“I do know that I am that great. In fact, I’m being humble right now. It seems like it’s you who doesn’t understand the situation.”
Son Daesan reddened brightly. “W…what?”
“I asked General manager Yoon to explain why I’m resigning. If you understood him, you wouldn’t be saying this to me right now.”
Son Daesan became furious. “Woosung, you are making a huge mistake. I have a meeting with some people from the Korean Software Industry Association next week. If you act this way, I will mention your name to them.” He panted as he glared at Woosung.
He was now threatening Woosung.
Son Daesan was being unreasonable. Woosung felt ashamed to be an employee of someone like him. Before Woosung could reply, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Where is that meeting supposed to take place? I will join you to defend Woosung to them.”
Son Daesan recognized the voice immediately. “P…president… What a nice surprise…” He put a fake smile on his face and he turned around.
Nuri Finances’ CEO Na Jaeman.
Daesan was a hired company by Nuri Finances, which meant Na Jaeman had power over Son Daesan and his company. Na Jaeman asked Woosung.
“I heared you’re quitting Daesan?”
It was now a well-known fact.
Woosung confirmed it. “Yes, as you can see.”
“Then…”
Na Jaeman saw this as his chance.
“Let’s go out for dinner. We need to talk.”
“Pardon?”
Na Jaeman put his hand on Woosung’s shoulder.
“Haha, it’s a tradition that the CEO of Nuri Finances buy drinks for a deserved employee. This is a very important tradition.”
“But didn’t you tell me earlier you will be canceling the contract with Daesan…?”
When Woosung mentioned their earlier conversation, Son Daesan paled. Na Jaeman coughed awkwardly and answered.
“I think you misunderstood. I meant if you quit Daesan, then Nuri Finances will have no use of Daesan. I can’t believe you misunderstood me! We definitely need to talk this out.”
Na Jaeman made it hard for Woosung to refuse. Woosung scratched his head and murmured.
“Well…Since I’m quitting Daesan, I guess it will lose its contract with Nuri Finances. Oh well.”
Son Daesan looked faint. Woosung followed Na Jaeman out while Yoon Gihwan snorted in his desk.
Na Jaeman took Woosung to an expensive Japanese restaurant. Woosung had never been to such an extravagant place. It felt like he was in Japan. All the waiters and waitresses were wearing traditional Japanese outfits. They were also very good looking.
As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the manager.
“There you are!”
They were immediately taken to a private room. When the door opened, inside was the beautiful Shin Semi.
“Come in.”
Woosung looked confused, but all Na Jaeman did was wave him in. Shin Semi looked at Woosung with a smile.
“Take a seat, please. This restaurant is famous for its Kaiseki. I already ordered it. Do you like sushi?”
“Of course.”
Shin Semi smiled again and ordered more dishes Woosung didn’t recognize. A bottle arrived, and Shin Semi offered Woosung a drink.
“Kaiseki usually starts with a simple fruit drink. The plum wine here is great. Would you like a glass?”
Woosung took the glass and sipped through the drink in one gulp. It was sweet and bitter at the same time. It burned his throat.
“It’s good.”
The wine was smooth. After a few more sips, Shin Semi started to ask Woosung various questions. She asked how Woosung felt about Nuri Finances and how he studied big data. As they conversed, Woosung could tell she was interested in him.
There was no reason why the chairman’s daughter would go this far to meet him. Why was she so interested?
Woosung guessed she had another business question for him. He was sure of it, and this was another chance for him to get something out of her. After organizing his thoughts, Woosung stated.
“I assume you didn’t take what I told you earlier seriously. I obviously understand why. Information from your professional research team would sound more trustworthy.”
Shin Semi paused and looked at Woosung.
“I am only an employee from a small company. I haven’t proven my worth yet.” She put down her chopsticks. “But I did get your attention. You were probably wondering if I truly am a talent or just a fraud.”
Shin Semi continued to stare at Woosung silently.
“I know the reason why you asked me that question was to test me. You had no intention of actually taking my advice seriously. Am I getting this right?”
Shin Semi nodded. “You’re getting there.”
“I think you made a big mistake.” Shin Semi flinched at the word “mistake.” Woosung asked. “What do you think your mistake was?”
Shin Semi was not interested in answering Woosung’s question.
“It doesn’t matter. You are just trying to rile me up to get something out of me, aren’t you? Are you hoping to change my opinion of you? Again, I don’t care what mistake you think I made.”
She looked like an angry cat. Woosung replied with the calmness of a monk.
“The answer is the validity of my answer.”
Shin Semi asked with a scoff. “You are only 26-year-old new-grad from a mediocre university. Your GPA was only 3.0. I will give you that your programming skill is good, but your ability to predict the future of the financial world? I don’t think so.”
Woosung was right. Shin Semi looked at him with scorn. He knew he shouldn’t make her angrier.
“You are absolutely correct. My knowledge in finances cannot be compared to yours or your team. What I meant was my insight. My ability to see the big picture.”
Shin Semi’s eyes widened in surprise. She continued to stare at him.
“At this point, you are probably thinking if what I’m saying is true.” Woosung seemed as if he was reading her mind. He then asked a rhetorical question. “How can I prove this…?”
Woosung thought for a second and answered himself.
“Tomorrow, Wednesday April 9th, the Liberty Korea Party will win the 18th general election with 153 seats. If my prediction comes true, will you trust me?”
“The experts are expecting the Liberty Korea Party to win. It’s a well-known forecast.”
“But no one can guess the exact number of seats.”
That was true. Shin Semi couldn’t deny this. Woosung was becoming more and more interesting to her eyes.
“How did you come up with the number 153?”
“Haha, a magician never reveals all his secrets. We will talk again after the election result comes out.”
Woosung started to eat.
“Don’t forget. 153 seats. Oh! And the Democratic Party will win 81 seats.”
The election was tomorrow, so Woosung felt that revealing this information at this point couldn’t change the future.
The next day was a holiday due to the election.
Woosung took his laptop and headed to a café to work.
Algorithm trading system.
MQTT program.
He had to develop both for Jang Gwangchul. He wanted to create perfections, so he worked as hard as he could.
He couldn’t waste even a holiday.
He drank few cups of coffee and ate a sandwich. He spent the entire day at the café until 6:00PM.
The voting process was now complete.
“Let’s see.”
Woosung connected to the internet and read the election predictions by different media channels.
“MBD Liberty Korea Party 165. Democratic Party 68.”
“SBC Liberty Korea Party 167. Democratic Party 70.”
“YTT Liberty Korea Party 160. Democratic Party 72.”
Different experts were close, but no one predicted the exact numbers. They were based on the surveys of the voters, but even then, the numbers varied.
“Haha, this will make my prediction look even more impressive.”
Woosung turned off the browser and went back to work. He was curious about how Shin Semi would react.
