It Wasn't Just Luck
Honestly, I wanted to wait until my family woke up so I could share this happiness with them.
But when I checked the time, I had to give up on the idea.
It was only 6 a.m.
There was still more than an hour before anyone else in the family would be up.
“Haaah...”
Tch.
While the dopamine was exploding through me, I hadn’t even noticed how tired I was. But the moment I got my head back on straight, exhaustion hit me all at once.
I didn’t think I could last an hour—heck, not even thirty minutes.
In the span of just a few minutes, I’d yawned who knew how many times.
“Should I wait?”
Just in case, I lay down on the bed and waited for my family to wake up.
I’d hear them soon enough.
Yeah, right.
Before even five minutes passed, my eyes started closing.
My eyelids were so heavy I couldn’t fight them even though I kept telling myself I should stay awake.
I fell asleep just like that.
“Huh?”
When I opened my eyes, the bright window outside had already gone dark.
How many hours had I slept?
I checked the time.
It was 6 p.m.
Wow.
I’d slept a straight twelve hours.
Maybe because I’d gone to bed later than usual, I ended up sleeping even more than normal.
My condition felt fine.
I wondered whether my parents were home. I vaguely remembered hearing they had plans today.
Before leaving my room, I checked my phone.
“Hehe...”
Two hundred billion won was still sitting there. It hadn’t dropped at all in twelve hours. Good boy, my Bitcoin.
It was my other family.
I stepped out of the room.
I could hear the TV in the living room.
It wouldn’t be my parents. If they were here, they’d be preparing dinner.
Sure enough, it wasn’t my parents.
It was my little sister.
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
“They’ve got a couples’ dinner with friends today.”
“Oh?”
“But why were you acting so busy yesterday, like you had some huge thing going on?”
“..”
Hiss.
Minus one hundred million won.
It had been so long since I’d spent time with my little sister that I’d forgotten how nasty her personality was.
Her attitude was downright disrespectful.
To her successful little brother, of all people.
***
Hoo.
Even with all my benevolence, it wasn’t easy to keep my mind and body in check.
That had been a brutal attack out of nowhere.
I’d been too drunk on success and forgot exactly what kind of person my little sister was.
To someone who knew nothing of success, I was probably still just her immature little brother.
Just wait a little. I’ll show you.
Before that, though.
“Sis.”
“What.”
“.. If you won the lottery—”
I was trying to test her values.
She didn’t even answer properly, just fixed me with a cold stare.
Was her personality really this bad..?
“Did you check my lottery ticket?”
“.. What are you talking about? I’m just asking.”
“Well, it’s in my wallet...”
Before she even finished, she glared at me again. Sharper than before. At this rate, I half-suspected her hand might come flying at me any second.
She seemed to be preloading the strike already.
“Did you touch it?”
“.. What kind of person do you think I am? Why would I touch that?”
“You’ve got a record.”
“..”
I had nothing to say. The memory flashed through my head before I could stop it.
As always, the old saying wasn’t wrong.
The victim never forgets, while the offender completely does.
When I was a kid, I’d reached into my sister’s wallet.
Honestly, it wasn’t even that much. Around thirty thousand won?
Back then, that was a lot. I was still a student.
If I were to make a defense for myself, it was all part of an investment strategy.
Anyway, that money went into cash charging, and later it helped me get Bitcoin.
That was all money that would have come back to her eventually, once I got things moving.
Man, her memory was terrifying. Anyway, minus two hundred million won now.
What was she thinking when she accused me like that?
“Just answer me already. If you won, how much would you give me?”
“You? How much would you want?”
“.. About two billion won?”
“Hmm...”
She thought about it seriously. Honestly, I’d already gotten a little hurt at the phrase “you.”
Still, I had been planning to help her little by little.
“About one billion would go toward buying me a building.”
“.. Right.”
In Gwangju, one billion won would buy a small building.
That still seemed okay.
At least it was fair. I wasn’t discriminating against the other family members or anything.
She was just greedy.
Guess that ran in our blood.
“I’d give Mom and Dad about five billion so they can enjoy a good retirement.”
“..”
That was dropping pretty fast, wasn’t it..?
“And about two billion to your older sister.”
“..”
Still touching, though.
She was giving me three billion.
More than my older sister, even if only by a little, which somehow warmed my heart.
“Hiss. I’d need about two billion for myself to try something I want. With a building to lean on, I’d have some breathing room. Like cooking, maybe.”
“.. And me?”
“Want one billion?”
“.. Don’t give me anything.”
I wasn’t taking that filthy money.
What was one billion, anyway?
The way she said “want” or “don’t want” made me want to make negative tens of billions on the spot.
A building?
Hmph. That’s all?
I was going to buy a 160 billion won building in Seoul’s Yeouido.
Of course, I hadn’t bought it yet.
Still, the chart moving exactly as I’d predicted had filled me with confidence.
I’d expected this, but the answer really was just like something my little sister would say.
I shouldn’t have asked.
Did I really think she’d changed in just one year?
I was the one with enough maturity to actually grow and change.
She was still a long way off.
Sister Seolhyun really is an angel.
Looking at my little sister made me think of my aunt’s eldest daughter.
Same title of “sister,” and yet how different they were.
She gave her all at work and never dreamed of some lucky break like a building, the way my little sister did.
If you’re going to buy a building, at least work for it like I did.
“When are you going to grow up? Ah.”
“.. What?”
Damn it. I’d thought it without meaning to, and the words slipped right out of my mouth.
“You little bastard, you wanna die?”
“.. My bad.”
“What, just because you went to Seoul, now you think you can talk back? Don’t you remember your sister sent you pocket money?”
“When?”
“When you got discharged, you idiot! I gave you fifty thousand won!”
“.. I’ll pay you back tenfold.”
“Oh, yeah? Then hand it over. Right now. If you don’t, you’re dead.”
I pulled out my phone and sent her five hundred thousand won.
I’d considered sending it back a hundred times over, but given her personality, I cut it down to ten.
“Sent.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Do I look like a sucker? People say Seoul guys will rob you blind with your eyes open, so why are you so clumsy?”
“..”
“Ugh. I regret even staying home to make you ramen.”
“.. No, seriously, check your account.”
“You’re impossible...”
Then she checked her phone, thinking she might as well be fooled once, and her expression changed to one of confusion.
She must not have expected me to actually send the money.
Soon after, she made a look of awkward discomfort.
“Hey, take a joke as a joke. I’ll send it back, so take it. Don’t go starving your way through Seoul and making me look bad.”
“Wow.”
“Wow, my ass. Save that money and become successful already. It’s not like money grows on trees.”
“..”
This was honestly ridiculous.
Even before I became successful, I made more money than she did.
I worked part-time nearly seven days a week, while she only worked weekends while preparing for a job.
Still, what mattered was that she’d finally gotten a little emotional at the end.
Okay. I cancel all the minus points from before.
“That was touching.”
“Touching, my foot. Why would I steal money from my younger brother and use it?”
I was actually feeling moved.
Suddenly, the phone rang from the sofa area.
“Isn’t that ringtone way too old-fashioned..?”
“Shut up. It’s Mom’s phone.”
What? Mom had gone to the dinner with Dad, hadn’t she?
My sister answered it.
“Oh, Dad.”
So Dad had called. I guessed he’d realized he’d left his phone behind.
“Okay. I’ll have Doyun do it.”
“..”
That was disgustingly natural.
Just a second ago she was asking whether she’d ever steal her younger brother’s money, and now she had no guilt at all about exploiting his labor.
Excuse me. Just take my money instead.
My time was worth more than most money.
She hung up and held the phone out to me with a perfectly matter-of-fact expression.
“You know that restaurant Mom and Dad always go to just outside the house, right?”
“.. I mean, yeah.”
“Go there.”
“..”
“And buy yourself some snacks on the way, geez.”
“..”
Me?
The great me?
The me who didn’t even drive myself?
Hoo.
I had a lot of time on my hands, so I held it in.
I took the phone from her.
She didn’t even say thank you; she just turned back to the TV.
She was really hopeless.
***
With my phone in hand, I left the house.
“Looks like it’s just a gathering of middle-aged ladies and guys.”
It might be called a couples’ dinner, but everyone there would probably be familiar faces.
Our neighborhood was small, so these connections had gone on since I was a kid.
Some people moved away, some stayed, but the gatherings continued.
Maybe that was why my little sister hated going.
Whatever the case, she was still someone preparing for a job.
But as for me, there was no problem.
“Who am I?”
I was a full-time coin trader who’d made twenty billion won in a single day yesterday.
A man who had succeeded by breaking through less than a one percent chance.
No matter what question anyone asked me now, I had nothing to hide.
In fact, I was glad to tell them.
Our parents could finally brag about their son properly.
Isn’t that what filial piety was? That was filial piety.
Of course, I did plan to do some real filial duty too.
“I’m a little annoyed.”
I understood my little sister’s position, but it still irritated me that she’d ordered me around so casually, without a shred of discomfort.
I had come up to Seoul not because I was rich, but because I wanted to succeed.
At the very least, she should’ve treated me like a person.
Like another adult.
Her attitude from earlier was the kind you’d use to order around a servant.
Hoo...
Should I at least have a beer while I’m there?
I could guarantee the adults inside weren’t just going to send me right back out.
They’d probably tell me I was grown now and should sit down for a beer.
Since I was already going, I might as well have one.
I didn’t feel like putting together dinner for myself anyway, so I could grab some snacks too.
Right before going into the place, I checked the chart on my phone once more.
Aww, you’re beautiful.
It hadn’t run off anywhere and was still holding a ten percent gain.
It gave even more confidence to me, who was already wealthy.
This time, it wasn’t just luck.