Translator: Dreamscribe
"CEO-nim. It's almost ti to leave. The vehicle is waiting outside."
"Ah. Right. Let's go out together."
From morning until now, Hwang Dae-woon had been feeling uneasy.
'Why did Jin-ho say sothing like that back then?'
While talking in the CEO’s office, Jin-ho suddenly grabbed Hwang’s arm and told him not to go to the Middle East.
The reason wasn’t anything significant.
Apparently, a new DLC had just been released for the ga they were playing.
He said he wanted to gather the hyung and Guild mbers to go on a raid together for the first ti in a while and have a good ti.
It was a reason that could be dismissed as nonsense.
'But it felt like there was so other reason behind it.......'
What that might be, he couldn’t figure out.
But to actually cancel a business trip to Saudi just for a ga?
That would be insane.
The reason for this trip to Saudi was crystal clear.
Saudi had confird that it would open its stock market this year.
Furthermore, it had announced active investnt through the managent of its sovereign wealth fund.
That was why he was trying to get there faster than anyone else to assess the situation.
There were already reports that other company chairn were preparing to fly over to Saudi themselves.
He intended to get there first and establish so Position before they could take the lead.
"You’re here, CEO-nim."
"Ah. Senior Managing Director Tak. Did you prepare everything well?"
"Yes. Once we arrive in Riyadh, we plan to et with the people involved with the sovereign wealth fund first. I’ve also scheduled the etings."
"Good. But I was talking about sothing else. You’re extrely picky about food, aren’t you?"
"Ah. I packed a bunch of cup ran just in case."
Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Once they arrive, there won’t be any ti to rest or sightsee.
They would need to move fast.
All to earn even a single more won.
"But is the security in Riyadh okay?"
"Aigo. It’s more than okay. It’s the capital of Saudi Arabia, after all. In the Middle East, Saudi is basically the top dog, and their capital’s security is thoroughly managed. Are you worried because of Yen?"
Recently, Saudi had participated in the civil war in Yen and launched airstrikes, known as Operation Storm.
Having long had a tense relationship with Iran, Saudi effectively declared a proxy war with Iran through the Yen conflict.
As a result, several military warehouses were destroyed by Saudi’s airstrikes, and tensions of a full-scale war in the Middle East had reached a boiling point.
"But oil-producing countries are still oil-producing countries, I guess. Normally, when a war breaks out, oil prices fluctuate like crazy, but here there’s none of that."
Usually, when war breaks out, oil prices shoot through the roof.
But because the war was small in scale, and more importantly because Saudi was a global oil producer, oil prices had actually dropped.
"So, you’re saying security-wise, it’s fine?"
"Yes. The fighting happens in Yen, not in Saudi. It’s like Saudi and Iran are just throwing jabs at each other in the ring called Yen, isn’t it?"
It was practically a power struggle between Saudi and Iran under the pretense of the Yen civil war.
Their own territories remained safe, while only Yen was turning into ruins.
"So you don’t need to worry about security. If Iran acts crazy and attacks the Saudi capital, that would give the U.S. a justification to intervene, so they’d never do such a thing."
The biggest reason Iran wouldn’t touch Saudi was because of the U.S. behind it.
Unless they wanted to declare war on the United States, no country would dare provoke Saudi.
"Yeah. I suppose you’re right."
The conclusion was that Saudi was safe.
Even so, the words Jin-ho had said lingered uncomfortably.
Knowing how important this business trip was, why would he say to skip the Middle East this ti and just play a ga together?
"That...... eting, you know. Would it be possible to postpone it?"
"What? It was a hard-earned eting slot. If we try to postpone, they probably won’t agree to et us again. In fact, the only reason we were able to get a eting was because we moved quicker than others."
"Hmm....... I see."
"Is sothing wrong? Your expression hasn’t looked good since earlier."
"Hmm? It’s nothing."
Hwang Dae-woon shook his head.
Right. What could possibly go wrong?
Maybe Jin-ho just genuinely wanted to spend so ti playing the ga together after all the nonstop work lately.
Once this business trip is safely over, they could always play together then.
That would be fine.
***
'He must’ve arrived safely, right?'
He said it would be a 12-hour direct flight.
That day was the first ti I ever had that kind of feeling.
How should I describe it?
It was a feeling close to fear, where my hair stood on end and cold sweat flowed.
That’s why I unconsciously grabbed hyung’s arm and told him not to go to the Middle East.
While giving that ridiculous excuse about playing a ga together.
Of course, hyung laughed it off, saying I was talking nonsense.
‘He said he had a lot of important appointnts.’
When I grabbed him a few more tis, hyung explained in a gentle tone why this trip was important.
That Saudi could beco a land of opportunity.
I knew that too.
Since Kwangwoon Securities was still smaller in scale than others, it needed to move faster than anyone to secure its Position.
Besides, I couldn’t exactly explain why my instincts had suddenly flared up.
It could’ve been a signal to invest in sothing related to Saudi, or maybe it was about sothing else entirely.
So I couldn’t hold him back to the end.
If I said sothing unnecessary and hyung ended up missing an important opportunity, it would negatively affect the company too.
‘Should I have tried to stop him one more ti?’
But why do I still feel so uneasy?
Because of that, I couldn’t concentrate on work all day.
Not that there’s much to do anyway, since I already went all-in on Franc.
Maybe that’s why it bothered even more.
Ah. I really should’ve just braced myself and tried to stop him one more ti.
Just in case, I did so research on Saudi Arabia, and there didn’t seem to be any serious security or safety issues.
Maybe I’m just worrying for nothing......
As I sat slumped in my chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Knock knock knock knock knock!
Urgent knocking sounded.
“Yes?”
“D-Departnt Head! Did you see the foreign news that just ca in?”
Judging by Deputy Manager Lee Hye-rin’s expression, sothing serious had happened.
I checked imdiately.
[Bombing in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.]
“!?”
In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia!?
Soon, others ca rushing into the Departnt Head’s Office.
“Departnt Head. You saw the breaking news, right? The market, which was calm until now, is reacting. It’s a pretty big incident.”
“Because of this news, the FX market looks like it’s about to swing hard. Saudi, known as the safest in the Middle East, got attacked. If this turns out to be Iran’s doing, even the U.S. might get involved......”
But their reports didn’t register in my ears.
Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
That’s exactly where hyung was headed.
“No way.......”
Was that sudden instinctive alarm because of this?
My hands began to tremble.
“Departnt Head?”
“J-just a mont, I need to make a call......”
“Ah, yes. We’ll step outside.”
Sensing sothing was off, the employees quickly left the Departnt Head’s Office.
In the anti, I searched for hyung’s number with shaking fingers.
I almost dropped my phone.
‘I should’ve stopped him sohow.’
Regret washed over .
I should’ve clung to his pants and not let him go.
No. Let's not think negatively.
Even if hyung is in Riyadh, it doesn’t necessarily an he got caught in the bombing.
“.......”
I silently prayed, please, please, please, as I waited for the call to connect.
Those few seconds felt like years.
How much ti had passed?
[Ah. Jin-ho.]
“Hyung!!”
[Aigo. You scared . My eardrums almost burst.]
“N-no, are you okay? Nothing happened to you, right?”
[Of course I’m okay, you punk.]
I let out a sigh of relief.
The intense tension that had swept over in that brief mont suddenly released, and I nearly collapsed on the spot.
“There was a news of huge bombing in Riyadh just now. I’m so glad. I guess it had nothing to do with where you were.”
[Actually...... I didn’t go to Saudi.]
“What?”
[I was almost at the airport, but I just turned the car around and canceled all my appointnts. Sothing felt off. Your words kept echoing in my head.]
“Wait. You really canceled it because of what I said?”
[Yeah. The top earner in our company asks to play a ga together, how could I ignore that and go walking into trouble? So I turned back. Hehe.]
Hyung joked playfully, then soon asked seriously.
[But Jin-ho.]
“Yes, hyung.”
[Did you by any chance...... know this bombing would happen?]
“You’re saying sothing dangerous-. How could I possibly have known?”
[Right? Yeah. That’s good then. Anyway, your hyung is safe, so don’t worry. Oh, and get the Guild mbers ready. We’ve got a raid to run.]
“Yep. I’ll have everything set up in advance.”
[Alright. Get back to work.]
Thank goodness.
I had all sorts of thoughts racing through my head, thinking sothing really might have happened.
If sothing serious had truly occurred, I would have regretted for the rest of my life not holding hyung back.
But a terror attack in Saudi, of all places?
It was shocking that such a large-scale attack happened in a place considered to be so safe.
And Saudi has the United States behind it, doesn’t it?
“This isn’t the ti to be sitting around.”
The terror attack in Saudi is clearly a major event that will affect the global market.
Even though all our money is tied up in the safe-haven franc, the market must still be closely monitored.
It was ti to get back to work.
***
“.......”
Hwang Dae-woon sat in silence for a mont after ending the call.
The shocking terror attack in Saudi.
If he hadn’t turned the car around at the airport, if he had ignored Jin-ho’s warning, he might have been one of the casualties there.
“CEO-nim!!”
“CEOOO-nim!!”
But he didn’t even have ti to remain lost in thought.
The executives burst into the CEO’s Office with a commotion.
“Whoa, you guys are really scaring all together like this.”
“No, CEO-nim. Wh-what on earth is going on here?”
The one with the palest face was none other than Senior Managing Director Tak.
He had been the only executive scheduled to leave for Saudi together with Hwang Dae-woon.
“It’s truly a miracle. When you suddenly canceled the Saudi trip, I was completely baffled, but to think this would happen.......”
“Heaven really helped us.”
Heaven helped us.
That was right.
Maybe soone up there had sent a warning through Jin-ho.
“But why did you suddenly cancel the schedule? Senior Managing Director Tak didn’t even know the reason.”
Hwang paused for a mont.
Should he talk about it?
No. Even with a mont's thought, this was sothing that absolutely must not be revealed.
Even if Jin-ho didn’t know anything, if word got out that he had given an advance warning?
If soone twisted it and frad it as if Jin-ho had prior knowledge of the terror attack? Even if the chances were low, the wise thing was not to create that risk in the first place.
“I just had a bad dream that morning.”
So he kept quiet.
At the sa ti, the executives were left speechless.
“Really, because of a dream?”
“Yeah. I was just lucky. Like you said, heaven helped . But who the hell did this? Was it really Iran?”
“We’ve been checking the breaking news, and Iran was quick to issue a statent saying it wasn’t them. And ISIS has claid responsibility.”
“Tsk. It’s fine to have religion or ideology, but do they have no other way to express it? What did the people who died in that terror attack do to deserve that?”
The only relief was that the attack had been carried out by ISIS and not Iran.
If it had been Iran, a full-scale war could’ve broken out.
ISIS.
An extremist Sunni Islamic fundantalist militant group.
A few years ago, they suddenly declared themselves a state and caused chaos, and now they’ve gone and done sothing like this.
“Anyway, I’m fine, so all of you get back to work. With news this big, the markets could be swinging wildly.”
“Yes, regardless of anything else, we’re just glad you’re safe, CEO-nim.”
“Right. Oh, and Senior Managing Director Tak, stay behind for a mont.”
“......Yes, sir.”
After the executives left, Hwang asked Senior Managing Director Tak, who still seed dazed.
“Senior Managing Director Tak.”
“Yes, CEO-nim.”
“If we had been in Saudi, do you think we would’ve been caught in it?”
“......Most likely. The location we had set for our first eting was the building where the bombing took place.”
“!?”
So that’s how it was.
Then Jin-ho really did save my life.......
“But CEO-nim, how did you know? If you hadn’t turned the car around back then.......”
Senior Managing Director Tak shivered as if just thinking about it made his blood run cold.
“Senior Managing Director Tak. Be good to Jin-ho from now on.”
“What? Why Departnt Head Jung Jin-ho all of a sudden.......”
“There’s a reason. Just be good to him.”
“......?”
Senior Managing Director Tak looked completely clueless.
‘How am I ever going to repay this debt?’
Jung Jin-ho.
He had grown the company, and now, he had even saved his life.
It felt like he owed him a debt he could never repay for the rest of his life.
*****
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