The Greatest Conglomerate Ever With the American Lottery

2. What to do about it?

“I’m the one who’s dirty, and I’m going to beat you up for it, okay, chief?”

“…”

The evening of the day of destruction.

I was drinking soju with Mr. Lee Jae-ha, the head of the production department.

There are thirty-five employees at the headquarters of Daesung Apparel.

As a clothing company, the design department, pattern department, internet team, etc. were all filled with female employees, so the only male employees were a dozen in the sales and production departments.

So, people who liked to drink often got together after leaving their departments, and among them, Mr. Lee Jae-ha was like my mentor.

When he realized how miserable I was, he offered me a drink, and I was already drunk enough to have five bottles of soju on the table.

“What the hell did I do wrong, huh?”

“Hey, it’s your fault for joining such a sh*tty company, isn’t it?”

“Isn’t it? That’s why I’m kicking your ass!”

“Okay, bastard, beat him up! Haven’t I always said, why the hell would a young bastard stay in a company like this? It’s only because old bastards like me have nowhere else to go.”

“Hmph, the boss knows how I feel!”

“sh*t! Drink up, asshole! This is a good day. Isn’t it the day you finally decided to kick the company’s ass?”

“Kkkkk! That’s not all.”

“Huh? What else?”

“I got dumped.”

“What? You got dumped? By who? You?”

Mr. Lee was stunned, too, and asked me if this was unexpected.

“Yup, that was a nice kick. Hmph!”

“Hey, weren’t you the one who introduced me to you two months ago?”

I did.

After drinking with Lee, Yeon-ju contacted me and introduced himself as my favorite older brother.

Things were good until then.

“That’s what happened.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing special, but he got picked up by another guy.”

“What, was it a lamb?”

“No, he’d been bragging about it to me for about three months, saying that the company’s second in command was trying to hit on him.”

“Second in command? Second in command of Oriental Apparel? I thought you said he went to school in the East?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“Well, at first I was insecure, so I asked him, and he said he was short and really ugly and bad luck, and that my brother shouldn’t care, so we laughed about it—. But lately, he’s been acting a little suspicious, canceling appointments and working late, and getting annoyed with me for no reason.”

“…”

He also started carrying around a fanny pack that I hadn’t seen before.

I didn’t really know what it was because I’m not really into luxury goods, but I knew he had a lot of spirit.

When I asked her, she said her mom bought it for her.

She said that her mother bought it for her.

“Then, about a month ago, I didn’t hear from him often. I was nervous, but I thought something was wrong, but it was not. He didn’t text me for two days, and then he texted me back saying he’d found someone else, and he’s a good guy, puhahahahaha!”

“Nimiral, how the f*ck does your brother is a good guy comment not change over the years? So, did you keep quiet?”

“Not really, he wrote on Kaktok that he changed his department, so he won’t be working in the store anymore, which is weird.”

“Huh? That’s really weird. It’s not like the VMD switched departments, where did he go?”

“Well, I mean,”

Visual Merchandising (VMD) is the department that designs store displays, and it’s a department that exists in every fashion company that has stores in large retailers like department stores.

I met Yeon-ju when her company moved into a neighboring store and we had a fight.

It’s such a specialized department that it doesn’t make sense to move to another department within the company.

“I was smoking a cigarette on the rooftop after getting my ass kicked by my boss, and then I saw that sh*tty text.”

“Kya, you totally got me today, it’s almost art, art!”

I mean, is it even art?

Also, why are you so excited about this?

“Anyway, that’s why I have a representative in the East, Mr. Kim. You know how our sales departments pretty much know each other?”

“That’s the way it is in sales.”

“I’m pretty close to him, and he’s the only one in the East who knows that Yeon and I are dating. I called him up and asked him, “Is Yujin moving to another department?”

“So?”

“So, yeah, it was. Get over it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? How does he know that you and Yeon-joo broke up?”

“Well, here’s the thing: the other guy that Yeon-joo said he was seeing was the second Dongyang.”

“Oyin? Really?”

“That’s because you can’t tell me, but in Dongyang, there’s a lot of gossip among the staff. For a couple of months, the Second Prince has been flirting with Yeon-ju and bombarding her with gifts. Today, Yeon-ju was transferred to Ttunggeumpo, but where is her department?”

“Hey, how do I know that?”

“Management Support!”

“The management support office? Why would VMD go there?”

“Hmph!”

“No. Doesn’t that mean she’s going to marry him, not just flirt with him?”

Even a 2 year old wouldn’t put a VMD in the management support office just like that.

If that was the case, it meant that he had talked to the president of the company, and he was going to marry her.

“I guess so.”

“No, it means that you’ve been fighting since he started asking for a stake three months ago, and you’ve been in a two-legged relationship with him in the meantime.”

“Well, don’t get me started on that b*tch, she looked like she was thinking about it—.”

“f*ck you, asshole! What is it with you and always getting caught? Isn’t your brother a good person? You’re an asshole! I like people too much!”

“…”

I was speechless.

It’s in my nature.

It runs in my family.

That’s why my father was so f*cked up.

“Hey! Drink! Drink and forget!”

“Yep!”

Today’s drink was bitter.

“Kya! I’m talking to you right now, listen to me.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, you two were never meant to be together.”

“Why?”

“Bastard, why would such a pretty girl go out with you? You’ve got nothing but a stomach, and you don’t have anything else. No, even that good stomach is ruined nowadays because you’ve gained weight. And you have a car, what do you have? Does that mean you have a good job? You make 3,000 won a year? Hey, at your age, I’m a manager with six years of experience. 3,000? How much is your real salary a month? 250?”

“Eh! 250 is good, right? It’s a little more than 220 after taxes and four insurance.”

“Nimiral, you’re even worse than I thought, you’re an asshole! How dare a beggar like you date such a pretty girl! You’re an asshole!”

“Fuhahahahaha!”

I laughed to the point of tears.

This is why I love Lee Jae-ha.

He’s a fierce realist and a fierce critic.

Listening to him rant really made me feel like an asshole.

He always gives me an objective view of my fractions, which I appreciate.

“Get over it, I’m really doing this for you, and even if it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t have lasted long.”

“Thanks, big brother.”

“You only call me boss when you have to, right?”

“I’ll call you boss every day when I’m out of the office.”

“Okay.”

I know my fractions thanks to this guy, but I’m miserable.

How did this happen?

I downed a few more drinks, feeling depressed again, when the news on the bar’s TV caught my eye.

– The news was that there was lotto mania in the United States, as the Powerball, the American lottery, kept rolling over and over again, topping out at a whopping $1.8 billion, or $2 trillion in our money. Our correspondent Angie in New York, please come in.

“Whoa! 2 trillion won? The Cheonjo nation has a great lotto after all?”

Mr. Lee, who followed my gaze and watched the news, also exclaimed and marveled at the scale of the CheonJoGuk lottery.

“Isn’t that right? If I win that, I can buy everything in Daesung and Dongyang?”

“You’re crazy! Why go to the trouble of buying a clothing company with 2 trillion won, why don’t you just play around?”

“Hmph! That’s right!”

“But can’t you buy that in Korea?”

“Well, you can buy it on behalf, but there’s a lot of talk about whether you can actually pick it up when you win.”

“Really? Damn it, we need to up our lotto game, what the hell is a billion or two billion? How am I supposed to turn my life around with that?”

“Who said that?”

Nowadays, the lotto in Korea doesn’t roll over, and there are dozens of first prize winners at a time, so it’s usually between 1 billion and 2 billion after taxes.

Turn your life around with that?

No way.

Well, it might be a stepping stone to turning your life around.

But 2 trillion!

That’s the current jackpot, and it’s likely to grow by the time it’s drawn on Sunday at noon local time.

Even celebrities and politicians like governors are joining the ranks of Powerball buyers.

Should I buy a ticket?

There’s a lot of talk about reliability, but what do you think?

You can dream, right?

Two trillion won—.

While I was still thinking about it, the door of the bar opened and a gray-haired In-young cautiously walked in.

His hair is shaved, his height is small, and his clothes are gray.

He’s a ruffian.

Then, as she circled the other tables, I realized it was a female monk, a bhikkhu.

Then, finally, our table.

“We are taking care of children in need. Please make a small donation.”

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was an elderly female monk.

“Why are you doing this? When was the last time our country banned all sects?”

Like a realist and an outspoken person, Mr. Lee refused, citing the ban.

But that’s not what was on my mind.

I had never turned down an old lady or an aunt selling gum in a bar before.

Or the people begging in the subway or underpass.

What about scams?

I’d just give them 5 or 10 won and call it a day.

And it’s not like they’re going to get rich selling gum.

In other words, if they scam me and I can eat a good meal, I’m satisfied.

When I was about to take out my wallet, he looked at me with a look that said, “Is this the manager again?” and opened his mouth.

“Oh, come on, you’re so bad! How can you not do it at least once?”

“See? This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me do this, is it?”

“You’re a good guy, aren’t you? You like him so much that you’re going to change?”

“No way, why are you bringing that up?”

I got annoyed too, and searched through my wallet, but what?

There was only one 50,000 won bill, and I couldn’t find any 5,000 or 10,000 won bills.

What can I do?

Can’t I ask him to give it back?

“Brother.”

“Why?”

“Just give me the 10,000 won one, I’ll get it for you later.”

“Good job, good job! Do you borrow and give now? No, you bastard!”

“Oh, come on, I just want one.”

“I don’t have it, look!”

Mr. Lee takes out his wallet.

He really doesn’t have any cash.

What should he do?