The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“How many this time?”

Dokyung had been so busy over the past two days that he couldn’t even remember how he’d spent them.

It was Friday before the weekend, and wanting to find a moment of respite, he was at a bar in front of the Seongnam branch with Choi Woojin.

“A little over twenty people came for consultations in the past two days.”

“Not that. I mean sign-ups.”

“About ten people signed contracts.”

Choi Woojin whistled at Dokyung’s words.

“I’m out all day on external visits and I’m lucky if I can attract three new clients, but Dokyung-ssi, you’ve got both skill and luck on your side.”

“It’s literally just good luck.”

Among the clients Oh Seok-hoon had been managing, one for whom Dokyung had partially recovered losses happened to be an executive in a local golf club, allowing Dokyung to easily attract new clients.

“Why do you think people living in Seongnam join golf clubs?”

At Choi Woojin’s question, Dokyung tilted his head and spoke.

“I’m not sure. Networking?”

“Well, it could be networking. But the most important thing is this, this right here.”

Choi Woojin said, making a circle with his thumb and index finger.

“They’re well-off enough to own a home in Seongnam. Then, as you said, they look for connections. A golf club? Perfect.”

Choi Woojin took a sip from his glass and continued talking to Dokyung.

“And why do they seek connections? It’s about money. These gentlemen’s goals don’t end with Seongnam. If they want to own an apartment along the Han River, they need to read the money flow.”

“Ah, so that’s why… the golf club…”

“Yeah, it serves multiple purposes. While learning golf, it’s a place where information is exchanged.”

The Seongnam branch where Dokyung worked was right in the middle of Pangyo, a new town. Most residents were somewhat well-established, including newly rich people from real estate and high-salaried employees working in IT ventures.

And as Choi Woojin said, they would be eagerly growing their assets to climb even higher than where they were now.

“Those people would have been interested in Dokyung-ssi, someone who has tangibly helped grow their money.”

“That’s why I love this job.”

Choi Woojin nodded at Dokyung’s words.

“Whether I was an employee sitting at a counter until a year ago, or graduated from a provincial national university, none of that matters to them.”

“That’s right. This field is quite unique.”

Choi Woojin said, raising his glass towards Dokyung, who smiled and clinked his glass in response.

“I was surprised this morning.”

“Why?”

“Dokyung-ssi, the number of subscribers in your group chat.”

And there was one more thing that made Dokyung happy.

Although the clients previously managed by Oh Seok-hoon were distributed among several PBs in the branch, the majority chose Dokyung, and including new clients, he was now managing over 90 clients.

Furthermore, the number of people in Dokyung’s group chat had exceeded 80.

“It took me three years to gather 90 subscribers, but how does Yoon Dokyung have 80 in such a short time since starting?”

“I’ve been lucky.”

“I’ve started believing in God recently. I’ve seen many times, right before my eyes, that when you really work hard and build your skills, luck follows.”

“Hahaha.”

Ding-ding-

Just then, a clamorous sound came from the doorbell at the bar’s entrance, and Dokyung smiled and raised his hand.

The person who had just entered the bar spotted Dokyung and approached with quick steps.

“Dokyung-ssi, am I late?”

“You must be tired coming all the way from Yeouido. This is Assistant Manager Choi Woojin, whom I respect.”

As Dokyung introduced him, Choi Woojin stood up and took out a business card from his pocket.

“I’m Choi Woojin.”

Choi Woojin bowed politely and offered his card with both hands, his demeanor that of a textbook salesperson, which seemed to fluster the other party.

“Uh… just a moment.”

The other person rummaged through their bag, took out a business card holder, inserted Choi Woojin’s card, and offered their own.

“I’m Lee Yeon-ji, an analyst from the Research Center.”

“It’s truly an honor to meet you.”

“Assistant Manager Woojin, please be at ease. You’re making Assistant Manager Yeon-ji uncomfortable.”

Dokyung said with a chuckle, but Choi Woojin shook his head.

“How can I? She’s the one who beat Taesan.”

“Oh, please don’t. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

At Lee Yeon-ji’s words, Choi Woojin laughed heartily and nodded.

“Alright. It’s my first time meeting you, and I’ve heard a lot about you from Dokyung-ssi. I was just trying to be friendly and overdid it a bit.”

“You really seem born to be a PB, Assistant Manager Choi Woojin.”

As the two finished their greetings and Lee Yeon-ji sat down, the conversation began in earnest.

“Don’t even mention it. Everyone really treated me like some kind of traitor.”

“Within the Research Center?”

“No. Our center… they believed in me. Though not without suspicious glances.”

It seemed Lee Yeon-ji had her fair share of troubles, standing at the center of this incident.

“I got summoned by the IB (Investment Banking) Division. They asked me to come over for a moment.”

“Who?”

By now, Lee Yeon-ji and Choi Woojin had sorted out their dynamics, with Choi Woojin speaking comfortably to Lee Yeon-ji.

“The Vice President. So I went. When I got there, they kept asking if I was sure about it.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Apparently, Take Games was our company’s client.”

“Looks like Take complained.”

Of course, an analyst was just doing an analyst’s job, but within a securities firm, there were various divisions, including departments that dealt directly with companies.

For them, it must have been an awkward situation when a client complained about the work of another department.

“I can understand to some extent… but still, calling an employee from another department because of a report from the Research Center doesn’t seem right.”

As Dokyung said this, Choi Woojin nodded in agreement.

“If they want to know if it’s certain, they should ask Take. What’s the point of calling an analyst?”

“That’s why our Center Director got ang… I mean, fired up and confronted the IB Division Head.”

“The Center Director?”

“Yes.”

It seemed there had been various incidents within the headquarters as well. The IB Division Head was a Vice President, while the Research Center Director was equivalent to an Executive Director in a regular company.

Although both were executives, the Center Director was lower in the hierarchy than the Vice President.

“So what happened?”

“What do you think? We were on bad terms for a while, but when the conclusion came out… the IB Division Head apologized to me and the Center Director.”

“Hahaha, oh, that’s satisfying.”

Choi Woojin laughed loudly as if feeling relieved, and Dokyung nodded as well.

“Did the company say anything?”

“Well… actually, after the report was published, I got so much criticism that I requested the company to take down the report.”

“What?”

Dokyung looked at Lee Yeon-ji in surprise, hearing this for the first time.

“That day… you know, the day Dokyung-ssi came to see me.”

Dokyung recalled that day, and he remembered Lee Yeon-ji saying many things as if seeking confirmation from him.

“But that day, Dokyung-ssi assured me that my judgment wasn’t wrong. So I just held on. Thank you.”

“No, it’s nothing. The confidence I had… was from reading your report, so all I did was voice it.”

“Do you know how much strength that gave me? Even within the center, people were doubting me, asking everywhere if I was sure. At that time, I needed that one word. I really did.”

Of course, Dokyung’s confidence came not only from Lee Yeon-ji’s report aligning with his thoughts but also from the influence of the messages he received.

“I’m grateful that you think that way.”

“I’m more thankful. Anyway, the company set up seminars for me.”

“Seminars?”

“Yes. I think I’ll have five this month alone.”

While PBs like Dokyung had their performance counted in commission income and client acquisition, analysts like Lee Yeon-ji had their performance measured by seminars for clients and fund managers.

In other words, the company was essentially pushing for her performance.

“Wow, the company is being quite generous.”

Choi Woojin said, sounding impressed.

It was rare to hear about the company being so generous to an employee outside of bonus season.

“Because she beat Taesan.”

At Dokyung’s words, Lee Yeon-ji bashfully touched her nose, and Choi Woojin nodded as if finally understanding.

Yuseong was a company ranked among the top three in Korea’s business world.

Given the chairman’s personality of always wanting to be number one in every business they touched, the news that the securities firm, which usually only caused trouble, had won against the industry’s top company for the first time in a long while must have been a cause for joy.

“Although we’ve just met today, I’m really glad that both Lee Yeon-ji-ssi and our Dokyung-ssi are doing well.”

Choi Woojin said, raising his glass.

“And riding on your good mood, I’m going to do well too. In that spirit, how about sharing some of that energy with me?”

At Choi Woojin’s words, Dokyung and Lee Yeon-ji smiled and raised their glasses.

“To Assistant Manager Woojin.”

As Dokyung said this, the other two clinked their glasses and shouted.

“Cheers!”

Dokyung enjoyed a pleasant time with Choi Woojin and Lee Yeon-ji, momentarily forgetting his busy daily life.

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“Where did you say he invested?”

At Yuseong Investment Securities headquarters.

Vice President Sim Ju-won was having a private meeting with the CEO, and his expression looked serious.

“M-Biogen. Have you heard of it, Vice President Sim?”

“I’m sorry, but this is the first time I’m hearing of it.”

“Hahaha, the other division vice presidents said the same thing. It’s a pharmaceutical company that went public through a backdoor listing about four years ago… a small cap.”

The CEO said this while handing over some documents to Sim Ju-won, who read through them with a concerned expression.

“It seems they don’t have any operational sites…”

“Given the nature of pharmaceutical companies, they say they’re mainly focusing on new drug development, but it’s concerning that they don’t even have a single generic drug.”

The process of developing new drugs was a battle of tedium and massive capital investment. As a result, pharmaceutical companies often replicated drugs with existing demand once patents expired or manufactured herbal medicine to sell in the market.

They would use those profits to operate the company and invest in new drug development, but the documents the CEO handed over showed no signs of such activities.

“Of course, the company has only been in operation for four years, but…”

“It seems they have some technological prowess.”

“Yes, it was founded by someone who was an executive at a global pharmaceutical company, so everyone has high expectations. The analysts’ evaluations are good too.”

Sim Ju-won still looked skeptical, tilting his head.

“Where did the Chairman learn about this company…”

The reason the CEO had called Sim Ju-won here was that the Chairman of Yuseong Group had invested his personal funds in this stock, and he wanted Sim Ju-won to look into it.

“It seems Chairman Seo of Gwangjin Group told him about it.”

“Chairman Seo again?”

Sim Ju-won asked the CEO as if this wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened.

“You know well, don’t you? The two of them get along so well…”

“Usually, one would consult experts before investing…”

“You know the Chairman’s personality well, don’t you? This isn’t the first time.”

At the CEO’s words, Sim Ju-won couldn’t help but sigh.

The Chairman was a man of action. Charitably put, he was a decisive man of action; less charitably, he was the very definition of an impulsive person.

“Anyway, all the division vice presidents have received this data. The Chairman wants an evaluation.”

“Do I need to evaluate it too?”

“Yes, he’s entrusted it to all divisions. Probably…”

“He wants to test us, doesn’t he?”

The CEO smiled at Sim Ju-won’s question.

“Well, it serves multiple purposes, doesn’t it? He probably wants to gain confidence in his investment… and also wants to see the capabilities of the divisions.”

“When should I have it ready?”

“Come with me to the headquarters in two weeks.”

“I understand. I’ll prepare it.”

Sim Ju-won stood up with the documents and bowed to the CEO.

“Vice President Sim.”

As Sim Ju-won was about to leave, the CEO stopped him for a moment.

“Be flexible within reason. Don’t forget it’s a test.”

The CEO gave this hint with a worried expression, as if he knew Sim Ju-won’s personality well. In response, Sim Ju-won bowed once more instead of answering and left the CEO’s office.