December 24, 1997.
"Market's closed!"
At Noh Hee-won's shout, Jung Hwan-yeop stretched both arms high into the air with a loud
yawn.
"Ahhh… Another day wrapped up."
At that moment, Choi Ho-geun, sporting a red silk tie and holding a coffee cup in one hand,
walked over and asked,
"Make any money today?"
"Heh. Do you know who you're talking to?"
Jung Hwan-yeop twirled a pen between his fingers and put on a smug look.
"Who else? Yeouido's slickest operator."
"Oh, come on. Don't say that in front of the junior staff. 'Slick operator'—really?"
"Yeah, yeah, cut the chatter and show me the gains."
"Yes, sir."
In a grumbling tone, Jung Hwan-yeop moved his mouse and brought up the day's trading profit on his screen.
[+11,500,000₩]
Upon seeing the amount, Choi Ho-geun finally cracked a smile.
"Well, I guess you earned your dinner today."
"Swing trading's my specialty, but I can do a bit of day trading too, you know."
Watching Jung Hwan-yeop puff out his chest in pride again, Choi Ho-geun fired back with a
teasing tone.
"Oh please. The market rebounded today—if you couldn't make money off a bounce like that, you don't deserve your seat."
"A little harsh, don't you think?"
Pouting like he was genuinely hurt, Jung Hwan-yeop got a playful pat on the shoulder from Choi Ho-geun.
"Still, seeing as you've got the highest return rate on the team, looks like Jung Hwan-yeop still has some life left in him."
"Of course I do."
Jung quickly dropped the sulky act and lifted his chin proudly.
Choi Ho-geun let out a chuckle at his antics and clapped his hands to draw the team's attention.
"It's Christmas Eve, people. Let's wrap up early. Make sure all your transaction slips are in order and hand them over to Miss Noh."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
Yoo Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee responded in unison and immediately sat down to organize the day's trades.
On a normal day, they'd be mentally drained from focusing on buying and selling stocks, their faces showing nothing but exhaustion. But with tomorrow being a holiday for Christmas, the whole team seemed to be in unusually high spirits.
While watching his busy team at work, Choi Ho-geun glanced at the watch on his wrist.
He had made dinner reservations for a rare outing with his family at a newly opened family
restaurant that had recently entered the Korean market. With time to spare, it looked like he
wouldn't be late.
"I heard all the waitresses wear leather vests and accessorize?"
Since it was a foreign chain restaurant, even the staff uniforms were quite unique.
Choi Ho-geun smacked his lips, recalling how his wife had insisted on going there because the salad bar was supposed to be famous.
"Honestly, wouldn't it be better to just go eat Korean beef?"
To Choi, who firmly believed that the pinnacle of dining was premium Korean beef, his wife's preference didn't quite make sense.
But sometimes, silence was essential—for the sake of peace at home and getting through another year without trouble.
That, he believed, was the wisdom of a married man.
"Christmas Eve means the roads will be jammed. It'll take a while to pick up the wife and kids and drive all the way to Deungchon-dong."
As he mentally calculated the time, Finance Section Chief Jang Myung-ho entered the office with a junior employee.
"Good work, everyone."
Still standing with one hand on his hip, Choi looked at him with a curious expression.
"What brings you here, Chief Jang?"
Jang Myung-ho replied with a pleasant smile.
"The year-end bonuses have come in, so I'm here to distribute them."
The moment he heard "bonus," Jung Hwan-yeop's ears perked up, and he jumped to his feet.
"I was just wondering when it would come since it's about that time! And now it lands right on Christmas? Perfect timing!"
His eyes sparkled so much that it was almost awkward to watch.
After months of remarkable performance, the rest of the team looked just as excited and
expectant.
Choi Ho-geun also felt his heart race at the news, but kept his cool, clearing his throat before speaking in a composed tone.
"You could've sent someone from your team. Why come in person?"
"The bonus amount for the fund operations department is quite large, so I thought it would be too much pressure for my staff. That's why I came myself."
"Huh? Aren't they just supposed to hand out the statements?"
Choi blinked in surprise.
Usually, like a regular paycheck, bonuses were deposited directly into bank accounts and only a breakdown was distributed—so hearing they brought cash was unexpected.
Understanding the reaction, Jang smiled knowingly.
"That's usually the case, but the president instructed us to deposit half into accounts as usual, and hand out the other half in cash."
"Oh-ho… is that so?"
Choi Ho-geun's mouth curled into a wide grin.
"Well now, handing out cash like this must be a real hassle for your department."
"It's no trouble at all. For something like this, I'd gladly do it ten times over."
Jang Myung-ho laughed heartily, showing no signs of complaint.
Retrieving the cash from the bank, matching the exact amounts, stuffing the envelopes—it had to be a lot of work. But he looked genuinely cheerful about it.
Choi, who had more or less figured out the reason behind his mood, looked back at him with a big smile.
"Ah, I've gone on for too long. I'll leave you to your work and finish up quickly."
Turning to his junior staffer, Jang signaled with a wave.
The staff member opened the bag he'd been carrying and began handing out envelopes labeled with each recipient's name, collecting signatures for confirmation.
"Well then, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas."
Leaving behind his cheerful farewell, Jang and his assistant exited the office.
"Whew, our president really gets what it's like to be a married man."
"What do you mean by that?"
Noh Hee-won tilted her head and asked innocently,
"So, instead of depositing the entire bonus into your bank account, they split it and gave half in cash?"
Jung Hwan-yeop chuckled as he waved the bonus envelope in his hand.
Still puzzled, Noh frowned, prompting Jung to lower his voice like he was about to reveal some deep secret.
"Think about it. If the whole bonus goes straight into your bank account, it's no longer yours—it belongs to the lady of the house. But when you get it in cash like this, you can quietly slip it into your pocket and keep your mouth shut. For us married guys who survive on allowance, it's the perfect chance to stash away some emergency funds. Didn't you see how Chief Jang was practically glowing just now?"
"Oh my god…"
Noh looked stunned.
"When you're married, there shouldn't be any secrets between spouses! That's just wrong."
"Every man has spending he'd rather not explain to his wife. Miss Noh, you'll understand once you get married."
Surprisingly, even Choi Ho-geun nodded along in agreement with Jung's explanation.
"But you're not even married yet, Manager Jung."
"Heh heh heh."
Jung lifted his index finger and waved it side to side, just like the male lead in a recently popular TV drama.
"There are things a man just knows."
"Oh, come on."
Skeptical, Noh rolled her eyes while Jung spun around in his chair and looked over at Yoo Seok-hyun.
"Manager Yoo, you get what I'm saying, right?"
"Uh…"
Yoo glanced nervously at Hong Jae-hee seated beside him and gave a sheepish smile.
"I don't know… I guess I don't really—"
"Pfft. Figures. With her watching you like a hawk every day, even if the company handed you cash, you wouldn't be able to stash any of it away."
"Manager!"
"Whoa, easy! You're gonna shatter my eardrums."
Jung flinched dramatically at the outburst, grinning as he teased her.
"Our Miss Hong has quite the powerful voice—perfect general material!"
"Manager Jung, I mean it this time!"
"Now that's what I call dependable!"
He even gave a thumbs-up with a proud "tsk" sound, while Hong Jae-hee gave him a thoroughly annoyed glare.
Watching it all unfold, Choi Ho-geun stifled his laughter, and Yoo Seok-hyun, looking flustered, quickly changed the subject.
"I was expecting more, but the envelope wasn't that thick."
"That's how I know you're still a rookie. Can't you tell just by looking? It's probably a cashier's check again."
Jung replied with practiced ease, patting the envelope he held.
"Heh. Well, let's see how much it is."
Humming to himself, Jung carefully opened the sealed envelope.
Just as expected, instead of cash, he pulled out a check.
"Told you so."
Looking smug, he checked the amount—only to freeze in place the moment he saw the numbers.
"…Huh?"
Thinking he must've read it wrong, Jung rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
Then he looked again—and his mouth dropped open in shock.
"H-Holy crap!"
Gasping, he jumped to his feet, visibly rattled.
"What's wrong?"
"Th-This… this thing…"
"?"
Jung Hwan-yeop, still in a daze, pointed to the cashier's check on his desk.
"Is this amount correct? I mean… this isn't some mistake, right?"
"Of course it's correct."
Choi Ho-geun grinned, clearly enjoying the moment.
"What? Did they stuff the envelope with nothing but one-million-won checks or something?"
It was an obvious joke—Jung had pulled out more than ten checks, and it was highly unlikely that each was for one million won.
The rest of the team chuckled and added their own quips.
"No way, that's too much."
"Well, that would be amazing—but no chance."
"Haha, yeah, right."
Everyone was laughing lightheartedly, except for Jung, who remained frozen with a stunned
expression.
That's when Choi Ho-geun began to sense something was off. His smile faded a little.
"Wait… No. You're not serious, are you?"
"They're not one-million-won checks."
"I figured as much."
"They're ten million each."
"...Come again?"
For a moment, Choi Ho-geun was paralyzed, and silence swept through the office.
"Did… did you just say ten million won?" Yoo Seok-hyun stammered.
"Yeah. All ten of them."
"Holy—!"
Yoo gasped, choking on his own breath, while both Hong Jae-hee and Noh Hee-won widened
their eyes and covered their mouths in shock.
"Oh my god!"
"Are you serious?!"
Jung Hwan-yeop nodded solemnly, his face unusually serious.
"It's real. I double-checked."
Unable to believe it, Hong Jae-hee hurriedly tore open her own bonus envelope.
Inside, along with a folded breakdown sheet, were five cashier's checks.
[₩10,000,000 (Ten Million Won)]
There were fewer checks than Jung's, but each one was clearly marked for ten million won. She stared at them, stunned, then shouted.
"This is insane! Is this even real?!"
The rest of the team quickly checked their own envelopes.
Yoo Seok-hyun found the same—five ten-million-won checks. Noh Hee-won, who worked in the back office, had just one, but it was also a ten-million-won check.
She looked like she might faint as she stared at the large sum of money she'd never handled
before. Her hands trembled as she whispered,
"This… this is really mine, right? You're not going to take it back, are you?"
"Calm down, Hee-won!" someone called out.
By now, Jung Hwan-yeop had somewhat calmed his racing heart, but he couldn't suppress the wide grin spreading across his face. He clenched his fist triumphantly.
"I told you—our CEO really knows how to make a statement! Isn't that right, sir?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah…"
Choi Ho-geun gave a flustered nod.
"You look just as shocked to see a ten-million-won check yourself, don't you?"
"Y-yeah."
Trying to maintain composure, Choi quickly slipped the check back into the envelope and sealed it.
Then, glancing at his still-buzzing team, he raised his voice with a stern expression.
"Alright, that's enough chatter. If you don't want to be stuck in the office all night, get your
reconciliations done—now!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
Perhaps it was the unexpected size of the performance bonuses, but the team's voices were full of energy.
Everyone returned to their tasks, smiles they couldn't hide still lingering on their faces. As the others busied themselves finishing up, Choi Ho-geun walked back to his desk and sat down in his chair.
He swallowed dryly and, making sure no one was watching, discreetly took the envelope out of his pocket and pulled the check from it once more.
[₩100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Won)]
It wasn't a mistake. It was really a one-hundred-million-won cashier's check.
Not just one, but three of them.
A single jackpot prize for the national lottery was typically around 150 million won—this was like winning the top prize twice in a row.
And yet, he had received that kind of money in one go, just as a performance bonus.
Choi Ho-geun held the checks in his trembling hands, still struggling to believe it was real.
"C-Could this be…"
He quietly pinched his thigh.
The pain was sharp—it wasn't a dream.
Now fully convinced it was reality, Choi lowered his head in front of the monitor, trying
desperately to suppress the giddy laughter bubbling up from his chest.
"Following the CEO was the best decision I ever made!"
It truly was the best choice of his life.