The Lehman Brothers trading floor in Times Square, Broadway, Manhattan.
As always, phones were ringing nonstop, and traders were shouting orders across the room in a chaotic rhythm.
Riiiing! Riiiing!
"Philip Morris! Buy ten thousand shares at market!"
"Thirty-two fifty a share? Okay, done!"
"Sell fifty thousand Dell at thirty-two thirty-seven—no, at forty!"
While frantic trades were being executed everywhere, senior trader Rackman stood with his shirt sleeves rolled up, frowning at the six monitors spread out in front of him.
Just then, Charlie—who had just finished confirming an order and set his receiver down—turned his head toward him from his chair.
"What are you staring off into space for?"
"It's nothing."
"Your face doesn't say 'nothing.' What's going on?"
Charlie leaned back in his chair, pressing the question again.
Rackman stroked the edge of his chin with one hand and met Charlie's eyes.
"Enron."
"What about Enron?"
"The stock's been dropping all week."
Charlie glanced at one of Rackman's monitors, confirming the chart showing Enron's price movement, and replied casually.
"I thought something serious had happened. The way you were frowning, you looked like the world was ending."
Charlie replied as he grabbed a potato chip from the corner of his desk and tossed it into his mouth.
"It's because Eldorado Fund has been unloading its Enron shares. That's all."
Just as Seok-won and his team expected, it didn't take long for word to spread across Wall Street that Eldorado Fund was selling its Enron position.
There were plenty of eyes tracking Eldorado's movements, and since they owned roughly ten percent of the company, their trades were impossible to hide.
"Even with Eldorado dumping massive amounts of shares every day, the stock only fell about ten dollars from the peak. Enron's fundamentals are definitely strong."
"How much do you think Eldorado has sold so far?"
Charlie shrugged.
"No one knows the exact number. But considering nearly twenty million shares were dumped on the market every day last week, even if Eldorado was responsible for just half of that, they've probably offloaded around seventy million shares."
"So they've nearly liquidated their entire position."
"Considering Enron has seven hundred ninety million shares outstanding, yeah, that sounds about right."
Charlie nodded, then glanced at the Enron chart, which was curling upward at the tail.
"Since yesterday, buyers have been stepping in hard. The stock flattened out and started ticking upward again. Looks like people think the selling is over and are moving in to buy cheap."
He clicked his tongue softly.
"Enron under eighty-nine dollars a share is a bargain. Maybe I should get in myself."
Rackman muttered, still looking troubled.
"But why would Eldorado suddenly dump all of its Enron shares?"
"What else? Probably nothing special."
Busy all morning and barely having time for lunch, Charlie shoved more potato chips into his mouth as if trying to quiet his empty stomach, replying offhandedly.
"They probably made enough from Enron and just want to lock in their profits."
"Lock in profits, huh…"
"Eldorado's average purchase price for Enron was around thirteen dollars a share. At its peak, it went up nearly seven-fold. Of course they'd want to sell and secure the gains."
Charlie, looking genuinely envious, folded his fingers as he calculated.
"If we assume they sold at an average of around the mid-eighty-dollar range… damn, they made a killing again."
But Rackman still stared at the monitor, his expression clouded with doubt.
"Is locking in profits really the reason they sold?"
"What else could it be?"
"If they just wanted to realize gains, they wouldn't have dumped all their shares on the market at once. They could've sold gradually, or used a block deal to minimize the price impact."
"When you put it that way… yeah, that is odd."
Charlie tilted his head, sensing something strange, but not enough to concern him too deeply.
"And it's not like there's any bad news about Enron that would justify Eldorado dumping their entire stake. If anything, they're expanding aggressively through Enron Online, and a bunch of people connected to Enron are now in the Bush administration. Isn't that all bullish?"
As Charlie said, there was no visible bad news—nothing that would explain a sudden, full-scale liquidation. Rackman had nothing to counter with.
Yet the uneasy feeling refused to leave him. It clung to the back of his mind like something sticky and unpleasant.
"If the stock recovers to its previous high, we could easily make over ten percent from here. What are you going to do?"
Rackman stared at the monitor displaying the Enron chart, the tail flicking upward as if ready to rebound. He looked conflicted for a moment.
Then he shook his head and let out a long sigh.
"I don't know… I've got a bad feeling. I think it's safer to stay away."
"Because of Eldorado?"
Rackman nodded.
"They made huge profits, sure. But if Enron keeps growing at this pace, the stock could push past a hundred dollars easily."
"..."
"But the thing is—Chairman Park has a supernatural sense for money. If holding the stock would naturally grow his profits, why dump all of it? Why walk away from something that's still rising? It doesn't add up."
Normally, Charlie would've teased him for overthinking things.
But this wasn't just anyone—they were talking about Chairman Park Seok-won, a man whose overwhelming returns and flawless calls had pushed him beyond heavyweight status, turning him into a living legend on Wall Street.
"Damn it. Now that you're saying things like that, I'm starting to hesitate too."
Charlie groaned, folding his arms tightly.
"Your trades are your own decisions. Do what you want."
"Tch. Fine."
Charlie clicked his tongue, staring at Enron's stock price as it swung back and forth between green and red under a wave of bargain hunters. He hesitated, unsure of what to do.
"Ah, screw it."
After going back and forth in his head countless times, Charlie finally decided not to place a buy order. He let go of the idea of purchasing Enron altogether.
***
Seok-won headed down to the parking garage with his secretary, Manager Han Ji-sung.
He wore a navy suit tailored perfectly to his frame, with a pocket square tucked neatly in his chest pocket, adding a touch of refinement.
"Good morning, sir."
Joo Geunseong, who had been waiting beside the car parked in the villa's garage, quickly bowed.
"Good morning."
Returning the greeting with a light smile, Seok-won smoothly stepped into the back seat as Joo Geunseong opened the door for him.
As he settled into the soft leather seat, Joo Geunseong circled around to the driver's side and looked at him through the rearview mirror.
"I'll get us moving."
The engine started, and with a gentle press of the accelerator, the large Mercedes sedan glided forward and exited the garage.
Once they merged onto the main road, Manager Han, seated in the front, turned his head slightly toward the back seat.
"The Navy contacted us. They're planning to hold the launching ceremony for the first of the new high-speed patrol vessels in about two weeks. They're asking if you can attend."
"I thought it would take at least another month before they could put it in the water. Sounds like they finished construction much faster than expected."
"It seems your promise played a big role. You told them you'd add a hundred billion won in bonuses if all six vessels were completed within the year. Apparently, they've been working nonstop, twenty-four hours a day."
Hearing that people who had initially complained about the schedule were now burning with motivation after receiving a generous incentive made Seok-won chuckle.
"Speeding up construction is fine, but tell them to be careful. No rushed workmanship or safety accidents. Make sure they take care."
"I'll relay that. Then shall I confirm your attendance for the ceremony?"
"I should see for myself what kind of beauty they've built. Adjust the schedule accordingly."
"Understood."
After answering briefly, Manager Han Ji-sung turned back to face the road.
As the Mercedes sedan cruised along, Seok-won gazed out the window for a moment. Then he felt a vibration in his inner jacket pocket. He pulled out his phone and answered.
[It's me, boss. Is now a good time to talk?]
Hearing Landon's voice, Seok-won adjusted his grip on the phone.
"What's going on this early?"
[We finished unloading the rest of our Enron shares as of yesterday.]
At the news he'd been waiting for, a faint glint flashed in Seok-won's eyes.
"Good work. What was the average selling price?"
[Eighty-two dollars per share.]
"That's higher than I expected."
[Yes. With the size of the position, I thought the price would drop sharply as we sold. But there was strong buying interest for Enron, so we managed to offload everything without taking a loss.]
"Excellent."
[After subtracting the principal, our profit comes to five billion, four hundred forty-two million, three hundred ten thousand dollars.]
A satisfied smile crossed Seok-won's face as he nodded.
"Roughly a sixfold return. Not bad at all."
[Hahaha. Only you could make more profit than Goldman Sachs earned in an entire year and still call it 'not bad.']
"We're not done with Enron yet. The real bet starts now. There's no reason to be satisfied here."
[Very true. If Enron really crashes to the price you're targeting, our profits will explode again. No—honestly, even if it only falls halfway to the target, it would still be a massive jackpot.]
Landon's voice was full of anticipation.
"How's the mood on Wall Street about us dumping our entire Enron stake?"
[Fortunately, no one seems to have noticed the bomb Enron is sitting on. If they had, they wouldn't have eagerly scooped up the shares we were dumping.]
"I suppose so."
Landon continued on the other end of the line.
[Everyone seems puzzled, but since Enron looks solid on the surface, they're assuming you're just locking in profits.]
"When something looks flawless—so perfect there's nothing to criticize—that's when it's usually the most dangerous."
[Just like when the dot-com bubble burst.]
"Exactly."
Seok-won's eyes sharpened, like a predator watching its prey.
"Then let's officially begin the short selling."
[When do you plan to reveal the accounting fraud?]
"We'll release the short report once investors start sensing that something's off."
[The moment you drop that bomb, all of Wall Street is going to explode.]
Landon's voice carried a faint excitement.
"Once the truth comes out, everyone will panic and try to jump ship first. A wave of selling will hit the market. So before that happens, we short as many shares as possible."
[Understood. Heh… thinking about all those Wall Street investors rushing in like moths trying to trigger a short squeeze on us—completely unaware of what's coming—I almost feel sorry for them.]
Seok-won replied with a cold smirk, clearly feeling no sympathy at all.
"If they still haven't learned their lesson after getting burned several times already, that's on them. Poor learning ability is their problem, not ours."
[Hahaha. Couldn't agree more.]