Fortunately, I immediately thought of someone I could ask for help.
“Is Hyunjoo still in Korea?”
If she works at Golden Gate, she must be well-versed in derivatives.
“She returned to Hong Kong a few days ago.”
“Oh…”
Hyunjoo came to Korea for the Baymart inspection. Since her business trip is over, it’s natural for her to go back.
“Should I ask her through phone or email?”
I was about to nod but stopped.
“If you ask her if she believes in gift options, what will she say?”
Taekgyu said confidently.
“You have to say you believe in the Oracle Eye’s foresight.”
“… ”
I hope she unpacks and calls back.
As I was contemplating, I remembered a suitable person.
“I know someone I can ask.”
I dialed the number I knew, but it came back as an invalid number. I heard the number had changed since I took a leave of absence, and I haven’t been in touch since, so I don’t know the new contact information.
There is a way to find out.
I called a senior who was the vice president of the club when I was in it.
[“Hello.”]“Hello, Senior Hoyoung. I’m Kang Jinhoo from the Business Administration department.”
[“Long time no see, Jinhoo. How have you been? Are you done with the military service?”]“Yes. I called to ask you something.”
[“What is it?”]“Do you happen to know Sangyeop’s contact information?”
“I don’t know… Ah! Woo Hyun might know. Try contacting Woo Hyun.”
“Got it.”
“When are you returning to school? I need to see your face.”
“Yes. I will contact you later.”
After calling several club members multiple times, I finally managed to get in touch with Senior Sangyeop to get his contact information.
I made another phone call.
Ring ring! Click!
“Hello.”
Luckily, the call went through.
I quickly spoke.
“Is this Senior Sangyeop’s phone?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“I’m Kang Jinhoo from the Business Administration department.”
Senior Sangyeop responded warmly.
“Oh, Kang Jinhoo! Long time no see.”
“How have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been alright. But what’s up?”
“I’ll tell you when we meet up. Are you free to meet?”
“I’m currently in Suwon, can you come over here?”
“Shall I come now?”
“Not right now, but after 10 pm should be fine.”
“Got it. I’ll come over at that time.”
After hanging up, Taekgyu asked, “Who was that?”
“It’s Park Sangyeop, the former president of the Investment Club.”
“What kind of person is he?”
I chuckled softly and replied, “He’s a total nerd.”
Adding a few more words, I said, “And he’s also a genius.”
There are two types of geniuses in the world. Those who excel in various fields and those who excel in just one area.
Senior Sangyeop belonged to the latter category.
—
The Investment Club.
Also known as the “Fail Club”.
Senior Sangyeop was the club president when I joined.
Since childhood, he had won several international math competitions as a math prodigy, which earned him admission to a prestigious math department in Korea.
Growing up in Australia, he was fairly proficient in English, but his grades in subjects other than math and English were abysmal.
He mentioned that without his math achievements, even getting into a local university based on his college entrance exam scores would have been difficult.
His grades in subjects other than his major barely passed. But when it came to math, he was unrivaled.
The story of how he secretly attended a fourth-year class as a freshman, got engrossed in a problem given by the professor, and spent three days and nights solving it was famous around campus.
By chance, he joined the Investment Club and became fascinated with the stock market.
During mock trading, he developed a keen interest in stocks. It was then that Senior Sangyeop noticed a small company called MK Tech listed on the KOSDAQ.
For some reason, he predicted that the stock would skyrocket by over ten times. However, he didn’t have enough funds to invest.
No matter how much one expects a stock to rise, it’s futile without the money to invest.”
Senior Sangyeop, who deemed the opportunity too good to miss, immediately sublet his living space and received a refund of 5 million won as a security deposit, using that money to buy MK Tech stocks.
Having no place to stay, he moved between friends’ homes and dorm rooms, patiently waiting for the stocks to rise. Astonishingly, within just a month of purchasing, MK Tech soared as it aligned with the trending themes of the time, hitting the daily limit increase.
The stock, which had been at rock bottom for years, rose tenfold in less than two months. As expected, when it increased tenfold, Sangyeop promptly sold the stocks without hesitation.
In less than a month, the 5 million won had turned into 50 million won. This was just the beginning.
Having succeeded in his first investment, Sangyeop focused on corporate analysis, leaving lectures, grades, and personal interests behind.
Despite facing occasional losses, he promptly cut losses and switched to other stocks following his principles.
Consistently making profits, by the time I joined the club, Sangyeop’s investment fund had surpassed 300 million won. For an ordinary university student, this sum would be unimaginable.
However, Sangyeop felt a sense of inadequacy. Most regrettable to him was his initial investment amount.
If his initial investment had been 100 million won, he could have earned 6 billion won.
Yet, with only a modest 5 million won as the initial investment, he could not earn more than 300 million won. Sangyeop set his sights on achieving higher returns.
He stacked dozens of books, conducted simulated trading, and studied the options market. When he spotted an opportunity in CL Chemicals, a subsidiary of the CL Group known for its advanced technology in basic materials and batteries, he believed it was significantly undervalued and predicted it would double in the future.
Thus, he liquidated all his holdings to invest in CL Chemical call options.
Unfortunately, shortly after Sangyeop’s option purchase, an unfortunate incident occurred where an employee fell victim to an email phishing scam, resulting in the erroneous transfer of $27 million to a false account, which was equivalent to 20% of CL Chemical’s quarterly operating profit at the time.
Due to a completely unexpected adversity, the stock price, which was 200,000 won, dropped to 170,000 won, and the value of the call option I purchased plummeted in an instant.
In that situation, Senior Sangyeop chose adventure instead of liquidating his position. He further ventured into buying more options.
Senior Sangyeop borrowed at the legal maximum interest rate from a loan shark, and with that money, he bought call options again.
However, even until the option expiration date, the stock price of CL Chemicals did not recover, and the investment of over 300 million won turned into zero.
As the days passed and he didn’t repay the loan, the loan shark’s pressure began.
Men in black suits frequently visited the club room. It was illegal collection, but there was no way to respond.
Eventually, Senior Sangyeop dropped out of school and disappeared.
Around that time, my family situation worsened. Due to enlistment, naturally, our contact was lost, and I haven’t heard from him since.
“In the end, CL Chemicals started gaining attention in the battery sector and rose to over 500,000 won, but that’s a story from much later.”
If he had bought physical stocks instead of options, the 300 million would have become 700 million. However, due to dabbling in options, he couldn’t salvage a penny.
Having heard the whole story, Taekgyu shook his head.
“Started with 5 million won, made 300 million, and ended up a debtor in the end? Life can be quite eventful for that person, eh?”
“That’s true.”
I nodded and wondered how he was living now.
I bowed to a man with the build of a bear.
“Long time no see, Senior.”
Seeing Senior Sangyeop again, he looked healthier than I expected.
However, he seemed at least 10 years older than before. His tanned face had wrinkles, and although he always had little hair, now it was almost half gone.
People would probably mistake him for a middle-aged man with a couple of kids, not a college student.
It seems like you’ve had a hard time in the past two years.
Senior Sangyeop greeted me warmly.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
Sangyeop nodded.
“There are plenty of restaurants in this busy area. What would you like to eat?”
“What would you like to have, senior?”
“Would you like to have pork belly?”
Sangyeop preferred beef over pork, especially sirloin.
During his heyday in the stock market, he used to treat his club to sirloin dinners. Of course, all expenses were covered by the club president, Sangyeop.
I said to Sangyeop, “Senior, I’m in the mood for some sirloin. Let’s go eat some sirloin after a long time.”
Sangyeop responded with an awkward smile, “I’m sorry, but I have some circumstances these days…”
I pointed to Taekgyu and said, “He’s going to make a lot of money.”
We sat around the grill.
Taekgyu looked at the menu and gasped, “Wow! 40,000 won per person…!”
Even someone with a lot of money is surprised at little things.
“I’ll order.”
I grabbed the menu and ordered three portions of sirloin first.
Sangyeop scratched his head and asked.
“Is it really okay to profit from this?”
“You know, the senior always used to buy.”
Senior Sangyeop turned his gaze towards Taekgyu.
“Who is this?”
Come to think of it, I didn’t introduce him.
“He’s my friend. His name is Taekgyu Oh.”
Senior Sangyeop looked surprised.
“Is he the friend who bought Bitcoin in middle school?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
We’ve talked about Taekgyu once before at a drinking session.
Senior Sangyeop clicked his tongue in regret.
“What a waste. If only he had found the encryption key, it would have been a jackpot.”
Taekgyu found the USB containing the encryption key not long ago. So, it’s natural not to know the details of the story.
“Would you like to drink?”
Senior Sangyeop shook his head in response to my question.
“I have to go back to work. Just a cola will do.”
Since Taekgyu shouldn’t drink due to driving, I ordered two bottles of cola for myself.
Sizzle!
The meat on the grill emitted a savory smell as it cooked.
Senior Sangyeop picked up a piece of lightly cooked sirloin.
“Wow! It’s been so long since I’ve had beef.”
I felt the same way.
Eating mostly flour-based dishes at home, having some good meat now makes me feel like I might gain weight. It’s a moment when I realize once again that humans have evolved through hunting and consuming meat.
“After taking a leave of absence, how have you been?”
“I worked whatever odd jobs I could find for a while. Did manual labor, did some chauffeuring. Now I teach aspiring students at a friend’s private academy, eating and sleeping there.”
“Teaching math?”
Senior Sangyeop chuckled.
“As you know, I’m not skilled in teaching other subjects. By sweating it out and earning money, I realized how precious even a 100-won coin can be.”
“You’ve changed a lot, senior.”
During the good days of successful stock trading, earning hundreds in a day was routine. The more money earned, the greater the spending, using money as if it were water.
“Now I’m left with around 2,000. Gotta work hard for a few months to pay it off.”
Earning hundreds of millions, suddenly becoming indebted overnight. If it were anyone else, they might have despaired and given up, right?
Since I first saw him, I felt he really isn’t an ordinary person.
The meat quickly disappeared from the grill. I ordered an extra portion for two. Indeed, meat tastes best when someone else treats you to it.
After our stomachs were somewhat full, Senior Sangyeop asked, “But why did you ask to meet me?”
“I wanted to meet you once. And to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“I want to know more about futures options.”
“To open a futures trading account, you need to complete some training and have a margin deposit.”
“Those won’t be a problem.”
OTK Company has a corporate account already set up.
It’s already configured for all types of trading.
