The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“I still have some time left……”

After rushing out of the office, Dokyung found himself sitting in the lobby of a building on Teheran-ro. He had 30 minutes to spare before his scheduled meeting with the client.

Although his new team leader, Seo Jeonghwan, had made it sound urgent, the client’s location wasn’t far from the Leaders Center.

“That’s fortunate.”

Dokyung had been anxious about not being able to gather information on the client’s profile or tendencies, but now he felt relieved. He began reading through the client documents handed to him by the team leader.

“An IT venture businessman……”

Just as Silicon Valley in the United States is home to world-renowned IT companies, Teheran-ro was known as “Teheran Valley” due to the numerous IT venture offices located there.

Although it was once difficult to find IT venture companies due to several economic crises and their relocation to Pangyo, recently, as space in Pangyo became scarce, many new startups were returning to Teheran-ro.

Naturally, as a new IT venture, investment was necessary, and Teheran-ro was an ideal location with many major financial institution branches. It was a curious place where finance and IT ventures seemed to attract each other.

“I shouldn’t speak carelessly first.”

Dokyung was studying the client’s profile and formulating his approach. This time, he decided to be a listener for the client’s benefit.

Although he hadn’t met many IT venture entrepreneurs, Dokyung had encountered IT industry professionals during his time at the Seongnam branch. They were undoubtedly knowledgeable.

The industry was sensitive to trends, and its professionals were undeniably familiar with the internet and YouTube.

Of course, the client’s knowledge might be incorrect, but Dokyung felt there was no need to point that out. He glanced at the watch on his wrist.

“Time to head up.”

Dokyung received a visitor’s pass at the reception desk and made his way to the client’s company.

Although it was a rented office, the client’s business seemed to be doing well, as they were using two floors.

“How may I help you?”

“I have an appointment with Park Hyun-il-ssi. I’m from Yuseong Investment Securities.”

Dokyung took out his business card and handed it to the desk employee who came to greet him. After checking the list, the employee smiled and guided Dokyung.

Knock knock-

As a voice from inside invited them to enter after the knock, the employee opened the door.

“Sir, someone from Yuseong Investment Securities is here.”

“Ah, please show them in.”

Dokyung entered the office and bowed politely.

“Hello, I’m Yoon Dokyung, a PB from Yuseong Investment Securities’ Leaders Center.”

The client smiled as he looked at Dokyung, who approached and handed over his business card with a bow.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Hyun-il. Shall we sit?”

Dokyung carefully placed the client’s business card in his cardholder and took a seat.

“I apologize. This was the only time I had available. Other securities firms were hesitant about this time slot.”

“It’s probably because the stock market opens at this time.”

“So, is it alright for Yuseong Investment Securities to meet me during the market opening?”

“Of course. We should accommodate your schedule, sir.”

Although Dokyung should have been focusing on the market opening at this time, he wasn’t too worried as the clients he managed had already established their positions.

Seeing Dokyung’s relaxed expression, the client slowly nodded.

“Which stocks does our PB mainly focus on?”

“Until now, I’ve primarily followed domestic stocks, but I also have experience in overseas stock investments.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’ve been personally investing for about 4-5 years.”

The client nodded and looked at Dokyung.

“I believe that the future U.S. market will be different from the one led by giant tech-centric companies.”

The client seemed indeed interested in the U.S. market, as his profile suggested. The “Big Tech” he referred to was represented by the so-called ‘FAANG’ stocks—Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. These companies, known as FAANG, were leading global innovation.

“Of course, I’m not dismissing FAANG, but shouldn’t we look at the flow of capital?”

Dokyung nodded in response to the client’s words, focusing intently on what he was saying.

“Big Tech brought innovation through technology, but can that be achieved with technology alone?”

“You seem to be saying that innovation follows where money goes.”

Pleased with Dokyung’s interpretation, the client snapped his fingers and smiled.

“Exactly. The technological innovations they achieved were also because they acquired smaller companies with technology. What was needed to do that was money.”

Dokyung could relate to this perspective. The client, being in the industry, clearly had a broad vision.

“I want to find and invest in such places early. But my vision is narrow, and time is limited, so I want to hire an expert.”

“I don’t understand why you say your vision is narrow. You have a sufficiently broad perspective.”

Dokyung addressed the client and continued.

“As you mentioned, you lack time, so my job is to turn your vision into reality.”

“I see. Then, in your opinion, which areas do you think money will focus on in the future?”

The client seemed to want to test Dokyung with this question.

“As I said, I’m here to manage and align your vision with reality. I don’t think what I see is important.”

Surprised by this response, the client nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

“I like that. You seem to understand what needs to be done.”

The clients at the Seongnam branch were, in a way, honest people who invested truly to grow their assets. However, the client sitting before Dokyung wanted to grow his assets while also claiming to invest in innovation.

Perhaps he wanted to succeed in his investments and then recount his foresight and investment success to others like a war story.

The client continued to talk endlessly about where he wanted to invest, and Dokyung diligently took notes.

“What do you think?”

“Your investment perspective resonates with me on many levels. If you choose to work with Yuseong Investment Securities, we’ll strive to ensure your assets are invested in areas that drive innovation.”

“Excellent. It’s been a while since I’ve had such an enjoyable conversation with someone. As my social circle has changed, there aren’t many people who just listen to what I have to say.”

The client said this while looking at Dokyung.

“Actually, I met with a PB from Taesan Securities’ VIP Center last week.”

It was now time for the client to state what he wanted, and Dokyung focused intently on his words.

“And I told them what I would require if I chose Taesan. I suppose I should make the same proposal to Yuseong.”

The client’s lips began to move slowly, and as the words flowed from his mouth, Dokyung’s expression gradually hardened.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“Dokyung-ssi!”

As Dokyung entered the building housing Yuseong Investment Securities’ Leaders Center, he turned his head at the sound of someone calling his name. Han Dahyun was approaching.

“How did it go?”

Han Dahyun immediately asked about the client meeting, but Dokyung shook his head with a bitter smile.

“You too? I failed as well.”

“You too, Dahyun-ssi?”

“Yes. The client was interested in the domestic stock market. And they made some unreasonable requests.”

“Unreasonable requests?”

“They asked the company to guarantee losses beyond what they could handle… something like that.”

Dokyung furrowed his brow at Han Dahyun’s words.

“It seems like we weren’t given these clients with the intention of actually closing deals.”

“Who do you mean? The team leader?”

“Yes. The client I met wanted to trade U.S. stocks, and while the content was different, they also made unreasonable requests.”

“Then……”

“Yes. It seems the team leader gave us clients that were unlikely to result in successful deals from the start.”

“Why would he do that?”

Dokyung shook his head at Han Dahyun’s question.

“Wouldn’t it be better to hear it directly from him?”

With those words, Dokyung opened the office door and entered.

“We’re back.”

As their voices rang out simultaneously, the eyes of the team members in the office turned towards the two.

“Did you two go together?”

“We happened to meet on the first floor by coincidence.”

As Han Dahyun explained, Team Leader Seo Jeonghwan nodded and stood up, holding some documents from his desk.

“That’s convenient. Let’s go together.”

Seo Jeonghwan said this as he left the office, with Dokyung and Han Dahyun following behind.

“Have a seat.”

Entering an empty conference room not far from the office, Seo Jeonghwan began to address the two.

“How were the results?”

“I failed to secure a contract.”

Nodding at Han Dahyun’s words, Seo Jeonghwan looked at Dokyung.

“I agreed to meet again next time.”

“You’re meeting again? That’s not good.”

Seo Jeonghwan muttered to himself before opening the documents in front of him.

“The clients you two met today have already been rejected by other securities firms. They’re clients who make unreasonable requests.”

As Dokyung had suspected, Seo Jeonghwan had sent them to meet clients knowing they would fail.

“Han Dahyun-ssi.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“How did you refuse?”

“I explained that such special provisions were impossible due to internal regulations, and I outlined various risk hedging methods.”

Satisfied with Han Dahyun’s answer, Seo Jeonghwan nodded and turned to Dokyung.

“The client Yoon Dokyung-ssi met probably didn’t make a difficult request. Did you agree to it?”

The unreasonable request from Dokyung’s client was to connect them with Yuseong Investment Securities’ IB Division in exchange for entrusting their assets.

The client wanted to list their venture group on the stock market. That’s where departments like the IB Division, specializing in corporate finance, would step in. Their job was to connect investors with companies and carry out the listing process.

“If it were a simple introduction, I would have done it. As you said, it wasn’t a difficult task.”

“But?”

“They put their company’s listing on the table as a condition for the deal, expecting the company to take extra care of them.”

However, the client’s underlying intention was to demand preferential treatment from the company in exchange for entrusting their assets.

Just because a company receives care from a securities firm doesn’t guarantee its listing.

Investors aren’t fools. If the listing process fails, the client would naturally withdraw their money.

Dokyung didn’t believe this kind of transaction was right.

“But you agreed to meet again?”

“Yes, I refused because it was beyond what I could do, but they suggested we meet again in a week in case either of us changes our mind, so I agreed.”

Seo Jeonghwan nodded at Dokyung’s response.

“Well done. Even if you think the outcome will be the same, you shouldn’t refuse if the client suggests meeting again.”

Seo Jeonghwan continued, looking back and forth between Dokyung and Han Dahyun.

“I assigned difficult clients to you two because refusal is also a skill that needs to be developed. I was prepared to step in if there were any issues, but… not bad.”

Seo Jeonghwan smiled and turned to Han Dahyun.

“Han Dahyun-ssi, you did an excellent job finding alternatives within the client’s requests that you could accommodate. However, if the client’s mind doesn’t change despite that, then it’s time to give up. Well done.”

Han Dahyun smiled and bowed her head at Seo Jeonghwan’s praise.

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, you also seem to understand that it’s better to refuse outright if there’s nothing you can do within the client’s requests. Well done.”

Seo Jeonghwan distributed the documents on the table to the two and stood up.

“Welcome to the Leaders Center and Team 3. I hope we can work together to determine what’s best for our clients going forward. The clients listed in those documents are existing clients we’ve been managing. Contact them this afternoon, and you two will start managing them from tomorrow.”

As Seo Jeonghwan left the conference room with those words, Han Dahyun, who had risen awkwardly to bow, looked at Dokyung.

“Phew, he seems to have a bit of a mischievous side.”

“……”

“Dokyung-ssi?”

“Ah, yes.”

“What are you pondering so deeply about?”

“Dahyun-ssi, you were in the IB Division, right? Could I ask which team you were in?”

“I was in CF (Corporate Finance).”

Han Dahyun, who had been answering enthusiastically, looked at Dokyung with a puzzled expression.

“Why? Didn’t you refuse? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of connecting that client?”

Dokyung shook his head at Han Dahyun’s question and spoke.

“No. I’m just preparing for what might come next.”