A Toast to New Beginnings
"Assistant Manager Kim, you always said you couldn't handle a single drink — but look at you tonight!"
Team Leader Jeong grinned, swirling his soju bottle. Beside him, Assistant Manager Seo and Staff Kang chimed in, playing their parts perfectly.
"Guess getting promoted changed your whole constitution!"
"And your face isn't even red!"
"I'm fine tonight. Bottoms up."
One glass. Two glasses.
Nothing touched him.
One bottle. Two bottles.
His body grew lighter, his tongue loosened effortlessly.
"You know, Team Leader, about that report I turned in back then... honestly, I felt wronged."
The words came spilling out on their own. It was a remark the usual him couldn't have imagined making even in his dreams.
Was this the power of alcohol?
"Ha! You were wronged, huh? I pushed you way too hard back then. I'm sorry."
Team Leader Jeong took it with unexpected grace.
"Thanks to that, it went over well with the department head. And from now on, I'll stop dumping on you, Kim."
Glasses clinked once more. Someone grilled pork belly, someone mixed a somaek. A song came on, and someone fumbled through the chorus. Long, meandering office talk, project talk, laughter laced with the occasional curse, a little gossip about people who weren't there.
The air in the bar grew warm and electric.
"Come on, everyone raise your glass to Assistant Manager Kim! Here's to him hitting it big again and again!"
"Go, Kim, go!"
The glasses flew back and forth without rest. He drank like it was water, and his mood soared higher and higher.
His head stayed perfectly clear, though. It felt as if every ounce of fatigue in the world had melted away.
"Hey, Kim! You're in such a good mood tonight!"
"Seriously, I've never seen you smile like that!"
I'm smiling?
He turned his phone's camera on himself. Sure enough, he was smiling. And the colleagues around him, too.
Saturday morning. Sunlight stabbed at his eyes.
He forced his eyelids open and felt an unfamiliar sense of ease. No hangover, no fog in his head. It was almost shocking.
I drank quite a bit yesterday, though...?
He sifted through his memory, and images of soju glasses flying back and forth flickered past. The funny thing was, he'd never once wobbled. One hour had been the whole show — after that, he'd coasted on soft drinks. His coworkers had laughed it off good-naturedly, saying he'd more than earned his share.
Still... that was fun.
He'd even vented to Team Leader Jeong about all the grievances that had been piling up. Saying it all out loud had left him feeling cleansed. That had to have been the alcohol talking. Even so, he felt like he could finally breathe a little.
He rose from the bed. When the shower spray came down over his head, a refreshing rush jolted his whole body awake.
Today was the day he'd visit his parents.
When had it started? He always told himself he'd go at least once a month, but somehow it kept getting pushed back. His last visit had been back in May — half a year ago already. Today, at least, he wasn't going to make excuses.
He toweled his hair roughly and opened the closet. A comfortable hoodie, worn jeans. His reflection in the mirror looked somehow a little different. Was it the alcohol from last night, or the lightness in his chest?
Right. Let's get going and make it back early.
He arrived by KTX.
Jincheon-gun, North Chungcheong Province. A detached house bearing the unmistakable marks of the years. His father, hearing he was coming, had already come out to the yard.
"Dad, I'm here."
"Yeah. You're here."
As if he'd been waiting a long while, a few cigarette butts were clutched in his hand. That brusque tone that would once have stung now felt familiar. This was simply his father's way — he understood that now.
"Let's go inside."
The moment he slid open the front door, the rich, nutty smell of doenjang greeted him.
"Mom, I'm home."
"Dongsoo! You're here!"
His mother — the woman who went to pray at dawn every single day for her only son. Everything that had let him hold on through the hard times, he owed to his parents.
Around the dinner table, untouched by his visits for far too long, they traded stories. Work, people, how everyone was doing.
The lottery never came up. It would only worry them more.
Still — some things had to be given.
"Dad. Mom."
"What's gotten into you? So embarrassing."
When he took their hands, his father grumbled like a sulking child, but he didn't pull away. Hands now smaller than his own. Hands covered in calluses and deep creases. Years of labor and years of love, worn into them together.
He pulled out his phone and opened the transfer screen.
Fifty million won each.
"I sent you both some spending money. Check your accounts."
They just stared at him, bewildered.
"You're not going to check?"
"Huh? Oh — hold on, now."
His mother dug her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her account.
"One... ten... hundred... thousand... fifty million won?"
Her eyes went wide.
"What is this money?"
"I sent Dad the same, fifty million. And up to fifty million there's no gift tax at all, apparently."
"Oh, is that so? No — forget the tax, where did this come from?"
He smiled and set down his glass.
"My stock investments did well."
"Well or not, that money's supposed to go toward your next wedding."
"I'm not getting married again."
He said it evenly, without drama.
"Life like this is comfortable and good. So go have fun with the money. I'll send more."
The air above the table went still. His father and mother said nothing at all. They just looked at him, the rims of their eyes turning red.
Before the divorce, he couldn't have imagined a moment like this.
Today, of all days, he was certain — divorcing had been the right call.
Seeing his parents over the weekend had left his heart feeling lighter. They'd been the first thing he thought of after the lottery, after all.
Monday.
He'd barely clocked in and was about to run his routine Time Pass when—
"Kim."
"Yes, Team Leader?"
Team Leader Jeong called him over.
"The department head wants to see you. Come with me."
"Me?"
"Yep. Asked for you by name."
With his practiced stride, Team Leader Jeong knocked on the department head's door.
Knock, knock.
"Department Head, Team Leader Jeong Haksoo."
"Come in."
As they stepped inside, the department head's gaze settled on him.
"Ah, and Kim came too?"
"Good morning, sir."
In the faintly tense air, the department head broke into a smile.
"You were probably wondering what's gotten into this stiff old man, weren't you?"
"Not at all, sir."
"That report you submitted — Streamlining Organizational Operations. The bank president read it closely. Very closely. So... here, take this."
"What's this?"
Inside the envelope he'd just accepted: a certificate of commendation, and one plain white envelope.
"Your October Excellence Award, and the bonus that goes with it."
"Ah..."
An unexpected result. Caught completely off guard, he found himself momentarily speechless. Then, in his head, a familiar notification chime rang out.
Receiving the commendation grants an additional 40 hours of accumulated work time.
A new ability can now be unlocked.
"Why so surprised? Didn't expect it, I take it?"
"Ah... no. Not at all."
Forty hours of work time... that's a full week's worth, isn't it?
In truth, that report had been written by his Time Pass self. And a commendation was nothing but a slip of paper that gave you a brief moment of pride.
Until a moment ago, anyway.
With a single stroke, his work-time gauge had nearly filled to the brim — and a commendation was no longer just a scrap of paper. It was a rare item.
The department head kept the praise coming for a good long while after that.
Could you wrap it up, please... I'd really like to check.
The tea session dragged on for the better part of thirty minutes. He was finally liberated only when the department head's door closed behind him.
"Kim, really — great work in there."
Team Leader Jeong added his own words.
"It went over well with the president. You really put in the effort. And you know, there's something I wanted to—"
"Sir — sorry, I really need the bathroom."
"Huh? Oh... right. Go ahead."
Just as Team Leader Jeong's speech threatened to stretch on, he made his excuse and slipped away. Without a moment's hesitation, he headed for the restroom at the end of the corridor.
He stepped into a stall, locked the door, and sat down, clasping his hands together. His heart was pounding.
It was finally time to check.
"Ability unlock."