Taeseong let out a gasp and clapped a hand over his mouth.
The yo-yo effect.
The most terrifying phrase in a dieter’s vocabulary.
This was not simply a number going up.
It meant the system would forcibly inflate his body.
The fat he had carved off with blood and sweat over four months — 5kg of it back on from a single failure.
‘I can bear not making money, but I would rather die than become a pig again.’
He was still a pig, mind you.
Even so, the thought that the weight he had fought to lose could come back put venom in Taeseong’s eyes.
This was not an incentive problem. It was a pride problem.
He had to succeed, no matter what.
But December is the ‘hellish month’ for a dieter.
Year-end parties, farewell-to-the-year parties, Christmas parties......
A season of traps, riddled with drinking and greasy side dishes.
And sure enough.
“All right, attention!”
Just before lunch hour, Department Head Park stood up and clapped his hands.
“As you all know, our Team 3’s numbers this year have been a proper roller coaster. But in the end! Thanks to Assistant Manager Kim’s hard carry, we’ve exceeded the department’s target! A round of applause!”
The staff applauded without soul.
Taeseong sat quietly.
“And so! This year’s end-of-year dinner is going to be a big one. Venue: Daedo Restaurant, right outside the building. Menu: Hanwoo sirloin! It’s a day to eat yourselves sick on the company’s money, so this Friday evening, come with your stomachs completely empty! No absences. Understood?”
“Ooh! Hanwoo!”
“Amazing! You’re the best, sir!”
Cheers went up from the staff.
Manager Jeong was already drooling and flattering him with “Your scale really is different, sir!”
Of course, it had been Executive Director Han’s instruction that, since the target had been met, staff morale should be lifted with a dinner at the very least — but Department Head Park thoroughly enjoyed acting as though he were the one splashing out.
Taeseong’s expression, however, had hardened.
‘Daedo Restaurant? Hanwoo sirloin?’
One of Taeseong’s all-time favorite places.
Hanwoo sirloin with marbling blooming like snowflakes.
That fatty meat that melts away the moment it goes in your mouth.
Add a glass of soju, soybean-paste porridge, and kimchi fried rice......
A combination that made his mouth water at the mere thought.
But if he ate all of that, he might well fail the mission.
‘Are you insane? I have 5kg to lose and you want me to eat Hanwoo?’
Taeseong clenched his fist.
Even at 50,000 won a portion on the corporate card, Hanwoo was nothing short of poison to Taeseong.
He resolved it with grim eyes.
‘I wouldn’t eat it if Hanwoo’s own grandfather showed up.’
Because there was tastier meat waiting for him — DS Danseok.
***
After work, at the Dye-Gym.
Greeting Taeseong as he came in for December’s first workout was a muscular reindeer in a Santa hat...... no, Trainer Kang Pilgeun.
“Merry Christmas, sir! It’s December!”
Trainer Kang Pilgeun welcomed him in a red sleeveless shirt and a Santa hat, a dumbbell in each hand.
The sight was grotesque and yet strangely fitting.
“Trainer...... what’s with the hat?”
“It’s December! I have to build you muscle like a present. Come in, come in. Today I have a ‘Christmas special routine’ prepared.”
“A C-Christmas special?”
Ominous.
In Kang Pilgeun’s dictionary, the word ‘special’ meant ‘hell’.
“Yes. It is called ‘Pulling Santa’s Sleigh’.”
Where Kang Pilgeun pointed sat an enormous steel sled.
And plates were stacked on it like a mountain.
“You want me...... to push that?”
“Yes. In the spirit of becoming a reindeer and delivering presents! The finest exercise for explosive full-body strength. Fun, isn’t it? Exciting, isn’t it? Is your heart not pumping with the urge to train?”
Taeseong swallowed dryly.
Trainer Kang’s eyes were already blazing.
“Now, we begin! Ten meters up and back, twenty sets, no rest! Go!”
“Guaaargh!”
Taeseong pushed the sled with a beastlike scream.
His thighs felt ready to burst and his calves felt ready to cramp.
But he could not stop.
If he did not push, he would not lose the weight.
If he did not push, the DS Danseok quadruple information would fly away.
Liquid — sweat or tears, he could not tell — pattered onto the floor.
“Don’t you cry! Don’t you cry! Santa doesn’t give muscle growth to children who cry~♬”
Trainer Kang’s singing rang through the gym.
Taeseong gritted his teeth and drove off the floor.
When the long stretch of hell training ended, Taeseong sprawled out flat on the floor.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling looked blurry.
“Hoo...... hoo......”
“Excellent. Very good. At this rate, getting into the 120s before the year is out won’t be difficult at all.”
“That’s — huff...... huff...... the most welcome thing I’ve heard in a while.”
Trainer Kang sat down beside Taeseong and handed him a protein shake.
“Sir. Do you know something?”
“Yes?”
“What mistake people make most often at the end of the year.”
“...... Binge eating, isn’t it?”
“Correct. The thought of ‘I’ll eat until the year ends and start next year’ ruins people. A diet is not something you do tomorrow, it is something you do right now. Get through December well and next year comes free.”
Trainer Kang’s words landed in Taeseong’s chest.
The man really did say nothing but the truth.
In this December when everyone lets go, he alone had to tighten up.
While others poured drinks at their year-end parties, he had to quietly work the iron and chew chicken breast.
That was the road to being life’s winner as a professional trader.
“I’ll keep it in mind. This month, I don’t collapse.”
Taeseong clenched his fist.
***
Friday evening.
‘Daedo Restaurant’, outside the office.
The savory smell of grilling beef filled the place, and the clinking of soju glasses was loud.
It was Woojin Securities Investment Team 3’s year-end dinner.
“All right, everyone, you’ve all worked hard this year! Team 3 especially exceeded this year’s target, so you’ll all be getting the departmental bonus at month end.”
“Whoa!!! You’re the best, sir!”
Department Head Park looked across at Kang Hyeona, seated some distance away at Assistant Manager Kim’s table, and spoke.
“How about a toast from Associate Kang, the youngest on Team 3.”
“Shall I? Then I’d be grateful if everyone would fill their glasses!”
Associate Kang got briskly to her feet and raised her glass high.
And.
“To the pillar of Team 3! No — to our company’s ace! To Assistant Manager Kim Taeseong!”
“To him!”
At Associate Kang’s toast, delivered with a fresh little flourish, the staff cheered mindlessly.
“Ahem, ahem! To him!”
It felt rather like driving in a wedge to make clear that Assistant Manager Kim Taeseong was the star of the evening, and Department Head Park and Manager Jeong looked briefly stung.
But soon enough they too clapped enthusiastically and went along with the mood.
Honestly, they knew perfectly well that without Taeseong the department could never have exceeded its target.
However it happened, the bonus would come — how could that not put them in a good mood?
But the glass of the man of the hour held cold water instead of alcohol.
And his plate was empty.
Sizzle.
On the charcoal, sirloin with fantastic marbling was cooking.
Meat with the juices dripping off it.
Beside him, Manager Jeong had already lost his reason and was working his chopsticks.
He seemed to be trying to eat away the stress of his losses.
“Ah! Hanwoo really is something. Melts in your mouth. Hey, Assistant Manager Kim. You’re not eating? This is double-plus grade. We’re on the company card — why aren’t you eating?”
Manager Jeong shoved a slice of meat right under Taeseong’s nose and needled him.
The nerve of it — holding a dinner to honor results produced by Taeseong’s profit, then mocking the very man who earned the money.
But Taeseong was unmoved.
“I’m fine. I’m on a meal plan.”
Taeseong shook his head firmly.
Then he rummaged in his bag and pulled something out.
A plastic container.
He opened the lid to reveal a white, dry-looking block of chicken breast, one sweet potato, and a few cherry tomatoes.
A chicken breast lunchbox, set out on a smoky Hanwoo grill table.
At that incongruous sight, the surrounding area went quiet.
“...... Assistant Manager Kim. Is this a protest?”
Department Head Park’s eyebrow twitched.
“We’re having a nice dinner and you have to make a display of it? One day of eating won’t put weight on you. Just eat something. If you don’t eat, what does that make us?”
“My apologies. I made a promise to my trainer. I can’t break a promise.”
Taeseong answered evenly and speared a piece of chicken breast with his fork.
The smell of Hanwoo bursting with juices stung his nose, while dry chicken rolled around his mouth.
Honestly, it was agony.
He wanted it madly.
But.
‘Eat this one slice and I gain 5kg.’
‘Endure this one slice and it’s DS Danseok at 300%.’
That equation was fixed in his head.
Taeseong hypnotized himself into believing the chicken breast was sirloin and chewed it down.
“Hard as nails. The man made a bit of money and now he’s got no blood, no tears.”
Manager Jeong clicked his tongue and knocked back his soju.
Department Head Park turned his head away as if his mood had been spoiled.
But across the table, only Associate Kang Hyeona was watching Taeseong with respect in her eyes.
She quietly gave him a thumbs-up.
He could read the shape of the words on her lips: ‘You’re amazing.’
Taeseong smiled faintly and picked up a cherry tomato.
The eyes around him, the smell of meat, the pressed drinks.
Shutting out every one of those temptations and moving toward his goal alone.
This was the dignity of Assistant Manager Kim, the ace trader running 7 billion won — and of the Kim Taeseong who would climb higher still.
As the dinner ripened, Taeseong quietly rose from his seat.
Nobody stopped him.
If anything, they seemed to want him gone so they could enjoy themselves among their own.
Stepping out of the restaurant, Taeseong drew the cold night air deep into his lungs.
The winter wind coming into his chest washed away the smell of the meat.
“Hoo...... well endured.”
He looked up at the sky.
The moon hanging there shone bright as a candle that had surged 300%.
‘Wait for me, DS Danseok.’
Taeseong turned his steps not toward home but back toward the gym.
He had not eaten, so now it was time to burn.