How an Eight-Year-Old Spends Money – Part 3
"Cha Sunwoo! Hurry up and come out! We have to go to school!!"
"Coming out now~"
Adapting to the new orphanage was no problem at all.
Toys and food alone were enough to make the kids who'd been bristling like hedgehogs lower their guard.
The problem, however, was not the orphanage.
"Well then, we're off to school."
"We're off~~"
"Let's go to school~"
"I'm going first~"
"No, I'm going first!"
"Sunwoo, take good care of the kids."
"Yes, Director."
"Sunwoo~ Hurry up~~"
Somang Orphanage had six elementary school children in total.
The first-graders were me, Eunsol tugging on my arm, and Lee Naye walking quietly beside us.
The rest were two second-graders and one third-grader.
And we always walked to school together.
"When we cross the crosswalk?"
"Hands!"
Starting with Eunsol's lead right beside me, everyone raised their hands and crossed the crosswalk.
They looked like little chicks, which was pretty cute, but we had been doing this for a full three months already.
Cute was giving way to annoying.
And it was already June, so the weather was hot, yet Eunsol still clung to my arm with no intention of letting go.
"Sol."
"Hm?"
"Let go. It's hot."
"No way! I like Sunwoo~ Hehe"
"......"
"Does Sunwoo hate Sol...?"
"...I don't hate you."
"Hehe~"
I was just annoyed and hot, that was all.
But something even more annoying and boring than Eunsol was having to go to school and sit through classes.
How had all those regressors in countless stories endured lives like this?
"This period is presentation time. Shall we have each of you stand up and present the most enjoyable thing that happened this week?"
"Yes~!!!"
"Then who would like to present first?"
"Me!!"
"Yes, Hyeongseok."
"I played badminton with my dad this week! It was really fun!"
"Wow~ Hyeongseok must have had a great time. Then shall Yunji present next?"
"I played with dolls with my little sister. But... it was fun... but my sister took my favorite doll and I was sad..."
"I see... But since she's your beloved little sister, it would be nice if big sister Yunji yielded, right?"
"Yes... so I did yield..."
"Oh my! Yunji did such a kind thing~ You're really cool."
"Hehe~"
"Then shall Sol present next?"
"Ah...."
Unlike how she acted at the orphanage, at school she reverted to the Eunsol I knew.
She was so introverted and passive that even the teacher had trouble distinguishing her voice.
"I... I... was happy sleeping with Sunwoo..."
"......"
"I see... Haha... Sol really likes Sunwoo a lot, doesn't she?"
"Yes! I like Sunwoo the most most in the whole world!!"
"Wow~ Sunwoo must be so happy that a pretty friend like Sol likes him, right?"
"......"
"You have to answer...!"
"Ah, yes. It's nice."
"Whew...."
After three months together, the teacher knew my personality and Eunsol's.
She knew I hated giving answers like that, and that if I answered wrong Eunsol would cry.
"Then shall Sunwoo present this time? What was the most fun thing for you this week, Sunwoo?"
"The fact that Jeonghon Silup's stock price rise lasted longer than I expected was interesting."
"Jeonghon... Si, Silup..? Haha... Wasn't there anything else fun besides stocks..?"
"Well. Even if there was, it probably wouldn't be the answer the teacher wants."
"I suppose so..? Yes.. I heard you well. Then shall Naye present next?"
"Getting a perfect score on the dictation was the most enjoyable thing for me."
Smart, spoke clearly, got along well with friends.
Lee Naye was already showing the model student image that teachers loved.
Compared to her, Eunsol was...
"Hehe~"
"......"
She just seemed to live without a care in the world.
Well, she was a first-grader. What deep thoughts would she have?
As long as she grew up healthy day by day, that was enough.
"What? Isn't it class time right now?"
"I was bored, so I came out saying I was going to the bathroom."
"You really are something... So what did you call about this time?"
"Are overseas sports gambling sites illegal?"
"Some are illegal and some aren't. Still, the reasonably well-known sites are all legitimate operators."
"Then is it okay to use them?"
"Even with a legitimate operator, if a Korean national uses it, it becomes illegal under our laws. Korea only officially recognizes Sports Toto. But why are you asking?"
"The World Cup is coming up soon."
"Ah... Has it already gotten that close?"
The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany was about to begin.
Only a week remained until the first match.
My regression preparations had included World Cup results, so while I didn't remember everything, I had memorized the champion and at least Korea's match outcomes.
The problem was that the only sports gambling recognized in Korea was Sports Toto, and the limit per person there was a mere 100,000 won.
Even if a hundredfold payout hit, all you would walk away with was a million won.
"Sunwoo."
"Yes."
"The problem isn't the gambling operators or sites. The fact that a minor like you is doing it is illegal in itself. Stop thinking about useless things and study. And those stocks you put money into are rising nicely, aren't they?"
The share price of the Teni Electronics I had bought was climbing higher by the day.
Shares I had purchased at 5,342 won had now entered the 8,000-won range, and with the continuous rise, retail investors seemed to have moved in as well, drawing an ever steeper upward curve.
Even so, I made no additional purchases.
Until this investment ended and the money was in my hands, the experiment was not over.
I had no idea when or where a variable might appear and change the future, so this first investment had to be handled with the utmost caution right to the end.
Did that mean there was no way to put money to work until this investment finished?
Leaving a hundred million just sitting idle felt wasteful...
"Sunwoo, did you hang up?"
"No."
"Someone's coming out next week."
"Already??"
"What are you planning to do for them?"
"A person needs a place to lay their head, right?"
As soon as class ended I headed straight back to the orphanage.
I checked the file I had received earlier on the laptop and made a call.
"Hyung, this is Cha Sunwoo. Do you remember me?"
A week passed in a flash.
I arrived at the café we had agreed on and waited a short while. A male student with a large hiking backpack on his back entered, looking around.
"Hyung, over here~"
"Ah.."
He set the hiking backpack on the chair beside him and sat across from me.
This was Hwang Hyeonuk, the older boy who had been with me in that hellish orphanage.
Nineteen in Korean age, eighteen internationally.
Yes—the age when the law shoved you out of the orphanage as if driving you away.
With nothing more than three million won in settlement support funds.
"Have you been well?"
"Yes. How about you, hyung?"
"Me? Well... But why did you want to meet?"
It was natural for him to find it strange.
The age gap was so large we had barely even spoken.
"This."
"What is this..?"
"Open it."
"......"
He checked the paper bag I had placed on the table, then stared at me with wide eyes.
"Uh.. uh.. this is...."
"It should cover a deposit at least. If you look carefully, it might even cover the deposit plus a few months' rent."
"I-I know that, but... why are you giving this to me... No, where did a kid like you even get this kind of money??"
It was only five million won.
Compared to the more than three hundred million I had taken from the director couple, it was a paltry sum, but there was no need to give more. This would be enough.
I had experienced it myself.
"It might be even harder than everything you've suffered so far. People's prejudiced stares, unfair treatment, relative deprivation."
"......"
"Overcome it. Work hard. And since you haven't done anything wrong, don't worry about what others think—live with your head held high."
"Sunwoo..."
"If fate brings us together again, let's meet."
I stood up.
The sight of Hwang Hyeonuk tightly clutching the paper bag with five million won stuck in my mind, but I left the café without another word.
"So why five million?"
It was Lawyer Choi Myeonghun, who until moments ago had been sitting at the next table.
"If only I'd had five million more... That's exactly what I thought when I first got out."
"What??"
"Still, I met a really good person and lived well... I wonder if the landlady is doing okay?"
"What are you talking about.."
Lawyer Choi Myeonghun naturally wore a look of complete incomprehension, but I briefly sank into old memories.
In this life I probably would never need to seek out that boarding house, yet I still wanted to visit once and say hello.
Of course she wouldn't remember me.
"I put thought into it. Give too much and he'll start relying on me; give too little and it won't help. So exactly five million."
"Even so, with the three million he already has that only makes eight. Isn't that a bit short?"
"If it's short, then his effort and will are short. The rest is up to that hyung."
When I looked back, Lawyer Choi Myeonghun looked back as well.
And there stood Hwang Hyeonuk, paper bag clenched tightly in his hand.
"Sunwoo, thank you!!! I'm really going to live hard! I'm going to live with my head held high!! And I'll definitely pay this money back next time!! I promise!!"
"Then pay it back with interest. Shall we go, Lawyer?"
"Sure."
He had my number.
If things got hard he would contact me.
Ask for help again, just like today.
But I had a feeling no call would come.
Not unless it was to say he was paying the money back.
"You look happy."
"I am."
"Why? Because of the first snow?"
Lee Naye, wrapped in a thick blanket, sidled up beside me and looked up at the sky that was scattering snow.
It was a rather late first snow.
But because it was late, the flakes came down in thick, heavy clumps.
It was beautiful.
But the heavy snow pouring down was not why I felt good.
"No."
"Then?"
"......"
"Why?"
"Just because."
I stared straight at Lee Naye and smiled.
No—the smile simply rose on its own.
I had finally sold the Teni Electronics shares.
December had arrived before I knew it, and standing at the very end of my eighth year, I sold every last share of Teni Electronics.
The result...
765,478,542 won.
That was the sale proceeds from Teni Electronics after taxes.
"Hehehe...!!"
"S-Sunwoo.."
"Puhahahahahaha!!!!!!"
"H-hwaaaaaah!!!"
"Director! Sunwoo made Naye cry again!!"