicked his tongue, looking at him like he was out of his mind.
"Don't come crying later. If you've got the chance, get out now while you can."
"Come on, I'm a well-known trader here in Yeouido. You think I can't tell the difference between gold and garbage?"
"Sure, you're good at swing trading—but corporate analysis? Not so much."
"Alright, alright. Don't worry about me."
As Choi Ho-geun thumped his own chest in frustration, Jung Hwan-yeop shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Just then, the phone rang. Yoo Seok-hyun answered it, spoke briefly with someone, then turned back to them, eyes wide.
"Sir! Gichang Motors and all 18 of its affiliates have just been designated under the corporate credit protection program."
Jung Hwan-yeop jumped up, stunned.
"You're serious!?"
"Yes, the Ministry of Finance just made the announcement."
"Oh, shit!"
Jung Hwan-yeop collapsed onto his desk in despair, hand on his head.
Watching him, Choi Ho-geun clucked his tongue and muttered smugly:
"Yeah, real sharp eye you've got there."
TL/n -
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