Chapter 51: Business (1)

The second morning of the year dawned. Kang Ra-Eun hurriedly changed into casual clothes to go out by 11 AM. Before she left, she called out to Kang Ra-Hyuk.

“Hey, don’t forget to sell and liquidate all the stocks by today. The rates are gonna dip for a while.”

“Can’t we just do day trading?” Ra-Hyuk asked.

“Day trading, my ass... You don’t actually think that it’s you who’s earning money through stock trading, do you?”

“Well... no.”

Ra-Hyuk had been making easy money thanks to the information provided by Ra-Eun. They already had a few billion won in the stock account, and it was all thanks to her. Hence, Ra-Hyuk could not just do what he wanted with the money in his account.

Ra-Hyuk wasn’t particularly interested in luxury cars, expensive watches, nor designer goods. He had simply begun stock trading because he wanted to alleviate his father’s burdens by helping to pay off their debt and to take care of his tuition.

Ra-Eun was planning on using the money that she earned through stock trading in two different ways. First was for setting up the clothing business with Park Seol-Hun, and the second was to invest in cryptocurrency that would experience a massive boom in 2017.

‘Bitcoin is a way better way to earn money than starting a business, but...’

One cryptocurrency could be worth a hundred million, two hundred, or even over six hundred million won in the future, but that future was too far off at the moment. Hence, Ra-Eun had been doing her best to earn as much money as she could through stock trading and business before the cryptocurrency boom, so she could earn as much as she possibly could when the time came.

“In any case, just wait and see until January. Holders within and outside the company are only going to sell their stocks for the time being. It won’t be too late to start buying around February or March,” Ra-Eun stated

“Okay, got it. But Ra-Eun, how do you know all that?” Ra-Hyuk asked.

Ra-Hyuk had studied quite a lot on stock trading, but he wasn’t as keen-eyed as Ra-Eun was. No, not only Ra-Hyuk, but even his acquaintances who claimed to be experts after earning a bit through stock trading would not be as precise as Ra-Eun. They earned some and also lost some, but Ra-Eun had only been earning ever since she started trading.

As her brother, Ra-Hyuk couldn’t help but be curious about how his little sister who used to neglect her studies became a stock trading master. However, Ra-Eun just made something up.

“I just started seeing how the chart will move after studying stock trading whenever I had time.”

Such an excuse was not enough to explain her skills. It was as if she could see the future.

“Anyway, do exactly as I told you to do. I’m off,” Ra-Eun said.

“Okay, have a safe trip. You’ll be back by lunch time, right?”

“Yup. I’ll be back as soon as I give Yi-Jun something.”

“That’s your friend’s little brother, right?” Ra-Hyuk asked.

Ra-Eun nodded, “Yeah.”

“You’ve been hanging out with him a lot lately.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“He’s a pretty decent underling.”

“Underling, huh...? That wasn’t how it looked to me.”

Ra-Eun had gone together with him to Hongdae to buy their father a gift, and they even jogged in the morning together. Hence, Ra-Hyuk had misunderstood their relationship.

“I thought you were going out with him.”

However, Ra-Eun instantly denied it.

“Don’t give me goosebumps.”

“Why? He’s tall and handsome, isn’t he? You also said you get along well with him.”

“That doesn’t mean that I like him.”

Most of all, Ra-Eun had no desire to get all lovey-dovey with a man. A little over half a year had passed since she became a woman. It was far too short of a time to accept men as those of the opposite sex.

“Well, I’m sure you’d be bombarded with scandals about you having a boyfriend.”

Now that his little sister was a celebrity, Ra-Hyuk thought that Ra-Eun would need to be careful in choosing her partner from now on. However, he was sure that she would take care of such things on her own. In exchange...

“Make sure you introduce him to me if you ever get a boyfriend. I’ll decide whether or not he’s worth entrusting my cute little sister to.”

Ra-Eun was exasperated.

“It’s morning, and you’re already saying weird shit.”

It had been a while since she blurted out a profanity that didn’t suit her.

***

Ra-Eun arrived at the Starlight Road cafe. Seo Yi-Seo tilted her head as she saw Ra-Eun from the counter.

“What brings you here, Ra-Eun?”

“I have something for Yi-Jun. Is he here yet?”

“...Oh, no wonder.”

Yi-Seo seemed to have comprehended something. She let Ra-Eun know what had happened at her home this morning.

“Yi-Jun always wakes up late during the break, but he woke up early even when it wasn’t a jogging day with you. He showered, did his hair and even put on cologne, so I thought he had plans, but I guess not.”

Ra-Eun had made the lazy Yi-Jun diligent on a holiday yet again.

“You said you had something to give him?” Yi-Seo asked.

“Yup.”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing special.”

As she was about to take out what was in the bag to show Yi-Seo, the bell attached to the cafe door jingled.

“Noona! I’m sorry I’m late!” Yi-Jun apologized. He had frantically run to the cafe.

“It’s okay. You’re actually right on time,” Ra-Eun expressed.

Like Yi-Seo had said, Ra-Eun detected a faint scent of cologne that she hadn’t smelled much from Yi-Jun. It had been a while since he had met Ra-Eun while wearing casual clothes, aside from when they jogged together. Hence, he had taken much time waxing his hair despite it being a holiday. He had truly devoted himself to looking good today.

Ra-Eun took out the contents of the bag.

“Here you go.”

Yi-Seo gasped as soon as she saw what it was.

“R-Ra-Eun! A-Aren’t those... your leggings?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Why are you giving him those?!”

Yi-Seo’s face reddened like a tomato. Ra-Eun did not understand how embarrassing it was for a girl to give a guy a piece of clothing that had been in contact with their bare skin.

“He said he’s been studying to become a fashion designer, so I thought I’d have him do some research on leggings. This is gonna become a huge fad in the future, you know?”

“A fad...?”

Yi-Seo also knew what leggings were. However, unlike Ra-Eun who wore them often, she was a bit reluctant to wear them because they openly displayed the lines of one’s entire lower body, starting from the hips all the way down to the ankles. Yi-Seo considered them far too daring for her to handle.

However, Ra-Eun thought otherwise.

“I’ll give you a pair as a gift, so try them out. They’re more comfortable than you’d expect, so I’m sure you’ll love them,” Ra-Eun remarked.

“B-But...”

Yi-Seo was not confident enough to go around wearing something that stuck to her body like tights.

“Isn’t it embarrassing?” Yi-Seo asked.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? It’s not like I’m showing my bare skin.”

“That’s true, but...”

Ra-Eun’s hip and leg lines were so beautiful that she had absolutely no reason to feel embarrassed about wearing leggings. Confidence formed naturally from having a nice figure. Yi-Seo was jealous of Ra-Eun’s overflowing confidence.

“...Okay. I’ll try them on when I get a chance,” Yi-Seo said.

“Good choice,” Ra-Eun stated.

Yi-Jun purposefully let out a cough as he was listening to their conversation.

“Noona, you haven’t had lunch yet, right? Would you like to go grab something to eat with me?”

He had just asked Ra-Eun out on a date, which she turned down at once.

“Sorry, I have to see someone today.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, you’ll also be seeing him a lot from now on.”

Yi-Jun was curious as to whom Ra-Eun was talking about, but she did not tell him anything else. Ra-Eun left the cafe, telling them that she would be going on ahead. He was filled with disappointment, but it did not matter, because...

“These are... the leggings that Ra-Eun noona had worn...”

Although she had washed them beforehand, Yi-Jun strongly felt like he could detect faint traces of her on them. He looked down at Ra-Eun’s black leggings with a smirk on his face.

Yi-Seo couldn’t bear to watch her perverted little brother any longer and smacked him on the back of his head.

“Don’t you dare think anything perverted about Ra-Eun.”

“I won’t, okay? I won’t.”

Yi-Seo was worried about her friend who always showed her defenseless side to men.

***

“He said it was around here... There it is.”

Ra-Eun arrived at a cafe around the same size as Starlight Road. She went in with sunglasses on in hopes that no one would recognize her. Fortunately, no one had recognized her yet.

‘The cafe’s practically empty, too.’

The second floor looked more deserted than the first. As soon as she climbed up the stairs, she could see an anxious man shaking his leg. She could tell exactly who it was from the back of his head.

“Hey, Mr. Six.”

Mr. Six, Park Seol-Hun, was startled by Ra-Eun. He then asked with a glare, “Wh-What’s up with that ‘Mr. Six’?”

“You failed in six of your business ventures, so you’re Mr. Six.”

“...”

“Didn’t I tell you that you’d fail in your sixth venture as well?”

Seol-Hun did not want to admit it, but his sixth business venture absolutely bombed like Ra-Eun had predicted. It was likely his worst failure out of the six.

Ra-Eun had received a call from Seol-Hun a few days ago because she had told him to call her once he failed in his ventures six times, and that she would help in his seventh business venture.

How would she help him? With money, of course.

“You’re really... gonna provide the funds, right?” Seol-Hun asked.

“Of course,” Ra-Eun answered to reassure Seol-Hun. “I’ll pay off all the debt that you’ve incurred as well.”

“How did you know that I was in debt?”

“The loan sharks who tried to harvest your organs are my partners now, so I know all about you.”

Seol-Hun couldn’t even laugh or cry.

“However, I won’t be helping you for free.”

Ra-Eun’s condition was very simple.

“We’ll be dividing the business profits eight-to-two. Understood?”

“Who gets the eight?” Seol-Hun asked with a sliver of hope.

However, a corner of Ra-Eun’s mouth curled up.

“Me, obviously.”

Seol-Hun found out that the high school girl who he had thought was an angel happened to be a masked robber.