Chapter 26:Money and Talent Pour In
Chapter 26: Regular Points (1)
The morning after sharing plenty of joy. Before the two younger siblings left for school, I took out my wallet.
“Here, take this.”
I had been thinking for a while that I should give it to them, and I was finally putting it into action. Of course, the “I’m not giving you any” comment from yesterday was just a joke.
“O-Oppa?”
“Hyung, this is way too much?”
“It’s fine.”
Ryu Hyun-ah and Ryu Hwan—500,000 won each. As college students, they’d have more than enough places to spend it.
But both of them hesitated.
They used to make such a fuss and scream for pocket money, yet now that I was actually giving it to them, they couldn’t bring themselves to accept it easily.
These kids.
I could guess what was going through their minds.
“If you don’t want it, then never mind?”
“No, no! That’s not it!”
“I’ll use it well, hyung.”
“Good. From now on, when I give you something, just say thank you and take it. Okay?”
“Deal!”
“Understood, dear oppa!”
After seeing the siblings off to school, I sat on the living room sofa and waited for Dad to come out. When he emerged from the room, fully dressed for work, I took out the envelope I had prepared.
“Dad.”
“Hm?”
“I prepared this for you to use as pocket money.”
“What? Pocket money?”
“Yes. I really wanted to give you some once I started earning properly. Please accept it.”
For a moment, he looked stunned, but his expression soon brightened.
“Thank you, my son. You’ve really grown up.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I’ll use it well.”
I saw him off as he left the house with a much happier expression than usual.
“Have a good day at work.”
“Alright.”
After that, I gave Mom the same amount as pocket money.
“I never thought I’d receive something like this in my life.”
“Feels good, right?”
“Of course! My son is the best!”
“Later, go eat something delicious with your friends.”
“I was actually planning to meet them today.”
“Oh, perfect timing.”
“Thank you, son. I’ll treat myself to something tasty.”
Before long, Mom also went out.
The house was quiet, but my heart felt full and comfortable.
“Alright, Lucky needs to take his medicine too, huh?”
Nyaaaa…?
After feeding formula to the slightly rebellious Lucky, Ryu Seong also enjoyed some alone time. He sat in front of his laptop, studied the stock market a bit, and casually searched for information about the movie he had invested in.
And then.
He checked the stock price of Power Edison.
18,720 won.
The price had risen quite a lot.
He felt a slight pang of regret for having withdrawn his principal plus a bit of profit already, but the bus had already left. His belief that strictly sticking to principles was the only way to make money remained unchanged.
“I should sell a little more.”
He planned to continue slowly selling in portions.
He also turned on the live stream.
It was exactly 9:00 AM, so the timing was perfect.
<Power Edison already at this price?! Let’s sell some more today too!>
— StockDemonKingTV
The subscriber count had now surpassed 150, so as soon as the stream started, the viewer number quickly filled up.
Familiar nicknames appeared.
Altang: It’s been so long! Why haven’t you been streaming? Ah, I did see the notice though ㅠㅠ
Jjakbal: This guy…!
“Wow, Altang-nim. Really nice to see you. Jjakbal-nim, welcome too. Like I wrote in the notice, streaming on a regular schedule is a bit difficult for me. I don’t trade stocks that frequently either. Still, I’ll do my best to show up as often as I can. By the way, have both of you made any profit?”
Altang: So jealous! I’m still holding everything! Why are you already selling, StockDemonKing-nim?
Jjakbal: I don’t do bottom-fishing tricks!
Ryu Seong smiled and continued.
“I’m a fan of partial selling.”
Then he checked his current profit status.
Stock: Power Edison
Purchase amount: 80,051,790 won
Return rate: 102.8%
Unrealized profit/loss: 82,293,240 won
Total valuation: 162,345,030 won
The return had now exceeded 100%.
“Wow, it’s been a while and it’s gone up tremendously.”
He couldn’t help but genuinely admire it.
But a principle was a principle.
Judging that it wasn’t a bad time to do partial selling, he immediately pressed the sell button.
He currently held 8,673 shares.
He entered 2,663 shares to sell.
“Alright, selling now.”
In an instant, the chat exploded with intensity.
Altang: Ah, that’s such a waste…!
Jurin-ing: I just logged in—what the hell is going on?!
Penda: Wow, still—congrats on the profit ^^
Gamulchi: Taking profit is always the truth!
The reactions weren’t bad at all.
[Sale order executed.]
Thanks to that, a hefty sum of over 50 million won had come in.
Money really was piling up.
With this money, he planned to buy a car. The desperate wish he had when he had to rush Lucky to the animal hospital on foot had been so strong that lately, his interest in cars had skyrocketed.
It would be nice to have one.
He already had a license.
And the money wasn’t lacking anymore—so there was no reason to hesitate.
“Alright then, shall we talk a bit about the market for a while?”
He shared what he had been studying lately, explaining things in detail and continuing the interaction.
“The mood in the U.S. isn’t that great these days. There’s constant talk about the Fed raising interest rates, and especially Nasdaq is taking a beating. If the U.S. raises rates, Korea will have no choice but to follow eventually. So I think the overall market is going to wobble a bit. Of course, even in times like these, our job is to find the companies that will still go up.”
After spending enough time on that topic.
“Then, I’ll come back when it’s time for another partial sell. See you next time.”
He said goodbye and ended the live stream.
*
Ryu Seong’s mother, Lee Hee-yeon, was meeting old friends at a café after a long time, chattering away.
“I’ll treat for lunch, so let’s go eat something delicious.”
“Huh? Hee-yeon, what’s gotten into you?”
“Right? You never say stuff like that.”
“When did I ever…”
“Come on, we all know. So… did something good happen?”
Urged by her friends, Lee Hee-yeon waved her hand lightly with a smile.
“Hehe, well… Seong-ie gave me pocket money.”
“Huh? Ryu Seong? Your eldest son?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Ugh, my son keeps giving me nothing but stress every day.”
“So how much pocket money did he give?”
At that, Lee Hee-yeon paused for a second.
“Actually… I haven’t looked yet. For some reason, just thinking about opening it makes my heart race.”
“First pocket money from your son?”
“Yeah.”
“That makes sense. Want to open it together?”
“Should I…?”
Only then did Lee Hee-yeon take out the envelope she had put in her bag.
“Alright… shall we look?”
“Go ahead!”
She opened the envelope and reached inside. It didn’t feel particularly thick. She wondered if she had bragged too much in front of her friends as she pulled out the bills.
“Hm?”
A thick stack of 50,000-won notes.
“Oh my god, how much is this?”
“Wow, he gave you a lot.”
Counting it carefully—exactly 1 million won.
“That’s way too much.”
Honestly, she had been expecting around 200,000 won at most.
But 1 million?
The surprise lasted only a moment—then pure joy took over.
“What’s Seong been up to lately?”
“Ah, he recently released some emoticons…”
“Emoticons?”
“Yeah, hold on.”
She quickly searched for the “Buttler” emoticon pack on KakaoTalk and showed them.
“This one. You know how he briefly learned drawing because he wanted to do webtoons back then? Turns out he had talent—he submitted it right away and it passed review.”
“Impressive!”
“Ugh, I’m so jealous.”
“Hehe, apparently it’s quite popular. It’s selling well, so I guess that’s why he could give so much.”
“Congratulations!”
“You raised a good son.”
All her friends smiled and congratulated her warmly.
“So Hee-yeon, does that mean I can order something expensive today?”
“Of course!”
She genuinely felt great.
Lee Hee-yeon decided she would properly treat her friends today.
*
Around 4:55 PM, just as he was wrapping up work at the company.
A message came from his friends.
(Want to grab dinner together after so long?)
“Dinner?”
(Yeah, how about it? Everyone’s already here.)
Ryu Seong’s father, Ryu Hee-seok, gave a faint smile and nodded.
“Sounds good. How about native chicken ginseng soup and a glass of ginseng wine?”
(Native chicken? That’s pretty pricey. What do we do—we’re all broke right now lol)
“Why say that? It’s been ages since I treated, so don’t worry about money.”
(Huh? Really? You sure?)
Ryu Hee-seok proudly straightened his shoulders.
“Of course I’m sure. This morning my son suddenly gave me pocket money.”
(What? For real?)
“Yeah. So let’s go nourish ourselves properly for once.”
(Kkk, I’m in. You know a place?)
“I’ll send the address—come right over.”
(Got it, on my way!)
That evening, while enjoying native chicken ginseng soup and ginseng wine, he spent the entire night proudly bragging about his son.
“Aigoo, my ears are going to fall off at this rate.”
“How proud he makes me.”
“Alright, alright, you lucky bastard. I’m jealous, so jealous!”
“Khehehe.”
It was a happy day for everyone.
*
Finally, he received the veterinarian’s desired contact information from the animal hospital.
“These four places.”
A brief description was attached to the text message. Three were individuals personally caring for abandoned dogs and cats, and one was a properly operated shelter.
Should I start with the shelter?
He searched the name and the location came up.
It wasn’t too far away.
“Oh ho.”
The reviews written there were all positive.
Reading them in detail, every single one was full of praise.
<Really, not your typical shelter…!>
<I’m making a small donation.>
<Always thankful >
<Please stay healthy…>
Still, nothing beats seeing it in person. He went to the homepage first and selected the volunteer activity menu. To properly understand how they operated, experiencing it firsthand would be the best way.
Fortunately, they accepted same-day reservations. After checking the available times, he selected the 11:00 AM slot.
[Reservation completed.]
Not long after the message popped up, a text arrived.
[Hello, this is Haneul Ttang Byeol Ttang Abandoned Dog Shelter. We are sending this message regarding your volunteer application for today. Please refer to the following…]
While reading the contents, he began preparing to head out.
There wasn’t anything particular he had to do anyway.
Even arriving a bit early wouldn’t be a problem, so he quickly left the room.
“Mom, I’m heading out for a bit!”
“Where to?”
“Just gonna do some light exercise.”
“You’ll mix Lucky’s medicine with the formula, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Be careful!”
After putting on his sneakers and stepping outside, a muggy wind greeted him.
Humid and hot.
True summer had begun.
“The weather, ugh…!”
At least it was still morning, so it was bearable.
Looks like I’ll sweat a lot today.
He slowly made his way toward the subway station.
Along the path, he passed a park.
People out for walks caught his eye.
“Hm?”
In one spot, an unusually large crowd had gathered.
What’s going on?
It was noisy and lively, so it was impossible not to get curious. He changed direction and approached.
There, he saw the scene of an injured puppy being rescued.
What was strange, however, was that no matter how you looked at it, the person doing the rescuing didn’t seem like part of any official rescue team.
He looked like an ordinary person.
While Ryu Seong stood puzzled, he overheard a conversation from nearby middle-aged women.
“That person is a YouTuber, apparently.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He was out for a walk, saw the stray collapse, and said he’d take it.”
“Aigoo, what’s he gonna do with it?”
“Treat it and take care of it until it gets adopted, I think.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“I searched him up—he seems to help a lot of abandoned dogs and cats. If they don’t get adopted in the end, he keeps them himself. Even from the videos… he’s already got way more than twenty animals at home.”
“Aigoo…”
“It must be tough.”
Ryu Seong quietly joined the conversation.
“Excuse me. Do you happen to know the name of that YouTuber’s channel?”
The woman looked at him and held out her smartphone.
“Here it is.”
“Ah, thank you.”
The channel name was ‘HappyDogCatTV’.
Ryu Seong immediately searched for the channel on his own phone and hit the subscribe button. Meanwhile, the rescue wrapped up, and the YouTuber left with the puppy.
“Hmm.”
For some reason, his eyes kept following the man.
Thud.
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to trail the person from a distance. The YouTuber headed to a local animal hospital. Only after confirming that he went inside with the injured puppy did Ryu Seong turn back toward the subway station.
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