Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 283 Red Wine, Ramen, and the Out-of-Control Lever
[Chapter Summary: Kang Jae-hoon's assets have ballooned due to leverage, but his emotions have completely collapsed in a restaurant.]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The morning mist was fragmented by the glass curtain walls of the financial district. Kang Jae-hoon's van drove across Cheonggyecheon Stream, swishing a clean arc in front of the CJ Entertainment Building.

The signing process resembled a precise diplomatic meeting.

When the pen nib signed his name on the contract page of "Bankruptcy Day," the scratching sound of ink seeping into the back of the paper signified that the 500 million won salary was exchanged for the name "Yoon Jung-hak."

"The start-up date is set for the third week of September."

—A whole month's gap is enough for methodological actors to dig deep into the ground.

On the way back to the company.

Kang Jae-hoon typed out a short biography of "Yoon Jung-hak" on his laptop.

This role requires neither real-life experience nor special training.

He's essentially a gambler in disguise.

The only difference is that the stakes have changed from chips to the fate of the nation.

For this kind of role, watching "Wall Street" and "The Big Short" a few times and stitching together the performances of Bale and Douglas is enough.

The only thing that needed preparation was that decisive speech.

Scene 38 of the script:
Standing in a dilapidated, rented meeting room, Yoon Jung-hak faced more than twenty skeptical investors. He had to use the magic of words to convince them that the country was on the verge of bankruptcy and that shorting the Korean won was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich quick.

How to develop persuasive speaking skills?
Kang Jae-hoon suddenly burst out laughing.

What could be a more textbook example than Chief Wen's campaign video from a few days ago?
After all, financial hyenas and politicians are essentially magicians who sell hope and fear.

……

The midday sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows, dividing the office into a chessboard of light and shadow.

As Jin Dayuan pushed open the door, he happened to see his boss making exaggerated hand gestures in the air—

"Everyone, this is not a crisis."

Kang Jae-hoon's voice suddenly rose in an eerie tone at the end:
"This is a once-in-a-century opportunity!"

He looks just like a fanatical pyramid scheme leader.

Jin Dayuan coughed lightly, suppressing a laugh:
"The final version of the script for 'Queen Cheren' is finished. Now it's up to you to see which TV station's checkbook gets hurt more."

Kang Jae-hoon nodded.

I never expected that after signing the gambler's contract, I would have to personally play the role of selling hope.

Open the script.

A concept image of Yoona in ancient costume fell out from between the pages.

The crimson skirt spreads out in a breathtaking arc, and the golden hairpin with its dangling beads ripples in the light. The figure in the painting has a captivating gaze, as if he might step out of the paper at any moment.

Seeing him staring intently at the portrait, Kim Dae-won tactfully stepped back. His fingertips had just touched the doorknob when Kang Jae-hoon called out to him:

How is the all-rental housing project doing now?

"hey-hey."

When Jin Dayuan turned around, his smile was so wide it almost disappeared, and his four fingers were held up like a victory flag.
"Four times! Total assets have increased by this much!"

Kang Jae-hoon paused, his fingers hovering over the concept art:

"How many?"

"Approximately 80 billion."

“What about the benefits?”

Jin Dayuan rubbed his hands together: "The total profit is around 14 billion."

"How many???"

The concept art from Kang Jae-hoon's fingertips floated back onto the desktop.

The phone's calculator was quickly brought up:
"To be precise, it's 13.9 billion."

Thirteen months of capital games have turned a principal of 20 billion into an almost absurd result. The initially estimated annual return of 8.7% now seems like a clumsy joke, made even more apparent by the actual increase of 55%.

"How did you do it?"

"Thanks to the guidance of the senior 'Bright Moon Reflecting Ice and Snow'—we leveraged all the tenants' security deposits and invested them in the Jiangnan District. While housing prices in Jiangbei increased by 5% annually, those in Jiangnan soared to 10%!"

He tapped and swiped his phone, and the numerous red dots scattered across the satellite map lit up:
"Currently, I own six old, dilapidated apartments in Jiangbei and three mid-range apartments in Jiangnan. Once the fourth apartment is transferred, my total assets are expected to reach 9 billion yuan!"

"..."

The rhythm of his fingertips tapping lightly on the table mirrored the chaotic thoughts in Kang Jae-hoon's mind.

He should have been alerted by the script of "The Day the Nation Was Bankrupt," but at this moment, the profit figure of 13.9 billion was like honey sticking to his reason.

Finally, he waved for Kim Dae-won to leave, then stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the scattered buildings of Seoul.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The waters of Cheonggyecheon Stream continued to flow steadily toward the Han River, while his assets expanded wildly at the rate of the flood season.

……

The evening glow bathed Cheongdam-dong in a soft rose gold hue.

Lim Yoon-a was standing in front of the island in the open kitchen, looking at "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty" with her left hand, while pushing Nongshim ramen into the bubbling soup pot with her right hand.

As the cheese slices slowly melted in the red soup, the soft click of the combination lock came from the front door.

She peeked out in surprise and saw the man in the entryway untying his tie, and a ball of fur frantically spinning around his trouser leg.

Why didn't you tell me you were coming?

Kang Jae-hoon bent down and scooped up the cat, his fingertips sinking into its soft fur:
"Did I come at a bad time?"

"Not really."

Im Yoona used a bookmark to hold down the pages of the book, then turned around and stirred the noodle soup with chopsticks:
"So you thought President Jiang might be discussing life philosophy with his first love right now?"

"Philosophy is too abstract."

Kang Jae-hoon put the cat on the ground, quickly stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind:
"How about we learn something practical from Yoona-sensei—like how to cook ramen to Michelin standards?"

Yoona nudged his chest with her elbow, but he grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

The moment their eyes met, the condiment bottle was knocked askew.

The calico cat perched atop the cat tree, tilting its head to observe as its male owner lifted its female owner onto the central island.

Yoona suddenly chuckled and wrapped her legs around his waist:
"So President Jiang is here to learn cooking?"

The unspoken words were swallowed between his lips and teeth.

The ramen noodles gradually clumped together in the pot, and the rising steam blurred the overlapping figures.

The calico cat listlessly licked its paws, watching its owners move from the island counter to the sofa, and finally disappear behind the bedroom door.

……

The tide of desire slowly receded, leaving only the low hum of the air conditioner and the mingling of their breaths in the bedroom.

Lim Yoona leaned lazily against Kang Jae-hoon, her fingertips drawing circles in his palm.

“Good job,” she said, tilting her head back to give him a light peck on the chin. “Looks like you haven’t done anything bad lately.”

Jiang Zaixun's heart skipped a beat, fearing that she would use the word "bad thing" to steer the conversation toward that name that shouldn't be mentioned at this moment. He quickly and subtly withdrew his arms, steer the conversation to a safer direction:
"I've taken on a new role; it's about the 97 Asian financial crisis."

"and then?"

Yoona casually played with her fingers.

"Then I thought of a full rental project."

He gently stroked her smooth shoulder: "I asked Brother Dayuan at noon, and I didn't expect that we would make a profit of 14 billion in thirteen months."

Im Yoona suddenly tilted her head back, her doe eyes so clear they seemed to see right through people:
"So you're learning from history, intending to run away but getting tripped up by the high returns?"

Kang Jae-hoon's Adam's apple bobbed, and the silence fermented into tacit agreement in the air.

he thinks:

Kim Ji-won would probably be starry-eyed and saying, "Oppa is so amazing!"; Lee Sung-kyung would be frowning and reminding him, "Greed will burst your wallet"; Bae Suzy might have already sent him pictures of the new season's runway show and asked him to pay the bill.

But only Lim Yoona—

This woman, who is frighteningly intelligent, always manages to see through all his pretenses with deadly accuracy.

"Yes, so I'd like to hear your opinion."

Kang Jae-hoon waited for her to meticulously weigh the pros and cons. Lim Yoon-a, however, simply turned over lazily, her hair spreading out in dark ripples on the pillow:

My opinion is—I'll do whatever you say.

"listen to me?"

Jiang Jae-hoon was stunned.

"Yes."

Her fingertips traced his chest, a mischievous glint in her doe eyes:

"Investing and managing money is essentially gambling. Some people gamble on their unique insight, others gamble on market trends. Since it's all gambling, luck plays a crucial role. And your luck—"

"In my opinion, it has always been blessed."

luck?

The word rippled through the night.

Kang Jae-hoon suddenly realized that he had never seriously examined this seemingly self-evident gift—

When Hwang Jung-min wanted to mentor a junior, he happened to be spotted while giving an impromptu performance at a convenience store; when Im Yoon-a was tired of the constraints of being a perfect idol and wanted to experience genuine attraction, he happened to walk into her sight with the rouge scent of Macbeth.

He won the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Supporting Actor just three years after his debut.
Even Leicester City, whose bets were made casually in the lottery, managed to stage one of the most incredible comebacks in Premier League history.

Even the satire of the Sewol ferry disaster, which led to a meeting between the Ministry of Culture and the public, ultimately became an opportunity to enhance the industry's integrity and improve public image.

Even more absurd is—

He was involved with five top beauties, but Dispatch's cameras seemed to be collectively blind and never captured any concrete evidence.

—If this doesn't count as the chosen one, does it mean the Han River has to flow backward for it to count?

Kang Jae-hoon suddenly chuckled.

It turns out that his greatest asset was never his acting skills or intelligence, but rather his mysterious and inexplicable luck.

"so…"

He leaned closer to the source of the peach scent: "Is Teacher Yoona treating me like a lucky cat?"

"Let me hear you meow?"

Yoona's eyes curved into crescent moons:
"Let the teacher inspect the goods."

Kang Jae-hoon leaned down and whispered in her ear, drawing out the last syllable—

"Meow~"

Immediately, a screeching sound came from outside the door—the calico cat was angrily defending its unique meow.

The two laughed heartily in the moonlight.

The laughter and commotion subsided.

Kang Jae-hoon's fingers twirled through her hair:

What if I want to make additional investment?

"Add?"

Im Yoona suddenly sat up:
"That depends on the Federal Reserve's stance."

She analyzed it by counting on her fingers.

"The essence of renting out apartments is a double game of rising housing prices and low bank interest rates, and South Korea's interest rates... are dancing to the tune of Wall Street."

"In the short term, the THAAD deployment will freeze the Jeju Island real estate market. But precisely because of this, all the hot money is flowing into Seoul."

"But after next year's election, the new government will definitely target the runaway housing prices."

Kang Jae-hoon gazed at her radiant profile as she spoke eloquently:

"So, what Yoona means is... that we can still grab the last piece of the pie by leveraging up now?"

Yoona gently shook her head, her hair rustling softly against the pillow.

"This is just my personal analysis. As I just said, the essence of investing and managing money is gambling."

Kang Jae-hoon held her fingers:
"But you also said I'm very lucky."

"Yes"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud "gurgling" sound came from Kang Jae-hoon's abdomen.

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

Lim Yoona was the first to laugh out loud, her doe eyes curving into crescent moons:
"hungry?"

"Yeah," Kang Jae-hoon said helplessly, rubbing his stomach. "That wasn't it just now."

He glanced meaningfully toward the kitchen.

"The ramen has turned into a paste."

Yoona smiled and stood up: "Let's go out to eat."

"it is good."

Half an hour later.

Im Yoon-ah walked out of the dressing room in stiletto heels.

The Chanel little black dress accentuates her elegant curves, while pearl earrings sway gently at the side of her neck.

Kang Jae-hoon leaned against the entrance hall, admiring the scene, while the calico cat rubbed against his trouser leg in dissatisfaction—clearly still bothered by that "meow."

"Let's go, the Michelin three-star chef must be getting impatient."

"Good~"

Yoona smiled and took his arm.

……

Seoul is brightly lit at night.

The crystal chandelier in the French restaurant illuminated the champagne glasses with dazzling light, and the waiter was pouring Kang Jae-hoon his third glass of Burgundy white wine.

As Yoona was cutting her medium-rare Wellington steak, she suddenly looked up as if she remembered something and said:

"You already know the answer in your heart, don't you?"

The silver fork gleamed faintly under the light.

"Asking for my opinion... is just a matter of needing someone to say it for you."

Sometimes I think...

Kang Jae-hoon chuckled softly, swirling his wine glass.

"How smart our children will be in the future, after all, they inherited Yoona's genes."

Being too smart isn't always a good thing.

Yoona slowly and deliberately cut into the pinkish-red steak, her eyes sparkling as she looked up:

"Being able to see through too many truths actually..."

The words have not yet fallen.

"Da da da--"

The rapid sound of high heels shattered the restaurant's tranquility like hail.

Kang Jae-hoon looked up when he heard the sound.

Before my eyes could even focus, the icy liquid was already splashed in my face—

"Scumbag!"

The rich aroma of Burgundy exploded in the air, and the platinum liquid dripped down his jawline, leaving a messy stain on his white shirt.

Jessica Jung stood in front of the table, clutching an empty wine glass, her chest heaving with anger.

As the only Michelin three-star restaurant in South Korea, this place has always been a secret dating spot for Seoul's celebrities.

Jessica Jung has just finished a meeting with her designer friend.

At checkout.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of that familiar figure in the window seat—

Jiang Zai Xun leaned forward, his eyes filled with a tender smile she had never seen before.

Knowing that he was entangled with other women is one thing, but witnessing him having dinner with another woman is quite another.

Reason was instantly consumed by rage.

By the time she came to her senses, the wine glass was empty.

however.

Jessica Jung only realized it when she turned around after spilling the wine.

Kang Jae-hoon's female companion was one of the people she least wanted to see.

"Long time no see, unnie."

Jessica Jung pursed her lips, her meticulously drawn eyeliner sharp as a knife under the light.

She hadn't expected to run into her former teammate here, much less that the other person was so composed. All the questions she had prepared stuck in her throat, finally turning into a cold snort as she turned to leave.

"and many more."

Yoona's voice was as soft as a feather, yet it made Jessica Jung stop in her tracks.

The moment I turned around—

"Wow!"

The platinum-gold liquid traced an elegant arc, precisely splashing onto that delicate face.

The lingering scent of burgundy lingers in the air, intertwining with the remaining fragrance of perfume.

"what--!"

Jessica Jung took a half step back in shock, her fingertips trembling as she clutched her wet collar:

"Lim Yoona, are you crazy?!"

"how could be."

Lim Yoona leaned slightly forward, holding an empty wine glass, the diamond earrings on her ears reflecting a cold light:
"I'm just... returning the same gift to my unnie~"

The light from the crystal chandelier refracted into fragmented halos in the spilled wine, and all the clinking of cutlery in the restaurant ceased abruptly, leaving only the soft thud of Burgundy red wine hitting the marble floor.

(End of this chapter)