The Discovery of Talent
Twenty years old. 171 centimeters, 65 kilograms, a thoroughly ordinary face. To make matters worse, I didn't even have decent athletic ability. I fell short of even being called an average guy. That was me — Kim Dojun.
Up through the first year of middle school, I had been a kid packed tight with possibility and confidence. The kind of kid who was sure that if he just worked hard enough, he would naturally become the protagonist of his own life.
But once I hit the second year and my height stubbornly refused to come, a slow anxiety began to creep in.
I was a late bloomer. While I remained stuck at the physical level of a sixth-grader, someone out there with a different set of genes was already sporting a high-schooler's physique.
I always sat in the front row, moving carefully, like a tenant who knew he was only living there on someone else's goodwill. The tall ones filled the classroom like they owned it, talking loudly, laughing, chatting up the girls.
That was when I understood.
I hadn't lived a full life yet, but in that instant I saw it with the certainty of a prophet.
I would never beat those alpha males. I would never stand shoulder to shoulder with those selfish bastards who were tall and athletic and, to twist the knife, good-looking on top of it. I wasn't going to be the lead. I was going to be a supporting character.
And that was simply reality. Through my third year of middle school and all the way into high school, my height still refused to come, and my face, even with the most generous eye, never crossed the line out of ordinary.
"Yo, your boyfriend's here. Haha."
"Don't do that."
The one consolation I had in all of this was the existence of my childhood friend, Jieun.
Seong Jieun. She was the girl next door — we'd been together since elementary school, through middle school, through high school. A genuine ride-or-die. And at the same time, from the moment she was born, she was royalty of a completely different breed from me.
A girl who still stood 170 centimeters tall. Pale skin. Breasts so large they would occasionally blow the buttons right off her school uniform. A lush, sensual ass. And, to finish the set, a beautiful face.
She had everything. She was a goddess to every boy who laid eyes on her, and the fact that I was that goddess's closest friend occupied a massive share of my self-worth.
"Those bitches!"
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Sorry."
Of course, a pairing as mismatched as Jieun and me was always going to be the neighborhood punchline. I didn't care. I liked it anyway.
That was how proud I was of her — my friend, and the woman I loved.
"Did you do well on the test?"
"Well enough?"
The reason I studied so hard was largely Jieun. I didn't want to drift away from her, so all through middle and high school I studied with a kind of desperation.
Did Jieun even know? Jieun, whose mind for schoolwork already ran so far ahead of mine — did she have any idea of the effort I put in? The nights I stayed up until my nose bled rather than let myself sleep?
She probably had no idea. For her, studying was a field where moderate effort produced moderate results. She wouldn't know there were people who had to shit blood just to barely keep pace.
Ah. Life just isn't fair.
I thought about it sometimes. That no matter how hard I worked, Jieun would eventually end up with some other impressive guy. That before long she'd meet him, and she'd suck him and lick him and lie panting beneath him, moaning.
It's hell.
Watching Jieun grow more stunning by the day, I couldn't help but feel the anxiety constantly. When would it happen? After the college entrance exam? After she became a university student? Her first blind date? Or some senior in her department?
If the day ever came when Jieun introduced me to some animal of a boyfriend, would I be able to stand it?
A vast, bottomless despair made me shake my head. If that moment arrived, I would not endure it. I would either kill myself, or I would kill him.
And every time I imagined it, I prayed to God. Desperately. Desperately.
The turning point of my life came in my third year of high school. More precisely, it started with summer vacation.
At the time, South Korea was in the grip of a crypto frenzy, and even a student like me was no exception. It began as a joke. The seed money was every bit of New Year's cash I'd saved over the years.
To the moon!
They say the ignorant are the bravest. That was me, exactly. I didn't overthink it. I just ran with whatever my gut told me — and somehow, I won. Uncannily well.
There was no special method. It was luck. Instinct. But it landed with an accuracy that was almost frightening. If I put money on a coin that I somehow felt would rise, it rose. Every time. And the moment I sold, it dropped as if on cue.
It felt as if the entire world were turning around me. For the first time in my life, I felt like the protagonist.
This is it!
Experience hardened into belief, and belief summoned even bolder choices. Aggressive bets, one after another, with no thought of failure.
That's right. In those days, I was a beast. The kind of beast that could snatch falling blades right out of the air.
Of course, once crypto had its hooks in me, I had to let go of the studying I'd been doing so well. There was simply no way to run both at once.
I didn't regret it. Because I'd come to believe that studying might let me stay by her side — but it would never let me have her.
In my own way, I had burned my bridges.
And so six months tore past like a storm.
"Ahahahaha!"
The coins had been a success.
I'd wrecked the college entrance exam by neglecting my studies, but in exchange, the moment I turned twenty, I hit a number that didn't make any sense: 200 billion won.
Money I couldn't finish spending even if I tried for the rest of my life. A twenty-year-old, young and rich.
Even so, one worry still gnawed at me. Could money actually win Jieun's heart?
Honestly, I had no confidence there. Money might be king in the modern world, but Jieun's family wasn't exactly begging on the street. She wasn't going to pick a man just because of his wallet.
And I was still a short, ordinary-looking guy. Whenever I thought about the alpha males who would start making their moves on her, the confidence just wouldn't come.
No. Kim Dojun, this is only the beginning. If I start throwing money around, I'll look decent enough.
I dragged my sinking self-worth back up by force. I still had a long way to go.
The current shifted after the year turned. I'd been so swallowed up by crypto that I hadn't noticed, but apparently Jieun's family had been struggling lately.
I found out by overhearing Mom and Dad talking. It seemed Uncle's business wasn't going well.
Is this an opportunity?
What if I helped Jieun, like a scene out of a drama? Wouldn't something like this make her see me as someone special? No — setting success aside, was it even right to just sit back and watch this happen?
Alright. Let's sound her out first.
I had no idea how large Uncle's business actually was, but 200 billion won didn't seem like it would fall short.
Once I'd settled on it, I went straight to Jieun's house. Our two families had been close neighbors for so long that wandering in and out of each other's homes was second nature.
"Auntie, is Jieun home?"
"Mm, come on in, Dojun. Jieun's in her room."
Whether the family's situation really was that bad, Auntie's pretty face was heavy with worry. I'd seen her so often since I was little, and she'd always looked after me so well, that it genuinely troubled me.
Auntie... that lovely face of hers is completely worn down.
Jieun was Jieun — but even just for Auntie's sake, I wanted to help. I had to.
I steeled myself one more time and headed for Jieun's room. She was lying on the bed.
"What's up?"
"Just something I wanted to talk about."
She was wearing hot pants, idly swinging those long legs, and the sight of it was painfully sexy. Those thighs in particular — plump, soft with just enough flesh — were a part of her I personally wanted to get my hands on at least once before I died.
Fuck. That's so goddamn hot.
I took a slow breath, willing my dick not to get hard, and carefully opened my mouth. I started light, with talk about university.
"How'd your applications go?"
"Dunno."
"Why? You said you did well on the exam."
The mention of last year's entrance exam got a reaction out of Jieun. She sat up, then tore into me like she was scolding a child.
"And what about you? Why'd you take the exam like such a mess?"
"Ah, that. Things just... happened."
"Tsk tsk. I knew from the moment you started slacking off. Ugh, seriously. I can't even. So are you retaking the year?"
"Yeah. I have to."
Now that Jieun was an adult, there was no telling what kind of guy she might meet at university. I had no intention of letting any distance open between us. I'd retake the exam, get in as fast as possible, and attend school with her.
Wait. Hold on. I came here to listen to her problems. How did this get turned around?
Flustered by the reversal, I hurriedly pulled myself together.
"Hey. More importantly, tell me about you."
"What about me?"
"Don't you have something to tell me?"
"Like what."
I stared her down the way a detective stares down a suspect, but Jieun played dumb to the bitter end. Silence settled over the room. At this rate the conversation wasn't going anywhere, so I decided to show my hand first.
"Haa. You know I got into crypto, right?"
"I know. I also know that's why you wrecked the entrance exam."
"Yeah, I wrecked the— wait, that's not the point right now. This isn't working. Look at this first."
The conversation kept sliding off the rails, so I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. I opened the crypto app and showed her the assets I was currently holding.
"I wasn't just messing around. Take a good look."
"What is this? One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, ten million, a hundred million, a billion... t-two hundred billion?"
Jieun had been counting the digits without thinking — and then her eyes went wide.
"You're good with numbers."
"Is this real? This is your money? This isn't like, game currency or something?"
"It's real won."
Maybe the amount was simply too shocking. The way she tried to deny reality was almost cute.
Come on. Tell me. Your worries, your fears — I'll take care of all of it.
I watched Jieun stare into space, lost in thought, and silently cheered her on.