Lotto (2)
Lotto (2)
"Noona, I'm heading out."
"You said you'd do the assignment and then eat, right?"
Today was a day off from classes, so there was nothing to do. So I'd made plans to meet up with Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho to work on an assignment.
And since it would be boring to just part ways after meeting up, we'd also decided to have dinner together.
Since we had to go to school tomorrow, Lee Min-ho wasn't going to drink either,
so we planned to focus solely on eating.
"Yes. Noona, you were going to eat with Hwa-young too, right?"
A-ra had work again today.
Instead, it seemed she'd made plans to have a meal with Hwa-young for the first time in a while.
What delicious thing would the two of them eat?
Both of them liked meat, but they also liked fish, so I had no idea where they'd go.
I smiled at A-ra, then grabbed the handle of the front door.
"Come back safe."
"Before I go..."
With her face flushed red, A-ra was puckering her lips, begging for a kiss.
I'd also been expecting a send-off kiss at the front door, so I immediately brought my mouth to A-ra's soft lips.
"Chuup...."
"Mmmnn....."
Since we weren't on the bed, we couldn't go for a deep kiss, but the taste of A-ra's saliva began to fill my mouth.
A-ra seemed to feel the same way, as she lightly licked her lips.
"Did you just brush your teeth? I taste toothpaste."
"You taste like strawberries, noona."
Though I had no idea why she tasted like strawberries this morning.
***
"But why aren't we going to that cafe today?"
"It's closed for interior work."
Hadn't there been that incident recently where I dropped a cup and broke the floor?
It seemed the cafe owner had taken this opportunity to close up and planned to redo the interior properly.
Personally, I'd really liked the current interior.
So I felt a bit disappointed.
"Ah, that's a shame. Their cappuccino is really delicious."
Lee Min-ho felt regret over a different aspect than I did.
Well, it was true that it was a famous coffee spot, so I couldn't say anything.
The coffee was great, but the desserts like waffles, croissants, and cake slices were really delicious too.
I think I'd heard that the owner was the prized disciple of a master baker and pastry chef.
"More importantly, how many assignments do we have to do?"
"Not many. I think about two."
Now that we were in our second year, it felt like we had to set aside time every day for assignments.
We had to grit our teeth and do them to get grades, but lately the assignments had been increasing even more, so I was feeling a bit dissatisfied with the situation.
"How long will it take to finish one?"
"About two hours?"
"It'll be cutting it close before our reservation time."
The meat restaurant we were going to today was a fairly high-end brand, so we'd had to make a reservation.
Wasn't it the more affordable version made by the same company as the place Director had treated us to before?
That place was really expensive, but the place we'd reserved was supposedly within a reasonable range.
"First, let's just finish the major subject."
"Haah... the major subject is the most annoying one."
Jeong Hwan-yi wanted to finish the annoying thing first, while Lee Min-ho started with a sigh.
Seeing the two of them pull out their laptops from their bags, I took out my laptop as well.
"I'll go order the coffee."
Jeong Hwan-yi got up to order drinks since we hadn't ordered any yet.
For reference, they no longer let me do it, given my prior conviction of breaking a cup and smashing the floor.
"Caramel macchiato for me."
"What's the occasion?"
"I just felt like something sweet."
I usually only drank Americanos, but today I felt like having something sweet.
Was it because of that sticky kiss I'd shared with A-ra in the morning?
"Lee Min-ho, what about you?"
"Hmm... vanilla latte."
"You guys are ordering something different from your usual today."
Lee Min-ho, who only ever drank cappuccinos, had also decided on a vanilla latte today.
Maybe coming to a different cafe made him want to try a different coffee.
*
"Hey, now that I think about it, isn't today the Lotto drawing?"
We'd finished our assignment, come to the meat restaurant, and had been eating for a while
when Lee Min-ho thought of the Lotto.
"Did you guys bring yours?"
"I put mine in my wallet."
"Lee Min-ho, what about you?"
"It's in my wallet too. But I'm telling you, there's no way it'll win."
Jeong Hwan-yi, who'd been skeptical from the start, smiled bitterly and downed some barley tea.
From what I'd heard, his parents had spent quite a lot of money on Lotto tickets.
He said they still spent about 50,000 won every week...
Then it was understandable that he'd feel skeptical about the whole Lotto thing...
Lee Min-ho probably thought his parents were burning money on an illusion.
"You never know. Even if first place is too much, second or third place is possible."
"Ah, so they do give money even if it's not first place?"
"Second place is around 60 million won, I think? Something around that, probably."
"The gap is way too big, though?"
The difference between 1.6 billion and 60 million won — wasn't that way too big?
Even though the difference between first and second place was just one number off.
Getting second place would probably feel like joy and injustice coexisting.
Like, 'If only I'd gotten one more number right, it would've been first place...' or something like that.
"That's because the probability is that low."
"Ah... I see... the numbers go up to 50, right..."
The numbers couldn't overlap, but we had to choose a total of 6 numbers out of 50.
Was it about 1 in 1.3 million?
Thinking about it now, winning really did seem nearly impossible.
If you won, it wouldn't exactly be a life reversal... but it would definitely make life more comfortable,
so the odds probably had to be that low.
"When did they say it's announced?"
"Around 8:45? That'll be right around when we're finished eating and full."
Did that mean he wasn't full right now?
These guys really seemed to eat a lot more than I'd thought.
If they'd been born as women, they probably wouldn't have been at A-ra's level, but maybe a lesser version.
As I watched Lee Min-ho smile while putting meat in his mouth, he really seemed to be expecting to win.
It looked like Lee Min-ho was already mulling over in his head what to do with the prize money.
"Lee Min-ho, you've only got three hours left until you become rich?"
"Don't worry, if I win the Lotto, your hyung will buy you something delicious."
"Then I'll go with an incredibly expensive truffle."
I wanted to try making tempura out of an ingredient you'd never imagine using for tempura.
A concept where I make tempura out of foods I'd never normally think of.
Didn't that sound pretty fun?
*
"Ughhh......."
"See, didn't I tell you it wouldn't work?"
"They say Lotto is buying the hope that maybe, just maybe, you'll win..."
Lee Min-ho had spent 49,000 won on auto-pick tickets.
Not a single 1,000 won ticket had won, so he slumped his head onto the table.
"Jeong Hwan-yi, how about you?"
"Me?"
Jeong Hwan-yi shook his head, apparently having not won either, and asked me.
Just like the two of them had done earlier, I took out my phone and scanned the QR code drawn on the Lotto ticket.
I'd wondered if I'd have to check the numbers one by one, but maybe the world had gotten better, because I could check the results all at once.
"The numbers I picked manually... won."
"How much?"
"50,000 won."
"Haah... someone earns 50,000 won from 5,000 won, while I threw 50,000 won into the dirt."
That was how it turned out.
Wasn't it the same as stocks?
If someone earned, someone else lost.
That aside, the taste of winning something was more thrilling than I'd expected.
So this was why people bought Lotto tickets and gambled.
"So this is the appeal of playing the Lotto."
"Since you won, want to go exchange it for money this time?"
"Would the bank be open at this hour?"
I knew you had to pay taxes and go to the bank to receive the prize money.
But since it was past 9 o'clock now, there was no way they'd be open.
"Up to 50,000 won, you can get it at a Lotto retailer."
"Ohh... then let's go to the convenience store. Since it's free money, let's spend it all."
There was a saying: save your hard-earned money, but don't hold back on money that comes rolling in.
I remembered hearing from someone that the money you could earn was limited, and if free money landed in your hands, your earnings would shrink by that amount.
"Spend it all? Don't people usually keep it as a memento in times like this?"
"I'm a realistic man."
"What are you talking about? Then let's get going."
We'd finished eating, so to claim the winnings,
we got up from our seats.
*
"Your prize is 50,000 won."
"Thank you."
I received a bill with the yellow-suited man drawn on it.
Even a ten million won check or gift certificates had never given me this kind of satisfaction.
Maybe it was because it wasn't auto-picked, but numbers I had manually chosen myself that had won.
"I've never received prize money like this before."
"Then shall I buy us drinks?"
"Me too."
Regardless of what I said, the two of them headed toward the refrigerator where cold drinks were stored.
You bad guys...
Would it kill you to say a single word of congratulations!
"Bring everything so we can spend all 50,000 won."
"Okay."
Still, since I was the one with the money, if I just sat still, they'd bring everything themselves — that part was nice.
I watched the two of them roughly toss drinks and snacks into a basket,
and since I had nothing to do, I figured I'd look around the convenience store and lightly scanned the counter.
At the counter, where they sold lighters, candy, and weird jelly-like things,
they were also selling something that looked like a long strip of paper.
Was it some kind of ticket?
"But what's this?"
"Ah, that's something called Speeto."
As I tilted my head and peered at it, the part-timer came over and told me what it was.
Could this also be a type of lottery ticket?
"Speeto?"
It sounded like a name combining speed and Lotto.
For some reason, this caught my interest too.