I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 16: Plaza Accord (2)

The heat in the room was almost sweltering. I smiled faintly and tried to calm my pounding chest.

“Yeah, whew. We knew this much already. It’s what comes next that matters.”

“Ahahaha! Ahh, thank you, young miss. Truly.”

Executive Director Ha Joo-seong smiled so brightly that I wondered if he’d always been this cheerful, and offered me his thanks.

“Hey, it’s too early to be thanking me. If it doesn’t break the barrier by the end of the day, it all goes to zero... ah.”

Ah-ha.

Come to think of it, Ha Joo-seong’s position was slightly different from mine.

I had bet on an extreme probability, but Ha Joo-seong had simply bet on the dollar's value going down.

He wouldn’t gain as much from plain put and call options, but since volatility had gone insane already, he was basically guaranteed to make several times profit.

“Ah, right. You made a braver bet, young miss. I’m sorry. Hoho, I just got a little too happy...”

“It’s fine. If I lose, you’ll cover for me, right? I only put in a billion... but you made way more than that, didn’t you?”

He gave a confident smile and nodded.

“That’s right. I’ve probably earned about three billion already. And since it’s money I couldn’t have made without you, even if you end up losing, I’d have more than enough to cover for you.”

Nice. A perfect risk hedge.

I hadn’t planned it that way, but having a capable subordinate is still one of the marks of a good leader.

Feeling reassured, I opened the fridge to look for a Coke.

Today felt like a day for a fizzy drink in a smooth bottle.

– Pop.

Ah, this one won’t open.

Slightly disappointed, I handed the Coke bottle—held in my tiny hands—to my secretary.

“Si-hyun, open this for me.”

Lee Si-hyun let out a subtle sigh.

“...Young miss, if you eat too many sweets, your teeth will rot. You’ve already had a lot of candy today. Have the Coke tomorrow.”

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Tsk.

I narrowed my eyes and pushed the Coke bottle toward her.

“I don’t care about that. Do you want to get fired?”

But Si-hyun firmly confiscated the Coke from my hands and scolded me.

“No means no. Chief Secretary said the same thing, and so did Nanny.”

“...Tch.”

Nanny worries too much. Always nagging.

If you heard her, you’d think she was some elderly lady. But she only weaned me a few years ago, so she’s not even thirty yet.

“My Cokeeee...”

Like a Coke gone flat, I flopped down on the sofa. Then I reached out and placed my hand on the candy basket.

– Tap.

“...?”

– Taptap.

My hand, in search of candy, only hit the cold glass surface of the table.

I turned my head and peeked over at the table. Si-hyun was hugging both the candy basket and the Coke bottle, staring right at me.

“Candy is confiscated too.”

Is this for real?

I opened my mouth and sighed with the expression of someone who couldn’t believe it.

“...Unbelievable.”

“I saw you try to sneak out without brushing your teeth just now. Go grab your toothbrush and brush.”

This is... this is insubordination.

I’m a ts magical girl with cavity-proof teeth...

Sulking, I sighed and grabbed my toothbrush.

I wanted to be an adult again as soon as possible.

***

September 23rd, 1985. 8 a.m.

Yoo Ha-yeon, the early-rising child of a bright new nation, welcomed the morning rubbing her eyes in the Daehwa Securities headquarters.

“Yaaawn.”

Sleepy.

As the thought crossed my mind, I stretched out my little limbs and shook off the drowsiness with a quick stretch.

“Uuughh...”

Letting ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) out a tiny groan, I opened my sparkling round eyes again, now fully refreshed.

“Early bird, awake!”

Chak.

I hopped down from the bed with a loud clap and dashed over to the Reuters monitor. The exchange rate was showing 223 yen.

“Ooh, it’s dropped a lot.”

Since there was only one bed, Lee Si-hyun had slept on the sofa. Ha Joo-seong, who didn’t bet on extreme barrier options like I did, had gone off to take care of other business in another part of the company.

“Si-hyun, wake up!”

I scurried over and shook Si-hyun to wake her up. Maybe because she hadn’t slept well from nerves last night, she looked exhausted.

“Ughh. You’re so full of energy again today, young miss...”

“There are four hours left until the New York cut! Let’s eat and watch the exchange board together.”

“...Uwahhh. Honestly, it’s not like the exchange rate’s going to change just because we watch it... Can’t I sleep just a bit more...”

Great, she’s become a full-on determinist now.

I nodded, watching Si-hyun slowly evolve into a rational homo economicus.

“It’s fine. Just watching the exchange window is fun for me. Isn’t personal happiness the most important thing in life?”

At that, Si-hyun combed her messy hair and slowly sat up on the sofa. She frowned slightly—probably from a headache—and somehow, that made her look even more attractive.

“Phew...”

Oh, pretty.

I always knew she was, but just now it hit a little different.

Hair tied up in a ponytail, crisp black-and-white suit, clear skin despite no makeup, and that amazing chest.

It’s really a shame I’m not a guy. Last time I saw her abs, they were no joke either.

“I’m going to wash my face first.”

After getting up and heading to the bathroom, she came back, patting her face dry with a towel, and undid a couple of buttons on her now damp shirt.

“...Why are you staring at me like that?”

Si-hyun blinked at me, puzzled.

“Ah, no.”

Feeling a sudden mix of jealousy and vague deprivation, I rushed into the bathroom to wash my face. My stomach felt a bit off. What even was that emotion just now...

Splish, splash.

“....”

In the mirror, a girl with slightly murky eyes stared back at me. I smiled faintly.

Soon enough, the girl in the mirror had regained her radiant expression and sparkling eyes.

...Pull yourself together, Yoo Ha-yeon.

– Creak.

“Oh, this time you washed your face without me having to say anything. Well done, young miss.”

To Si-hyun’s laid-back mumbling, I smiled and answered back.

“Yeah, let’s eat quickly. I’m hungry.”

For breakfast, we had blood sausage soup for the first time in a while. Maybe because food culture hasn’t evolved much yet, it wasn’t very good.

In the end, I snuck some candy back at the office—only to get caught by Si-hyun and have it confiscated.

I mean come on, it’s not like you can’t have a snack right after breakfast...

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

***

The New York cut was at 12 noon.

After breakfast and brushing my teeth, it was around 9 a.m. now. About three hours left...

But there was nothing to do.

‘Hmm, maybe I should’ve woken up an hour later. Ha Joo-seong’s coming around then too...’

I absentmindedly flipped through documents just to kill time, then glanced over at the exchange rate screen.

USD/JPY: 219.4

The options set to New York cut had a barrier at 217 yen. I knew the future, but just to be safe, I’d set it conservatively.

“Hmm. By the way, young miss, what happens when the options hit maturity?”

Likewise with nothing to do, Si-hyun had started doing bodyweight exercises and asked while doing push-ups. I ran over and sat on her back as I answered.

“You exercise the option, of course. For the record, the premium for the option was a billion won, but the actual amount needed to exercise it is way over that.”

Of course, I could always sell the option early at a higher premium, but... if it hits the barrier too late, that gets awkward. In those cases, I need to exercise it directly to realize the gains.

That’s why I used Daehwa Securities. Even if I poured in all my own money, it still wouldn’t be enough to hold that much dollar value.

“Guh... H-Haa... I see, I get it. So that’s how it works.”

Si-hyun kept doing push-ups while sweating profusely, with me still sitting on her back. Serves her right—who told her to steal my candy?

With her large chest making it hard to maintain proper push-up form, and me on top of her, it looked like she was having trouble keeping balance. Her arms were trembling.

“Uh-oh? If you drop me, you die. You know that, right?”

I grinned and swung my feet back and forth, lightly tapping her.

“Gghh... Is it really okay to treat someone exercising like this, young miss...? Hnnng...”

“Phew, knowledge is pain. Which means, the more pain you give, the more enlightenment follows. Got it?”

“I... don’t understand...”

Then it can’t be helped. We’ll just keep going until she does.

I delivered a special economics lecture to Lee Si-hyun, covering interest rates, stocks, bonds, supply and demand, and more. She lay there utterly drained as she accepted my wisdom.

“You’ve attained enlightenment. You may now descend the mountain.”

“It’s not me that needs to get off—it’s you, young miss... Please get off my back already... Ghhh...”

Fair enough.

I climbed off and greeted Executive Director Ha Joo-seong, who had just arrived at the office.

“Good morning, mister. Did you sleep well?”

“...I did very well, but... it doesn’t seem to have been a very good morning for your secretary, young miss.”

Ha Joo-seong glanced between me and Si-hyun with a puzzled expression.

“Si-hyun’s fine. Aren’t you?”

“Yes...”

Drenched in sweat, Si-hyun clung to the fan with a dazed expression.

Since this was an era where women were still pretty modest about revealing skin, she stubbornly stayed in full office attire. She didn’t seem to realize that a soaking wet blouse clinging to her body actually looked more provocative.

‘Man, I’m bored.’

Aside from Ha Joo-seong, who had to handle the actual options transactions, there was still nothing for me to do. So I picked up the Super Mario cartridge recently imported from Japan and started playing.

As the adventure of the mushroom kingdom plumber began, that familiar BGM rang in my ears.

“Oooh... yeah, that’s it.”

While everyone else at the company was working hard, sneaking glances at their superiors, here I was ditching school and playing the latest game.

Truly the best.

***

11:30 a.m.

At last, the exchange rate broke through the barrier.

USD/JPY: 216.3

The green light flashed, radiating its presence.

It had long since passed the original New York cut barrier of 217 yen, and now was right on the verge of breaking into the 216 range.

“Ahahaha! Hahahaha!”

I clapped my hands and burst into manic laughter. Any lingering gloom vanished completely, and the steam-like energy roared back into my chest.

“Phew... it’s really happening.”

Even Executive Director Ha Joo-seong looked at me with renewed awe, and Lee Si-hyun—who had been sending me low-key death glares—was now staring up at me with wide, sparkling eyes again.

“So then, how much is it? The premium.”

“It was 0.02 won last time, and...”

Once the barrier was removed, the premium value popped right out.

2.03 won.

A 100x gain.