Chapter 5. I Had a Dog Dream?
There was a problem.
I had come to work in an excellent mood.
But I couldn't focus on anything.
My mind was completely occupied by thoughts of collecting the lottery winnings.
The commercial district data displayed across my monitor no longer looked like ordinary work.
All I could see were ways to increase my personal fortune.
Yes.
I definitely couldn't quit immediately.
The company possessed high-quality information ordinary people could never easily access.
While gathering the latest information on a property I had personally analyzed one year ago, I printed out a form.
[Real Estate Transaction Pre-Approval Request]
Employees of the Integrated Development Division were required to submit this before purchasing real estate.
I filled in the lot number, size, purpose of purchase, and other details for the property I intended to buy.
Then I headed to the Audit Team.
“Huh? You're buying land in Mullae-dong?”
Audit Team Manager Park Eunmi blinked in surprise.
She probably didn't know the exact details of my financial situation.
But she seemed aware that I wasn't exactly wealthy.
“Yes. I'm planning to buy a factory building. The address and purpose are written there.”
“...Ah, yes. That's true, but...”
“Why? Is there some kind of problem?”
I didn't know what she was thinking.
But there was nothing wrong with this.
This procedure existed as a safety measure in case problems appeared later.
“No. Mullae-dong doesn't look like it should be an issue. I'll submit it for approval as soon as the team leader arrives.”
“Thank you. This information isn't made public, right?”
“Of course not. Personal assets are recorded under strict confidentiality.”
Good.
It wasn't that I desperately wanted to hide becoming a building owner.
But I had no reason to announce it either.
After handling the simple procedure, I returned to my desk.
Kim Seokhun came back from the weekly meeting.
He didn't even look at me.
I approached him and handed over the half-day leave request I had already prepared.
“I'd like to take the afternoon off. Something urgent came up.”
Kim Seokhun's eyebrow twitched.
I had suddenly requested an afternoon off without any prior notice.
By his standards, that was probably incomprehensible.
“Ha. You really know how to cause trouble. Why? Did losing three months of salary make you lose all attachment to the company? Going to a job interview or something?”
He had never been good at watching his mouth.
But ever since the 5,000-won incident, his insults had reached a new level.
“No. If today doesn't work, I can go tomorrow morning instead.”
He wouldn't actually stop me.
Submitting annual leave in advance was for workplace convenience.
It wasn't a legal requirement.
And just as I had told him, if today didn't work, tomorrow was fine.
“Tch. Fine. Leave it there and get lost. I don't even want to look at you.”
Kim Seokhun casually waved his hand, dismissing me.
This was fun.
I could feel the sympathetic gazes of my coworkers on my back.
But I genuinely didn't care.
[Reason for Leave: Collecting Lottery Winnings]
I wanted to write that.
Instead, I simply wrote "Bank Visit."
Kim Seokhun was the only person at the company who needed to know about my lottery win.
I could send him a message later.
Would he be able to shout it out?
Like the old folktale about the king having donkey ears?
Of course not.
There was no way a man like him could admit that the lottery ticket he had thrown away because he didn't want to pay 5,000 won had won first prize.
All right.
Time to collect my money.
Barely holding back the laughter threatening to escape, I left the office.
It was fortunate the back of a person's head didn't have facial expressions.
Picking his teeth as he returned to his seat, Seokhun glared irritably at Jinhyeok's empty chair.
Kang Jinhyeok had always been rigid.
Even though he knew he couldn't force the company to follow his ideals, he refused to bend whenever he believed something was right.
The Étoile Bakery incident wasn't the first time.
There had been countless moments when Seokhun wanted to transfer him to another department.
But his ability was excellent.
That was the reason Seokhun had never actually gotten rid of Jinhyeok.
An obedient but incompetent subordinate was easy to manage.
But there were moments when a highly capable subordinate was absolutely necessary.
If Seokhun disliked one of Jinhyeok's reports, he could simply throw it into a corner and extract only the information he needed.
“A guy who normally gives at least a week's notice suddenly rushes out like this? What's going on?”
Seokhun picked up the half-day request he had pushed aside.
What was this?
Bank visit?
The reason box could have been left as simply "personal matter."
But Jinhyeok had deliberately written something specific.
Then a text message arrived.
[There were too many people around, so I couldn't tell you earlier. I'm on my way to Nonghyup Bank headquarters. I'll buy you a meal after I collect the winnings.]
Nonghyup headquarters?
Collect the winnings?
Could it be that lottery ticket he had told Jinhyeok to buy?
For a brief moment, the thought crossed his mind.
But if that had really happened, Jinhyeok wouldn't have come to work this morning.
The guy had been acting strangely ever since the supposed accident.
Demanding 5,000 won had been strange.
Calmly admitting fault during the disciplinary committee had also been strange.
Has this bastard actually gone insane...?
Seokhun stopped just before stamping the approval form.
He laughed in disbelief.
Apparently, Jinhyeok still hadn't given up.
He was trying to mess with him again.
Interesting. Very interesting. This bastard has completely lost it, hasn't he?
Seokhun picked up his smartphone.
You dare mock your superior? Fine. You want to take this all the way?
The phone rang for around ten seconds.
Then a recorded message said the call was being forwarded to voicemail.
Seokhun's face crumpled like paper.
He rejected my call? This bastard...
His irritation surged.
As if determined to harass the other person, Seokhun repeatedly called.
The result was always the same.
Then another text arrived.
[I'm collecting the winnings right now. Call me later.]
Bang!
It was clearly a manually written rejection message.
Now certain that Jinhyeok was deliberately ignoring him, Seokhun slammed his desk.
“Kang Jinhyeok! Has that bastard actually lost his damn mind?!”
Ignoring everyone's stares, Seokhun continued cursing.
The atmosphere inside the Commercial District Analysis Team instantly froze.
After repeatedly rejecting his calls, I drove along Gangbyeonbuk-ro in an excellent mood.
Everything was beautiful.
Even the car crawling slowly in the passing lane.
Even the driver signaling left while moving right.
Everything looked wonderful.
Then my phone rang, interrupting the sweetness.
It wasn't Kim Seokhun.
It was Assistant Manager Park Jongil from my team.
He was the coworker I worked with most smoothly.
For some reason, he trusted and followed me almost excessively even though I hadn't done much for him.
“Hey, Assistant Manager Park. What's up?”
“Manager Kang, where are you right now? Deputy Manager Kim is going crazy!”
“Why? Did something happen? I'm already out on half-day leave.”
“I don't know. He's been stomping around calling your name for a while.”
I couldn't help smiling.
He must have exploded after reading my message.
And just as expected, he apparently hadn't been able to tell anyone why.
“What's wrong with him? Did his cousin win the lottery or something?”
“I don't think so. He keeps shouting your name and saying he won't let this go. Why is he acting like that? Did something happen?”
“Who knows? Why would he be like that?”
Silence came through the phone.
Park Jongil probably had some idea why the harassment had recently become worse.
He simply found it difficult to say it directly.
“Just ignore Kim Seokhun. He's been acting like that ever since I asked him to repay the 5,000 won lottery ticket cost. I feel bad. The rest of you must be walking on eggshells because of me.”
“Come on, Manager Kang. How is that your fault? You did the right thing. I felt relieved just watching it. I'm sure everyone on the team feels the same.”
“Yeah. See you when I get back.”
Seongun Group's greatest cuckoo.
Park Jongil's mouth spread information faster than the company intranet.
Soon, rumors would spread everywhere that Kim Seokhun was furious over 5,000 won.
I had no intention of telling the company about my lottery win.
But once Park Jongil spread his version of the story, Kim Seokhun would probably be driven insane by frustration.
The VIP consultation room at Nonghyup Bank headquarters in Seodaemun.
I had heard that branch managers no longer personally handled lottery winners the way they did in the past.
Apparently, this case was a little different.
The branch manager couldn't hide his excitement while staring at my ten winning tickets.
I didn't understand why.
It was my money.
“After taxes, 13,779,387,515 won has been deposited into your account. Congratulations.”
I opened my phone and checked.
[NH Nonghyup
Deposit: 13,779,387,515 won
Balance: 13,720,862,500 won]
13.7 billion won.
The negative balance that had once filled my credit limit was gone.
Instead, there was a number so large that it was difficult to count at a glance.
I had spent a full year enduring every insult Kim Seokhun could throw at me just to earn around fifty million won.
And now, in a matter of seconds, more than two hundred times my annual salary had entered my hands.
I could live without working for two hundred years.
It felt empty.
And exhilarating.
The feeling of liberation after living as a slave to capitalism was incredible.
“We currently have a new ultra-short-term deposit product available exclusively for our VVIP clients, and the interest rate is extremely...”
“No. I'm not signing up for any products.”
I cut him off firmly.
The branch manager's hand froze halfway toward the product brochure.
“I have another use for the money. Just increase my transfer limit to the maximum. I have somewhere I need to send a large amount. Ah, and 862,500 won. Could you give me that in cash?”
“Ah... yes. Of course. I'll handle it immediately.”
The disappointment on his face was obvious.
But after seeing my expression, he didn't push further.
I had no intention of making investments with uncertain futures.
During the restless testing I had done last night, I had tried several things.
I wrote that I would use my lottery winnings to buy more lottery tickets.
I also wrote the name of a certain corporation and claimed I would invest all my money into its stock.
Nothing happened.
No diary entry appeared.
It wasn't completely certain, but the diary app seemed to respond only to actions I might genuinely take.
For the first time, I regretted living my entire life without investing in stocks.
“Here you are.”
Less than a minute later, a plastic tray appeared.
I carefully counted everything, all the way down to the 500-won coins.
Then I placed the banknotes inside a bank envelope.
What a strange feeling.
The thick envelope warmed my heart more than the bank account showing 13.7 billion won.
If nobody had been watching, I might have simply lain down on the floor and enjoyed the happiness.
“Excuse me... sir?”
I had closed my eyes and was enjoying the moment when the tactless branch manager interrupted me.
“Yes? What is it?”
“There's one very simple procedure left before you go.”
“A procedure? The money has already been deposited.”
“Hahaha. It's nothing to do with the money. We conduct a short survey with first-prize winners for statistical purposes. It's a standard procedure.”
The branch manager smiled pleasantly and pointed toward a tablet.
The title on the screen read:
[Survey for First-Prize Lottery Winners]
I had seen it on the news before.
They asked winners what kind of dreams they had before winning, whether they bought manually or automatically, and things like that.
I gave a small smile and sat down again.
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you. First question. Were the winning numbers purchased automatically or manually?”
He already knew the answer.
Apparently, he was simply reading what was written on the survey.
I had bought one automatic ticket for Kim Seokhun.
Then I had manually reproduced the same numbers nine more times among the ten tickets I personally held.
One additional copy had gone to my father.
So this answer should be close enough.
It wasn't like absolute precision mattered here.
“One automatic ticket and nine manual tickets. I bought one automatic ticket first, then bought more with the exact same numbers.”
He was probably dying to ask why anyone would make such a strange choice.
But the survey text seemed to stop him.
“Ahem. Next question. This one's the most important. Did you have any unusual dream before winning?”
“A dream?”
“Yes! Winners often say they dreamed about ancestors appearing, a herd of pigs entering the house, or their home catching fire...”
The branch manager leaned closer.
Apparently, he was curious about the secret too.
I thought about Kim Seokhun's face.
The red, furious expression he had worn this morning while throwing my report around.
And the voice that never stopped barking.
“A dog dream. I had a dog dream.”
“What? A dog... dream?”
The branch manager blinked in confusion.
“Yes. I dreamed about one vicious, noisy, rabid dog tucking its tail between its legs and running away.”
“...Well, usually people say dreaming of a barking dog is bad luck...”
“Not for me. That dog barked so loudly that it snapped me awake, and I noticed a lottery ticket lying on the ground. Something like that.”
The corner of my mouth rose on its own.
The branch manager couldn't possibly understand what I meant.
Still, he awkwardly laughed along.
“Hahaha... I see. Maybe it was a dream about a dog bringing you wealth. Hahaha. Then here's the final question. What are you planning to do with such a large amount of money?”
There was no need to hide this either.
The identities of lottery winners were kept strictly confidential.
“I'm buying a building.”
“A b-building?”
“Yes. I want to construct a commercial building.”
The questionnaire was already finished.
But apparently, the branch manager still hadn't given up.
“Sir, the real estate market is very difficult these days... There are tax issues too, and managing a building is difficult. You could simply place the money into one of our safe deposit products and live comfortably on the interest...”
Nonsense.
Korean tax law wasn't that generous.
With fourteen billion won, I might earn around four hundred million won a year in interest.
But once financial income taxes were applied, nearly one hundred and fifty million would disappear.
On the other hand, what if I built a ten-story building?
Rental income alone could bring in around one hundred million won every month.
And I could use that income to build an even larger business.
There was nothing to fear.
I had all my accumulated experience.
And now I had a diary app that warned me before disaster struck.
Which meant I wouldn't make the kind of terrible investment the branch manager feared.
“Branch Manager.”
“Yes?”
“I told you I had a dog dream, right?”
“Ah... yes. You did. But why...?”
“Have you heard the saying, ‘The dogs may bark, but the train keeps moving’?”
He stared at me.
“People can say whatever they want. I decide where my own road leads. Thank you for helping me today. Even if I don't sign up for your products, I'll continue using this bank.”
The branch manager could no longer stop me.
He probably understood the hidden message.
If he continued annoying me, I could simply move all my money to another bank.
“Ah... understood. If you ever experience any inconvenience, you can call my direct number anytime...”
“Thank you.”
I left the VIP room with the branch manager bowing deeply behind me.
As if perfectly timed, my phone rang.
It was Kim Seokhun.
That dog really had an impressive number of ways to bark.
I rejected the call without hesitation.
He must be dying from curiosity.
Was I genuinely insane?
Or had I actually won the lottery?
He was probably desperately hoping for the first option.
Unfortunately for him...
My car was already heading toward a real estate agency in Mullae-dong.
