Chapter 13
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: I'm Quitting
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On the bus ride home, Ryu Min gazed at his bankbook.
It was a new VIP bankbook from the bank.
[Balance: 15,052,102,983 Won]
15 billion.
An amount he could live off for the rest of his life was printed in his bankbook.
Yet, far from being surprised, Ryu Min's expression was calm.
'Nothing beats the lotto for making money.'
He simply considered it a successful first step.
'I can't be satisfied with this. I have to keep growing this money.'
That was why he had flatly refused the financial products the bank offered.
He had no intention of letting the money sit idle in a bank account.
'I'll keep about 1 billion and invest the rest in Bitcoin.'
The cryptocurrency craze from the previous year was still going strong.
Next month, in particular, Bitcoin was set to surge fourfold.
But that would be the extent of the coin's rapid rise.
'After that, the population will start to decline exponentially, and the cryptocurrency market will fluctuate wildly.'
Still, Bitcoin was a safe bet to grow his funds until next month.
There was no reason not to invest when it was guaranteed to quadruple.
'Now that I'm an adult, I can open a stock account too.'
After growing his money with crypto, he planned to invest in stocks.
For a regressor like Ryu Min, knowing that certain stocks would skyrocket in the future wasn't particularly surprising information.
'Of course, I'll have to keep winning the lotto in the meantime.'
Lotto winners were announced every week.
Ryu Min remembered the winning numbers for the next five weeks.
'There's no need to remember beyond that. The lotto market will collapse next month anyway.'
In other words, he could raise funds through the lotto four more times.
Just like this time, he planned to go all-in on one number to monopolize the winnings as much as possible.
'Of course, winning first place repeatedly will raise suspicion, but that's all. What can they do? I'll just say I got lucky and won consecutively.'
As long as he had the winning ticket, the bank had no choice but to pay out the prize money.
Ryu Min got off the bus and entered his home.
A home consisting of nothing more than a cramped kitchen and a tiny room greeted him.
'Not much longer in this place.'
Although it was the house he had lived in with his parents, he had no lingering attachment, as he planned to move to a much better place.
"Hyung!"
His younger brother, who had been waiting at home, came out to greet him with a bright face.
"Were you waiting patiently?"
"Of course. What about you, Hyung? Did you get the prize money?"
Instead of answering, Ryu Min pulled the bankbook from his pocket and handed it over.
"Gasp! H-How much is all this? Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands…"
Ryu Won, who had been counting the digits, looked up with wide eyes.
"15… billion?"
He had expected a large sum after learning they had won 100 times over, but he never imagined it would be this much.
"It was originally 22.4 billion, but that's what's left after taxes. It's not that much."
"How can you be so calm, Hyung? Are you in the mood to joke around right now? It's 15 billion! Not 1.5 million, 15 billion!"
"Quiet down. The neighbors will hear. Well, I guess it doesn't matter since we're moving soon."
"Moving? Are we moving to a better place?"
When Ryu Min smiled and nodded, Ryu Won's face lit up with joy.
"Haha! We're moving! Moving!"
"You're that happy?"
"Of course I am! This place has bugs, and it's so cramped. Plus, it's expensive."
"True. 500,000 won a month for rent is pretty steep."
Being in Seoul, the rent was high for the size of the place.
The reason they had insisted on going to school in Seoul and fending for themselves was simple.
'Because this was the house we lived in with Mom and Dad.'
Three years ago, the brothers' parents died in a car accident.
Thinking of his younger brother crying so sorrowfully back then still made his chest ache.
'It felt like we were suddenly thrown into a forest, just the two of us.'
Normally, when parents die suddenly, relatives are obligated to care for the children until they become adults, but…
'They all turned their backs on us.'
At the time, Ryu Min was a first-year in high school, and Ryu Won was a sixth-grader in elementary school.
They were too young to be on their own, but the brothers had no choice but to survive by themselves.
'That's when it started. When I began working part-time.'
His elementary school-aged brother couldn't work, so Ryu Min had to earn their living expenses alone.
Fortunately, a barbecue restaurant owner was willing to hire him as a high school student, but…
'I can't say he was a good person.'
The tyranny of the owner, who cut his wages and abused his power just because he was a high school student, was another form of violence for Ryu Min.
'The high rent, the restaurant owner's abuse of power, the bullying from delinquents... I've endured it all and lived tenaciously until now, but…'
Not anymore.
He was an adult now, and he had money. There was no need to put up with it any longer.
'I didn't want to move because it was the house we lived in with our parents, but…'
He could finally let his parents go.
After so many regressions, enough time had passed that he no longer had any lingering attachments.
"Won."
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to look for a new place to live now. Want to come with?"
"Yeah! Let's go together, Hyung!"
He had already decided where to move, but there was still much to do.
He had to tell the landlord they were leaving and contact a real estate agency.
He also had to stop by the local government office to get some documents and open a stock account.
"How about we find a house in the afternoon and eat something delicious for dinner?"
"Like what?"
A grin spread across Ryu Min's lips.
"Meat."
* * *
7 PM.
A time when a normal barbecue restaurant would be packed with customers.
"Fuck, I should just close this damn business. Why is this place so dead?"
The owner's face was filled with dissatisfaction.
It was peak time, yet not a single customer had walked in.
"This is why I don't hire part-timers on weekdays. No customers, tsk."
It was a bitter pill to swallow that the restaurant was empty, but that was the reality.
The world was too harsh for a small barbecue joint tucked away in a back alley to survive.
"Shouldn't have jumped on it just because the rent was cheap. Fuck. I didn't know it would be this dead."
What was the use of regretting it now?
If he didn't keep the business running, he'd have no other way to make a living.
"Damn it. I guess I'll just grill some meat and drink soju by myself after closing."
He complained a lot, but weekends brought in enough customers to get by.
Besides, he had hired a weekend part-timer for cheap.
'Heh heh, it was a good idea to hire a high schooler. A naive kid is the perfect pushover.'
By law, he was supposed to pay even a high school student the full minimum wage.
But the owner only paid about 80% of it.
He had cut the wages, using the excuse that he was just a high school student.
'Shouldn't a student be studying instead of working part-time?'
When he had bluntly told the kid to look elsewhere if he didn't like it, he took the bait.
Thanks to that, the owner had been enjoying unearned income until now.
'No, wait. If you think about it, that brat agreed to it. He should be grateful I even hired him.'
He heard the kid didn't have parents either. Shouldn't he be thankful just to have a job?
But this would be the last time he employed the kid.
'It's about time I fired him and found a new part-timer.'
He was an adult this year, so he'd probably gotten some ideas in his head.
It would be a problem if he started protesting, demanding his unpaid wages or a raise.
'I should kick him out fast and find a pretty girl to work here.'
Wouldn't sales go up if he hired a pretty female student instead of a scrawny male one?
As he was smiling at the thought, he heard the door open.
The owner, who was wiping a table, instinctively turned his head and smiled.
"Welco—!"
But contrary to his expectations, it wasn't a customer who walked in.
"Ryu Min?"
It was the high school part-timer he had just been mentally trashing.
The owner's expression changed in an instant.
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a look of annoyance.
"What are you doing here at this hour? And who's that with you?"
"This is my younger brother."
"Ah, hello."
What was he doing here with his brother on a weekday, when it wasn't his shift?
The owner asked with a sour expression.
"What's your business? If you're thinking of working together…"
"I'm here to quit my part-time job."
"What?"
The unexpected announcement made the owner's face crumple.
He had been planning to fire him anyway, but it stung his pride that the kid was quitting first.
"What do you mean, quitting so suddenly?"
"Suddenly? It's Monday. You have until the weekend to find a new part-timer. That's plenty of time."
"Who said you could quit? Don't you want to earn money?"
"Do I need your permission to quit?"
'This little bastard?'
The owner glared at Ryu Min with narrowed eyes.
But it was only for a moment.
'What's with that look…'
Faced with Ryu Min's icy gaze, the owner was the first to back down.
"Ahem, fine, whatever. If you want to quit, then quit! Happy? Now get out!"
"I'm not finished here."
"What now?"
"You've only been paying me 80% of my wage because I'm a high school student, right? You're supposed to pay the full minimum wage, you know."
"You agreed to that—"
"Do you have proof? When did I ever agree to that? This is the first I'm hearing of it."
"…"
"Besides, you made me work past 2 AM, didn't you? Did you know that's illegal? I looked it up, and minors aren't allowed to work past 10 PM."
The owner flinched and clamped his mouth shut.
His face showed that his worst fears had come true.
"You never gave me meals or meal allowances, you swore at me constantly, you overworked me because I was alone, and you abused your power… I'm only realizing it now, but you've really done a lot of trashy things."
"Wh-What, you brat? How dare a kid like you talk to an adult like—!"
"I'm a 19-year-old adult now, you know. If you verbally abuse me like before, I won't stand for it anymore."
"…"
Faced with such a firm stance, the owner had no other recourse.
"So? What do you want? Do you expect me to apologize or something?"
"Yes. I want to hear a sincere apology."
"This bastard… You think I'm going to apologize to a snot-nosed kid who's still wet behind the ears?"
"If you don't, well, I'll have no choice but to report you to the Ministry of Labor. I'll also be pressing criminal charges for all the illegal acts you've committed."
"Hk…"
The owner knew what he had done was illegal.
That's why the threat of being reported was terrifying.
He could be hit with a massive fine and might even have to close his business.
"F-Fine, I get it. I just have to apologize, right?"
"Not just any apology. A sincere one."
'Fuck, this little shit…'
His pride was wounded, but there was no other way.
If a single apology could prevent him from being reported to the Ministry of Labor, it was a small price to pay.
The owner's head drooped.
"Huuu… I'm sorry for everything."
"Is that it?"
"Wh-What else?"
"I don't feel any sincerity at all. Try again."
'Son of a bitch…'
Swallowing his curses, the owner pleaded again with renewed desperation.
"I'm sorry, Ryu Min. I skimped on your wages to save a few measly pennies. I'm truly sorry. I sincerely regret it, so please don't report me to the Ministry of Labor."
"That sounds more like an excuse than an apology. And it still lacks sincerity."
"Fuck, then what do you want me to—!"
The owner, who had momentarily lost his temper, forced himself to shut his mouth and swallow his anger.
"See? The way you're flaring up shows you have no intention of apologizing."
"Huuu… I said I was sorry. Isn't that enough? What is it you're trying to do? Do you want me to pay back all the wages I withheld to feel better?"
"No, that's not it. I just wanted to hear an apology… but given your personality, that seems impossible."
"Then what do you want me to do? What is it you want?"
"I won't ask for the wages you skimped on. Instead."
Ryu Min grinned and sat down at a table.
"Bring me something to eat. Maybe if I fill my stomach, this urge to report you will disappear."