Real Man

Chapter 120:

Chapter 120

The lady greeted us at the door.

“Have a good time, everyone.”

“Thank you.”

Clack, thud.

The door closed, and it was the moment when Kim Hyun-min, the Manager was about to spit out the words he had been holding back.

But Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, asked first.

“Yoo-hyun! Do you know how to invest in stocks?”

“Why?”

Kim Hyun-min, who missed the timing, waited for now.

“I’m planning to buy some stocks with the money I saved. The market has been going up and down lately. What do you think? Should I buy?”

“I’m curious too. How about Hansung Electronics?”

Lee Chan-ho joined in, and Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, leaned forward.

Even Choi Min-hee, the section chief, showed interest.

Stock investment was a hot issue recently, and everyone had a tempting reaction.

That’s when Yoo-hyun sighed and said.

“I think it’s better to be careful right now.”

“Why? Is it going down?”

“Why? Why?”

“I saw on the news that the subprime mortgage crisis is not over yet.”

Subprime mortgage crisis.

It meant the situation where low-income borrowers who had taken out loans with subprime mortgages in the U.S. failed to repay their loans due to rising interest rates, causing bankruptcy of lenders and financial institutions.

Kim Hyun-min, who had studied real estate investment overnight recently, understood what he said.

Most of them here didn’t know much about it.

‘He definitely knows how to invest!’

As Yoo-hyun’s words continued, Kim Hyun-min’s misunderstanding became more and more certain.

On the other hand, Yoo-hyun felt frustrated by the constant questions.

The stock market was shaky due to the subprime mortgage crisis, but there were still rosy news coming out.

In fact, the stocks were rising again, as if mocking the experts who had predicted they would fall.

How could Yoo-hyun predict whether the stocks would rise or fall tomorrow in this situation?

He knew the big trend that there would be an economic crisis around the end of this year or next year, but he couldn’t know the small trends as well.

Even if he did, Yoo-hyun didn’t want to interfere with other people’s investments.

He might make some money by luck and lose more later.

He didn’t want to go into details and just wanted to give some advice on a reasonable level.

But things went wrong.

-Actually, I invested in stocks on the downside. I was going to tell you… Huh? Profit? Well… I invested in put options.

It was what Park Young-hoon said on the phone a while ago.

Kim Hyun-soo had invested in put options.

It means that he would make a profit if the stock price falls, but there is a deadline for options.

If the stock price falls within the deadline, he can get a huge profit ratio, but if not, he has to bear the loss accordingly.

It means that there is a lot of risk involved.

Yoo-hyun’s half-hearted advice was the cause of it.

When he said he wanted to invest in stocks, Yoo-hyun told him that it was better to buy gold and dollars since the stocks would surely fall.

Then he could get a stable income no matter how much the stock market fluctuated.

But he bet big on the fact that the stocks would fall.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have told him more clearly.’

Then maybe he could have suggested another alternative to him who was impatient.

He regretted it.

That’s when Park Seung-woo asked again.

“But won’t it go up? The stocks have been going up all along.”

“It will go up someday.”

“Should I invest?”

“Then do it. Just don’t push yourself too hard.”

He could feel his eagerness from his expression.

Investment is based on one’s own will, so Yoo-hyun gave him a principled answer.

But this vague advice was no different from what he had given to Kim Hyun-soo.

Maybe he could have given him more specific advice and prevented him from getting hurt by his crush later.

It was a hopeless problem.

While Yoo-hyun was thinking about it, Park Seung-woo said.

“Actually, I have a stock that Miracle Invest recommended me this time. I think I should put my money there.”

“Huh? Do you know that place too? They say their returns are amazing.”

Lee Chan-ho also chimed in.

‘Miracle Invest?’

Yoo-hyun’s head flashed for a moment.

It was the company that Lee Yong-oh, his classmate and scammer, said he belonged to.

The CEO of that company will be arrested for fraud with a huge amount of money in the future.

‘Yeah. Let’s go for sure instead of half-hearted.’

Yoo-hyun’s wish was that the people around him would be happy.

He didn’t want to stand by and watch them get scammed.

Yoo-hyun said firmly.

“No, don’t do it.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t think it’s a good place. My classmate said he works there, but he turned out to be a scammer. Some of my classmates also suffered a lot.”

He even added a reason.

He was going to stop them unless they did it secretly.

That’s when it happened.

Kim Hyun-min, who was next to him, asked with a serious look.

“What? Miracle Invest is a scam?”

Why is this guy like this?

“Could there be a problem with the apartment they recommended me to buy? The area is Incheon and the construction company is Woo-sang Construction…”

‘Woo-sang Construction?’

Woo-sang Construction was the company that would go bankrupt soon due to a large-scale fraud.

And Yoo-hyun remembered that there wasn’t much time left for that point.

The signs were already clear.

If his father was about to sign a contract with them, it was enough to say.

Miracle Invest and Woo-sang Construction.

They were really something.

“Don’t do it.”

“I already bought it.”

“Can you get out of it?”

“I can. I haven’t paid the interim payment yet.”

“Then get out of it.”

Yoo-hyun cut him off sharply, and Kim Hyun-min looked surprised.

“What?”

“I think it’s better to get out of it even if you lose some money. My father’s company was going to sign a contract with them, but they found out that they were very insolvent.”

“Gasp!”

Yeah, he should have told Kim Hyun-soo like this.

He should have made sure he didn’t have any other thoughts.

Zzzz.

Yoo-hyun was on his way back from the dinner party.

His phone rang and he picked it up. 

It was Ha Jun-seok, his friend who worked at a small construction company in Ulsan.

-Yoo-hyun, I have something I want to consult with you.

“What is it?”

He asked seriously out of the blue.

-I’m thinking of moving to Woo-sang Construction. What do you think?

“No, don’t do it. Stay where you are.”

-Why? Woo-sang Construction is much bigger than our company. They pay more too.

“It’s a long story, but they’re going bankrupt soon. And your company will grow bigger.”

-Geez! Really? They’re doing a lot of sales lately?

“That’s fraud. The people in our company also canceled their purchases after finding out.”

You have to tell them firmly if you know the right direction.

-Oh! Thank you, thank you. But how do you know our company will grow bigger?

“There aren’t many companies that can fill the gap left by Woo-sang Construction.”

-Ah, really? That makes sense. Okay.

“Yeah. Just hang in there as long as you’re not too stressed. Think about changing jobs later.”

-How’s work? Anyway, thanks.

You have to care and reach out to prevent them from going in the wrong direction.

That’s what he was going to do from now on.

Yoo-hyun came home and called Kim Hyun-soo.

“Hyun-soo, about your investment.”

-Yoo-hyun, it’s okay, man. Don’t worry.

“Still, that…”

-Thanks for caring, but I’ll handle this myself.

The problem was that he was more stubborn than expected.

If he didn’t listen on the phone, he had to meet him and persuade him.

Kim Hyun-soo’s mother had successfully undergone surgery and was transferred to a hospital in her hometown.

And Kim Hyun-soo was running a car center while taking care of his mother.

He had to go down to his hometown to meet him.

Well, that’s good.

He hadn’t been there since Chuseok.

Yoo-hyun didn’t hesitate to buy a bus ticket.

Saturday.

Yoo-hyun got off the bus and stopped by his house first.

His mother, who had closed her side dish shop early after receiving a call from him, greeted him with bare feet as soon as he arrived.

She told him not to do that, but when he saw his mother’s smiling face, he felt glad.

Yoo-hyun handed her the hiking shoes he bought as a gift.

“Mom, take this.”

“Oh! You don’t have to. Why do you keep buying things like this?”

His mother said with her mouth, but her hands moved quickly.

She tore the package open and tried on the shoes.

Then she showed him a bright expression.

“Oh, the size fits perfectly. How did you know?”

“I know your size like a knife, mom.”

“Ho ho, but it’s really nice.”

“I’m glad.”

He could tell without saying anything.

His mother hadn’t taken off her shoes since before.

She kept touching them with one hand as if she liked the feel of the surface and said.

“How did you buy this?”

“You said you were going hiking with dad tomorrow.”

“Eh, tomorrow is just a drink in front of the mountain.”

“Still. You have to equip yourself properly when you exercise.”

Yoo-hyun cheered him up, and his mother started talking about hiking.

“Yeah. When you go hiking, you…”

“Then tomorrow’s hiking event is…”

He felt so happy that Yoo-hyun gladly joined the conversation.

A conversation flower bloomed between the two people on the topic of hiking.

If he had known he liked it so much, he would have taken more care of it.

He kept thinking that.

“Which mountain do you usually go to?”

“It varies. Last time I went to Palgong Mountain in Daegu and before that I went to Jirisan.”

“What about your side dish shop?”

“I just close it that day. Can people live by working all the time? You have to play when you play.”

“It looks good.”

Yoo-hyun smiled, and his mother made a bright gesture with exaggerated movements.

“Yeah. The side dish shop is good, dad’s factory is good, everything is good. I don’t have to worry about money at all.”

“Yes, mom.”

He then brought up money on purpose.

He still had the memory of being estranged from his son because of the debt problem in his family.

He didn’t need to do that anymore.

Poke.

Yoo-hyun picked up an apple cut into bite-sized pieces with a fork and held it out to his mother’s mouth.

She took it and said it was delicious while wrinkling her nose.

His smiling face felt very dear to him.

“Do you come to Seoul sometimes?”

“Of course. Seoul is a must course. I go hiking and sightseeing in Seoul.”

“Call me then. I’ll take care of you then.”

“No way. The ladies will be jealous if they see my son.”

He heard that Yoo-hyun’s reputation was quite high among his mother’s friends.

When he stopped by his mother’s side dish shop, the lady who ran the donut shop next door was the source of the rumor.

“He studies well, works at a big company, handsome, generous. Oh my. I can’t listen to her saying that all the time. It’s embarrassing.”

“It looks fine?”

“No way. People will hate me. Ho ho.”

His mother pretended to be embarrassed by what she said, but she looked happy as she smiled with her eyes.

“Should I call them once?”

“Sure. Anytime.”

No, he was clearly happy about it.

Yoo-hyun vowed to keep his promise for sure.

That’s when his mother clapped her hands as if she remembered something and asked him.

“Oh! Yoo-hyun, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Huh?”

He almost spat out the juice he was drinking at the sudden question.

Whether she took his reaction as nothing or not, his mother splashed saliva and continued.

“There’s a girl who went to medical school among my friends’ daughters. She’s pretty and nice. She said she wanted to meet you once.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know. I know. I don’t really want a doctor daughter-in-law, but I thought it would be okay if you liked her.”

It looks like you really want it?

Anyone could see that she was very hopeful.