12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

“Uggggh.”

On the weekend, I got up early in the morning and received the email. To be honest, I didn’t expect much today as the stock market did not open, but before that, all the money I had was in Jiwoo Entertainment.

If there was a first law of investment, it was money that made money. There was nothing I could do with no cash and full of stocks. To find the Lotto article in Life/Culture was the best I could do. I could buy it for only $1. But the expected Lotto article didn’t come out.

[Today’s Living Point: wash your hair with vinegar when dandruff increases.]

The probability seemed to be a thousandth or a ten-thousandth.

“Ah, okay. If there’s more dandruff, I’ll use it.”

I checked the email quickly and dropped it. What was important now was how many times higher prices were going to be for Jiwoo Entertainment. I turned on the search window and searched for “Jiwoo Entertainment.”

[Jiwoo Entertainment is acquired by China BEU Group.]

[Now a Chinese girl group? Nine Tails’ agency, Jiwoo Entertainment, is acquired by a Chinese company.]

A day later, each media outlet was reporting an enormous amount of news about the merger and acquisition. It was so secretive that the shock seemed even greater. I read the following comments.

[Wow, BEU. Is this a true story?]

[A child breadwinner Nine Tales, let’s just walk along the flower path.]

[Now, Ha Yeon-seo is going to make a lot of money in China. I envy her.]

Such comments were the first I read. Looking at the mood of the comments alone, this was definitely not the end of just a one-time upper limit price.

‘I have to earn as much as I can.’

I closed the Internet window with that thought.

———————

Days passed again. Monday came after Sunday. Having come to work early today, I only checked the current price once in the morning. Jiwoo Entertainment was full of people trying to buy stocks even before the market started. It was +30% as soon as the market started at 9:00. It peaked at the upper limit price on the chart.

[Current Price: $5.07 (+30%)

Current Value: $97,044]

I just checked the stock balance for a moment and then got back to work. I was so nervous on the first day that I couldn’t work, but today I was happy and excited about everything I did.

Tuesday, likewise, it was at the upper limit price.

[Current price: $6.59 (+30%)

Current Value: $126,139]

For three consecutive days, it was at the upper limit price. If I were a little shaken, I’d sell it. However, stubbornly, not even a share went for under the upper limit price. If I were to sell it, I would be a fool. I decided to put off selling the shares, looking at my account balance of $126,139.

The following Wednesday morning, it was also at the upper limit price.

[Current Price: $8.56 (+30%)

Current Value: $163,942]

Today, Jiwoo Entertainment’s share price began at the upper limit price, too. It had been four days. My account balance, which was worth fifty-seven thousand dollars, had nearly tripled to one hundred sixty thousand dollars. The stock bulletin board was in turmoil.

[Wow, it’s been at the upper limit price for four days. I love China.]

[How much longer do you think it can go? Five days? Six days?]

[We have to go at least 10 days!]

However, seeing such articles made me nervous. ‘There is a proverb in the stock market that says, “The most dangerous time is when the market is at its best”.’

This time, the money was temporarily poured at the favor of a rich Chinese company. ‘The bubble bursts in a flash, but when it falls out, the bubble will also sink in a flash.’

How great was the recent Bitcoin bubble? But the majority didn’t think of getting out of the bubble and selling it.

‘When everyone is drunk on the high price, when they are imagining getting rich, a real professional thinks about getting out and taking a cool profit. The next step for such a skyrocketing stock is a series of collapses with similar slopes.

‘What should I do?’

I was in agony. On Monday and Tuesday, I had not been worried about that much, but as of today, I couldn’t concentrate on my work because of all the worries I had.

Choi talked to me like this. “Hey, Han Sang-hoon. What’s wrong with you today? Did you hear some bad things from your girlfriend?”

However, I had to listen to it since my money was now $163,942. There would be some difference of tens of thousand dollars depending on when and how I sold it. By the way, around 1 p.m., for a moment, the upper limit price was broken by someone’s mass selling. Although other ants rushed in and filled the upper limit price, the fact that the upper limit price was broken for a while was a sign that a collapse could occur anytime. I came to a conclusion.

‘The current price is a bubble. No matter what the Chinese company took over, there’s no reason why the stock value should triple all of a sudden. That’s twice as good. Then, shall I sell it?’

But there was still a huge pile of residuals at the upper limit price. That was because the late-running ants were supporting the price with blind money. I was thinking about it and decided to sell it tomorrow.

‘Yes, beer is the best with a little bubbles on it. I don’t think it’s going to be much of a problem today. Let’s sell it tomorrow. If the upper limit price goes tomorrow, sell it if it comes near the upper limit price.’

I watched the market end with such thoughts. Jiwoo Entertainment had successfully completed four days’ upper limit price.

——

In the end, it was the Thursday of fate. I took a deep breath and watched the market open. But today, it wasn’t at the upper limit price.

[Current Price: $9.76 (+14%)]

Stocks were about to begin trading at 14 percent, half the upper limit price. This meant that the ants had come up at a price that they felt burdened by.

‘All right, let’s sell it here.’

I split the shares into three orders and put them in a sell order. My shares were not much in comparison with the money being traded, so they were quickly sold.

‘Yiing, Yiing, Yiing.’ The sound of the sales rang three times, and I checked my balance.

[Account Balance: $187,156]

$187,156. My account, which had only $58,000 last Friday, had more than tripled in an instant.

‘That’s enough.’

I put my cell phone back in my pocket. After selling the shares like this, I’d be better off not looking back, because I’d be upset if I sold it and it went up more. I worked at the company all day, worked overtime as usual, and got out of there. On my way home, I saw the closing price of Jiwoo Entertainment on the subway leaving work. But it was far below the price I had sold.

[$7.70 (-10.1%)]

‘What is this?’

I looked at the stock price chart today. Starting from the +14% I sold, the share price was +30% in the morning. Perhaps if I had turned on MTS at that time, I might have hit the ground and regretted it. I sold it at 14 percent, but the stock price went to 30 percent. If I had sold it at the upper limit price, the profit would have been more than $20,000. But it was not too bad.

Around 11 a.m. Jiwoo Entertainment’s stock price suddenly went down, and it began to collapse. Although the rare ants rushed in and helped a rebound in stock prices, they were not enough to keep the tide from falling. Stock prices, which had been burning only in the morning, cooled coldly at –10% and ended.

‘The man who bought on the upper limit price this morning… It’s been over -30% today.’

I did not want to go to the stock bulletin board today. There were probably a lot of ants boiling in the sulfur of hell. To be honest, this selling was lucky for me, too. No matter how good a stock trader was, it was impossible to predict all of this. I had no choice but to say that I was lucky.

‘All right, I was not greedy at that time, and I got out of there. It’s like I have been drinking a cold beer with a little bubbles.’

I laughed and put my cell phone back in my pocket. I suddenly wanted a cold beer when I thought of that.

[This stop is Gyodae, Gyodae. The door to get off is on your right.] I just heard the announcer’s voice.

If I was in Gyodae, and if I called a chicken restaurant right now, I would get the chicken by the time I got home. I made a phone call in advance in the subway. “I would like to order. Do you have boneless chicken and a draft beer of 1000cc? Yes, I’d like to have one.”

—————–

In front of my studio, I sat on the bench for a moment and waited for the chicken to come.

‘Boo-woong!’ Sure enough, a man with a red helmet came on his motorcycle.

“Here’s a boneless chicken and a draft beer of 1000cc. Have a good meal!” The deliveryman took the money from me, handed me the chicken, and left.

I entered my studio with the chicken and beer in both hands. I was very happy, thinking of eating the chicken at home. $187,156. If I ate the chicken with my bank account as a dish, the fatigue of the overtime working would disappear in one blow. But there was something in the mailbox, not only on the room 301, but everywhere else.

‘What is this?’

I picked it up. The sender was the Central Election Commission. On it was the face of a big smiling man.

‘Ah, is the local election soon?’

I was not very interested in politics, but I came home with it for once.

“Whoever the mayor of Seoul is…”

I threw the mail away somewhere and then started setting up the chicken and beer in front of the TV, not thinking that the mail I had just thrown away would bring me a lot of money.